6 Days Shy of One Year Old

I can't believe that a year ago today we were waiting patiently for the last week of my pregnancy to pass and for Stella to make her entrance into our world (though we didn't know she was "Stella" at that point). As I prepare for Stella's first birthday, I find myself focusing on her tiny, sweet little life thus far. Did I let her cry too much? Did I nurse her long enough? Did she get to ride in the bassinet of her stroller long enough? Did I feed her the best foods as an introduction to her culinary world? Did I hold her too much/not enough? Will she remember the time I dropped the remote control on her head? I hope and pray each day that I am the best mother to my daughter that I can be, and as we close this chapter of her first year of life, I am so grateful to the many people who helped me and Stella (and Matt) in my first journey into motherhood.

I can't stop getting choked up thinking of my sweet girl's first birthday, which is this coming Wednesday. We are having the birthday party this Sunday at our new house and the theme is Dr. Suess's "Oh, the Places You'll Go". My favorite part of the party is when Matt is going to stop and read the book out loud for all the children. With his commanding voice, I know the kiddos will be mesmerized, especially his Stella:) She loves to listen to her daddy.

I can't wait to post pictures from her big day - we are very excited to have friends and family over to our new house, even though it's definitely not finished and still a work in progress! More pics from the party to follow...

As for Stella, here she is at 11 months:

 First time EVER swimming, at her new friend Charlotte's house!

 Pool pals, Charlotte and Stella

 All smiles standing!

Sweet Daddy and Stella

At 11 months, Stella is:

• sleeping through the night, duh. She goes down around 7pm and wake at 7am. I usually let her play in her crib after she wakes as she talks and coos to her stuffed animals. These sweet conversations are wonderful eavesdropping material:) I love to watch her when she doesn't know I am looking. Speaking of sleeping, just the other day she slept on her tummy for the first time. Ever. This child never rolls over in her crib if it's time to sleep. You put her down on her back and she stays there. Most of the time she scoots to the top corner of the crib but she always stays on her back. This is probably from my fear of placing her on her tummy to sleep. Regardless, the child is happy on her back. She's not pulled up on her crib yet, but just today as she was sitting up playing in her crib, I saw her awe at the discovery of what happens when she puts her hands on the crib spindles. I know the idea of pulling up is not far away. It's amazing to see these discoveries unfold right in front of her eyes.
• Eats anything and everything we put in front of her. Her favorites are chicken, lima beans, peas, hot dogs (Hebrew National All Beef hot dogs), applesauce, bananas, berries, apricots, raisins, broccoli, etc...the list goes on and on. The best part of meal time is when she gets a whiff or sees the high chair come in to view, she literally says "mmmyumyumyumyumyum" until you start to feed her. It's hilarious. And do NOT play around at dinner time with this one - she means business when its time to eat so you best be ready to put the food down on her tray and back away slowly!
• Just discovered clapping! She discovered the noise her hand makes when she lightly slaps the flat part under my colar bone. She would make the sound over and over with one hand and smile and giggle. Once she discovered she could make the sound on her own, she was over the moon! 
• Says a multitude of words and phrases, her newest one being "oh, wow", taught to her by Aunt Christine. We made her say it all last weekend and couldn't stop laughing. She also loves to say "ball".
• She is the happiest baby and a joy to be around. She loves her mommy and daddy and literally lights up when we walk into a room. Everyone she meets gushes over how beautiful she is and how happy and smiley she is for a baby. She's got a mouthful of teeth and LOVES showing her crooked smile to any and all bystanders! She's already a flirt for sure and loves craning her neck around to take a second look at interesting people. She wants to make sure they take a good look at her. Then she politely gives them an enormous crooked smile.

I'm off to dream of more first birthday party plans, as the party is only 3 days away and, in typical fashion, we are still getting the menu ready, decorations made and final house projects completed. Are you surprised? Well, you shouldn't be. I know we will have such a great time this weekend. Will post more after the big day!

More Renovations!!!

It's been C-R-A-Z-Y around here as we renovate/paint/fix up/repair parts of our house in time for Stella's first birthday party, which we idiotically decided to have at hour new home. Why did we do this?? We knew how much work it was going to take to get our house in mediocre condition for guests, but we said "hey, who doesn't like a little crazy, over-zealous project or twelve to accomplish in 2 months?!"

