Monthly Archives: January 2012

Jan31

2 Months Old!

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2 Months Old!

It’s so hard to believe our little guy turned 2 months old on Sunday!  He’s changed so much in the last 2 months, that its almost difficult to comprehend.

we’ve gone from this…

to this is just a few short weeks!

We had his 2 month check-up today and he got an A+ from Dr. Dickerson!  Unfortunately the 2 month appointment also means shots :(.  He did really great though and didn’t hardly cry until the last one – which she said stings really badly as it goes in.  Poor baby…made me so sad to hear him scream like that & know that I was the one holding him down for it.

Here’s the rundown on the little guy at 2 months:

  • He weighs just over 11 lbs and is 23.5 inches long.  That puts him in the 25 percentile for weight and 75 percentile for height.  Obviously inheriting his daddy’s height, it looks like he’s going to be long & lean!
  • He wears size 1 diapers and 3 month clothes, but some outfits seem to be a little short for him.
  • He’s eating 4 oz about every 3 hours during the day and will go about 6 or 7 hours at night (from about 9 pm to 4 am).
  • Right now he’s getting half formula & half breast milk in his bottles, but will soon be getting all formula when our stash of frozen milk is gone.
  • He is sharing lots of smiles with us and its just adorable to see his little face light up and smile at us!
  • He’s also started “talking” to us and hearing he and his daddy carry on a conversation is enough to melt my heart.
  • He’s still sleeping in the Nap Nanny in our bedroom, but I’m hoping to get enough courage to move him to his bed soon.  We’ll see how that transition goes.  I’ve heard some people say its better to start with naps, while others say its better to start at bedtime.  I’m thinking we’ll start with bedtime since he doesn’t nap super well during the day unless he’s being held or in his bouncy seat.
  • He LOVES his pacifier, which we call the “nu-nu” (pronounced new-new).  I take 2 with us everywhere go…just in case!  Don’t ask me where this name came from, but its what we’ve called them in my family for as long as I can remember, so it felt only appropriate to continue the tradition.
  • We are trying to learn to like tummy time.  Some days he’ll tolerate it for a few minutes, other days, not so much.  We’ll keep working though.
  • He’s a very happy and content baby and for that, we are so thankful!

 

Happy 2 months Parker James!  We love you so very much!

Jan25

Confessions of a New Mom

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Confessions of a New Mom

It’s official, being a mom is the hardest thing I have EVER done.  The constant worry about whether or not I’m doing everything right is just incredible.  I can’t imagine how single parents do it without a support system.  As if the worry wasn’t enough, there’s also the comparing of yourself as a mother to other moms and the guilt that comes when you realize you’ve made different choices for your child and family.  I always said I wasn’t going to be “one of those moms” who cares what other moms think, but it’s inevitable, it just happens.

8 weeks into motherhood, I’ve realized a lot of things that I’d never really thought much about.  Consider these my confessions…or ramblings because I’m sleep deprived…you decide.

