Reflections and Resolutions

There are less than 48 hours left in 2011... whaaat? When did that happen? This year feels like it flew by. At the same time though, when I look back, New Years Eve last year seems like it was a whole different life! I guess, in a sense, it was a whole different life. Yes, I was pregnant, so I was sort of 'mommy' already, but my life didn't REALLY change until 6/7 when Sam came into the world. I thought it would be fun to post a little memory and picture from each month of 2011, and then I'll follow up with my resolutions and hopes for 2012 :)

January-

We found out that the little bean in my belly had boy parts. James left for South America. James' re enlistment paperwork did not go through properly and we went without pay for a few weeks :/ (not so fun when you're 20 weeks pregnant and your husband just left!)




February-

James was still in South America. I went to weekly lunch dates with the other wives from the platoon, and spent some fun days with my good friend (who was also pregnant) Nichole. At the end of the month I flew home to PA to visit family.




March-

Busy month! Had my baby shower and wrapped up my visit in PA, all of the baby shower gifts were left behind and my parents planned on driving them down to NC once we were in our new apartment. I prepared for James' homecoming, what an awesome day that was! We spent loooong afternoons/evenings packing up our small apartment. Towards the end of the month we headed out to Winston Salem for a Babymoon/post deployment mini vacation. We stayed at Graylyn Estate, very beautiful! We had a great time :)






April-

We moved into our new beautiful apartment! It was so fun getting Sam's nursery all set up. We went to a lot of baby prep. type classes. Lamaze, budgeting for baby, baby boot camp, stuff like that. I also took some pregnancy exercise classes at the gym on base. We went to a pig roast, and came home that night to huddle in our guest bathroom while toranados wreaked havok on Jacksonville. Eek!





May-

Lots of baby preparations. I was pretty much DONE being pregnant at this point. No, not the correct term 'finished', I was DONE. Stick a fork in me... done. It was hot, my back hurt, my ribs were bruised and had pinched nerves, heartburn, constant trips to the bathroom, exhaustion. Ugh. Whoever says pregnancy was one of the happiest times in their lives is kidding themselves! We spent a lot of weekends at the pool. Floating around FINALLY gave me some relief in my ribs and back! We went to the New River air show, got stuck in a couple major downpours, but had fun anyway. We had our 1 year anniversary and celebrated with a seafood dinner and Cold Stone.





June-

Finally! June! Time for the big event! Sam decided to join us on the 7th, only 1 week into June, but it felt like MONTHS into June. (I know that doesn't make sense, but I call it like I felt it!) After his traumatic entrance to the world, we went home and the rest of June is kind of a blur of 3am nursing sessions, diaper changes, and endless conversations involving the word 'swaddle'. James' parents came to visit for a long weekend when Sam was a week and a half old, and my mom came for a week shortly after they left.




July-

Started to find something of a sense of normalcy again (our new normal anyway), and cobbled together some sort of schedule. Sam and I had a lot of days of nursing and listening to music once James went back to work. I had my birthday and we celebrated with burgers and shakes from Andy's. I remember I ate my burger while nursing and got a lovely mixture of ketchup and mayo all over Sam. Whoops...




August-

Sam and I flew up to PA for a visit. We went to a wedding, a family reunion, had his first playdate, and did a whole lot of visiting. Sam did great with all of the travelling! In all honesty, it all really stressed me out, but I'm still so glad we went :)





September-

We went on our annual family camping trip with James' family over Labor Day weekend and had a blast. We hunkered down through hurricane Irene. James went to Florida for 10 days and Sam and I battled through some yucky sleep issues.





October-

Started using cloth diapers! Loving it! Went to work breaking Sam of his swing nap, and swaddle habit. Sam and I went home on a last minute, long weekend trip to PA for my Poppop's funeral. It was so sad, he was such a great man. But it was good knowing that his long period of suffering was finally over. It was also nice to get in a bonus visit with family, and a lot of people got to meet Sam for the first time.





November-

FINALLY broke Sam's swaddle and swing habit! And he started sleeping through the night! Woohoo! Drove up to PA for Thanksgiving, and Sam and I stayed a little longer while James went home for a few days. He came back and we went to his family's annual Christmas brunch.




December-

Spent just about a week and a half in Jacksonville, but still decorated our little tree, and our balcony. We left up all of our Christmas decorations and left behind a few presents so we could have our own quiet little Christmas once we got back from visiting family in the beginning of January. We spent a few days in MD with James' parents and then spent the rest of the holidays in PA. Lots of visiting, lots of food, and LOTS of presents!! We had a great time :)




What a year! What a great year :) Now onto some resolutions...

In 2012 I hope to:

-Start a fitness routine and stick to it
-Get something of my toned ballerina body back (don't feel the need to lose weight, but feel the need to tone up)
-Begin to make as many things homeade as possible
Examples: Bread, bagels, breakfast sandwiches, snacks, drinks, laundry detergent, cleaning wipes, baby wipes, oxy clean, household cleaners, hand lotion
-Organize!!
Examples: Hall desk, files, calenders, cleaning schedules, cabinets (kitchen and bath), Sam's toys

A whole lot of that stuff I'm hoping to accomplish with the help of pinterest ;)

Some of my hopes for 2012:

-For Sam to coninue growing and learning as awesomely as he is now
-For James to get enough time off that we can all enjoy a family vacation at the beach
-To get pregnant again?! It seems crazy to think of that, but unless something happens unexpectedly, we'd like to make a concious effort to try for baby #2 sometime in the Sept-Dec. 2012 time frame!

Here's to a great year!

Proud Nursing Mama!!

Today I could not be more proud to be a breastfeeding mother! This morning Sam and I participated in a 'nurse-in', happening in Target stores all over the country!

This past November, a nursing mother in Houston, TX sat down in a remote area of her local Target's clothing section to nurse her crying baby. She was approached by employees and asked to move to a fitting room. She said no, as she had a cart full of items that she didn't want to leave alone, and had already begun nursing. After saying no, employees continued to walk up to her and give her dirty looks. One employee even went so far as to tell her that they could have her arrested for indecent exposure. Following the incident, the mother called Target's corporate office to report what had happened. Target has released this statement:

"Target has a long-standing practice that supports breastfeeding in our stores. We apologize for any inconvenience the guest experienced and will take this opportunity to reaffirm this commitment with our team members. For guests in our stores, we support the use of fitting rooms for women who wish to breastfeed their babies, even if others are waiting to use the fitting rooms. In addition, guests who choose to breastfeed discreetly in more public areas of the store are welcome to do so without being made to feel uncomfortable."

