This is my life.

Kids say the darndest things.....

2011-11-26T11:05:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to keep a record of some of the cute things Sean is starting to say now, so I can look back on them when he is talking way too much, and remember when it was so amazing to hear him put sentences together for the first time! For the record, he is 22 months now : D

The other day I was helping him brush his teeth, and was probably being a bit too forceful. He said "Stop!" and pulled his face away. This is the first time he vocalized an actual, "stop," to me, so I said, "Did you just tell me to stop??" with a giggle, and then HE replied, "Yes, I did!"

We have a few favorite books, and one of the newest is called Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton. The words are, "Oooooo, snuggle puppy of mine, everything about you is especially fine. I love what you are, I love what you do. Oooooo, I love you!" (Kiss!) Sean has started trying to sing it on his own, so in the other room I will hear, "Ooooooo Suh puppy MINE, mununumunuh (or other filler sounds) FINE. Ooooooo I wah you. Mwuah!"

Sean and I were eating breakfast together, and he pushed his water cup right next to my coffee mug, and said, "Water. Coffee. Friends!"

Our dog Jax pulled a bowl full of Sean's snack down from the coffee table the other day and ate it all. I found it and whacked him on the nose with the bowl, and Sean saw me do it. He looked at me and said, "Momma, say Jax sorry."

When I go into Sean's room to get him in the morning, occasionally as I walk into the room, he says, "Momma?? Hooray!!!!!"

In the wee hours of the morning, sometimes Sean will wake up and talk to himself or play before falling back asleep. The other morning I heard him reciting his alphabet, combined with playing our daily hide and seek game. "A.... B.... C.... D..... E..... F........ G? Where are you G? G!!! WHERE ARE YOU???"

We were outside going for a walk. All of a sudden, Sean looks at me and says, "Su......per Grover!" So I say, "Super Grover, huh?" And then he proceeds to tell me a story, that went something like, "Super Grover and Elmo fly, and Cookie and Elmo and Super Grover are friends." Then we went inside and he got his stuffed Ernie, Elmo, and Cookie Monster and made them all fall down and go "ouch" and said sorry. After they fell down again, he put his hands to his cheeks and said, "Oh no, what are we gonna do?" and as he turned them all over he said "fix it."

I am sure I will be hearing more of these silly stories and sentences coming from him again soon. But it's easy to be amazed by my child daily, and forget to take record so I can look back on these memories later.

Fall/Winter 2011

2011-10-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

Can I just start this post by saying that I really do love the weather here in the Pacific Northwest? I am listening to the rain outside right now, and I can feel that it's somewhere in the low 50's outside, even though I am cozy and warm indoors. And it makes my heart smile. My husband thinks I am crazy, and I know I will be sick of it come March. But for now I am loving it. It's such a nice change of pace from humid, hot, and swampy in South Louisiana. This is crisp, clean, and homey. Yum : D

So, shortly after I blogged last time, I found a job- hooray! It's a pretty sweet deal for me. I am watching a 3.5 year old at his house, while his mom works from home. I get to bring Sean with me (bonus!) and the latest I get off work is 2:30pm. Some days I have to be there as early as 6am, but most days I am there around 8 or so, and some days (when his dad is working later in the day or not at all) then I randomly won't have to come in to work at all. I get weekends off, as well as the major holidays. She is paying me weekly, the same rate regardless of what hours I work, so I get some reliability out of that as well. Overall I think it's exactly what I needed at this point- I was reluctant to get a "real" job and have to think about putting Sean into daycare and commuting and all that junk. This is about 15 minutes from our apartment (25 in traffic) and it's been rare that I have to put in the regular 40 hours a week. Not to mention, I get to play with a 20 month old and a 3 year old all day- fun!! The little boy's name is Gage, and Sean is fascinated by him. They play pretty well together, although Sean is still doing what experts call "parallel play" for the most part. Which is great- he's always been fairly independent, so he plays well that way, and I get to devote some one on one with Gage, since he likes some games that Sean isn't quite ready for yet, like Memory and pretend. But it's nice to be able to tell Gage that Sean is watching and wants to be like him, so he needs to show him the right things. He is a good kid, I lucked out with watching him. In my preschool teaching experience, he is one of the easier ones LOL!

The other benefit of taking a job like this is that I have been able to keep up with potty training! Sean is doing pretty well- it's not unrealistic to go an entire day without accidents at all, as long as I take him to the potty every hour-ish. He rarely tells me he needs to go pee on his own though, but I figure that will come with time. He will tell me about 1/2 of the time when he needs to poop. The last 2 days though, he hasn't told me he needed to go at all, but since he usually goes right before or right after naptime, I have been encouraging him to use the toilet. He has been resisting, and then going in his diaper right before he goes to sleep or right after he wakes up. If he does happen to go before he falls asleep, he won't sleep until I change him, which is a good thing. But it's been several weeks since he has resisted anything having to do with the potty, so this bums me out a little. Oh well, one day at a time, right? At least I am usually only going through 2 diapers a day now- naptime and bedtime. And an occasional pair of wet underwear here and there.

Right now the biggest thing we have going on is deciding what we are going to do with our house in Louisiana. Our renters have been far from reliable (aside from Dan, of course, who was always an awesome roommate, and tenant after we left!) so I am starting to freak out several times a month, wondering if we can afford to pay the mortgage or not. Property management is expensive, but it is something we need to look into again. I am not emotionally ready to sell the house yet- we didn't get a chance to put much work into it, and I think a part of me still thinks I can go back for a visit/extended stay and live there for a while. Ha! I think I am a bit delusional! But honestly, the housing market is crap right now, and we have owned it for less than 3 years, and have not put any money into it (aside from the A/C), so it wouldn't be the best idea to sell unless we absolutely cannot get renters in there because there is a chance we would not break even, let alone make anything. Right now we have 2 new renters, our supposed to be 3rd one bailed on us at the last minute. There were 2 previous to this that had to get out of their leases due to financial issues. We need at least 3 tenants (but have room for a total of 4) in order to pay the mortgage on rent money alone. Not to mention the pest control and landscaping. *Sigh* I hate money. I wish we could have stuck with the dive industry and Louisiana for another 2-3 years, long enough to get some equity built up and a chance for me to feel like we gave being homeowners a true chance. But, it is what it is. My current motto is "This too, shall pass" and I need to keep reminding myself. Things will happen, whether we want them to or not. Worrying doesn't do anything productive for the situation.

Well, I figured I needed to write out a wishlist- We have all of our birthdays coming up in the winter (Mine is November, Sean's is January, and Mike's is February) plus Christmas coming up. For our own sake I made a list, but figured it would be a good idea to post it on our blog as well, since our family is always asking what we want for Christmas anyways. Feel free to ignore it, but here it is LOL

Mike
Handgun
12 gauge ammo
My two front teeth (it's all I want for christmas)
A gift card (if they do it) to these guys www.bigjoesbikerrings.com
Dress shoes
Thick blue jeans (33-32 straight cut)
Books or book store gift card

Jenn
Raincoat/fleece coat combo (like my old Columbia jacket)
New running shoes (10.5ish?)
Value Village gift card (do they even make those?)
Eclipse DVD
Muffin top pan
Mini muffin pan

Sean
Winter Coat (2T)
Trains/Tracks set (Brio, or Thomas?)
Dr. Suess books
Super Why! Doll
Word World DVD
Slippers

I'm looking forward to this weekend- both of my parents are coming to visit, and we are talking about going to Anthony's Homeport for dinner on Saturday- yum!! It's my absolute favorite restaurant, yipee!!

Well, that's all for now. I'm signing off.

And now for the pictures!!!!!

This last week- a recap

2011-09-12T15:23:00.000-05:00

This week has been an exhausting one! Between potty training, and looking for a job, and Mike officially finishing his BNSF training, we were ready for the weekend. Luckily my mom came to visit, so we also got a bit of a break from the little one as well.

Potty training is still going good, but there was about 2-3 days in there where I couldn't get my head on straight, and I kept blaming myself for all of Sean's accidents. Then I found myself feeling angry, and I think all of the emotions rubbed off onto him and he started to not go on the potty at all. Of course that spiraled into me thinking I was doing everything wrong, failing as a mother, and so on and so forth. I am an incredibly rational person, can't you tell?

Of course after a couple of chats with my very best girlfriends and some ego boosts from the hubby, I eventually got my priorities back in order and was able to relax a bit. I had to remind myself that even though I didn't expect to see my child get potty trained in 3 days, I probably wasn't going to see true progress after 3 days either. This is an ongoing thing, and the reason for starting this young isn't necessarily so you can throw all the diapers out at 18 months- it's so that when he truly is ready, the potty concept isn't a foreign one to him.

That being said, because of my anxiety levels this last week, I told myself we weren't failing if I had to put a diaper on him during the day. And that when he told me "no" when it was time to go, that it wasn't the end of potty training as we know it. He is 1 1/2 years old....... let me repeat that. HE IS 1 1/2 YEARS OLD. His mood changes at the drop of a hat. Sometimes he will be happy and compliant, and other times he will be a total pill who wants to defy everything I say no matter what it is. Welcome to parenthood, right? Oh well, I guess I will learn.

For now, he is still mostly naked during the day at home, and we can even manage to get out of the house 90% of the time in underwear with no accidents. I am working on taking him to the potty every 45 minutes to an hour, and seeing if he will pee when I tell him to. I would say he does a little more than half of the time. I figure once he can "pee on command" then he might be ready to start telling me when he actually has to go. That is the area he doesn't understand quite yet. I still think we are progressing nicely- he pees on the potty 2-4 times a day, and maybe has about the same number of accidents.

Pooping is a whole other issue- he has been borderline constipated lately, so I have been ignoring the poop thing altogether. He is still pooping daily, so I am not really concerned. But I know that when people have problems with potty training, it usually stems from or leads to constipation. He pooped in the potty the first 2-3 days of potty training, but now even though he will usually pee in it without any problems, he is hesitant to poop on it. So I am letting him poop however it comes out (bare butt, diaper, or underpants, I don't really care!) until he relaxes about the whole concept a little, then we will start trying to get it into the potty.

OK, OK!! Enough talk about poop and pee and all of that good stuff (isn't parenting a blast??) Mike is officially a conductor with BNSF now, and worked his first solo shift last night. He was actually working as a foreman (they were trained in several areas other than conducting), and he was working at one of the yards in South Seattle. A conductor is technically one that travels with the train, but he is trying to avoid those jobs for now if he can help it. I am so proud of him, and he really seems to be enjoying the job as well. The toughest part so far is the unpredictability for his schedule for the next year, or possibly several years. Eventually, though, he will be able to be on a set schedule for sure, and at that point we will be able to relax a little more, plan things, etc.

I have still been looking for a job, but I have been back and forth with how hard I try. On one hand, money is tight, so I should be working. On the other hand, come next month Mike should be bringing in a lot more money than he was on student pay, so we really don't know how that will all pan out quite yet. So that leaves me to want a job sooner than later for two reasons: to either help make ends meet, or to make extra money so we can finally be ahead. It also reminds me that we might be ok if I don't get a job quite yet, and stay home with Sean for just a bit longer. Come this time next year, Sean will be preschool age, so I will have a lot more options for the schools I could potentially work at. In the meantime, when I visit a potential employer, I am also viewing them as a potential childcare/school for my son. This makes job searching much more stressful as a mom. *Sigh* I know it will work itself out eventually. But realistically it will not work itself out on its own- I WILL have to make some effort on my part.

This weekend was a blast!! We went to Tiff and Dan's house in Shelton on Saturday. It was a bit of a drive, but it is so pretty out there, and it has been almost a year since we saw them, so it was totally worth it!! We have been talking about places to live that have acreage, and Shelton and its surrounding areas are less expensive, so it's possible we might try to make our way out there after Mike has enough seniority to move to another yard further south of Seattle. The baby shower was lots of fun, and my sweet friend Tiff was just glowing with her new mommy vibes : )

On Saturday night we went to our friend Brittany's house. She is leaving for China on Wednesday, and as of yet she has no plans to come back. So it was a farewell party for her. It was nice to get out for a few hours without a toddler on my hip! It made me realize that I didn't make anywhere near enough of an effort to hang out with Brittany since I got back to WA, and now I am really going to miss her. At the same time, I am very excited for her. I have always admired her ability to see what she wants and then grab it. She has accomplished so much in life, and I think that is just incredible. I really hope she gets everything she dreams of from her move to China.

Anyways, my mom just left to head back to OR. I am enjoying a quiet house- Daddy is sleeping, Baby is napping. After looking through all of my friends albums on FB of brand new babies, and families full of older children too, I am sitting here dreaming of baby #2. No official plans yet, but I have a feeling that in about a year or two this will be something in the works ; )

As usual, I will leave you with a few pics of the best thing I ever made : )

Potty Training!!

2011-09-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

OK, in parenting there are some things that are just plain exhausting. Apparently potty training is one of them!! Although I must say that my 19.5 month old boy is impressing me a bit. I have always heard that it is more difficult to potty train boys, and it's more time consuming (but not necessarily difficult) to potty train any child before the age of two. Well I laugh in the face of all you people who say these things, and decide we will do it all anyways, MUAHAHAHA.

It's not really that funny though. It's actually quite tiring and tedious. But we are seeing some results, so methinks we should keep going with it.

Even though technically it would be much easier to just stick him in diapers. It's not really about the mess- he hasn't been drinking as much fluid lately, and he has also slowed down on his eating. So there really hasn't been that much bodily fluids coming out of him, into the potty or otherwise, compared to back in the "old" days when he ate me out of house and home and consumed 25+ ounces of milk plus 5-10 ounces water each day. It is, however, about letting him run around naked ALL DAY and sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for our "learning opportunity" to arise when he looks like he will pee or poop and he's not already sitting on the potty. That is probably the most exhausting part about potty training- I am constantly waiting for him to pee or poop so I can teach him to put it into the potty, instead of on the floor on in his pants.

See, what I have realized about babies in general is that they spend approximately 23 out of the 24 hours in each day in their diaper. And a good diaper that does its job will not let the baby feel hardly anything when it comes to peeing and pooping. So when you start to potty train, the key is to let them have accidents to begin with- this is their first experience with seeing/feeling it come out of their body and not get absorbed into the diaper. Let them experience cause and effect, ya know? They have been getting these sensations all along, but not seeing the results of the sensations. Naked time gives them the results. And at about this age is when they start to show some awareness of what their body is doing, so I think that is why potty training between 18-24 months used to be so popular (before the convenience of disposable diapers that is), because they are finally starting to put two and two together.

But based on all of this running around and anticipating I've been doing, I don't blame parents for wanting to wait until their kids are older to start potty training- there is a lot of work involved, especially when the communication is still fairly limited. At least a 3 year old can talk better than a 1 year old, right? Although, a 3 year old *can* be more stubborn than a 1 year old. I think that was my fear and part of why I decided to try at this age.

I also decided to try because he was showing some signs of being ready- he would often tell me before (but usually after) pooping in his diaper, and he despised being in it for more than a few minutes; he showed a real interest in his little potty that we bought him, and always wants to come in with mommy and daddy to the bathroom when we go, and uses his signs to acknowledge that he understands what we're doing; also he would watch me put his poop into the toiled from his cloth diapers each day; he understands "wet" and "dry," and is starting to prefer dry; and he has started to be able to go for longer stretches of time before having to pee.

He does not stay dry at nighttime yet, but I know that some kids have a hard time with this well into elementary school so I don't think that is a good judge for whether or not they are ready to daytime potty train. And he is still learning to dress and undress himself, but again this is something that I think he will learn as he gets further into potty training, and will have a chance to practice more with it, so I don't think we needed to wait until he had that skill mastered to start.

Anyways, this is probably one of the tougher parenting tasks to date for me. One, because of everything I explained before and how exhausting it can be. And two, because there are so many different ways that people choose to potty train their kids- so asking for advice is almost worse than just figuring it out as you go. Everything I hear that one friend did for their kid is something another friend says didn't work for them or they tell you it's not the right or realistic way to approach it. Even my own pediatrician didn't really hear me say that I wanted to potty train soon, and all I heard him say back to me was that he may not get it until he is 3 or so.

I feel like a lot of people have been a little bit less than encouraging through all of this, and they only ones who have been encouraging are the ones who started potty training with their kids around the same age. They may not have been fully trained until 2 or 2.5, but at least they saw their child's potential and tried to create an environment that would fit those needs. That is all I wanted to do- I am willing to exhaust myself and put up with a few messes if he is showing me that this is something he may be ready for. And I am not going to throw in the towel over a few hiccups along the way. I felt like I was holding him back if I put him back in diapers, and I felt like I would be giving up on him rather than helping him with success. Realistically, I am not busy with a second or third child, and I am not working (outside of being a stay at home mom) or going to school, or busy with much else other than chasing my active toddler around, so this was something I considered to be doable.

We are on day 4.5 of potty training- we have seen some really successful days, and days like yesterday where there was little to no true success at all. But I will try to remember to let you all know how it goes from here, and fingers crossed that we continue to see progress along the way!!

My thoughts: On growing up, and pushing one out of the nest

2011-08-26T09:24:00.005-05:00

Sean was awake at about 6 AM this morning when Mike left for work. I have a (somewhat flexible) boundary that I don't get him out of bed before it's light outside, or before 7 am, depending on which comes first. Even though it was almost light outside, I waited until about 7 to go into his room and he had actually fallen back asleep. So here I am, dinking around on the computer.

I know I say it in almost every post, but I want to be better about blogging. I enjoy sharing my thoughts and lifetime events with my web friends.

I have been living in Washington for about a month now (26 days actually) and I am starting to finally settle down a bit. I have trying (not too hard) to find a job, but I think today I will try a little harder. I want to get back into the Dave Ramsey way of saving/spending again, and we kind of fell into some bad habits again with living so far away from each other, having to spend on moving expenses, etc. Now that we are settled and money will be more predictable, it's time to retrain ourselves to make our money work for us again! And in order to really do that, it's important that I find a job. Sean is older now so I don't feel as bad about working and having him in preschool. Plus, I am really trying to get a job at a preschool, so technically he will be going to work with me! It's better this way- I have experience in working with preschoolers, and most schools offer discounted tuition if you are employed there as well. So overall I think this is where we will all be happiest.

I have been thinking about a lot of things lately- way too many things to be precise! I tend to get stressed out and anxious easily, and then I have a hard time reigning my focus back in, so I can actually accomplish things. I think this is another reason why I enjoy blogging- it helps me to organize my thoughts. It's difficult to think about money/finances, getting a job, raising a toddler, and organizing life things all at once. I don't know how some people do it!!

But what I wanted to vent about today mostly is all of the changes we will be going through with Sean over the next few months. I think I am the type of parent who strongly believes in not holding my child back from his fullest potential. And I guess most parents would say that, but what I mean is, I am not afraid to push him out of the nest when I know he is ready, figuratively speaking. I find that nowadays, parenting in the norm is about letting your child show you he is ready before training to do things, like sleep in their own bed or on their own, or get rid of a paci, or potty train. I have been a bit of the opposite in that area, from what I see a lot of parents do.

When Sean was 4 months old, I knew he would sleep better if I could put him down in his crib without having to rock him for 20-40 minutes each time (I use the term "rock" loosely, because I was actually having to practically dance around the room in order to get the kind of movement he needed to fall asleep). So we did Ferber's method of "Cry it out," sometimes dubbed CIO. It worked pretty well for us. It was some of the most difficult nights I ever experienced. But it only lasted a few days for us, and really after day one he actually fell asleep at a few naps and at all of his bedtimes with no crying at all- he would just turn his head and falls asleep. I have absolutely no regrets about this decision- I never once "abandoned" him, as some like to say. I would hold him and hug him and tell him I loved him, and that it was time for "nigh-night" before I would set him down in his crib. I only put him to bed when I knew he was sleepy, I didn't do it at a specific time of day in order to force him into a "schedule." And after he was down, I would set a goal for myself to wait "x" number of minutes before returning into his room to reassure him that I was there. I knew at all times that he was full, dry, tired, and not in pain. I always reminded myself that once he was in the crib, I was committed at that point, so we always made sure to feed, change, give medicine if necessary, etc before bedtime/naptime began. And during my check-ins, they were always brief but loving- a soft rub on the back or belly, quiet shushing and a quick "It's time for nigh-night. I love you." before leaving the room. We used a paci, and each time if it was out of reach I would give it back.

Now that he is 1 and a half years old and has been a great sleeper (for the most part) ever since, I am thinking about our next "bad habit" to break- his beloved paci. He sleeps with one in his mouth and one in his hand. He only gets it at bedtime, and they go straight into the crib whenever he wakes up from bedtime or naptime. I am really wanting it to be gone before he is two, but part of me wonders if I should even wait that long. It only gets more difficult as they get older, right? He passed the 18 month mark, and technically that is when our doctor told us we needed to start weaning him off of it. I have read several things online that say to simply snip the tip of his paci off, so when he goes to suck on it, it serves no gratification. This way it's not as alarming as taking it away cold turkey, and usually it sounds like the child will eventually stop using it and forget it exists. I am hesitant to believe it's that simple, but I do like the idea of actually weaning, rather than just taking it away one day. Our pediatrician always compared it to smoking- he said it was their addiction, that made them feel good. Literally like a smoker and his cigarettes. So maybe it is better to find a way to wean him, and to do it soon.

