2 months

Ian you are 2 months old and changing everyday.

You are a wonderful, independent baby, you only wake-up once during the night if that and a few weeks ago you discovered that after your middle of the night feeding that it's still night time and will sleep for another 4-5hrs instead of 2. I thank you for discovering that as much as I love you I was not liking that you would only sleep for 2hrs after your feeding. You are almost completely out of newborn clothing there are a few items that you can fit into (depending the designer) but the majority of your wardrobe is from your 0-3mos collection with the sleeves and pants rolled up.

At your 2mos check-up you weighed in at 10lbs 12oz, measured 22.5in long, with a head circumference of 15.25in. The doctor is pleased with your progress in the growing department and impressed with your neck muscles.

You only cry when you're hungry and waiting on the bottle to warm up and during diaper changes and it's not even during each diaper changes just the really really messy ones.

You now sleep in your crib and do great with it. When we brought you home the 1st night you slept in your crib as your bassinet did not arrive until the next day (schedule difficulties). And you did great that first night too. However mommy and daddy hadn't quite figured out your high tech monitor system so we slept with eye opened, we got it under control now. You are overall a good sleeper at nap time and bed time which you must've taken after daddy in that department because I was not a fan of sleeping let alone napping when I was a baby. Right now you don't have a nap schedule sometimes you'll sleep more in the morning and others more in the afternoon. You do what your body needs you to do and we follow your cues on that.

You eat 5.5oz every 4-5hrs and often times you will flirt with the idea of 6oz but you have yet to commit to it at every feeding. There seems to be something that I'm eating that is causing you to be gassy. I started tracking what I'm eating so we'll have to wait and see what it is your tummy isn't liking.


You started going to the sitters at 5.5wks, you only go 3x a week and you do great while your there. The drive from work to you seems like it takes forever and that I can't get to you fast enough!! I love that I get to spend 2 full days with you during the week.

You have spiked an interest in rolling over you get close to completing the roll so many different times. Then you get real comfy and fall asleep.


Ian you bring some much joy not only into our lives but into others as well. We love you buddy!!

Love
Mommy and Daddy

speechless

Do you ever have those moments that you simply speechless? Well I had one yesterday while talking to my sister. Let me set it up for you: I'm on a busy 4 lane road in the middle of the day. I start to approach the car in front of which was easy to do seeing as though it was traveling well below the speed limit. There are 2 people in the car and as I appraoch they decide to become all kissy face and I'm not talking a little peck I'm talking a full on lip locking session (while driving). I pass them and I'm now in front of them and in my rearview mirror I can see they are still lip locked. We are now coming up to a pretty good size intersection and the light turns red lovely. I look in my rearview mirror when all of sudden the passenger (a female) head goes down into the driver's (a male) lap. And that's when I went completely speechless. I of course was giving my sister the play by play which left us both speechless. The light turned green and of course they were slow to react but eventually got going and turned into the apartment complex I can only hope that they made it into their apartment before anything more intimate took place. I still haven't fully recovered and I may be scarred for life. Only time well tell. Either way it ruined my catch-up session with my sister.


*Editors Note: now if any of you partake in such activity more power to ya, but please keep it to 2 lane roads and night time to insure yu don't scar any other drivers or passengers:)

Ramblings

*Never thought I would have poop on my hand by yes it happened today I was changing Ian and he apparently wasn't done with his business when poop came flying out and my hand was there to catch it. Lovely, I laughed and said never thought I would hve that happen or even laugh about it.

*At bathtime normally when I put Ian in his tub he squirms and squeals a bit but not this time. I'd say he thoroughly enjoyed bathtime.

*I can't wait for some warmer weather. When I can slip on a pair of jeans, a shirt and a pair of sandals (not first w/o a pedi though)

*I love the 2 days where it's just Ian and me. Oh and when daddy comes home to join us for lunch.

*I find it funny that sometimes after Ian lets out a stinky (even though they don't stink they will eventually) he gets a big ole smile across his face.