The TX mom decided to stage a 'nurse-in', a group of woman getting together on a specific day to nurse their babies in public. She started a group on Facebook and as of today, that group has 6,622 memebers! Nurse-ins were planned all over the country for today (Dec. 28th) at 10am.

Yes, Target's policy is to allow women to breastfeed where and when they choose, but this isn't the first incident of mistreatment of a nursing mother at Target. And CERTAINLY not the first incident of mistreatment of a nursing mother at any public location. The point of the nurse-in was to show people that nursing is normal. No woman should be made to feel like she needs to hide when she's simply meeting her baby's most basic need! Would the fitting room have been more comfortable for this woman? Possibly. But I know, from personal experience, that once you begin nursing it's inconvenient to un latch your baby, move to a different location, and re latch. Difficult with a newborn who is just getting the hang of nursing, and difficult for older babies who are easily distracted by their surroundings. Some comments on articles I've read say that the biggest problem is that the woman should not have been sitting on the floor, and maybe she was in the way. Would there have been an issue had she been bottle feeding on the floor? I don't think there would have been. And really, in my opinion, her incident was just the last straw in a long line of incidences of breastfeeding woman being discriminated against.

It is entirely possible to breastfeed in a modest way! Even without a cover! (For the record, the woman who started the nurse-in, was covered by a large blanket while nursing). Sam does not tolerate a cover well, and actually draws MORE attention to himself when covered, so we nurse uncovered. Most of the time I don't even think people notice that he's eating.

Myself and one other mama went to a local Target (in Glen Mills, PA as we're visiting my family for the holidays. Otherwise I would have gone in NC to the Target near our apartment) We spoke with 2 local news stations, and then sat in the cafe nursing our babies and chatting. A lot of people are still very uneducated as far as breastfeeding, but it is my hope that someday in the near future, Mom's will be able to nurse their babies without fear of discrimination.

I'm proud to be a nursing mother and proud to be able to provide the very best nutrition for my baby boy!

Tis the Season!!

Currently sitting in my Dad's recliner, Sam is napping upstairs in my brother's room where we have been sleeping the past week, and James is in NC for a few days. He'll be back up here tomorrow. I love love LOVE this time of year! And it's just so much more fun with a baby to spoil and teach all the traditions to!

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day :) Sam didn't really nap all day, but was a pretty cheerful baby anyway! I let him gnaw on some carrot sticks so that he felt part of the day. He loved it! He is lunging more and more at our food, the other day he basically threw himself at a bowl of pasta I had. It made a mess! Next week, when we get back to NC, we'll be starting our BLW journey and I can't wait! I'll be sure to post how it goes, with pictures too :)

Sam's sleep continues to be great! His naps have been all over the place since we've been up in PA since we've been so busy. Napping in his car seat, the stroller, the Moby wrap, in my arms on the recliner, wherever he can! His nights have been awesome though! I'm up to give him a binky 1-2 times a night, which really isn't too bad since I wake frequently to check on him anyway. He's been waking up between 6 and 7, but then after entertaining himself for 15 minutes or so, goes back to sleep til almost 9!! I don't even know what to do with that! My allergies are giving me hell, otherwise I would be so ridiculously rested! Hopefully he'll keep this up when we're at home and I can get some awesome sleep in my own bed!

Yesterday I think Sam was playing catch up for all the days of missed naps. He woke up around 8:45, and was back down for a nap around 10:30. I woke him up at 12:30 and then he had to just have catnaps the rest of the afternoon as we were running errands, but he managed an hour long 'catnap'! Then he fell asleep sitting with me around 6:30, so I took him upstairs, put his pjs on, nursed him, and put him to bed. He slept (with 1 wake up for a binky) til 8:45! And went down for this nap around 10:30. It's almost 11:30 now and he's still sleeping away! Catching up for the naps he skipped recently, or going through a growth spurt. Either way, it's nice!

Today, after Sam gets up and we both have lunch, my mom and I are taking him to the mall to have his picture taken with Santa :) James is kind of bummed to be missing out on that, but I still want to take him to the Annapolis mall Santa, and the Jacksonville mall Santa as well! Maybe I'm a little crazy, but I really love Christmas!

My theme for Christmas gifts this year? Pinterest! I am so obsessed with that website! I'm getting such awesome ideas from it for homeade gifts. Not to mention all kinds of ideas for homeade cleaners, and all kinds of home decor ideas. I have so many projects for after Christmas. I want to start making everything homeade as I possibly can. Food, cleaners, decorations, anything I can! I'm excited to start all of that, but with all the travelling we're doing this holiday season, I figured it would be best to start in January.

Talking about Pinterest makes me realize I haven't actually visited the site in a few days, so I'm off to do that now! :) Yay pinning!

Bliss!

I'm a little scared to jinx anything by saying this... but I THINK our sleep situation has been resolved! Our daily routine now looks something like this:

9:30 (ish)- Change Sam's diaper, give him a binky, lay him in his crib on his tummy, pat his butt for a little while, leave the room. Go get him about 2 hours later.

2:30 (ish)- Same as above, except it often doesn't last quite 2 hours, but I'm not stressing.

7:30- Nurse Sam in the rocker

8 (ish)- Lay him in his crib on his side.

7:30 (ish)- Go in and say good morning to his smiling face!!!!

Some nights I do have to go in and give him a binky once or twice, but some nights I don't go in at all. And when I do go in, he just needs the binky, not even any patting or shushing.

It's AMAZING to feel rested! Not to mention, knowing he'll nap somewhat consistently has been so great for my sanity! Even on days where I don't accomplish much, it's just nice to get a break twice a day! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my little boy, but a Mama needs a break sometimes! There's only so many times in a day you can wipe slobber off your arm/face/shirt/ear/hands/etc... and sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"!

Oh and another breakthrough? Often, when either James or I goes to check on Sam at various times throughout the evening before we go to bed, he is often sleeping peacefully on his back! He always wakes up on his tummy and clearly that's his preferred way of sleeping, but I love knowing that he'll sleep on his back without that stupid swaddle! AND it's such wonderful peace of mind knowing that he can flip back and forth in his sleep! I don't feel QUITE so worried about winning the worst mommy of the year award for letting him be a tummy sleeper. Our little boy really is growing up, it's hard to belive that in just a couple weeks he'll be 6 months old!

Speaking of his 6 month birthday, I'm still doing research on Baby Led Weaning. The more I read, the more excited I am to get started! Sam is started to show more and more interest in watching us eat, and often grabs at our food. He's also starting to sit up pretty well on his own, and is awesome at grabbing and picking things up. I think he's about ready! My BLW book recommends starting with a variety of foods so that baby can learn about different tastes and textures. I definitely want to start with some broccoli because it sounds like a great BLW food, it has it's own handle :) Probably also some avocado and sweet potato. It's crazy that he's so grown up now...

