Monday, April 30, 2012

Getting back to myself...

So, I was walking around the grocery store the other day (it had been 3 weeks since I had gone grocery shopping!) and realized…hey, I’m not pregnant anymore. I can get back on Weight Watchers! Now I’m not at all concerned about getting right back into shape. During my pregnancy I gained around 35lbs. That was pretty much right on for what a healthy pregnancy weight gain should be. I was really proud of myself!

I weighed myself this morning and am down to 140.8lbs (down from 160-ish)! Not too bad! I’ve only got about 12lbs to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

Being on Weight Watchers this time should be easier since Adam is doing it, too, and my recovery after birth has been really great. I feel a lot better and plan to get out and walk often. Adam, myself, and our kids are also going to be doing the Bellin Run this year (we’ll be walking with the kids). It’s a good goal to work towards since it’s a 6 mile walk. We need to get out there and start getting into shape!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sam's 1-month survey


Monthly Survey
1.       How old is baby? 1 month!
2.       Doctor’s appointments?: The next one is scheduled for May 29th, 2012
3.       Stats:
a.       Weight: 8lbs 7oz (at 3 weeks 1 day old)
b.      Height: 22 inches
c.       Clothes size: He’s still in some NB, but also wears some 0-3 mnth clothes
d.      Diaper size: Still in NB
e.      Hair color: Brown
f.        Eyes: Blue, seems like getting lighter
g.       Anything else?
4.       Milestones:
a.       Teething: Nope.
b.      Verbal skills: He grunts a lot, but that's mostly gas. :)
c.       Rolling: Nope.
d.      Sitting Up: Nope.
e.      Crawling: He likes to try to army crawl during tummy time. lol
f.        Walking: Nope.
g.       Anything else? He’s starting to be awake more during the day and he’s having some spontaneous smiles. I can’t wait for the social ones!
5.       Things he likes:
a.       Toys: We’re not really doing toys yet. He has some on his bouncy chair, but I don’t know that he can see those yet.
b.      Books: He gets lots of stories read since Clara still likes to read. He just joins in now.
c.       Songs: I haven’t sung anything to him yet.
d.      TV Shows: He doesn’t even notice the TV, even though it’s on a lot.
e.      Other activities: We’re doing tummy time already. I’d like to do it more, it’s just that Clara running around makes me really nervous!
6.       Things he dislikes: Sometimes he hates being put down, other times he’s fine.
7.       Sleeping: He was sleeping well for the first 2 weeks, but it’s been getting to be hit and miss at night. 2am seems to be the witching hour. He’ll wake up for his 2am feeding and want to be up until 4.
8.       Eating: Still just on breast milk, but he’s eating up to 4oz for feedings. He eats every 2 hours during the day and anywhere from 2-4 hours at night.
9.       Nicknames: Bubba, little man, Sam I Am, Captain Shortbeard or Shortbeard the Pirate Captain
10.   Things we’re looking forward to next month: His next check-up. I can’t wait to see how much he changes in the next month! We also have Brayden’s baptism at the end of the month.
11.   How I like motherhood: It’s still the best thing ever. The days are even more challenging with the addition of Sam, but we figure it out as we go.
a.       Likes: Watching Clara love on her brother.
b.      Dislikes: With Sam having gas issues it’s hard when there’s nothing I can really do for him.
Pictures!!
Having a little tummy time.

Practicing his "side-eye"

Meeting cousin Brayden for the first time.

Friday, April 27, 2012

17-month Survey


Monthly Survey

1.       How old? 17 months

2.       Stats:

a.       Weight: Probably around 30lbs

b.      Height: 34 inches

c.       Clothes size: 2T almost exclusively. She still wears some 18 month tops.

d.      Diaper size: 5’s in both regular and overnights.

e.      Hair color: Still blond.

f.        Anything else?

3.       Milestones:

a.       Teething: She has 16 total and is currently working on her 2-year molars.

b.      Talking: Oh.my.god yes. She has even started to sing!

c.       Words: I’m going to say she’s upwards of 30-35 words now and seemingly picking up new ones every day. Some of her new ones are: cup, purple, and up. She is also starting to recognize letters-and if she can’t say the letter she can make the sound (mostly for “m” and “f”).

d.      Other communication: She has started sulking/pouting. It’s kind of cute, actually.

e.      Walking: And running and dancing…lol

f.        Anything else?

