4 months old

Jack,

I will probably say this every month but I can't believe how big you are. I can't believe how fast time is flying by and I can't believe how much you can change in one month.


You are friggin' strong. You now want to sit up, none of this lounging around thing for you anymore. You want to see what is going on. Toys are starting to catch your attention now. You grab at them some and everything goes in the mouth. Oh, and you recently discovered that you have feet. FEET! They are really great.


Daddy went back to work and you and I are adjusting well. It's much more difficult to keep the house picked up now. When you're awake, you want the attention. And lets face it, you're so cute that it's impossible not to give it to you. You do let me get a few things done sometimes but I must admit that on more than one occasion I have put you on your changing pad and let you watch jumping Jack and I stand there and eat because sometimes, you do what you gotta do. But I figure that you really don't care if the dishes are done or the bed is made, you would much rather have a mommy who spends time with you than a clean house.


Rolling and squealing have been the new big things. You can now roll both ways. You haven't quite gotten to where you roll from one side of the room to the other but I have a feeling its coming soon. And the squealing thing is cute, but good God you can be loud.


What I have discovered is that every month is my favorite time with you. This stage right now, where your discovering what's around you and getting stronger, it's my favorite time. Just like last month, that was my favorite time then. I am soaking up every minute with you and I can already tell you that it's going by too quick. So can you stay this size and this sweet for just a little longer?

Love,
Mama

Well poo

Jack is going through a growth spurt. This evening he slept from 4:30ish to 8. At 8, when he was still sleeping, we decided to change him into his pj's and if he woke up then we'd give him a bath and if not we'd just put him in bed.

He woke up a little so we started getting his bath ready. One important thing to know here is that Jack usually poops in the morning and in the evening but since he'd been asleep all afternoon he hadn't gotten to that yet. I'm sure you can see where this is going.

Thankfully (for me) it was Jonathan's turn to take a bath with Jack. While the tub was filling up we always let him have some naked time on the floor. He peed. No big deal. So he's enjoying his bath when it happens. We hear this little toot and then see poo chunks in the water. Jonathan is just trying to hold onto the baby while I'm laughing hysterically. It was friggin' hysterical. We drained the tub, filled it back up, and then he did it again.

At that point we just got him out and Jonathan hopped in the shower to get clean. Oh the joys of having babies!

Welcome!

Glad you found the new blog! This is where I will post from now on so change your bookmarks. I'll leave the other one up so that people can migrate over.

And for the first treat, I have pictures and video up from out vacation.

Enjoy!

The long awaited vacation post

Overall the vacation to Corpus Christi was great. My biggest concern was the car ride. We got him a new car seat so he could sit a bit more upright. We also put a fan back there, a few toys, and I rode in the back. It was a pain, but it worked. Jack had this look on his face most of the time.

The hotel was wonderful (Thanks Dad!) and I loved the light in the room so I took a ton of pictures.


We didn't do a ton because we didn't want overwhelm Jack. We did make a trip to the aquarium! We saw the bird show...

And the dolphin show

And looked at all the fish.

Jack really liked looking at the tanks. He slept through everything else.

We told him this was a real turtle, but you can tell by the look on his face that he didn't buy it.

We of course couldn't take a trip to Corpus Christi without going to the beach.

We didn't stay for long because it was very hot and we didn't want him out in the sun too much. But we did get a video of his first dip in the ocean.



Later that day we went for a dip in the pool at the hotel. It was a small inside pool and was just right. Jack loves swimming.




We also at a ton of sea food and did a lot of walking around town. Jack slept really great the whole time and did really well overall. I think he likes vacation.


The car ride home didn't go quite as well. He did okay but we stopped in San Antonio for a while and it ended up taking us 8 hours to get home so there was a lot more crying.

Newest Breastfeeding issue

(Originally posted July 19th, 2009)

Over the last month breastfeeding has been going really well and for the first time I'm actually enjoying it. It's a tough thing to stick with when it's so stressful. I never expected all the emotions that go along with it. I never expected to feel so inadequate when things were going so poorly and I couldn't figure them out. I think not being about to figure out what was going on was the most frustrating part.

This time, I know what's going on! Lately Jack has become quite the chatter box. He'll be eating great and stop to just babble, smile, and coo at me. I have to admit that it's really cute but it also makes his feedings take twice as long. He's very easily distracted now too. If someone new comes in or someone tries to have a conversation with me he has to put in his input too.

The good news is that I know that this is a normal part of development and that it will pass. In the mean time I'm trying to keep feeding as boring as possible, but I don't really think it's working.

New Favorite Picture

(Originally posted July 13th, 2009)

I know, look at all the up-dates. I can't sleep so I loaded my latest batch of pictures onto the computer. I think this is my new favorite! He's just so cute and sweet.