In other news... we went to Myrtle Beach last weekend and had a blast! The Marine Corps Ball was a good time, and Sam was a huge hit in his baby dress blues :) We also went to the aquarium and did some outlet shopping. This weekend James is in the field til Tuesday so it's just Sam and I at home. Then on Wednesday we head to PA for Thanksgiving! James has to leave on Saturday while Sam and I will stay for a while, he'll be back on Thursday though and we'll spend a little time in MD before going back up to PA for a Christmas brunch with his family. While in MD we're hopefully going to stop in on a couple of Nutcracker rehearsals. I'm excited to see my friends and some of my old students :)

A few pictures, (including some of the professional ones that we just got the other day! So excited to buy some frames and hang these suckers up!) and then I'm back to my 'Friends' marathon and ignoring the 4 loads of laundry that need folding... I tend to take a day 'off' when James leaves for the field hehe ;)

236 Years! (And of course, more on sleep...)

First things first! Happy 236th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! I'm proud everyday to be the wife of one of the Few and the Proud. Tomorrow morning we'll be heading down to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. The 2nd Tank Battalion's Marine Corps birthday ball is on Saturday. Sam and I will get dressed up (Sam has mini dress blues... I will definitely be posting pictures!) for the cocktail hour, and then heading back to up to the hotel room for bedtime while James attends the ceremony and dinner before joining us. Then on Sunday we're going to take advantage of some outlet shopping on our way home :) Very excited for our first little vacation as a family! We have gone on trips before; Sam and I have flown to PA together twice, and we all went camping together with James' extended family over Labor Day, but this is our first trip just the 3 of us. We're really looking forward to it!

So, now that all of that is out of the way, I can talk about our major sleep breakthrough! My last post, I talked about my conflicted feelings on letting Sam sleep on his tummy. After some research, and a lot of talking to other mommies, I've come to the conclusion that if he can roll to his tummy himself then why make him sleep in a way that's not comfortable for him. He seems to love sleeping on his tummy. Does it make me paranoid about SIDS? You bet. Am I figuring out ways to deal? I have to! I'm currently on the market for an Angelcare monitor. It has a sensor pad that goes underneath the mattress, and an alarm will go off if it detects no movement for 20 seconds or more. By movement, I don't just mean twitches and rolls and big movements like that, but even just the subtle rise and fall of Sam's chest as he breathes. It would grant me so much peace of mind! I'm just shopping around right now to find the best price. SO here's my usual recap of naps.... (listing them by actual name of day now since I can't remember what number day we're on)

Monday

Nap 1- Fell asleep on his own in his crib, on his tummy. Woke after about 45 minutes, fell back to sleep with some butt patting

Nap 2- More of the same

Tuesday

Nap 1- Same as Monday

Nap 2- didn't happen... we were at the local high school where I was hired as a dance choreographer for the colorguard, tryouts were this week. Sam slept a little in the car on the way home.

Wednesday

Nap 1- Fell asleep on his own in his crib, on his tummy. Slept straight through til I went to wake him 2 hours later :)

Nap 2- At tryouts again, took a catnap in the Moby wrap while I danced

Thursday

Nap 1- Fell asleep on his own in his crib, on his tummy. Slept an hour, needed some butt patting, slept another hour and a half

Nap 2- not there yet... hopefully it will go well!
So I'd say tummy naps are going relatively well! The swing is gathering dust in the corner! Now, nighttime. After Monday's tummy naps, I still wasn't feeling comfortable enough to let him sleep all night on his tummy. So, after his last feeding, I swaddled him as usual. Since he has never made an attempt to roll while swaddled, only when he's managed to free his arms, I felt pretty comfortable doing this. I woke up sometime around 3 am with a sudden urge to go to Sam's room and check on him. And there he was, on his tummy, and completely swaddled! This made me very nervous! No hands to help lift his face off the mattress if needed! I was torn between letting him sleep since he looked so peaceful and his head was safely turned to the side, or pull his arms out and inevitabely wake him up and piss him off. I went back to bed and left him as is. I then proceeded to toss and turn for a good 45 minutes, went back to the nursery, and pulled out his arms. He didn't wake all the way up right then, but it definitely got him out of the deep sleep he had been in. He woke a little while later to nurse. After nursing, I kept him unswaddled and laid him in his crib on his side. He stayed asleep til about 7:30and woke all the way on his belly!

At this point, I knew it was time to quit the swaddle cold turkey. I didn't want him rolling while swaddled anymore. So when bedtime rolled around on Tuesday, I put him in a wearable blanket-type thing to keep him warm, but kept his little arms out. He nursed in the rocker as usual, and I set him down on his side in his crib. This was around 8. A little after 1 I heard him on the monitor, went in, gave him his binky and he went immediately back to sleep. We repeated this 2 more times around 4 and 6, but he never woke up all the way to nurse, I never had to get him out of his crib, and I was never out of bed longer than 5 minutes!! I consider that sleeping through the night! Last night? Same thing! I know now that he doesn't really need to eat in the night. Now if I can just get him to settle himself without me giving him his binky and patting his butt a couple times, we'll be all set! So that's our next task, and I can go for it full of energy since I've been getting so much sleep! :) So yay!

Next time, hopefully pictures from the ball!

More on sleep... and some pictures!

And the saga continues...

Let's do a re-cap (I don't remember exactly where I left off, so I'll go back to Friday, which was Day 5)

Day 5:

Nap 1- Fell asleep on his own. Slept 2 hours
Nap 2- Same

Yay!

Day 6:

Nap 1- Fell asleep on his own. Woke after 45 minutes, suckered Daddy into rocking him for 40 minutes before laying him down again. Oh daddy...
Nap 2- Fell asleep on his own. Needed a little soothing after an hour (mainly just needed his binky replaced). Finished off the nap in his crib.

Day 7:

Nap 1- Fell asleep on his own, woke after 45-60 minutes-ish. I got him up because we needed to leave for our family photoshoot

Nap 1.5- Slept in the car. Lost his binky and I saw him use his fingers to self soothe before falling asleep! That's kind of a big deal!

Nap 2- Fell asleep on his own (eventually, after a good bit of playing) slept 2 hours.

