The Holidays

As usual since I have been at work... updating this blog is getting more and more difficult. A lot has been happening since I have lasst updated. Brynn has had another ear infection. She has another tooth. She had stood. Now she goes from sitting to standing on her own, without holding on to anything! (I will post video). She takes 4-5 steps at a time, too!

Sick. We all seem to be psasing it back and forth. Brynn had another ear infection a few weeks ago...and Dan got a nasty cold that he so generously passed on to me. I haven't felt this crummy in a long time, and am hoping Brynn doesn't get it.

We also have had a huge change, which is one reason it has been so long since I last updated. We have moved. We had a potential tenant walk through our house, she loved it, but needed to be in by December 15th! We didn't think we would be out before Christmas... so we had a tree and had decorated... and had about 9 days to be packed and moved out!! Talk about stressful! We somehow managed to do it, while working full time and chasing around an 11 month old. We are now all settled in at Dan's dads. I know in earlier posts I had mentioned moving in with my Grandma, but we decided that this is a much better option for us for now-- especially with an almost 1 year old. Grandma's house still has so much work, and there is so much for Brynn to get in to. All of my grandma's knitting baskets, plants, and nic-naks she has set up all over. Definitly not baby friendly. Not to mention the space... not a whole lot of room for all of us and our stuff. At Nick's, we have 1500 sq feet to fill up-- we are able to use all of our furniture, and our room and closet are like twice the size they were. We are pretty comfortable for now... and in a few months we will begin looking seriously for houses! :o)

Now Christmas! I took Brynn to see Santa at Macy's on Friday. She LOVED him. No tears, just a lot of intense looks. The line was long, but well worth the wait!

Our family is so blessed! We had good food, family time, and a great first Christmas for Brynnie Boo. She is near impossible to bring to church... she doesn't want to just be held. She wants to go, go, go. On Christmas Eve Dan and I took turns taking her out and letting her crawl around. She sure was a ball full of energy. Christmas Day she had so much fun with Dan's cousin Berit. She played with Brynn pretty much the whole day, which was nice for me to have a little break :) Dan's Aunt and Uncle live on White Bear Lake, so we also brought our skates over because the lake is like glass! It was so nice.

Dan had Monday, Tuesday, and today off of work, which has been nice to spend time together. We went to the Mall of America yesterday-- it was so crazy. Today we are just going to putz around here, do laundry, clean, and make spaghetti for dinner. I am going to try and enjoy the little bit of time left that I have home with Brynn before I head back to work. After New Year's, I am going to seriously really hit my capstone hard. I am all registered and want to be done by time next school year begins so I get a nice little bump in pay :)

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! I will leave you with some video!

A lot of Change... And Stress!

Ok. I have not been the best with updating the blog. I had started a week ago, and stopped because I feel like all I had to say was so boring! It is officially December and we have snow on the ground (finally). I just finished up with the first trimester of school. Hard to believe! Ia m looking forward to the next because I get to teach astronomy and the kiddos LOVE it. I didn't get to teach it last year since I was on bed rest/ maternity leave... So I will be refreshed :)

Speaking of bed rest... December 10 was my last day of work last year and the day I was put on bed rest. One week into tri 2. Hard to believe! Hopefully we don't get a massive snow storm again next weekend like we did last. My shower was cancelled due to it... We are planning on moving out of our home next weekend so snow would not be good. Which means we have a renter! We are just waiting on the signing of the lease but it is pretty official! It is overwhelming and I have many mixed emotions about it. Going from living on our own to living with family. My grandmas house is just not going to be ready for a baby by December 15... So for now we will be with Dans dad. Saving up money in hopes to be in our own house-- not townhouse :) by the fall next year! I am glad renting our town home is an option, because it is the only we were going to be able to move!

Brynn is changing more and more each day. She is so very close to walking! She has taken a step or two and dropped to the ground. She also stands for a few seconds, then drops to her butt. Her preferable mode of moving is crawling or walking along furniture. She just cruises! Today she figured out how to put her ball into a circle on her toy... It just amazed me. I have video of it that I will post.

