HTML Map

12.31.2010

goodbye 2010... hello 2011!!

It had its ups and downs, 
trials and tribulations for sure. 
But there is no doubt, 
2010 was clearly so good to us... 



We have been blessed beyond measure. 

We are so excited to see what 2011 brings, 
to the New Day household, and yours. 

xoxo, 
Meegs, Trav, Gwen, and Daisy


12.30.2010

a year in stutus and sleep

I usually do some sort of big year end wrap-up... but I don't have time for that this year. Too much going on!! Besides, you know the biggest thing that 2010 brought us!  :-)

So I thought I'd do something a little different this year. Two parts... first (this is from facebook and kind of fun...), A Year in Status Updates!! 

[click to make bigger]


Secondly, looking back, I did a quicky year in sleep! ;-)

January:
Waking multiple times a night to pee or readjust. But sleeping well when asleep.

February:
Newborn, what do you think?! ;-)

Mid-March (1ish months old):
Gwen sleeps 5 hours!

April (1.5 months):
Gwen sleeps 8:30 - 5am!
then 9:15 - 6am!!

May:
8 hours!!!!!

June: 
Sleeping through the night.

July (5 months):
Rough sleep


August:
10:15 - 6:05
then not great sleep
then 8:30 - 6:15!

September:
worst night of sleep ever

October:
tired, tired, tired

November:
more tired

December:
celebrating when she only wakes twice!
but its getting better... 


And there we are.

12.26.2010

holiday wrap up -- our twisty turny weekend

So where to begin?! What a busy, crazy 4 days.
[WARNING: Super picture heavy post ahead!!]

Thursday we had off, and Trav headed to Willy's to help clean up for his Christmas Eve party. Gwen and I hung out, but I had some stuff to do and girl wouldn't give in to the nap... so I threw her on my back, and did some cooking. Well by they end, this was going on behind me:


I think she's a fan of the new wrap as well!
And a shot of the front, just so you can see the wrapping: 


I'm in love.  ;-)

The next day was Christmas Eve. I was excited for Gwen's first Christmas, but frankly, still couldn't believe that it was actually going to be here. Where did the second half of this year go?!
We headed to Willy's after lunch. Willy's isn't exactly baby-proofed, and there was tons of time to kill before people came over (but Trav was helping to cook, so we had to be there early), so I pulled the Mei Tai out of the car and up Gwen went: 


You can see my holiday babbles in this one:


And one more, where Gwen is just too cute to pass up:


People filtered in as the night went on, until Trav's Aunt and her husband arrived, his two cousins and their families (including six kids between the two, plus one spouse). It was great to see everyone. We left around 6:45 to come home and get Gwen straight to bed. After she was down, I come downstairs and finished setting everything up for Christmas morning. I pulled out her two big gifts, which we weren't wrapping, and set them up by the tree.


We definitely made a winning decision with that chair!!




Clearly, she LOVED it!

She also enjoyed sitting in a box...


and NOMing a stuffed rabbit.


But not as much as she enjoyed that chair!


The chair now has its own place in the living room, so she can sit in it whenever she wants.


Trav got some new underwear and undershirts (that is actually what he asked for! silly boy), a BAZINGA! t-shirt (anyone watch Big Bang Theory?), a stud finder, a memory card for his photo frame, and some other odds and ends. I got some books, a baby's first year picture frame, some awesome earrings made from recycled soda tabs, and some other odds and ends.

Daisy, got a giant bone that she was pretty excited for!


After having a quick bacon breakfast (well, Gwen had oatmeal and apple) we headed up to my parents, where we exchanged more presents. Gwenie got a cheerios container she was excited about...


And a beautiful, handcrafted rocking horse:


Trav and I got a home depot gift card, and a really nice new knife set. We also got a beautiful picture of Scotland from my brother. He also got Gwen the cutest pair of furry winter boots!

We sat down to dinner early... (turkey, mmm....)


Gwen had a special Merry Grinchmas bib for the occasion.


Then it was home again to relax for a few minutes before bed.