Today is day 8, and before I talk about naps, I need to talk about what happened last night. For a while now, Sam has been able to roll from his back onto his belly. He gets better and better at it everyday, which makes me more and more nervous about having him swaddled at all! Well 2 nights ago, he woke once because he had gotten his arms out and when I went to fix it, it was clear that he had been rolling around since he was in a far corner of the crib, and facing a different direction. I re swaddled him and he went back to sleep. Last night, same thing. And then this morning, around 6:30, I heard him a little over the monitor and hurried to his room to give him a binky (he doesn't sleep with it at night, only naps) in hopes of getting a little more sleep and regulating his internal clock to the time change that happened on Sunday morning. When I went into his room he was on his belly, and mostly asleep. I think he had been there for a while. Against everything that was drilled into my head while I was pregnant (Back is best Back is best Back is best Back is best) I patted his butt for a minute, and let him sleep there. He stayed asleep for a whole extra hour! I did NOT go back to sleep because I was paranoid about him on his stomach and went in every few minutes to wake him. Now I was having an inner conflict. Do what was pounded into my brain and keep putting him on his back and continue this dreaded swaddle battle? Or let him roll to his tummy where he was clearly more comfortable?

Apparently, the risk for SIDS drops 20% once a baby can roll over on their own. This makes sense to me. I mean, I can't be in his room whenever he is sleeping, and flipping him over as soon as he snuggles in on his belly can I? I decided to try this as an experiment, I was looking forward to naptime.

Naptime came. I put him in a sleep sack, with his arms completely free, gave him his binky and a kiss, and laid him down (on his back). A few minutes later, I went in to check on him and he was on his stomach and only half awake. I patted his butt a few times and left the room. A few minutes later? Fast asleep. Asleep! Unswaddled! And asleep! It's been about 40 minutes now, so the next 5 minutes will be the true test!! And then I will be spending the rest of the day with my friend Google, researching older baby's sleep habits. In my mind, it makes the most sense to start him off on his back, and after that leave it up to him. He can roll, he can scoot, he can push all the way up on his hands, he can move his head wherever he wants. I feel like once he's able to put himself in this position it should be okay. But as I said, I will be visiting my friend google before deciding what to do tonight.

In other news... we had our family photoshoot on the beach yesterday. The photographer posted 3 pictures as a 'sneak peak' on her Facebook page last night, and I want to share those 3 pictures here. They are amazing! I can't wait to see the rest!

Chronicles of Naptime... and some musings on food

Not doing too bad! Here's our most recent updates:

Day 4:

Went to a La Leche League meeting in the morning during what is usually his first nap. He slept a little on my lap.

What would normally be nap 2- Went to sleep by himself in his crib around 1:50, I let him sleep all the way til 4:30! Great nap!

Day 5:

We're currently on nap 1... he went to sleep on his own in his crib at 9:30 and now at 10:45 is still sleeping away! Once we pass that 45 minute hump I know we're good! I think the dreary day helps, it's niiiice and dark in his room. I need to get actual curtains, what I do know is close the blinds and then cover with a quilt and some pillows to help it to stay nice and dark. On sunny days a good bit of light still manages to get in. Not today though! Today is a good day for sleep!


So anyway, besides all that. I want to talk about the La Leche League meeting I went to yesterday. It was AWESOME to be able to spend time with some other breastfeeding mothers! It's always great to spend time with other mommies, but especially if they are going through exactly what you're going through! I can't wait til the next meeting :)

During the meeting I asked about starting solids. Sam's Dr. said we can start trying cereal to help him get used to food, but to not worry about really feeding him a lot of different things til 6 or 7 months. I like this advice. I was afraid I was going to be encouraged to start him on 3 meals a day at 4 months, which I do not agree with. However, I've been hesitant to even start trying with cereal. Sam seems perfectly satisfied with breastmilk, and while he does show interest when we're eating, I don't think it's so much an interest in the food as it is an interest in just Mommy and Daddy in general. I made baked sweet potatoes the other night, cooled a little bit on my plate and James tried to give it to him, there was no interest whatsoever.

So I brought all this up at the meeting yesterday and one of the leaders gave me a Baby Led Weaning book to borrow. Baby Led Weaning (BLW) is basically all about letting your baby set the pace as far as eating solid foods. And baby really does eat SOLID foods. With BLW you skip the baby cereals and purees, skip spoon feedings, and baby learns to eat actual food all by themselves. I've been interested in this since I first heard about it when I was pregnant. Obviously, this practice has been around LONG before baby food in jars and all that, it was only just recently even given a name. Around 6 months, or once baby can sit up mostly unsupported and can pick things up and put them into his mouth, you start putting 'sticks' of food onto the high chair tray. Bananas, avocado, sweet potatoes, broccoli. Mushy, but not completely smashed up. So baby can experiment and learn by picking the food up himself, looking at it, smelling it, and eventually putting it into his mouth and discovering, "Hey! This tastes good! And I'm doing that thing that Mommy and Daddy do a few times a day when they say, 'Mmmm yum' a lot. I think they call it eating? Whatever it is, I'm liking it!"

I talked to James about this last night, and read him a couple passages from the book I borrowed. He's all for it. So I think we're going to go the BLW route :) Sam will be 5 months on Monday. So he'll get another month or so of just nursing, which he is loving, and then we'll start giving him some finger food to see what he does with it! It's exciting how fast he's growing up! I can't believe he's already just about 5 months old. Time moves so incredibly quickly!

Sleep Update

I feel like if I don't post this here, I'm going to forget how each day goes. And maybe I'll feel like we're making progress when I can see it written out in front of me. (Plus I feel like I can't quit because I made my intentions 'public', if I just write it out in any old notebook it's awfully easy to just 'lose' said notebook... it's happened before!)

I never got to finish saying how day 1 went, so we'll start there.

Day 1:

Nap 1- fell asleep on his own in his crib. Woke after 45 minutes, would not go back to sleep until I put him in his swing. Finished off his nap there.

Nap 2- refused to sleep at all in his crib. Took a 2 hour nap in his swing

So Day 1 wasn't so great.... but I was optimistic!

Day 2:

Nap 1- fell asleep in his crib, woke after 45 minutes, ended up in swing.

Nap 2- fell asleep in his crib, slept for 2 hours!!

Day 2, MUCH BETTER!

Day 3:

Nap 1- same ole story... crib for 45 minutes, then swing

Nap 2- same thing again... crib 45, swing for the rest

Better than day 1, not as good as day 2.



If I could only get him past that yucky 45 minute mark consistently. Hmmm... may need to do a little reading. Perhaps when he gets moved to his swing and falls asleep I should go in and turn the swing off, so that he gets more used to sleeping without moving? I think I'll try that tomorrow. I just need to have faith that we will get there!!


So what else is going on in our lives right now? It can't all be sleep right? (Oh I just imagined a day of only sleep and nothing else... wouldn't that be heavenly right now!) Anyway... we're going to be pretty busy in the upcoming weeks! Tomorrow Sam and I are attending our first La Leche League Meeting. I'm excited to meet some more nursing mommies!! This weekend we're having family photos taken on the beach, which I am SUPER excited about! Next week I'll be attending colorguard tryouts at a local high school since I've been hired as their winterguard dance choreographer/instructor/coach-type person :) Excited to get back into something somewhat dance related! Then we'll be heading to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. Saturday is the Marine Corps Birthday Ball and Sunday we're doing some outlet shopping :) After that we'll hopefully have some days to unwind a bit, then James will be in the field for a few days, and then... TADA Thanksgiving!

