Our New Years Resolutions

Justin and I came up with a quick list of ideas last night for our new years resolutions. Some of these things we are already doing, but we just want to make sure we keep up with them!

Daily: 

• Sit down for supper as a family, turn TV off and chat about the day (as long as Justin's schedule permits).
• Allow for at least 30 mins of "me time" (separately for both mom and dad) to relax a little each day without the wild child.
• Use juicer at least once per day.

Weekly:

• Try one new (healthy) recipe per week. And try to eat a little more healthier in general.
• Set aside time to call all of our siblings once per week.
• Skype/email/call the grandparents more!
• Set aside some quality "family time" on the weekend.
• Blog once per week!

Monthly:

• Travel to visit family 1x per month at least.
• Date night once per month or more!
• Try one new home DIY project per month! :-)

Summer:

• Garage sale!
• Summer family camping?
• Visit Justin's mom "up north".
• Tackle house projects:
• Shingle party!
• Paint kitchen cupboards.
• Paint front porch cement.

Year:

• Family shared calendar, so we're all on the same page!
• Develop "Team Z" Etsy store more.
• Justin = finish degree! :-)
• Wean Nikayda/sleep training... :S
• Develop better organization systems for simple things.
• Become more of a green/natural/earth friendly family.
• Homemade gifts for birthdays, xmas, etc.

We had an enjoyable Christmas time with family back home! Nikayda got lots of cute toys and books!

Christmas 2011

However, we did NOT have an enjoyable New Years. We managed to catch a nasty flu bug and got stuck having a family puking marathon at Justin's brother's house. I'm sure we caught the same thing they had 4-5 days before, but we were hoping the germs would be gone from the house by then... But oh well!

Actually, Friday and most of Saturday were enjoyable before we started the puking marathon. We had made plans a while ago to hang out with Justin's brother (and his family) and his sister for a little Christmas gathering since we didn't get a chance to get together on the actual Christmas dates. But boy, when little Nikayda started puking up everything on New Years Eve, it was just downhill from there... next it was mom... then dad... Good thing Aunt Merissa and Uncle Jake didn't mind us staying another night to get over the sickness... and Aunt Merissa was a saint and helped us tend to Nikayda while Justin and I were miserable... which included cleaning up some of her puke, washing blankets and clothes, bringing us whatever we needed ... water, 7-up, pillows, etc... and now she is probably disinfecting her house!

Needless to say, I did NOT get a picture of us on New Years... but we are definitely feeling better today. We made the drive back home successfully this morning.

Now we should start thinking about some new years resolutions I suppose... :-) I think healthy living and healthy food is on my mind lately... especially with the sickness we are just getting over, one forgets how GREAT it is to be healthy.

On that note, since my favorite Christmas present (from Justin) was a new Breville Juicer, I know for sure that one resolution for Team Z is to use it at least once a day. It makes such fresh and healthy juice out of pretty much any fruit or vegetable!!! I LOVE it so far, and it's so easy to use and clean!

Hopefully more to come on some of Team Z's new years resolutions later...

Mom stuff: the expected and the unexpected

Here sits Kacie typing with one hand (holding Nikayda upright as she sleeps with a stuffy/runny nose) and contemplating... Mom stuff.


Things I expected and already knew that came with motherhood:

• Lots of love and strong feelings of protection towards baby
• Little sleep
• Lots of smiles and cuddle time
• Some tears, too
• Eat, sleep, play, poop & pee
• Some frustrations of course...
• Way too many pictures taken all the time
• The need to constantly keep an eye on a crawling toddler -- they get into stuff FAST!
• Whatever is on mom's plate is always better than what's on baby's plate! 
• An amazing husband will become an amazing dad :)
• And we knew that this baby will be the most precious, beautiful creature we've ever laid eyes on, and she will be a hybrid mix of characteristics from both mom and dad...and probably will have the most striking blue eyes ever! (I was right!) :)

Things I didn't totally expect with motherhood:

