2011

When Phaeton asked me if we'd be staying up to ring in the New Year, I said, "Nah." Then Adeleigh farted. Now she's asleep. And Phaeton, with his headphones on, is dictating a play-by-play of some teenage-slasher-comedy flick he's watching on the laptop. I'm still awake, sitting next to the singing sock monkey that has taught Adeleigh the supreme power of screaming at the top of her lungs. I kind of want to squeeze the button on his hand right now, but I think that, along with the fireworks shooting outside, would give Rico a heart attack. So, I guess we're going to bed soon. But first, I need to reminisce about some of the defining moments of this past year.

January 1, 2011, New Year's Day. I don't remember that far back, so I asked Phaeton. His response, "Now this kid just fell into a woodchipper."
(sigh)

January
I found Phaeton a new job possibility at Starbucks. He applied and within a week, received an offer for Store Manager.

February
Phaeton started his new gig. The whole family was relieved and excited about the change.
Also, in February, I tried to get into couponing and visited a site that reeked havoc on our computer. We bought our first anti-virus software and paid hundred of dollars to retrieve all of the Adeleigh photos and documents off our old hard drive. Phaeton banned me from couponing because of the irony that in trying to save us money, it ended up costing us a fortune.

Springtime
We discovered the importance and happiness in swinging!

Adeleigh started eating solids, sitting up, and becoming more mobile. She also got to meet her Aunt Lori and cousins, Emily, Zach & Kara for the first time. I learned more about couponing the right way and started saving us hundreds of dollars on our grocery and household items.

Summertime
Adeleigh's personality really started to show.

She started crawling and like her Momma, learned how to eat like a lady.

She had her first trip to the zoo. Met her Uncle Bryce for her first time. Nana visited from Costa Rica. She ate her first chocolate cupcake and showed off her glorious belly for her first time at the pool.

She took her first bath in the big kid's tub. She played with all of her cousins at the first family reunion. She took her first train ride, saw her first butterfly, crawled on the grass. I went part-time at work to spend more time with her and found a new hobby in blogging. Adeleigh turned one! And she took more interest in the pets.

September

Baby's First Rockies Game for Daddy's Birthday

Adeleigh learned how to walk and soon after, run! She also learned how to bite.

October
Adeleigh's first haunted house and first time trick-or-treating.

The Holidays
Adeleigh's first balloon animal and Thanksgiving with the family.
Christmas fun and new hat and mittens for the snow.

It's been a fun, eventful, challenging and rewarding year. And we have some pretty monumental goals for the New Year.
First on my 2012 agenda, find a new career path. I'm ready to explore new and exciting opportunities. Phaeton wants to get his book published. His first draft is finished as of 5 hours ago, for those of you waiting to read it. A family goal is to move into a bigger home, so the monkey can have her own room. Us too :)

We both managed to make it til the ball dropped. Seconds before Ryan Seacrest asked, "Who will you be kissing?" I ran over to a half-asleep husband, sat on his lap and kissed him. He said, "Auld Lang Syne, Honey." I said, "What does that even mean?" He said, "I don't know, it's just what you say right now."
It's going to be a great year.

Happy 2012!

The Santa thing

This is the second Christmas in a row, the second out of two Christmases of Adeleigh's life, that we've not gone to see Santa Claus. Last year I don't even remember our excuse, but we justified it by saying that she doesn't know the difference at four months old. Besides, there's always next year. Because what awful parent wouldn't take their child to see Santa at least once before she's two? But just so we had a photo for her first Christmas with the dude, we pulled this together last-minute:

Then, we hurried and shoved Santa in the closet because Adeleigh's cousin was afraid of him.

It's Christmas Eve and we've done it again. We had planned on going to the North Pole theme park outside of Colorado Springs with family earlier this month but cancelled because we all had colds and didn't think it wise to stand in 20 degree weather for two hours with a sick baby. We further justified it by assuming she'd be terrified of him anyway, since there was that one time she cried at a a man with a beard. So, here's what Phaeton came up with this year:

That's the Santa from Miracle on 34th Street. He looks friendly.
I guess there's always next year!




While perusing through last year's Holiday photos, I found this to smile about:

And this to giggle about:

Matching Snuggies!

Things we've learned

Becoming a parent is the most beautiful, rewarding, and one of the most terrifying things I've experienced. Before Adeleigh, I remember thinking, "How am I going to be a good Mom when I don't know a thing about children?" or "How am I ever going to have time to be an involved parent when I already feel like there aren't enough hours in a day to get everything done?"

Well, one of the beautiful things about becoming a parent, is that there are millions of other women & men who are parents too. And one of the best ways to learn, is by sharing ideas with each other. So with the accumulation of advice we've heard, the things we've tried, and learning the ways of our own daughter, we've been able to make mothering & fathering our own. We've learned many things from other parents in our lives and hopefully been able to offer a thing or two for someone else.

