One year ago today, I woke up, took a pregnancy test, and was surprised when the result was positive.
You see, I had taken a couple of tests in the days prior, all of which were negative. Yet my period had still not come, so I ditched the Dollar Tree tests and instead opted to take a “real” one–a First Response Early Response.
I nervously prepared the test, then stepped out into the hallway to wait the few minutes with Michael. When the time was up, I approached the bathroom sink, heart pounding in my chest. I looked and… it was positive. Very positive, in fact. There was no mistaking that second line.
We laughed and cried.
Those two little lines represented a baby inside of me that was then the size of a poppyseed.
Now, that poppyseed is beautiful baby Nora.
January 12, 2010 was one of the best days of my life.
January 12, 2011 is even better–because she’s here.
Dear Nora,
You are four months old, and a dream come true. You are everything I ever hoped for and more. Every time we think we couldn’t possibly love you more, we discover that the very next day, we do.
You giggle now. It is hilarious and sooo contagious. It sounds so cliché, but every time you smile, I feel like my heart could burst. It makes me so happy to see you happy. You are gaining more control of your hands, and you are becoming interested in them, as well as the things around you. You are beginning to explore the world through touch and taste, so you like to grab hold of things—toys, clothing, my hair—and you are starting to put them into your mouth as well. Your arms and legs seem to never stop moving.
You are so observant. I could watch you watch the world for hours. At daycare, Mary says you sit in your bouncy chair and watch all of the older girls play. You nap, but only for short periods of time, as you don’t want to miss a beat.
Speaking of daycare… Now that I have been back at work for more than a month, we have definitely settled into a routine. It’s still really hard on me, though, just because I feel like I have so little time with you. By the time we all get home together, we have just over an hour with you before you’re practically begging to go to bed. Some nights, I wish you’d stay up a little later so I could have just a few more minutes with you. When Friday finally rolls around, I feel a physical ache to be with you. Weekends are the best, and we cherish every minute of them.
Sleep! We always have to talk about sleep, as it is one of those questions that everyone always asks when you have a baby. We dealt with a few challenging weeks around Christmastime when you weren’t sleeping well, and therefore, Daddy and I weren’t sleeping well, either. It kept getting worse and worse, and as it turned out—you had your very first ear infection. We felt so badly that you were sick, but had to admit feeling a little relieved to have a cause for your sleep issues. And sure enough, after a few days of antibiotics, you fell back into your normal routine and you’ve been fantastic ever since.
Oh, and guess what? You are now sleeping in your own room like a big girl! Once we had the ear infection under control, we moved you to your crib without any problems at all. Daddy and I often sneak into your bedroom to watch you sleep for a few minutes, and we wonder aloud whether you could possibly get any more cute. (For the record, we don’t think you can.)
Mornings are so amazing. We’ll hear you start to fuss over the monitor and as soon as we open the nursery door, you stop. We’ll peer over the side of your crib and suddenly, you are all smiles. Honestly, it is the greatest feeling in the world to have you so happy to see us. I’ve never been a morning person, but that time of day has become one of my favorites.
I am proud to say that we have made it through another month of exclusive breastfeeding—or, exclusive breast milk, I suppose I should say (you obviously take pumped milk from bottles at daycare). Our goal is to make it another two months before starting you on solids, but we’re taking it day by day.
Although you have grown so much, you are still a peanut. When we took you to the doctor for your ear infection, you were 3.5 months old and weighed just 11 lbs., 1 oz. You’re still wearing 0-3 month clothes. We’re starting to try to rotate in some of your 3-6 month stuff, but much of it is still too big. You have a pediatrician’s appointment on Friday, so we’re curious to see how much you’ve gained over the last few weeks. You’ll receive another round of vaccinations, too, which is always hard for Mommy and Daddy!
Because you move around so much and can’t yet sit up on your own, you have rubbed some of the hair off of the back and sides of your head. Your hair “style” can be pretty funny these days–it’s long on top and at the back of your neck, but short on the sides and maybe even a little bit bald on the back. You kinda sorta look like you have a comb-over. But you make it look adorable, so you have nothing to worry about. :)
A few weeks ago, we celebrated your first Christmas, and your first New Year. They were so much more special to us because we got to experience them with you. We know the holidays will be even better as you grow older, when you begin to understand it all. Nevertheless, it’s awesome already—we had so many blessings to be thankful for.
As you grow, I feel a little bit sad about how quickly time is passing and how you are changing too fast—but you just keep getting more and more fun. By the time I write your next monthly letter, who knows what you’ll be up to? All I’m sure of is that I can’t wait to witness it all.
As they say in one of our favorite books to read together: I love you to the moon… and back.
Love,
Mommy
The last few weeks, Nora has started giggling. Things haven’t escalated to the all-out belly laughs yet, but for now, the giggles are oh-so-freaking-cute.
See for yourself. :)
Oh, and if you’re not yet a parent (or maybe even if you are), you might want to heed the warning in the middle of the video. I just couldn’t edit it out; it was too funny not to keep in. Little stinker takes after me in that she laughs so hard she gives herself the hiccups–and her weak little stomach muscles can’t take it!
On New Year’s Day, we had a get-together with some of Michael’s extended family to celebrate Christmas. Since I didn’t work the day before, I had a little bit of extra time to throw together something new for dessert. I took the opportunity to peruse my Google Reader, but didn’t come up with anything that I just *had* to make. Instead, I turned to my Baking Bible and flipped through the pages, looking for something that inspired me.
