Goober's 1/3 Year

this past week, my sweet Imogen passed the 4 month mark.  that's 1/3 of a year!!!...

we don't have doctor stats, but really, do you really care that much about those? i'm guessing not.  everyone is more interested in seeing that precious goobery face...and i don't, nor can't, blame them.  this post is actually proving to be harder for me to write than i thought.  mostly because i had to dig to find the one month pic, thus being "forced" to look at "old" photos of her...and realizing how fast she really is growing...and that she won't ever be that, or this, little again.  (i feel like i'm starting to sound a little "who's on first-ish", with my "that or this" and "don't nor can't")... don't get me wrong!  this little human, who no longer looks like a giant california raisin (anyone else collect those from Hardees fun meals [out here people call them Carl's Jr's]???)  she is becoming an amazing little person, who's every smile melts my heart into a giant pool of goobery ooziness.  

as you can see, i couldn't pick just ONE 4 month photo.  she just has so much personality, it's tough to capture it in just one photo.  perhaps if i was a better photographer........... (this is where you chime in..."what? you're an ah.mazing photographer...you know just how to capture the very essence of things..."...HA! yah, i'm just fishing for compliments.  it's a side effect of living in the shadow of immi now! she gets ALL the attention).  She is a wonderful combination of sweet and goobery, happy and needy, curious and cuddly...i couldn't imagine having her any other way.

notables:

1. everything goes in the mouth...everything deserves at least a taste...maybe two, right?

2. laughing- this one makes me a little sad...not becuase she laughs, but becuase with me, she only gives the chuckle.  the only person i've heard her full on laugh for is tutu.  i've tried mimicking what tutu did, but apparently it just don't fly with miss im-bot.

3. these days, our little one is rockin' the rhianna mohawk.  

4. (skip this one if talk of boobs and pumping make you squirmish)...she's nursing!  yes, it's only taken four months, but we have gone an entire day and only had to use 2 bottles the whole day!!! all the other times she nursed!  this might not be a huge deal to all of you out there...but excuse me for a short moment while i just get a little excited about this...i have been exclusively pumping, so that i can ensure that my baby has the best possible nutrition that i can offer her.  this isn't a "boob-milk is best" rant, becuase every mom does what is best for her baby, and sometimes that means formula, or donor milk, or whatever each mom decides, but for us, the pumping and bottle feeding was the route we went...anyways...if anyone has every spent anytime on a pump, you know just how "fun" it is...and how "amazing" your bubbies look.  i think my sister best described it as looking like hot dogs squished into tubes...i know T.M.I.  I gave the stats before i think...over 3 hours a day pumping...luckily for me, i've been able to reduce that time, by eliminating a couple pumpings.  my supply is ample and i get MORE than enough with the 5 pumpings.

butterfly jungle the saga continues...

tutu and boppa are in town...mama is off on mondays...and so is auntie cassidy! so what does that mean?  butterfly jungle TAKE TWO! when we were at butterfly jungle on friday, the lady wearing yellow had dozens of butterflies land on her...obviously that meant that we'd look like a walking blob of sunshinethis time around! YELLOW (and no, you're not seeing double...the girls are wearing the same shirt....these girls lack color in their wardrobe)! 

after a successful butterfly attracting session, we decided to move the safari beyond the butterfly lair, and took an african tram tour, and lunch at the oasis...mmmMmm coconut sorbet.

goober v. adorkable

knowing who her parents are, immi is bound to either be a goobery goober, or absolutely adorkable...you decide which suits her best!  

personalized onesies from Personal Creations.

butterfly jungle

i feel that in order to tell this full story, i need to share some information that i haven't shared to the majority of you before.  and sorry to start this post a little heavy...but, you'll appreciate the story for it's entiriety.  before our little love, immi, came along, i miscarried... and yes, it was sad, and affected me more than i thought at the time...but, don't feel sad for me.  i am a true believer that things happen in life for a reason, and now that immi is here, i couldn't be a bigger believer in that statement...

