15 Months

October 13, 2014

This whole once a month blogging thing is actually difficult to keep up with everything that we've done.

What has happened in the past month can be clearly noticed by Gus and I. She is able to attach more words to objects, people, and animals. She understands questions and can give us yes or no answers. She pooped in the potty once. She said, "poop poop" to me before it happened and then I brought her over to the potty and tahdah! It is kind of funny how excited I was about it! Sierra loves playing with her toy "little people" and having them interact in her pretend world, which is quite entertaining to watch. She is OBSESSED with drawing right now, which she calls "colors." She likes it best when we color with her.

She has been able to spend a lot of time recently with her family too. We went down to visit Grammie Anne and Grandpa Jer Bear, and Great Grandma Marybeth one weekend. Auntie Lyn babysat one Saturday while Gus and I went mountain biking, and Auntie and Grammie babysat another Saturday while Gus and I went mountain biking for most of the day. We also spent one morning at Auntie Lyn's for breakfast too! Sierra has very close bonds with her California family now; she recognizes them calls them by name (Grammie and Auntie) and really enjoys seeing them (and vice versa). It has been great to observe her developing her independence and relationships with other people outside of Gus and I.

 Sierra and the "Little People," she brings them everywhere.

 Sierra has been a little better with letting us put headbands and hats on her head. We're trying to prep her for the weather change!

 Sierra and Gus picked me up from work one Friday this week. She got to check the place out.

 We picked up some art supplies from Grammie's on our trip down.

 She is getting very close to opening all of our doors on her own.

 Auntie Crystal sent her a Halloween costume!

 Park Ranger, Sierra.

 We got out for a few morning walks this month, visited the horses, and went for some bike rides.

 Sierra rode in the back of the pick-up truck with the dogs (just kidding).

 We found out Sierra is going to be a big sister.

 I got out of work early on two occasions and called our friends Sophia and Arianna to play!

 I didn't think I would be one of the moms that gives them her smartphone to play with but dang the girl likes "let it go" from Frozen.

It definitely teaches you not to judge other moms or be hard on yourself for not being the "ideal" mom that you created in your imagination. As long as you're loving and involved there's no reason to get down on your abilities or compare yourself to ideals. 

I have been lifting three times a week and trying to ride 4 times per week in one form or another, and I plan on staying as active as I can throughout my next pregnancy. I feel great right now, and have only really noticed a few of the prego symptoms starting. Heightened smell, cramping, tightness around my hip flexors (?) or possibly uterine ligaments. No nausea yet, phew, or food aversions/cravings. We're thinking baby number 2 will make their debut around mid June, but haven't had the official doctor visit yet to confirm. I know it's early to make an announcement, but that's just the way I am. Gus and I are both very happy and we are excited to see Sierra as a big sister. Chapter 2  of Pride and Pregnancy begins!

14 Months

September 12, 2014

The months just keep sliding away from us. Where on one hand so much has happened in this past month on the other, it has gone by so fast (yet again). We did a lot on our weekends, but our weekdays turned into the work week grind. As I always emphasize, I love the work that I do, but I just miss spending time with her and Gus together as a family unit. Also I still wish I was the one raising her instead of having her in day care. We are doing well though, we minimize daycare hours to less than 6 hours per day and 5 days per week.

So where have we been? What have we done? How is Sierra growing up? All of my blog followers must be wondering!

 Eating more diverse foods with all of her new molars!

Reading National Geographic to Mr. Oso.

Adventures to Tahoe for an additional 2 weekends in August were tons of fun. We feel like we were true benefactors to Anne's retirement gift rental from Jerry. One of the two weekends we spent time with Gus' best friend, Trevor, all of Jerry's kids and the grandkids (and the closest thing Sierra has to cousins too). It was a push to make it happen, but we made it work. Getting down to the lake and getting out for a hike were some of the highlights, but we all enjoyed hanging out together at the house too.

We made it up on to Tahoe again, the final weekend, Labor Day. We spent the whole weekend with Grammy Annie. Going on a few outings with the dogs to creeks, get into the lake again and a get a few hikes in for further exploration of the area. Gus and I hung out in town together while Sierra was napping one afternoon. It was a great opportunity for all of us to spend more time together and generally relax. For being so close to Tahoe for so long, I'm glad we finally got an opportunity to spend more time there.

