Meet Dolby

Hello, Dolby.

 

She is Lainey's new buddy.  They hang together.

They play together.

They are girlfrans!

She is Lainey's "baby."

 

Dolby is a one of a kind, Waldorf doll made with lots of love from Jostin's Daughters, a doll maker in Williamsburg, VA. Dolby was our big gift for Lainey's first birthday.  

 

I spent hours thinking about her and deciding how she should look.  I even started almost completely over at one point in the process.  I scratched what I had thought would be "it" and opted to work with a yarn spinner to make that incredible yarn that adorns Dolby's little head.

It was an interesting process -- you get to pick skin color, eye color, hairs, and even their outfit.  Working with Margaret was fabulous and she even stitched a bible verse on the doll.

When Dolby arrived at our house, her name was Spring - because of the colors in her hair.  But I knew I wanted to name her something different.  Lainey and I chose Dolby after my grandmother.  My grandma had a huuuuuuge doll collection and I can't help but to think of her when I see a pretty doll.

Lainey drags her doll around the play room and likes to play with her hair and give her lots of kisses.  Yes, Dolby is a gorgeous doll, and would look spectacular on the shelf in Lainey's room.  But where's the fun in that?! 

 

The excitement on Lainey's face when we opened up Dolby's box was absolutely priceless.  Hands waving - grinning from ear to ear - Lainey loved her from the start.  Even still, when I see how excited Lainey gets when she picks up Dolby, it makes it totally worth it.

xoxo,

Linda

Sleeping with a toddler

Thank you teething and vacation for wrecking Lainey's sleeping schedule.  A schedule that I can only get partially back on track since this forth tooth is, apparently, a doozy! 

{Lord help me when we get to molars!} 

So, I let her climb into my bed and snuggle up next to me...and sleep - all night.

Yes, you read that right - we have ventured to the dark side.

I have said that I didn't want Lainey to sleep in our bed since she came home.  I have seen first hand kids who are well into elementary school still sleeping with their parents and I didn't want that to happen.  I figured the best to avoid that was to avoid it completely.

Well - as with most parenting "ideas" that has gone out the flippin' window! C'est la vie, I suppose. 

I have gotten a few of the gasps that quietly say, "She is sleeping with ya'll?" As if I have committed the worst parenting ever. And then there's the ever-so-popular, "Yep. Been there - done that - have fun."  

So - here's the plan, Stan. We are going to let this play out. She sleeps better - we sleep better - everyone wins. As much as I miss snuggling my husband, I must admit, I was starting to miss solid hours of sleep more. 

The biggest obstacle so far is getting past that second wind that comes with climbing in the bed with Mommy and Daddy. It takes a solid 30 to 45 minutes to get Lainey to actually lay down and fall asleep.  The headboard is actually a rock-climing wall and the pillows are fun to dive into.  Not to mention, there is an awfully painful love for pulling my hair. So this has been trying to say the least.  But it's getting better and I am sure she will figure out that this giant bed of foam is for sleep...eventually.

My intent is not for her to sleep with us forever. I am thinking that when she is old enough to communicate with us and can understand when we set boundaries then we will work on "the big move."  And knowing me, I will use a little bribery of new {big girl} bedding to help us a long the journey... the long, long, journey across the hall!

Here's what our nights look like for now...

Looks oh, so comfy...right?!

xoxo,

Linda

For the next 24 hours...

I will be shamelessly nostalgic and borderline in tears...

You see, 365 days ago, Philip and I were packing our bags getting ready for a sleepover at the hospital! 

Remember, before Lainey could be discharged, there were several things she/we had to accomplish:

1. Eat by herself
2. Weight 4 pounds 
3. Take CPR class
4. Pass a carseat test
5. The big sleepover - a night with just us - no monitors - no nursers - just us being parents - what?!

One by one we had checked things off our list. 

Celebrated each pound and each milliliter of breastmilk.

Sat through the CPR class - practiced on the doll. 

Rejoiced at the thought of her needing a car seat.

Then it came  - the call - "Hey Mrs. Venema, how do you feel about sleeping in tonight?" My response (in my high-pitched excited voice) "WHAT?! ALREADY?!? You betcha! We'll be there soon!!"