So, the next week will be packing/ organizing / arranging movers/ etc. today we are going to se the Trans Siberian Orchestra with my parents... Their Christmas Gift! So one last fun day before we have to work, work, work all week! My hands are raw from all the work we did at my Grandmas yesterday. We ripped up her carpet, painted, ripped out nails... Long day.

Well... Many changes to come! Here is video of Brynnie.

Sleep, Halloween, and New Tricks!

OK... so I spoke too soon. Brynn gave us a couple of decent nights sleep, and then started screaming again. I knew something wasn't right. We ended up bringing her into urgent care to get her ears checked. She had just finished her meds, but I had a feeling either her infection hadn't gone away... or it came right back. Mom was right :) She got a new prescription and so far so good (fingers crossed). She has slept pretty good this week, which makes for a happy mom and dad. She has her follow up appt tomorrow from her first infection, so we will see. I will have to let her Dr. know that she ended up getting more meds since it didn't go away. She also gets her flu shot tomorrow... no fun.

So what have the Babich's been up to? Well we took Brynnie to the apple orchard. We picked out her first pumpkin. We helped my Grandma move into her new room last weekend. We ripped all the carpet out of my Grandpa's old room, and painted it. She has been sleeping in there and she is really enjoying it. We have had our townhome for rent now for the last week and a half. Have had some interest, but no one signing a lease yet. I hope it happens soon. I refuse to leave my house before we have a renters. I don't want to pay for our mortgage and not be living here.

Brynnie enjoyed her first Halloween! We took her to the Mall of America and walked around. I didn't really want to take her trick-or-treating since I would have been the one eating the candy-- which wouldn't have been a good thing. She was a strawberry, and drew a lot of attention to herself!

Dan and I have been enjoying the start to the Wild's season. They have been playing SO SO well. We haven't been going to as many games... but it is so hard with Miss Brynn. I hate leaving her since I am away from her all day.

I am going to be a hunting widow this weekend :( I hate when Dan leaves us. I know he enjoys it, but I will admit it, I am a needy wife and like when he is here. I plan on going to the SSP Football game tomorrow night. We play St. Thomas in the section finals.... again. Brynn will get to hang out for a bit with Grandma Suzie. I have a good feeling though and I hope the boys win. Saturday Dan scheduled me for a massage and facial (I think to make the fact he is leaving this weekend a little less stressful), so that will be so nice. Auntie Shannon will be watching Brynn for me.

Sunday... maybe a little shopping?? :) I should start some Christmas shopping. I am going to really try and not go too crazy. It will be hard having Brynn.

New things Brynn has been doing:
--She waves "Bye Bye". MOST of the time when we do it with her. Sometimes she just stares at us.
-- When we lift our arms up in the air and say "SO big!", she lifts her arms up, too!! SO fun.
--Lots of baby babbles... la la la, ba ba ba, da da da.
-- Says "mama"... and I think "dada"
-- SO CLOSE to standing on her own. She has let go of things quickly and then either sat down or held back on.
--Crawling/ Standing all over the place... and walking behind her "walker" toy.

How will she be 10 months in a week?? I just love her to pieces and feel so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl.

Finally Some Sleep!

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, Brynn had her 9 month appointment last week. She is 29 inches long, 18.8 lbs. 90th % for length, and 50th% for weight. Still long and lean! At her appt we found out Brynn had an ear infection. I was relieved! I had brought her in a couple weeks before when she was sick, and nothing then. I am assuming her cold then led her to her ear infection. She was given amoxicillan, and she is acting like her normal happy self again!!

Sleep. Oh boy. Brynn got that nasty cold probably 3 weeks ago. It kept me home one day with her. Along with her cold, she was teething. Her top two are out and showing now! At the same time, she was developing her ear infection. No wonder she was not sleeping well!! It has been a long month of nights... but the last 2 nights have been awesome!! Last night, she went down about 7:30 without screaming, and didn't wake up until 4 am. I fed her, hoping she would let me sleep in since I didn't have to get up this morning. She did! Woke up at 7 am!! Yay! I hope this trend continues... because she is so much more cheery and like herself! :o)

We had conferences this week. So uneventful. Which is good! My kids this year are so so so awesome, so that is why I think they were so easy. Not a lot of issues to talk about! I am really enjoying these kids. I know I am going to be sad seeing a lot of them move on at the end of the year...