Can I just say how incredibly INCREDIBLY excited I am for the holiday season this year?! Oh my goodness I can hardly contain myself!! I always love the holidays, but last year I was feeling a bit too miserable and newly pregnant to really enjoy them. They were still very nice, but not the best. This year, I have an appetite, I have energy, and I have an adorable little boy to introduce to all the magic that is the holiday season! I'm so excited for his first Christmas! Last year I laid on the couch for 3 days staring at a pile of Christmas ornaments before making a half hearted attempt at decorating the house, in between throwing up because, as it turned out, our holiday themed candles smelled nauseating to me! This year I'm ITCHING to dig out those decorations and make our home look aboslutely magical :) I've already started some Christmas shopping for Sam and for James, I'm just too excited!! :)

I'll end with a few pictures before going to wake up my little stinker so he can nurse :)

Operation Easy Baby Sleep

I know I know... my entire last post was also around baby sleep. But I have an almost 5 month old, sleep is my current obsession!

So the dreaded sleep regression has passed. Sam and I have also re-worked his 'schedule' since his old one (a nap in between every feeding) was seeming like it wasn't working as well. He now takes a 2 hour nap twice a day. He's been napping (tightly swaddled) in his swing. And sleeping (tightly swaddled) in his crib. This was all working great (and maybe 4 days out of 7 is still working great). I was putting him down in his swing drowsy, leaving him for a few minutes, then going in and rocking him the rest of the way to sleep. I was afraid this was messing up any chance of him falling asleep on his own, but on the contrary, it taught him HOW to go to sleep on his own. So he would be given a kiss, and placed all swaddled up into his swing. Within a few minutes he would be asleep and I would go get him 2 hours later. At night he wasn't quite nursing all the way to sleep anymore, he would wake up as I re swaddled him, but would go quietly into his crib and fall asleep on his own. Awesome right? Why change?

He's getting too big for his velcro swaddle blanket. Not too big as in he doesn't fit (I just bought a bigger size). But too big as in too old. He can roll from back to belly now, and although he doesn't even TRY to roll when he's swaddled, I'm still nervous that he'll manage to flip over and not have his hands to help get his face out of the mattress. He's also a lot stronger, so when he moves through sleep cycles and wiggles, he manages to wriggle those little arms up and out of the blanket, and in the process, wakes himself up. He ends up very grumpy that he is now awake and his arms are waving around. So a lot of nights I'm up and down a couple times to re wrap him. Very frustrating. So I know it's time to sleep 'like a big boy' with those arms out and free.

I tried 2 nights of leaving one arm out. Why I chose to do this during the week, and not the weekend when I can have James' help at night, is beyond me. The first night wasn't horrible. He woke up twice just needing me to pop in his binky and hold his arm down for a moment. He then woke up to eat, and went back down til morning. Not horrible. Not ideal, but not horrible. The next night? Absolute disaster. He woke up and it after an hour, or was it 2? It's blurry... we'll just say, after a LONG time of shushing him from outside his crib, rocking him to sleep only to have him wake up and cry the second I laid him down, walking around and around and around the nursery, he finally fell asleep after nursing for a few minutes (clearly wasn't hungry, but used nursing to settle enough to sleep) slept for maybe 2 or 3 hours, and woke again. This time I just gave up and reswaddled him after he ate.

Was this the worst night we could have possibly had? No. Really, he has spoiled us so much his first 4.5 months of life, that getting up any more than 1 time feels like a 'bad' night. Should I complain? No. No I really shouldn't. But after this night I did do a little re-evaluation of my plan for swaddle free sleeping. In doing research, I found that most people recommend starting with naps to wean off the swaddle. Hmmm and here I was still wrapping him up tight and depositing him in his swing. A bit of nighttime sleep sabotage I think. So I came up with a new plan. First, get him to nap in his crib. Second, get him to nap without being swaddled. LAST, get him to sleep at night without the swaddle. With this excellent plan in place, and feeling excited that a better sleep plan was in our future, I promptly forgot all about it, found a tighter way to swaddle, and enjoyed the weekend. My logic? I needed a few days to regroup and get myself good and rested before starting this journey. It worked, Sam slept pretty good in the new, tighter swaddle. When he did have a couple issues, I had James to help. So I was able to get in some good rest.

Now here we are. Monday morning! Sam slept great last night. In bed at 8:30, woke at 4:15to nurse, put him in his crib slightly awake around 4:45, didn't hear from him again til 7:30. So we are both rested and ready to start this!

Nap #1: 0930. Swaddled tightly, laid in crib awake with intentions of going in and rocking the rest of the way to sleep, as was done to help him fall asleep in his swing. Not needed! Feel asleep on his own! Currently 1036 and still sleeping! *knock on wood*

My goal is 4 days in a row of good naps in his crib. Then 4 days in a row of good naps without a swaddle for naps. Then we're on to nighttime.

Oh! I hear him... gotta go help him stay asleep!

Growing Boy = Tired Mama!

Today is October 1st. In less than a week Sam will be 4 months old. Whaaaat?! This is ridiculous... where the heck did summer go? Where the heck did my tiny baby go? He's trying really hard to sit up on his own, rolling from his tummy to his back, scooting around on his tummy, standing up and playing in his exersaucer, 'talking' up a storm, giggling, reaching for things, and I think soon we'll be seeing at least 2 little teeth poke on through!! He's growing so fast!

Let's talk a little about baby growth spurts. When a baby has a growth spurt, they want to eat constantly (for a breastfed baby, this helps in upping the mama's milk supply to fulfill the bigger baby's new nutritional needs) Babies tend to have growth spurts at 3 & 6 weeks, and 3 & 6 months. Sam's 3 & 6 week growth spurts were kinda rough, but not too bad. They only lasted a day or 2 and I just cancelled any and all plans we had and nursed constantly. So I said, "Bring it on 3 month growth spurt! I know how to handle these things" HA! This thing didn't last a day or 2, this thing didn't only consist of nursing 24/7, followed by a few days with an incredibly sleepy baby. OH NO, this growth spurt was brand new territory!! Perhaps it would have been a bit easier to handle if it weren't for a little something called the "4 Month Sleep Regression"...