4.       Things she likes:

a.       Toys: She has a “Critter Clinic” that she likes to play with. She also really likes any kind of mirror.

b.      Books: She loves books with animals. She likes to do the sounds.

c.       Songs: Baa Baa Black Sheep is the current favorite.

d.      TV Shows: Sesame Street is one of her faves right now.

e.      Other activities: She is doing a different story time at the library now. It’s more geared for kids her age and it has them up and moving more. She’s getting really good at it and becoming more social with a lot of the kids. I’m thinking maybe Sam and I will go along next week and check it out!

5.       Things she dislikes: Naps. They’re hit and miss these days.

6.       Sleeping: Her naps are becoming inconsistent. She still needs them but refuses to go down. She still sleeps 12 hours at night, though.

7.       Eating: She usually eats pretty well unless her teeth are bothering her. Then we’re lucky to get her to eat anything but a frozen fruit bar.

a.       Favorite foods: Graham crackers! She’ll pull the box out of the cupboard (if it isn’t locked) and bring it to us.

b.      Not so favorite foods: Can’t really think of anything new that she doesn’t like.

8.       Nicknames: Magwai, munchkin, Sweetie pie

9.       Things we’re looking forward to next month: Brayden’s baptism (first time all 3 kids will be together) and hopefully another trip to the NEW Zoo. Also, Daddy will be off of school for 2 weeks!

10.   How I like motherhood: It’s kind of crazy to think that I have 2 kids now!

a.       Likes: Watching Clara grow and learn new things…and love on her little brother.

b.      Dislikes: Feeling like I need to clone myself to get anything done!

Pictures!!
Ready for opening day!

Drawing with chalk

Cool girl!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Two Under Tuesday-04/25/12


Two Under Tuesday Survey

1.       How old are they?

a.       Sam: 1 month

b.      Clara: Almost 18 months!

2.       What activities are going on this week? Sam had a doctor’s appointment on Monday. Grandma,  Clara, Sam and I went to the little zoo in town on Tuesday, and we’re meeting up with Kenny, Jessica and Brayden this weekend.

3.       What are the challenges we are dealing with this week? Clara was a little extra bucky this week because she’s teething….which is not fun! But I’ve been trying to just roll with the punches.

4.       Any major milestones reached this week?

a.       Sam: He’s starting to have spontaneous smiles. They’re really adorable. J

b.      Clara: She’ll turn 18 months! She’s also picking up new words almost on a daily basis. I can’t even keep up anymore. She started saying “purple” yesterday!

5.       How are you feeling about having 2u2 at this point? It’s still a huge challenge but we’re figuring it out.

a.       Likes: I like that Clara will always remember having Sam around. I hope they’ll grow up and be each other’s best friend.

b.      Dislikes: I wish I could be in 2 places at once. It’s hard to deal with Clara when I need to nurse Sam.

6.       Any tips or tricks to share? Lunch times are hard because Clara takes a nap right after lunch. If I can manage, I try to feed Sam a bottle right before I get lunch ready so that he’s sleeping when I need to put Clara down. Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires big time! I still haven’t gotten adventurous enough to take both of them out in public together by myself. We’ll work on it!



Picture of the Week:

Clara loving on her little brother during some tummy time.


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Toddle Along Tuesday-Diaper Bags

I never gave much thought to diaper bags when I first found out I was pregnant. I just thought I'd find something that I didn't hate...after all, what would it be used for? I'm just sticking diapers in it.
So I bought one I didn't hate and used it until Clara was a little over a year old.

For Christmas "Santa" got her a cute pink backpack that has butterflies and is personalized. We figured when she got big enough she could carry it herself. It's also big enough that we can get a couple days worth of clothes in it if she spends the weekend at the grandparents' house.

When I found out I was expecting Sam I just figured I'd use the same diaper bag I had first used with Clara. A couple weeks before I had him I had gone to Shopko to pick up some last minute items. The purse section is immediately across from the front door. Normally I don't even look (I have a serious purse addiction), but I had seen a REALLY cute bag that I thought could double as a diaper bag if I just had to be out really quick.
The most awesome thing about this bag is that it's green. It's made from recycled bottles!


So, what's in my bag?
  • A bunch of diapers for Sam (I've learned to take more than I think I'll need for him even we're gone for a short time).
  • A couple diapers for Clara.
  • Wipes
  • A change of pants for Clara and a couple outfit changes for Sam.
  • A receiving blanket and burp rag.
  • My nursing cover, wallet, coupons, checkbook, pen, chopstick, and roll of arm & hammer diaper disposable bags, and my mommy hook.
  • There's also enough room in there for a small bottle and some snacks for Clara.
I had no intention of buying a new bag but at 50% off I couldn't pass it up! And I'm glad I didn't because it works really great and it's super cute. :-)

Monday, April 23, 2012

These littles don't stay little very long!