So we packed a bag, made sure the carseat base was installed and ready and looked at each other like kids on Christmas Even.  This was IT - by the same time the next day, we would be at home as a family of three. 

I can actually remember more of that night than I thought I would. I remember setting my alarm to pump milk and feed her, I remember watching countless hours of "Dance Moms" because I was just too excited to sleep. (Well, that, and those hospital beds aren't very comfy.)  Every once in a while a nurse would pop in "just to check" on us and there were a few farewell visits from our night shift NICU nurses angels.

It was hard to believe it when Lainey turned one, but I must admit, it is even harder to believe that this beautiful peanut has been filling our home with smiles and giggles for a year now. 

A day, that at some moments, we thought would never get here has come and gone and is now just another milestone.

Cheers to so many more milestones with 

this preemie princess!  

Beach Baby

Beach baby had a great time on vacation. We all did, actually!  She loved all of the attention... probably too much attention, if there is such a thing.  She loved being around her great aunts, her NeeNee, Auntie KK and all of her cousins!

Here's the beach bum baby at her finest...

It's been a little tricky getting Lainey back into a sleeping routine since we got home.  She wasn't a fan of sleeping in the pack-n-play which meant she got he luxury of night time snuggles in our bed. While I love those snuggles, they made the transition back to the crib a little hard.  Not to mention, we caught her trying to climb over the crib using the bumper as a step... so we lowered the crib and took out the bumper.

All of that coupled with teething.... YIKES! I have a very unhappy toddler on my hands.  But I caved and out the bumper back in her bed last night and Hallelujah, I think we are making progress! Went from every 90 minutes of waking Momma up to only getting up TWICE!! Thank you, Baby J!  I think she wiggles (well I know she wiggles a lot in her sleep... remember those night time snuggles?) and she wiggles enough to jossle herself awake or, worse, was hitting her head on the sides of the crib and that was a painful/abrupt wake up.  So fingers crossed, she wasn't having a one night stand with sleep last night.

The 4th of July holiday aka the dreaded end to the staycation was a wonderful holiday. We spent the last day of vacation doing some last minute laundry and generally, not too much. Headed to the McLaurin's house for a quick visit (and an awesome tie dye surprise).  Mrs. McLaurin also ended up taking the one and only family photo of the holiday. 

Hope ya'll are enjoying your Summer so far and keeping cool.  Mother Nature's fever in Richmond has finally broke for now...thank goodness!!

xoxo,
Linda

We took a little vacay...

We have been back from Corolla, NC for a few days... it was a lovely vacation, and I will share it with you later - probably next week.  But we got back and extended our vacation into a mini-staycation. So, I apologize for not posting last week.  But I am sure ya'll understand...

As promised, here are some highlights of Lainey's 1st birthday party. The pictures of her lack-luster cake smash are on my mom's computer, but that's ok. Just know - she was very dainty with her fancy cake...guess she want to take in all the beauty of it instead of smashing it all over her face! What a strange, strange girl.

Here's the skinny on how we put 

this shin-dig together!

Balloons - Shop Sweet LuLu - we had lots of polka dot balloons and a giant 36" balloon for the birthday girl!

Ruffle Cake - Homemade with love from Aunt Biggie

Cake Bunting - Inspired by Etsy - homemade by Momma Squirrel

Mason Jar Cakes - Instead of cupcakes we did little mason jar cupcakes - homemade with fresh strawberry icing.  (That Aunt Biggie is pretty awesome!)

Pinwheels - Bought a kit from Target and Nana put them all together

Milk Glass - I used milk glass as an accent throughout the party. The best pieces were the cake stand (an antique store find) and the tall vase that housed the pinwheels.  I inherited the vase, along with the rest of her collection, when my grandmother passed away.

Ginger Snaps - Oh, how Southern girls love their ginger snaps! I lucked upon these at Ukrops.  They were seriously the best ginger snaps I have ever had!

Stripey Straws - Shop Sweet LuLu

Birthday Candle - looked like a vintage swirl lollipop - Shop Sweet LuLu

The party was a huge success! Guess I should start pinning ideas for next year, huh?

xoxo,
Linda