February 2015 in Review

February in Review

Lily - 

This month Lily has turned into quite the talker.  She repeats everything that you say (or at least the last word).  In addition to talking, and singing, nonstop - she has also become potty trained! YAY!  This month we've only had about 3 or 4 accidents.  Hopefully next month will yield in less accidents and Lily doing a better job of telling Mommy when she needs to go potty instead of Mommy asking every hour or taking her compulsively every 2 hours. In other highlights, Lily likes to sing "No more Monkeys" when we sing "Monkeys jumping on the bed." And she likes to say (along with us and the hand motions) "Along comes Mr. Alligator.  SNAP!" When we sing "Monkeys in the tree."

Marco - 

Marco is getting stronger and stronger and can hold his head up on his own.  He's not a great sleeper when he's laying down in his crib - but when we put him in his swing he will sleep for a three to four hour stretch.  He only really fuses when he has to burp, poop or hasn't been fed for 3+ hours.  He is such a good baby and I feel so blessed that he has made the transition from one child to two so much easier than I anticipated. 

Here are the major highlights from this month:

Grammy and Grandpa's visit extended into February.  When they left it was such a sad, sad, sad day.  They entertained Lily, helped Mommy with numerous house projects, potty-trained Lily, and kept Mommy company and from getting any type of postpartum blues.

Lily's favorite spot this month has been on Grammy's lap reading books.  I've slacked off reading with her since baby Marco was born - so I'm so happy that Grammy stepped up to make sure she continues to grow and learn.

Marco's favorite spot is also in anyone's arms.

These photos come from February 1.  A day where Grammy & Grandpa went to church and came home eager to hold grandkids again.  And it was a great day for Mommy because she got an extra nap while everyone was watching the Super Bowl on TV.

Before Grandpa left, we took a day trip up to Mayberry (Mt. Airy, NC).  I think that my parents were in heaven.  Lily was excited, and Marco was just thrilled that this was his first little "getaway". 

Lily turned TWO

Before Grandpa left (he wasn't able to stay as long as Grammy) we opened a few gifts and made Lily feel extra special in spending some good quality time with Grandpa.

Lily's new favorite song has become "Happy Day" and anytime a candle is lit in our home we have to sing "Happy Birthday" and let her blow out the candle.  On her birthday we sang it about 8 or 9 times and each time she blew out the candle and clapped.  It was so endearing and heartwarming.

Our episode of House Hunters aired.  I was a nervous wreck, but actually enjoyed watching myself on TV.  It was very surreal.  And I'll I'm going to say is: there is no "reality" in "Reality TV." 

^^ (My cute friends let me photobomb their picture.  I'm so grateful I met these girls 12.5 years ago my Freshman year at BYU.  Some friends are NEVER worth letting go.)

Both Lily and Marco had doctor appointments this month.  The diagnosis: they are both growing up strong and healthy.

Marco turned one month old!

We had our first two (and only two) snowstorms of the winter season.  Michal was such a good Daddy and capitalized on the experience to go out and play with Lily in the snow.  This is one reason I feel lucky and blessed that I married him.  He loves our children so, so much and helps out way more than I ever dreamed he would!  Thanks sweetheart! Lily (and I) love you!

Lily takes care of her doll-doll and feeds her regularly while Mommy feeds baby Marco.

Baby Marco is still getting us up two to four times a night.

We are both a little sleep deprived.

Potty training continues.  After Grammy left we regressed a bit, but Mommy found a solution: every time Lily tells Mommy that she needs to go potty (and goes Poo-Poo) she gets to wear her "Frozen" dress.  This worked!  And I'm almost afraid every picture we see her in over the next two months, she will be wearing her "Frozen" dress... but at least I don't have to clean up messes!

I even went and got a second "Frozen" dress, but Lily still prefers the dress on the right.  I think the dress on the left is just a tad too big for her.

Sometimes Lily gets excited to play with all of Marco's toys.

But she gets even more excited every time she gets to hold baby Marco.  Whenever she asks to "hold da Baby" we let her.  I could be in the middle of nursing, or burping, or he could be asleep, but we let her hold Marco.  We feel like it's important to make her feel like she's helping and that she is able to bond with her little brother.

I feel like Lily has needed a lot of extra-attention this month since we are always holding or attending to Marco.  At times it has been hard, but I have to remember - she won't stay little forever - and I'll miss these cuddles when she grows up.

Lily loves putting together this puzzle because every time she completes it we get to sing our "ABC's" together.  She really is such a smart girl.

And her little personality continues to come out more and more!  Pictured below she is holding her "bear", which is actually honey.  It has to go on all of her adventures with her!