The next two things on my list go hand in hand, and I think they are the true marker of when a child graduates into toddlerhood (or as we tell them, being a "big boy"). These things are potty training and moving up to a toddler bed. At first, I was only thinking of potty training- Sean has shown some signs of being ready, so I wanted to roll with that and see where it takes us. No more diapers? Yes please!! But then I got to thinking- I think it is downright mean and confusing to expect a child to cooperate with potty training during the day, and yet keep him locked up in his crib for 12-14 hours between bedtime and naptime. How is this encouraging independence in using the toilet? From my experience working at a preschool, pull-ups are just a glorified diaper that doesn't have velcro. It is NOT a step from diapers to underwear. When the child can actually feel what is happening when they go to the bathroom, that is their motivation to go in the toilet, rather than in their pants. Pull-ups take this away from them. Plus, when you put your child in a pull-up, you are basically giving them permission to "have an accident" now. I think this is much too confusing and sends your child mixed signals. If anything other than underwear is to be used, I think it should be some lightly padded training unerwear. Something to take some of the mess away, but not inhibit the feeling of wetness. I also have been using cloth diapers on Sean since he was about 4 months old, so I am probably a bit biased, as I would hate to start putting him in paper/plastic disposables again, when he has grown accustomed to having cloth on his behind : ) I hate to take too big of a stand on this issue, because this is my first child and I have yet to actually potty train him, so I am not one to tell everyone how it is or how it should be done. But I am speaking from my basic knowledge of child development and opinion on how to encourage and foster independence in them in each sensitive period of their life.

So there you have it. A little bit of what I have been thinking about the past week. I haven't really drawn any new conclusions from typing this into my blog. But I feel a little better getting some thoughts out of my head and more organized than they were before.

Woah, where have I been???

2011-08-10T22:32:00.008-05:00

Ok, it's been since April 2011 since I posted last, and I guess you could say A LOT has gone on in our lives since then!!

Let's start with Mike getting an employment offer from BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) for a conductor trainee position in Seattle. Yep, pretty much turned our world upside down for the last 4 months!! Mike left Lafayette on May 9th and started work on May 16th. Sean and I stayed in Louisiana until we knew it was for sure. The idea of moving back to Washington was a bit scary. But honestly we had nowhere to go at that point but up- Mike had been laid off and living off of unemployment since January, and had exhausted all of his resources for finding a job in Louisiana (other than going back to diving, but he had pretty much lost interest in leaving his family to go offshore a long time ago). So we kind of knew that when he did find a job, it would probably mean uprooting our lives and moving away.

So I enrolled Sean in preschool about a week after Mike had left. We had already been looking for a while, since we knew Mike would get a job at some point. So luckily I already knew which one we liked best and knew they had an open spot. Being a "single" working mom is some tough business though!! Dropping Sean off before I went into work, then picking him up on my way home, to have a messy house and a dog to come home to, and having to quickly throw something together for dinner. Not to mention knowing I would eventually be packing our 3 bedroom house up by myself.... Luckily I have the coolest friends ever in Louisiana and they helped me a lot with packing, organizing, selling furniture, and just plain keeping my sanity!!

I quit my job at AT&T in June. I couldn't handle the stress anymore, and my new schedule conflicted with Sean's so much that I was going to have to drop him at daycare and also have my friend pick him up, and I was also having to work every Saturday, so I wasn't really going to see him much and didn't like that idea at all. Especially with his Daddy already being gone, and we still didn't know how much longer before we would be reunited. I was majorly stressed, but looking back now I am glad I made that decision. I ended up getting extremely sick right after my last day, and I honestly think it was all of the stress that made my body susceptible to it.

So thanks to my Lafayette ladies, I was able to pack up the house into a 15 foot moving van, attach a tow dolly onto the back of it, and bring it and my car almost 3,000 miles to WA by myself (well, not technically by myself- our dog Jax was a great travel companion!) Before "moving day" I flew Sean to my parents' house on the Oregon coast so that he wasn't forced to do the drive with me as well. It took me about 5 days to get from Louisiana back to the coast again- I left Monday July 25th around 3pm, and got to Portland, OR on Friday July 29th around 5pm.

Now we are finally settled into our cozy 3 bedroom apartment in Renton, WA. Mike is really enjoying his job with the railroad. His schedule has been a little crazy and unpredictable, but it's nothing worse than what he dealt with when he was diving. Actually it is much better, because he isn't going to spend weeks away from us anymore, the longest he has been gone so far is two days. And after he completes his training program in October, he won't really have to travel at all if he doesn't want to.

Sean has been a real trooper through it all. The last 3 months for him have consisted of:

1.) Going to a new preschool for about 6 weeks and then staying home with Mommy again

2.) Getting super sick and dealing with a nasty summer "cold" from May to July (which turns out it must have been allergies because it cleared up as soon as we got to the west coast)

3.) Watching his entire house get packed up over a 10 week period

4.) Flying to Oregon and staying with Mommy at Nana and Grampa's

5.) Driving to Washington for the weekend to see Daddy (after 10 weeks of not seeing him)

6.) Driving back to the Oregon coast

7.) Being away from Mommy for a whole week!! Yikes!! At Nana and Grampa's house while she drove the moving van

8.) Driving back to Washington with Nana to move into his new apartment home, finally under the same roof as Mommy, Daddy, and Jax all at the same time

It was officially 12 weeks since we had lived with Mike on the day we moved into our apartment. But hopefully it is the last time we will have to have an extended time away from each other again!

I feel like it all went by so slowly while it was happening. But now that I am living in Washington, I feel like it happened so fast!! I miss my Louisiana friends so much. And it is so strange getting used to living here again. This is the place where I grew up- not the place where I became a Mom. The idea of raising my child here after being away for so long is still sinking in. I associate this place with my childhood, not my son's!! But it is slowly starting to feel normal again. I have seen a handful of my old "besties," and still have a few more calls to make as well. I am really lookin forward to rekindling a lot of my old friendships, as well as meeting other new mommies to be friends with.

The other thing I wanted to update on very quickly is our son- he is amazing!! I can't believe how much he has changed over the last 6 months. It feels like yesterday that he started walking, right around his first birthday. Now he is 18 months old, and the kid RUNS everywhere he goes. He talks all the time, and is so interested in learning EVERYTHING there is to know! He is completely and utterly OBSESSED with letters. I think it is because his favorite TV shows were always 'Super Why' and "Word World,' and they both are all about letters, reading, etc. He has some foam letters, and some magnetic letters for the fridge, and some blocks that have letters on them too. He surprisingly knows almost all of the names of the letters, and a lot of their phonetic sounds too!! He can sort of spell his own name (thanks to putting it in big letters on his wall) and is always finding letters everywhere we go and making sure to point them all to us. Our new favorite routine is when we go for walks around the apartment complex- he points to all of the letters on each building and tells me what they are. He even plays "hide and seek" with some of them. Like, we will pass the 'R' building and he'll shout "R!!" and then he'll say "S?? S?? Ooooo??" ('Ooooo' is his way of saying 'where are you?') When we get to the 'S' building he'll get excited, like he finally found it after searching for so long!! He has been lots of fun lately : )

He has also been very needy, I believe as a result of all the changes he has gone through. I am trying to take it all one day at a time, but it's kind of a tricky situation. He was very independent before, never really needy for me or whiny for attention. Even when he went to daycare, he wasn't frantic to have me come back for him. But now sometimes when I even leave the room he will start to throw a tantrum. Other times, though, he doesn't seem to care. I am still trying to figure out the best way to respond to his behavior, but I am sure it will start to get better once he realizes that we will be staying here for a while.

Anyways, it's getting late now and I think if I write much more this blog post will no longer be fun to read. So I will leave you with this, and try to keep updating when I can. I will also try to post some pictures later. I still need to get back to my 30 day blog challenge, so hopefully I will post more on that soon!!

Apparently I never posted this one??

2011-05-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

*EDIT* So I just found this entry here that I never posted...... So I guess I will publish it now!! (Originally written 5/18/11)

OK so I guess I kinda gave up on the 30 day Blog challenge from before. But with good reason!! We have been super busy here, preparing ourselves for all the changes we are about to forgo!! Mike FINALLY got a job (after being unemployed since January). He applied for a Condutor trainee position in Seattle, since he felt like he had exhausted all of his options for work here in Lafayette. He got an email asking him to be in Seattle in April for an interview, and then in May he got an email confirming that he had passed all of the pre-employment criteria and that he would be starting work on May 16th!

Sooooo He packed up his bag, put his bike on the truck bed and took off!! Sean and I plan to follow him there sometime in July or maybe August. I am hoping it is sooner rather than later because we miss him so much, but we are trying to be realistic, considering we are still broke and have a 3 bedroom house full of things to move with us.

But this is such a blessing to us- Mike has been unhappy with his career in diving for a while now, and I have never truly enjoyed my job either. We have established a true home down here, being that we live in our own house and have so many close friends that are like family to us. But we knew that it was time for a change. We spend so much of our lives working within our career, I am a firm believer that you should at least enjoy if not love your line of work.

I am excited to think that I might be able to go back to teaching Montessori preschool again, and Sean will be about 18 months by the time we are back there, so shortly after we move he will (hopefully) be able to attend the school I will be working for! Plus Mike is excited to be in this line of work- his Dad worked for BNSF as well, and Mike knew what a great company they are to work for. So overall this change is for the better!

BUT we have so much to do over the next few months- pack up the entire house, find someone to rent it out so we don't have to sell just yet, all the while I still need to work because we are not financially stable on Mike's income just yet. Which means that Sean will be attending Daycare for at least the next few months. He started at Butterflies Preschool on Monday, and honestly I think he is actually enjoying it. It has been so hard on me, but at this point we don't have a lot of other options so we do what we have to do! I think my biggest problem is not that he has to attend preschool, it's mostly that he has to be there for such a long day! When I am working a normal day, I drop him off at about 7:30 am, and then I don't get back to pick him up until about 5:30 pm. That's 10 hours!! I think he is just too little to have to be in school for so long.

But the good news is that he plays well with the other kids and he loves his teachers. So I just keep telling myself "This too shall pass" and go about doing what we have to do.

Anyways, now for some updates and pictures of our awesome kid!! Sean is almost 16 months old, and loving life!! He is usually a pretty happy kid- he loves to play outside, especially in the water, and he loves to read books and eat!! We just had our 15 mo. well baby visit, and it looks like he is 25 lbs. (51%) and 32.5 inches tall (80%). Dr. Bailey said he seems really smart and healthy and has no concerns about him.

We are going to go to an eye doctor tomorrow though- Sean has had clogged tear ducts since he was a newborn, and last week he either drained a bunch of stuff out of them or he got some sort of infection, because his eyes were incredibly swollen and oozing lots of greenish yellow pus- gross!! He took some eye drops for a week though, and those helped tremendously. Now he looks back to normal, but of course he still has the obstructions because his eyes are constantly welled with tears and he has gunky stuff in them most of the time. The eye doctor is going to let us know how the procedure works to get the obstructions removed, and let us know if it is something we can continue to wait on (to see if he will outgrow it) or if we should have it taken care of sooner than later. So wish us luck!!

Sean has gotten to be so smart. He loves to repeat words back to us, and he uses a handful of words regularly with us- dog, ball, water, cracker, help, paci, outside, book, "word world" (a TV show he loves to watch), slide, and of course he says Mama, Dada, Nana (Grandma), Dee (Dan), Za (Josh), Daa (Jax) and Tatee (Katie). He is very verbal, which I did not expect because it's pretty common for boys to take much longer to communicate than girls. But I don't think he will have a problem with communication!! He loves music and dancing, and has started to say parts of songs we know, so I don't know if it counts as singing along or not. He'll say "E-I-E-I-E-I" when we sing "Old Macdonald," and he says "Boom Boom- Crazy!" when we sing "Boom Boom, Ain't it great to be Crazy?" and sometimes when he is watching "Word World" he will pretend to sing along with them, by shaking his head and opening his mouth wide and going "Ahhhhhh." He's pretty stinking cute to watch : )

Ok, here are some pictures of our pride and joy- stay tuned for more updates later!!

Day 2 of "30 Day Blog Challenge"

2011-04-14T12:08:00.005-05:00

DAY 2- THE MEANING BEHIND YOUR BLOG NAME

Well honestly when I started this blog about 3-4 years ago, I googled quotes to find one that meant something to me. I found this one by Maya Angelou and I thought it fit really well- "This is my life, it is my one time to be me." Maya Angelou is an American author and poet, her works started in the 60's and have continued to make an impression on people today. I tend to think of myself as one who has all intentions of just putting myself out there, so you can choose to take me or leave me, but I am who I am. I like the idea of being able to live my life, embracing that each moment is its own, different from the one before and the one after. It really makes you appreciate what is handed to you, and also to make the choices that you feel are going to better you as a person, and better the world around you.

Day 1 of the Blogging 30 day Challenge!

2011-04-03T11:45:00.008-05:00

OK so I guess I will give this a try. I read my friend's blog, and she is doing a 30 day challenge. There is a list at the bottom of this post, of everything that you will blog about for 30 days. This is to boost your blog activity. Let's hope it helps!!

DAY 1: RECENT PICTURE OF YOU AND 15 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YOURSELF

This was the most recent picture I could find of myself. It's from when we went to the zoo a few weeks ago. I guess that can transition me into fact # 1....

1. I am usually the one behind the camera (because my son is so cute and my husband is handsome so why wouldn't I take pictures of them?) so there are not a whole lot of pictures of me that I can think of.

2. I am originally from a suburban city called Issaquah in Washington state. We moved there when I was little and I lived there until I was 18.

3. My parents moved to Oregon when I was 18, so I moved into my own apartment the same day that I graduated high school.

4. I taught Montessori preschool for 5 years. I truly believe this to be my calling. I miss it pretty much every day. Working with preschoolers is the coolest thing ever!

5. My husband went to dive school in 2005, so in 2006 I packed my bags and moved out of my comfort zone in WA to be with him in the dirty south- Lafayette, LA. Been here almost 5 years now.

6. I have always owned a pet at some point in my life. The longest I went without a pet was from August to November in 2006 when I first moved from WA, I gave my cats to my parents and couldn't handle being along all the time so we got a dog.

7. My favorite type of gum is watermelon. But sometimes I will chew peppermint.

8. I hate to wear shoes- my husband calls me a hippie because my feet are always filthy from being barefoot all the time.

9. My biggest pet peeve is small, trimmed facial hairs in the bathroom. There is something about them that makes them IMPOSSIBLE to clean up. I really don't mind cleaning the bathroom- until someone trims their beard and forgets to clean up the hairs. Then I will lose it.

10. I love to cook and bake. I am not excellent at it- or maybe I just feel that way because I never feel like I know what I am doing. But there is something calming about creating good food. Of course, when it comes out terribly I am not very relaxed ; )

11. I spent the last year at home with my son after he was born, and I discovered that I am definitely one of "those people" who never truly has to have a real job in order to be happy. I could easily be a stay at home mom for the rest of my life.

12. I have been a part of an awesome online community of Commercial Diver Wives (aka DW's) since 2005 and they are quite possibly some of the coolest people I have ever conversed with. Honestly though, since my hubby quit diving, sometimes I feel guilty about still being a part of the group- like I don't really belong there anymore.

13. I honestly do love Cajun food and music. I will miss it if we ever move away from here.

14. My absolute favorite type of food is Mexican. And my favorite type of sweets is ice cream, hands down.

15. I think my husband and son are pretty much the most awesome people in the universe and I thank God every day for blessing them into my life.

There ya go!! Stay tuned for the next post. Here is a list of all of the posts for the 30 day challange. No promises that I will post every single day, but I will try to eventually make it through all 30 posts!!

day 1- recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

day 2- the meaning behind your blog name

day 3- a picture of you and your friends

day 4- a habit that you wish you didn’t have

day 5- a picture of somewhere you've been to

day 6- favorite super hero and why

day 7- a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

day 8- short term goals for this month and why

day 9- something you're proud of in the past few days

day 10- songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

day 11- another picture of you and your friends

day 12- how you found out about blogger and why you have one

day 13- a letter to someone

day 14- a picture of you and your family

day 15- put your ipod on shuffle: first 10 songs that play

day 16- another picture of yourself

day 17- someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

day 18- plans/dreams/goals you have

day 19- nicknames you have and why you have them

day 20- someone you love

day 21- a picture of something that makes you happy

day 22- what makes you different from everyone else

day 23- something you crave for a lot

day 24- your last five facebook status'

day 25- what I would find in your bag

day 26- what do you think about your friends

day 27- why are you doing this 30 day challenge

day 28- a picture of you from last year and now, how have you changed since then?

day 29- in this past month, what have you learned

day 30- your favorite song

Christmas in Oregon, Sean's birthday, and everything else I can squeeze into one post!!

2011-03-22T11:38:00.020-05:00

So I know I have been reeeeaaally bad about blogging. I feel kind of bad. I like to read over old posts and remember what life was like when I was writing them. I also know that our family and friends enjoy reading up on our life (especially Sean's!) So instead of using my lack of posting as an excuse to continue ignoring my blog, I am going to do the opposite and try to catch up on everything I should have blogged about the past few months!!

Let's start back in December- Mike, Sean and I went to Oregon to visit my parents who live on the coast. Of course we had a blast!! It was nice to see my parents again, I wish we could see them more often. We spent lots of time at their house (Sean was on a pretty regular nap schedule back then and trying to ignore it usually made for difficult days) but we also got to spend time at the beach and catch up with a few friends! And we were there for Sean's first Christmas, so we had lots of fun with him opening his stocking, presents, etc. Because I am trying to fit a lot into this one post, I won't go into too much more detail, but I will post a few pictures from our awesome trip!

eating dinner made by Grandma

Love my Little Man

Our friend Brittany came to see us!!!

Relaxing on our vacation

Getting dressed to go to the beach

Grandpa Bill, Grandma Mary, Sean, Jenn and Mike

I love my family

opening his presents on Christmas morning!!

playing with my parents' dog Robbie

playing games with Daddy

our friends Hugh and Sarah came to see us from Portland!

Sean and Grandma!!

Mike's grandparents came to see us too- so they are

Sean's great-grandparents Jim and Judy!!

In January our sweet little baby officially turned into a big boy- we celebrated his first birthday on the 25th, and shortly after our little man took off walking and never looked back! His birthday party was so much fun! We celebrated on the 25th with just us, and then had a birthday party for his (and our) friends on the following Sunday : D We learned that Sean loves cake and balloons, and he got some really neat presents from friends and family as well. Mike's mom Angelia came over from Austin to spend some time with us as well. Here are a few pics from his birthday!

eating the first cake on his actual birthday- I love chocolate!!!!

opening presents from Mommy and Daddy on his birthday

Sean's birthday cupcake at his party, made by our friend Nicole

I love this cake too!!!!!

Mommy was getting a little emotional about her baby turning one!

Here's some cake, Mommy, it will make you feel better!!

Uncle Josh!!!!

opening presents from friends and family

birthday balloons!!

Cupcakes made by MaMa and a little Pooh Bear (his favorite stuffed animal)

February marked me going back to work at AT&T, and Mike staying home with Sean. Sadly Mike was laid off from his company Ranger in January, so finances have been a bit tight. But right at the same time we read Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover" and it has helped us sooooo much with keeping our heads above water through this tough time in our lives. We have switched over to a cash only budget that we go over every two weeks when my paycheck comes. We pay all of our bills through the bank with our checking account, and all of the other money we have gets withdrawn and divvied out into envelopes for specific spending: gas, groceries, etc. It has been really tough but well worth it. We are also working on paying off all of our debts and eventually being completely debt free! That's a bit of a road ahead of us, and we really can't work too hard on our "debt snowball" until Mike is working again, but we have made a vow to not accumulate any more debt than we already have in the meantime. Also, Mike's unemployment has somewhat been a blessing in disguise. He and Sean have gotten to spend so much one-on-one time together, so the two of them are like peas in a pod. Sean loves his Daddy so much, and Mike has really gotten a lot more comfortable with the parenting thing since having to do so much more on his own.

I am back to working at AT&T full time now. I had to go through 4 weeks of classroom training again (New Hire class) along with 4 weeks of "transition" training. This week is technically my 4th week of transition, but I also had a bunch of 2010 carryover vacation days that had to be used before March 31st, so I am actually taking this week off from work. When I return on Tuesday, I will have a much better schedule: weekdays 8:15am-5:15pm with Thursdays off, and Saturday I will work 8:55am-5:40pm. I am so excited to be able to make dinner and spend time with my boys in the evenings now!! The past 7 weeks I have been working 10am-7pm, so I am still home early enough to put Sean to bed, but just late enough that it's hard to get anything done before I am ready to put myself to bed. Even though I am giving up my Saturdays for an earlier schedule, I am hoping this change will be for the better.

Our sweet little man Sean is just blossoming so quickly it's been hard to keep up!! He officially took his first (3) steps at my parents house in OR on Christmas day. Between then and his birthday, he would switch back and forth from being daring and trying to step from furniture without holding on, to just crawling with no walking at all. Right after I started back at work was when he truly became comfortable with it, so I have it written in the baby book as February 8th when he took off walking and never looked back.

