366 days of nursing...

Well, it's official. My baby girl is weaned, and I made it to my self-proclaimed goal of 1 year of nursing. In fact, we made it exactly a year. Yesterday was the last morning that I nursed her...today, she unwillingly and reluctantly drank whole milk instead... not so sure she likes the replacement, but we'll figure it out.

I feel like I should throw myself (or the "girls") a party....What a year it's been! I was so nervous and anxious about nursing at first; will she ever latch on? will she get enough? how will I know? Is my milk ok? do I need to eat more veggies and less chocolate? is a cup of coffee ok?

And then (some of) the anxiety left but the questions continued... when will it take less than an hour to feed her? is it possible to walk and nurse at the same time? (Yes!), how much milk do i need to pump to be sure she has enough? is eating lots of ice cream going to help milk production (well, I hope it did... I used it as an excuse!), and then they changed again as she started being a speed-eater.... is she getting enough with her quick drinks? when should i drop a feeding? how?

I feel like it was a year of trial and error, sometimes she ate 5 times a day, other times 3 (those days freaked me out a little bit) sometimes she would drink milk from a bottle, sometimes she acted as if that were the worst thing EVER and refused a bottle.... all I know is, I made it, we made it, and we liked it. And I will do it again with my other babies, for sure, as long as I am able and they're willing. Nursing, for me, was wonderful and I loved it, teeth and all. God is a smart God, creating us to feed our babies like that :) Pure brilliance.

First bites.....

Zanna wonders why we held out on her with cake.... she devoured her whole ducky cupcake :)
DELISH!

Down on the farm....

Ok, so I am sinfully proud of my cake-baking and decorating..... So, here are the animals, up close and personal, and one more shot of the cake all lit up!

Life is just ducky with good friends...

like Tess and Josephine! Tesla and Josephine came to play at Zanna's party too and the girls had such fun playing around together at the birthday party.... we can't wait for Josephine's birthday in April and then Tess's in July- they'll be here before we know it!

Zanna's ONEderful!!

Zanna Banana turned ONE today! We had a quackin' good time at the Duck Party with family and close friends!! A bunch of family drove from Dallas and Waco and even FLEW FROM NEW YORK to be here for Zanna's special day! Here are the decorations that made for Zanna's birthday and the farm house with sheep, pigs an DUCKS that Mimi, Mommy and Godmother Allison made!! Pictures of people to come.... it was a rockin' good time... with 35 rubber ducks, how could it be any different? :)

A Year (almost) in Review...

In anticipation of Zanna's first birthday, I am reflecting upon the moments that we've shared over this past year (minus 6 days). It's been a whirlwind; it's been phenomenal, and as people say, it's truly hard to remember life "b.c." (before child).... Here are some of my favorite moments from this past year (pictures will come later!)

*Holding her for the very first time and watching her stick her little tongue out at me
*Watching Cam become a daddy, holding his sweet angel in his arms, smiling from ear to ear
*The torturous first car-seat ride home from the hospital (thank God that got better!)
*Our grand welcome by family upon our arrival home from the hospital
*Super Cousins and the purple tutu
*the precious 8 weeks of maternity leave and gracious visits and help from family and close friends (I don't remember much of that time, just being tired and happy .... :))
*Starbucks... ah, Starbucks.
*The first glass of wine post-baby
*when she began to sing along anytime Daddy would sing "oh Suzanna"
*that very first smile (and every one after that!)
*the day Daddy made her laugh while tickling her :)
*our very first plane ride to visit family and friends in Dallas
*meeting Eric, Gracie and Josephine (Zanna's baby friends!)
*multi-tasking at work, Zanna in tow
* the Sip and See at church with all of her congregation loving on her
*The Whole Allen family coming for Easter to our house (even Grammy and Poppy!)
*her baptism on August 16 by SamPa (Pastor Sam)
*the first word (dada)
*The other words (hi, mama, cat (still the fave!))
*Vacation at Amelia Island with the Ukropinas: babies down by the beach... too fun.
*The obsession with QUACKing!! :)
*that first successful crawl....and the huge grin that came with it
*the chicken costume at Wurst Fest for baby's first Chicken Dance!
*silly moments of clapping and laughing together
*folding her hands to pray, over and over again
*when she got the baby signs and felt like she had so much power cuz she could name things in her environment and tell us, often adamantly, what she wanted :)
*messy messy highchairs
*the first bite of ice cream (she's a mama's girl, loved it!)
*family times at the park
*Christmas with all the Demarests and most of the Allens
*cuddle time when she's sick
*first steps
*poking noses
*Ghost-cows (they say "Booooooo.....")
*Zanna kisses
and lots lots more....
Zanna, God has blessed your mommy and daddy, and so many others, by your presence. We love you and you are incredibly special to us. You make us smile every day and we thank God for you.
Happy (almost) birthday, sweetpea!!
-MOM

Sunday Afternoon at the Park

While our friends and family in Dallas enjoyed a foot of snow in 2 days, we enjoyed a sunny Valentine's Day afternoon here in Austin. We made the most of the sunshine (it didn't last long that day!) and spent the afternoon at a park nearby to play.... it was really fun to swing and slide together; Zanna even went through her first tunnel!!

Chloe's Valentine's Day Brunch

Our four-legged friend, Chloe, invited Zanna, Tess and a bunch of other friends over for a Puppy Love Valentine's Day brunch.... Zanna and Tess really enjoyed playing together and sharing toys and even headbands. Kenna, Chloe's mom, thought that their headband sharing was hilarious, as you can see!

Unfortunately, Chloe was not as impressed by the babies as were all of the other guests... she kept trying to protect her momma Kenna any time a baby crawled or rolled her way nearby.... so we didn't get a picture of Chloe and her youngest guests. However, one thing's for sure, Tess and Zanna enjoyed each other's company!
Tess is now 7 months old and does the "boot-scoot army" crawl and rolls to many places... she is super sweet and cuddly, and it's always fun to see her and her mom Joey. Happy Valentine's Day!

A few of her favorite things...

Swinging, Eating with her own spoon, and of course, Mommy and Daddy... :)