Only the Beginning

2013 is almost over and we finally had some time to reflect on the first year with our little miracle. 

This past year has been more than I could have ever imagined. Watching her grow has been so much fun and seeing J be a daddy has melted my heart.
J and I have also grown a lot. We've had lots of tears, lots of laughs, some not so fun moments and some that we'll cherish forever. Every one of them totally, completely worth it. Everyone gives you advice and tells you stories of things that will happen, but no one can truly prepare you for parenthood. It's the hardest thing we've ever done, but by far, the BEST thing we've ever done. 

When I look back at past blog posts, it seems so long ago that we only dreamed of a baby and here we are, now parents of a happy, healthy, beautiful one-year old daughter. We are truly blessed.

I'm so glad that I decided to start this blog and tell of our journey to parenthood and share the moments that brought us to this point in our lives. It began as a way for me to deal with the emotions and struggles of trying to conceive, to now being a way to share Eva's moments with all of you. Now that Eva is one, our lives are much busier trying to keep up with her and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to keep up with the blog. That was part of my decision to make this our last post. The other part of my decision to end the blog is that I will be publishing this into a book. The book will be a gift to Eva as this is her story, not mine. This is not the end of Eva's story, but the beginning of the amazing life we know she will lead. 

I look forward to the day when J and I can read the book with her and let her know just how special she really is. Our lives have been changed forever. Thank you Miss Eva for being here and being you, we love you more than you will ever know!

Happy First Birthday!

We've been waiting for this day for a whole year! Actually, I think we've been waiting for this day for much longer. Celebrating your child's first birthday is something you dream about. It was no surprise that I was going to go a little overboard, so J just sat back and let me go nuts.
For about the last six months, I had been scanning Pinterest for ideas for her party. I needed a theme! I didn't want to do the normal princess party (lord knows we'll have plenty of those in coming years) but yet I wanted something fun and cute. And we ended up with...Pink Flamingo's! Eva loved it...

I had fun with details from the custom invites, chalkboard sign, pink flamingo cupcakes (that I made from scratch!), her highchair tutu and the two dozen pink flamingo's sprawled out all over the park. Even Eva and I wore pink flamingo's!

We rented a park pavilion in our town so that we could fit everyone and thankfully the weather was perfect to Flamingle!

It was so fun to be able to share this day with everyone; Eva loves seeing her friends and cousins!

We ate some great BBQ that J cooked and then the fun started. Eva had her first cupcake! I thought she would have dug right in, but she was much more curious about it being all over her fingers than actually eating it. She ate all the frosting first before mom took it away, though the sugar high was already inevitable.

Once we cleaned her up, which thankfully didn't take long, it was time for her to open gifts. Well, it was time for me to open her gifts as she was much more interested in walking around and seeing everyone. She got so many great gifts and some very special ones as well. Her great grandfather made her a picnic table; one I know she'll be having many picnics with her friends on.

We can't thank everyone enough for being a part of her big day and we know that those who couldn't make it, were still celebrating with us. We missed you and thank you for the gifts you sent!

We look forward to many more birthday parties, though they might just be a couple of pizzas and an ice cream cake if J has anything to do with it.

Eva's TV Debut

I continue to follow and support Resolve which is a national infertility organization. Their site, Facebook page and community groups were really helpful when we were trying to conceive. I found the support and information that I needed during many steps along the way and it also got me more active in legislation and how I can try to help make a change and difference for the infertility community.
I recently saw one of their Facebook posts, looking for women who did IVF and were located in Minneapolis and Chicago, for a company that has created a product to help couples who are seeking IVF treatments. I sent my information as I'm always willing to share my story if it means it can help someone else. I may not have a lot of money to help, but I have a story!

Shortly after I submitted my information and a brief overview of our story, I was contacted by a woman from the company Unify and we chatted for about a half hour. We discussed my story in more detail and she listened to our struggle to conceive and the hard decision we made to do IVF and then I learned about her company and how they can help other women going through the same thing. Unify has created a few tests that couples can take to identify their success rate if they chose to do IVF. This low-cost test can be the first step a couple can take before making a big financial decision. Although I did not take this test prior to our decision, I was able to testify that this would have been useful for us. They also have a test for those looking at doing another round of IVF and another to help you choose how many embryos to transfer. I recommend taking a look at their site and the products they offer: www.unify.com

After my phone "interview", it was only matter of hours and the next thing I know, I'm in the parking lot at work doing a TV interview that was going to be aired on a local news channel that night! (good thing I washed my hair that day and wore a cute shirt!)
I suppose it was a good thing that I didn't have time to think about it or get nervous. Here is our TV Debut!