What is the "4 Month Sleep Regression" you ask? Well, it's when babies start sleeping more 'adult-like' as in going through all the same sleep cycles that we do. The difference is, babies (well most of them anyway) have trouble transitioning from one sleep cycle to the next. Whereas an adult would hardly recognize the transition as they flip over, fix the covers, or smooth a pillow, a baby suddenly finds themselves awake when all they really want to do is sleep.

I like to think I was pretty well educated on pregnancy, child birth, newborn babyhood, and babyhood in general, even before I found out I was pregnant with Sam. When I did find out I was pregnant, I like to think I became even more educated, and besides for a few first time mom nerves, I felt pretty confident that I knew basically what to expect. And, so far, I was right. I'm not saying it was any easier since I knew what was going on, but it was helpful to have an idea ahead of time about what was to come.

Enter 4 month sleep regression....

I had NEVER heard of this thing before! So when my perfectly behaved little baby suddenly stopped wanting to take his (normally very structured, and led by him, not me) naps, at first I just chalked it up to him being older and more alert. I just made sure he got SOME sleep during the day, but still felt okay about it, as he was still sleeping great at night. Better and better each night in fact! He was always in his crib, fast asleep at 9, and was steadily increasing the amount of time he would sleep before waking up to eat. Then he would always go back to sleep after eating, and sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. One night, a glorious thing happened. Sam was asleep at 9. James and I went to sleep between 10 and 11... and then were woken by Sam talking through the monitor at.... dun dun dun... 7 am!!!!! It was amazing! I didn't rememeber the last time I had had a full night's sleep! Certainly not when I was pregnant! This behavior kept up! I was full of energy! I was ridiculously productive! Everything was wonderful! Then James went to Florida for a week for some training. One night Sam was up to eat at 5, then back to sleep. No biggie, not a full night, but pretty darn close! The next night, ate at 4. Okay why are we going backwards? Next night, up at 3 and had a little trouble going back to sleep after eating. The next night, up at 2:30, lots of trouble going back to sleep. Next night, up at 2, 5, and 6:30. Ummm, what the heck? We proceeded in this pattern for a while, then James came back and we had a night or two of only waking once, around 4. Then back to up twice. Then up at 1:30, 3, 5, 5:45, 6:30... these nights were coupled with days of a cranky cranky boy fighting sleep like it was his job. I visited my old friend google, and this is when I discovered this lovely '4 Month Sleep Regression' Maybe I felt better knowing it had a name? I don't know, I was too tired!!

I got the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution" on my Nook. I am very opposed to the "Crying It Out Method" I fully understand taking a break from your crying baby because you might be getting frustrated, but I do not believe in leaving your baby to cry in his or her bed until he or she basically passes out from sheer exhaustion. Does it work for some people? Sure. Just doesn't work for our family.

So anyway... "The No Cry Sleep Solution". It sounded like a good plan. I would need to start with keeping a sleep log. Then use the tools in the book to tailor make a plan for us. My plan was to start with naps, I knew if I could get him to get enough sleep during the day, he would sleep better at night. I read the book in one day, planning to begin the next day. And what happened the next day you might ask?

Sam slept.

Here I was with a notebook and a plan, and the little stinker takes a 2 hour nap, plus 3 45 minute naps. That night he goes down at 9, wakes at 3:30, eats, back down by 4, and up for the day at 7. Did he know I just spent some time figuring out a plan and thought, "Meh... I'll just do it myself. Thanks anyway Mom." or was it just coincidence? Did I care either way? NOPE!

Now we're on the right track, we still have some nights where he's up more than once, but usually he just needs to be re-swaddled (yes... my 4 month old refuses to sleep without being swaddled... I'm just rolling with it, he'll sleep in freedom eventually) Once a night he does need to eat, but any other time he gets up, he goes back down pretty easily. Naps are hit or miss day to day, but lately there have more hit than miss days as I play around with a nap routine. Hopefully as this growth spurt (both physically and developmentally) slows down a bit, we'll settle back into a day to day routine. Probably just in time for the 6 month growth spurt ;) At least this time I'll know a little more what to expect!!

The 30 Day Shred I posted about last time? Postponed until I can get Sam's napping under control. I'm actually hoping to start up again on Monday :) Hopefully anyway

It's funny to me the things I find interesting enough to blog about these days... hehe Oh how my life has changed... but I'm loving it :)

Now... some more pictures of the cutest baby in the world...

30 Day Shred!

So now that we're home from visiting family, it's time for me to crack down on toning myself back up. Back when I was pregnant I bought Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and this past Tuesday I opened it up and got started! I'm hoping to blog my way through it. I will have to take a few days off when we go camping for Labor Day, but what's a couple of days? ;)

Day 1: Holy moly. Who knew a 20 minute workout would be that difficult? I really felt how out of shape I've gotten! I made it through even though, I'm not going to lie, I was getting pretty pissed at little Miss Jillian Michaels by the end! While doing lunges with bicep curls she says, "You might think, 'Can't I just do bicep curls?' NO YOU CANNOT!" I guess if you need someone to whip your butt into shape... she's your girl!

Day 2: Knowing what to expect... did that make it easier or harder? Hmmm... how about both? It was nice knowing what was coming, and knowing how close I was to the end... but it also kinda sucked as I got tired and remembered what was to come. Felt a bit sore from day 1, but nothing unmanageable.

Day 3: Woke up unable to fully straighten my arms. No joke! So sore! I remember starting a ballet season... day 3 is ALWAYS the worst! So, knowing that, I'm hoping to start feeling better from here on out. I didn't get to do the entire workout today though, Sam had other plans. Today he seemed to feel his long morning nap was not necessary. He is currently taking that long nap now... (which, by the way, makes me nervous because I don't usually like him to take long naps in the afternoon/evening in case it screws up his nighttime sleep. But the poor little guy was so sleepy... so why torture him?) I got at least half the workout completed though, so better than nothing. I can already feel a difference in my stomach! Which is, of course, the area I was most interested in toning up. Feeling a difference on day 3 is very encouraging to me! :)

Well I hear my little man starting to wake up, so I'm going to feed him while watching The Weather Channel (Looks like Hurricane Irene is coming straight for us! *gulp* I hate storms!)





*Week 1*

So Many People to Meet!