*I have determined that it's a good sign you've been talking to customer service people to long when you call to update your hubby on the situation that instead of saying I love you at the end of the convo that you say thank you. oops sorry Marcus I do love you:)

*crockpots/slow cookers are 1 of the greatest inventions.

*The 1 thing I look forward too about the Sunday paper is the Target ad. I save it for last when I look through the ads. And on Monday's I can't wait to see the Martin's ad.

*Yikes we have yet to put a single picture of Ian around our house. Maybe this week yet.

*Health Insurance is a necessary evil...so annoyed.

*I have bangs!!!! YIKES what did I just do!

not working

Do you ever walk out of the hair salon unsure of your new 'do? Please tell me I'm not alone in this area.

I went to the salon on Thursday for the 1st time since Oct. which means I was well overdue considering up to that point I was going every 6wks. Which also meant I had many options we could have cleaned the current state of my hair up, or go a totally new direction. I'm unsure of what happened I feel as though I left with basically what I had before just cleaned up BUT it's not styling like it did before. The one thing I told Robyn was that I needed a style and explained to her that before the grow-up I could do my hair go through my day, go to sleep and wake up in the AM and my hair still look the same with a little bit of messing with my fingers. Well people that is no longer the case I'm super unhappy with it but can't see going back so soon knowing that I would have to pay again for something I just paid for.

GAH....what to do. Do you think if I call and explain that I'm unhappy that they would do a correction cut without charging me? Why can't they have an if not satisfied within the next 7 days come back we'll make things right policy. I really dislike it, I try to style it and it's good for a oh a few minutes but then I feel things go flat and I'm constantly tucking it behind my hair and that leads to me putting it up. And that my friends makes me unhappy as I just paid for a haircut that was suppose to give me a style and I don't feel I got a style what so ever. Do I just go on and continue to live with what is on top of my head and see if in a few weeks my opinion changes or do I call and see what they can do?? Like I said before I don't want to have to pay again so soon for a correction cut. What do you think??? HELP

sweating and overcoming

For the last 3.5wks I have been sweating it out with Ms Jillian Micheals as we banish my fat and boost my metabolism. I am seeing results, when I went back to work I had 1 of the girls measure me and aside from being up 3/4" in my abdomen and a 1/4"in my bust (I am breast feeding so that was expected) everything else was less including my weight than it was last February which was a huge surprise to me. I'll be anxious for my next weigh-in in a couple of weeks to see what other improvements have occurred.

Since returning to work I only workout with Jillian 3x a week and do a strength training/cardio circuit 6x a week (I workout 2x a day 3x a week when at work which is where my 6 comes from in case you needed explanation). Once the weather improves meaning the chances of ice being present on my route and the temps being warm enough to take Ian with me I will be able to hit the road and get some miles on my shoes and on our jogging stroller 3x a week. Now if I didn't have a the fear of falling on ice while running then I would be out there right now. I have some pretty weak ankles thanks to my first sprain occurring at the tender age of 5. I was dared to go up and down the stairs on 1 leg by my sister and a friend of hers. Ever since then I have rolled and sprained my ankles a dozen of times. Hence my fear of falling/slipping what not. I have areas in my route when the weather is beautiful (no snow and decent temperatures) where I exceed great caution as they would be great areas to have an injury. I can only imagine the caution I would take if I was out there right now picture a person in their running attire basically crawling past those areas. Pretty picture huh?? I'm anxious to get out there and run the last time I ran was Thanksgiving weekend. I also have a fear of treadmills, my fear there developed after blacking out on one and apparently rolling to floor, all I know is that I came to while on the floor with my head resting against a curl bar. Although no injuries were had during that incident I still have a fear of it happening again.

This week however I may become brave and overcome my fear and hit the road for a few miles depending on the weather and schedules of those who would be available to watch the lil man for 30-45min. Now if we had an indoor track available to the public that allows strollers well then you could count me in. Well see what the week brings and if I'm able to hit the road for my first run of 2010. Wish me luck, the half marathon will be here before we know it and I need to be ready.