Aunt Lyn had a birthday recently and we went out to Berryessa gap brewery and vineyard with her and her friends and had some dinner afterward in the quaint town of Winters. Sierra loves getting out and about to explore new people and places. Earlier in the day her and I went to a Sac State volleyball game. She thoroughly enjoyed running all over the place, but it made me quite aware how hard it would be to take her to sporting events while she is so active.

The week has included seeing the horses in the morning and hitting up some playgrounds around town too. She has had a cold this week (as have Gus and I) which has been changing her temperament a bit unfortunately, but she is holding up pretty well. She has tons of teeth now, says all types of words, and is as sweet as ever. She has become fairly accustomed to our daily routines, which includes (one of her favorite things) feeding the animals (dogs and chickens). She is a joy for us to be around, and we are constantly exclaiming to one another how cool she is and how in love with her we are. Our little girl just keeps on growing and keeps on amazing us. There are still some hard days when I leave her to go to work, but I don't know if that will ever change.

13 months?!

Hold up - it's already August 12, 2014??!!

I have come to recognize that this blog no longer has much of a following, which is totally okay - not that it ever did, so a 2 week hiatus didn't really phase much of anyone (except myself). But I'm back! Deciding to post once a month is more reasonable now (on the 12th perhaps).

The week before vacation consisted of a few visits down to feed the horses before work and staying around the house before work mostly. Sierra has now associated the clicking noise I make with my tongue with the horses as their official name, she even makes the noise when she sees them now.

On Friday night my friend Liz and Crystal came to town. We were all going to head up to the bachelorette party I had been planning together! Saturday morning Crystal had her bridal henna done at my house while I prepped all of the final items for the party and the wedding trip. Gus headed out early with Sierra to go to the rental house in Tahoe City with his mom, sis, and Jer Bear.

The condo I reserved for the party was perfect, it was right on the water and all 7 of us ladies had a great time spending time together over the weekend. We rented kayaks and paddle boards, did yoga, made meals, played card games and enjoyed each others company.

Gus and I used this time to jump start weaning Sierra, since I wouldn't be with her for the weekend. Apparently the whole weekend was great with Sierra seemingly unfazed. When I saw her again on Monday my heart melted and we were inseparable from that point out... a little too inseparable. Lucky for us, Crystal's brother and sister-in-law were there with their two kids, who Sierra took to right away so it gave us both time to help with the set up for the wedding.  

I also breast fed her that night. She also woke up after only 4 hours of sleep. She was up for most of the evening. We associated it with separation anxiety, but we really had no idea.  

Sierra slept during the Christian ceremony of wedding number 1, which actually worked out quite well for us actually watching it. Although she was the flower girl, the ceremony location changed and so she really had no role to perform anymore anyhow. The Sikh Indian ceremony was very nice as well, and Sierra was actually able to watch a good deal of it before we had to move her out of the room.

 Sierra's vocabulary just recently expanded at a rapid rate. She said Onkar, buddy, bubbles, pup pup, dog, ball, dah dah, mah mah, hello, hi, up, no, more (also in sign language), agua and a few other random words. It seems like she is mimicking faster more recently.

After we left on Wednesday morning from the wedding, we headed to the rental house in Tahoe City for the rest of our vacation week. We enjoyed our time hanging out with family there, and we even were able to spend some time with Liz and Andrew before they flew back to the east coast.

 It was hard not to stare at the amazing houses in the area as we went for a walk in the neighborhood.

 Sierra and I were cracking up on the walk, she couldn't stop playing with my hair while she was in the carrier.

 The view from the top of the hill was pretty epic.

 Who liked the bubbles more??

The adults or... 

the baby?

 Sierra put on quite the show for Andrew and Liz when they got there. We had never seen such a performance from her before!

 The rental gave us access to the private beach.

 Sierra has her own sense of independence. 

 Beautiful trees.

 Lovely manzinitas.

 Gorgeous lake view.

 Sierra and I got out on a hike while Gus mountain biked (we did get to ride together once).

 Halfway through I had to let her out of the pack to explore her surroundings.

Which she is always willing to do.

It's always hard coming off a vacation, but this is what we were looking forward to all summer long. It really served us all well. Spending time with close friends and family, and being in an amazing area that we love to recreate in. Sierra was happy to see our daycare provider and her 4 year old again this week, which made us both happy to see (even though it's hard to let her go). Also a big transition, weaning is officially a success. With all of the work Gus did putting her to sleep and down for naps the past week, I was able to do it on both Monday and tonight without resistance from her. It is strange giving up our quite time, but I also know in my heart that it is time. It's the acceptance that your baby is no longer a baby anymore.