See Ya Next Year

Just as I did last year HERE, I am going to share with you the wonderful life recap from 2012 in the world of Gail, Puff, and Bimmer!

 

January: Best way to start off a new year? Have an ultrasound and find out that Bimmer has girl parts! It also doesn't hurt if you go to see Dennis Miller's live stand-up either. Oh yeah, and no more boats!

 

February: Traveled to Columbia to celebrate Rach's birthday and otherwise, stuck around the house, shopped for baby gear, and enjoyed the unseasonably warm year. In fact, Puff has repeatedly mentioned he liked having me home and bored because I raked most of the yard!

 

March: Traveled home to The Fort to have maternity photos done with our favorite photog and had Bimmer's first baby shower with all my besties in the world!

 

April: Met the BIL and nieces & nephews in Atlanta around Easter, celebrated with another shower for Bimmer with my college girls in Columbia, and lugged my pregnant ass around several festivals and car shows.

 

May: Forget anything else that happened that month... Bimmer was born. BEST. MONTH. EVER.

 

June: Doted on Bimmer and kissed her every chance I got. I loved being a mom. Kimhead came to visit for a few days to help me get in the groove. Puff got to celebrate his first father's day. More festivals and car shows... this time with a stroller.

 

July: Bimmer picked up 7 states by 7 weeks old and got to dip her toes in the Gulf of Mexico. We visited my mom in Florida and the rest of my family in The Fort. Bimmer got to meet her extended family and was loved by all!

 

August: Puff and I had a fabulous date night to the Laugh Your Asheville Off Comedy Festival. It was also the month I got my new job! We started interviewing nannies as I tried to hold back tears about leaving Bimmer.

 

September: I packed in all the last minute lunches, shopping excursions, and naps with Bimmer on my chest that I could, since I started back to work full-time. After a few days of getting the groove, I loved it!

 

 

October: Our whirlwind month of taking in just about every car show, festival, and fair there is in the state. My favorite time of the year!

 

November: I typically hate November. There's always work chaos and MIL ridiculousness. While that was still the case, we pushed it aside and enjoyed ourselves. We celebrated Puff's birthday and spent Thanksgiving with our family in The Fort.

 

December: The month started out rough with an insane client at work and then Grandma passing away. It improved through the holidays though. Having Bimmer to pull me through was my saving grace. Seeing her in awe at light displays and giggling while ripping open paper (and then trying to eat it) made this the best Christmas ever. I just know it will get even better from here!

 

With Bimmer, NYE is going to be non-existent. But as my avid readers and friends know, that's not really a big deal. I look forward to a long weekend with my family. And Bimmer gets to look forward to Operation Cry it Out: Round 2.

Project 52 - Week 31

 

Wow, if I thought hitting 30 weeks felt like a milestone, then I had NO idea what was in store for us this week!

 

Besides it being Bimmer's first Christmas and another trip back up north to The Fort, she started crawling. Yup... we are officially mobile!

 

As you know, she has been trying for over a month to get the right momentum to get going forward. She was playing on the floor right before Christmas and I sat my laptop on the floor. That was the last bit of motivation she needed and she scooted herself across the room to it. Since then, she hasn't mastered the speed and still gets caught up on her feet sometimes, but for the most part, she's got it!

 

I am choosing to ignore the few times she has pulled herself up on boxes or up at the coffee table. Nope... she is not old enough to stand yet. I will push her down!

 

We also went through a round of RSV. After her ear infection when visiting The Fort, I got her into see her doc when we got back and she had a mild case of RSV, so we are still monitoring her slight cough. But she definitely seems to be feeling a lot better!

 

It was also the first week where I noticed that if I took something from her, she cried, and when I gave it back, she stopped. I probably took it away from her about 8 times just to make sure I was actually witnessing that. Oh, we are so in trouble!

 

Lastly, we have started trying some more "real people" food, I guess. She is now taking the little puffs pretty regularly, although she sometimes tries to swallow them hold, so we have to break them in half. Same with the little yogurt melts. She has tried tiny little bites of some bread, waffles, a croissant, plain spaghetti, and a few spoonfuls of hummus. We have officially nixed any food with carrots, since she has decided she doesn't like them. But her new favorite food seems to be mangos. Weighing in at almost 19 1/2 pounds, she definitely likes to eat!

 

Here's hoping next week's update isn't as long and eventful. Mommy needs her to slow down for a little while to let all this soak in!

A Kimhead Christmas

Bimmer got to have her first glimpse of Christmas! Kimhead came to town at the start of December and Bimmer got to open some awesome presents from her Auntie! She did even master ripping the paper. Well, after she had a good go at licking it and trying to eat the small pieces. So... a photo dump of her first taste (literally) of the holiday season!

Celebrate the Life

As you read HERE, my grandma passed away recently. It wasn't sudden. We knew it was coming sooner, rather than later. But just because you know it's coming doesn't make it any less difficult.

