Monday March 18, 2013 Almost 13 months old

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and we planned to go to a party with some of my mom's friends but we unfortunately had to go to a funeral instead. The nice man who owns the salon that I work at, Joel, passed away a couple of days ago. It's a very sad time because he was such a great guy and I wanted to pay my respects and give him a final nod today. We opted for a very small, quiet evening at home with just the 3 of us and we took some silly pictures of course!

Today Tatum and I went to the mall and got her a Build a Bear for her birthday. Rich and I didn't get her anything for her birthday besides her party so I thought it would be fun to get her a bear. She picked out which one she wanted (based on how soft and silky it was) hahaha and I made a voice recording in it for her to hear whenever she wants and then I got the bear a Happy Birthday t-shirt. It is really cute. She will hopefully keep that bear for a very long time and know that we gave that to her for her 1st birthday. :)

I am constantly in awe of my sweet, precious baby girl. She is just so smart, so cute, so sassy and so funny. I couldn't have ordered a better baby! She brings Rich and I so much joy and we are so proud and feel so blessed to be her parents. Everyday she makes us laugh and smile. She is such a goofball. Her latest thing that she loves is to play "I'm gonna get you". Haha!! I started that awhile ago with her but she absolutely loves it when I chase her around and say I'm gonna get you!!!! She now says "Get!!" to me when I chase her. It's so funny! She heard me say that to a bug the other night so now she just keeps saying, get, get!! It's really quite cute. She still enjoys rolling around in her "silkies" as we call it. Haha!!! She just loved to roll and roll in her blanket, especially after her bath before bed. I let her roll around with just her diaper on and she just loves the feeling of her soft blankets on her skin. She is just so sweet and so cute. She really is a character!

I've been thinking a lot lately about my journey through Tatum's birth and post partum time and I am truly feeling so much better. I am ready to get off of my medication and move on. I finally feel at peace with everything that happened. I truly love my baby girl and I wouldn't change anything that has happened because it all happened for a reason but it has taken me some time to sift through everything and really come to terms with my feelings about everything. Although I didn't have the birth and post partum time that I thought I would, it was all okay and I'm who I am now because of it all. I got my baby 5 weeks earlier then I thought and the fact that Rich was laid off was really nice to have him home with us during the really tiring, scary first few weeks at home. At the time this was happening I was so scared, sad and depressed but I can see clearly now. It feels great to feel so good about everything and not feel this overwhelming sense of sadness anymore. It is truly wonderful!!

Tuesday March 5, 2013

I took Tatum to her 12 month well check this last week and was very surprised to hear that she has dropped back down to the 5th percentile in weight. She jumped up to 54th % for height but she only weighs 17 pounds. She only gained 1 pound in 3 month's. I don't see how that's possible because of how much she eats. She eats really well and good amounts of food so I find it very odd that she didn't gain more. I know with her walking all the time now that she's probably burning more calories but I still would have thought she gained more weight then that. Her doctor isn't worried but we will keep an eye on that. I am switching her over to whole milk now so hopefully the fat in the milk will help her gain some weight. I am only buying her organic milk that doesn't have any hormones or antibiotics in it. There's so much crazy stuff in our food now so I am trying to keep as much junk out of her food that I can. I try and feed her mostly organic and mostly fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and some grains but not a lot. While I have control over her diet I will make sure she is eating good, healthy food. I'm sure soon enough she will want nasty chicken nuggets and hotdogs...yuck!!

So now begins transitioning her over to milk only and getting off of formula. I am thrilled! I can't wait to get her off of that stuff. The other big thing is getting her off of bottles soon too. She should be off of them by 15 month's and so far she is not wanting to let them go. Hopefully she will let go soon. :)

On Sunday Rich and I took Tatum for her very first hike! We got a new hiking pack for her and she loved it. We went on a really short hike, about 1 hour just to see how she would do. She fell asleep about 45 minutes into it haha!! She was super comfy on her daddy's back and snuggled in to sleep. We had a great time and it was just surreal because Rich and I talked about doing that for years and now here it is. We always thought it would be fun to bring our baby hiking with us. It is just so exciting and beyond our imagination how great our life it with her. We are so lucky to have her and we are having so much fun with her!