Our good friend Bailey gave Lily a Doc McStuffin's Doctor Kit for her birthday.  And since Lily enjoyed her two year check-up, it has become one of her favorite past-times to give Mommy and Daddy check-ups.  We are being poked, prodded, checked and re-checked.  I'm convinced that she will grow up to be a doctor.  Thank you to Bailey for helping her aspire to this noble calling at an early age!

And lastly - here's Marco at 5 and 6 weeks.  He is just growing and growing!

January 2015 in Review

January 2015

Happy New Year!

Everything this month revolved around welcoming baby boy into our home.

Little Marco was the highlight of January.

Weighing in at 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long.

He was such a good baby and so hard not to fall immediately in love with.

The saddest part of our hospital stay was that Lily wasn't allowed to come meet Marco.  Due to flu season they implemented a mandatory 'no visitors under the age of 18' anywhere in the hospital.  We were no exception.  But we still were excited that little Marco made us a family of four.

While in the hospital, Michal and I were interviewed for the local newspaper.  It appeared the following day and all the nurses and hospital staff would mention that they read about us that morning.  It was quite the experience being recognized (not famous) in the hospital.  I wish we were famous, it may have given us better treatment in the postpartum section of our stay.

Here is what the newspaper had to say about us...

Tim Clodfelter/Winston-Salem Journal

Next month, Forsyth County residents Michal and Katie Trenerowski will be featured on an episode of the reality TV series “House Hunters.” And this week, they are adding a new member to their family. Katie was in the early stages of labor on Thursday afternoon with her second child, but she welcomed the distraction of talking about the family’s stint on TV. “My husband I just thought it would be really fun,” she said by phone from her hospital room. “How many people get to document their first home purchase on TV? ... We may look silly, or serious, but we really had a lot of fun with our crew.” Their episode will air at 10 p.m. Feb. 4 on HGTV. The series follows prospective home buyers as they look at three properties with the assistance of a local realtor — in the Trenerowskis’ case, Mia Parker. The Trenerowskis moved to the Triad a year ago for his consulting job, and after living in an apartment decided it was time to buy a home. “They were referred to me from a former client,” Parker said. “It was very interesting. His taste in a home was very different from her taste in a home. It made it an interesting adventure, if you will, to find something that would please both of them. “Since Katie is from Utah and Michal from Poland, they had very different ideas of what they wanted in a home. This made them the perfect pair to appear on the HGTV ‘House Hunters’ episode…. He was looking for more of an older fixer-upper, she wanted something more move-in-ready.” They looked at three homes, two in Winston-Salem and one in Lewisville. They can’t say which home they picked — that information is under wraps until the episode airs. They were also not allowed to post anything on Instagram or Facebook about their new home, and couldn’t even say they had been on the TV show until it had an airdate. “They want to keep people (in suspense) so they will stick through the show,” said Michal. “They asked us not to show it.” The Trenerowskis were already familiar with “House Hunters,” having friends who had been on the show. Those friends suggested they apply. They applied in late April/early May and found out in June they were selected as participants. They were also familiar with the trials of moving. “We came from Poland to Utah, and from Utah to North Carolina,” Katie said. They have moved 10 different times in the five years they’ve been married. “It was an adventure every single time,” she said. Now that they have a growing family — with daughter Lily, who will turn 2 next month, and a son who may be born by the time this story runs — they are planning to settle down, Michal said. Katie added that North Carolina puts them roughly midway between Utah, where her family is from, and Michal’s native Poland, saying “We feel like we’re close enough to our homes… and can have our own little adventure here.” Parker said she received “no financial compensation for me as a realtor (from appearing on the show) other than to let people know I’m here and this is what I do.” But she welcomed the chance to appear on the show and to spotlight the Winston-Salem area and highlight “all the great things our city has to offer.” The episode was filmed in July, and the Trenerowskis have already been in their new home for about six months. “We’re really, really happy with what we have,” Katie said. “We could not agree on a home at all, so I think the fact we actually picked one is a miracle.”

Before Marco came into our family we tried to make sure Lily got as much attention as possible and felt extremely loved.  We didn't want her to feel excluded with all the changes coming into our family.  So while Mommy went into ultra-nesting mode - I made sure Lily felt like she was helping every step of the way.  Most of the time she was actually in the way, but nothing is more adorable than a 23 month old little girl trying her hardest to help and impress you to make you proud.

Below are some of my favorite memories of the early month.