Maternity and Newborn Photoshoot

Brittany Knox from Knox Photography in Mishawaka, IN was kind enough to take do take some photos for us. We can't wait to do Ian's 3mos pictures with her next month. **I was 33.5wks pregnant at this time with no clue that in just 3 short weeks we would be meeting our lil guy**

system

I've been trying to figure out a system for trying to figure out what foods I'm eating are causing Ian to be gassy and uncomfortable. I know to keep a food journal my problem occurs when I thaw the milk from 2.5wks ago and pour it from it's nicely marked bag that contains the date and time to a bottle. I make 6 bottles up at a time. I was talking with my sister (Aunt CiCi) regarding this problem and she came up with a system that I'm going to try starting next week.

The system:
Keep a food journal, once I thaw the milk get medical tape or tape I can write on and transfer the date and time from the bag that contains my milk onto the tape and tape it to the bottle. Sounds good to me and simple, not sure why I couldn't come up with it but oh well. Thanks Aunt CiCi.

We will know in approx. 2.5weeks what is causing Mr Ian to be gassy. Good thing during the week I eat the same foods everyday except for dinner I'm not that routined.

Test 1

Yesterday I had my 1st multi-tasking test out in public w/Ian and super busy day of accomplishing things.
To-Do List
-workout
-shower
-laundry
-grocery store
-car seat fitting w/my mom
-take Kota Dog to get a manicure and get dog food
-take Ian to meet his Great Uncle and Aunt

Knowing what I needed to get done and being lucky that Ian has maintained the same schedule for the past 2wks, I was able to plan out our day. I knew I had to be at the fire station at 11 to meet with Jay and my mom so he could walk my mom through car seat 101 (thanks Jay). I looked over our grocery list and decided I could go to the store before going to the St so I planned on heading out the door around 10, I was taking a chance as Ian is on a every 4hr feeding schedule and e last ate at 6 so I pack a bottle and head out the door. We don't even make it to the store before the squealing begins. Once in the store I head to the deli area to get a cup of hot water to heat up his bottle. Once heated I take a look at my watch it is 10:20, I've got 40min to complete the shopping and get the St. so I give him his bottle and start pushing with 1 hand and holding the bottle with the over and stop every once and while to pick items on the list. We run into 2 people that we know that needed to ooo and aaahhh over Ian with my eyes on the list, his bottle and my watch we continue 1 handed shopping. We get to the checkout lane and I take Ian out of his car seat burp him and put back in, pay the groceries get our drive-up ticket number and head out to the car. It is 10:56 I did it!! I feed Ian, completed grocery shopping and will be to the station within 4min. I marked that trip as a success, thank goodness it's winter and the groceries could stay out in the car. We completed everything on our to-do list, Ian was such a trooper.

The next to-do list is growing for my next day off...I give mommies who work full time a lot of credit not sure how you do it all.

unsure

I have full intentions of running my first half marathon on June 5th. I have yet to register but I plan on running. I'm quite excited about this but I'm unsure about how to train. Now, I've done 5k and 10k's before and well they are short runs compared to a half marathon and a sprint compared to a marathon. Hence my unsureness when it comes to properly training. My schedule will allow for running 4 days a week and the other three I will do circuit/strength training. Sounds like a plan right? Well I'm unsure about how many miles to train as I don't want to injure myself before the race or over train (is that possible). Quite honestly I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'm sure you could notice if you've ever trained for a half marathon. I do know the weather needs to improve greatly before I hit the pavement as I don't get along well with treadmills. One bad incident of blacking out on a treadmill and falling off can do that to a person, I must add I suffered no injuries during the fall I now suffer from a fear of treadmills. Any insight would be helpful or I could myself running like ths:

in my pocket

There is 1 thing that is in my pocket at all times and that would be this:


I don't dare leave the house or a room without it, if I have found myself without it I begin frantically looking for it and accusing others of taking it. When we first moved into our house we didn't have night stands therefore I did not have a place to keep my chapstick while I slept, so I did what anyone would do in my situation I slept with it in my pillow case. You see I wake up in the middle of the night to re-apply, not to pee or get to a drink but to reapply my chapstick. There was one night I couldn't find my chapstick, I looked all over under the bed, the nightstand, by the dogs, I even woke Marcus up asking him to move in case it somehow slipped into bed with us (he was not to thrilled) I then stayed awake until my lips had some relief. You see that was my last one until I got to the store to restock my supply, that left me using Vaseline I was desperate. My addiction and loyalty to my chapstick is very severe I will go to great lengths to get my hands on some chapstick when I'm without. During labor Marcus was the chapstick holder and I would press my lips together and he'd be right there with chapstick in hand re-applying it. Apparently my addiction is heredity as my Aunt J is also an addict, I'm unsure of the severity of her addiction but nonetheless she is an addict and isn't afraid to admit too. In fact just while writing this post which took about a 1/2hr (i fixed myself lunch, and answered phone calls) I have reapplied my chapstick approx. 8 times. I told you it was severe!!

not so much

I'm surprised that when I'm in Ian's room at how little we use 2 of the items I thought would be esstential with having a baby.

Item 1) the boppy:

I think since we aren't breast feeding the conventional way this item mostly gets in our way, I'm trying more recently to use it. Such as right now he I just feed in it so I could pump at the same time. But other than that I think we've used it a handful of times. Oh well...


Item 2) the glider/rocker chair

*sorry i forgot to rotate picture before loading*
We mostly just use the chair to hold things as you can see in the picture hat you have to turn h]your head to view. We have never sat in it since we brought Ian home. So glad this item my in-laws already had at their house and were looking to relocate it, so no money spent there. I'm ready to move relocate it myself now so we could have more room in his room.

survived

Well we all survived my 1st week back to work. Now I did change my schedule and tossed out the super early morning hours. So, I'm working M.W.F. 8a-6p or 7a-5p or I'll work M.W.Th depending on what we have going on. I do like that I have flexiblity in my schedule and can pretty much do whatever I want as long as I get my work done and keep my co-workers on task. I have figured out that I need to be up 2hrs before I need to be walking out the door. This morning I'm actually glad I set my alarm and didn't depend on Ian to wake me cause we would've been late.

I'm sure there's more but I've been going non-stop since 5something this morning and I have computer face.

Till something exciting comes along...

bullets

This is going to be a bullet post:

*I think Ian has his days and nights slightly reversed. He'll sleep say 8:30p-12:30a take a bottle and then sleep 1-2:30a and then he's up and fussy unless he is being held.

*Does anyone else struggle with coming up with their dinner menu each week?

*Is it bad that my car thinks there is a toddler sitting in the front seat and therefore turns off the airbag when it's really just my breast pump, work bag and lunch bag? No I don't pack that much in my lunch bag I think it's my breast pump.

*I'm completely over today, work was not so great and it has just reminded me how much I no longer enjoy doing what I do and that I'm only doing it just for a pay check.

*I can't wait for the weather to improve. I got the official go ahead to start working out again, good thing cause I started doing that 2wks ago. Why do they make you wait 6wks after delivery and not just let you listen to your body?

*I'm so glad I get to stay home with my lil guy tomorrow. Oh how I enjoy my 2 days off a week with him.

That's it, till the next post.

Good Judge of Character and Deja vu

The theme for tonight's bachelor was that all the parents have a good judge of character. I was late to Gia's hometown visit (momma duties were required) I made it to their dinner though which by the way do they ever get to eat?? The meeting of parents seemed to go well and everyone heard what they wanted to hear. What I noticed of the all the hometown dates was that the parents seemed to live in real houses. I say this because last season on the bachelorette all the families had amazingly large homes. I had more to say regarding Ali's hometown visit but now I'm at a lose for words as she is pulling an Ed.

Tenley is still #1 in my book and with Ali out of the picture until next week apparently I say it's Tenley and Gia I say only because I dislike Vienna that much and if you noticed after the girls picked up their roses, he embraced all 3 and he only kissed Tenley and Gia on their foreheads and Vienna got NOTHING!!! So my thinking and hope is that Vienna would have been gone tonight had Ali stuck it out. I was hoping that she would have realized her error and told the limo driver to stop and get out and go running back to Jake and dried up his leaky eyes. Which has anyone else noticed that Jake has had leaky eyes during every episode?

