Spencer-pup, v2

If you remember my previous post, Spencer was due to visit a new grooming salon after a less than positive experience. Well, he did it! :) Spencer had his first grooming experience that was POSITIVE - with J's help, of course. He was frightened, poor pup, but he managed to be bathed, combed & clipped; even had his paws and toenails tidied.

He didn't get the whole grooming experience {since we wanted to ease him into things} but it was a great start. We were really happy with how lovely & gentle the groomer was, and how beautiful he smelled afterwards. Lots of inside cuddles for this handsome man. We'll be booking him back in for another round in a few weeks, and hopefully this will continue to get him used to the ordeal. Just goes to show that a kind and patient groomer is SO important.

She Crawls!

The baby - she is on a roll!

But not really, because - she didn't roll much today - SHE CRAWLED.

{Be prepared for some mama cheering in the background, I was JUST a tad excited.}

Hold on to your hats, people: the immobile baby is learning to become mobile! Cats.... are you ready for this? :)

Using Those Legs!

Jut when you start panicking that your kid STILL refuses to crawl, pull up, or stand, she goes and does this.

Now she didn't GET there on her own - but she's weight bearing with her little pudgy leggies! And not collapsing! We were pretty stoked. That Huggies nappy box was the perfect height for her to play on. And, lest you think it was a fluke, the next day she did it again!

She even half-pulled herself up to reach a toy on the top of the Incrediblock cube - but she was sitting on my lap at the time, so was in the perfect position to grip and pull up. I'm not counting that as pulling up until she can do it herself from the floor. Regardless, she has two very proud parents! I bet her world looks different from up there.

Who knows? Georgia might just bang out one or two more milestones before her first birthday after all! :)

Why IVF?

I've had IVF on the brain lately.

What with Georgia's 1st birthday looming, a few friends who are expecting young babies, becoming an aunty for the first time {to a little niece who lives overseas in the UK} as well as the well-meaning question of 'When will you be going for #2?' that we've been getting already, it's not hard to see why.

But why IVF?

If you're new to these parts, or visited post-Georgia, you might not know our backstory; me with PCOS, anovulatory cycles, clomid-resistant; hubby with several male factor issues. For us, our odds were to gamble with IUI or IVF/ICSI. Due to finances, we decided to go ahead with IVF - and thankfully we did, as I never did respond well, even with injectable medications. First round got 5 eggs, with only 1 transferable. Second round got 3 eggs, one of those being Georgia {and 2 frozen embryos in storage}.

So amazing to imagine this gorgeous girl as a blastocyst, isn't it?

Everyone seems to have a story about their best friend's sister's cousin who used IVF for their first baby but then fell naturally the next time. Or their aunty's next-door-neighbour who was told she couldn't have kids but then boom, surprise baby! I know, I know, those stories are lovely - but they just aren't practical, and they certainly don't seem to be the case for us.

It would be nice to be able to plan for when we have another baby. It would be nice if that decision didn't revolve around the timing & finances involved in planning another IVF cycle - albeit a frozen embryo transfer first, if we're lucky & they thaw well. But alas, we're not one of those people who get so lucky - I'm 10.5 months post-partum, no period in sight, back to anovulatory cycles by all of my tracking & charting - so things don't look like they're happening anytime soon.

10 months old & showing off those pearly whites!

So why IVF? That girl right there is why. Without it, I'm confident that we'd still be child-less right now. I'm a huge supporter in science, and so thankful we are able to plan ahead for it financially. Infertility is something I wouldn't wish on anyone; I just wish that it was more readily available for those who need it.

No word on when we'll get started again, but I'll be sure to keep you posted. :)

Spencer-pup

Oh, this puppy dog. It's been a while since I mentioned how the fur-babies are doing. The fur babies are great; Oscar and Evie are loving life & are SO good with Georgia. It's so sweet to watch them interact with one another. Georgia is ALMOST saying 'cat' when she sees one, and they lie next to each other quite a bit. Other than the trauma of their annual vet visits, they're happy little indoor kitties.

Spencer is also doing really well. He lives predominantly outside, but comes in for visits - though we have to do a toy shuffle beforehand. Georgia's toys go in her toybox; Spencer's toys go on the rug. ;)

Handsome man.