Faith (SSP Varsity Soccer team) plays to go to state tonight. For once, it isn't against Mahtomedi! They have a very good chance at making it to state. I am so happy for the girls (and a little jealous). I really hope they win, and that I am able to make it to the game if they do. The year we had the best chance of making it to state in HS, we played Minnehaha Academy in the Section Finals, and lost 2-0. They went on to win the state tournament. I still remember that game. I remember the field, what the weather was like, everything. Crazy how those things stick with you. I was fortunate at least to win a conference tournament in college, and make it to the National Tournament. Oh the glory days! I sure miss playing soccer at that competitive of a level. I think I will finally be healthy enough to play this summer. Having 2 summers off due to being pregnant/ dealing with post pregnancy issues was a bummer.

We have a guy from Renters Warehouse coming over tomorrow to look at our townhome to see how much we can rent it out for. I know we will probably take a bit of a hit and have to pay a couple hundred a month, but it is what it is. This whole situation though is so depressing. I just wish we could sell our house and buy another one-- like normal people did it 5 years ago. That was our plan. At no fault of our own, we are now in a stupid situation... I hate that we have to live with someone else for a bit of time (most likely) if we want to buy a house. If we didn't, we would be here a lot longer. We have some decisions that need to be made and made fast. If we are renting, they recommend being out by November 1st. That is just around the corner. Ugh. Stress and decisions. I hate decisions.

Today I am going to a market research interview-- I make $100!! Money for shopping :) it is only an hour and it is about diapers. What a good deal! I also have my 2nd chiropractor appt in one week... I am having issues with my shoulder/ neck. It isn't good and I am in a lot of pain. I hope I can get it taken care of.

As far as the rest of the weekend, tomorrow I should clean... maybe squeeze in some shopping :) We have the meeting with the renters warehouse guy. We also should start packing/ organizing if we go that route. Saturday I think I am watching Brynnie's friends, Liam and Sophie. My Friends Kelsey and Kevin (who watch Brynn) are taking some pictures of my other friend Amy's daughter... so I offered to watch the kiddos for them-- the least I can do for them watching my Brynnie everyday... which I know I say all the time, but it is going wonderfully!!! She just loves Kevin... and they all seem to be enjoying her! :)

I think that is all I have for now... here is a video of Miss Brynn from yesterday.

9 Months... Busy, Busy, Busy!

The only reason I am up still is because I am watching Castle. Otherwise, I would typically be in bed. Life has been so busy! Work is going well... Wild season has started... And I am busy chasing Brynn around! She is quite the mover. I am sure it is just a matter of time before she is standing/ walking on her own. She walks all along the couch/ coffee table. It is so fun. She is also starting to copy things we do, and Clapping my hands when put them out. She just is so curious and learning so much. She loves Cheerios Her sleeping has been up and down... Last couple of nights have been good! Hopefully we are turning a corner.

Brynn now has 4 teeth! This is another thing that I think is affecting her sleep. Now that her top two are through and visible... I think that has helped. Hopefully the most painful part is done.

We have her 9 month Appt on Thursday, so I will have to be sure and post her stats after it.

We went to the Wild home opener on Saturday. What a fun game! They look so great. I am excited for what is to come this season.

Other than that not much is new. Looking forward to the cooler weather again. This heat has been crazy. Us Minnesotans are never happy with the weather... Also am planning a trip to the apple orchard this weekend! Forecast looks great :)

Life as a Working Mom

Whoa. I have always had an idea of what life was like for the life of a working mom... or so I thought. I have a whole new appreciation for them. There is not enough hours in the day!! Now that Brynn is no longer stationary, and pulling herself up on EVERYTHING, it is so hard to get stuff done! Not to mention when I get home from working all day, the last thing I want to do is laundry, scrub toilets, dishes, etc. All I want to do is cuddle and play with Brynn. I have been trying to do more work at home as well instead of staying longer at school, because I want to enjoy some time with Brynn before she goes to bed. I am sure we are just going through an adjustment period, and as soon as I figure out what works, something will change!