Sam and I have been in Pennsylvania a week now, and we'll still be here until Monday. We've been so busy! Sam met his Uncle Andrew and Uncle Billy (Uncle Tommy was there the day he was born) he got to see his Nana and Grandpa again. Grandmama and Grandpa came over one day, and so did Mommy's godfather. He met Mommy's best friend, Analyn, he went to dinner with all of Mommy's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. He met Mommy's Nanny and Poppop. He went to a wedding to meet all of Mommy's ballet friends, and he went to Maryland to visit Grandmama's work and Mommy's old roommate Sarah and her little baby Rachel. Busy busy busy! We still have more visits and a family reunion planned for the last few days. This mama is exhausted!! Sam has been sleeping great in the pack-n-play at night, and napping wonderfully in the swing during the day, I just haven't been sleeping so great. I'm obviously having an awesome time seeing friends and family, but OH BOY do I miss my husband! It seems extra weird to be away from him this time for some reason. I know he's missing us too, but in a few more days our little family will be together again :)

Can I just brag a bit about how incredibly good my little boy is?? I mean really! On the plane: Nursed during take-off, slept like a rock, nursed a bit more during the landing, perfect little angel at the airport. Driving to Nicole's wedding: Needed to stop only once to feed him on the drive up, not a peep out of him all the hours at the wedding. He just smiled and looked around and flirted with all of my friends. Angel baby! He wakes up once a night to eat, nurses very efficiently, and goes right back to sleep til 7 when he's ready to start the day. I never forced a schedule on him, but the little man made his own schedule and sticks to it like crazy! Makes my life so much easier. He rarely cries. He'll fuss if he's hungry and I'm taking to long to start feeding him, or if he's ready for a nap and has gotten a little overtired. He did cry in the car on the way home from Maryland yesterday, but only for about 5 minutes before conking out. Then another minute or so just as I was pulling in the driveway. When I got him out of his seat he was all smiles :) He's 10 weeks now. About 12 1/2 pounds and 24 inches long. I can't belive in a couple weeks he'll be 3 months!!!!!!!! Where did the time go??

Oh an example of how good my baby is... I put him in the swing a little while ago and he fell asleep. The swing is behind the couch I'm sitting on, I just peeked over to check on him, and he has woken up from his nap, but is just looking around and snuggling his little stuffed elephant that he loves. Such a cutie boy :) I'm going to end this with a few pictures from the wedding and then go give him his 2nd breakfast :)

YAY!

It's an exciting morning here! Yesterday afternoon we finally found a pacifier that Sam will take. We had considered not bothering with one, but he is so incredibly soothed by sucking on anything and everything. So finally FINALLY we found one that he'll take (MAM) and he loves it! The plan right now is to just use it for naps, or when he's super fussy in the car (which ends up being a nap anyway) WELL normally after Sam's first morning feeding, we play a little in bed, then he will play by himself in his crib while I eat breakfast til he gets fussy, and then I rock him until he's asleep for his first nap of the day. At night he goes right to sleep, but during the day he tends to fight his naptime. Today I gave him the pacifier, wrapped him in a blanket and rocked him for a few minutes. He was drowsy, but not asleep. I laid him in the pack n play and his little eyes popped open, but he wasn't fussy. So I left him there, and went to sit on the couch. Just a few minutes later I went to peek at him, and he was fast asleep! All by himself! I'm so proud of him! And it's so much better than him fussing and squirming while I hold him until he finally succumbs to a nap. YAY! That was a good 40 minutes ago and I'm hearing him move around now, I'm going to go get my little champion sleeper and feed him :) It's a good morning! :)

Birthday!

Today is my 24th birthday! Eeeek! I can't belive I'm 24... I mean, aren't I still a teenager? I apparently still look one lol. That's nothing to complain about though :)Here's what I've done so far on my birthday: Nursed Sam quite a few times, changed quite a few diapers, pumped and froze some milk, been both peed on and spit up on, watched Teen Mom that I recorded last night, and ate a turkey sandwich with a banana and peanut butter on the side. Woo! The exciting life of a mommy! It's been a good birthday though :) I've been enjoying reading all of the birthday wishes on my Facebook wall, some have even made me all teary eyed. I miss all my family and friends from home so much! In 3 weeks Sam and I will be making the long drive up north to spend some time with my parents, and hopefully we'll be spending at least one day in Annapolis with friends! :)

I've been thinking today of all my past birthdays. I actually haven't spent a birthday at home since my 15th! I remember all my birthdays... it's always been such a huge deal for me. Going backwards:

23- James and I spent the day before my birthday in Wilmington, NC. Toured the USS North Carolina and had an awesome dinner at a Tapas place. The actual day of my birthday James made me dinner when he got home from work and I made cupcakes.

22- Babysat in the evening and then went out in downtown Annapolis with Margaret. Nobody else was able to go out that night so the two of us went alone. We had a good time ;) The next week everybody else could go out so we went downtown to celebrate both mine and Scali's birthdays. We wore matching wristbands and took pictures pretending to be tourists. (We're cool like that) A guy at Federal House tried to hit on me. "I'm a pro-golfer" he slurred at me. I said, "Cool. My boyfriend is a Marine" and he went away. lol

21- Well... margaritas. 'Nough said...

20-Meg and Mark came to visit the day before and the day of we went out to breakfast. After they left Andrew and Shawn came to visit and we went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the bookstore/coffee shop where I worked

19- My roommate Sarah made me an awesome butterfinger cake. I spent the entire day at ballet (this was the summer intensive before my first apprentice year) my family came to visit the weekend after and we got ice cream downtown

18- I was at CPYB's summer intensive in Carlisle. My roommate and hallmates threw me a surprise party and my family came to visit the weekend after.

17- I was in DC for a summer intensive. My friends decorated the door to my room with birthday signs and we went out to dinner. Family came to visit.

16- In DC this year too. It was another girl's 16th birthday the same week so we did a lot of things! Friends and hallmates threw a double surprise party one night. A huge group of us went out to dinner another night. On the actual day we had ballet so we went out for smoothies on our lunch break and somebody brought in a little mini cake. Family came to visit

15- My last bday at home! I had a luau themed party

14- The first big sleepover I was allowed to have since my 9th birthday fiasco. Analyn and I decorated the family room with tons of Christmas lights and we had a lot of fun :)

13- Had a fancy tea party-type lunch and a pool party

12- Ballet friends over for a pool party

11- Pool party

10- Took 3 friends with me to an amusement park

9- Had a camping themed sleepover. My dad took us on a walk in the dark with flashlights. We were sleeping out in a tent in our yard. I remember there being a lot of talk about Jonathan Taylor Thomas. We all loved him. One girl fell asleep and we were convinced she was dying and so we tried carrying her in the house sometime in the wee hours of the morning... she was not happy when she woke up, and my parents were not happy to hear us traipsing in that early. We were all still awake when my dad got up to feed the horses at 6. After this party... I was told no more sleepovers for my birthday. By the time I was 14, after much begging and pleading, I 'proved' myself enough to be allowed to have another. lol

I can't remember specifics about birthdays before that. I know one year I had a carnival themed birthday which was AWESOME. Other than that it was pretty much having friends over, pony rides, hay rides (the perks of growing up on a horse farm), rainbow sherbert punch, and pin the tail on the donkey.

