December *Wrap-up*

Sorry to all for my lack of posts.  With the Christmas concert and practices, long commutes in snow storms, gatherings with friends, and trying to prep for the holidays, I just haven't been able to even think about blogging.  Well, other than Amelia growing another few weeks older, not much else has happened, except...

I'm happy to report that today, on Lia's 3 month birthday, our 4th trip to the orthopedic specialist finally resulted in a diagnosis of "normal"!  We do have one follow-up appointment in 9 months just to be on the sae side, but for now, our baby is brace-free and kicking up a storm.  :-)  Happy day.

And here are a few pics from the time during my blogging hiatus...

Dec 11 - First day without a brace.  Lia couldn't straighten out her legs very easily at first, and her bulky cloth diapers weren't helping things, either:

By nighttime, though, she was starting to do so:

Fast forward about a week...  We're trying to get as much use out of Lia's Christmas dress as possible, and to top it off, we took some family pics after church on the 19th:

So, if I don't blog until after the 25th, Merry Christmas, everybody!

Quick update

We've been busy!  Lia's appointment at the orthopedic specialist last Monday (the 29th) went pretty well.  Things are looking good, but we still have to keep her brace on for a while longer just to be safe.  We're taking it off this coming weekend, so only a few days left until easier diaper changes and a more flexible baby!

Last week was filled with activity.  We had a night out on Monday for tacos, on Wednesday we had cell group.  Thursday was a dinner party with my co-workers (Lia stayed home with Grandma Cromer). Friday we were supposed to go to a wedding, but bad weather made it impossible to get there in time so we went to visit our friends and their newborn in the hospital instead.  Saturday morning I had orchestra practice, and then Saturday night we had another night out with friends.  Sunday was a fun day at church with a lunch afterward at Totino's (we had a coupon).  Sunday afternoon, I was so tired that I slept the afternoon away while Lia hung out with Grandma and Matt, and still I was tired enough to go to bed on time and sleep the whole night.  

And here it is, Monday night, and I'm still tired.  :-)  Here's to hoping I make it through this week with two orchestra practices, a dress rehearsal, a Sunday morning mini concert, and two evening concerts.  Should be a blast!  I hope that Lia doesn't start to miss me too much.  :-(  Maybe I can convince Matt to bring her to orchestra practice so I can hang out with her when I'm not playing...

8.5 hours

Lia surprised us all last night.  For the last couple of nights, she's been getting fussy around 8pm, so we've been putting her down a bit earlier than normal since she falls right asleep.  Last night, she was ready for bed just after 7:30pm, and we couldn't keep her up any later, so we put her down as I prepared for her to wake up around 11 or 11:30pm.  By 12:30am, I finally went to bed, expecting to be woken up at any minute.

At 4am, I was finally awoken by Lia fussing, but not even screaming.  She calmly took down 3 ounces, burped, diaper change, then took one more ounce.  Then she went right back to bed around 5am.  She fussed a bit around 5:45am, but fell back asleep after a quick snuggle and repositioning in the crib.

It is now almost 8am, and she's just woken up in time for Daddy to change her.  :-)  8.5 hours of sleep...  Now we just need to try to get her to shift to a 10pm bedtime with the rest of us!

Dedication Day

The verse we chose for Lia (which was first given to her through her Auntie Hannah) is Deuteronomy 31:8 - "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

The Curtains with the Red Dot

Next to Lia's changing table are curtains with colored dots.  Lia seems to really enjoy focusing on a bright, solid red dot that is directly in her line of vision during diaper changes.  She sure loves to smile, coo, giggle, kick, and flail her arms when looking at that red dot.  Who knew the curtains would be such a hit?

Christmastime Is Here!

Our tree:

Lia, the candy cane thief, with her partner in crime, Uncle Nathan: 

New Roof

Call us crazy, but we had our roof replaced.  In the snow and freezing temps.  On the day after Thanksgiving.  With a house full of guests.  And here's photographic proof of one of the roofers shoveling snow off of the roof.  I'm just grateful that no one slipped.  That would not have been fun...

