Back to the real world

After about 15 or 16 weeks of time dedicated 100 percent to Maya, I had to make the dreaded return to work on January 4! Not totally dreaded, but I was definitely feeling a little apprehensive about how it would all work out. Turns out, things are going great thanks to our big girl. The weeks leading up to my return we’d been practicing with the bottle, and Miss Maya was having none of it! She only wanted to nurse. But thankfully, five days before my return, things just turned around and she decided she didn’t mind the bottle after all. Now she’s a regular pro, and will even take one from me.

I had originally thought I’d only return to work part time; I loved every second of maternity leave but knew that I still wanted to at least work a little, to keep using that part of my mind. But we didn’t want Maya in daycare if we could at all help it. Thanks to their flexibility at the paper, we’re getting to make full time work, without feeling like Maya has to spend too much time away from a parent. Two days a week, Jason works an early shift and I work a late shift, so we pass Maya off at the office. These days are great for me, because I get to be at work, around adults, stimulating my brain again, for a full 8 hours, but I know that Maya is with dad so I don’t feel guilty about being away! And I think Jason and Maya are going to really start to love their time alone together each week. (It’s gotten off to a rough start with them both being a little sick!) The other three days a week, I work from home. So I’m just steps away from my little gal! We have a sitter that comes to play with her during some of that time, and then I do some of my work while Jason is home in the morning or at night, some on weekends, etc. So overall, I don’t feel like she is missing out on much time with her parents, which is a great compromise for all of us! We have a sitter whose true love for kids is so apparent that I really am excited about Maya being able to spend time with her. I think it’s been great for her to have someone new to play with.

So in the end, even though the transition has been a little rough, we’re all thinking it’s going to work out pretty well after we get used to our new routines!

See our favorite photos of Maya.

Posted by Kari on January 26, 2010 at 10:31 pm, filed under Baby and tagged . Make a comment on the post, or bookmark the permalink.

Maya’s first Christmas

It still feels like Christmas was just yesterday to me, but if I don’t write about it soon, it’s going to be Christmas 2010! But life has been beyond crazy since we got back from our trip to Minnesota, with Jason heading to Phoenix to see his Frogs in the Fiesta Bowl and my return to work. (More on that later.)

Before all the craziness, the three of us had a great first Christmas together, and Maya got to take her first plane ride to Minnesota. She and I headed up there about a week before Jason (wanted to take advantage of the end of my maternity leave) and I was incredibly nervous that I would end up with a screaming baby the entire two and a half hours! But Maya did great. She ate when we were taking off and didn’t wake up until we were at the gate in Minneapolis. No complaints from mom!

When we got to Minnesota, Maya got to meet her Uncle Ryan for the first time, since he was home from school in Poland for the holiday. We went on to spend much time relaxing with Maya’s grandparents, and I took advantage of having willing babysitters around, going to movies, shopping and getting together with friends. We all had a blast. One day, Maya and I headed to Matt’s cabin for his annual party. There weren’t many of us this year, but we had a great time (saved the sledding for next year when Maya is bigger) and Maya got to meet her slightly older friend Wyatt for the first time. It’s funny to think about how these parties have changed since we were all in college, now that there are little kids in the mix. Other fun things we got to do while in MN: See Santa #2 (Maya had a much more stoic face this time, instead of a frown), meet lots of mom’s friends for the first time and best of all, see Maya’s first snow!

What a first Christmas in Minnesota for Maya: we had record snowfall. It was beautiful and perfect weather for Christmas! Luckily Jason was able to switch his flight from the 24th to the 23rd to avoid getting stuck in Fort Worth alone for the holiday. So he made it in time to beat the real snowfall… we’re talking feet, not just inches! We spent Christmas Eve at my cousin’s house with about 30 people from my mom’s side of the family. Christmas Day was at our house with a much smaller gathering of family. We played lots of Scrabble and spent much time on the couch watching all the white! Maya loved her first Christmas, although I think she was rather oblivious to what was going on. She didn’t care about her presents at all this year! But I think she was happy to have so many people excited to hold her.

We ended our trip with Maya’s second successful plane ride, aside from Maya’s unhappiness with the changing accommodations in the plane’s bathroom. Luckily, the engines drowned out the screaming, and she was happy as a lark to get out of there. And happy to be home too.

See our favorite photos of Maya.

Posted by Kari on January 16, 2010 at 11:19 pm, filed under Baby, Family and friends, Travel and tagged . Make a comment on the post, or bookmark the permalink.

Looking back on 2009

Has it only been a year. Seems like a lifetime. We began with a couple days hiking with Bailey (and a newly pregnant Kari), we visited Boston and Minneapolis (twice), and we made several stops in Shreveport. And, of course, we added the world’s cutest baby to our family.

This week (two for Maya and Kari) we’ve been visiting Maya’s grandparents, her uncle and several of Kari’s friends in Minneapolis. (that’s her with her new friend Wyatt, above). Preparing for Maya’s second plane ride early tomorrow morning as we head back home; here’s hoping for a sleepy baby come takeoff.

Here’s a quick recap of how we spent 2009.

Happy first birthday Ford: We began with birthday wishes for our nephew Ford, then turning 1, now about to turn 2. Talk about the difference a year makes. That 1-year-old, who we described as “almost walking, almost talking,” seems to have skipped right past walking to running. During our recent time together at Thanksgiving, he was a bundle of energy and fun, but he did slow down just enough to give his new cousin Maya a hug every once in a while.