I flew home early Friday morning and spent the day with my dad cleaning out her house. Although we didn't even make a dent. I gathered up things that were mine she was storing (like VHS tapes from my childhood and my high school letter jacket) and I packed away a few mementos of things that were hers I wanted to keep. I snagged some pieces of local pottery, some awesome old tin photos, and her teddy bear from the 1930s.

(This is where I would insert the photo I found of her as a toddler with her teddy bear, but my scanner/printer has been down for a few months and we just haven't had time to fix it.)

The funeral was Saturday morning and it's just the creepiest feeling in the world to walk into a room and see your dead grandma laid out in front of you. I seriously hate open caskets. It does nothing but give me goosebumps. I don't want that to be the last image I have in my brain of Grandma. I want to remember her alive. So I chose to stay out of the line of sight as best as possible.

 

It was a morning full of awkward hugs and handshakes from people I didn't know. There was small talk about Bimmer and my job and how much Grandma meant to other people. My dad did a sweet eulogy and I didn't cry until he started talking about the bond Grandma had with Bimmer. The graveside service was quick and to the point. It was then I discussed with a family friend that I want a Viking funeral... push me out on a lake on a wooden raft and set me on fire. That would be a badass way to go.

Oh - and did I mention they played Robbie Williams during her service? Yup... his "Swing While You're Winning" album of his covers of old standards. I loved it!

Puff and I turned right back around and drove back to The Fort a few days later, but it was a good decision for me to make the trip solo. I was able to focus on getting things done and not having to worry about inappropriate timing of Bimmer's squeals during the funeral. However, I was ready to get back to her and snuggle her and squeeze her. She was the light of Grandma's life, and she is my world. I know we will all see Grandma again in Heaven one day. Knowing that and seeing Bimmer, who reminds me so much of my Grandma, keeps me at peace. I know it helped her go peacefully as well.

Project 52 - Week 30

 

For some reason, hitting 30 weeks just seems like a major milestone. I have fewer weekly photos ahead of us than behind us. That makes Mommy a little sad. I love doing these weekly photos! (Don't worry... even after Project 52 is over, I still plan to do monthly photos through until she's 2!)

 

With Grandma passing away, lots of travel, crazy work schedules, and car repairs, Bimmer hasn't probably gotten all the attention this week she deserves. She has become very clingy (to both me and Puff) and cries immediately when we leave the room. Breaks my heart! However, when we are playing with her, she is SOOOOOO close to crawling! I know I've said that for a few weeks, but now I really mean it. She has made a few forward movements and now easily goes from sitting to her hands/knees, and back again.

 

We visited her "classroom" at "school" this week too. She is going to be the youngest in her room (the oldest is 13 months) so I am having a lot of anxiety about it. She did want to get down to play with the toys and smiled at the teacher, so hopefully that means she will adjust OK. They already had her crib ready and her name and birthday on the wall. Her little hook for her spare clothes was labeled too. We dropped off her diapers and wipes, so she's ready to go on January 2nd when we officially start. It looks like we are going to have to start some snack foods and work on her holding her bottle though. I am hoping that since she's the youngest, she will get MORE attention than the getting left behind I fear.

 

She'll probably see the other kids walking and decide she needs to just skip crawling all together! I also won't put it past her to become the trouble maker/instigator in the class. I just have a feeling. Mommy's instinct.

Light it Up

Everyone on Facebook seemed to be posting photos of their gorgeous Christmas trees. I also work in a building that has immaculate professionally decorated trees all over. My poor little tree at home is in serious need of an upgrade.

 

Perhaps I'll stalk some after Christmas sales in a year or two (because gosh darnit, I just don't have the energy to worry about it this year) and buy us a new, fuller, pre-lit tree. In the meantime, the one we have will just have to work. And it does work. Because it's not what the tree looks like, it's the ornaments on it that mean something and the time spent in front of it with Puff and Bimmer.

 

I am such an ornament hoarder. I actually have boxes somewhere in storage of ornaments that belonged to my great-grandmother. I just can't resist them! I inherited all the ornaments from my childhood, but I'm slowly weeding out the ones with no sentimental value. Now, Puff and I do our best to get ones from our travels and one each year with our names on it. Bimmer got a very fancy-pants Lenox ornament from my mom for her first Christmas.

 

So after all that babble... some photos of our trees from recent years. Yeah, they pretty much all look the same, don't they? Oh, and that little light-up elf? I've had that since I was a baby. There are photos of me with it on my first Christmas. It belonged to my great-grandma, and now Bimmer can enjoy it too!

Seriously?!?

Looks like I am being forced to take an unplanned leave of blogging absence. At least for a few days.

When I was back in The Fort on Friday, Puff somehow ended up getting a virus on my computer. It has basically frozen my laptop and you can't get past it on the front screen to get to anything else.

Yes, my laptop with all my photos since Bimmer was born. Some of which are not backed up yet.

I am trying my best to not have a panic attack and/or not murder Puff over this.

Here is hoping we can get it resolved quickly and that nothing will get lost or damaged.

If it does, expect many (manymanymanymanymany) tears.

And no matter how it all goes, expect my photo saving process to become even more intense!

I will be back as soon as I can!