Life According to Lennox

I have not updated my blog in forever & the reason is, well, I’ve had a LOT on my plate! Mid-June, I went to Michigan for 2 weeks. Tyson came with us for the first few days, to make sure I could survive the flight, & then it was just Lennox & me. We spent our time between Traverse City, Houghton Lake & Munising. It was relaxing & solo-parenting went so very smoothly… Lennox even took a nap on the flight home (unheard of!).  The worst thing about it was being away from Tyson for so long. Lennox was visibly upset when we would say bye-byes to daddy on Skype… & it broke my heart.

We came home to Tyson, having cleaned the house (complete with fresh flowers), done repairs & painted our bedroom! The day after we got home was Tyson’s birthday & was a milestone for me: I was 100% done with breastfeeding. It is hard to believe I made it 15 months, when I had no expectations at all going into it. That weekend was such a nice reunion & as we started to get back into a routine, we had another little surprise awaiting us. I found out I was PREGNANT… AGAIN. So, I had been meaning to update my blog about my trip, but there was this huge elephant in the room… how could I not mention something that huge? So, after finally getting the okay from hubs to spill the beans, the first thing I wanted to do was write about it.

We found out we were pregnant on the exact same day that we found out with Lennox. Crazy, huh? Two years ago, after having tried to conceive for awhile, Tyson said his birthday wish was that I would get pregnant. We found out the very next day & ironically it had come true. There has always been a joke about being careful what you wish for on your birthday :) so when we woke up the day after Ty’s birthday this year… we had a chuckle about it. It sparked the conversation about having another baby, not thinking in a million years that we would be going to the store & buying a pregnancy test later that day. But for some strange reason, the thought crossed my mind about how weird it would be if I was pregnant & we ended up at Target later that afternoon…. & with a positive pregnancy test later that night. We are super excited, especially to not have to go through the stress of trying to have a baby month after month. God has truly blessed us with another miracle.

I was super worried about dealing with morning sickness & having to run after a toddler 24/7… but again, I have lucked out considerably. I have had a few nauseous days here & there but nothing nothing nothing compared to what I went through last pregnancy. As a matter of fact, this pregnancy has been the polar-opposite of my last one & it is kinda freaking me out! I am the type of person who likes to know what to expect & all these different symptoms (or lack of symptoms) are catching me off-guard. It’s definitely not all roses by any means, but it is so much easier to get through each day. Another harsh reality has been the scale! Last time around, I lost a bunch of weight because I was so sick… having only gained 18lbs TOTAL by the time I delivered. Hahahaha…. that’s def not the case. I went to the doctor today & had to remind myself that this is a whole new ballgame. I feel like I’m 4 months pregnant & I’m only 10 weeks :)  My due date was pushed back to March 2nd (Lennox was born on March 11) so they’ll be almost exactly 2 years apart.

PS- Heart rate was 171 today. I think Lennox’s was in the 140’s.

Sooo, now you know the news & why I was avoiding a life update. Hope to have some more updates soon :))

Tessa

June hasn’t even started yet & I’m already wrapped up in the craziness of it. I am foreshadowing not a lot of blogging in the upcoming month (what else is new?). I will be in Michigan for 2 weeks! That may seem like an awesome chunk of time to get away from home & kick up my heels… but my life revolvessss around being home. I love being home & I love the routine-ness of it. I neverthought I’d be caught dead saying that, but let’s be honest- I’ve changed A.LOT. in the last year (thanks to my mini-me).

Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited about going to Michigan. I haven’t had two weeks to visit everyone in, well, never. I feel like I’ve finally scheduled a trip back home where I will be able to sit down for 5 seconds and catch up. It will be a challenge solo-parenting but Lennox has done amazing each & every time we’ve trekked to the Mitten… so I’m trying not to worry.

This coming week I have 3 (yes, three) baby-free date nights of sorts. I’m pretty sure this is a record & pretty sure I am ready to hand L over to whomever will take her. Remember when I said that Lennox “grew up” in Hawaii?! It was true- she has graduated into the “terrible twos” and she isn’t even 15 months old. She definitely throws tantrums regularly- she uses the power of her lungs when she doesn’t want to be the in the stroller, carseat, or grocery store. Lennox points at something & if isn’t given the said object immediately, she melts down quicker than the Wicked Witch of the West. HALP! She is also going through separation anxiety, in which I am not allowed to leave her peripheral vision without a tantrum. Sooo, needless to say- single Tessa time is beyond needed.

