24 months -- 2!

Our baby has been TWO for a few weeks now -- and it's so surreal.

Little lady.

I know I've said it a million times, but it honestly feels like she was just born. I remember it all so vividly. I'm not sure where the months went, but I've enjoyed SO much of our past two years!

Her birthday party was so sweet. Thank you, family and friends, for coming! We stuck with last year's game plan and did a brunch, but I've probably mentioned that already. Quiche and fruit and homemade cinnamon rolls and sausage and home fries ... followed by doughnuts instead of birthday cake? I think this will be our route from here on out. Who doesn't love breakfast?

Doughnut "cake!"

Ana seemed to SORT OF get that it was her birthday, most of the time. She was "cited!" about opening presents. She smeared doughnut frosting on her face in a stereotypical birthday baby move. And now we have 10x the toys! My Aunt Laurie suggested cycling some of this stuff in and out over the coming months, and we're definitely gonna do that.

Even like, for Christmas, Ana didn't seem that into her easel that James and I bought -- it was ALL about her new baby doll and her Elmo slippers -- so he was like, "this will be fun come spring! Let's just say she never saw it and put it back in the basement."

Done and done.

So yeah, her birthday was Dec. 8, we took her to Crossroads Village to ride the train (she loved it!), then out to eat with Meese and Bob, which I think will (or has?) become a tradition. Her party was the next day and then we just got through Christmas.

On the train!

I think the close timing on everything was a little confusing though; she saw the pile of gifts on Christmas Eve and started singing "Happy birthday to youuuu," and then tried to tear into everyone's presents at some point. I was like, "Um, hello miss! Not all those are for you this time around!" lol.

But she seemed to kind of "get" Christmas ... at least, way more than she did last year! (Can you believe this was her THIRD Christmas?)  Anyway, now she knows about Santa (and says "ho ho hooo!"), loves our tree, the "yights" and the "orn-mets" and she's finally more into what's inside the wrapping paper -- as opposed to JUST being jazzed about the paper itself. This was a really fun year, overall!

We did Christmas Eve with the Ortlieb-Berouseks, came back to my parents' and hung out, we WERE gonna do church and dinner, but Ana's nap ran long -- so we just ordered takeout and skipped church altogether (bad Christians, sorry!)  And then we opened gifts with my parents and brother around 8p or so. The three of us Ganleys were going to stay the night, kind of like last year, but we thought it would be fun to have Ana open gifts at our house for the first time on Christmas morning. I lovvvve our front room! We were all set up in there with a real tree and everything.

The only downside was, the drive home on Christmas Eve took FOREVER because it had snowed a bunch, the plow game on I-75 was WEAK, and then we got Ana to bed and I felt so exhausted and sick all of a sudden.  :(

But not all heroes wear capes: James prepped a breakfast casserole for the next morning, wrapped EVERYTHING of Ana's and set up for the next morning, unloaded the car, cleaned the house ... all while I took a steaming hot shower and passed out in a pile of my own drool. I woke up and I was like, "WHO DID THIS?"  AH, it looked incredible in here. He is the best husband and dad.

Proof.

Anyway, Ana got up around 9:30, we did Christmas like we intended, then Ana and I got back in the  car and did a brunch-type thing with the Mahon side of the family -- in Birmingham. Again, it took a longggg time to get into town -- we've been absolutely pummeled with snow lately!

I worked my final shift of 2017 that evening, Ana had an absolute ball running around Aunt Laurie's house with different cousins, and then we slept over at my parents'. James couldn't come to any of it, unfortch, as he had to work (and be physically present in the newsroom).   :(

We missed our fav guy!

And that was Christmas.

We have the nicest family. I'm so grateful for them. And it was great that Uncle Robby could come down, too -- he's not always able to get the holidays off either, based on his job. Speaking of which, his birthday is today, as well.