He has also gotten to be much more interested in communicating. He signs several words with us, some of which he tries to verbally say as well. He signs water, more, all done, eat, milk, bath time, diaper, potty, dog, fish, help, night night, cracker, and book. He is trying to verbally say water, ball, book, dog, DaDa, MaMa, shoe, diaper, bathtime, kisses, hugs, hi, more, all done, and see. I am sure I am missing some! A lot of time he will get his signs mixed up, but we are still working on it! Also sometimes he forgets the sign, but I will know what he wants so I will sign and say the word, and then he will sign and try to say it back. It's really neat to see him develop so quickly! He also like to play "peek-a-book," and when he sees our cell phones, he puts his hand to his ear and says "hi" : D

Sean loves to eat, sleep, read, and play outside. Those are probably his most favorite things! Along with dancing- the kid loves music!! He also loves to watch the dvds we have for him, but I am really trying to not over-use those, especially considering how beautiful the weather has been! We have been trying to take him for walks around the neighborhood at least 1-2 times per day. Sometimes he will actually walk with Daddy the whole time, other times he gets picked up because he's tired, or they will go in the stroller. He's very hands on and really enjoys stopping to touch every rock he finds, all the leaves he sees, etc. He is also becoming very aware of everything that goes on in the neighborhood and is constantly pointing at things- dogs, birds, trucks, other children.

Currently we are working on dropping bottles and the second nap. We just got some new "big boy" sippy cups that Sean really likes, so we are on day two of no bottles except one right before bedtime. Some days Sean will take one 2.5-3.5 hour nap, around 11:30 or 12 until sometime between 2-3:30pm. Other days he is too tired and grumpy to stay up past 10:30am and ends up needing a second nap around 3 or 4pm. We are trying to just go with the flow and let him sleep when he needs to, but as parents it's also our job to help maintain some order so that we all can sleep well at night time and get ready for the next busy day. Our little man eats like a champion, and his favorite foods are fruits, veggies, and of course MaMa's spaghetti! He also will drink water all day if we let him, so we have learned to cut him off around 5:30-6pm so he doesn't end up with a soaking wet diaper when he wakes up in the morning. I have found that we don't even need to buy juice for him, considering he loves to eat fruits and veggies alone and loves to drink both water and milk.

Well I guess that will be it for now. As usual, I will leave you with a few recent pictures of our pride and joy

I love my Little Heart Breaker

walking around outside with Daddy

such a heartthrob!

BATHTIME!!!!!

YEY!!!!!

drinking milk from his big boy sippy

Yum

peek-a-boo!!

we went to the zoo with our friend Katie and her son Luke

learning to eat with a spoon

Keeping up!!!

2011-02-02T11:00:00.006-06:00

OK, I am reeeeaallly going to try harder to keep my blog updated. It's tough, because I am on FB ALL THE TIME and I figure that everyone who reads my blog is on FB anyway, so what's the point in keeping a blog? But regardless, I am going to try to keep up here anyways!!

So it's February 2nd, and I started back at work yesterday. Boo. Well, honestly it wasn't that bad. After I walked in the door, the first thing I noticed was the entire inside of the building was painted BLUE instead of ORANGE. That's cool I guess. Then I noticed the "commons" area (basically a large circular section in the middle of the "wings" that hold the cubicle areas) was completely empty. Before I had left (over 1 year ago, may I remind you) this area had some plants, some couches, a couple of chairs, etc. A lot of people liked to hang out here at breaks/lunches. Now there is NOTHING there!! So I guess people are forced to sit in the cafeteria area at uncomfortable chairs at the lunch tables. I guess the higher ups at the company came to visit a few months ago and didn't like seeing employees sprawled out/sleeping on the couches- apparently it looks bad when they are touring/interviewing for prospecting employees.

After I got over the shock of all that, I began to see some of my co-workers, and they all gave me hugs, and told me they were so glad I was back, and how they were all taking bets on whether I would be back at all ; ) Then, of course, they asked about the baby, and I got to show off pictures and be a proud Momma : ) I basically spent all day checking 700+ emails (that was only about 2 months worth, the rest were deleted due to lack of space on my computer LOL), trying to get passwords reset and regain access to the systems I will be using, and "nesting" in with other employees on their calls. It was a very easy and non-stressful first day back, and by the time my shift was over I felt like I had never left in the first place.

The BEST news is that instead of an 11am-8pm schedule like I had anticipated, I actually have a 10:30am-7:30pm schedule- which means I have the possibility of being home by 8, which means some nights I will actually get to kiss my little munchkin goodnight before he goes to bed- YEY!!!!!

So I am getting used to the idea that the next chapter in my life involves spending 50 hours a week in a building with other adults, talking to people about their cell phone bills- rather than spending all day with my sweet little angel of a baby. It's not a bad thing- he is a year old now (which I will blog about later) and he is truly blossoming into his own person now. So honestly it is a good thing that I am going back to work. He gets to spend more quality time with Daddy (with no Momma present) and once he starts daycare he will get to develop some social skills with other kiddos his age. I am soooooo thankful that I got to spend the entire first year of his life with him at home, so at least there is that. Not to mention I will be bringing home a paycheck now, what-what??

I will try to post later this week (maybe on Sunday?) about Sean's first birthday and his birthday party. But here are some cute pictures to tide you over for now ; )

Trip to Tucson- Sean's first trip on a plane

2010-11-29T16:52:00.018-06:00

To start the holiday season, we took a trip to Tucson, AZ to visit the Reed family, Mike's mom and dad. I will admit I was really nervous at first- but when you have babies and live far away from your parents, you come to the reality that it is just mean to NOT fly to see them, since they want to spend time with their grandbabies and all : )

So we had a Thanksgiving get together at our house with our friends here in Louisiana on Thanksgiving day, and later that night I worked hard to get the millions of baby things packed for our big trip the next morning. We had made one trip before to Austin, TX in September, so I was a little familiar with all of the "necessary" things to bring. But this was our first flight with Sean, so you have to think things over a little differently- what can go in the checked bag that might get tossed around a bit, what do you need access to while you fly, because getting extras out of the checked bag later would not be an option, traveling with liquids, etc. We left around 7 am the next morning to catch our 8:52 AM flight out of Lafayette. Our layover would be in Houston and we planned on being in Tucson by about 1 PM.

Well of course Mike kept telling me everything would be fine, because I was all jittery and nervous- a combination of not liking to fly in the first place, and then bringing my baby boy into the mix just made my nerves that much more on edge. We check in for our flight, and they tell us that our plane will actually not be leaving until 10:10 AM, which will bring us into Houston at 11:22 AM. Our connecting flight was scheduled to leave at 11:30, so they told us our only two options were to catch the later flight to Tucson (at 6:15 PM) or come back the next day. Well, we were only going to be in Tucson until 8 AM Monday morning, so we really did not want to shorter our trip by another day. So we decided to tough out the long layover and just see what happened.

Sean was a total rockstar on the first flight- He was fighting a really tough cold since the previous Sunday, so he was all snotty and yucky. His doctor said to go ahead and give him some Benadryl right before the flight- it would help with the cold, his ears, etc. for the flight, and maybe even help him sleep. So he fell asleep about 10 minutes before we boarded, and slept for the whole 40 minute flight.

When we got to Houston, we realized it was just 11 AM. So maybe we could avoid the 7 hour layover and catch the 11:30 flight?? We checked the screen for our original flight and gate number, and made our way as quickly as we could across the Houston airport (which is HUGE btw) in about 25 minutes. When we got there, a flight attendant was standing right there, "are you guys going to Tucson?" YES!" "Oh good, let me get your boarding passes...." I then explained to her how they wouldn't let us keep our original ticket at the Lafayette airport but that the flight was shorter than they planned and we made it there in time for this flight, so we were hoping to get our spots on this flight back. "Oh, you don't have tickets for this flight? Sorry. The gate is already closed. There's nothing I can do." WHAT?? The plane was still there! I showed her our 10 month old son and explained to her that I was really not looking forward to spending the next 7 hours with him in the airport, especially since I followed TSA's instructions and only brought enough bottles/food for our planned 5 hour trip. She didn't care, of course. I am just another pissed off passenger who didn't get the flight they wanted on a holiday weekend. No big deal, no skin off her back. Whatever.

So I took her advice and spoke with someone in customer care, to see if we could get another flight. Which I knew we couldn't- they already told us the next flight out was at 6:15. But I went to talk to her anyways- Mike was thinking maybe we could catch a flight into Phoenix and get our rental car there and just drive to Tucson, if it would be much quicker. After going over the flight times, drive times, time zone differences, etc. with her we figured out we would shave about 1.5-2 hours off if we could do it that way. So as I am getting the Phoenix tickets squared away with her, I remember that Sean's car seat is checked, and on it's way to Tucson already. Bah!!! So I call Enterprise to see if we can rent a car seat when we get the car in Phoenix, blah blah blah..... after getting transferred 3 times and still waiting for the right person to pick up, I finally gave up and told the flight attendant to just keep our 6:15 flight into Tucson. Defeated.

But it really wasn't that bad. We ate lunch at Ruby's Dinner in the airport, and then I took Sean for a walk around the airport to see if I could get him to nap. After he woke up, we mostly just hung out and used the portable DVD player we borrowed (thanks Katie!) to watch Super Why and kept Sean occupied. I think he enjoyed the change of scenery anyways ; ) About 45 minutes before our flight was boarding, I got Sean to fall asleep again, and he ended up sleeping for the first hour or so of the flight to Tucson.

When we got into Tucson, we got our rental (he talked us into the Chevy Tahoe because he gave us a good deal on it, haha) and made our way to Mike's parent's house. By this time it was about 9 PM Mountain time (10 PM central time!) so Sean was exhausted!! We let him explore the house for a minute, and then put him right to bed.

The next day, after getting some much needed sleep, we were all ready to start our vacation! As the sun was coming up, we got some good pictures of the view from John and Susan's backyard.

When Sean woke up, we brought out all the baby toys and let him get used to the new environment, and meet n' greet with Grandma and Grandpa Reed.

John and Susan have a bunch of bird feeders, so their backyard was always full of birds. Sean really enjoyed watching them from inside : )

Then we went to breakfast- we wanted breakfast tacos, but the place we planned on going to was closed for the holiday weekend, apparently they were renovating. So we went to Joe's Pancake House instead : )

After breakfast, we took Sean back for a nap. After he woke up, we went to go meet up with some old friends of ours- my good friend Kassie used to work with me at the Montessori in Issaquah. She and her husband Leif moved to San Tan Valley (formally Queen Creek), AZ a few years ago. It 's close to Phoenix, only about 2 hours from Tucson, so they drove down to meet us. I was not only excited to see Kassie, but also to see their 5 month old son Blake : ) He is SUCH a cutie!!!!!

After lunch with the Nordlinders, Sean was ready for nap number 2. We took him home and while he napped I went to Safeway (oh how I miss Safeway!!!) to get him some cold remedies and some foods that he liked.

After nap number two, we went to Mike's cousin Lori and her husband Kevin's house- they live really close to John and Susan. We had a leftover Thanksgiving dinner, and had a great time watching Sean interact with the Coffin's four kids. Their youngest, Ray, is only about 18 months, so he and Sean really enjoyed playing together : ) Of course, by the end of it all Sean was ready for bedtime, so we didn't really get a good picture of him smiling ; )

The next day was Sunday, and Mike's parents were going to be at church for a decent chunk of the day. So we took advantage of the alone time and RELAXED!! We also took Sean out in the backyard to play a bit, and for a stroll around the neighborhood. He went down his first slide, and got to see the cacti in AZ ; )

After playing at the house and in the neighborhood, we got Sean home for a nap. Mommy took a nap too ; ) Then we really wanted to get out to see the big cacti, so we drove down to Saguaro State park and drove the 8 mile loop around to see the desert. It was so beautiful out there.

Later that night, we made a trip across town to visit John's brother Jim and their mother Grandma Bern. Sean got to meet one of his great grandmas!!! It's always interesting to spend time with Mike's uncle Jim- he has very interesting taste in decorations around his house, and spending time with him always makes for great stories : )

Four generations photo- Sean, his daddy Mike, and his grandpa John, and his great grandma Bern

Unfortunately our vacation had to come to an end at some point. Our flight left Tucson at 8:15 AM, so we stayed up packing everything that night, and got up early the next morning to account for dropping off the rental and going through security, etc. I am happy to say that none of us received any pat downs or body imaging scans at the airport!! Our flight home went MUCH more smoothly than the flight there- we were home in Lafayette by 1:30 PM!! Here is a picture of Sean saying "bye-bye" on the Houston to Lafayette flight.

Now we are looking forward to our next trip- only 3 weeks from now, we will be getting on another plane to Portland, OR. We will be visiting my parents who live on the Oregon coast. Keep checking back for updates on that trip!!

Sean William- 9 months old!

2010-11-03T14:04:00.007-05:00

Our sweet bundle of joy is blossoming into a moving, cruising little boy!! Sean is getting to be so big now- at his 9 month well visit today, he weighed 21 lbs 14 oz (essentially 22 lbs) and is 28.5 inches long, which is 70% for weight and 55% for height. He can crawl, pull himself to stand, and cruise along just about every surface in our house! No signs of real walking yet, although he enjoys his push toy and letting go of surfaces for a few moments so he is only supported by his feet. One thing he cannot do, which baffles me, is sit. He can sit fine if I put him there, but when he crawls and cruises, he never sits down- he always moves to a kneeling position, and enjoys playing on his knees. No concerns though, I just find it interesting.

Sean loves table food!! He has 6 teeth now, so it's no surprise. We still use some Gerber pureed foods as a back up- for when he drops most of his food on the floor, or is not satiated from the foods I've given him for a meal, or when we are on the go. But for the most part he would much rather eat Cheerios, spaghetti, fresh bananas and pears, shredded chicken and beef, steamed broccoli, carrots, green beans, etc. He still loves yogurt (especially blueberry), but it seems to give him a rash on his butt when I give it to him every day, so I have been trying to cut back on the quantity of that. The other day we shared a lunch of spaghetti-o's, a grilled cheese sandwich, and sliced pear : ) It is so much more fun to give him what I am eating, rather than feeding him runny pureed foods! I am excited for after he turns a year, then I can introduce him to seafood, eggs, peanut butter, etc.

So far, Sean has showed to be very ritualistic- he wakes up between 7-8am almost every day. He gets three 8oz. bottles a day, with his solid feeding about an hour afterward. He naps twice a day now, usually 1.5 to 3 hours each time. He is tired by 7pm and is usually bathed and in bed by 7:30pm. Most nights he sleeps straight through, but occasionally (maybe twice a week?) he wakes up in the middle of the night, needing reassurance that we are still here- I usually just go in, pick him up and give him a hug and a kiss and his paci, and he is back asleep in minutes.

Sean has really taken a liking to other babies, and older kids too. He is fascinated by what others can do, and I catch him imitating them as soon as he can. His buddy Luke (10 months old) crawls like a monkey (on his hands and feet, rather than his hands and knees) and whenever they play together, Sean will try to crawl on his hands and feet! Also, he got to play with a fried of ours' 3 year old son Erik, and while they were playing I saw Sean trying to push up to stand in the middle of the floor LOL! He is not physically ready for it, as he gets stuck once his feet are on the floor, and he can't figure out how to push his hands off the floor. But it is so much fun to watch him imitate other kids.

Sean says "Mama" and "Mum" (mostly when he is tired, sad, or hurt) and "Dada" and "Dad" (all the time, LOL) and "Hey" and "Yey." He is starting to wave bye-bye but not often, and after our nighttime bath, I always wave hi to him in the mirror, and recently he starting waving back! He also has lots of baby babbles, some that sound like sentences!! This last week he has a phrase that sounds just like "I did it!" and he often raises his fist in the air when he says it LOL.

Our family is really looking forward to our first family trip on an airplane- we will be flying to Tucson, AZ to see Grandma and Grandpa Reed the day after Thanksgiving, and then we will be flying to Portland, OR to see Grandma and Grandpa Brayman for Christmas. I am crossing my fingers Sean does as well with these trips as he did when we went to Austin, TX for Labor Day weekend. It's also exciting to think about celebrating our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with our precious son, especially because we get to do so with family : )

Here are a few pictures of Sean from over the last few months. Enjoy!!

Lots of teeth now!!

Hanging out with Daddy

such a heartbreaker!

Bath time!!!

Daddy's bandana

Halloween jammies

Hanging out with Luke

Hanging out with Brooke, Madison and Luke, painting pumpkins

Sean was Tigger for Halloween : )

My little Bulldog, being silly with me in the mornings

Lots of changes!

2010-09-12T09:47:00.005-05:00

I was just reading my update for Sean at 6 months, and I am amazed at how much he has changed over only a month and a half! First, he went from army crawling at 7 months to full on crawling just this last week. He is still a little wobbly with it, but has gained a lot of confidence over the last few weeks, so it's neat to see him experiment with what his body can do. He also like to pull himself up, mostly to his knees, but what he really likes is to stand up. If it were up to him, he would be standing all the time! But he is still working on balance and control, so he ends up bumping his head a lot : ( I feel like I should be wrapping him in bubble wrap and duct tape to keep him safe, LOL!

Sean also really is enjoying the various table foods we have tried over the last month. He really likes yogurt, sliced bananas, toast and Eggo waffles, and Cheerios. He liked canned green beans for a few days, now he makes faces at me when I give it to him. But when I mixed them with canned peas and carrots, he picked out the green beans to eat and wouldn't touch the peas and carrots! Which is funny, because he loved the pureed peas and carrots. I had to start introducing the more solid foods because he would mostly spit the pureed foods out and was starting to lose interest. Now I can still get him to eat it a little, but I have to add the baby oatmeal to them to thicken it up.

He is generally sleeping pretty well at night- the last week or so, he has been sleeping 11 hour stretches- usually from 8pm-7am. Occasionally he will wake around 4 or 5, and up until recently I have been feeding him then. But we are in the process of dropping that early morning feeding, since he is sleeping through it more often than he is waking for it anyways.

3 weeks ago, Mike's brother Brent came over from Austin to visit for the weekend. That was lots of fun : ) And then last week, we drove over to Austin as a family. It was Sean's first trip away from home, and he rocked it!! He slept and napped really well in his pack n' play at Gma's house, and had a lot of fun playing and meeting new people. I got to see two of my old friends from high school, Erin and Analee, who are both living in Austin as well. The weather there is awesome- it's amazing how much of a difference the climate can be only 6 hours away. It was very sunny and warm, and not too humid : )

I have been watching my friend Bec's baby Holden during the week, since she had to go back to work. Holden is about 3 months old, and he is a very sweet little baby. Sean is adjusting to sharing his mommy attention, but he is doing surprisingly well, probably because he is still so little. If we did this when he was 2, I'm sure it would be a different story ; ) I am still sceduled to go back to work at AT&T in March, but am unsure how long I will really want to continue working there. The job is great in the sense that it pays decent, and has incredible benefits. But I was never really happy there, and am having a hard time picturing working there full time again, while saying goodbye to my baby in daycare. If I really loved the job, I think it would be a much easier thing for me to do. But I still have a few more months to think about it, so I am trying not to stress too much.

Mike is continuing to work in the shop with Ranger (formerly Tiburon), and has also picked up some jobs driving the crew van. He has pretty much decided to not go offshore anymore, which was a difficult but important decision we had to make. Unfortunately our budget has been non-existent as a result, but we are making ends meet as best we can until we can find a permanent solution for Mike's job. We are tossing around several ideas, none of which have really come to a head yet. Ideally he will be able to take on the salary position in the office that he was originally offered 5 months ago. But we are tired of waiting around for this to happen, so it's forcing us to take a look at other options. We will be sure to keep everyone posted once we know what we will be doing.

Sean doesn't have another pediatrician appointment until November- right before my 27th birthday. Crazy!! So I won't have any height/weight updates for you until then. But I have been trying to take lots of pictures and movies of our little man so you can all keep up with him that way! Here are some pictures from over the last month.

He is so handsome : )

enjoying some time at the park

pureed some mixed veggies for him to try.... it got a little messy : O

trying to get into trouble....

Hanging out with Daddy at Gma's house

Song for a Fifth Child

2010-08-12T13:57:00.004-05:00

I've read this poem by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton several times since having a baby, but sometimes I need to re-read it to remind myself of what's really important. Thought I would post it for all of you to enjoy as well.

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

A Child's Environment....

2010-08-10T15:27:00.002-05:00

Here is another excerpt from Michael Olaf's The Joyful Child: Montessori from Birth to Three....

General Environment Principles
Here are some things to keep in mind when organizing a child's environment.

(1) Participation in Family Life: Even from the very first days invite the child into the life of the family. In each room—the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, front hall, and so forth have a mobile for the infant, or a basket or shelves for the young child, to store the few carefully chosen belongings, and a special mat or rug for him to "work" on developing abilities.

(2) Independence: The child's message to us at any age is "Help me to do it myself." Supporting this need shows respect for and faith in the child. Think carefully about family activities in all areas of the home, and arrange each space to support independence. A twin mattress for the child's bed; clothing cubby, coat tree, or low clothing rod or hook wherever the child dresses or undresses (front hall, bathroom, bedroom, etc.); a stool or bench for removing shoes and boots; inviting shelves for books, dishes, toys.

(3) Belongings: This brings up a very important point. It is too much for anyone to care for or enjoy belongings when there are too many out at one time. In preparing the home environment for a child, have a place to keep clothing, toys, and books that are not being used. Rotate these when you see the child tiring of what is out on the shelf, in the book display, or toy basket. Have just a few pieces of clothing available to the child to choose what to wear each day, just a few toys that are enjoyed, and only a few favorite or new books to look at.

(4) Putting Away & The Sense of Order: "Discipline" comes from the same word as "disciple" and our children become disciplined only by imitating us; just as we teach manners such as saying "thank you" by modeling this for our children instead of reminding, we can teach them to put away their books and toys only by gracefully and cheerfully doing it over and over in their presence.