Here are a few words of wisdom we've learned from others (along with a few experiences of our own) that have helped us along the way:

• Put a clean diaper down before pulling away the dirty one. -Denise
• Wrap Baby's crib with 2 layers of mattress covers and sheets. That way, if your baby leaks in the night, just pull the first layer off and you don't have to re-make the bed at 2 a.m. -Amy
• Buy a swaddling blanket with velcro on the sides if you have an escape-artist baby, like Adeleigh-Houdini. -Nikki
• Craigslist and hand-me-downs are a beautiful thing. -Autumn, Andrea & Amy
• It IS possible to travel abroad with a toddler. -Kristen  (We're working on making this happen.)
• Buy a portable Dvd player for long trips. -Rachael (Or just buy a mini-van equipped with TV screens. -Pete & Ellie)
• Tamanu oil works great for eczema and diaper rashes. -lady at Vitamin Cottage
• The Bumpo still fits! - Autumn
• Though time-consuming and messy, Pomegranates are special, and deserve to be eaten. -Julie
• While still at the hospital, shove as many newborn diapers in your bag as possible EVERY DAY! The cart gets replenished daily and nobody's keeping track. -our Baby class instructor, Kelly
• Girl time is essential for the soul. -Julie & Jessica
• It's okay for me to take the baby to daycare on my day off so that I can get a massage, pedicure or just go back to bed. -Sabrina
• My child is not the only one that rarely sleeps through the night. -Lyndsey, Julie, Amy, Autumn...
• It's okay for me to feel like I just don't have a clue what I'm doing sometimes. -Autumn & Julie
• It's normal to be so consumed in adjusting to motherhood, that you feel like you don't have time for much else. -Jessica, Amy & Julie
• I can be a devoted, committed mother and go back to work. -Caitlin, Amy, Andrea, Val, Jen, Lyndsey, Ellie, Lysette
• It's possible to create a make-shift crib on the floor using baby gates, blankets, a King-size bed with pillows shoved underneath and a baby monitor. -Danny & Phaeton (Not sure a doctor would recommend this one.)
• It's okay to hire a babysitter and go on a date every once in awhile. -Jen & Mom
• Buy 2 Boppy pillows. One to sit on and one for nursing. -Nurse Janelle
• Even though strawberries are in all kinds of baby food products, don't give them to your baby before age one. Strawberries have a high allergen level for infants. -Dr. L
• It's not necessary to treat every fever Baby has. A fever is a baby's natural reaction to fighting off infection. -Dr. L
• Even after 12 weeks of maternity leave, it's okay to feel like you and your baby still aren't on a routine. -Amy & Andrea
• You really can make it work with a dog, a cat and a baby in a one-bedroom condo. You can also love it. :)
• Sleep when Baby sleeps. Laundry and dishes can wait. But us Mommas need to keep our sanity. -Jen
• Accept help when it is offered. If it isn't offered when you need it, don't be afraid to ask for it. -Jen
• If you need to take a shower, call Samantha and she'll watch the baby. -Samantha
• When Baby is having a meltdown in the grocery store, odds are, the only one it's stressing out is you. -Dr. H
• A dust-buster is a smart thing to add to your Baby Registry.
• Fenugreek is the wonder-herb for helping produce milk. (I had best results with the liquid-filled caplets.) You know it's working if you smell like maple syrup. -Amy 
• Zip-up robes/mumus come in very useful when nursing. -Jessica  (I might also suggest having a few on-hand in case these become a common wardrobe choice while at home.)
• Though absolutely delicious, tuna sandwiches should be enjoyed in moderation while pregnant and nursing. -Dr. L, Dr. H, Nurse Brenda, Midwife Kelly, on-call doctor, the deli-clerk at Whole Foods (I asked a lot of people about this one and kept receiving a similar response.)
• If you're not satisfied with something someone tells you, it's okay to seek a 2nd, or 3rd opinion.
• There might be days where all your baby wants to eat is cheese. -Danny & Caitlin
• Even if you are having a summer baby, encourage your significant other to take sweats and a parka for the hospital stay. A woman in labor equals a room with the air-conditioning on maximum-freeze. -Phaeton
• It's not uncommon to receive unexpected hospital bills 15 months after your baby was born. (This justifies all the diapers and gluten-free brownies we pocketed during our stay.)
• Becoming a Mother transforms your identity. It changes you, in one of the most beautiful ways imagineable. -Mom, Lori, An, Amy, Julie & many other Moms I know
• Some babies don't like to put their feet on grass. -Pete

If you have any other tips you've found particularly useful, please share. We could use all the help we can get!