Black Friday

Some from our family went shopping ASAP in the morning.  I was not one of them.  I did, however, go to the MOA and a couple other stores with the girls in the afternoon/evening.  Lia came along, too.  Here's Lia during our visit to the MOA:

This girl can sleep through almost anything!

Cromer Family Thanksgiving

Matt's siblings drove up for the holiday weekend.  It was a fun-filled family weekend.  Lia loved getting tons of hugs and attention from her aunts and uncles.  She was mostly her typical, smiley self with only a few exceptions.

We ate:

We hung out:

We all contributed to the meal.  (Even I made something, though in this picture I am "stupid-vising"...)

The turkey needed longer in the oven than expected, so by the time Thanksgiving dinner was ready, we were all pretty hungry!

Lia enjoyed watching the cooking, hanging out, eating, swinging, and snuggling all throughout the day.

What a wonderful feast we all shared!

Cloth Diaper Update

So far, so good.  We ended up starting right away on Monday instead of waiting for the reusable diaper pail liner to arrive.  We are using Duo Wraps and prefolds.  Fun times! And Lia seems to not notice the change at all.  No more worries about "wasting" a diaper, too.  One thing I'm definitely looking forward to as a result of the switch is early potty training.  I've got my fingers crossed!  :-)

Oh, and what to do with the disposables that we still have?  Possibly we will need them for day care, we can use them during church for the nursery workers, and they will work great for travel!  And you never know when we will accidentally forget to finish laundry in time and need a disposable to get us through a wash and dry cycle - it could happen...

Baby, It's Cold Outside

...and even in Minnesota, we have our limits.  Roads were icy enough this morning to warrant the cancelling of church, so we got to stay in and spend some quality family time together.

And now that roads have basically cleared of ice so we can safely drive, we went on a family shopping run where we purchased the basics to get started with cloth diapers.  Matt got some great tips from a friend who uses cloth diapers, and he found a diaper store about 10 minutes from our house (All Things Diapers). The guy running the diaper store was extremely friendly and helpful - we're definitely going to head back when we need more supplies.  We are planning on waiting to start until our online-purchased diaper pail liner arrives, so we have a few days to adjust to the idea.  This should be a fun adventure!

Happy 2nd Month Birthday, Lia!

The Hunt for a Daycare Provider

Since last week was my first week back to work, Matt found the motivation to start the daycare search.  Come January, he's going to be in school, so we're only in need of part time daycare while he's in class.  So far, the search is going very well.  We have one friend from church willing to take Fridays, and we have narrowed down our search for the other three days per week to three in-home daycares near our house, all willing to take part time at reasonable rates.  Matt and his mom met with the first daycare provider on Thursday, and they thought she would be a great choice.  We will be meeting with the second one tonight, and then for the third we need to schedule a visit for early next week.  I'm looking forward to having this decision finalized so we can be at ease about plans come January.

Naptime...

for Mom and Dad.  We're sleeping in shifts this afternoon to play catch-up from last week.  I just got up.  Feeling much more awake now!

We're "tracking" now!

For some time now, Amelia has been tracking objects with her eyes.  We're not exactly sure when this all started, but regardless, we are enjoying playing with her and watching her watch us and things around her.  Here's a picture of her from Tuesday enjoying her Rainforest Peek-a-Boo Leaves mobile.  Such bright colors to watch!

Also, she seems to love her changing table and looking at the curtains while we're changing her.  Just this morning during a clothing/diaper change, Lia, Grandma Cromer, and I all had fun playing and laughing while Lia watched and smiled at a particularly bright colored red dot on the curtains next to the changing table.  One of her final cooing noises sounded like "Hi!", and it was just before I was leaving for work.  How sweet!  Such a cutie-pie...

Returning to Work

Today was my first day back at work.  It was a good day!  I feel like I fell right back into the swing of things, though things are still a bit slow for me since technically I have less than 3 weeks of experience in this role so far despite having started back in September.