People are always amazed at how neat and beautiful a good Montessori class appears. This is not because the teacher is imposing her own order on the child, but because she is satisfying the strong sense of order of the child.

Half a year later, continued....

2010-08-01T09:20:00.013-05:00

OK, I promised an update after our well-baby check up and family photos, so here it is!! Sean is now 18 lbs. 15 oz. (75%) and 27.5 inches long (80%). Dr. Bailey has no concerns about him whatsoever- he says if my kid wants to continue eating 7-8 oz of solids plus 4-6 oz of formula at each meal then keep doing what we are doing LOL!! I was worried I was overfeeding him, haha! But this kid sure knows how to put some food away, so I guess it's a good thing.

His third tooth has started to show since the 29th, so unfortunately we have had a few rough nights over the last few days. He is usually very good about putting himself to sleep, especially at nighttime. But for the last few weeks he has been waking at odd hours (there is no real pattern to it, sometimes it's as early as 11:30pm, other nights it's at 1 or 2 am) and having a hard time going back to sleep. He still goes to bed about 8pm after our daily walk and bath time, and he is taking 2-4 naps a day. Usually it's 2 or 3 naps, 1.5-2.5 hours long each, but on days where he wakes up super early and doesn't nap longer than 1 hour at a time, he can take as many as 4 naps in one day. This is pretty rare though.

He loves the exersaucer still, and sometimes he enjoys his swing, but not as much for napping in anymore. I usually put him in it around 5 pm when he is starting to get grumpy but it's too late in the day for him to really nap before bedtime. It's nice because it mellows him out a little. We have pretty much retired the vibrating bouncer chair, and the bumbo. But they are nice to have because Sean has so many of his other baby friends who are right behind him, so they can use those things when they come over to our house! His favorite thing to do right now is rolling around on the living room floor, and practicing his "push ups." He really, really wants to be mobile, but can't quite figure out how to put it all together quite yet. He loves to hold his own bottle now, he really doesn't want me helping him anymore LOL. And I can tell that he understands a few of the signs we have been using with him, but doesn't show any interest in mimicking them yet. For example, when he is grumpy right after he wakes from a nap, I'll ask him if he wants some milk, and use the sign. He stops fussing right away, looks at my hands signing, and then looks into the kitchen, like "what are you waiting for?" It's pretty neat. The idea of "more" is a little more complex so I don't think he understands that one yet. And I am almost positive his first sign will be "dog" because he just loves watching our dogs so much!

Playing with his favorite dog Jax

Doing pushups- he wants to crawl so bad!!

Momma gave him some freedom and let him play with breakfast : )

Sean's hair is getting longer... so we tried to do a mohawk at bath time : )

Sleeping like an angel at nap time...

He loves to hold the bottle by himself now

Big boy : D

These are Sean's official 6 Month photos at Sears, and we got a few family shots as well...

Montessori before the age of 2....

2010-07-29T12:27:00.002-05:00

As many of you know, I taught Montessori preschool (ages 2.5-6) in Washington for about 5 years before moving to Louisiana. Long story short, I have not officially gotten back into it since moving here, but the thought crosses my mind every day. Working with children is definitely my "calling" and I guess I thought that since Montessori only goes so far in infancy that I would look into returning to that line of work once Sean was old enough to go to school for it.

Well this website The Joyful Child has proved me wrong. It is all about Montessori in infants and toddlers, and has a lot of very interesting concepts. I plan on researching this more, and implementing what I can into our house as Sean is growing up.

Today I wanted to re-post one part of an article I found particularly interesting. Enjoy : )

The Child's Research
Some people call the search for limits "testing," but there is negative connotation to this word. When a child is trying to learn the rules and procedures of the society in which she lives this is a very positive undertaking. It is actually important research.

A good example is the question "What is the meaning of the word 'No'?" I remember an incident in our home between a good friend and her two-year-old daughter, Julia. The two-year-old had climbed up on the piano bench and was reaching for a bust of Mozart kept on the piano. As she reached toward it she looked expectantly at her mother, obviously for some kind of a response. The mother said "No, don't touch it." Julia stopped, lowered her hand and then reached toward it again. The mother said "No" again, a little louder. Again the daughter reached and looked at her mother. This happened several times with no resolution.

I watched this communication, and the confusion on both sides, and offered the suggestion "I don't think she knows what 'No' means and is trying to find out".
The mother laughed and said "Of course." Then she went to Julia, said "No," gently, and, as she said it, picked Julia up and moved her across the room to a pile of building blocks. Both were completely satisfied.

In the first exchange perhaps the child thought "No" meant "I am waiting and looking and expect you to eventually pick up that statue. And I am getting mad at you."
In the second exchange the message was clear. "No" meant "stop doing what you are doing and move away to another part of the room or another activity," (and, thanks to the clear and gentle way of speaking, "I am not mad at you").

Children do not understand the language of reasoning until around age six. They need clear demonstrations along with words.
It is very helpful for parents to realize that their child is not trying to be bad, but she is being a normal, intelligent human being trying to find out how to behave. She is carrying out research.

Half a year later....

2010-07-23T11:18:00.007-05:00

So it's been 6 months since our sweet baby boy came into this world. I have been driving myself crazy thinking about how quickly he is growing up. After sifting through other friends' Facebook pages and seeing their babies that were born the same time I was pregnant, seeing how small they were then and how big they are now, there is a bittersweet feeling I get, thinking about our baby Sean being there as well.

I will be posing again sometime in the beginning of August- we are getting family pictures done tomorrow, and Sean's 6 month well check with Dr. Bailey is on August 2nd, so I will be doing an update to include those things.

But for now, here is a little bit about life as it is for us these days.... Mike has been working offshore some, and in the shop some as well. He is waiting for a salary position to open up still, he would really prefer to be at home every night. But for now, since shop-rate doesn't pay the bills, he is still taking offshore jobs when they are available, and working in the shop in between. Sometimes I feel guilty for not working, because I could be bringing in a second income. But then Mike reminds me that me staying at home with Sean is an income in itself, considering we are saving that much on childcare. Plus we both like the idea of him being home with me, and socializing with our friends at this age, rather than being in daycare. As he gets older I plan to enroll him in other social environments like preschool so he can learn to be with groups of children his age. We would only put him in daycare right now in order for me to go back to work.... I have been daydreaming daily about starting my own business of in-home preschool. It's something I will probably not act on anytime soon, but it's a dream I have always had since first going to Montessori training, and I am hoping one day I will have the means to do so.

Sean has been developing faster than I can keep up with! He just recently started to show obvious signs of understanding familiar and unfamiliar people. He used to just smile at anybody, and not even notice much if my face was not in sight when we are out in public places. But lately I have noticed if we are grocery shopping, he needs to know I am close if my face is out of his view, and when new people come over to the house, he takes a minute or two to warm up to them, whereas he quickly lights up when he sees Mike, Katie, Josh, Dan, etc. He is VERY vocal now, trying out all kinds of new noises and sounds. But he seems to be super sensitive to loud noises himself- he almost always cries when someone sneezes or coughs loudly or starts getting too loud when they talk. He can sit up very well on his own now. He just needs to master the concept of "catching" himself when he flops sideways and backwards. I usually put the boppy behind him, or sit behind him, because when he is sick of sitting up he throws himself back to laying down, which can result in bumping his head if he's not on the bed LOL. No signs of crawling yet, but he is VERY mobile in his crib. He will roll back and forth over and over again, and use his feet to push off and move from one end of the crib to the other. He actually sleeps on his belly now- there is no stopping it!! But he is sleeping pretty well and naps and bedtime, and is not shy to "ask" when he needs something, so it works out well. He is also really coordinated with his hands now- he can find his paci in his crib and put it back into his mouth successfully, and easily moves objects from one hand to the other. We started signing a few words to him, hoping in the next few months he will be able to sign back. So far we have started teaching "more," "eat," "milk," "all done," and today I introduced "dog" because he is so enthralled with our dogs : ) I am trying to consistently sign each time I use the word. But it is tricky- words like "more" use two hands. And I usually use that while he is eating. Well, I can't put his bowl on his highchair because he will immediately grab it and flip it over! And when I set it on the table next to me while he eats and use both of my hands to sign, sometimes he is so impatient that extra millisecond it takes me to pick the spoon back up can be frustrating LOL But we just started this about a week ago, so there is a lot of time to work on it. I am hoping that it really benefits us all with communication- It will allow Sean to "talk" to us before he is ready to use words.

That's about all I have right now. I will post anything else I think of in about 2 weeks when I give the updated height and weight stats and post our family photos!

Life as it is these days....

2010-06-16T08:37:00.011-05:00

A lot has been going on here in the Reed household! Our sweet baby boy has been getting so big, is growing more hair, and has gotten his first teeth in! His two bottom teeth are making their way out- not enough to capture a good picture yet, but enough to make you think twice about letting him chew on your fingers!! Mike went offshore, finally, and will hopefully be out for a long hitch this time. Not because we don't want him here, of course, but because funds have become super tight and we really need the income to get us back to where we are comfortable again. He's been gone 5 days now, and Sean and I both miss him like crazy. But he is on a good job- one of his company's boats is being leased out to BP to provide food and housing for guys working on the oil spill- no diving involved, but Mike is out there as a medic (DMT). So he gets to hang out, doing grunt work, reading books, etc. and be available in case someone gets hurt or needs to be checked out.

When Daddy is offshore, or working in the shop during the week, Sean and I have established a pretty decent routine (as much as we can, at least, considering how unpredictable babies can be.... once we get used to this schedule, I'm sure it will change again LOL!) Sean typically sleeps until sometime between 7-8am, with an occasional night waking/feeding sometime between 2-5am. The nights where he sleeps until 7 with no wakings are awesome- I feel like I am getting enough sleep to be a normal, functioning person again! When he wakes, I give him a 4 oz. bottle, then he eats breakfast- this week has been sweet potatoes. I even made some of my own last night from scratch- just baked the potatoes, scooped out the meat, and blended it with formula until it's a consistency he can take. I froze 6 containers, and saved one in the fridge for this morning. After breakfast is usually Sean's "quiet time," meaning I put him in the playpen and he plays by himself very contently for 20-40 minutes, depending on his mood, while I make coffee, take the dogs outside, etc. He usually takes another 4 oz bottle at some point after breakfast as well, and then we play until naptime. After Sean has been awake 1.5-2 hours, he is ready for his first "nigh-night," aka nap. I have been trying to catch him before he gets too fussy, so we can go into his room and read a book before putting him down in his crib. Sometimes he fusses in his crib for a few minutes (usually less than 5 minutes) and then is asleep for anywhere between 1-2 hours (on fussy days, he may only sleep 30 minutes!) He is eating every 3-4 hours, so whenever he wakes is usually time to eat again (anywhere from 10am-12pm). He takes a 6-8 oz bottle, and then we have playtime. We play on the blanket in the living room, or in the exersaucer that we are borrowing from Bec and Rob, or whatever else we can find for fun. Again, after about 2 hours of wake time, Sean is ready for his second nap. If any errands need to be run, I try to make it right after his first or second nap of the day (after he eats if it's close to that time) because his third nap of the day usually falls sometime around 4ish. After this third nap, we have a pretty set in stone routine- solid food for dinner sometime between 5-6pm (lately it's been homemade peas!) then a 4-6oz bottle. At 7ish, we go for a walk in the neighborhood- at this time the sun is down enough I don't have to worry about sunscreen or covering every inch of his body with clothing, and it has usually cooled down enough that I can walk a good 0.5-1 mile with him in the stroller. If it's a longer walk, Sean usually falls asleep before we get home and gets a mini cat nap in before bedtime. Bathtime is around 7:30, then we lotion up, put on jammies, say good night to Daddy (We have a picture in a frame for when he is offshore) and get ready for "nigh-night." If he is in a good mood, I can usually sneak a story in before bedtime. But on fussy nights, or on days where his previous feeding is nearing the 3-hours-ago mark, we just turn off the light and he takes his 4-6 oz bottle while I sing our bedtime song. He is usually asleep around 8pm.

This is pretty standard, but notice I didn't include times until the nighttime routine begins at dinner. That's because on days where Sean wakes at 6:30 or 7, the schedule varies a lot more than the times he wakes at 8. And on the days where he thinks that 30 minute naps are sufficient, the times vary there as well (he is fussier, therefore hungry sooner, and sometimes takes 4 or 5 naps on those days). My routines are solely based on how his day is going- they only thing I do pretty regularly is wash bottles and get 4 of them prepared for the rest of day during his first nap. Other than that, I do what I can when I can : ) Our weekends are a little hectic too- we like to visit friends, swim in their pools, go to BBQ's, festivals, etc. So naps, eating, and everything else revolve around whatever is going on. But we are pretty good about coming home no later than 7:30 so we can start bathtime and all that jazz.

This week has been tough so far- Mike left Saturday morning, and on Sunday afternoon I threw my back out. Of course I was freaking out initially- I literally could not stand up from sitting, let alone walk or bend over or pick up a 15 lb. baby. I was soooo upset, we absolutely could not afford for Mike to miss this job opportunity, but I was unable to care for my baby alone!! Luckily, I have the greatest group of friends down here, and they were more than happy to help me out through the rough first few days. I literally had to wake Angelo and Josh up to pick Sean up out of the crib and move him to my arms while sitting, or whatever destination was best for him. The first day was the worst, but after that I learned how to pick Sean up correctly without re-injuring myself. Katie came over to my house those first few days and helped me to care for Sean during the day, she also drove me to the doctor, and helped me tidy the house, do laundry, clean bottles, etc. I could not ask for a better situation here, with Mike being gone it is so reassuring to know that my "family" down here is there for me when I need them!

Now I am looking forward to the upcoming visit from Gma3!! Angie is driving over from Austin to stay with us, starting July 3rd. Not sure what Independence Day events we will attend, but I know she is looking forward to hanging out with her grandson!

Our Baby is 4 months!

2010-05-25T20:16:00.011-05:00

Our little man is getting so big!! We went to the pediatrician today for Sean's 4 month well-baby visit, and he is doing great! He is 14 lbs 14 oz and 25 inches long, which is about the 50-55% for both height and weight. The doctor says he looks healthy and happy and to keep doing what we are doing, so that is great to hear : )

At four months, Sean can hold his head up very well- he doesn't do the bobble head thing as much, unless he is really excited or really tired. He hates tummy time, but I am trying to get him to do it at least a few minutes each day- he can do it so well when he has enrgy and is in a good mood, but when he is sleepy or cranky he just gives up and puts his face into the floor : ( I am trying to not let it bother me- he will get stronger and enjoy it more as he is ready. He has rolled over a few times from his belly to his back, but there is no pattern to when he remembers how to do it, and sometimes he forgets.

He knows who Mommy and Daddy are pretty well now, and likes to watch us when he is sitting as we walk across the room, or have conversations with other people. He is a very smiley and happy boy and loves to be social and coo at people.

We recently started sleep training him and it has been going very well. I was putting him down drowsy but not asleep, giving him kisses and telling him I love him, then letting him either fall asleep or fuss a bit if he needs to. The very first time he cried for about an hour- I checked on him several times, gave him his paci and played his crib music but would not pick him up. After a few naps, he fussed less and less, and sometimes not at all! It has been a little over a week now, and sometimes he still fusses, but it's rarely more than 20 minutes, and more times than not he just rolls to one side and soothes himself to sleep with no crying at all. Especially at bedtime- he does love to sleep! He has gotten into a pretty regular pattern over the last week of going to bed around 8pm, sleeping until sometime between 2am and 4am, then sleeping until sometime between 6am and 8am, and then he is up for the morning.

Sean generally naps 3-4 times a day, and has about 5-6 bottles a day. This boy likes to eat! He is up to 5-6 oz in each bottle. Unfortunately I had to start giving more formula than breastmilk- we tried solely nursing for 3 days straight, to get him to relax and be patient enough to wait for my letdown, and also for my supply to increase to meet his needs. But it kept getting worse and worse, and unfortunately I couldn't take it anymore and gave him a bottle again. It is too hot here to risk him becoming dehydrated, and it was so hard to listen to him crying when I knew all he wanted was to eat. It took some time, but I have finally become at peace with my decision to give him mostly formula during the day, and I am still breastfeeding for his after-midnight feeding (when he is sleepy and more patient) and also for his first feeding of the day.

His doctor gave the ok to start on rice cereal, and to transition into solids as he becomes more ready. We tried rice cereal for the first time tonight! At first he didn't like it and got really frustrated. Then I decided to give him his bottle first, since he was so hungry and impatient, and tried the rice cereal again after his bottle, and he did much better swallowing and enjoying it. After 1-2 weeks we will see how he is doing, and then we will start on some veggies! I am so excited because my friend Katie bought a food processor and a baby cookbook, so we will start making our own baby food and freezing it! Hopefully this encourages me to eat healthier too- I figure if I make sweet potatoes for Sean, he can't possibly eat an entire potato to himself, so I will have to eat the rest of it. It will encourage me to eat more veggies : )

Here is Sean enjoying his first try at solids! Mmm rice cereal!

I tried to upload more pictures, but our internet is being slow so this was all I was able to upload. I will try to update again sooner next time.

Here is Sean in his big-boy stroller- no more infant carrier up top! Now he can see what is going on when we take walks!

Here is Sean with his buddies Luke (almost 5 mo.) and Tristhian (about 1 mo.)

Here we are hanging out at Katie's pool- he is starting to like it better than last time!

Organization

2010-04-26T12:12:00.005-05:00

I felt the need to write in my blog, this time using it more like a journal. Sean is sleeping right now (probably not for much longer), and I usually use this time to catch up- cleaning, facebook, appointments, etc. As I was taking the sheets off our bed to launder them, I looked around my room and felt sick. I used to be a very organized and fairly clean person. I have always been a pro at making messes, but I have also always been even better at cleaning up after myself (and all of the other males I have lived with over the years).

Ever since I have had a baby though, I feel like I have lost all control of my life. And parts of that I am okay with- I have come to accept and love the complete 180 change in my life for what it is. I love my son. I have fun with my son. Being a mom has taught me how to adapt to change, how to loosen up a bit, etc. But parts of it I am not okay with- I feel it is important to keep my house clean and organized- not because other people care, but because I care. Because I can't organize my brain when I am surrounded by a mess. I miss being thinner, and feeling pretty. And I cannot tell you how sick I am of hearing "welcome to mommyhood!!" I understand that I will always have messes to clean (and more so as my son gets older and mobile). I know I should give myself 9 months to lose the weight, since it took me 9 months to gain it. But I still feel out of control, and I am not okay with that.

So I have decided to take control with what I can, and not feel like a victim any longer. Here are a list of my hopes, and my goals.

Goals:

Lose the 30+ pounds I gained with my pregnancy

Keep my house at a clean I can live with, but realistically maintain as well

Go on a date night with my hubby at least once a month, if not more

My plan of action, in order to meet my goals:

Drink only water throughout the day

Try to cook dinner at least twice a week

Complete laundry at least twice a week (wash AND put away!)

Vacuum every 2 weeks

Organize bills/paperwork once a month

Ask for help when I need it

Relax : )

I am hoping this list will help me to organize my brain a little better, so that I can feel like I have a little bit of control again. And I may choose to modify/add to it as my brain becomes clearer and ready for more of a challenge. But this is a start!

Oh, and I promise to post an update on Sean soon- he is 3 months old now!! I just never really know what to say in my blog posts anymore. I feel like I am constantly repeating myself, so it makes it hard to summarize it all into a blog post. I guess that should be a goal to add as well- update my blog on Sean every month!!

11 weeks old : )

2010-04-12T16:29:00.005-05:00

My mom has been bugging me about updating my blog, so here goes...

Our little man is 11 weeks old today. Man is he getting big! Haven't been to the doc since his 8 week check up, but I can tell you that my best guess is he is about 13 lbs. Mike commented (after being offshore for about 12 days) that he is much longer- his feet hang on the armrest of the chair when I am nursing him : )

Sean is so much fun : D He is a very happy baby- he smile and coos a lot, and he loves to carry on conversations with people. If he is very excited, he will actually talk over you : P We laugh at the sounds he makes- "un-guh" and "ga-goo" and "blah" are among his favorites. He said "oi" once the other day, which got me excited, so I spent the rest of the day pumping his fist and saying "oi oi oi!" but he didn't catch on.

I am getting excited for his next set of milestones- rolling over, grasping things with a purpose, and even showing interest in food. Of course, I have become more and more appreciative of soaking up him just as he is, because I know he will be crawling and getting into everything before we know it, and we will miss the days where he just laid there and cooed.

Now don't get me wrong- he is a very stubborn baby sometimes. He just about *requires* that I rock him to sleep. After every feeding (about every 2 hours) and also at bedtime. He loves to sleep, but during the day has a hard time staying asleep for more than 30 minutes at a time. At night he still does pretty well- he takes a bath about 7:30 and a bottle around 8 pm, and is usually asleep by 8:30. He then usually sleeps until about 1 am, then again until about 5 am, then again until 7ish. We are usually up and about by 8 or 9 am. I am happy he has his nights and days straightened out- his daytime naps are much different from his nighttime sleep. Our next step will be to cut him off from being rocked to sleep, but I am not in too big of a hurry for that one- as exhausting as it can be, I do love the feeling of being needed to go to sleep.