I am glad that the case was a work related issue and not a personal one. Last week I heard a rumor that Tenley was the one that had an issue and that the issue was that she was pregnant. So glad that's not true.

Needless to say this season has not lacked in the drama department. Till next weeks drama...

Bag Lady

Today was my first "real" day back to work. I say that because a week or so after Ian was born I was going to work to play catch and I would take him along or my mom or MIL would watch him for the 2-3hrs that I was there. I'm so glad I did this for 2 reasons.

1. if i didn't step foot in either club for 5.5wks I would have been so overwhelmed with a crapload of of stuff today that i wouldn't have even put a dent in.

2. got me use to the idea of having to leave my lil guy with someone other than Marcus.

My 1st day back was not as bad as I thought it was going be. Yes, I was asked over a 100 times how Ian was. By 11a I had been asked that question 67x no I didn't count our computer programs keeps track of daily attendance.

Onto the title of this here post. Oh the stuff that has to go along with not only me but also with Ian in order to get through a day.



This is everything I carried in the from the car today when we got home. We have my breast pump, work bag, purse, diaper bag, gift bag also known as my lunch bag (yes I carry my lunch in gift bags hey i'm reusing don't judge), and of course Ian. Luckily I can carry it all inside in 1 trip. I'm big on 1 trips, I don't like to waste walks from the garage to the house it just seems silly to me.

Responsibility

I'm truly loving the responsibility that God has given to us. I love being a mommy to a wonderful baby boy and a wife to a supportive, understanding, hardworking, loving husband. In middle school they had us take a career test to see what career we would be best in. Mine came back inconclusive, in college I tried the business route and didn't like it, I tried the elementary school teacher route and again not a match for me, I also tried early childhood education and yet again not for me. I knew all I really wanted to do and be truly happy doing was being a mommy. I now get to do the thing that I've always wanted to do and I hope one day soon I get give all my attention to being a wife and mommy. Ian you are such a good baby, you're a perfect fit in our family. You are already growing so fast, it's amazing how much you change in a matter of one night. We love you buddy!!

reality

Reality is about to set in. Monday is quickly approaching which means I'm entering back into the working world...boo. I'm not a big fan of un-fun (is that a word? oh i don't care it is now) change. Let me explain having a baby = fun, exciting change, going back to work after baby = un-fun change. I already can see how Monday is going to go. I will be asked "How is Ian doing?" roughly 125 times in a matter of 8hrs which if you do the math means I will be asked that question 15x in 1 hour (sounds like fun huh?) I really do appreciate their concern for him and our family it will just be hard because he won't be with me. And good golly if I talk about him too much we could end up with a leaky mess on our hands those bra pad thingies can only handle so much liquid. I'm sure I will be telling our labor and delivery story a few hundred times (I would direct them here but come on I gotta have someplace to vent about work) and what goes on. I am looking forward to seeing some of my favorite members (it's true I have favorites and I don't care).

Back ground on what I do. I manage 2 Curves facilities 1 in South Bend (north side) and 1 in Elkhart. Curves a facility specially designed for women featuring a 30min workout that is fun, fast and safe. I've been with the company for 6yrs, in August it will be 7yrs. We have members ranging in ages between 20-90. As with any job there are pros and cons. Do I love my job NO, am i passionate about it i would like to say NO, but my parents have a instilled a work ethic into me and because of that I can't half-ass my way through my duties, I go bed at night thinking of ways to grow the business, the majority of my shower thoughts are about work. I went into work to play catch-up a week and half after giving birth. Why because I care about the business and I need a job and if I didn't I would have to live there for a week if not longer to catch up and fix all the errors that people created because they were too lazy to call someone and find out the right way to do it. I find some employees to be frustrating and a waste of my time. And this thought comes to mind: If you have to have a job, why wouldn't you actually try to do it well? Why is complacency good enough for some people and so completely unacceptable for me? Doing things the right way has become a curse......

I'm gonna try not to give this subject anymore of my time for the rest of the weekend. And hopefully I don't have too many posts that fall into this label.