ANYWAY, back to the Anz part of this blog ... I can't even stress how happy we are to be in Michigan. For her sake and our own! The cold temps kind of suck rn, but like, we're just so lucky to be surrounded by relatives and love. I can't imagine Ana growing up without her tribe. I'm sure we would have made it work, because we wouldn't have had another option, but this has been just perfect.

Anz, experiencing snow for the first time this season

Analisa was so much fun with everyone over the hols. There's truly never a dull moment, and in big group settings, we were even just saying, we've never had to like, remove her. She's honestly happy the whole time, she goes with the flow, she eats whatever we eat, she plays with anyone up for it (even getting a little bossy at times, forcing my cousin Sarah to "run. Runnnnn!") and she's such a delight. She's even been getting a little less shy these days ... her warm-up period around "new" people (or people she doesn't see often) used to be maybe a half-hour. Now it's like, give her a few minutes and she's good!

She loves to yell, "I've got it!" and do things all on her own. She's very independent, but in the best way possible.

Of course, she has her moments at home when it's just the three of us, when she can be a little difficult -- but mostly, you just have to get more and more inventive when it comes to distractions or changing her surroundings or snapping her out of it. It's def not as easy as it used to be. But in no way would I say the terrible 2s have arrived. (And yes, I've been warned that sometimes with girls, 3 can be worse).

But I'm pretty convinced her personality really is THIS loving. She loves us, Meese and Bob, her sitters, her "fwens," and she's even asking about more and more people every day. "Tweesa? Laurie? Carol?" for example.

She tells us what she wants. Her vocabulary is honestly so impressive. She makes sure her needs are met and she shows so much love! It melts me.

Cutie cutes!

She'll still fight a nap a few days a week, but she takes more than she skips, so we'll accept that.

We switched pediatricians and THAT'S a story for another day, but the moral from our first visit is that we like the doctor herself -- and Ana continues to be the healthiest, which is what matters.

Every other day, she changes her vote on whether the baby in my "belly" is a boy or a girl. Haha. Just tonight, she said "boy" pretty confidently. But I swear, a day or two ago, she was back to girl. I guess we won't know till we know! Her bag is all packed, and she's ready to go to Meese and Bob's, for whenever that day arrives.  :)

I've had like, 99 problems throughout the end of this pregnancy, I swear. My latest is that the baby's head is so low that (s)he's causing nerve pain in my hip flexors -- on the right side especially. I'm happy to report (s)he's moved just a touch since last week, which alleviated some of the pain and pressure, but I'm still pretty ... sore. And I'm not as mobile as I'd like. I'm also not supposed to lift Ana or do stairs (lol). I was in tears last week, just hauling Ana from my SUV, up my parents' front steps and into the house. That was really bad. And my right leg like, just wasn't even working for some time.

I was all, "It can't be like this for the final few weeks, can it?" And the doctor was like, "Actually, yep!"

OMG.

Anyway, like I said, it shifted a bit, but now I have this gross cold. It's not the worst thing that's ever happened, but like, I really don't want to be in the process of delivering, which is already uncomfortable af, and unable to breathe. Because that's the current sitch: I'm stuffed up, I have a sore throat and sometimes I get super hot and then super cold.

Fun, I know. Home stretch! I'll be 39 weeks as of Thursday.

So yeah, I'm straying off course again, but this is what's up at the moment! We have a 2-year-old, she's a lot of work -- thank goodness for my huzb and my parents -- a baby en route any day and we're READY. (Ish). But like I've said before, I think Ana will be the best big sister. No doubts about that, actually. I've continued to tear up about it a bit, just because it's a big transition, but like, we're so excited for all that's to come.

Some days it seems overwhelming too, but moms survive this all the time! We got this. We're so lucky for that little Anzy girl and we're elated to meet No. 2. Even if it will involve a whole bunch of stuff that I've forgotten, like boob pain and sleepless nights and pump parts and cradle cap :)

Thank you for reading two years worth of baby updates, broken down by month! Like I've mentioned, I'll continue to write, but probably not as regularly. But we could be diving into some more FUN topics too, so expect plenty of that!

xoxo, and thanks for being my people.