So, here we sit, knee-deep in saw dust and paint, trying to scramble to complete the projects already started. Let's go over some before and after shots, just because it makes me feel better:)

back porch before...

back porch during...

front entryway before...

front entry way after...

(front doors still have to be stained and sealed and our new awning and side porch lights still have to be added - yes, we are getting rid of the current light)
Side note on front doors - my husband found these at an antique store for $40 a piece. These are OLD, solid cyprus doors that probably came off an old church. My father-in-law, who is a magical craftsman and can build/refurnish/renovate ANYTHING, refinished these doors for us and made or refinished most of the hardware. All we have to do is pick our stain and seal it! He estimated have these custom doors made would cost us around $2500. I almost blacked out when he revealed this little bit of info. What are we doing? Winning. THAT'S what!

 foyer before...

foyer during...we still have to finish the wall paint and some day add wainscoting and new floors (that will be whitewashed hard wood:)

 Ahhhh...see, now I can breathe easier. Just looking at our progress makes me feel better:)

Stella's 11 months old!!

 Stella turned 11 months old yesterday and we can't believe she came into this world one month shy of a year ago. We love each milestone she meets but get a little sad watching her grow and leave behind so many baby things. I hope I have fully appreciated every stage of her life thus far. Every time I say goodbye to clothes that are too small or things that are for newborns, I worry she is missing out on things.I never claimed to be sane:)

Easter morning. Looks. exactly. like. her. Dad.

At 11 months old she weighs around 22 pounds and is wearing 12 month and 12/18 month outfits. She can still fit into some 6 month bishop dresses and dressy bubbles. She has 2 bottom teeth and 2 half top teeth that are trying to poke through, but are coming in slower than the bottom ones. This causes her some discomfort and she hums loudly when her teeth hurt. She also grins crookedly to show off her teeth, which is hilarious. She's growing lots of hair on top, which is still blond, and has a patch of strawberry blonde hair at the nape of her neck.

 Cousins Stella and Millie from Easter morning. Love these two together.

She currently takes 2 8oz bottles a day, but this month we plan to go to 1 bottle as our doctor suggested. At 12 months we will cut out the bottle all together and stick with a sippy cup or regular cup. She eats 5 small meals a day and loves chicken! I think it's her favorite. She loves to eat and moans "mumm, mumm, yummm, yumm" while smacking her lips when she sees us preparing her food. It. is. hysterical.

Stella all dolled right after her first Easter Sunday Mass.

When she gets excited she rolls her ankles around and opens and closes her hands rapidly (imagine jazz hands on caffeine) and grins. It is the cutest thing to see her daddy walk through the door from work and her eyes light up and her hands and feet go to work. She also sucks in air when she's giggling which is actually kind of strange - like a reverse exhalation, but with a raspy sound. If it makes her laugh, whatever:)

Our family outside Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church in Algiers Point, NOLA

She is sitting up on her own like a pro and scoots backwards on her tummy. She's still turned out in her hips when on her tummy, so she hasn't grasped how to stay on her knees and begin to crawl. I am happy that she likes being on her belly now. For a while, she despised tummy time so crawling was no where in sight. Now that she's scooting backwards, I think her mobility will come shortly. The child will lay on her back in her crib still set to the highest level and I know she won't roll over and pull up or roll out. Now, how long this lasts, I have no idea. But for now, she's probably the only 11 month old who doesn't sleep in a lowered crib. I try not to compare her progress to other babies, though it is hard. Our pediatrician says not to worry about it because she's met the other major milestones at 6 and 9 months old. She is very verbal and has the pincer grasp down pat. She knows when things fall or drop to the ground and looks after them showing me she knows they exist when she can no longer see them. She knows her name and she stands assisted and can bear weight on her legs with me barely holding her. My daily mantra is "She will crawl when she is ready".

Mommy and Stella in front of Aunt MCat's jasmine.

The next month will be busy preparing for her first birthday, which I am very excited about. I've got to get on the ball with prep work! Happy May to all!!!

Proof that she is, in fact, doing tummy time:)

At Elizabeth's Bridal Shower this past weekend. Yes, she smiles for the camera.