Palo Duro Canyon: Morning sickness? What morning sickness? Soon after we learned that Kari was pregnant, we headed out to Amarillo for a couple days of hiking some beautiful Texas canyons. We brought Bailey along, or rather, he brought us along as he raced across the red clay on the most exciting couple of days he’s had.

New sod + crazy dog = bad combination: Most of the rest of this list is dominated by that new little girl in our lives, but before there was Maya, there was our first rambunctious little kid, Bailey. You know, the big freight train of a dog who tore out half of the grass in the backyard.

20 weeks pregnant, and she’s getting bigger: A few days after the sonogram, it wasn’t Kari who was getting bigger, it was our little girl.

The nursery is on it’s way: My Dad spent a quick, busy weekend in Fort Worth painting and working on Maya’s nursery.

Our “babymoon”: Nope, I didn’t know what a babymoon was until then either. But we had a ton of fun in Boston, Connecticut and Cape Cod, visiting friends and seeing a part of the country we had never seen before.

Eight months of pregnancy, one blog post: Kari recaps how we found out, each trimester, picking out Maya’s name and more.

Maya’s here!: Maya Makenzie Crane arrived at 3:37pm on September 23, 2009, weighing in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches.

The labor story: Kari recaps the labor experience. Word of caution… not for the faint of heart.

Maya’s 1-month checkup: Growing big and tall: So happy to be blessed with a healthy, growing little girl. We were a little worried when the doctor recommended sleep training, but it was well worth it. Now, Maya sleeps 10 hours a night.

Maya’s first month: A video recap: A quick video look back at Maya’s first month on earth.

A Thanksgiving week of firsts: We spent a great Thanksgiving week with family in Fort Worth and in Shreveport. Maya got to meet most of her Shreveport relatives and spend some quality time with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Allison, cousin Ford and Grandad.

Thanks for being a part of our eventful 2009. Here’s to many more great memories for all of us in 2010.

See our favorite photos of Maya.

Posted by Jason on December 29, 2009 at 11:43 pm, filed under Baby, Family and friends, Travel and tagged . Make a comment on the post, or bookmark the permalink.

A Thanksgiving week of firsts

Thanksgiving week was an exciting one for our little gal. She got to meet Aunt Allison, Uncle Jeff and Cousin Ford all for the first time! We all had such a great time together and were so sad to see them go. (Unfortunately I came down with a bad cold at the end of their trip though, so I wasn’t the most fun!) But it was great to see how sweet Ford was toward Maya, and it made us so excited for all of the fun they’ll have together in the future. We got out a lot while they were in town, which is always fun for mom and Maya! We took her first trip to the zoo (Ford was much more interested than Maya, who slept the entire time) and we all took a nice walk around the Botanic Gardens before eating too much food Thanksgiving Day. Grandad Jeff was also able to make the trip over to Fort Worth for the holiday, and we all took a walk around TCU’s campus after our meal and were able to take a nice photo of all three generations of Cranes in front of the tree planted in honor of Patsy.

Before everyone headed to the airport Friday, we all made a trip to Trinity Park to see the “purple” river in honor of TCU. It was a great day for a walk and a nice though on the city’s part, but we couldn’t really tell that the river was purple! More like murky brown…

The weekend before Thanksgiving Maya made her first trip out of the state to Shreveport to visit Grandad and meet many of her other relatives. Mom and Dad were so grateful for what a great traveler she was. We didn’t have to stop once… she snoozed the entire way!

In Shreveport she got to hang out with Grandad and meet Jason’s aunts Patti and Sandy and cousin Michelle. She also met her great-Gram for the first time. Saturday night she got to meet the entire Langford family and her great-Gramp. And we came away with a priceless photo of Gramp with all of his grandkids and great-grandkids. They were all in the same place for the first time since anyone can remember!

It was a great week full of firsts for Maya. She’s already dreaming of her next out-of-state trip, and we can only hope it goes as smooth as this trip since it’ll be by airplane!

See our favorite photos of Maya.

Posted by Jason on December 9, 2009 at 3:54 pm, filed under Baby and tagged . Make a comment on the post, or bookmark the permalink.

All I want for Christmas is…

To get off Santa’s lap is what it looks like Maya was wishing for! We took Maya to meet Santa for the first time this past weekend. We met up with our friends Scott, Julie and Jack in Sundance Square downtown. It felt like the Christmas season outside, so we all bundled up for the occasion. I figure Maya must have a little of Minnesota in her, so she was a trooper. (She has the warmest seat in the house in her stroller covered with blankets.)

She didn’t shed a single tear, so we were happy about that. Actually, dad said he was hoping for the photo of her screaming at Santa… that’s a little cruel, don’t you think!? She was content for the first few minutes, and just kind of looking at us all, wondering why we were all staring at her. But then the pouty lip made its appearance. She was ready to be rescued from the scary guy with the big white beard. We’re happy to have a priceless picture to remember her first visit to Santa. (Don’t you love her Santa slippers!)

We promptly headed inside for some football and warm food and drinks to finish off the fun outing.

* On a side note, we just want to put it on the record that last night was our sweet girl’s best night of sleep yet, and the first night she really made it all the way through the night without waking! (She did one other night, but that was after getting in bed later than usual… so I don’t know that we can count it!) But she slept from 8:40 p.m. to 6:15 a.m., so mom and dad were pretty happy! Although we have a rough time getting up before 7… something just seems wrong about that to two people who used to work nights! We just want to be able to remember this day (and night) in case it doesn’t happen again!

Posted by Kari on December 8, 2009 at 8:49 pm, filed under Baby and tagged . Make a comment on the post, or bookmark the permalink.
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