• How elusive an actual "schedule" can be for said eat, sleep, play, poop & pee; seems like its always changing!
• Babies are really good at dodging Kleenex and wash cloths for a simple wipe.
• Babies really DO grow as fast as everyone says
• And how soon you forget what it was like when they were "little"
• The excitement that comes with each new skill baby learns (no matter how simple)
• Hormones...frustrations often taken out on the husband ... Sorry Justin!
• And little things that never used to irritate me so much will randomly irritate me A LOT, but that's getting better :)
• Losing weight with breastfeeding...totally didn't expect that... Have had to buy smaller jeans than I had before... But a good problem to have I guess!
• And my body actually hasn't changed as much as I thought it would have after pregnancy, luckily... not so far that I can tell anyway! :P
• All the fussiness and crying during the first few months...ugh.
• How heartbreaking my baby's cries can be...
• Didn't think it was possible to learn how to do so many things -- make a meal, type, do laundry, clean, etc -- with only one hand.
• How much this baby hates sleeping in her crib...
• How much a baby can fight sleep... Stubborn little turkey... LoL
• How little free time a mom has.
• How good a hot shower feels (and usually only one every other day... or two! Don't judge me! LoL)
• How much baby gear and toys one accumulates...
• And how much of that you think you need beforehand, but actually don't use much.
• How hard it was to dress a newborn...and how easy it quickly becomes after much practice.
• How easy cloth diapering is -- once we got a good system going.
• How easy it was to wean this baby from a bottle (hasn't had one since around 7 months old, just sippy cups now!), but how hard it is/will be to wean from the breast...uffda. (Actually didn't expect to still be breastfeeding at 10 months old...but don't regret it!)
• Didn't expect myself to want to be a stay-at-home-mom.
• And didn't expect the decision to change from working-mom to stay-at-home mom to be so hard.
• How stressful a simple 2 hr car ride would be for this baby...
• How different all babies (and moms!) can be from one another.

As you can see, there's much more on the unexpected list... But what a fun, exciting, breathtaking, overwhelming, challenging, momentous, rewarding, etc (the adjectives could go on here!) journey it has been thus far!

And as much as I hated it then, I'm glad I had 4 younger siblings to babysit to "practice" on first before having my own little one! ;)

Back as "Team Z"!

Now that we've had Baby Z added to our lives, a lot has changed. It would make for one really long blog post to list all the changes and updates that have taken place since little Nikayda's birthday... so for now, we'll just pick it back up from where we are now! We are happy and loving life. We are Team Z!


I forgot to explain the meaning behind our daughter's name in the last post announcing her arrival...


Nikayda
-- We designed it from the name "Nikita" (unisex name), which both Justin and I liked.
-- Origin: Slovakian, Slavic, Russian, Greek, Macedonian
-- Meaning: Unconquerable, Victorious People, Victory of the People
-- Derived from Greek νικη (nike) meaning "victory".


Claire
-- Variant of "Clara" after Kacie's Great Grandmother -- Clara Cleveland, she lived to be over 100!
-- Origin: French, Latin
-- Meaning: Illustrious, Clear, Bright, Distinguished, Famous Bearer
-- Derived from the feminine form of the Latin adjective 'clarus' meaning bright or clear.


Zajic
-- Czech (Zajíc) and Slovak (Zajac): from zajíc ‘hare’, hence a nickname for a swift runner or a coward, one quick to run away. -- http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/
-- We'd like to think our last name is more from the "swift runner" part! Afterall, Justin is the all around track-star!! :-)

Updated Family Picture --  Nikayda at 8½ months old here.

Baby Z has arrived!

Baby Z has arrived! :-)

1st family picture

 Nikayda Claire

BORN

February 11, 2011 at 3:17 PM

WEIGHT

7 lbs 4 oz

LENGTH

19.5 inches

Family picture with Kacie (mom), Grandma & Grandpa & Aunts and Uncle :)

Great Grandma & Grandpa Cleveland came to visit!

Strong little girl holding her head up to look at dad!

Reading to Baby Z

Justin has been reading to Baby Z lately!  If she's not already awake and moving around, she'll usually respond to his voice with some movement and kicking around once he starts reading.  :-)

A couple books she really likes so far:

The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln: A Book of Quotations

Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings

Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss

Almost February...

Well it's almost February!  The month Baby Z  will come into this world!  Unless she decides January is good enough... there's still a few days left for that possibility!

Kacie & Justin have finished the Expectant Parents and Childbirth Prep classes at Avera Queen of Peace.  They are also both certified in Child and Infant CPR for 2 years.

Baby Z now has a LOT of clothes, probably more outfits than Kacie and Justin! :)  Lots of 0-3 month clothes from cousin Jaylyn, and some new outfits from the baby shower that Justin's teacher friends at the middle school threw for them on the 24th.

Kacie at 37 weeks

The doc appointment went well today -- everything still seems to be going well so far.  The past 2 weekly appointments, Kacie's been dilated to 1cm and 50% effaced.  Today the doc said Kacie is 2cm and 80% effaced -- so baby is making progress downward! Kacie is now 38 weeks along... when will Baby Z's birthday be?? It's anybody's guess!  :)