Also, this week, my sister is planning on visiting for a bit. She is in the Seattle area (from Montana) & I am thrilled to see her! I am hoping to pack for mine & Leni’s 14-day excursion this weekend… and if you aren’t aware- Michigan weather in June could easily include sun, rain, and snow. Next week, I will be running around with my head cut off- planning {early} father’s day suprises (since we will be away from Tyson on daddy day), and getting a long list of gifts together for all of the celebrations that we will be missing while we are gone. We get back on the 23rd & our crazy schedule starts without delay: the 24th includes a well-child check-up in the morn, a playdate (for 15+ kiddos) at my house in the afternoon, & Ty’s birthday celebration at night. The next day we are off to Chelan for 3 days to spend some time on the lake & watch Ty’s cousin get married. Seriously? That is June, folks. 

I am very excited to kick off the summer & I’m ready for the cool weather to take a hike. Currently, Lennox’s favorite things on the planet are birds, fish & swings… so it shouldn’t be hard to fulfill her wildest dreams. Stay tuned for pics from our park date with grandma & grandpa. The love she has for her grandparents (& swings) is to die for!

So, I’m breaking my Hawaii post into three parts- the bad, the better & the best. Let’s get the bad news out of the way quickly so I can end my vacation with happy thoughts. It’s funny that all the things I “worried” about regarding traveling with a 14-month old turned out to be WAY worse than I could’ve imagined. And all the stuff that I didn’t worry about turned out to be way more FUN than I imagined. Moral of the story: no worries!

THE BAD:

I knew flying with a toddler was going to be a challenge… but Lennox is not your average toddler. She must be walking, climbing, dancing, moving or crying at. all. times. We brought books, toys & an arsenal of emergency entertainment items like the dvd player, iphone & ipad. We brought all her favorite bribe foods and her entire bedtime routine condensed into a tiny airplane version. But still- six hours in a metal tube was a lot more exhausting than we could plan for. The flight to Hawaii didn’t leave until 10:30am, so we got Lennox up at 8am & headed to the airport. By the time the plane took off it was nap time… was nap time. Lennox’s normal schedule is: Awake for 2.5 hours, Nap, Awake for 3.5 hours, Nap, Awake for 3 hours, Bedtime. It is so consistent that I swear I could leave & she could still do it by herself. On the rare occasion that we have a doctor appointment or something, Lennox has stayed up for 4-5 hours at a time… but it’s not pretty.  I thought nap time on a plane might be tough, but it took 2 hours to get her to sleep. 2 hours of rocking, walking around, reading books, nursing/bottle combo & any other tricks we could think of. She slept for just under an hour & was a happy (yet still squirmy) baby for the remainder of the flight.

By the time we got our rental car, it was an hour past nap time again, so I thought she would for sure fall asleep in the car. What was I thinking? We were in Maui! We were in the 85 degree sun & heat! We were on vacation! And Lennox was a party baby all over again. Fine- I figured as soon as we got to the hotel, we’d easily put her down for a snooze. Ahem, I don’t think so. When we got to the hotel, our room was not ready for over an hour. Awesome. When we got to our hotel room, we found out there were no curtains, only “shutters” that did not block sunlight at all. We also realized that there was no partition or any type of wall to block Lennox from seeing us in the crib. So, that nap that I was so sureee she’d easily take? Yeah, that turned into Lennox staring at us, screaming bloody murder in the bright ass room. Again, awesome. 

If you know me, you know that I stress out. About everything… especially my kid’s sleep. So, I was ready to come home. Yup, ready to get back on that metal tube & deal with the 6 hours of misery all over again. Just for a freaking nap. I am beyond crazy. So glad we stuck it out, though. Tyson started to weave towels & robes through the shutters, we moved the couch & stacked our luggage…. and went to the store to buy tacks. We hung the extra sheets from the ceiling fan & spent wayyy too long trying to keep the sunlight out before we realized that we have a ginormous bathroom with NO windows ;) Lennox stayed awake for almost 10 hours & suprisingly I was more of a wreck than she was. I envisioned bedtime going a lot like the previous nap attempts, but she passed out within 5 minutes & didn’t wake up until morning (5:30am is early, but I’ll take it!) Who knew that dark, echoey bathroom was the key to a wonderful vacation- every single nap, every single bedtime was easier than at home. She was a sleeping rockstar.