Sam had his latest appointment at the pediatrician today. He looks really good developmentally. He's been having some issues with gas and reflux. Luckily the doctor doesn't think he has full-blown reflux yet. Sam is a pretty piggy eater so he tends to swallow a lot of air. We would feed him and then burp him and keep him upright for half an hour yet he'd still get really grunty and sometimes get hiccups and "silent" reflux symptoms. Right now we'll be trying more tummy time since he's awake more during the day now. And more frequent burping.

My big guy's stats @ 3 weeks 1 day old:
8lbs 7oz
22 inches long

He was 6lbs 15oz and 20.5" long at birth and most babies by 2 weeks are just getting back to their birth weight!

Here's a picture of Sam with his new cousin Brayden, taken last week Thursday.


Monday, April 16, 2012

Two under Tuesday...The first week.

**This post is from last week-I could not get it posted due to internet issues**

Two Under Tuesday Survey

1.       How old are they?

a.       Sam: 1 week old

b.      Clara: 17 months old

2.       What activities are going on this week? We went shopping on Friday and took Sam’s newborn pictures. Saturday we had Easter at Adam’s parents’ house and then on Sunday we had Easter at my parents’ house. It was a busy weekend! This week is pretty boring! We have nothing on the books…except maybe welcoming a new nephew!

3.       What are the challenges we are dealing with this week? We’re spending more time together as a family of 4. This will be Adam’s first full week back to school and I’m going to try to have Clara home more so she can get used to Sam. Mornings are a little hectic, but Sam’s usually a late sleeper so I have time to get Clara up and get her settled before I need to feed Sam. So far, so good!

4.       Any major milestones reached this week?

a.       Sam: He had his first check-up last Wednesday. He’s not losing weight and his bili numbers were a tad high but not concerning.

b.      Clara: She picked up a couple new words this week: up, cup, goat, and a couple more I can’t think of just now.

5.       How are you feeling about having 2u2 at this point?

a.       Likes: Seeing the 2 beautiful children I’ve created with my husband.

b.      Dislikes: Having a newborn is hard. I’m doing most of the work myself (my choice) so it can get a little overwhelming sometimes, but it’ll get easier. I’m getting Sam on a nighttime schedule and I think it’s going well so far.

6.       Any tips or tricks to share? It seems like a schedule is even more important when you have multiple kids. I’m trying to get them on sort of the same schedule at night and so far it’s been working pretty well. I know that might change when he starts spending more time awake than asleep, but for now it works. And I’m actually able to get quite a bit of sleep in between feedings. The most important part that I’ve learned is to be patient and if we need to go anywhere, leave plenty of time…especially if all 4 of us are leaving the house!



Picture of the Week:


Friday, April 13, 2012

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Easter...then and now!








Easter 2012

Finding Easter eggs at Mimi's

Looking at her Easter Basket

We don't have any of Sam because I was nursing him while Clara was looking for Easter eggs and opening her basket. Oh well. Maybe next year!

16-month survey...Finally!

**This survey is being published late due to the birth of Baby Sam on 3/31!**

Monthly Survey

1.       How old? 16 months.

2.       Stats:

a.       Weight: About 27lbs.

b.      Height: 34 inches

c.       Clothes size: 18 months-2T for tops. 2T for pants and pajamas. Still 5’s for shoes, though we bought some 6’s.

d.      Diaper size: 5’s in both Huggies regular and Overnights.

e.      Hair color: Less strawberry blond and more just blond.

f.        Anything else? She got her first “real” hair cut on 3/16. She’s had her bangs trimmed but never a real hair cut. It looks really nice now that everything is even. We need to start training her hair to grow a certain way, though, which is hard when she keeps ripping the clips out 30 seconds after I get them in!

