It's 4:45am and Hana and I have been up for an hour.
This is what happens when your kid skips her nap because there's tons of company over, then put her to bed 2 hours earlier than usual. I'm debating whether to make some coffee. I'll think I'll just wake P up in half an hour and do the "tag team" thing.
Ugh.
I just can't believe Hana-chan's one already. Where did this past year go?
I mean, just look at that face - she's such a grown up baby!
To help us celebrate her birthday, my mom flew down for a 5-day visit. It was the hardest thing ever - trying to keep her visit a surprise for Momo-chan. I told her we had to drive to the airport to pick up Hana's birthday present, and that she should keep her eyes peeled for a big, red bow. My mom walked through the arrivals gate holding a giant bow in front of her face, and I caught the girls' reaction to it all on video. Priceless! That afternoon we baked cupcakes in ice cream cones and Momo had her first-ever experience decorating the finished goodies all by herself. She was so proud!
As you can see, Hana was a big fan of those cupcakes!
For prezzies she got a wooden cart/walker with 4 colored "sensory balls" from Nana & Papa (she's sooo close to walking, so this will help her to practise), a Little People's circus toy from us because all the LP's toys we have now are hand-me-downs from Paul's brother, whose wife is now expecting twin boys(!) and we'll have to return them, and Mom's visit along with a pair of cozy, winter PJs from my parents.
Happy 1st Birthday, Muffin! xoxoxoxoxoxo
I can't believe that just 4 (and a bit) short months ago, that baby was inside of me!
Do I look as tired as I felt that day?
Shame on me for not posting this earlier. Mind you, I have been a bit busy these past few weeks/months - moving out of my in-laws' and into a rental home, buying a new car, a new house, and oh yeah, giving birth to another baby! Then there's the whole breastfeeding the baby a million times a day/night, changing a bazillion poopy diapers, and running after my 2 year old who entered the "terrible twos" phase about 2 months before her baby sister arrived. I knew raising 2 would be busy, but not this busy! Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe how I've been feeling these days.
But... when I actually take a moment to stand back and just look at my two beautiful creations, it makes all the hard work totally worth it!
My sweet little flower was born on the morning of December 5th via a planned C-section. My doctor had originally planned her birth date to be the 11th (4 days before my due date), but I begged him to move it up a week because I had the worst case of sciatica, which was making it almost impossible to take care of Momo. Thankfully, he agreed to it because I don't think I could have lasted even one more day in the pain I was in! I was also lucky to have my mom come and stay with us for 3 whole weeks to help while I recovered from the surgery. She mostly took care of Momo while I dealt with Hana. I made sure to spend a lot of quality alone-time with Momo though, so that she wouldn't feel excluded or any less special than the little intruder who burst onto the scene, suddenly turning her small world upside down. She did experience a bit of jealously though, and had a few meltdowns over the Christmas holidays from the stress and excitement of it all. But she's pulled through beautifully and now accepts her baby sister fully and treats her so gently, it just melts me to watch!
There has been a tiny bit of knitting, but I"ll save that for my next post, which won't take me 4 months to write this time!