anyways...when it came time to take that pregnancy test again, i was nervous.  nervous that it would say "not pregnant", nervous that it would say "pregnant" and then i'd have to go through all the worry about things going wrong again.  i didn't want to tell anyone, not even adam, i was taking the test, because i didn't want to have to tell anyone what it said. SO, knowing that i wanted to take a test, i really needed to be distracted...i took off a friday and went to butterfly jungle with my cassidy and sweet rylie.  there couldn't have been a better place to just be at ease.  when a little butterfly landed on my stomach, i smiled a little.  no one knew why.  it was my little secret.  after i got home, i went straight to the bathroom, peed on that stick...and voila.  one year later, i took the sweetest, most beautiful, happy baby girl to butterfly jungle.

dear rylie.  you may not be the biggest fan of little immi right now...but i know down the road you two will be the best of friends.  you and your sweet little smile gave me the courage to take that test again...thank you.

so, of course i had to document the event!  please enjoy our short little video!

stop.

le. sigh.  this moment seems so long ago, and yet, like it was 10 minutes ago.  a squishy little ball.  she seems so much older now, yet it's been no more than a couple of months since she's entered our lives.  for me, going back to work isn't hard becuase i am worried about her...i have too many wonderfully loving people in my life willing to love her while i'm away...rather it's hard, because i'm afraid of missing out on something.  just seeing how much she's has changed and developed in such a short amount of time...i know that each moment i am away from her, she is developing, changing, growing... that both breaks my heart and excites me all at the same time.  this "mom thing" is a crazier adventure than i could have ever have imagined.  i have never been so angry about time passing so fast...never been so happy to see someone poop (after 24 hours of no poop)...

but, i'm back to work.  1 week down.  i'm only back 3 days a week until august.  i work for an awesome company that is letting me take my time coming back, and understands me needing to ease my way back in.  for me, the second day back was hardest.  adam was home the first day, so it was a little like i was just running to the store or going to play soccer...but on the second day, she was going to spend the day down at Nana's with rylie and cynthia.  i knew that she was going to be well cared for and spoiled with love, but, there was something about her leaving ME that was emotionally harder for me to handle.  maybe it's because i know that deep down that may have been the first, but definitely not the last time, she was going to leave me.  

though it's a little hard for me to admit without feeling somewhat guilty, i think i am/will enjoy being back at the office.  the days FLY by, and it is nice to feel somewhat productive (not that I don't feel productive being at home...that's an entirely different feeling of productivity).

someone posted a story on FB that seriously took the words straight out of my soul.  Instead of making this blog post super long, please take a minute to go here to read it...BecomingAmom.     

daddy love!

this blog is typically all about me and my (baby-daddy) mini, but there is most certainly another very important piece to this whole crazy life puzzle...so i just wanted to give a quick little shout out to the one who helped make this amazing little creature.  do they do maternity tests? we KNOW that she is adam's kid, but we still aren't completely sure she's mine.  she's as smitten with him as i am :)

DAMN those blue eyes.... this is some footage i captured when immi realized dad was home.  *heart gasp*

now let's just hope daddy doesn't kill mom for posting these pics.  thanks, and love you more than-a-fat-kid (aka me)-luv-cake.

teepee adventures

everyone needs a secret hideaway...ours just happens to be a lace teepee (auntie cassidy, not accusing you of anything, but this might have been your fault)!! it's perfect for tea parties, telling stories, reading fairytales and of course, for mom, fun photo props.

we finally decided to use the teepee for more than an ubbi (diaper-pail) cover. since immi is baby genius and awesome at holding her head up, we did some quality tummy time IN the teepee! so. much. fun.

it is never to early to teach sharing, right? so, even though the teepee technically IS immi's she was sweet enough to share her nook (AND spotlight) with her fur-sisters. who's the cutest?  HA! trick question! they are all the cutest things on the planet.

our little squishy's face isn't quite so squishy anymore.  she is animated and smiley, and has a wonderfully goofy personality (who'd she get that from?)

(sorry, no super-duper gifs this post).