3.       Milestones:

a.       Teething: She has 16 currently and is currently working on cutting her 2-year molars. God help us!

b.      Talking: Oh yes! She’s starting to shake her head when she says “no”, too. I also think she has figured out the proper use of the word “no”. She has more than 20 words now.

c.       Other communication: She can identify: fingers, toes, head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and belly button. She can also identify family members (if you ask her to point to someone, she can). Also, if you ask her where Baby Sam is she points to my belly. She can give hugs and kisses when asked, blow kisses, clap, and wave. **Since having Sam she has figured out that he’s no longer in my belly. If you ask her where Sam is she points to him and says “baby”.

d.      Walking: Walking, running, spinning in circles, walking backwards, you name it! She’s better with holding hands, but it still needs a lot of work.

e.      Anything else? We turned her car seat around. She’s now front-facing. It’s hard to tell if she likes it any better than rear-facing but so far we haven’t had any issues, either. We need to work on putting things away. She’ll do it once in a while, but we need some more work. She can use a spoon pretty well. She still gets a little frustrated with it, though. She is starting to help with more things (she helped unpack groceries and tried wiping up Grandma’s kitchen floor and she sometimes will put her shoes away if you ask her to).

4.       Things she likes:

a.       Toys: She’s having a great time with puzzles! I need to get some more!

b.      Books: She doesn’t have AS much of an interest in books lately, but she still loves to look at them…especially in the car. Hop on Pop has recently made the list of favorites again.

c.       Songs: Still digging Itsy Bitsy Spider. Ba Ba Black Sheep is a recent hit, too, and Old McDonald since she knows so many animals now!

d.      TV Shows: She’s really into the Wiggles right now. I think she likes the dancing and music.

e.      Other activities: I’d like to start taking her to the park once it warms up. I’m hoping once I’m back on my feet a little that the 2 kids and I can start taking walks when the weather’s nice. She’s also still doing story time at the library with Grandma. We took our first trip to the zoo for the year on Sunday (3/11). The weather was gorgeous and Clara had so much more fun than last time! She loved watching the monkeys. The lions were really close to the side of their pen so she could see them really well, too! She’s still not so sure about sheep/goats. She’s ok with them if they’re far away, but if they’re close she gets scared. She’s also in love with being outside! She goes outside everyday when she’s by Mimi’s and we’ve had her out in the back yard for about 30 minutes a couple times a day on the weekends. Sometimes she doesn’t do anything but laugh at the dog running around, but at least its fresh air.

5.       Things she dislikes: Being told “no.”

6.       Sleeping: Still about the same as last month. She naps 1-3 hours after lunch every day and 12 hours or so at night-sometimes less depending on when Adam needs to leave for school. **We’ve been having a hard time getting her into her bed for naps and bed. I’m hoping it’s just her teeth.

7.       Eating: For the most part she isn’t a picky eater, but she does have days when she won’t eat anything you want her to.

a.       Favorite foods: Eggs with ham, yogurt, grapes, and beets.

b.      Not so favorite foods: potatoes and peaches.

8.       Nicknames: Magwai and “Buns”.

9.       Things we’re looking forward to next month: Baby Sam should be here!

10.   How I like motherhood:It’s still the greatest adventure, ever! There are days where I’d like to rip my hair out, but for the most part it’s great!

a.       Likes: I love to see how quickly she’s saying new words! It almost seems like she picks up multiple words in a day!

b.      Dislikes: Right now I dislike not having the energy to keep up with her. I know that’s not a permanent thing, but it’s still rather frustrating. I’d like to be able to take her back to swimming or get her into a tumbling class, but right now I’m physically incapable of doing so…at least by myself. It might be easier after Sam is born because of Adam’s school schedule (he’s done by 3 most days), though.

Pictures!!
Daddy, Clara, and Goldie playing outside on my birthday.

Monday, April 2, 2012

No more weekly updates!

At least as far as my pregnancy goes! Samuel James decided to make his way into the world a week early. I'll post as much of a birth story as I can remember. It went REALLY quickly and was very intense so I don't really have times for much of anything.

Just a word of warning: From this point on there may be some information that could be considered TMI...you've been warned!

So as many people know I had been having contractions on and off for most of my 37th and 38th weeks. They would get real regular for an hour or two and then completely stop. Thursday March 29th was really no different. Neither was Friday. I had Clara by myself for part of the day since Adam had a 2-hour class. I woke up early with some contractions, but ultimately decided that Adam should still go to school since I didn't think they'd amount to much (I was slightly discouraged at this point that I'd go into labor on my own before our scheduled induction). While he was gone we went about our regular day. At some point while he was gone I had gone to the bathroom and noticed that I had lost a good chunk of my mucus plug. Sidenote: It's very weird to get excited about finding hunks of bloody mucus, but if you've ever been pregnant you understand. I warned Adam about it via text and just decided to wait and see what happened.