Skip ahead to the flight home (omg, it gets worse!). Lennox had taken pretty late naps during the whole trip, so I figured that she would wake up from her nap our last morning just in time to check out of the hotel. Wrong. She took a short nap & we still had over 5 hours before our flight left- so we ran into the exact problem as before. She didn’t nap in the car or at the airport & though that the “bedtime routine” on the plane was a joke. She ended up lightly dozing for 20 minutes after being awake for over 6 hours straight. Unfortunately, we still had 4 hours left on the plane with an exhausted babe. Since it was a very late flight (we didn’t arrive in Seattle until 11:30pm) the lights in the cabin were off & people were trying to sleep! Lennox was squirmy & wanted to run all over the place…. until things took a turn for the worse. She became really whiny & cuddly (shocking!) & we realized that she had a fever. We assumed that it was due to the molar that she had finally cut the day before, but seriously? 2 hours to go with a feverish toddler- get me off this plane!  We eventually landed & got our bags & was in the car by 12:15am. Lennox could barely keep her eyes open, but we finally got her to bed at 1am. Seeing that she had been awake all day (& she slept SO good the first day in Maui when she was that exhausted) I totally thought she would fall in love with her crib & sleep until noon. Again, wrong (I’m sensing a theme here). She woke at 1:30, 2:00, 2:30 & 5am. She was a hot feverish mess & was tense and shaking while I was rocking her to sleep. I felt so bad for her. Needless to say, she is a grump ball today & we are off to the doctor to get her fever checked out.

THE BETTER:

If you exclude the actual traveling, our trip was SO fun. Again, I “thought” that this Hawaiian vacation would be similar to our last trip with Leni: a lot of time spent in the hotel, not a lot of time spent at the pool. I was wrong :) Lennox loved the sun. She loved looking at everything around the resort. She loved taking walks. She did awesome in her high chair at meals (& she ate like a champ!) She napped so well (like 2 hours at a time, for real!) that mommy & daddy were able to get too much sun. We took turns having pool time while one person was in the hotel during nap time. And even being stuck in the hotel was relaxing (hello, hulu!) I realized how much fun a 14-month old is! She was so inquisitive, even learning more words (fishy & birdy)… and being genuinely interested in the wildlife all around her. She knew her way around the resort- she could find the koi ponds & fountains/waterfalls with her eyes closed. And she was a professional elevator-rider. I can’t even describe how cute she was on the elevator. (Pretending) to push the buttons & open the doors slayed me. 

The first few days of our trip, Tyson & I led pretty separate schedules. I had a massage on the first morning (I won’t even tell you how amazing it was, but take my word- best. massage. ever.) & Ty had surfing lessions the second morning. So, pool time with Lennox was done solo. Lennox was not a huge fan of the pool. She whined & whimpered & put a serious face on… but didn’t protest too much. The ocean was a whole different ball game. You couldn’t even put your feet in the sand without an all-out meltdown, complete with tears & shaking fear. She didn’t even like the sand at the kid’s pool. Weird. That is, until, our last full day when Tyson & I took Leni to the pool together. She loved having mom & dad right next to her in the water. She walked in the kiddie pool by herself! She laughed all the way down the lazy river & she even went down the water slide. Of course, she became a water baby on our last day :) But it was awesome family time, eating lunch by the pool & camping out under an umbrella- what I envisioned my Hawaii vacation to be like!

So, forgetting the “traveling” days- we had such a wonderful time. I am positive that flying with a kiddo in tow is just going to get easier as she gets older. The pool is going to be more fun, naps are going to be less hectic & I won’t have to bore you with the first half of this post ever again :)

I am hoping that Lennox is now an airplane pro, because we are flying to Michigan in 2 weeks! I just have to keep telling myself not to worry about it- because it’s probably going to be nothing like I plan anyway!

THE BEST:

And the best part of this post is here: pictures! How can you resist a little girl in pigtails or a swim suit :) To freaking die for.