Spencer is such a gentle giant. He loves Georgia, would lick her to death if we would let him. Unfortunately, while he wouldn't hurt a fly, he's also a big fraidy cat when it comes to being groomed. We bath him out the back in his swimming pool, but he's frightened of going in the car, and he's even MORE frightened of strangers trying to groom him. We tried to get him done again today - and despite me warning them over the phone well in advance that Spencer was nervous - they rang 15 minutes after we dropped him off & said they couldn't handle him.

Poor puppy. He's such a sweet boy, but he is so easily frightened. I rang around a few other places today after this morning's disappointment, and have found a lovely lady who we're going to try next week - she's happy for us to stay with him during the wash, and will start slow - even just a bath if he gets too nervous. She's dealt with scared dogs before, and is happy to try and give him a pleasant experience. We'll see how that goes. I hope she can tidy up some of his fur (and give him a good stripping, right down to the undercoat) because he LOVES lying in his wading pool in summer & gets a lot of matted fur. I've already had to cut some out, which I hate doing to his lovely coat; but the mats get so big, so fast. Hopefully by next Tuesday, he'll be a new pup.

Spencer says 'YAWN. Baths are for losers.'

Life & Routines

Miss Georgia is currently snoozing, so I thought I might update about life in general. Things are good - great, even. I feel so lucky to be able to say that. The baby is sleeping better, even if she's still avoiding naps like the plague. I'm still doing my Couch 2 5K three times a week, and feel like I'm doing well there. I lost about 3kg in January; nothing to write home about, but a step in the right direction. I've cooked a fair bit & am experimenting with new foods.

Hubby & I have been taking some time out with just us and it's been positive. It's so easy to get lost and focused on all things baby, and it's taken a while to realise that we were starting to get stuck in a rut. His current job project has allowed him to work from home, so we're being really spoiled by that. He's able to look after Georgia while I run about and get things done, which is great for both of us - he gets to see her learning new things, and I get a tiny bit more independence. Her bedtime routine is pretty consistent now, and she's asleep by 8pm - so we get the evening to spend together. Sounds silly, but we spent months being so tired that we'd have dinner, play on the internet {me downstairs; him upstairs} and realise that we'd crashed into bed at the end of the night and barely seen each other of a night time. I'm happy to say this has changed for the better. Board games, for the win!

All in all, I'd say we're in a great spot right now. And this little girl makes life so much more fun. She's a sweetheart.

anticipate + venture

Well, I made it: thirty-one promts later & #weverb14 for January is done! It's been great thinking of my previous year & the year ahead, and what do you know? It's already February. Time flies when you're having fun.

30. anticipate

What are you waiting for in 2014?

I'm - we're - waiting for the right time to start planning for potential baby #2. I say potential, because there's just no guarantee with these things, but a girl can hope! I want to get to a healthier weight, and we need to save more $$$ first, but when the time is right - hopefully we can attempt, or at least plan to attempt another batch of IVF this year. We have 2 frozen embyros that might just help us out there, though having never gone through a FET before, I have no idea how that will go. For now, we wait & I dream. Even closer though, is Georgia's first birthday party. It's been great fun planning it; and we still have eight weeks to go!

31. venture

Stop saying I wish; start saying I will! What 14 things will you accomplish in 2014?

1. I will finish 6 books - and push myself to get through more if I can.
2. I will move - in some way - at least three times per week.
3. I will cook as much as I can, and experiment with new recipes as well as the old faithfuls.
4. I will organise more date nights with hubby so that we can have some baby-free time.
5. I will take more baths after the baby is in bed.
6. I will read to Georgia often and loudly, and hopefully pass on my love of learning to her.
7. I will stop letting the bathroom get so dirty before cleaning it. {I hate cleaning my bathroom.}
8. I will try to curb my swearing. A little. Hey, I said TRY. :)
9. I will keep on blogging, and writing what comes into my mind.
10. I will plan a fabulous 1st birthday party for my girl, just close family & friends.
11. I will continue taking fifteen million photographs of Georgia and documenting her growing up.
12. I will stop comparing milestones between babies & focus on all the amazing things Georgia CAN do.
13. I will donate more baby things to charity.
14. I will always remember how lucky I am when spending time with my little family.