I officially told my job I don't plan to be back until I have to, which is February 28th, 2011. If I need to go back before then I will, but I figure we are saving money by not putting Sean into daycare, and I hardly use much gas anymore since I mostly drive to get groceries and that's about it. So I think we are making a good choice. But Mike is trying to find an onshore job now- he is really showing more of an interest in being home with us every night. We have no idea how long that will take, so he will take jobs offshore for as long as he needs to, until something more permanent comes up.

Here are some pics of Sean since my last update.... enjoy!!

Sean is 8 weeks old!

2010-03-23T12:46:00.009-05:00

Our little man is growing up so quickly!! And he gets more and more lovable by the day : ) We absolutely adore the smiles that he gives us now, and love listening to him laugh. He has even gotten better at entertaining himself- I bought a baby mirror from Target the other day, and I am so glad I did. He will sit in front of it and laugh and talk to the "baby in the mirror" for quite some time- it gives me a chance to do the dishes, etc. in the kitchen, while he sits in his pack n' play.

Sean has a tattoo on his neck....

He has been going through growth spurts like they are going out of style- just when we think he will eat on a "normal" schedule, like say every 2-3 hours, he changes his mind, and is hungry pretty much all the time! I am still nursing him, but after almost every nursing I have to supplement with either a bottle of breast milk or a bottle of formula, depending on what I have on hand. After nursing for 20-30 minutes, he drinks about 2-4 ounces of breast milk or formula after that, so the whole eating session lasts about 45 minutes to an hour. And because he is getting hungry every 1-2 hours, he pretty much eats all the time! When I finally get him to nap is about the only time this week when he is not acting hungry or eating. I am hoping he mellows out soon, because we are going through bottles, formula, and pumped breast milk like crazy!!

This was the amount of bottles and breast pumping supplies I went through in less than one day earlier this week...

The doctor says if this doesn't pass soon, it would be ok to put a teaspoon of rice cereal for every ounce of formula he drinks into his bottles. It is supposed to help keep his tummy full longer. I thought it might be a bit early to introduce cereal into his diet, but if doc says so then I guess it's ok!

At his well baby visit today, I was told he weighs 11 pounds 10 ounces, 22.75 inches long and his head is about 15 inches around. He is meeting all his two month milestones- he can lift his head while on his belly (and he holds it up pretty well while I am carrying him), he smiles and coos (and laughs!), he recognizes his parents, and tracks objects moving in the room. I am so proud of our little guy!!

My friend Katie and I (Luke's mommy- Luke is about 3 weeks older than Sean) have been walking in my neighborhood almost everyday now. It is great exercise- we wear the babies in a wrap, and they sleep while we burn calories. We always joke about how we need to figure out how to nurse in the wrap, so we can burn twice as many calories while we walk! LOL. It is soooo nice to have a mommy friend- whenever Sean does something cool, or whenever I am overwhelmed or frustrated, I can call her and she knows exactly what I am going through. Pretty soon we will have more mommy friends- our friend Rachel is due to have her baby girl Brooke any day now. Heather is due to have her baby boy in April. And Bec is due to have her baby boy in June. I can't wait for this summer- we are going to have little ones running around at the BBQ's, and parties with babies at the pool.

Being a mommy has taught me so much- it's amazing how your life changes once a child enters your life. I have learned to slow down, and enjoy the little things. I have learned where my tolerance levels have been daily for certain things. I appreciate hanging out with adults more than ever before. And I appreciate just sitting with my little one and trying to soak up all of his baby goodness, before it's gone.

It's amazing how you can hurry hurry hurry because the baby is sleeping and it's the only chance I will have to wash dishes. Or he just ate so we need to get him in the car seat and to the store and back before he is hungry or fussy. Or he just yawned so I need to hurry and get into the rocker and help him fall asleep or we will miss this nap opportunity and it will take twice as long to put him to sleep.

At the same time, I have learned to slow down- it's next to impossible to make "plans" with a newborn, so I take everything day by day, minute by minute. When I start to feed him, it could take 20 minutes, or it could take an hour- who knows. When I get to the store, if he starts to fuss, I will take him out of his seat and rock him to sleep, so I can finish my shopping without having to listen to his wails and disturb everyone else in the store- but it can turn a 30 minute shopping experience into an hour and a half excursion. And of course, I have learned to love our nursing time- I used to have a hard time with it, because he would dawdle and take 45 minutes to nurse, and then be hungry again in 30 minutes, so I never had a moment to myself. But now, sometimes I just like to sit there in bask in all his innocence and beauty. What an angel : ) I think about how much I love him, about when I was pregnant, and I think about when he gets older- what will he look like, how will he act, what will he like and dislike.

Life is so different now. It's amazing.

Sean gets a bath in the sink before bed, usually every other night....

He looks a lot like his daddy here : )

Life as Parents

2010-03-13T12:39:00.006-06:00

Ok, so quick update on Sean and the family. He is napping now (finally, after being woken up from his nap earlier by the dog barking) so it gives me a quick chance to catch up. I already cleaned some bottles for the day, so now it's blogging time!

Sean is 6 weeks and 5 days old today. He is my little angel, and I love him dearly. He had a rough patch for about 2 weeks- going through a growth spurt, and we were trying to figure out his hunger cues versus just being plain fussy. The doctor had me start supplementing with some formula because his weight wasn't quite where it should be, and during our nursing times he never seemed quite satisfied or full. After starting on the formula supplemenst, he is a much happier baby, and gained a whopping 14 ounces in one week! As of Wednesday, he was 6 weeks and 2 days old, and weighed 10 lbs 2 oz. Very exciting! He is finally outgrowing his newborn clothes and fitting his 0-3 month clothes a bit better.

Sean has definitely turned our world upside down- Mike and I love him to pieces, and wouldn't trade him for anything. But he is quite a handful sometimes! Generally I would call him a happy baby, and fairly self sufficient (as far as babies go!). But when he wants to be cuddled and held, you'd better do it, because his cry goes from 0 to 10 in a second!!

This week we started having him sleep in his room in his crib. We have the monitor set up in our room so I can hear when he needs to eat in the middle of the night. Typically he is going down for bedtime between 9 and 11 pm, sleeps until 2 or 3 am before needing to eat, then going back down until about 6 or 7 am. Those times vary, but for the most part I can count on 1-2 feedings in the dark before it's late enough in the morning that I can get up and get moving.

Today Sean has really been turning on the smiles : ) He has been experimenting with smiling all week, but this morning he was really enjoying sharing his smiles with his daddy and me : ) Also he is starting to laugh sometimes, but mostly in his sleep. It's really, really adorable to hear him giggling over the monitor.

Our good friend Angelo has been staying with us on our couch for the last 2 weeks or so- it has been really nice. He is an excellent cook, so we are never missing out on good home cooked meals. And he cleans up after himself (and us too sometimes!) And he loves Sean, so Mike and I actually got to go on a date last week to the movies, and also for a ride on his motorcycle yesterday. And Mike was wonderful enough last night to watch Sean from 6pm to 11pm while I went out with my girlfriends. I had a blast! It has been so long since I got to really enjoy myself out on the town with my ladies, so I really appreciated every second of it!! Of course, it was hard each time I left to keep my mind off of my son at home, but I am glad to be doing it earlier than later. I am sure it gets harder if you wait too long for that initial "going out without baby" experience.

Well that's all I have for now. I have tons of pics already posted on facebook, and they are not loaded onto Mike's laptop (where I am blogging right now) so no pics in this post. But next time I will try to post some more pics, and possibly some video too : )

Update on Sean!

2010-02-24T12:36:00.007-06:00

Ok, so I know it has been a while since I updated.... and I left anyone who reads my blog only through blogger hanging, with that post about Sean in the NICU. I have been keeping facebook updated, so I didn't think to update my blog too, but then I realized that not everyone is on facebook! So I am going to do a quick update in my spare time here. I don't have that much of it it seems these days : ) Or at least, not a lot of spare time that includes two hands, or lasts long enough to make plans! Sean is a wonderful, beautiful, perfect little angel. But he is a newborn baby, so he loves to sleep in my arms more than his crib or pack and play, and right when I make "plans" to do something productive during his nap, is usually when an unexpected bout of fussiness will make its appearance.

Our daytime schedule usually looks like this: wake up for his "early morning" feeding around 5 or 6, nurse for about 45 minutes, then we either go back to sleep, or Sean goes back to sleep and Mommy gets up to take a shower, or make breakfast, or just experience 2 hours of peacefulness to herself : ) Sean typically eats every 2.5-3 hours during the day. We actually had it down to a science- him and I were on the same page, and you could have set a clock to his wake up timing to eat every 3 hours. It was nice- I could anticipate a feeding at 3, 6, 9 and 12. And then at night, my angel would normally go form 9pm to 1am, and then from 1am to 6am, where we start the daytime feeding schedule again. We were also going for a walk in the neighborhood when the weather was warm enough, after his 3pm feeding.

Then 2 days ago, I am thinking that a growth spurt hit him. He is hungry every 2-2.5 hours instead, and hasn't gone more than 4 hours between feedings at nighttime. He isn't completely satisfied after each feeding it seems, but will *usually* still go down for a nap during the daytime. Luckily we are still not having to walk around the house for hours on end in the middle of the night to soothe a colicky baby, but I miss the predictability that I so naively thought I could hold onto.

The problem with a 2-2.5 feeding "schedule" is that it really isn't a schedule at all- I have no idea what time he will eat next, and therefore cannot anticipate the feeding after that, so it's been impossible to make any concrete plans for the past few days. Tomorrow we have my postpartum doctor appointment in the morning, and his one month photo shoot at Sears in the afternoon. I am nervous that our feeding will run into one or both of those, and it's difficult to breastfeed a baby in public, especially one that is a slow eater and can nurse for well over 45 minutes.

Anyways, sorry to ramble about his feeding schedule. It just seems that feeding him has become my life. And I guess I am ok with that- he needs me, and I am his mom, and it's my job to take care of him. I just can't wait until he can sleep through the night and only eat every 4 hours during the day : )

So I will end the post with some pictures of our little man. I can't believe how much he has grown in just a month. We went to the cardiologist on Monday and he was 9 lbs 3 oz already : ) Oh, and just to feed your curiosity, the pediatrician is not concerned about him at all- says he seems very healthy and happy despite his stay in the NICU. His cardiologist says she can still hear a slight murmur, but we have another follow up appointment in 2 months. They say that the murmur is from the PDA, and will most likely go away with age.

Sean's Birthday 1/25/10

2010-01-29T09:05:00.016-06:00

It has been hard for me to think about writing in my blog about the birth of our son and the hospital stay, because it did not go the way I had imagined. It was literally the best and worst week of my life so far. But I know how much our family and friends love and care for us, and want to know what has been going on. Also, it is much easier to explain it all in one blog entry than telling everyone who asks one at a time. I have been so emotional about the whole situation, but I am sure I will feel better once I get this all out.

Keep in mind things change in the NICU within hours, so I will tell you what has happened so far, and will try to keep my blog updated along with that.

Our beautiful son Sean William Reed was born at 12:44 pm on Monday, January 25th, 2010. I was 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant (about 3 weeks before the due date), and he was still a whopping 8 lbs 3 oz and 19.5 inches long. I had placenta previa throughout my pregnancy, which simply means that the placenta was covering my cervix, so a regular vaginal delivery was not going to be a good idea- the baby is supposed to come out first, not the placenta, and doing so could cause the placenta to rupture before baby is out, which causes major complications for us both. So we had a scheduled c-section once we had confirmed that he was where he needed to be developmentally. I was scared to death of the idea of surgery, but I guess I may have been just as afraid of a normal delivery. I knew a c-section would be best for us both, so that helped to calm my fears. I won't go into any of the gory details of what you go through in a c-section, but I will tell you that I could hear my baby's roar of a cry before that had finished pulling him out of me, and I cannot even begin to express the emotions I felt through that entire experience. Hearing him cry for the first time, and seeing his beautiful face in my husbands arms is a scene that has been running through my head since it happened. A combination of pure happiness, love and adoration is the best way I can describe it.

After I got to look into my new baby's face and give him a few kisses, they had Mike take him to the nursery. They had told me that more than likely he would need some additional stimulation after birth to get everything working as they need to. C-section babies don't get all the natural stimulation of being forced through the birth canal as a vaginal delivery, so the nurses have to help to get things moving a bit. They filled me up with some sedatives after he left, and I am pretty sure I was passed out for the last half of the surgery where they sewed me back up. I remember being wheeled into the recovery room where they monitor me and my stats, to make sure that I am going to be fine after the surgery. I don't remember much because I was hopped up on pain killers and sedatives, but I do remember it felt like an eternity and I kept asking for my husband and son.

When I was able to move my feet and legs a bit, they finally wheeled me out towards my room. I remember seeing my husband standing in the window outside of the nursery, watching our baby boy with the nurses, and I was so happy to see him. The people wheeling me stopped in the nursery window for me to take another look at my son, and then brought me into my room. at this point, I was still fairly sedated, they brought me into my room and transferred me into my regular bed from the gurney. I was patiently waiting for them to bring me my little bundle of joy- I had been carrying him inside of me for the last 9 months, and already was missing him, after being separated for about 2 hours.

That was when the bad news came to me. They told me they were taking him to the NICU. I was told he still had a decent amount of fluid in his lungs, and they needed to get him on some more oxygen while drying out his lungs so he wasn't working so hard to breathe. Not too big of a deal I was told, again being that I had a c-section I was told it was not an unusual complication. A complication still, but not unusual.

From there I tried to be patient. I still don't remember much from that night because of the drugs they had me on. I do remember at one point telling my nurse I just wanted to hold him- I was jealous that my husband got to hold him and snuggle with him, whereas I was too weak in surgery to do much but give him love and kisses. I felt like my baby was taken out of me, and then just whisked away, all before I had any time to think about it or argue or complain. It was like my biggest fear come to life- he was safe and happy inside of me for the 9 months I carried him. Once he was out of me, he was so vulnerable, susceptible to any dangers that could arise. The nurse helped me into my wheelchair and took us both down to see him. I shouldn't have been out of bed yet, but I was so thankful to her for doing that for me anyway- I needed to see him . All I could see of my little man before that point were the fuzzy images in my head, and the pictures my mom and husband got on their cameras in the first two hours of his life.

I learned from my stay in the hospital just how scary it is to have a child in the NICU. His condition would be up and down, changing constantly within only hours. I knew in the back of my mind he would be ok- he was probably the only baby in the NICU that weighed over 8 pounds. He was probably one of he only ones there who was full term. I just kept asking myself, How did this happen? It's not supposed to be like this. I kept getting more and more worried as the days went by, regardless of his condition. I was so scared to go home without my baby. It felt so wrong, and depressing.

I was discharged from the hospital yesterday- my doctor was nice enough to let me stay the full 96 hours allotted for a c-section. Sean of course was still not stable enough to be discharged yet. But, we got the best news possible at that point, considering the situation we are in. Sean was taken off the C-PAP machine that was breathing for him on yesterday morning. Now he is just on regular oxygen. They are also starting to feed him. He is not ready to be fed normally yet, since his lungs are still getting over having so much liquid in them from before, they are taking it slow so he doesn't aspirate on the milk and end up back at square one. So he has a feeding tube directly to his tummy. I have been pumping breast milk and bringing it to the nurses, so he has been exclusively on that diet, which makes me happy. Also, because he was doing so well on Friday afternoon, the nurses told me it would be ok to hold him. Finally!! We were unable to hold him for so long, due to his inability to control his respiratory rate, they were trying to not stimulate him as much as possible. They only touched him to change his diaper and bedding, take blood and x-rays as necessary, etc. So it was a very big deal that he has been stable enough that we were finally able to hold him!

I have been home now for about 12 hours. It is strange. It's like I have to go back to my everyday life before a baby, but not really. He is not here to change my lifestyle, so I am still doing the things I normally did before he was born. But in the back of my mind I know where he is and am worried about him constantly. He really is doing very well at this point, but I also heard that often while we stayed in the hospital, just to hear that he would backtrack again hours later. So it is difficult for me to get my hopes up about bringing him home anytime soon. I know in my heart he will be fine- his condition is not an unusual one, and the doctors have been very positive about the whole situation.

Today my mom is flying back home to Oregon, and Mike's mom is driving into Lafayette from Austin. We will probably go to see Sean this afternoon after she gets here. I have lots of pumped breastmilk to bring him, and I want to hear how he is doing. Last I checked, I called at about midnight, they said he is down to about 30% oxygen and they would keep him there for a bit because they had quickly weened him earlier yesterday, from about 65% down to 30%, so they did not want to overdo it too quickly.

Here is some info on the condition he has. Basically, after the fluid was removed from his lungs, he was still having trouble with his breathing- he was breathing way too fast, so the doctors did an echo and U/S to see what was going on in his body. Apparently all babies hearts are set up a bit differently while in the womb, because they are getting their blood supply from the placenta and they don't need to breathe air. Once they come out, their bodies are supposed to take in a breath of air, which closes up a "hole" in their heart that they no longer need, now that they are not connected to the placenta. Since Sean's did not close the way it was supposed to, his oxygen levels are not where they need to be, hence the C-PAP breathing machine and the oxygen being supplied for him. Here are some links:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/pda/pda_what.html

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Patent+ductus+arteriosus

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/patent-ductus-arteriosus/DS00631

I will try to keep my blog updated with how he is doing. I appreciate you for reading through my long blog post- I know it is a lot, but I wanted to have a record of it in my blog, and also explain myself for reclusing a bit for the last few days, even though everyone has been anxious to hear how Sean and I have been.

37 weeks

2010-01-23T17:13:00.006-06:00

This should be our last pregnancy post, so let's make it a good one!

At 37 weeks baby is now considered full term, even though our due date is 3 weeks away. He should be weighing in at about 6.5 pounds and measuring about 20 inches in length (about the size of a small watermelon). His lungs are probably fully developed at this point, as well as his other systems. Baby will be packing on weight from here on out, and doctors will welcome labor from this point forward.

As for our baby Sean specifically, our amniocentesis test results last week showed positive for lung maturity. Also the ultrasound shows I still have a posterior placenta and previa, so our doctor scheduled the c-section for this coming Monday, January 25th!!! I can't believe I will only be pregnant for the rest of today, all day tomorrow, and come noon on Monday we will be holding this same little baby I have been growing for 9 months in our arms!! Mike and I are both so excited and ready and scared and anxious- every adjective you could think of (other than angry LOL) would probably describe how we are feeling at this point.

I went to the hospital on Friday for my pre-op appointment. They explained the cesarean section to me, told me what to expect, and all that jazz. I have to be at the hospital at 9:30 on Monday morning, they will have me sign the consent forms for anesthesia, then prep me for surgery at noon! The entire surgery takes about an hour, but they said most likely our baby will be out in 15 minutes. I am so excited and scared for Monday. I am so excited to see our baby in real life, to hold him and kiss him and love him. But I have never had surgery before, and hospitals make my antsy to begin with. I am soooo glad that Mike made it home this morning from working offshore to be here for the delivery- it makes me feel so much better to know he will be right there with me. Also I am so glad to know he will be able to experience his son's birthday!!!

I will probably be able to post again next weekend. I will try to have pics uploaded to facebook so I can link the album to here as well. We will probably be in the hospital until Wednesday or Thursday. My mom will be here from tomorrow until Saturday, so that will be nice. And I have such awesome friends here that have already made arrangements to make us food and help us clean for the first week or two that we are figuring this whole parenting thing out. Wow, It's just so unreal that come Monday, Mike and I will be Mommy and Daddy!!! How exciting!!!

36 weeks

2010-01-16T11:46:00.012-06:00

The last week has been eventful! But first, let's talk about baby's development. Sean is about 20 inches long, and weighing in now about 6 pounds- babycenter.com compares him to a crenshaw melon. At the end of this week, he will be considered "full term" and docs will give the go-ahead to let labor go at anytime after that. Most of his systems are fully developed at this point, aside from him lungs, and his digestive system will kick into gear once he takes his first suckle at breast or bottle.

Momma is definitely waddling at this point, mostly due to the fact that hormones have cause all of the joints and ligaments to loosen, preparing for labor. And he has definitely gone through the "lightening" stage- dropped lower in my abdomen. Breathing is somewhat easier (sometimes) but I think my belly is noticeably lower that it has been, and my pelvic bone sure can feel the difference!

Now as for the chain of events that happened this week, I'll start by explaining Braxton Hicks, in case you aren't real familiar with what they are. They are basically false, or practice, contractions that most women experience, usually later, but at any point in pregnancy. Typically they are painless, but somewhat noticeable, because your belly gets hard as a rock and it can make you stop in your tracks and say "what was that?" At least, that's how they are for me. They are not signs of true labor, because they are usually intermittent, irregular, and tend to go away when you relax, drink water, take a warm bath, etc.

So on Wednesday, I was having these type of contractions all day. They seemed regular in the morning, and then sort of spaced out throughout the rest of the day. But, as I said, they don't hurt, so it was hard to tell if they were still there when I wasn't focusing on them. Also, my pelvis was hurting tremendously that day, and I literally felt like he was falling out of me. It seemed to worsen when I would have a noticeable contraction. So I called my doc to make sure I wasn't experiencing real labor. They told me with any regular pregnancy, they would have me go home from work, relax, drink water, and pay attention so I could time the contractions to see if they were still regular. But, because I still showed placenta previa on my last ultra sound appointment, they were concerned if it was true labor, and didn't want me to wait. So they advised me to go to the hospital and let them monitor me for a few hours, so they could see if it was real labor or not.