A 4 Letter Word

(Originally posted July 13th, 2009)

I've been avoiding this post for a while, and no, not the vacation post. I'm still working on getting one of the video's to work right. This particular post I've been avoiding because I didn't want to really make public what I'm doing. I've spoken to a few people about it, but I haven't gone into detail here because I don't want to fail and have to admit it.

That 4 letter word is DIET. When I got pregnant I was already overweight. Then I gained even more and ended up heaver than I've ever been. Even now, I'm still heaver than I've ever been and I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that.

Anyways, I've lost weight before so I know I can do it again. 6 weeks ago I joined a weight loss/exercise class at the gym. It meets 3 days a week for an hour with a personal trainer and a nutritionist. The nutrition part I pretty much know, eat sensibly, control portion sizes, mostly animals, vegetables, and fruits. The great thing is that it holds me accountable. I have to write down everything I eat and I get "in trouble" if it isn't good.

I also really like the group that I'm in. It turned out to be all women, and all of us are mom's. There are 11 of us total and 3 of us have little bitty babies. It's an intense work-out but the girls make it entertaining.

Another factor I'm having to learn to balance is the elbow. For those of you who don't know, 3.5 years ago I shattered my left elbow and all hell broke loose. It was followed by 4 surgeries, over a month total in the hospital, WAY to many pain meds, and what started me on this road to being overweight. It's frustrating. Before the accident I was super fit, felt the best I'd felt in my whole life, and I could kick just about anyone's ass. Now... not so much. I'm learning that I can't compare myself now to how I was then and I can't compare how I could exercise then to how I can now. And I'm having to figure out how to do enough with my arm that it gets work but not so much to keep me up all night in pain. That's the tricky part. I've discovered that if I work out on my non-class days all I can do is walk and maybe a little core stuff. No upper body stuff at all. And for now, that's fine. A big part of all of this is getting by body used to moving again and getting my arm strong. Given that, I've taken on not complaining about going. I often times find myself having to bite my tongue and hopefully I'll still have one when this class is over with.

So far I've lost 11.5 pounds and dropped 5.3% body fat. Not too shabby! I'm eating about 1500 calories a day and working my butt off, literally. :-) I have shrunk out of some of my maternity clothes, thank God, and I'm going to have to take the sewing machine to some of my night time bras soon.

This is all a life style change. When you're pregnant it's very easy to eat however you want and as much as I'd like to continue that, I don't want those results.

There is a $750 prize package for the person in all of the weight loss classes who looses the most weight. I think there are about 40 of us total and from what I hear it's any ones at this point. So I'll keep ya'll updated... however it goes.

1st Day

(Originally posted July 13th, 2009)

Today is Jonathan's first day of work. Jack let me sleep until 8 today! Well, he woke up at 6:30 ish to eat but went back to sleep after. He's still snoozing a bit but he keeps making all kinds of noises.

I've got tea steeping and we'll see how long before I need a nap :-)

Vacation summary by Jack

(Originally posted June 20th, 2009)

Here are Jack's thoughts on the vacation. (Video shot on location)




Stay tuned for more...

3 months old

(Originally posted June 29th, 2009)

Dear Jack,

This is going to short and sweet, just like you, because I'm tired. A lot has happened this month. We took a trip to the coast on your first vacation. It was great and you actually did okay in the car. We bought you a new car seat and a fan and I sat in the back with you. It all helped and somehow all of us survived.


You are getting quite strong and getting very close to rolling from your back to your front. You are sleeping really well too. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night and checked on you via the monitor. It was 2 AM and you were in there wide awake! You were talking and smiling at the animals on the wall. It was super cute but it was also 2 AM, when you're supposed to be sleeping. I debated about going in and giving you your binky but I decided to wait until you fussed a bit... and you never did. It took about 20 minutes but you eventually sucked on your thumb and fell asleep. It was great to know that you could be totally awake and go to sleep on your own but also sad in a way because it's very clear that your newborn days are behind us.


Another bitter sweet thing that happened is that daddy got a job! It's super exciting because it means that I get to continue to stay home with you and that our life will continue as if he never got laid-off. It's a little sad because it means that daddy will be going back to work and won't be spending as much time with us. I know that we will all miss each other. It all worked out perfectly actually, just like you.

Love,
Mama

Light!

(Originally posted June 25th, 2009)

I'm working on a vacation post with video and everything, things are just a little crazy right now. More on that later.

Anyways, the one thing that makes me a little nutty about our house is that we don't have good natural light. The lamps help but I just can't get good pictures inside. While we were on vacation the hotel room had really awesome natural light so I got some great pictures of Jack. Here are a few...


I love how he holds his thumb in his mouth with his other hand. Too stinkkin' cute.

You can really see the tongue tie in this picture. I'm still debating about getting it snipped.