Hello again! I’ve been slow with the updates recently, but pics were taken in the last few days that documented our wonderful weekend! On Saturday, I participated in the March for Dimes walk for babies! Having to be in Tacoma at 7:30am, I didn’t even attempt to wake Lennox up early (nor did I think for one second that she would sit peacefully in her stroller for 2+ hours). I missed my babe, but it was so nice to meet new mama friends & ogle at their cute kiddos without worrying about the inevitable meltdown by Miss L. We walked {more than} 4 miles and I had an awesome time joining the hundreds of others who helped support such a great cause. I mean, seriously, how can you say no to babies?!

Our team was “Bloggers for Babies” (a group of PNW mama bloggers) & since I am a serious slacker with my blog, I thought I better represent a little & post some pics of the awesomeness that took place on Saturday morn (um, & have some evidence that I got my exercise on!)

March for Babies Walk- April 30, 2011: our inspiration!!

Bloggers for Babies :) This was near the end of the walk, so if we are sweaty- mission accomplished!

Chatting with a new mama friend, Andrea, and her little man, Griffin.

Standing around on the job? (just pretend you didn’t see this!)

What is better than meeting up with new mama friends in honor of babies? Meeting up with mama friends for happy hour, of course! After a shower & semi-recovery, a few of the ladies went out for dinner & drinks in downtown Bellevue. Tyson definitely gets the daddy of the year award for hanging out with Lennox all day & I knowww Leni loved every second of it. I left a little early so I could make it home for bedtime & give L goodnight smooches, but not without laughing my butt off & getting in a few pics first!

Look at all these hot mamas!

We were def the most fun ladies in downtown Bellevue on Saturday :)) For someone who doesn’t get out much without a 3ft munchkin on her ankles, spending some time with these lovely gals was just what I needed to make for a fabulous weekend!

Lennox is 13 months old, oh my! In the last few days, she has grown up so much (I know I always say that)… but I am seriousss this time.  She bought her ticket on the toddler train & she means business.  I honestly know what people mean when they say that your child will be in college before you know it. Lennox is 13 months, going on 30.

My brain is all melty from taxes & I don’t remember if I updated you about Lennox’s journey into the wonderful world of walking. She took two steps the week before her birthday… & was up to 6 steps the day before her birthday. Her walking consisted of us plopping her down & cheering her on as she walked from mom-to-dad or dad-to-mom. She did this for about 2 weeks before she took the reigns and began walking from point A to point B by herself. Still, it was small areas: the couch to the tv, her crib to her dresser, ect. This past weekend was when everything changed: she took off! Lennox loves to walk everywhere. Today, she walked from the kitchen table, around the corner, all the way to the front door. Yes, it was shaky… but she didn’t fall! We have been taking walks outside, holding hands the entire way to the mailbox! So, since today is Leni’s 13th month birthday, I can officially say that she walked when she was 12 months old :)

I have been slacking on the milestone updates, so I have put together a list of everything that Lennox can do (or everything that I can think of at the moment!).  It blows my mind at how much she understands… like entire sentences. You can always tell when she comprehends something because she gives a little squeak & a smile. So, here goes: 

- her favorite thing, hands down, is to give kisses & hugs. She will kiss ANYTHING… even the trash can or the toilet paper. She hugs her stuffed animals (& pieces of paper!). The cutest thing in the UNIVERSE is when she is playing with her toys, crawls over & gives you a big open-mouth kiss, and crawls back to resume playing. I die.

- She waves like a pro. Lennox will wave if you say “hi”, “wave”, or “bye-bye”. Usually she doesn’t wave under pressure, but as soon as you aren’t looking the double-arm-wave comes flying :)

- She claps on command. When you are changing L’s diaper & you tell her to “clap her feet” she grabs her feet, giggles, and claps them together. Best trick ever! She can also “stretch”… lifts her hands above her head. She gets a big smile on her face after naps when we both stretch together :)

- She can “dance” and “spin”… which are both hee-larious! The spinning is new… she sits on her bum & spins around and around. She gets dizzy & falls over or bumps into things. Video-taping this never gets old. We have been practicing somersaults with Lennox & she is so good! She stands up & we tell her to “put your head down” and she bends in half so we can flip her legs over. She loves it. That girl is so smart.

- Lennox is learning her body parts. She put her hands on her head & over her ears when you ask her to. When you say “feet” she looks at her feet. She understands “take your shoes off” and “take your socks off” and will stop whatever she is doing to tug & tug at her socks & shoes. She also lifts up her feet when you say “shoes & socks on”. Lennox lifts up her shirt to find her “belly button” but prefers lifting up mom & dads shirts to see theirs (not a good habit! ha!).