I would also like to share a picture of the wonderful welcome that was awaiting me this morning:

First Snowfall of the Season

Oh boy, did we have an adventure today!  Grandma Cromer, Lia, and I got to venture out into the great white abyss that was outside when we awoke this morning.  I had an orchestra practice to attend, and since Matt's mom is going to be flying back to Africa before the concert, she came along to listen and watch Lia while I practiced.  (Matt had the morning to himself at home, and I'm pretty sure he played video games all morning.  He is starting to adjust his sleeping schedule to afternoons/evenings now...)  Needless to say, we are all glad to have made it safely home after our slippery drive to and from practice.

For those of you not in Minnesota, here are some pictures of our view from the kitchen and living room.  Also, I thought I would post a picture of Lia enjoying a view of the snow from the warmth of our living room floor.

Update on the Brace

Well, as it turns out, Lia is much more upset about the brace than what we originally thought.  She has been much more fussy than normal since we got the brace, and when we take it off for her bath, she instantly calms and is practically smiling.  As soon as we attempt to put it back on, she gets fussy before we even have it fully strapped on.  At least I know she isn't in pain, but this is very sad to watch when I know just what will make her happy now can't be done due to possible damage that could occur down the road.  I'm really praying for a miracle that in three weeks, the specialist will deem her hips ready to be completely free of the brace.  Ugh - I'm not looking forward to the wait...

Orthopedic Update

Well, it turns out Lia needs a brace, just to be on the safe side.  "Hip Dysplasia" is the general term for this sort of situation, and of course it tends to be more common in 1) girls, 2) first-born babies, and 3) breech-born babies.  (It seems the deck was stacked against us...)

Lia's hip joints are just a bit shallow at this point, so the brace will hold the ball-and-socket in a position that will encourage growth to make her hips more stable.  If left untreated, she may be just fine, or she may have other issues down the road like a limp, pain, osteoarthritis, differences in leg length, or other structural issues.  Needless to say, we are more than okay with using a brace to help prevent such issues.  At this point, she's only slightly shy of "good" - her hips don't actually dislocate, but they do move more than they should in a bad direction.  (Apparently the issue is so slight that there are no outwardly discernible symptoms or pain, but the ultrasound pictures are where the doctor is seeing the potential issue.)  We are hoping to only need the brace for 3 to 5 weeks as her bones and ligaments continue to grow.

Lia's next checkup with the specialist is in three weeks.  I'm really hoping that the brace gets to go at that point so she can still get some good use out of her 0 to 3 month sleep and plays (which aren't exactly going to fit her at the moment.)  The brace has to stay on at all times except bath time.  She doesn't seem to mind it too much except for when she's working on her diaper and now can't squirm as much as she used to.  Poor thing...  life sure can be rough.  :-)

Here's Lia in just the brace:

And here we are enjoying life despite the brace.  Yummy formula!

Playtime or naptime?  She can't decide...

Visit from Grandma Cromer!

Grandma Cromer (Matt's mom) is arriving in town tomorrow.  We are looking forward to a wonderful month-long visit!

Social Smiles

Matt and I are anxiously awaiting social smiles from Lia.  We think we may have each seen our first glimpses over the weekend, but only for a few seconds.  Could we be imagining things, or are we finally at that point?  Who knows, but the pros have told us that the smiles could come any day now!

Back to the Orthopedic Specialist

Today is Lia's big day at the orthopedic doctor getting her hip checked out again.  She had a "shallow hip" at her last checkup, so we need to make sure everything is growing in correctly and on time.  We're hoping for a good report, but a not so good one would only mean a brace is needed for a while.  So, no big worries, but still, it would be nice not to have to deal with a brace on an infant... More updates to follow later!

Girls' Night Out

Last night was a blast!  Lia and I got to hang out with girlfriends until the wee hours...  It was a night that reminded me of the good old college days of late nights, good food, and good friends.  And I'm glad I had people to spend time with while feeding/comforting Lia, because she was a bit more needy than normal and ate half of her daily food requirements in a span of about 6 hours.  This is one growing baby!  Thankfully, I also got some help from my friend Sara with baby feeding/comforting near the end of the night while trying to pack up to head home.  It's always nice to have a bit of a break after a run like that...