Happy Father's Day

(Originally posted June 21st, 2009)

This is Jonathan's first of many.

I'm going to go off topic just a little here. Most of you know that Jonathan got laid-off. His last day was when Jack was 4-weeks-old. Knowing that the paychecks are going to stop before long and the savings are limited is stressful, extremely stressful. We have to keep reminding ourselves that for now, we're fine and that we're not going to panic until there is a need to. And honestly, there probably won't be a need to. We could worry and really freak out but we're choosing not to. Instead of this being an awful thing that has happened, we have turned it into something great. How many babies get both their parents home to take care of them? And not many dad's get to spend so much time with their new babies and not many mom's get this much help. It has been fantastic for all of us. In a perfect world Jonathan would only have to go back to work part time!

Another great thing about being laid-off is that Jonathan has now experienced first hand how many people respect and admire him. People from his old company (some still working there and some who got laid off as well) are recommending him for job openings all over. He's had 4 interviews, has another this week, and a lead on a different position at one of the first places he interviewed at.

We know he'll find something but for the time being we're enjoying the lay-off.

Oh yeah, remember to call your father today and tell him that you love him.

The trip down

(Originally posted June 18th, 2009)

Well, it went much better than expected. Jack slept most of the way and only fussed a little. There was no freaking out, so that's good. I think a lot of it is the new car seat. He can sit much more up right and see more. It's also much easier to get him in and out of so there is less time to fuss about being buckled.

Today we went to the aquarium, this afternoon we're headed to the inside pool here at the hotel, and then we're going to try and go out for dinner.

Tomorrow it's over to Padre Island for some beach time and then to the Big Fisherman for lunch.

That's all we really have planned. I'll do a big vacation post when we get back but for now, I'm going to enjoy the vacation!

Snapshots

(Originally posted June 15th, 2009)

Here are some pictures that I've taken. My intention was to edit them and wright about them and then post them, but that isn't happening and I want to share them so here they are...

Jack and his Papa

Memorial day at the lake. A fine family tradition.

Bath time is his favorite time!

Snoozing away and unswaddled.

Just to stinkkin' cute!

Snuggling with mama.
Love those curls!

Vacation here we come

(originally posted Sunday June, 13th)

On Wednesday we're leaving town for a few days. We're going down to the coast, about 4.5 hours away, for 3 nights. Jack is sleeping really well so I think we'll be fine there but I'm really worried about the car ride.

On Saturday we made an attempt to take Jack to the farm but didn't make it. He was screaming bloody murder. We pulled over and I took him out and got him calm but as soon as we got back in the car he started right back up. He was beat red and was screaming so hard he wasn't breathing. I was in the back seat and he was just looking at me like "why won't you pick me up", it was awful. I was crying too at one point.

I ordered a new car seat. It's the next size up but holds little ones too. I have my doubts about it working but it's worth a try. I'm also going to call the doctor tomorrow and see if there is anything we can give him because I think he gets car sick. He was spitting up a bit after we got home on Saturday. I also made a play list in itunes that we keep playing during the day and we'll take it with us in the car. I'm not sure what else to do, accept possibly buy ear plugs.

We are looking forward to being at the beach though. I'm really excited that we're going during the week when the crowds will be less. We plan on going to the aquarium, the museum, and the beach.

My dad is super great and he is using some of his points for our hotel! It even has an inside pool so Jack might like it. I tried to take him swimming a few weeks ago and as soon as I dipped his toes in he went postal so this is how he spent his pool time:


Hopefully this time will go a little better.

I have a feeling that we'll be spending most of our evenings in the hotel so I might even have time to blog a bit.

Silly Boys

(Originally posted June 8th, 2009)

I'm hoping that Jack learns to behave better than daddy does during picture time.

Sad Little Monkey

(Originally posted June 5th, 2009)

Jack has the pouting thing down. I know I shouldn't laugh at him when he does it but it's just so dang cute.

(Originally posted June 2nd, 2009)

This is one thing about motherhood that I didn't expect. I've always recycled but the rest is all new. We co-slept for a while, I wear Jack places, and we are doing the cloth diaper thing, which I love.
I wasn't sure about it before we tried it but now I won't ever go back. We had originally planned on using disposables at night and when we go out but Jack gets rashes so easily that we now take cloth with us everywhere and use them at night too. We even switched to using cloth wipes which is easier. Jonathan was worried about the ick factor but it's not bad at all, we'll see if that changes when he starts solid foods. We are very organized about the whole thing which makes it work really well.

And speaking of diapers, it's time to go change a one...

2 months old

(Originally posted June 1st, 2009)

Dear Jack,

We've had a lot going on this month. One of the best things is spending so much time with dad. He got told to leave his job a month ago and as horrible as the timing is, it's also turned out to be really great. He now knows what everyday life with a little baby is like and the two of you are becoming great palls. It also means that I have some help and can usually get a little extra sleep in the mornings.