(Our now empty stockings)


This morning, Sunday, I planned to sleep in... but Trav came up after only forty minutes or so to tell me he'd just checked our messages and that we'd gotten the sad news that the President of my organization had passed on Christmas night. He had been sick for a bit, seemed to be getting better, but then they found cancer. We had all just been told this past week. It seemed so sudden. But the service was at 10am, so he got me up quickly so that we could all get ready to go.


The service was lovely, held with parts in both English and Hebrew. It was hard not to get choked up when they talked about how much Dr. S loved his wife... how even to the end he had the nurses help clean him up before she got there first thing in the morning. He didn't have to impress her, not after decades together, but he wanted to. He was a smart, funny, larger then life personality, and he was a sweet man who love his wife, kids, and grandkids wholeheartedly. He will be missed.
Gwen and Trav spent most of the time hanging out in the lobby, but it was really great to have them there.
(Also nice, though obviously the circumstances were not, was seeing Jan there... she looks really good.)


Our office is closed tomorrow (Monday) out of respect to Dr. S. Some of my coworkers and I will be paying his wife, who also works in the same office, a visit on Tuesday afternoon while she sits Shiva.

I was saying to Trav on the ride home that while I was a little bummed we didn't have a white Christmas, that it certainly was a mitvah by G-d that the snow held out so that we could all safely make it to his service, and that his wife and kids would have a safe ride to his internment up in Scranton, where he is from.

After that it was back home and a lazy day of relaxing.



But that snow that held out, is now coming down quite heavily. We already have a few inches and we're supposed to at least double that. I'm hoping that Trav can stay home with Gwen and I tomorrow.

At one point Trav headed outside to do a little shoveling, just to make it easier for himself tomorrow morning, in case he does have to go in. Gwen and I took the opportunity to bundle up and check out this crazy white stuff. 


It was too cold and windy to stay out for long, but she though snow was pretty funny.


Maybe if it isn't so windy and bitter tomorrow, we can try playing in it a bit... but for now we are snuggly and warm inside. Gwenie is asleep for the night, so I'm going to head downstairs and snuggle with Trav in the soft glow of our tree. It was a crazy weekend, an emotional up and down, but our Christmas was blessed and I feel very lucky for that. I hope your holidays were blessed as well.

12.25.2010

25 Dec 2010

The Merriest of Christmases... 


to you and yours. 

Hopefully your day is full of all the good stuff... family, friends, food, the spirit of the holidays and lots of good cheer. 

Ho- ho- ho.
All our love and best wishes, 
Meegs, Trav, Gwen, and Daisy

12.22.2010

looks like I'm back...

Six posts in eight days.... looks like I'm getting back into the swing of things! Work has slowed down a little thanks to the holidays, so I can muster up the minutes to pop in here.

I have a few things to share that I'm excited about... (things that will hopefully hold you over, since ironically, I probably won't be able to pop in again until Sunday or Monday...)

First off (probably least exciting), we baked more doggie biscuits last night:


These are "savory" biscuits with parsley and chicken broth. I'll actually tack both recipes to the end of this post, in case you are interested. They are both pretty easy, the PB one more so. I already gave out two little "doggie bags" to a friend on the train, and Trav gave out a whole bunch to his workmates who own dogs.

Secondly, and more fun, I got a new wrap!! I got some Christmas money this year from two people... I decided that the one gift would be fun money, that I could do whatever I wanted with, and the other would be used for something more "responsible" (part went into Gwen's savings account... part is waiting until after the holidays). So with my fun money I got a new wrap, a Ellevill Zara Deli LE.

I like my other wrap, but don't love it. It is way way too long for me and it makes tying good, tight carries hard. So I decided to buy this one as my new long wrap (though it is a meter and a half shorter then the one I currently have!), and I'm going to cut down my current wrap (the BB Slen) to two wraps, a medium and a shorty. I'll try both, see which I like using more, and sell the other. Wraps have amazing resale value, so that will be easy.

I was so excited to get my Zara today. So excited that I had to grab the closest thing to a baby that I could find at work and tie it on!!


LOL.

Here's a close up of the wrap itself ("braided"):

(So pretty, right?!)

And here's a two with my actual baby:



Love it, love it, love it.