  • I would give anything to be a stay at home mom.  I love my job as a teacher and I enjoy spending my days with my students, but this new little addition to our family has changed me.  I’ve never been real keen on “sitting around the house”, but the thought of leaving my little man every morning and only getting to spend a few hours with him in the afternoons and evenings is killing me…and I don’t even have to go back for 3 more weeks.  I’m not at all worried about leaving him because I have the best nanny I could ever ask for and I know he’ll be in the loving and most capable hands of my sister, but still…I want to stay home.  I know that we’ll get there in a few years and I’ll be able to stay home with PJM and our future children, but I’m not known for my patience ;).
  • Breastfeeding is hard.  It has been hard from day one.  Either me or PJM just didn’t get it and I quit nursing him our first week home.  I made the decision at that point that I was going to pump and give him my milk from a bottle and it works great.  I’d be lying if I said I loved this whole ordeal though.  I hate sitting there attached to a pump several times a day.  I never feel like I’m pumping enough (both in the amount of time I sit there or in the quantity that I get) and in addition to washing his 8 bottles a day, there’s all the pump equipment to wash as well.  I’ve already had 2 breast infections (both in the first 6 weeks) and it is undoubtedly the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced (yes, more so than childbirth itself and migraines).  As a result of the most recent infection, I lost my whole stash of frozen milk because the antibiotics I was given made the little guy sick.  Who knew feeding a baby could be so difficult.
  • Along those same lines, I’ve almost sold myself on transitioning PJM from breastmilk to formula.  I can’t imagine how I’m going to fit pumping into my work day. I already have to get up at 4:45 every morning just to get myself dressed and out the door in time and I can’t imagine getting up any earlier than that to fit in a morning pumping session before I leave the house.  And pumping during “down time” at school…what down time?  It doesn’t help that all you hear or read today almost makes you feel like if don’t give your child breastmilk you’re doing them a disservice and they’ll never be as good, smart, or healthy as those babies who do receive it.  Talk about pressure.  I just feel so guilty.  I know breastmilk is best, but at what point is mom’s sanity a high enough concern to be taken into consideration?
  • I’ve always looked forward to Matt coming home from work, but now, even more so.  I love my baby and I can’t imagine a better way to spend my days, but by the time 5:00 rolls around each afternoon, I’m ready for a break.  Even if it is just another set of hands to change diapers and handle feedings, it gives me time to cook supper and wash bottles without having to worry about my little guy needing something from me.
  • Bedtime is a glorious time of day.  One of the hardest parts of transitioning into parenthood has been the lack of time Matt and I get to spend together.  When we put PJM to bed in the evenings its like we finally have a chance to chat…if we can stay awake!

I’ve always pictured myself as a mom and dreamed of what it would be like, and even with the stresses, difficulties, and lack of sleep, I wouldn’t change a single thing about my life right now.  I know that in reality, what I feed my baby doesn’t matter and neither does what other people think.  What matters is that I’m doing what’s best for my family.  At the end of the day, what I have to remind myself of is that we have shelter (a beautiful house that we’ve made a loving home), we have access to great healthcare, he is loved (by so, so many people!), and he will grow up covered in prayer knowing God’s unwavering love for him.  That’s what matters!

Jan20

A New Normal

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A New Normal

Man…if I thought I was bad at blogging before, I’m really horrible at it now.  I go days without even opening my laptop, and when I do, I’ve rarely processed enough thoughts to generate a blog post.

Here’s what an average day looks like around here now:

  • Parker generally wakes up around 3:30 AM to eat and then I rock him back to sleep.
  • He wakes up again around 6:30 AM to eat and goes back to sleep until about 8:30 AM.  After I put him back to bed, I try to use this time to shower, dress, and eat breakfast.  About once a week or so I get back in bed and sleep until he wakes up at 8:30.
  • PJM is pretty much on a 3 hour feeding schedule and takes 3.75 oz of pumped breastmilk at each feeding.
  • He is starting to stay awake more and for longer stretches of time, so we generally have a couple of hours of playtime in the mornings and then some playtime in the evenings after Matt gets home from work.
  • He’s a really good sleeper most days and generally takes his naps in his bouncy seat or swing.  I’m trying to start getting him used to his bed so we can begin the transition upstairs.  I’ve been putting him in his bed during the days when he’s awake so he can get used to it.  I’m not going to stress about this transition though…we’ll get there.
  • When the little guy is sleeping during the day, I try to keep laundry going, bottles washed, and keep the house from looking like a bomb went off.
  • If we’re going to get out of the house, we usually do so during the afternoons during his long nap.
  • Matt gets home about 5:15 every evening and he pretty much takes PJM as soon as he walks in the door.  I usually cook supper not long after he comes home so we can eat and clean up before baby bathtime.  This has been one of the hardest things to adjust to…we used to not eat supper until about 8 o’clock.
  • There’s no set bedtime because it generally depends on when he needs to eat again, but it’s usually between 8-10 pm.  We do bathtime, lotion, & pj’s and then he takes his last bottle of the night before one of us rocks him to sleep.
  • Whichever one of us isn’t feeding and rocking at night is on “milk duty”.  We have to wash bottles, make bottles for the night and morning (it makes life SO much easier to have them made ahead of time), and freeze the milk I pumped during the day.
  • By the time “milk duty” is done and we’ve picked up the house, Matt and I head to bed to start all over again the next morning.