Well, what happened wasn't much of anything. He came home, we did a little shopping, I had some more contractions. At one point I had them every 8-10 minutes for 3 hours before I gave up and went to bed, fully expecting to have nothing to show for it in the morning. Well, I couldn't have been more wrong. I had gone to bed about 11pm. At 1:30am I woke up to use the bathroom after a rather strong and painful contraction. I went back to bed and had another. And another. So I decided to start timing them. At that point they were coming about every 3-5 minutes and they had definitely ramped up in intensity. These weren't anything like the ones I had been having. I finally woke Adam up about 45 minutes into this and told him we should think about calling the hospital. Eventually I did call labor & delivery and they told me that I should go ahead and come in.

I called my mom to come stay at the house so we didn't have to wake up Clara. Interesting side note: The first time I tried calling my mom no one answered the phone so I immediately called back and got my Dad. Turns out my mom had gotten up to use the bathroom and had JUST missed my call! Guess she knew something would be happening! We waited what seemed like forever for her to get there and then headed to the hospital. I had 2 contractions in the car on the way to the hospital-and let me tell you that when people say contractions in the car suck, they aren't kidding!

We got to the hospital and checked in. My wonderful nurse Vicki got us all situated and checked me at that point. I was 2cm and 80% effaced. I had been at 2cm my last appointment so I was sort of disappointed that I hadn't made more progress. She also informed me that my own doctor was on call this weekend...Awesome! She left to check in with him and I got settled in to ride out the contractions. I REALLY wanted the epidural but was pretty sure they weren't going to let me have one being only 2 cm. I also didn't want to stall out my labor (though no one was under the impression that it would happen).  When she got back she let us know that I was given 2 options: go home and labor some more and then come back later, or stay and get an IM shot of morphine and some benadryl to better organize my labor and kick me into active labor. I DID NOT want to go home so I elected to stay. She went to put in the order and I continued to work through some not very fun contractions. In the meantime, someone from the lab came to draw my blood. Soon Vicki came back and before she gave me the morphine, checked me again. I was still a 2 and 80%. I asked AGAIN about getting the epi and she went to check with Dr. V.

Before I knew it, my other nurse (I think Connie) came in with a bag of IV fluid and said that I could go ahead and get the epi. I was so happy! Though I was less happy to find out that the anesthesiologist wasn't at the hospital and I had to wait what seemed like an eternity for him to get here.

So Al the Anesthesiologist came and got me all hooked up. By this point the contractions were getting really intense and close together. I kept waiting for the numbness to kick in so I could get some sleep (it was probably around 4 or 4:30am at this point), but they never completely went away. Some of them were less noticeable, but they definitely still hurt. Vicki checked me again and this time I was a 3.

Shortly after that Dr. V came in and checked in with us. I was still having a lot of pain. He checked me again and this time I was a 4. I think that's when he asked me if I wanted him to break my water. He broke it and almost immediately everything got worse. The contractions were coming one on top of the other and were ridiculously intense. I was yelling and crying through most of them and begging for someone to do something to relieve the pain. It took a long time (at least it felt like it) before Al the Anesthesiologist got back up by us and started putting who knows what into my epidural catheter. Before I knew it I was so numb I couldn't feel ANYTHING from the waist down. I felt like a log! Vicki checked me again (about an hour after Dr. V had) and I was now an 8-9cm! I had gone from 4cm to 8-9cm in about an hour.

About 10 minutes later they checked me and I was complete and his head was WAY down...like almost out down. They broke down the bed, got the room all set up and were trying to patiently wait for Dr. V to get there. Long ass story short, I pushed 3 times and little Sam practically came flying out!

He was sooooo tiny! I think everyone was expecting a big baby. Clara was 8lbs 2oz, but I could tell by looking at him he wasn't even that big. Turns out he was 6lbs 15oz. Just a little peanut! He was born at 10:33am on March 31, 2012.

So another short, albeit intense, labor and another beautiful baby. Right now we're still sitting at the hospital. We were supposed to be discharged, but Sam has yet to poop and now we're running into issues with him wanting to eat. So until we resolve both of those things (which hopefully will be before he's 48 hours old) he can't be discharged. Thank God for the electronic age. I've got my Kindle Fire, my phone, and Adam's laptop...along with the TV and DVD player in the room. I'm still bored out of my mind and Adam might be taking his lap top home with him when he goes home tonight.

Here are a few pictures from his first day!

Just minutes old-enjoying a little kangaroo time

Just chillin'

Sam the Sailor Man