Speaking of change... I have been SO stressed lately. I think I have written about us deciding to rent out/ sell our townhome. Well, we have come to decide our best option right now is going to be renting it out. So, we will be moving in with my Grandma for a few months until we find a house we want to buy. That way we can save a bit of money, and not be in a rush to find a house. On top of that, we plan on helping out my Grandma. My Grandpa passed away in March, and my Grandma has been alone since. She hates being alone, and could use us there to do things like shovel, mow the lawn, and even help with grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, and filling her car with gas. I know she is looking forward to the company. I am just stressing about moving Brynn from her familiar room/ house into a new space. She will have her own room there, and we will make it her own... but with me working, and all of our weekends just filling up, I just get stressed about how time consuming it all will be. Packing our house up, cleaning, cleaning out my Grandma's house... my Grandpa was quite the collector. It is going to be ahuge undertaking, and I know my Grandma is overwhelemed with it all, as am I. I just wish we could blink and it would be done. I am sure there will be more updates on that as we move forward with it all.

I am at home with Miss Brynn today. She has been doing so great with her "manny," as I like to call him. Kevin is so great with her, as is Kelsey in the afternoons when she is home. Brynn loves Sophie and Liam and I am sure enjoys playing with them everyday! However, she has come down with her first cold of the season. I am bringing her in today because she has a runny nose, was sneezing, but the big thing I have noticed is her eyes seem to be puffy and a little red. And she is rubbing them a lot, not just when she is tired. It may be nothing, but for piece of mind, I want to get her checked out. I hope she is better by Monday, today was not a great day for me to have to miss. One downfall of missing work as a teacher, it can really mess with your schedule and set you back.

Other than that... life has been hectic. Just trying to adjust to my new role as a working mom. Dan has had some late nights too working with Kolby and her training... so we haven't been able to connect as much as I would like either- since I am in bed so early now that I am back at work. Happy autumnal equinox! Have a great weekend :)

8 Months and a Rant

I am going to start with my rant. It is something that has been on my mind since right after I had Brynn, and I just needed to figure out when I wanted to voice my mind about it.

All of you moms out there know people always share their birth stories and ask about yours. Some women take pride in having a "natural" birth, other have no issues using drugs to ease their pain. Why is it that we as moms then are always judging eachother? Let me explain...

If you have been following my blog, you know I ended up with an emergency C-section with Brynn. It wasn't planned. It wasn't wanted. It was necessary. Why is it then when I say I had a c-section when I am asked about her birth, I feel like I need to explain and defend myself? I get this look from some moms like "oh... that is too bad." Almost like I am less of a mother for it. I should not feel like I have to explain that my c-section was an emergency. I am THANKFUL for the technology that is in place that allowed my doctor to determine a c-section was necessary. If our modern day technology had not existed, Brynn would not be here today. If I had not trusted in my doctors and refused a c-section like so many mothers say to do, I would have been putting Brynn's life at risk and again, she wouldn't have survived delivery with her cord wrapped around her neck four times.

I usually don't use my blog as a space to preach... but this was something that just had really irked me. Having a home birth or natural birth for some moms is what they want to do. Is it something I would choose to do? No. But I don't judge them for it. I am and was happy giving birth in a hospital. I was in a place that I felt comfortable, and could quickly be helped in the case of an emergency. I went into labor hoping and praying for a healthy baby most importantly, and also wanting the experience of a vaginal birth. No, I didn't get the delivery I wanted, but Brynn was healthy, perfect, and beautiful, and in the end... isn't that what matters?

OK. Switching gears :) Brynn is a big 8 month old tomorrow! No major milestones since last entry... just crawling like crazy and trying to pull herself up on everything... so she has a huge bruise right now on her forehead from that! She and I both survived her first week of daycare. School went great, and I have some amazing kids this year. I think it is going to be a really good year.

I need to upload some pics to the computer. I haven't been takinng as many since I have been back at work the last 2 weeks. I finally get a pay check this week so that is exciting, too! I will try to get some up tomorrow or early this week.

With tomorrow being 9.11, please remember our fallen heros and our men and women who are overseas protecting us, as well as the ones right here on our own land protecting us from hatred. God bless them and all their families.