Its not the best picture, but what a comfortable carry!! And wrapping in general was so much easier with this wrap vs. my 5.6m BBSlen! I'm in love all ready. Even with a wiggly, just wanting to eat dinner already babe, I was able to get her up there super fast. And once I got her there, she relaxed and lay her head on my shoulder, so I know she was comfy too. I'd like her to be a little higher next time, but I thought it turned out pretty well!

Yay!

In other exciting news... Jan had her surgery today and it went so well. It only took an hour, they were able to do it laparoscopically, and the prognosis for recovery is good. I'm going to check in with her once she's had some rest time, but that is great news for now.

And to end on a cute note... the Christmas ornament Gwen made us at daycare:
(First one is dark, second is blurry... but you get the idea...)

Okay all, recipes after the post break... and until I return, Merry Christmas! Enjoy your holiday celebrations.


12.21.2010

creative pursuits

I was just going to post this:

Santa's off the hook:
... since we have two front teeth!!

Which is cute enough on its own... but then we got creative last night and I have to share.

Baking/making homemade dog biscuits for the neighbor's dogs (we have great neighbors).


Daisy taste-tested them for us and approved.


And since Trav got his cast off today, he let me do this:


(Puffy paint eyes...)


(And for the winter solstice:)


Good times!

12.20.2010

cookies and trees and babies, oh my

It was a really great weekend. Busy and full, but all the wonderful kind. I posted on Saturday night with pictures from that day... but I'll expound a little.

Saturday I had a hair appointment. Seeing as Babs was in town again, we couldn't pass up on a third visit in as many months (yay!!!), so she came by my parent's place. We all visited for a while, then she headed back home, and my mom hopped in her car to lead Gwen & I over to my Gram's new place, a mere 10 minute drive from my parent's (and on the route I take home, to boot). Its so wonderful having her so much closer... and I absolutely LOVE that Gwenie is going to get to see her all the time now, and consequently, is going to know her.

It was a wonderful day.

Yesterday, we headed to Ro & Pat's place again to bake more cookies and exchange gifts (Ro - a new cookie sheet, snowflake shaped cookie cutters, and decorative glitters; Pat - a basket with all the works for a home bar, which he is hoping to create; GG - two fleece PJs [snowmen and penguins] and a super cute striped top; Trav - two variety packs of beer; Gwen - a fleece top with penguins, leggings, and a cute shirt; Me - two movie passes, a gift card to use for dinner, and the offer of babysitting! plus a terry cloth robe).

It was a lot of fun. The boys went off for a while to pick out Trav's gift and pick up lunch, and Ro & I got started on these:

And these:

GG napped most of the time, and Gwen played in the high chair for a while, and I threw her on my back in the Mai Tai for a while too. I wish I had a picture of that! :-)

GG is getting some big sister practice with Gwen... and its cute seeing them interact. At one point Gwen's sock came off and GG grabbed it and attempted to stick it back on Gwen's foot.


Ro has a little video of it, and we are both laughing hysterically because the whole time GG is attempting to get Gwen to sit still, then grabbing her foot and Gwen is just staring at her with this "what are you doing to me?!" look on her face. Pretty cute.

We headed home and ate a relaxed dinner, Gwen had a bath, then she was off to bed. I snapped a few pictures of our tree then, since I realized that I never shared it with you.


And our beautiful, sparkly star:


Love it!!

I hate to even jinx it, but Gwen slept well last night. ::knocks on wood::  She woke to eat voraciously at 10something, then slept soundly until 4am. She ate and went back down for another hour, when she came to bed with us and slept until 6:30. It was good and I'm hoping we're moving in the right direction now. I think that second tooth coming in really helped.

Wait, did I talk about that yet?! I guess not... late last week, tooth #2 decided to pop out!! So we have a little bunny rabbit on our hands with her two front teeth (Santa's off the hook!). Its pretty freakin cute.

Anyway, now its back to work for me... thought Trav has off for the week (had a few days left). He gets his cast off tomorrow and we are both so damn excited!

Something else exciting, the 10 day forecast. Specifically that there are two days of snow predicted, and they fall on the Christmas weekend:


On that note, hope everyone is having a great week-before-Christmas!