I found inspiration in these bars. YUM.
A bonus was that they are pretty easy to put together–which is kind of rare for Dorie.
The cookie layer is deliciously crumbly, and the chocolate layer adds decadence. Add in the Heath Bar toffee bits on top and HOLY MOLY these are good.
These are made in a 13×9 pan, and you’ll be surprised when you spread the batter out, because these puppies are really thin. You’ll be even more surprised when Dorie suggests cutting these into 54 bars. (Um, hello–what 13×9 recipe results in *54* bars? It’s more like 20, ha!) BUT, the thing is, these are pretty rich, and almost like a candy bar in a way, so in this case, smaller pieces really are more appropriate.
Caramel Crunch Bars
(Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan)
Ingredients:
For the base:
– 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 tsp. instant espresso powder or finely ground instant coffee
– 1/2 tsp. salt
– 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
– 2 sticks (8 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
– 1/2 cup light brown sugar
– 1/4 cup sugar
– 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
– 3 oz. bittersweet or premium milk chocolate, finely chopped
For the topping:
– 6 oz. bittersweet or premium milk chocolate, finely chopped
– 3/4 cup Heath toffee bits
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9×13 inch baking pan, line the pan with foil and butter the foil. Put the pan on a baking sheet.
To make the base: Whisk together the flour, coffee, salt and cinnamon.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another three minutes or until the mixture is light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla and turn off the mixer. Add all the dry ingredients, cover the stand mixer with a kitchen towel (so you and your kitchen don’t get showered in flour) and pulse the mixer on and off at low speed about 5 times- at which point a peek at the bowl should reveal that it’s safe to turn the mixer to low and mix, uncovered, just until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Add the chopped chocolate and mix only until the dry ingredients disappear. If the chocolate isn’t evenly mixed, finish the job by hand with a spatula. You’ll have a very heavy, very sticky dough. Scrape the dough into the buttered pan and, with the spatula and your fingertips, cajole it into a thin, even layer.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until the base is bubbly – so bubbly that you can almost hear it percolating – and puckery. It will look as though it is struggling to pull away from the side of the pan. Transfer the pan to a rack and turn off the oven.
To make the topping: Scatter the chocolate evenly over the top of the hot base and pop the pan back into the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, until the chocolate is soft.. Remove from oven and immediately spread chocolate over bars, using offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the toffee bits over the chocolate and press them down lightly with your fingertips. Place the baking pan on a rack to cool to room temperature.
If, by the time the bars are cool, the chocolate has not set, refrigerate them briefly to firm the chocolate.
Carefully lift out of the pan, using foil edges as handles, and transfer to a cutting board. Trim the edges if they seem a bit thick. Cut about 54 bars, each about 2 inches by 1 inch, taking care not to cut through the foil.
Well, the New Year has started off with a bang–at work, that is.
We are off and running at my company. EVERYONE is swamped. I’ve been running around with my head cut off all week, and my to-do list is overwhelming (and growing). Endless meetings, tons of deadlines, lots of 2011 planning–it’s just crazy. I cross one task off my list only to have three more added.
It’s lovely.
Still, we’re all in good spirits, and we try to keep the humor in our situations. We walk around exclaiming, “OH, January. I love January.” and “January is awesome.” In other words, the level of sarcasm is at an all-time high.
Anyway, that explains my lack of blogging this week. I can’t believe it’s January 5th and I’m just now writing my first post of 2011!
We had a quiet, uneventful New Year’s Eve at home, and it was just what we wanted after years and years of attending the same ol’ parties. On New Year’s Day, we did “Christmas” with Michael’s older sister and our nephews, and some other members of his extended family.
In other news, we have officially started our house hunt. We started perusing listings online on New Year’s Eve actually, and did a few “drive-bys” of places on New Year’s Day. On Sunday, we went back to our favorites and took closer looks, and we already have two that we’re interested in scheduling appointments to see. We are working with our realtor to see when we can get in for showings.
We’re also starting to pull things together to put our place on the market. All of this is terribly exciting and scary at the same time. What if we find a house we love, but can’t sell our current place? What if we put our place on the market and it sells quickly, and we have nowhere to live? The worst case scenario is definitely the former–we really don’t want to end up having to pay two mortgages for any amount of time! But we will keep the faith that everything will work out as it should, like it so often does in life.
Also, we are itching to travel. We haven’t been anywhere since we went to Montreal in June, and we haven’t flown anywhere since we went to Florida in April. Little Miss Nora has put a serious cramp in our traveling style! ;) But now that she’s past the newborn stage, we’re ready to start planning family trips now, so we’re exploring a few options for a week-long trip in the spring.
And we did book airfare for a trip–but this one won’t be taking us anywhere until summertime. My cousin is getting married in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on July 2, and… we’re going! All three of us. The airfare was reasonable and with good flight times, so we jumped on it. It’s going to be hot as hell down there at that time of year, but we plan to spend a lot of time in the shade, in the pool, and um, at the swim-up bar. :)
I really hate this time of year. January, February, and March are the worst. But at least work is busy, and our time at home is happily busy, too, thanks to a certain little girl we know and love!
All in all, there is already much to look forward to in 2011!
EDIT: I just realized that it’s actually January 6th. Just goes to show how out of sorts I really am! HA!
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