All of that food and awake time tuckered Lia out, so she slept well last night waking up only one brief time overnight and then once more about 4 minutes before our alarm went off.  I'm so grateful to have such an accommodating baby!  (Note:  Matt spent all day on Saturday helping out on a moving/painting project, so he was also in need of a good night of sleep... we are so lucky!)

First Babysitter!

Our wonderful friend Sarah (who loves babies a ton and gets to work with them as a nurse) offered to watch Lia for an afternoon/evening on Thursday.  Sarah reported that they had a lot of fun hanging out, and while everything went smoothly, one major diaper-crisis was just narrowly averted.  Good job with pooping, Lia!  And way to go, Sarah!  You're a pro!  (literally...)  :-)

Lia got in lots of good snuggle time/feeding time with Sarah (and Sarah's mom for part of the night), and Mom and Dad got some much needed rest and a chance to attend a meeting at church with no need to worry about baby-care.  Thank you for your time spent loving on our daughter, Sarah!

Election Day 2010

Wow, is my husband one tough guy.  He worked the night shift last night, then he had his wisdom teeth pulled this morning, then (once we picked up his pain meds from the pharmacy) he went with Lia and me to go cast our votes.  I'm impressed, and I hope you all are, also!  And in celebration of Lia's first day in a voting booth (though  not her first day voting), she has been asleep most of the day so far.  I'm having a great time catching up on chores today as a result.  Thanks, Lia!

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween.  I'm not sure if the reason is because of all the autumn-themed celebrations surrounding the day, or if I just like the idea of dressing up and having fun.  Either way, we had a great Halloween this year.  Since it was a Sunday, Amelia got to dress up in a new outfit from Granny Callie:

Note that this is a dress, but she likes to squirm.  :-)

To celebrate in the evening, Matt and I went to our friends' house for pumpkin carving, dinner, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, and we watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Thankfully, Abe and Ali had a multitude of costumes available, so even with our lack of planning, we got to dress up.

Lia was initially not too excited about the idea of dressing up and going out:

Pumpkin carving!

And here we all are in our costumes.  (Please forgive the out of focus picture - it is too fun not to post!)

Road Trip!

Here are a few highlights from our recent week-long road trip to visit family and friends...

Day 1 (Oct 22): 

Visit with Uncle Kurt and Aunt Kim in WI.  Stayed at Granny Callie's overnight.

Day 2: 

Drove to IN.  Amelia met her Great Grandma Pavot.

Four generations:

Spent the afternoon at my Dad's place, and had a late night bonfire with friends from Hobart.

Day 3:
Hung out with the Sharps, Uncle Bill, and my grandma's good friend Pat.  My Aunt Martha had tons of fun with Amelia, and we also had a surprise visit from a very scary gorilla:

Day 4:
Matt and I had the morning free, so after deciding that the apple orchard was a bit much, we had a fun time enjoying beautiful fall colors at my favorite home town county park:

Then we spent the evening hanging out with more of our friends and their kids (the Carter clan and our friend Sam), and we had a late night trip to visit Uncle Jason and Aunt Carol and their family.  Got home pretty late on this day!

Day 5:
Slept in, packed up, and drove to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ann's for dinner.  Then drove to Matt's brother's house before bed.

Day 6:
Spent the day with the Cromers.

Note: It rained on our walk, but not too badly.  And Kim made an awesome Thanksgiving-esque dinner for all of us!

Day 7:
Lunch with the Cromers, then off to visit my college roommate Amanda and her hubby Loren.  We visited a massive, new "art park" with a few pieces of art and a ton of hiking trails, and then we went out for dinner.  This day was a bit colder than the day before, so we did our best to keep Lia warm!

And back to the Cromers' place we went...

Day 8:
Packed up and drove to Granny Callie's for dinner.  This was the longest driving segment of the trip...

Day 9:
Packed up for the last time and drove home.  It was a fun trip, but I am glad to be back!