2011 Year in review

My bloggy friend posted this and I thought, that's a great idea, so I stole it and called her my friend. Christine does live in Indy and I've been meeting some pretty cool peeps through twitter and blogs, so adding one more to the list would be AWESOME! Anywho, on with the survey! I broke it up so it wasn't a novel. So for the first part-

1) What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before?
Felt honest to goodness unconditional love, understood what it meant to really be a mother. Everyone can tell you, but until you experience it yourself you have NO idea. I watched the little grow and have personality!

2) Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Didn't really do resolutions, wanted to be a good mother and make good choices for our family, but didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?
Pretty much EVERYONE, there was an explosion of babies this year. I like to think I started this trend, babies are the new black.

4) Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, in January, it was early and a shock. My BFF's mom, God wanted his angel back.

5) What countries did you visit?
Mexico and Las Vegas (I count LV as a country because it's unlike anything I had ever seen before).

6) What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A life in Indy, not just being here, but actually living here. I'm physically here, but mentally in WI, I am working on that

7) What date from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 7, that was the day we got the phone call about Erin and stupid cancer and Labor Day for reasons I will not discuss on the blog. December 1 and 2 for my girl's first birthday.

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?
BF'ing my girl for 10 months!

9) What was your biggest failure?
Not making Indy my home and being immature when it came to my relationship with D, threatening to go back to WI often when we would argue. And my blog, but I'm working on that.

10) Did you suffer illness or injury?
"The doctor said most of my injuries are emotional."

What's YOUR number?

Currently, we have 56 shows set to record on our dvr. Ok, ok, if we're being honest I have 56 shows set to record on our dvr. I think it's a sickness. I have started to despise commercials, when something is on we want to watch, I'll wait 15 minutes to avoid commercials.

The show I'm most ashamed of having recorded is Dr. Phil, I just can't deal with all those lawyer commercials and online college commercials. Dr. Phil's "hour" show takes me 15 minutes to watch since I miss all the sensationalizations (is that a word?), before, during and after the "meat" of the show.

How do YOU do it?

Excuse me, but I need to get personal, very private... After Grace took her first limo ride (to pick you the babysitter nonetheless, in a "Desperate Housewives" kind of move).

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend, with one exception... The screaming, whiney, kid at the restaurant.

I felt my blood boiling over. You know that thought that crosses your mind "if that were MY kid..." I was a little hungover, as we FINALLY had a babysitter and yours truly enjoyed my new found (not bfing anymore) freedom enjoying a couple two, three, seven, eight, nine dirty martinis the previous night (we did have a limo to drive us home).

The majority of "mom blogs" I read still have sweet angel babies from the heavens, the few others with older children, well, apparently their kids don't ever misbehave in public, or they never blog about that.

Hypothetically we can say "I will never yada yada yada" or "I would just yada yada yada," but I'm looking for real true life experiences. Do you just leave every.single.event anytime your child is in the throws of a temper tantrum? Do you spank them? Do you find a place for timeout? Do you do none of the above and have another tried and true method when dealing with a screaming, whiney child?

Please discuss.

I want my readers back, readers back, readers back

Hi there, been so long! So much has been happening and still so little has been happening. Most exciting news we have is we got an offer accepted on house here in Indy! I've joined the Y in hopes of losing that extra weight I gained from not nursing. I got a job that didn't turn out so awesome, but then got a new job that will allow me to blog again! For 13 uninterrupted hours a week, I get to be me again, well, a working me again, but it's a slow time of the year so I get to blog! It's a pretty cool gig. My girl turned one and is a monster! It's funny, I thought I had so much to say and so much to write, but then I got my chance and it's a whole lot of nothing. So, for now, I just want to welcome you back and hopefully I'll have what it takes to be a blog of substance once again!

Almost 11 months later..

Oh my girl, my baby, the one that was my belly (I just wrote is and corrected it), the one that we just finished getting your shower gifts organized. Yeah, that one.

This is her now, well, actually it was her yesterday and tomorrow she'll be a teenager stomping her feet and rolling her eyes at me as I jam out to "Imma Be."

Treasure your first year everyone tells you and I did, I really soaked it up. I had my moments and since she became mobile and walking - I have them more often, but I enjoyed it. I miss her dinasour noises those first few weeks we brought her home. I miss her screaming her head off for no apparent reason months 2-3. I miss her learning to sit and wobbling around during tummy time, trying so hard to hold up her big noggin. Then she became a person, my girl, with so much personality. So silly.

She cuddled up next to me this afternoon before our nap, sat next to me while we watched Judge Mathis (stay classy) and I stroked her hair and kissed her head (which still has it's own version of cradle cap on it) all the while knowing this moment could be cut short on her terms now. She has no idea how much I ache for her to be my snuggly girl, how after she's asleep I'll hold her for a half hour or more just because that's what we did for so many months as we learned eachothers features. One day, sooner than I hope, I won't be able to hold her in my arms anymore.

I love her so much it's unbelieveable, but as much as I soaked it, I'm still wishing I could have had one more day...

I feel, therefore I am

Feelings, nothing more than feelings... Ahem, pardon my singing, but when those feelings turn into a reality what do you do? My OMGinIndy has been far from perfect, although I never expected perfect, I had an expectancy for certain things. That we would be a family, that I would be enough for D, that we would find friends who would become family in this city away from "our city."

I'm missing home something fierce. I'm missing Grace playing with her cousins and watching my crazy family take care of my girl. She doesn't know what she's missing out on, but I do.

It's much more than what is here, it's picnics and cookouts and lazy afternoons on the lake, it's gatherings and get togethers and celebrations of milestones, it's goofy pollacks laughing and snorting reminising about the days of old.

It's friends, who now have children, watching our kids playing together and thinking of how different this "hanging out" is.

It's overwhelming, it's challenging... It's starting to feel less and less of a home.

Not a girl, not yet a woman

My girl is growing. Yes, she is still a "baby," however, she is no longer the stationary, cuddly, fragile girl I brought home 8 1/2 months ago. Last week, I reorganized my house. Some call it "baby proofing," I'm simply trying to make it more "baby friendly" and a little more organized.

She is my only child, the one who made me a mother. I love her, I spoil her, I want to see her happy, not cry, it hurts my heart, but I'm slowly getting over that. I need to get things done during the day and she needs to be independent. There's still a bunch of kinks to work out. It will take more than a week to outsmart a baby, even with a college degree!

Our front room was just that, a room in the front of our house. It was becoming storage for diaper bags, car seat, and large, "containment devices" for the child (i.e. jumper/swing) that were just in the way in our living room. I didn't take any before pictures as I wasn't intending on creating a "how to" post and since I used things we had already purchased to create a play room for Grace. It turned out nice though and since I am far from crafty, I thought sharing would help out other non-crafty moms (it's amazing what a little TLC will do to a room).

These shelves were literally sitting around collecting dust, I dust them off and organized her toys, I will switch them out as she cannot reach the ones on the top shelf...yet.


The end of the shelf begins the "walking wall" it is just as it sounds, things we use on a regular enough basis which she can use to pull herself up and walk around in. Sorry about the blurriness, this girl is on a mission!


She could stop for a quick pose though.


Lastly, a little play area by the window so she can people and animal watch and enjoy the sunshine while getting some learning in.


Our home is still filled with baby stuff, but our living room is not. Gone is the cluttered mess and in place is a functional space for all of us to enjoy.