Plans for this year? I did all the houswork and errands yesterday so that today I can just lounge about in my pjs and cuddle and play with Sam. When James comes home we're going to order out so neither of us has to cook or clean up. Then I'm hopefully going to convince him to go and get me some Cold Stone for dessert. Oh how my birthdays have changed :)

OH! I'd like to include a recipe in this birthday post. I made this Chunky Tomato and Avocado Salad for dinner last night, and just ate leftovers for lunch. It's VERY good! More like a salsa than a salad, but a very light and refreshing side dish either way. Awesome for summer!

Chunky Tomato and Avocado Salad

1 avocado peeled, pitted, and cubed
3 plum tomatoes chopped
1/4 cup sweet onion chopped
1 Tbls. fresh chopped cilantro
3-4 Tbls. lemon juice (I used 4 and it was a bit too lemon-y. So unless you like 'lemon-y' I'd reccommend 3)

Mix gently and let sit in the refridgerator overnight. If you aren't able to let it sit overnight at least let it sit in the fridge for 2 hours.

Soooo good on a hot summer day :) We had it last night with salmon and baked potatoes, yum!

I'd include a picture... but it's already gone ;) hehe

Now I'm going to go take advantage of the last bit of Sam's long nap and read :) Happy Birthday to me!

Quiet Day...

Just a quiet, uneventful Monday here. We had a busy weekend.

On Saturday we did grocery shopping (I used to like doing that during the week since it's less crowded on weekdays, but now with a newborn and 3 loooong flights of stairs up to our apartment, I go on weekends so James can help) and we went to Babys R Us to buy a small breast pump and some bottles. There's no NEED for Sam to take a bottle since I'm not going back to work anytime soon, but we wanted to try it so that I will have options. I was able to pump a good bit of milk after Sam's feeding when we got home from running errands, and for his next feeding we tried James giving him a bottle. For the first couple minutes Sam just looked confused and kept pushing the bottle out of his mouth with his tongue, but it didn't take him too long to figure it out, and he drank a whole bottle :) I had such mixed emotions while he was eating! Part of me was happy because now I don't have to feel QUITE so tied down 24/7 (not that I mind it!) It's good to know that if I ever need to be away for a little while, little man can still eat. But at the same time I felt sad. Sad because I was missing the sweet bonding time we usually get while he eats. I definitely nursed him for a few minutes after the bottle was gone. He wasn't really hungry, I think it was just comfort nursing more than anything, for both of us! I love all the time I get to spend feeding him and snuggling him close :)

On Sunday we ventured out the movie theater to see Harry Potter 7 part 2. I was SO nervous taking Sam to the theater! I wanted to see HP SO badly and was praying so hard that he would cooperate! We had already pre-ordered tickets, so we got to the theater early and I fed Sam a bit in the car while James went in and picked them up. Sam got his belly filled up and fell asleep while eating. A lot of times during the day I don't worry to much about doing this that will wake him up after he eats, I like him to have awake time after eating. Not this time! haha he unlatched and I verrrrrry carefully and quietly laid him on my chest to carry him in the theater. Once in there I transferred him to James (he sleeps better if James is holding him. I think because he can't stay quite settled knowing I'm the one with the milk! lol) he slept hard through most of the beginning but then started squirming (still mostly asleep) and trying to eat his hands. So I latched him on quick as a flash and let himself eat his way back to sleep. A few times while he was eating I looked down and saw his big eyes looking up at me, but he was quiet and happy! By the time he finished eating he was back to sleep and slept in my arms for the rest of the movie! Little angel! The movie was fantastic and I'm so glad James and I were able to enjoy it together :) I cried my eyes out through the whole movie. It was so sad! Book 7 is my favorite, and now movie 7 is too! I can't believe it's all over though! Harry Potter was such a big part of growing up and it's just crazy that it's all finished! I feel old... lol

Today James had to leave for work at 3:30 for a range and doesn't know when he'll be home, probably not until 7ish. :( I shouldn't complain though since most of the other guys have to stay out there all week, night and day. Since he's a Sgt. he has the option of driving himself to and from the range each day. Some Sgts had to stay all week, but not him. I'm lucky that I've been able to have him around to help so much with the baby! Many (most) military wives are not so lucky!

Sam is taking his long nap right now and I've been getting a little housework done and just relaxing on the couch. I'm thinking later we'll go for a walk (we have a movie to return to the apartment office anyway). I don't think we'll leave the house besides that though. I need a few things from Target, but don't feel like going out really. In my opinion, Mondays are best spent at home :)

Just those ramblings for today. I'll end this post with some pictures of the cutest baby in the world :)

5 weeks!

Sam is 5 weeks old today! Where the heck did the time go! You know what 5 weeks means? 1 more week til my check-up where I will hopefully be given a green light to start working out! Wahoo! lol The pregnancy weight is gone, but oh man I need to tone everything back up! Very excited to start working out again! Going to try a few work out dvds at home. Sam and I already take walks (when it's not TOO hot) so that's at least SOME exercise!

That's really all I have to say today. Off to change a stinky diaper and play wth my crazy adorable little man! Maybe I'll bake some oatmeal cookies later... :)

Mommyhood :)

I always knew I wanted to be a mom. When my brother Billy was born, a family friend was filming the time while my mom was in labor, the birth, and after he came out. At one point, she's filming my brother Andrew and I sitting on the porch before going to the birth center. She asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. I was sitting there holding a swaddled baby doll and said, "A mommy." I always knew it was what I wanted and I always knew I would love it, and would love my future babies. But I never imagined I would love it all THIS much! Yes I'm tired, and yes it's been a pretty big lifestyle change for us, but even on a day where I'm completely exhausted I love every single minute of being a mommy!!

Our first few days at home James, Sam, and I did a whole lot of sitting around watching tv and movies. It was so nice to have a chance to bond as a family :) We were in a bit of a sleep deprived haze most of the time, but it wasn't too bad considering we mostly just laid on the couch in sweats in between diaper changes and feeding Sam. Once our visitors were all gone, and James had to go back to work, I had to do a little adjusting. There was at least one day where James came home to work to find me still in pjs, messy hair, sitting in the glider with Sam, ready to order take-out for dinner. But I'm happy to say that I've developed some sort of routine now :) My days go by so quickily (When you break a day up into 2-3 hour chunks for eating times, it really makes time fly!) but Sam and I have so much fun :) Usually after he eats we have some playtime, and every day he seems to notice more and more things. I'm loving watching him grow and learn each day. Sometimes I swear I can see him growing right before my eyes!! He was only able to wear newborn outfits for about 2 weeks, he's in 0-3 month outfits now