I’d be lying if I said adjusting to this normal hasn’t been slightly difficult for me.  I thoroughly enjoy every minute of staying at home with PJM, but staying at home “doing nothing” is about to get the best of me.  Sometimes, I just have to get out of the house and drive around…even though I have sweet tea in the fridge, sometimes I just “need” one from Chickfila.  Even though I’m not just sitting around, I feel like I am.  I shower every morning, but I don’t actually put on “real clothes”.  I generally wear yoga pants and tshirts every day and I don’t think I’ve worn makeup in almost 2 months, I hope I remember how to put it on!  I feel like such a bum!

I never thought I would say this, and I almost feel guilty doing so, but I’m kinda ready to go back to work.  I don’t want to go back just quite yet, but when the time comes, I think I will be ready.  I miss being mentally stimulated throughout the day and I’m ready to tackle the challenges of the last few months of school.  I know I would be dreading returning to work if I was having to take Parker to day care, so I am beyond thankful that my sister will be coming over every morning to take care of our little guy.  He already loves his Gigi so much and she’s so great with him that I know I have nothing to worry about.

I can’t believe how quickly time is passing by and it’s hard to believe we’ve been living this new normal for almost 2 months!  I feel like I’m a completely different person and its the person I’d dreamed about being my whole life.  I’ve always wanted to be a mom and have kids and it seems completely surreal that I’m a mom now and I’m living my dream.  The last 2 months have been difficult, exhausting, scary, and exciting all at the same time and I wouldn’t change a single thing.

enjoying some “tummy time” one morning after waking up

how cute is this little guy?  I love him more every single day.

Jan10

The Dyson

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The Dyson

I love to clean, vacuuming in particular.  Call me crazy, but there’s just something I love about those perfectly straight lines the vacuum cleaner leaves on the carpet.  (Yes, maybe I’m a little OCD about certain things.)  As much as I love to vacuum, I’ve always hated our vacuum cleaner.  It was a wedding gift, 5 years ago.  We registered for it and I should have returned it after using it the very first time.  But, I didn’t and I’ve hated vacuuming for the last 5 years.  It was loud, heavy, and didn’t seem to suck all the junk out the carpet, especially after we added a dog to the family.  Because it technically worked, I never really thought about getting rid of it.

Fast forward to the day after Christmas.  I was doing my usual post Christmas house cleaning, putting away Christmas gifts, taking down Christmas decorations, and taking down the Christmas tree.  We got the tree undecorated, lights taken off, and hauled out the front door to the curb, and obviously since it was a 5 week old (once) live Christmas tree, there were needles EVERYWHERE.  No problem…this happens every year and comes with the territory of having a real tree, just vacuum them up.  So that’s what we started doing.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), after only making it through the entry way, the vacuum cleaner died.  I assumed something was stuck in the roller or the belt had broken, but that wasn’t the case.  Time to buy a new vacuum – FINALLY!

We spent the evening and most of the next day agonizing over what to buy.  We consulted Consumer Reports and various other sites and finally decided to just splurge and get a Dyson.  Talk about a dream come true.  I’ve always wanted one, but never wanted to spend the money on one.  We used our Christmas money we had gotten from family (adults do such boring things with their Christmas money!) and order our Dyson DC41 Animal from Amazon.  It arrived 2 days later and we all took turns trying it out.  Matt, my mom, and I were all completely impressed and it’s safe to say that my love for vacuuming has returned!

The suction on this thing is AMAZING!  It has pulled so much dirt and dog hair out of our carpet that I’m kinda disgusted.  It will clean the tile and wood floors with just the push of a button (to turn the brushes off) and cleaning the stairs in relatively painless!  It is absolutely wonderful to have a vacuum that actually does what its supposed to and does it extremely well.  It makes me feel alot more comfortable about having little Parker down on the floor knowing that it’s clean and not full of dirt and dog hair.

If you are in the market for a new vacuum, you should most definitely consider this bad boy – you won’t regret it.