Road Rage

I thought temper tantrums weren't supposed to start until they were two? You know, the terrible two's?? (and actually I've heard three is even worse!)  Well not in this house. Miss Eva has already begun with tantrums. So what does mom do? Yep, I get them on video of course and share them with everyone.

She gets really frustrated when she pushes her walker and it gets stuck on furniture. Her Road Rage is already beginning..

11 Months - Dancing Queen

Eva's been exposed to music pretty much since day one. We played classical music to help her sleep, we have jam sessions in the car every day to and from day care, and sing her lullabies every night before bed. We knew she had a love for music and it's really shown through lately. She is also getting very confident and steady on her feet, so we shouldn't have been surprised to see our little Dancing Queen really step out this month...

Miss Eva definitely has the butt-shake mastered; the cutest butt-shake I've ever seen I must add. 

And to mix it up, she also likes to stomp her feet to the beat.

She also has another move where she goes up and down and waves her hand in the air, if only I could have gotten  video of it because it's adorable!

J and I also love music and always have it on at home so we couldn't be happier to see Eva enjoying it just as much! Though Daddy seems to think these adorable moves could haunt him one day when she gets older.

5 Years and 2 Steps

This weekend J and I celebrated our five year anniversary. Five years already!! We had always talked about going back to Jamaica for our five year anniversary but since we decided to put our house on the market, that trip just didn't happen. However, we still celebrated and had a great time!
Eva went to Oma and Papa's for the night and we enjoyed a beautiful Saturday afternoon with cocktails on a patio overlooking the St. Croix River. Then we went back to St. Paul and had a wonderful seafood dinner, listened to some live music and drank more cocktails and enjoyed a full nights sleep in a quiet hotel room....and slept until 9am, which hasn't happened since before Miss Eva was born!
But of course we couldn't wait to pick her up and spend the rest of our Sunday afternoon with her. We were all starving when we got home so J grilled some cheddar brats and I sat on the kitchen floor, picnic style, with Eva and we shared lunch together. She was standing up, all by herself, and I scooted back a little bit and she did it... she took two steps toward me!! J and I could not believe we just witnessed our little girl take her first steps! Of course I got all teary and we smothered her with hugs and kisses...but she just wanted another bite of my brat. One of our biggest fears was that we'd miss the first steps because she'd do them at daycare, so needless to say, we were very proud parents today. We'll see how long it takes for her to do it again, and to really start walking. Our phones will be close by so we can get some video of it next time!

After all that excitement, we played in the pool for a few hours and enjoyed the beautiful summer day. Had barbeque chicken and corn on the cob for dinner and not even an hour later....

Daddy and Eva were wiped out from a big weekend and exciting day. Hope you also enjoyed the weekend and the great weather!

Father's Day Family Getaway

For J's first Father's Day, we headed up to Madden's Resort for a little weekend getaway. His work went last fall, but since it was the week I was due with Eva, J wasn't able to go so they gave him a voucher for us to use later...and later was his first Father's Day weekend! Perfect! It was also our first weekend trip with Miss Eva. If only I had taken a picture of how packed the Yukon was; I'm surprised we didn't have the kitchen sink with us.

We booked a little cabin that faced one of the bays of the lake. It was such a cute cabin, perfect for our little family, and it had a great view. The sunsets were gorgeous!

The first thing we did after we unloaded the truck, was headed down to the lake. It was Eva's first time at a lake (other than when we dipped her toes in Tonka when she was only a few months old), and we weren't sure how she'd like the sand or the waves of the water. However, she was instantly in heaven. She had a blast playing (and trying to eat) the sand and splashing in the water. The lake was still pretty cold but she didn't care one bit! As long as she had her rake in her hand, she was good to go.

 

In fact, she loved that rake so much she brought it to dinner with her.

The next day we took a pontoon ride around the lake. Not only was it our first boat ride of the season, but it was Eva's first ever! She was our little S.S. Cute Stuff. Even in that life jacket she loved the wind in her face.

 The grounds at Madden's were great. They had little paths all over and many times we just walked around with Eva in the stroller, to look around and let her check it out. They had a gift shop, a little market (that even had a nice wine selection for mom!), an art gallery with items from local artists and a cute little ice cream parlor.
 This was a horse carved out of stone outside the art gallery. Looks like Miss Eva may have gotten a love for horses like her momma!

Madden's resort was beautiful and we had a great time. The staff was friendly, the food was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our little family getaway. Happy Father's Day J!