So we did that Wednesday night- they didn't want to check for dilation because of the placenta's location as well, so they just hooked me up to the belly monitor to measure contractions. I only had about 2-3 in the 3 hours we were there, so they checked to make sure I wasn't bleeding or leaking amniotic fluid, ran a few tests and sent me home. The next day was my regular OB check up, so my doctor said that it's still a bit early, and that baby boys lungs tend to develop slower than girls in pregnancy, so he really doesn't want to jump the gun and have a c-section too early. But he also doesn't want me to progress into real labor, because then we risk placental rupture, hemorrhaging, etc. So, he scheduled me for amniocentesis screening on Monday. With that they will also do another ultrasound. So they can check the placenta's location again, while testing to see if our baby's lungs are developed enough- if they are, they will probably scheduled the c-section sooner than later, because I will be considered full term in a week. If his lungs aren't developed yet, I am sure they will just be monitoring me to ensure I don't go into real labor, and wait it out a bit longer (probably 38 weeks). If the placenta has moved, then I think they will just allow everything to go naturally.

That last option sounded ideal to me weeks ago. But I have been mentally preparing myself for surgery since my 20 week appointment. If they tell me at the last minute that I am clear for normal delivery, I will be a little confused and a little bummed. It would be better to not have surgery, I think. But I have not mentally prepared myself as much as I should have for labor. So that will be difficult, and slightly scary for me.

The amnio test itself does have a possible side effect of inducing real labor- the nurse I spoke with said to go ahead and bring my hospital bag just in case. They will monitor me for a bit after the test is done, and if there are no signs of labor they will send me home and call later with the results. If his lungs are developed enough, and the placenta still has not moved, we could possibly be welcoming our little baby into this world sooner than we expected!! Part of me wants this to happen the most- I am so tired of being pregnant, and I feel like we are as ready as we will ever be, so why not? But I also don't want him to come out before he is ready, just to have to spend time in the NICU. So I have been thinking and praying about it all, and talking to little Sean about it. Hopefully he will help make the best decision for us both, and I will be sure to keep everyone posted!

On a lighter note, yesterday was my last day at AT&T!! For now, anyways. Until my leave of absence runs out. That makes me feel better- I can now get a few more things done before Sean arrives, and have time to sleep during the day. Booyah! We had a lady from the state come and help us install the carseat on Tuesday, that was pretty cool. Yesterday, Mike finished the letters for Sean's name and hung them over the crib. Our friends got us a cool under the sea crib toy, we were both pretty excited about that. Also, we got the frame for the glider chair from Mike's mom. Now we are waiting on cushions- they ship separately, and I think Mike said they are supposed to be here later this week. All we really need to get for his room now is blinds, and we are about done!

35 weeks

2010-01-09T08:27:00.007-06:00

We're almost there!! At 35 weeks, baby Sean is still about 20 inches, and weighing in well over 5 pounds, about the size of a honeydew. While he isn't gaining much length at this point, he is gaining weight, a.k.a body fat. Right now, average babies are about 15 percent body fat, by his due date he should be about 30 percent. His kidneys and hearing should be fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. At this point, he is really just staying in there to get more body fat so he can keep warm outside the womb, and continue to allow his lungs to develop before he takes that first breath of real air.

As for me, I am so done with being pregnant LOL! And Mike apparently is too. I don't think I complain too much, but physically I am soooo ready to have my body back. I thought I was pretty much done with the whole swelling of the feet thing.... not so much. Now they actually seem to swell more when I am asleep, as opposed to before, when being in bed all night was my only relief to swelling. Also, my uterus is apparently up under my ribs at this point, which I can definitely feel! Baby is usually pretty good about not kicking me too hard or too often in the ribcage, but when he does it always startles me!

I have my 36 week appointment scheduled for Thursday (35w5d), and then I think we will schedule an ultrasound for my 38 week appointment. My placenta is still not in a safe place for normal labor and delivery, so he wants to check it once more closer to my due date. If it's still not out of the way enough to allow me to dilate safely, I believe they will schedule a c-section at that point, which I understand will be that week. So we may be welcoming Sean into this world in the first week of February if that is the case!

This next week, I have my last day of work to look forward to!! I am working Monday through Wednesday, scheduled off Thursday, then Friday will be my last day! I also scheduled half of a paid vacation day on Friday, so I only have to be there for 4 hours, yey!! I am so looking forward to being able to take naps during the day, and have that extra time to get everything ready for our new arrival. I am just crossing my fingers and praying hard that Mike can work a little more before the baby is here... My little bit of income was not much, but it was something, and it will be non-existent from Friday until the baby comes, and even then, I think for short term disability I only get 60% of my pay. So if you think about it, our financial situation could use your prayers!!!

Overall, I think we are both so ready to welcome our son into this world. I know we are in for a big surprise, and a lot of sleepless nights, but we are also in for the next lifetime of experience being parents, and I am so thankful for that!

34 weeks

2010-01-03T06:57:00.006-06:00

Our growing baby boy is about 5 pounds and about 20 inches long at this point.... about the size of a cantaloupe. His organs are almost fully matured, with the exception of his lungs- they will continue to develop until birth. His testicles are descending into his scrotum at this point, and his fingernails have grown to reach the tips of his fingers. It's nice to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks with no other health problems generally do just fine- they may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and have a few short term health problems, but in the long run generally do well as full term babies.

I have been doing pretty well this week- went to the doctor again on Thursday for our bi-weekly appointment. He prescribed me some generic prilosec to help with the heartburn pains I have been having- earlier it was just acid reflux, and it seemed pretty bad, but Tums usually knocked it out temporarily, and it was nothing compared to what I have now! I am still just as hungry as I was throughout this pregnancy so far, but if I eat large portions of anything, there is no room for it so I normally throw it up, or it just hurts as I can feel it sitting in my rib cage- our baby is taking up the space where my stomach usually is. So I am forced to eat very small portions often throughout the day, and I can no longer enjoy anything spicy or too acidic. I have been having oranges, lime flavored things etc because I simply cannot cut those things out of my diet. But no more salsa, tomato sauce, etc until this clears up.

In other news, my good friend Katie, who was one of my preggo buddies, due January 10th, had her baby Luke on January 1st! He is a healthy 6 pounds, 1 ounce, and about 18.5 inches. He is a beautiful baby, and I got the pleasure of being able to hold him when he was less than 12 hours old! I am so excited for her and Carl, as we have been going through this pregnancy together, it's so exciting to know that her waiting has paid off! And it is reassuring to me to know that the end is in sight, and soon Mike and I will be celebrating the birth of our own baby boy : ) Luke and Sean I'm sure will be good friends, along with the other babies that our friends are due to be having in 2010. Now I am just a bit nervous- holding my friend's newborn baby makes everything seem so much more real, and I feel like there is so much left to do to prepare for the arrival of our little one, and not enough time to do it all!

33 weeks- Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-26T08:14:00.008-06:00

At 33 weeks, our little growing baby boy is getting to be big! He now weighs about 4 1/2 - 5 lbs and his length ranges between 17.5-19 inches, about the size of a pineapple. According to thebump.com, he may grow up to a full inch alone this week! His body is still fattening up as he gains about a half a pound a week, and his bones are starting to harden. His skull will continue to remain soft and not fully fused together- this allows him to pass through the birth canal, and it will continue to be fairly soft after birth, to make room for his growing brain through childhood.

Mommy has been doing pretty good this week. My sweet husband has taken to sleeping on the couch, which has allowed me to get almost a full 8 hours of sleep each night (minus the bathroom break of course!) I guess our full sized bed is just running out of room with my humungous belly! My feet continue to swell, and sometimes I am having Braxton Hicks contractions, but not too often. I am definitely getting some stretch marks now, unfortunately, and my biggest complaint is usually that I am just plain uncomfortable and huge! But it was fun to think yesterday, as we woke up on Christmas morning, about 12 months from now when we will be pulling a 10 month old baby out of his crib to open the presents that Santa brought : )

Our baby room looks a bit more complete now, we have the crib put together, which is a huge eye opener to us first-time parents. Kinda helps to make it real! I am looking forward to the glider that the Skinner side of the family will be pitching in for- now we are looking for some sort of dresser and nightstand to put in the nursery as well. Here is a link to the facebook pics we have accumulated of Sean's room in progress.

Christmas was nice this year. Mike was home for it, which is always wonderful. I also appreciated it a lot, because I am very used to having a full house, and both of our roommates went to Seattle this year for Christmas, so I probably would have been a bit lonely and even jealous if Mike had not been here. We got up in the morning, opened the presents that my parents sent us, and went to making breakfast- stuffed french toast, yum! Then we showered and got ready to go see the movie Avatar. We got there early, to find out they were opening late for Christmas. So we went back to our house with our two couple friends that were hanging out with us for the day- Tiff and Dan, and Katie and Carl. We watched some movies, the boys played video games, and I made some crock pot chili to sit while we went back to catch the 3 o'clock showing of Avatar. After the movie we just came back to our house to relax and enjoy the rest of Christmas. I spent the end of my day watching Mike play his game on xbox as I fell asleep on the couch. It was a very relaxing day, just like it should be : )

Last week I made a gingerbread house with some friends over at Kylie's house. Mike was still offshore, so we unfortunately didn't make the 2 story plantation style home he was drawing up blueprints for : ) But we did have fun, and took some pictures while we were there- here is the link to my facebook album.

32 weeks

2009-12-19T18:40:00.011-06:00

This week, Baby Sean is weighing close to, or maybe more than, 4 lbs., and measuring about 17-19 inches (depending on what you read!). Pick up a large jicama to get an idea of what his weight is like. I'm supposed to be gaining about a pound a week from here until the due date, and about half of that goes right to him. He now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least some respectable peach fuzz) and his skin is becoming soft and smooth as he plumps up in preparation for birth. His head is down at this point, as it's probably the most comfortable for him as he continues to run out of space, and it's the direction he needs to be in to be delivered normally.

As for Mommy this week, I have all the typical 3rd trimester complaints- my ankles and feet are both swelling like crazy, and unfortunately I never get any full relief from it. My lower back and hips ache constantly, especially when I am sitting or lying down for long periods of time, and I tire very easily when walking or doing anything physical. I am starting to feel pretty useless at this point, and I am not sure what I will do because we still have 8 weeks to go! I was able to get the laundry basket out of the bedroom and I'm working on a second load to wash right now. I've been trying to keep up with the housework- it's easier when Mike is offshore, I try not to make too much of a mess by myself, and I don't feel like I have anyone to impress so the house is allowed to get a little dirty : ) I already told Mike if it bothers him that the house needs to be vacuumed or toilets cleaned that he is more than welcome to do so, but because his son is constantly kicking and pressing against my lungs it's getting to be more difficult for me to do it by myself!

Today I mailed out Christmas cards, went to Babies R Us and bought our stroller/car seat combo, and went to Target for groceries. I was able to spend about $25 less than I had originally anticipated, so that made me super happy- that money goes towards filling up the gas tank! I cannot wait until January 1st- Mike should have a decent paycheck coming in and I won't have to keep stressing about the cash flow in our bank account. We are crossing our fingers that his work stays steady through all of January, that way he can be home with Sean and I after the birth for a month or two (or three if we are lucky!) before he has to go back to work. It's a risky bet to make- his job is so seasonal and winter is usually very slow.

I guess I forgot to mention I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Everything was pretty good- I told him I was getting a lot of dizziness and shortness of breath. Part of the reason is my lungs and diaphragm are running out of room, so I am literally getting less oxygen to my brain sometimes ; ) He also ran some blood work, and said everything was normal but my blood sugar was a little high. He advised me to eat often, every 2 hours or so, and try to find low carb/high protein snacks so my blood sugar doesn't spike and then drop, which may be what's causing the dizzy spells. I got also my doctor's approval at our appointment on Wednesday to leave my work at 36 weeks, so January 15th will be my last day, woohoo!! That way I can be home resting/nesting until the baby is here, and at that point I will be on a short term disability for 6-8 weeks, with some pay. After that I am allowed up to a year off with leave of absence, no pay. I am not sure when I will schedule to go back to work, or if I will stay for long when I return. Ideally I want to find something where I can work from home, but I guess all of that will fall into place when it needs to.

31 weeks

2009-12-12T07:40:00.007-06:00

So at 31 weeks our countdown truly begins.... we're all single digits now! 9 weeks until our due date of February 13th, and 5 weeks until they'll consider us full term! If you remember last week, they estimated our baby at about 3 lbs, 8-9 oz at the ultrasound on 12/3. Well, according to all the baby sites I read about pregnancy, at 31 weeks our baby should be somewhere between 3.5-3.8 lbs. So he is ahead of the game! Which makes me happy, hopefully it means he is healthy! Babycenter.com says to compare his weight at this point to 4 navel oranges- so we'll call it 5 just to compare. I'll tell you, my belly feels a lot heavier than 5 oranges LOL! But there's a lot of fluids, etc. in there as well, so it's to be expected. At this point in pregnancy, he can turn his head back and forth, and all 5 senses are in working order, but he won't use smell until out of the womb. His brain is making connections with all those senses- tracking light, recognizing different voices, and (lucky for me) he is putting in normal sleeping periods. I notice he isn't quite as active allllllll day as he was for the last few weeks. He is still very active during the times that he is! But I actually get a break here and there, where he must be sleeping. I wonder what he dreams about?

This past week I have been bargain shopping. We had our baby shower last Sunday, and it was wonderful. We got lots of nice things, and I am sure we will still be receiving gifts here and there, but afterwards it made my nesting brain make a list of things we still need to get before his arrival. I have been accumulating coupons and shopping for the best deals I can, since we are broke as a joke, we need to save as much as we can, while still preparing for Sean to be here in possibly less than 2 months. We got our mattress last week with a 15% off coupon, and I ordered a breast pump online with a 20% off coupon. I also used a great deal suggested a long time ago by my friend Sarah at jilliansdrawers.com for cloth diapers. You buy a whole variety of newborn cloth diapers for $150, try them out for 21 days after baby arrives, and if you don't like them at all, you send them back and they refund you $140. You only have to pay that $10 difference plus shipping. It's an incredible deal, and eliminates the number one problem I have heard about moms trying out cloth diapers- they think they know what they want, so they buy a bunch of one kind of diaper, and they don't fit right or they don't like the way they work so they give up. I really want to try it out, and hope it works, but I am realistic in saying that I have never done it before, so we will see once it is a reality. I just think about 6 months from now, while all the other moms are still buying Pampers at $25 a box, I will be content with our cloth diapers that we already have, never needing to buy more unless I want a new color, etc. And that landfill of dirty diapers that I see in my head is lowly decreasing in size, which makes me feel oh so much better.

This week we will be getting our crib, and next week will be the stroller/car seat combo, with the help of Mike's parents and mine. I am so excited to think about getting everything ready, but man, who thought babies needed so much different stuff!! The good news..... Mike went offshore last night!!!! Woohoo!!! Now our fingers are crossed that he stays out there for several weeks LOL. He has no idea how long this job will last, so let's hope it's not just 1-2 days. Even that would be helpful at this point, but we'll still hope for the better.

Here is a link to my facebook album with shower pics (I didn't feel like uploading them all to Blogger...) and here is my belly pic for the week. Mike isn't here, so after several attempts at a good picture, this was the best I could take by myself LOL.

30 weeks

2009-12-05T05:59:00.009-06:00

Just as a disclaimer, at this point in the pregnancy, the updates I have been doing may vary a lot more for each baby, as development can vary so much. But just for fun sake, I will keep doing them anyway: D

At 30 weeks, our baby is about the size of a cabbage (our very own cabbage patch kid!) weighing in at about 3 lbs and getting close to 16 inches long. His skin is becoming more smooth, but his brain is getting more wrinkly, increasing the surface area making more room for that essential brain tissue. Now that he can regulate his own body temperature, he is shedding the downy body hair called lanugo which was previously keeping him warm.

We went to the doc on Thursday, and had another ultrasound. No good pics, unfortunately- he is a bit too big to capture very much in one screen, which is a good thing! I was 29w5d at my appt., but he was measuring at 30w3d- about 3 lbs. 8-9 oz. So our little man is growing healthy and strong! His head is about as far down into my pelvic bone as he can get- I am starting to feel the results of that. They were trying to get a good look that the placenta and my cervix, and his big head was in the way most of the time! They did see that the placenta moved a bit since my 20w U/S, but not quite enough. Doc says he still considers it placenta previa, just meaning that the placenta partially covers my cervix. He recommended one more U/S at 36 weeks, since it is almost out of the way, and it if continues to be stubborn, it just means I have a scheduled c-section instead of a normal delivery. In the meantime, I am on light duty activities for the most part, but I can continue to work until 36 weeks since it's just a desk job.

My sleep schedule is constant now for the most part- I wake up about every 3 hours. I am guessing that will be Sean's schedule when he gets here, I can't see any other reason why I can't sleep more than 3 hour at a time without waking up! He kicks a lot now, to the point where my stomach looks like there is an alien trying to break out inside! I was even telling Mike that I think he has somehow bruised parts of me on the inside. He will kick, and at first it doesn't bother me, and then he will kick another spot and it feels so tender it hurts. But I am so happy and excited to think about meeting this little guy, in as little as 6 weeks, or hopefully no longer than 10 weeks!

In other news, Mike was sweet enough to cater to my needs of having Christmas decorations up soon after Thanksgiving. He hung the Christmas lights on the house on Monday night with Josh, and then we picked out a tree and put that up in the living room. I was too exhausted to do much on Monday (I actually stayed home from work that day because the exhaustion was too much to handle) but then when I went back to work on Tuesday he got the tree all decorated for me! Our living room is a little short on space now, but it's beautiful. I have been listening to a lot of Christmas music, especially instrumental (my favorite). I broke out the Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker, and have been listening to that full blast in my car. They say having your baby listen to classical music helps with brain development- I don't know if it's true or not, but it calms me down and I like it, so that alone must be good for him.

Today Mike and I are off to Lamaze- I am so glad my friend Katie (who is 35 weeks tomorrow!) and her hubby will be there with us. Mike and I went to the hospital tour and birthing basics class on Tuesday, and it was waaaay too crowded for my liking, and I could feel the tension from Mike as he tried to not look like he wanted to run away screaming. So hopefully having some friends there will help make it more comfortable. Tomorrow is the baby shower and I am so excited! But the only problem is that it is at my house, and due to my extreme exhaustion, I have not been cleaning house much- and I am embarrassed to think about having so many people here unless I clean up a bit. I am going to see how much I can get done when I get home today, like a quick vacuum and tidying of the living room, and the rest will just have to wait.

29 weeks

2009-11-27T20:14:00.009-06:00

11 weeks until the due date, 7 weeks until we're full term.... I am ready to be done with this pregnancy!! At 29 weeks, our baby is about 2.5 lbs or so, and longer than 15 inches (about the size of a butternut squash). He is almost at what his birth length will be, but he will at least double, if not triple his weight by the time he is due! His muscles and lungs are developing more and more, and his head is getting larger to make room for his growing brain.

This week mommy has been busy! For Thanksgiving, and we had about 20 people at our house for dinner! It was nice though- all we made was a baked 20 lb maple glazed turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin dessert bars, green bean casserole, apple cider, and stovetop stuffing. Everyone else made everything else! Mashed potatoes, fried turkey, more stuffing and yams, pecan pie, corn casserole, cranberry sauce.... all of it was so yummy! It was nice, because a lot of our friends are recent Louisiana transplants, so for most of them it was their first Thanksgiving away from their families... Mike and I, on the other hand, have celebrated 4 Thanksgivings here now, and are kind of used to the idea of doing it on our own. I am hoping next year we will be able to fly Sean to see some family for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we will see!

Mike also made some shelves to put in Sean's room- for books, toys, etc. They look very nice, I am very happy with them. It was hard to decide where to put them, since we have no furniture yet, but I think they will be fine where they are at, and we have our shower in a week, so hopefully we will have some things to put in his room at that point! I know it is a bit early for me to be "nesting" but I am so anxious to get everything done!! I am pretty sure that is why I am not sleeping well. I always feel like there is something more to do, not just in the nursery, but all over the house. It never feels clean enough, and there is always a project that needs to be finished. I am really trying not to overdo it, because my energy levels literally cannot handle it, but my brain can only take so much lying down!

Here's my 29 week belly shot. It's cold outside, so I feel like the layers make me look fatter than I really am, but oh well.

Baby is getting big now! I can feel his kicks (or punches, I guess) in my hip bones now, but he seems to stay away from my ribs so far. You can tell he is running out of room- when he is moving around a lot, my whole stomach moves like a wave, it's pretty neat looking. I am anxious for this upcoming week. We are doing a birthing basics class at the hospital, along with a tour, on Tuesday. Then on Thursday we have our appointment, where we will have another ultrasound to see if I still have placenta previa. Saturday is Lamaze for most of the day, and then Sunday is our baby shower!

I am hoping the Christmas lights get up on the house by the end of this weekend, and I can't wait to get a tree. Mike still hasn't been to work yet in about 6 weeks, so I am worried we may not be able to afford one, but we will see. Money is super tight now, with my decreased work schedule and waiting for offshore work, and of course baby on the way. I am trying with all of my heart to trust that things will all work out, just like they always do, but sometimes that seems highly unlikely, or even impossible.

That's all for now- next post will include ultrasound pictures, so look out for that!

28 weeks

2009-11-21T06:41:00.013-06:00

Welcome to the third trimester!!! We are finally in the last leg of the pregnancy, and it's sure to be a doozy! Mommy is supposed to gain about 11 pounds this trimester (I gained more than that in both the first and second I think, so I am a little worried about the third- fingers crossed I don't gain too much!) and baby will probably gain 3-4 times his current weight by the end of it all!