And speaking of sleep you are a little champ. Last night you went 8 hours between feedings. I kept waking up and listening for you. You've been consistently sleeping 5 to 6 hour stretches and I'm hoping last night was a preview of what's to come. Also what's really great is that when you're sleepy we can wrap you up, give you your passy, and lay you down. You do the rest from there. Sometimes we have to go in and put the passy back in but for the most part you put yourself to sleep. The thing that's so great about it is that we won't have to just put you in there to cry at any point. Because you know how to put yourself to sleep, when you wake in the night and don't need food you simply go back to sleep on your own. I love my cuddle time with you and holding a sleeping baby is the best, however it's not worth putting all of us through some stressful nights. You're very advanced.


But don't get me wrong, you have us wrapped around your little finger. You have started smiling and cooing which just melts my heart. You'll sit and cary on a whole conversation. We have no idea what you're talking about but I could sit and talk to you all day. And we're not the only ones in love with you, Baxter has become quite attached to you too. He cries whenever you cry, which is really annoying actually, but he's gotten better at going outside if you're upset. He sticks close to you but is very gentle. Lola will come and sniff your head too but she doesn't follow you around like Baxter does.


Personally, I think you're growing up too fast already. You are an easy baby and I want you to stay just the way you are.

Love,
Mama

update

(originally posted May 26th, 2009)

We had a doctor watch us breast feed and talked with 2 lactation consultants and everyone thinks the problem is reflux.

The good news is that their digestive systems eventually mature so it's only a temporary problem. It's also great that he's gaining weight and we have plenty of milk. We put him on some medicine and it seems to be helping. Now instead of having 1 or 2 good feedings a day we have 1 or 2 fussy feeding a day. We're going to give it a few weeks and then try stopping it and see if there is a difference. I hate putting him on meds but the other option was to stop breastfeeding and I'm not one to give up on things. This is where I can use my stubbornness for good.

On Breastfeeding

(Originally posted May 20th, 2009)

I had hoped to have this figured out by now but after 7 weeks we're still having issues. From about week 3 to week 4 it was going great, now not so much.

He latches on just fine and eats for about 5 minutes. After that it all goes down hill. He pulls off and screams. I burp him and try to put him back on but the remainder of the feeding is generally a battle. And we've tried everything. I talked to a lactation consultant who told me to try pumping a little before I feed because maybe he's getting too much too fast. Now we have a freezer full of milk and it doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm still doing it simply so that he gets more of the hind milk. The milk they get first is more sugary and satisfies hunger, the back milk has all the good fats for brain development and it keeps them full longer.

Not every feeding is so difficult but I can't figure out what makes the good ones good and the fussy ones fussy. I'm writing everything down but I have yet to see any kind of pattern. Either way he's always coming un-latched.

I could go on and on about everything we've tried. Lets just say we're both frustrated.

He has a little bit of a rash on his face so we went to the doctor today thinking maybe that was causing pain. His doc wasn't in so we saw someone else and she thinks it's reflux. His doc is going to call me tomorrow but the one we saw today suspects he'll give us a prescription. I don't want to put him on medicine but I'm willing to try it to see if that's what's going on.

I'm going to call the lactation consultant Again and see if she can observe us. I only hope that he has a fussy feeding so she can see what it's like.

I'm also holding out for him to hit 8 weeks. Maybe when all these crazy growth spurts are over he'll calm down. I hear lots of people say that around 8 weeks it gets easier.

I just feel so bad for him. Clearly something hurts, he's still hungry but all he does is scream. Poor baby. I'm also a bit worried about my supply. If he only nurses for 5 minutes every 3 hours then we're going to eventually have a supply issue.

The one good thing is that his weight gain is fine. He's gained 34 oz in 36 days which is right on track. He's dropped from the 75% to the 50% for weight but he's still just right.

I'm just praying that we get this figured out before both of us pull our hair out.

Ode to Jumping Jack

(Originally posted May 12th, 2009)

Jumping Jack is a wooden toy clown that Jack's Papa (my dad) brought him from Germany, and it is one of his favorite things in the world. He will lay on the changing table and talk to it and watch it forever. Sometimes when he's fussy we'll put him there just to calm him down. He loves it so much he wrote this ode to Jumping Jack (with the help of daddy).


Dear Jumping Jack, you are the best.
The only thing better is Mommy's breast.

They give me comfort, and they give me food,
But Jumping Jack, you are one cool dude.

My love for you is stronger than crack!
You are the greatest, my dear Jumping Jack.

Picture time

(Originally posted May 11th, 2009)

Here are some of the pictures from our photo shoot. I love them!