- She knows “kitty”, “baby”, “dolly”, “book”, “mama”, “dada”, “hailey”, “bath”, and “outside”… and when you ask her to point at these things she will gladly become obsessed with said object.

- We have taught her the sign for “all done” and should really start teaching her more. Her all-done sign is basically her waving her hands above her head shouting “ah ah ah”… but you get the point ;) Lennox smacks her lips together when she sees you preparing food or making a bottle. She also smacks her lips together when she wants another bite. It is our way of knowing that she is hungry and/or excited for the food. She will also grab her cup & take a sip when you ask her to “drink your water”.

- She is currently obsessed with “dump it on your head”, followed by “put it away”… haha! She constantly dumps a puzzle or mega blocks out & then puts the pieces back in the box. She is just slightly getting the hang of actually putting the pieces back onto the puzzle (we have a 3-piece puzzle & that’s about as much as she’ll do).

- She mimics “I love you” and sounds soo close. I can totally tell that she is saying it. She also says “Hailey” which sounds like “ayyyeee”… it is so cute.

I am sure she understands far more than I give her credit for. I really need to pay attention & write everything down. But this is a good idea of how grown up our little gal is getting. So exciting to see all the new changes. I can’t imagine what comes next now that she is walking. I am hoping to have an update next week after tax season is all wrapped up. So, until then- one last happy 13-month birthday to my little sugarplum :))

I may actually have a few minutes of freedom (until the wee one wake up)… so I will dish the deets on Lennox’s first birthday party! I have so so so much to update on, but one thing at a time, okay?!

To say that I’ve been busy this last month is an understatement. And to add “throwing a party for 20 people” on the to-do list quickly turned me from Tessa to Stressa. But everything turned out great. My mom flew into Seattle from Michigan the week before so we had a few days to run errands and get everything prepared. 

The menu consisted of fruit kabob skewers (stuck in 1/2 a pineapple), a veggie tray, hye roller turkey sandwiches from Costco, spinach feta puff appetizers (Costco), mini crab cake appetizers (QFC) and various beverages. We also served cupcakes with flavors such as: red velvet, carrot cake, chocolate mint, boston creme, neopolitan, lemon chiffon, and cookies n cream. The specialty cupcakes were from QFC bakery & I’m pretty sure I ate half a dozen myself ;)

For decorations, I purchased a “Vintage Cupcake” theme from www.dimpleprints.com, which included a “do-it-yourself” adobe file that allowed you to print banners, signs, cupcake toppers, gift bags, thank you notes, stickers, beverage labels, ect. that added to the details of the party. I uploaded everything to Kinkos & easily printed decorations on cardstock! I will definately be using Etsy again for future parties! I made various banners to cascade down the stairs & a large “Happy Birthday Lennox” banner for the living room. Signs were hung around the house & gift bags for the kiddos included bubbles, stickers, play-doh and other treats. There were about 20 guests & 5 children. **I posted pictures in my last post!**

And now to the party?! Do you really want to know about the party? Lennox is not super comfortable with people coming into her house (can we say possessive?!) so if I was smart I would’ve had the party anywhere but here! When family & friends started arriving, she got a little clingy. To top things off, she was teething & had the beginnings of an ear infection. Perfect timing, I know. She wanted me to hold her & did not want me to visit with anyone. I’m pretty sure daddy & cousin Hailey were the only people allowed within 3 feet of her. Good thing her cousin likes to open presents… Hailey was a great distraction while everyone was staring at her to see all the cool stuff she got! Unfortunately, Hailey couldn’t do the “cupcake smash” for Lennox & all the people watching her caused her to immediately try to climb out of the high chair. FAIL! 

Needless to say, I will never forget Lennox’s first birthday (And I will never let her forget!)… It was pretty much a disaster. As soon as a few people started to leave, she warmed right up, of course! She cut her tooth a few days later, battled a small cold & ear infection… and was her happy self later that week. We are surely busy with our one year old! She started taking steps the day before her birthday & I am so thrilled that my mom & sister got to witness her first “walk” across the room. The official “one-year” update is to come! So much to catch up on, so little time!