This week baby is about 2.25-2.5 pounds, and about 15-16 inches long (about the size of a chinese cabbage). He is developing billions of neurons in the brain at this time, and his lungs are still getting stronger as the weeks go by. If I haven't mentioned it by now, his eyes now have eyelashes, and he has recently begun to experience REM, which means he may already be dreaming as he sleeps.

I went for my "28 week" checkup on Thursday, even though my weekly mark is always on Saturdays. I had my glucose screening then, which I assume went fine because I never got a call about my lab work, and no news is usually good news : ) The doc says everything is still great, his heartbeat was about 138, and after poking at my stomach a bit he said he is already moving into "position" which means his head at the bottom and his legs and booty are up top : D We scheduled an appointment for 2 weeks from Thursday (I will be going every two weeks from now until 36 weeks, then I will be going once a week until birth) and at my next appointment we will do another ultrasound! I am excited for that- we were only supposed to have the one routine ultrasound at 20 weeks, but since my placenta was partially covering my cervix at that appointment, they need to check it again and make sure it moves out of the way. Which means I get a few more snapshots of our precious baby boy!

When I posted my blog last week I got a little bit ahead of myself and may have been a bit too cocky- I mentioned how everyone around me (especially Mike) was getting sick and how proud I was that I avoided it.... Sunday night my throat was itchy, and my eyes watering, and my nose stuffy/runny- I ended up calling in sick to work Mon, Tues, and Wed : ( I am feeling much better now, but let me tell you, being sick while being pregnant is no fun at all!

This week my lovable husband finished painting Sean's room, I love it! I cannot wait to get the new carpeting, and get furniture in there, it will feel like a real bedroom! My friend Katie said the other day (she is 5 weeks ahead of me and just had her baby shower) that now that they have everything they need, technically they would be ready for their son to make his appearance any day now! And that just hit me- once we have everything we need to get started, and the bedroom put together, we should be ready for him to get here- all this time spent planning and anticipating, and the day is almost here! I can't quite grasp it yet.... But here are some pics of the room- one before, a few in progress, and then a few of the final product!

This is a pic of when our friend Doug was living in this room-

he was going for a "lounge" theme....

This is with the blue primer on top, and the first coat of the dark color on bottom, with trim still primed but not painted

Here we have all the trim and color complete, but the chair rail is not up yet, and the outlets are not the new ones.

These ones start the final product- Mike's mom and dad sent the picture on the wall, and the sailboat on the windowsill is Mike's, it's his first gift to his son : )

27 weeks

2009-11-14T11:22:00.009-06:00

The final week of the second trimester- I can't believe how quickly it has been going by! I was looking through my collection of baby bump pictures, and I remember thinking I was sooo huge at like 10 weeks LOL. Well, I think I am in for a surprise as baby will probably be getting much bigger as the third trimester approaches.

This week, according to my collection of info from babycenter.com, thebump.com, and whattoexpectwhileyoureexpecting.com, our baby has been sleeping and waking at regular intervals, practicing opening and closing his eyes, and developing those lungs by "breathing" the amniotic fluid. At this point (with lots of medical assistance) his lungs are developed enough for life outside the womb. He is about 2 pounds this week, and about 14.5 inches long from head to toe, comparable to a head of cauliflower.

I went back to work this week- the previous week, if you remember, was like a vacation for me : D Back to reality at some point though. They have been offering a lot of "excused unpaid time off" this week at work, and I am already entitled to 10 hours off a week by my doctor, so it has been hard not to gobble it all up when it is offered! I have been so tired and achy, it's nice to be at home with the luxury of a couch, bed, etc. But we need the money right now, especially with Mike being home for the last 4-5 weeks, we need to get this nest egg ready!! This weekend we plan on finishing up the paint job in Sean's room, and then hopefully next month we will be installing the new carpet.

My feet have been swelling again (I knew it was too good to be true when they stopped!) and consistently, every Friday (sometimes the day before or after too) my belly is achy- I think that Friday is his growth spurt day, so my tummy feels stretched and sore. Cold packs have been helping for the swollen feet a little, and I have been trying to avoid salty foods, but it is harder than you think! My biggest accomplishment this week has been avoiding getting sick- Mike caught a cold over the weekend, and was stuck on the couch all day Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday trying to kick it. And all I got was a scratchy throat and cough for a day or two, whoopee! Knock on wood it stays that way!! I think the worst thing I have been experiencing is the lack of sleep, even comparable to insomnia. I seem to fall asleep just fine, sometime between 9:30 and 11 pm usually. But right around 3 am is when I first wake up to go to the bathroom, and it is all downhill from there.... I am lucky if I can stay in bed past 6 am. Tossing, turning, achy hips, legs, feet, back, tummy, arms. Everything feels sore in bed at that point, and pillows don't help any more either. The only two nights I got a decent amount of sleep was after I ran a bath with Johnson and Johnson's bedtime bath bubbles. So I am trying to make a habit of doing that every night before bed.

Side note- remember my post from a month or two ago asking about the fruit in our backyard? Here is a pic of them now that they have ripened. I think they are satsumas, or some kind of tangerine. Whatever they are, they are delicious!!!

26 weeks

2009-11-07T20:44:00.006-06:00

As baby Sean continues to grow, he is putting on the weight and inches. He is close to (if not already at) 2 lbs and measures about 14 inches in length from head to toes (about the length of an English hothouse cucumber). Eyes are starting to open, which means he may startle or react to light near my belly. And his nerves in his ears are more developed, which can also mean more activity in response to certain sounds. Also his testicles are starting to descend into his scrotum- it takes about 2-3 days for that process to complete.

This week mommy has been battling some swollen ankles (I know, again? But this time it is mainly ankles and not my entire feet!) and some major heartburn. The weight of the baby has really hit me harder than normal this week- my feet are exhausted, along with my hips. I've also been experiencing the belly taking up it's space- this morning I almost spilled my coffee because I bumped it with my belly while trying to sit at the kitchen table!

But this week has also been fun- I only had to work M-W this week, and then my parents flew into town Wednesday night, I have been vacationing with them here since Thursday. The are flying back home tomorrow, but we have enjoyed having them here. We celebrated my 26th birthday on Thursday, which was one of the best birthdays I have had in a long time- First, my husband made me breakfast (my favorite, french toast!) and then my mom and I went to get our nails done. Then we went to the mall, where I got a few fall maternity clothes and a new comfy bra from VS. Much needed, at this point, I will take what I can get to help with back pain. Then we went home, took a quick nap, and met up with a bunch of friends for dinner at the Olive Garden. It has been tradition every year in LA so far to have dinner there on my birthday, but up until this time it was always just me and Mike. The service there was great, and I got so much food and dessert it was almost too much to handle! My friends chipped in and bought me an ice cream cake too- not just any old ice cream cake, but they actually drove to the Dairy Queen in Rayne and got a real ice cream cake, with the yummy fudge chocolate center! I was ecstatic : ) Then we all just hung out and talked until it was late and went to bed. I felt so loved and special, it was a great day : D

25 weeks

2009-11-01T11:35:00.005-06:00

Baby Boy is up to about a pound and a half now, and about 13.5 inches head to toe, about the size of an eggplant. He is starting to put some fat on those skinny little arms and legs now, and his wrinkled skin is starting to smooth out. His hair is starting to get some color to it, his nostrils (which have been plugged up until now) are starting to open, and his vocal chords are beginning to develop. Under his skin, capillaries are forming and filling with blood, and by weeks end, air sacs (also lined with capillaries) will develop in his lungs, getting him ready for that first real breath.

Same old, same old for Mommy this week- pregnancy is a little exhausting, and different symptoms are more prominent each week, while others become less noticeable. But I am so excited to think that in about 3 months is when we will be welcoming this baby into our world! As long as I keep reminding myself that, then it all seems more than worth it.

This week at home we have been a bit busy- preparing for lots of guests, mostly. Doug came back to visit for a couple nights, Monday and Tuesday. He and Mike worked on priming the walls in Sean's room. We picked out some paint, and chair rail, and the new carpeting will probably get done next month. Mike's mom from Austin came into town on Friday, hung out with us for the day, and then went into New Orleans yesterday. Josh's friends from WA are here now, they just flew in yesterday. Now I am preparing for my parents to fly into town on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to seeing them, and also to the 4 1/2 day weekend : D

24 weeks

2009-10-25T11:27:00.007-05:00

This post may be a bit short... I spent a lot of time on the computer last night and this morning organizing my pictures and putting up a blog post about our pumpkin carving yesterday.... so now I am tired of being at the computer, and I have lots of laundry to do today. So here goes!

So at 24 weeks, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball (goodness that seems so huge!) and to top of it has risen above my belly button now (which you can tell because my belly button looks totally different that it did before I was pregnant!) and our baby boy is about the length of an ear of corn, just about a foot long. He should have gained about 4 ounces in the last week. His brain is growing very quickly now ( I have been good about taking my fish oil/DHA supplements!) and so are his lungs- they are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree," as well as developing cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still very thin and translucent, but that will change soon.

As for Mommy, it is getting harder and harder to get comfortable, at any given time- sitting, laying down, standing. And I keep thinking "oh my goodness, can I deal with this for another 3.5 months?" My hips hurt at night- my body pillow helps a little, but we sleep in a full sized bed, so sometimes I think me and the pillow take up a little more than our fair share of the bed. And sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night on my back, with my arms up over my head. Not only am I not supposed to sleep on my back, but when I put my arms over my head they get very cold, because all of the blood leaves them, so they are sore in the morning. And it's difficult to breathe on my back. I can feel little pops in my lower rib cage when I breathe in very deep. Being pregnant makes me feel like my body is old and out of shape! But I am feeling pretty good other than that. I got a decreased work schedule approved by my doctor, so it has been nice to be able to go home early on some days.

That's all I got for now- Doctor appointment is this Thursday, as well as Angelia (Mike's mom in TX) is coming to stay for a night. I'll keep you posted!

Pumpkin Carving!!

2009-10-24T23:38:00.018-05:00

We had a nice little fall get-together at our house yesterday. Autumn is my favorite time of the year- it's cool outside, and I love fall smells and flavors- pumpkin, cinnamon, apples, etc..... Yesterday we had good friends over, carved pumpkins, and made all sorts of goodies.... I made Mike's favorite slow-cooked chili. Annie made some yummy apple cider. Katie made apple crisp. Bec made some pumpkin bread. And everyone chipped in after carving pumpkins to make baked pumpkin seeds. Yummy : D The pumpkin carving was fun too, it was the first year where I didn't just do a basic jack-o-lantern face. I saw a maternity t-shirt I wanted to get at this link, and so we made it into a stencil to put on my pumpkin- it's a pregnant skeleton, in case you can't see the link. Mike of course did a Harley logo. Our friend Dan did a Jack Daniel's logo. Tiff's is a cat. Bec's is the "M" (for her last name). Katie's is "Trick or Treat." Mario did a basic smiley. And Annie's is a jack-o-lantern with a gigantic mouth- we are going to get some baby pumpkins and draw faces on them, for the monster pumpkin to eat : D

So now I feel fat after eating so much good food yesterday (and this morning!) and I spent a long time organizing these photos on Blogger in the order that made most sense, so I am tired of blogging.... here are some of the pics- enjoy!!

23 weeks

2009-10-17T10:00:00.009-05:00

Well compared to last week, not a whole lot of "new" development going on, I was a little disappointed.... all of my weekly update websites say pretty much the same as last week. Baby is probably between 11-12 inches this week, and weighing in at more than a pound. The only thing different that I read this week that excites me is that now is the time that baby starts putting on the chub.... he's gonna fatten up like a good baby should! It says that between now and then end of the month, Baby will double in weight : ) I am trying to think of that as a mother, and be very happy about that, and not think about it as someone who will be giving birth, which then it scares me a little LOL.

Just because the websites don't say a whole lot doesn't mean there isn't anything going on for us though! My belly is getting big enough now that my belly button looks different. I played some music the other day, with one headphone in my ear and one up to my belly..... Dream Theater Sean was kicking around a lot for. Not as much for Jimi Hendrix. Sean kicks a lot though- it's nice to know he is there, but sometimes it makes it hard to sleep.

I think I have come to the conclusion that soda is what makes my feet swell. I tried this theory out this week- no soda since Thursday, and so far no swelling. Knock on wood. Also it has been nice and cool out, which helps. But I really don't eat that much salty food, and soda has a lot of sodium in it. So that's my theory.

Josh's mom (grandma #4) sent us some clothes the other day. Between what she sent us, and what other people have been sending, what I already know Mike's mom has in Austin, this boy is going to be stylin! And the best news is, we probably won't have to buy clothes for a long time! Bonus!

This is our favorite outfit so far- jeans from Karen, shirt from Josh's girlfriend Abby, shoes from Josh, and Mike picked out the hat : )

Also, I went to get my hair done this week- as I am getting larger, it gets harder to feel "pretty." I just feel pregnant. So I told the man at the salon to make my hair beautiful, and I think he did! I love it, and he really listened to me when I told him I am low maintenance- the only things I know how to use are a round brush and a straightening iron, neither of which I can use well, and I hate using products. It's perfect! He put some blonde highlights in just the top/front, the rest he was able to match my natural color almost perfectly!! Which is great- I was getting so sick of my 3 inch natural roots with my unnatural hair color LOL.

Mike went to Pensacola, FL this week to visit our friend Doug- he took some pics, so I figured I would post some of those as well. We are planning to make a trip back there together soon. Lucky dog, it was so beautiful there, I was jealous I had to work. Bout a 5 hour drive, and he took his motorcycle. He is trying to fit in some nice long rides while he still can. After Baby gets here, it will be a little while before he can take a long trip away from home like that.

That's about it for our updates for now. I am so excited, we are almost into the third trimester!! I've signed up for birthing and baby classes already. Craziness!

22 weeks

2009-10-11T10:00:00.003-05:00

Baby is now about 11 inches from head to toe, and weighing at about a pound, Sean is about the size of a spaghetti squash, or a papaya. His eyes are fully formed, and has hair on his head, but both are lacking pigment for a few more weeks to come. His pancreas is steadily developing in his body, and he is starting to "sprout" nipples. His face is fully formed, with everything in its place as it should be. At this point in pregnancy, most babies start to settle into some sort of sleep cycle, sleeping about 12-14 hours at a time. I can tell you that I hardly go 12-14 hours without feeling his gymnastics inside my belly, but maybe he just moves a lot in his sleep!

My feet started swelling again. I was so excited, I made it almost a whole week with no swelling at all! Then I left my birkenstocks in my car one day at work, and the heat melted the glue, and they completely fell apart. I am back to wearing flip flops, until some swelling goes down, then maybe I will switch to sneakers, but for now I don't like having my swollen ankles hanging out over my socks, and I doubt my feet would fit into my sneakers right now anyways.

We have been getting little gifts here and there for our baby boy- Josh bought him his first pair of Vans shoes, which are adorable : ) And a friend at work gave me some cute white and blue sneakers from Gerber that she found on sale. Our good friend Katy from WA sent us some handmade goodies in the mail- some homemade belly butter for me, and some onesies with embroidery on them, some handsewn rattles, and a quilted travel changing pad. I am accumulating the new things in his room right now- no furniture yet, but that's ok because one: we still have plenty of time, and two: even though Doug moved out of that room, it still needs to be painted and re carpeted. He's planning on coming back to help us with that in a week or two. I am hoping that by Christmas time, after the baby shower, I will be able to begin my "nesting" phase. It has actually started for me a bit, in a different way already- I clean a lot more than I used to. Or should I say, I tidy. I pick up after myself, which is not habit I used to have. I was more of a make a mess and clean it up once a week kind of person. Now, I have decided today because my feet are so swollen and I have been so grumpy from not sleeping well, that today I am not going to clean at all. And it is killing me. All I can look at are carpets that need to be vacuumed, and laundry that needs to be washed, and dishes that need to be put away..... But instead, I am off now to enjoy a movie with my hubby with my feet propped up and work on my crocheting- I have too many friends with babies, I need to get working on these baby blankets!!

In Home Daycare

2009-10-08T10:05:00.005-05:00

This will be one of my first posts outside of my pregnancy week-by-week updates.... shows what's been on my mind!!

So I have been looking into becoming a stay at home mom. Nothing official yet, mostly because my current job has INCREDIBLE insurance benefits and pays pretty well for being in Louisiana with no college degree. But I am weighing the options of paying more for the insurance through Mike's company and then saving on the money for childcare. Plus I am really against having to put our child into full-time daycare before the age of two. I do want the social interactions, I plan on taking breaks to go out with hubby and do my own thing before then, but honestly if I can be at home for at most of the time for the first two years, I think it is best. Even if I worked part time.

So as most of you know, I used to teach at a Montessori preschool for 5 years before moving to Louisiana. I did after-school during my senior year in high school, then as soon as I graduated I took the Montessori training, and did a full time internship for the next two years. Then I had my own classroom for two years (well, a year and a half, actually- my room was still under construction for the first half of that year, my classroom opened I want to say February?) I absolutely loved teaching, especially the age group. I worked with a classroom of mixed ages 2.5-6. I don't know if I truly knew it was my calling until I stopped doing it. I have been thinking about it ever since. First I shied away from it because I didn't want another full time job, and was worried about taking a part time job as an assistant. Then my excuse was pay- I was making about $15/hr by the time I left WA. I would be lucky to make anything more than minimum wage in LA at any childcare facility. My lastest excuse (aside from pay and benefits) is that I am worried because it would be so different down here that what I am used to back home. I was in a high income, high class neighborhood where people paid approx. $800-$1200/mo for full time childcare, mom and dad worked for Microsoft kind of a thing. Not to mention the Montessori aspect is just plain different- in the South, there are a lot of public Montessori schools, for grades higher than preschool, and it just seems so very different. Honestly I was (and still am) intimidated by it, afraid I would get a job there and hate it.

So this brings me to what my "5 year plan" is.... I am hoping that I can figure out a way to stay at home with my baby, and maybe watch other peoples kids too as a source of income. Nothing huge- I know full time childcare down here tends to run about $4-500/mo, and I can't see myself charging that.

My concerns are few, but important. First, licensing. I called the Division of Early Childhood Development for Louisiana today- the info I have found online says they are in charge of licensing. I asked what do I do to get a license- they said for 6 kids or less in a home, no license is required. I was like, is that it? Yep. Ok then... that seems simple enough.... yet it feels like it complicates things. Nobody is going to make sure that I have a suitable home to watch children in it? I guess that's ok with me- I wasn't planning on advertising to watch strangers' kids, I was going to stick with friends and referrals.

Next question I have is insurance. Do I just get insurance through my homeowners? Are they even going to let me? We have an FHA loan, which is the kind of loan that allows to you put most of your loan into one- rather than say two loans, 20% and 80%, we have like a 97% loan or something like that. Because it is so much in one loan, they are very particular about what the home is being used for- they were very specific in letting us know that we had to live here for one- it's not a renter's policy, and they would drop us if we were to use it as one. So now I am nervous to find out about in home daycare as an add on. But I think it will be as simple as calling as asking... I am just not sure what to do if they say no way.

Last thing is money- Is it just as simple as setting aside a certain percentage towards taxes at the end of the year? Do I need some sort of a business license? How does that all work out?

These are just my ramblings as I prepare for the next chapter in life. Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.

21 weeks

2009-10-04T07:23:00.006-05:00

It's a BOY!!!!

We went to our Ultrasound on Thursday, and got to see out little man in action. It was one of the coolest things ever! This was the first ultrasound we have had so far, and I think it made it so much more real and personal to us- that is our SON in there! So it's officially Sean William Reed now. He's just doing his thing, growing in my belly : D

So here are some pics... I still need to get to a scanner so I can get the pics to show their full quality. We don't have a scanner, so I just took photos of the U/S pics with our camera and uploaded them to the computer for now. There are some profile shots too, but I was having a hard time with those- the camera reflection kept showing in the pic, or they came out blurry.

Here is his beautiful face

And another of his face : ) I love that you can see where his eyes and nose and chin and everything is at!

It's a boy!!! This was the first boy shot where we found out! : )

This boy shot she took during the video.... He was turning over while we were recording video of the U/S (I guess he was done with all of the attention), so she tried to get a boy shot in before he completely hid himself.

This is my favorite pic... in all of the profile pics, the tech was commenting on how his knees were right next to his eyes- he was curled up so tight! At the end of the video, you see him try to turn around and show us his back. The next thing you know, we are looking at this pic. His head and knees are in perfect alignment, and his butt is straight up in the air, and his feet are pushing out against the sides.... I told Mike no wonder why his "kicks" sometimes just feel like pushes- this is how he gets comfortable!!

I tried to upload the video right to this page, but it was taking WAY too long.... I already got it uploaded to youtube, so here's the link.... Sean William Reed's first movie

So, I don't remember what they said his length was at the U/S, but she did say he was measuring at 20w6d, and that day I was at 20w5d, so right on track! They said anything within 4 days keeps the same due date, so we are on! I did hear her say they think he was about 14-15 oz at the U/S.... in reading my updates in babycenter.com, thebump.com, and whattoexpect.com 21 weeks the baby is normally about 10-12 oz.... so I guess he is a bit heavier than most at his age! Lengthwise, average for 21 weeks is about 10.5 inches head to foot, about the length of a banana. And milestones are that his eyes are moving and eyelids and eyebrows are formed. His eyes aren't opening yet, but studies show they are moving under the eyelids anyways. His biggest goals for the next few weeks (months, really) is weight gain. And since he tastes what I taste now, what I eat is very important to his future taste preferences.