~ Dressing up

~ Potty Training

~ Lily discovered how to take selfies and they appeared on our cameras ALL. THE. TIME. during the month of January

~ Bringing me breakfast in bed... and then eating my breakfast in bed

~ Giving doll-doll (and herself) a pretend bath

~ Pretending to go night-night

~ Constantly trying to dress herself

But my very favorite memory of Lily this month is when she met her baby brother for the first time.  We had two nurses, my mom, and myself all crying.  It was such a tender moment and I really am grateful that God gave me this moment to cherish and remember always.

Once baby Marco came home, the house was full of love.  There is just such a special spirit in your home after a baby is born and the pictures below attest to that.  I just love how everyone was always loving someone else especially the love Lily showed toward Marco.  Lily was always hugging, holding, or trying to smother her baby brother.

Marco had his first photoshoot this month.  He was a little pill during the shoot and would NOT fall asleep.  We were there for about 4.5 hours and he was asleep for maybe 60 minutes.  It was really hard trying to get him to cooperate.  That being said, the photographer did a phenomenal job of really getting some good shots when he was cooperating.  I felt like we definitely robbed our photographer because of how hard she worked and the amount of pictures we ended up with surpassed our expectations, especially with an uncooperative baby.

I was very hesitant to get "family shots" with baby Marco.  I just wanted pictures of him, but I'm glad that I opted to do this for so many reasons.  But the number one reason is this: look at our faces - we are just elated and so in love with our new baby.  We beam and it shows and I am so glad our photographer was able to capture that on film.

Christmas Cards

Lily's new favorite thing is to open up anything that doesn't belong to her. Christmas spoiled her. Now if it's a mail package, letters, or even boxes of cereal - she wants to be right alongside to help you open it up.

That being said, when we returned to North Carolina, we had a stack of over 25 Christmas Cards that needed to be opened. Once I put Marco down for his morning nap, I started to neatly and nicely open up the cards. When Lily caught sight of what I was doing, she wanted to be included. So I sat her down on the floor and let her go to town. 

She was so creative and opened up the envelopes in the most unique ways. And after getting the card out, she would sit and stare at it for several seconds, seeing if she could recognize anyone's picture. If she knew who was on the card, they got placed in "Lily's pile" otherwise they got placed in "Mommy's pile."

Lily had lots of favorites and was often very eager to show me which ones they were.

After all the mess was cleaned up, and cards were placed in the fridge - Lily would sneak over to the fridge and "collect" her favorites and tote them around with her saying that they were her cards, not mine.

I feel so blessed to have been thought of by so many different individuals. We received cards from numerous families in our Church Congregation, from almost all of Michal's coworkers, various families we met and became friends with in all the places we lived, and lots of family members.

I love collecting friends, I love collecting memories, and I love collecting Christmas cards. There's just something special about receiving a Christmas card in the mail. It means that you were thought of and special enough to be included on their list.

Thank you for all your wonderful Christmas Cards - and special thank you to the two senders who sent us their cards twice! 

Saying Goodbye is Never Fun

The worst part about a trip is saying good-bye and going home.

The nice thing about the non-stop flight to Charlotte from Salt Lake City is that it doesn't leave until 5:00 pm, so that gives us a whole extra day with Grandparents that we wouldn't normally get. 

Grandpa had to work, but came home for lunch to give hugs and kisses goodbye to Lily. Marco missed out because he was sleeping.

And Grammy accompanied us to the airport to ensure that we made it safely through security. Lily was very helpful and wanted to push the stroller into everyone's shins. She was also very concerned about Grammy and wanted to make sure that she was coming. When she found out that she wasn't coming she said to me, "Mommy, let's go give Grammy another hug." Being little is so hard because she doesn't understand why we had to separate and couldn't just give her as many hugs as we wanted to.

Boarding the plane and the flight was awful. The plane was delayed about an hour, plus we were in the runway forever getting de-iced. Marco wouldn't fall asleep. Lily had to go potty four times. Snacks were spilled. Drinks were spilled. Lily's back got scratched big time by improper use of the seat belt. The iPad wasn't entertaining. Marco only slept about 25 minutes. It was just a really rough flight. The only good thing about it was that Lily sat by a boy that she flirted with the majority of the time. And this fifteen year old didn't seem to mind it much.

It got even worse when we got to the baggage claim and we found out that the conveyor belt that brought luggage to us was broken. It took an hour to fix. 

After all was said and done, we got home at 2:08 am. I slept until 10:30 - Lily slept until 11:00 and Marco until 11:30. It was heaven being able to sleep in and just have a lazy day where we were recovering from traveling. Every time I take that flight I tell myself I'm never doing it again - yet - I always end up taking it again. C'est la vie. That's life. At least we had a wonderful trip and a little hiccup with one night of rough traveling won't stop us from being adventurous and going out to Utah again!