At 21 weeks I think I am feeling my best so far. My feet have still been swelling, but yesterday was the first day where my right foot and ankle were actually a normal size all day!! I told the doctor that my feet were swollen pretty much all the time, and he asked (while manipulating my feet and ankles) "does this hurt?" I said no. He asked if I had ever had any major injuries to that foot, I said no. He said, "Well, it just looks like aggravation from the pregnancy. It will get worse." I almost laughed. I know everyone has been telling me that other than propping my feet up and taking it easy, my feet will swell no matter what I do. I guess my doctor was just keeping it real for me as well.

My only concerns at this point are that my doctor mentioned that the U/S showed the placenta covering my cervix, or "posterior" as he worded it.... He said they will probably do another U/S in 1-2 months to see if it moves. He told me not to worry about it now.... so I asked what happens if it doesn't move, and he said it means I would have to have a c-section instead of normal delivery. No big deal, but they need to act quick for this type of c-section due to heavy bleeding possibilities on my end.... so me being the dummy I am, I looked up the condition online. Of course I read about all the worst case scenarios. What's the point? There's nothing I can do to make the placenta move. All it's going to do now is make me worry. Which he told me not to do. So I am trying not to.

On a lighter note, we went to Baby's R' Us on Friday and registered.... We were there for 3 hours! But I think we registered for everything we could think of!! I am also planning on registering at Target, because I know it is a bit easier for some people. But honestly I liked the stuff that Baby's R' Us has better than what Target has. And I don't trust Walmart enough to buy anything for Baby from there.

20 weeks- the halfway mark

2009-09-27T11:21:00.003-05:00

This week is a big milestone- we are officially halfway to the due date, which is 40 weeks. And that's if I make it that long- technically anything after 36 weeks is considered full term. Woohoo! I still feel huge for how far I am, but apparently us moms come in all shapes and sizes. Also this week is big, because we will be having the first (and only planned) ultrasound. We get to see baby's size, movements, profile- all of the wonderful things we have only been guessing about this whole time! And of course, everyone is dying to know if our little bean is a boy or a girl! : ) Mike just left to go offshore today, so we are crossing our fingers he makes it back in time for the ultrasound on Thursday. If not, I hate to bum you all out, but I promised I would put the "goods" picture in an envelope and not let the tech spill the beans, and Mike and I will find out together. Which means I won't know until he does, which also means no one else will know. Sorry. But he is super bummed to think that he may miss out on the ultrasound, so this is the best we can do to make things right for him.

So this week, according to babycenter.com our baby is the size of a banana! And thebump.com says the size of a cantaloupe! Both of which should be about 6.5 inches (measuring baby from crown to rump) and about 10.6 ounces. From here going forward, they will start measuring baby from crown to heel, so that puts baby at a whopping 10.5 inches! That's almost a foot!! Baby is drinking lots of amniotic fluid at this point, both for nutrition, and also to practice swallowing and digesting. They say taste buds are starting to work now, and the taste of some foods are passed into the amniotic fluid. Studies show that babies respond to tastes that have already had via amniotic fluid, so the foods I eat now may influence what baby will eat later!

My tummy as you can see is still growing along with this baby. My previously hidden tattoo does show a bit over the top of some of the pants that I wear now (if you look close you can see it in this weeks pic) and my belly has more hair than before and itches. No stretch marks yet (knock on wood) but I have been using the lotion that you get from the drug store that is supposed to prevent them. We will see in the upcoming months! I think my biggest complaints at this point are heartburn- it usually starts around 7 pm every night and makes me feel like my throat is on fire. Tums and Calmicid (an all-natural form of Tums from Melaleuca) are my best friends : ) And my other complaint is the swollen feet deal. They swelled up so much at work on Friday just from sitting at my desk that after taking my Birkenstocks off, I could hardly get them back on! It's more on my right foot than my left, but they both tend to swell a lot. My blood pressure has been completely normal at all of my appointments, so I am not too worried about preeclampsia, although a lot of things I have read say that this much swelling early on, and the fact that it is more in one foot in the other could be an early symptom of that... I am not a worry wort, so I have been trying to not think about it. It's more painful and disgusting more than anything else. It's like, you already feel fat with this big belly in the way all the time, and then I look down and see fat feet and ankles, it doesn't make me feel attractive anymore. Oh well, it's worth it : )

Today I will probably either be hanging out with my girlfriends at the house, or I may try to convince them to drive to Baton Rouge with me... I am craving some fresh fruit from Whole Foods, and I would like to go to the mall to get my favorite mascara. Everyone keep their fingers crossed that by the time I post again next week Mike will be home from work and we can share with everyone the pics (and possibly video?) of our ultrasound!

19 weeks

2009-09-20T10:22:00.003-05:00

Only one more week to go and I am officially half way through this pregnancy- crazy how quickly it is going by, huh? And at the same time, part of me is ready to be done with being pregnant and just have this baby here. I know it is a bit early to feel that way, but being pregnant isn't all that great. I am trying to remind myself to enjoy this time before parenthood, so that's what I am trying to do.

From babycenter.com and thebump.com, baby is now the size of a mango! About 8.5 oz and about 6 inches head to rump. Baby is covered in something called vernix caseosa, mixture of lanugo (fine baby hair that covers the whole body), oil, and dead skin cells (yummy) that protects the delicate little skin from pickling in all of that amniotic fluid. Arms and legs are finally in proportion to the rest of the body, and hair may be starting to sprout on top of baby's head. Some studies have shown that at this point baby may be able to hear our voice now, so it's a good time to begin reading, talking, and singing to baby.

In mommy's development, I have officially experienced the extreme swollen ankles. We went to the Reverend Horton Heat and Motorhead concert in Houston on Friday, and I stood nonstop from 7:30 PM until about 1 AM, and when we left the concert my ankles were so swollen they were literally rings hanging over the sides of my ankle socks. It was absolutely disgusting. I spent all day yesterday with my feet propped up, hoping they would go back down so I could actually be of some use today. The good news was that in the second song of the Reverend Horton Heat's set, Mike was standing behind me with his hands on my belly, and he felt a single but wonderful kick from the baby! It's the first time anyone has felt baby on the outside, though I am pretty used to the little kicks and movements pretty constantly throughout the day now. My first thought was, our baby has good taste in music, it likes the Reverend!!

That's all I got for now- I am figuring out how to deal with the achy back and ribs, and the extreme (and I mean extreme) heartburn that I get everyday. I know it will all be more than worth it in the end : D

18 weeks

2009-09-13T18:11:00.006-05:00

The last week or two has been a rollercoaster! It is still hard controlling my emotions. And my appetite. It has also been exciting, because I have definitely been feeling baby move around some, but not enough to have anyone else feel from the outside. Still, it's kind of a warm fuzzy feeling I get every time I feel the movements- like a reminder that our little munchkin is doing its own thing in there. Plus I went to another appointment, which went fine, and we scheduled the ultrasound for October 1st- a week before I thought he would schedule it! : ) I will be 20w5d at that point, so it will be a perfect time to see our baby in live action. That is the part I am most excited about- that and determining if it will be a boy or a girl.... I am waiting until I can call our baby by name- Sean William, or Katherine/Kathryn Marie (Kate). At least that's what we have so far. Stay tuned for updates if we change our mind.

Here is the weekly updates- again, combined info from babycenter.com and thebump.com.

Head to rump, baby is about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs about 7 ounces (the size of a bell pepper, or a sweet potato!) and is moving around a lot now- flexing arms and legs, yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking and swallowing. Blood vessels are visible through the thin skin, and ears are in their final position. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around the nerves, a process that continues for a year after birth. If baby is a girl, the uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If baby is a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may be shy and hide them during an ultrasound. Baby can also hear what is going on outside the womb now, so it is a good time to break out the tunes- hint, play music that resembles your own thumping heart (about 60 bpm).

That's all I have for today. Until next week!

17 weeks

2009-09-06T08:19:00.005-05:00

I am starting to feel pregnant.... I asked my friend at work if I had started waddling yet, and she said no... but I don't believe her. And to think I am not even halfway through this yet!

I mixed the updates from babycenter.com and thebump.com again for Baby this week. Both were saying pretty much the same thing, and not a lot of it- I guess 17 weeks isn't a huge milestone! But I am still excited for this week- I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday, so I get to hear this beautiful baby's heartbeat again : D

Baby is about 5 ounces now, and between 5-6 inches from head to rump- about the size of a turnip or onion. The skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and fat is starting to develop around it (yey for fat healthy babies!) The umbilical cord is growing thicker and stronger, and sweat glands are starting to develop. Baby's fingers and toes officially have their own one-of-a-kind prints.

The pregnancy thing kind of sucks right now. I think because I lucked out and missed all of the morning sickness bit, I have to make up for it in crazy hormones. Some days I literally feel like I am going crazy- I want to throw things and cry and laugh for no reason at all. Or I find stupid little reasons in my head to be angry, things that I know are stupid but there is no arguing with myself, the pregnant woman.

Here's my belly pic for 17 weeks- pardon my crappy look- I didn't feel like makeup or anything this time LOL. Give me a break, it's my day off.

Luckily, even though I had to work yesterday, I have today and tomorrow off. Which is strange- the call center is usually only closed for Christmas and Thanksgiving. We're open all other holidays- but for some reason they decided to close for Labor Day this year- and you don't hear most of us complaining! The only bummer is that when we work holidays, we get paid the 8 hours holiday, plus this time and a half for overtime, so you can make a lot of money working on a "normal" Monday that also happens to be a holiday. Now I miss out on the time and a half, and just get the 8 hours for the holiday. Oh well, I think my sanity is more important right now!

16 weeks

2009-08-30T11:45:00.004-05:00

And now for our weekly update from babycenter.com.....

Get ready for a groth spurt! In the next few weeks, your baby will double it's weight and add inches to its length. Right now, Baby is the size of an avocado, about 4.5 inches in length and 3.5 ounces. Legs are more developed, and the head is more erect than it has been, eyes have moved closer to the front of the head. The ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of Baby's scalp has begun, though locks aren't recognizable yet. Baby is even starting to grow toenails. And there is a lot happening inside as well- The heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount continues to increase as Baby continues to develop.

Soon we can look forward to one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy- feeling the baby move. Some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, but many don't feel the baby move until 18-20 weeks. The earliest movements may feel like flutters, gas bubbles, or even popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll feel them much more frequently.

Here is my tummy...

This picture isn't a great one, only because I don't think I look any bigger than last week, in fact I maybe look smaller.... I can assure you I am not! But I think I like to wear these shirts because they are more flattering for my belly than some, but apparently they don't help in showing the progress of my baby bump!

I don't know if I have truly experienced this "quickening" yet. There were a few times while at work I noticed a different feeling in my lower abdomen, but I think it could also easily be mistaken for gas. The times I think I may notice it more than others are early in the morning, when I am half awake, I think I feel movements... then I wake up fully and it seems like nothing is there. So maybe I am just hopeful, and dreaming of feeling our baby move. It is hard to imagine what is going on in there. With an appointment only every 4 weeks, and just a tiny heartbeat to hear while we are there, it can be worrysome waiting for the next appointment- I just want to know that everything is going ok all the time! So when I feel these movements, I think it will help ease some tension. Because as I'm sure any mother naturally does, I already am so in love with our little baby to be, I am just so anxious to know he/she is growing and healthy and happy....

Our next appointment is September 10th, and after that we will schedule our ultrasound for the first week in October- I am so excited!!

New Things

2009-08-30T10:54:00.007-05:00

So in the last few weeks, we have managed to get a new 42" TV for a steal of a price from a friend, we also found a really nice desk (for free!) by our friends apartment dumpster, we got a puppy from a friend (puppy was free, we're just paying for his new stuff, finishing his shots, etc.), and yesterday we got a new sectional couch from a friend for a steal of a price as well. We also spent some time yesterday with a friend of our from Pine Lake Middle School/Issaquah High school. She lived in New Orleans a few years ago, and comes back to visit often, so she made the drive out to Lafayette yesterday to hang out with us for lunch, and she brought us a quilt for the baby that she made- it is beautiful. Life is good! I hardly recognize our living room anymore with new furniture, couch, 2 dogs playing constantly, etc. So I figured in my excitement I would post some pictures of the goodies that we have gained.....

The sectional couch... it's a bit worn, but it has a recliner on each end, and a hide-a-bed on the longer side. Pardon my messy house....

And the TV we got last week.... a much welcomed improvement to our lovely 20". Our friend wasn't using it, so he sold it to us at a great price.

Here is the quilt that Stephanie made for Baby.....

Beautiful isn't it? It makes me want to pick up quilting. I tried a while back, and I didn't have the patience for any finished projects.

Here are some pics of our doggies...

Meet Jax! He is about 10 weeks and currently 7 lbs, a miniature pinscher/toy rat terrier mix. He is sweet as candy, and loves Mike and I as much as he loves Buddy. He's also very bright, just as most terriers are. He is still a puppy, so he is a bit of a handful, but he is already learning to sit, stay, etc with a lot of Buddy's help : )

Here are Buddy and Jax together in our kitchen.

Here is my sweet boy Buddy, looking all grown up and noble now that he has a puppy to teach.

Jax, being cute. He has something stuck on his nose it looks like....

Me and Jax.... ignore my pregnancy-induced breakout all over my face LOL

A few of Jax being cute playing with his toys, treats, etc.

And my all time favorite.....

A great picture I captured of Buddy and Jax playing rough. Vicious looking, aren't they?

15 weeks... and a bit of life in general

2009-08-23T09:58:00.004-05:00

I meant to post last week separately from my preggo posts about the life of Mike and Jenn aside from pregnancy, but I never finished it. I was tired of typing on the computer at the time. I will just do a brief summary of what I intended to write about- We spent a lot of my vacation week working on the yard, which was fun. We weeded out the circle in our front year that has roses in it (we kind of let it go pretty bad), and laid down some weed cover and white rocks, so now it looks pretty : ) And we are trying to figure out this citrus tree in our backyard- at first we thought it was limes, but the other day we cut one open- it is orange on the inside and smells like a tangerine, but the skin is still dark green, and they seem "ripe"- the pulp of the fruit buldges out when you cut it with juice. But it is sour tasting- with just a bit of sweetness. Thought maybe they would get riper, and turn orange, but they seem so ripe now..... we are thinking they are some sort of hybrid, because I looked it up and couldn't find anything. Here is a picture:

Any ideas?? We are a bit baffled. But our friend Angelo did use them to cook some chicken in, and let me tell you, it was delicious. Remember my cravings for meat and citrus fruits? Yup, hit the spot : D

Anyways, can't think of much else interesting going on in life now. Onto the 15 week description from babycenter.com....

Your growing baby now measure about 4 inches long crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2.5 ounces, about the size of an apple (or navel orange according to thebump.com). Baby is busy moving amniotic fluid through the nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps primitive air sacs in the lungs develop. Legs have grown longer than arms now, and baby can move all its joints and limbs. Although eyelids are fused shut, baby can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, baby is likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but taste buds are starting to form. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby is a boy or a girl! Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery though- nailing down baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way to "hide the goods."

As for me, my energy is starting to come back- I mowed the whole lawn by myself today! That is a first since becoming pregnant. I usually have Mike or one of the other boys here do half for me, or if no one is home, I only mow the front : D But today I did the whole thing, and he only did the weed-eater. I was so proud of myself! But here are a few things that helped with that- for one, it is a bit less muggy today than it has been in a while; two, our neighbor did mow a portion of our side lawn on his side the other day, so I got to skip that part. But here is my tummy at 15 weeks:

Baby is getting heavy to me. I can feel my tummy stretching a bit, and I had to get a body pillow for my hips at night. I can feel them moving out of their normal placing, and they get achy and sore at night when I am sleeping. Mike has started contemplating sleeping on the couch... : ( Apparently I am beginning to take over the bed a lot at night.

That's all I got for now. Time for breakfast and a normal Sunday routine of laundry and hanging out at home being lazy!

14 weeks

2009-08-15T12:56:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the second trimester! Doctor says our risk of losing the baby at this point is less than 1%, so we are so excited to think about welcoming this baby into our life in less than 6 months!

According to babycenter.com......

This weeks big developments are that Baby can squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly even suck its thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, facial muscles are getting a workout as these tiny features form one expression after another. Kidneys are producing urine, which releases into the amniotic fluid around the baby, a process that remains until birth. Baby is stretching out now (note: as you can see in my belly picture LOL!) and now measures 3.5 inches head to bottom, about the size of a lemon, and weighs about 1.5 ounces. The body is growing faster than the head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. But the end of this week, the arms will have grown to a length that is in proportion to the rest of the body (legs will still have some catching up to do). Baby is also starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over its body. The liver starts making bile this week- a sign that its doing its job right- and the spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel the tiny punches and kicks yet, baby's little hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Things have been going well for me this week- I was on vacation from work, so my back pain was minimal to none all week! Yey! I have still been hungry constantly, but we went to our 14 week appointment on Thursday and it seems I am still gaining weight at a healthy rate, so I just have to keep doing what I am doing to be healthy and comfortable. Mike and I just keep saying our baby is strong like a bull and "eats" like a horse, so it's all we can ask for : D

I am scheduled to go back to the doctor again in 4 weeks, and then our appointment after that he said is when we will schedule the ultrasound to see what we are having. Bets, anyone? Here are some clues, if you are superstitious: I have been craving milk, meat (especially hamburger), citrus fruits and things flavored like citrus (lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit), and chocolate. I seem to be carrying a little high, but you can be the judge of that from the pictures. Any ideas? I had some dreams around weeks 7-9 about a girl, and I was convinced at that time. But then my mom was having dreams about it being a boy, Mike is convinced it's a boy, and lately I can't get the song "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon out of my head..... So now I am not so sure. We will know for sure by October 8th (that would be 8 weeks from my last appointment (being that we see the doctor regularly every 4 weeks) but I am wondering that since I will be 21 weeks, 5 days at that point, if the ultrasound will be scheduled then, or possibly closer to 20 weeks, which would be anytime after September 26th. Either way, we will keep you posted.

13 weeks... and time for a VACATION

2009-08-08T09:30:00.005-05:00

Heading into the second trimester.... according to What to Expect When You're Expecting, it will be next week, but according to thebump.com, it's in this week.... either way, I am getting bigger while Baby continues to grow : D

I have been reading both babycenter.com, and thebump.com, and they say baby is about the size of a medium shrimp, or a small peach.... about 2.9 inches, and almost an ounce.

Instead of quoting from the website, I will just compile some info from both sites- neither have a whole lot, so I will combine the two. Baby has finger prints now! And vocal chords are beginning to form. Baby is really working on getting bigger at this point- right now the head is about 1/3 the size if the body, almost to normal proportions. And the intestines are moving from the umbilical chord into baby's tummy. I am so excited to find out if it's a boy or a girl, so I can start using a name, and saying he or she!! I feel weird slipping with one or the other, like I feel bad if our baby is a boy and I accidently call him "she," etc.

As far as Mom goes, I have been going to my PT, which I think is helping. I still have sciatic pains, but it is more bearable now, and the exercises they are having me do are good for my already weakened lower back anyway, to prepare as I am getting larger. I still haven't gained too much weight, I don't think. Between weeks 5 and 9, I gained 2-3 lbs, which the doctor said is perfect. I have been checking my weight, since I am growing so fast and getting bigger than I expected at this time, to make sure it isn't me just pigging out and getting fat because I can- if my scale is right, then I have still only gained about 2-3 lbs since 9 weeks, and my next appointment is this Thursday, so I should be good. It has been tricky, because I was lucky enough to never have morning sickness, and I have been crazy hungry, so I have really been trying to eat healthy so as not to gain too much weight- with low back problems and too-weak abdominal muscles, gaining too much weight would be worse for me than beneficial. What's tricky about it isn't eating too much- it's the fact that I crave cookies and ice cream and greasy french fries and burgers and pizza. It's ok, I have also been craving meat and fruit, so I have been going with that- healthier meat options (chicken and homemade meals with hamburger meat rather than McDonalds) and tons of fruit- I usually have an apple, peach, grapes, strawberries, plum, blueberries... all in one day!

So enough about my food options- this week is vacation week!! I don't go back to work until August 17th, whoopee!! I was planning on heading to Austin this morning with Buddy to relax and spend some time with Angelia, but of course (the story of my life) Mike wrote me online this morning to say he will be home today, which is unexpected. We were pretty sure he would be working on the job he was at for at least another week. So of course I didn't want to drive 6 hours by myself that way at 11 am, just to have Mike come home at 7 pm and miss him. As of now, not sure still when he will be here, but it should be sometime tonight, and we will leave for Austin tonight or tomorrow morning. I have my appointment on Thursday, so I was planning on heading back home on Wednesday but we will see... I am off all week, so maybe they won't mind if I reschedule and take my time getting back home.

I am just so excited to finally relax this week! Work has been a little tricky, with changing managers and all, and I am trying to be motivated at work to actually perform well- I went through a bit of a slump, when I was just getting up and going there because I had to, and didn't want to try at all. Now I am trying to do my best while I am there- it makes it easier to go there everyday, when I have a goal to do my job well, rather than my goal just being getting home at night.

Buddy is crying... apparently it is time to take him outside! Stayed tuned for week 14!