Nesting

Nesting was a prego symptom that I got but couldn't doing anything about due to bedrest. So needless to say our house is in need of a super cleaning spree. Marcus did a quick clean later in the day after I delivered as his sister and brother in-law were coming into town and staying at our house. And then on Saturday (New Year's Day) we hosted Christmas with his family and then we brought baby home and visitors came over so all we've done is spot clean. Now I've been thinking oh for about week that I should do this but I would much prefer if Marcus and I did it together as it seems things stay cleaner when we clean together. I think that is because we are both putting the time and effort into the cleaning process therefore we work harder at keeping things clean. Last night Marcus said you know what I think we should clean the house this weekend. I said "I was gonna say the samething" and then he said "now I don't just mean clean I mean really clean." It's great when we are both on the same page so I'm going to start today in the kitchen. Although I love when we team clean I don't want to spend our entire weekend married to our cleaning supplies. Let the cleaning spree begin:)

the other children

A week before we got married in aug 2006 marcus called me and told me to meet him at our house. I show up and he meets me outside and tells me to open the door I follow his instructions and out runs this:

This is Kota Dog her real name is Dakota she is beagle coonhound mix which means her sniffer is constantly going. She's a cuddler and loves herself a nice comfy bed. She only barks if someone walks by our house and she is outside she very rarely barks inside. She likes to go for car rides and go on walks. I started taking her running with me and she just doesn't have the concept to pace herself. She starts out super fast pulling me along and by mile 4 I'm practically dragging her home. One would think that she would remember how the run went the previous day and she wouldn't want to go the next but apparently she has short term memory loss. She was our only child up until Marcus' sister and brother in-law started fostering dogs in 2008 and we meet Lexus:

She is a 3yr old boxer mix who was found running around the Indy/Avon area with ouchies on her and super skinny. She was placed in a shelter and was there for 6 mos with no interest due to her being super scared of people then a rescue group adopted her before she was put to sleep and then she was placed at my sister in-laws for fostering. It was decided that she was abused and more than likely abused by a male as she is was very unsure of males. They brought her up with them one weekend and after seeing those sad eyes we couldn't let just anyone adopt her so we did. She quickly adjusted to life with us. At first she wouldn't put her tail up bu within a few days her tail was up and constantly wagging. She still scares easily and when she goes on runs with me if a male is across the street she wants out of the person site ASAP so I always hope we don't see any males at the beginning of our run cause that is quite the warm up. She never had issues with Marcus although she is without a doubt my dog. She's constantly under my foot and must know where I'm at at all times.

Lexus and Kota Dog get along really well together


They have become partners in crime as this was what we came home soon after bringing Lexus home lovely huh?


They have both adjusted well to having a baby in the house. Which I'm sure my in-laws are happy about cause that's where they would have probably gone if they couldn't adjust. Lexus gets up with me and waits with us in the living room while Ian has a bottle. If Ian is sleeping in the bassinet and he starts to cry they will go and check on him. It is really quite cute.

would you ever??

Would you ever let the Today Show or any show tape and air your labor and delivery?? This morning on the Today Show they showed a delivery live now it was a c-section so if it was me and it was a c-section I would like to say I wouldn't care, but knowing me I would. Now if we're talking a vaginal delivery I would consider it for oh about 2seconds and say no. I didn't even allow any family in my room my thoughts on this were that only those that were in the room at conception should be in the room for the delivery aside from the medical professionals. Luckily both parents felt the same way and seeing as though we went into the hospital at 7p and without knowing how things would progress we didn't see any point in having any family at the hospital at all, which impressed our nurses. Now if I was asked while having a contraction I probably wouldn't care who was there which when it came time to push people were walking in and out of the room and phones were ringing it was crazy it was shift change. Luckily that was while I was pushing and when I came closer to actually seeing our lil guy the commotion stopped and we got to our moment. Heck I declined to do an interview for our local TV station on having a New Years Eve baby so as much as I would like to think I would allow my L&D to be aired on TV I wouldn't. Would you??

4

Is how many girls still have the chance to be Jake's bride. Tenley is still high on my list. Vienna is off my list completely she is starting to act like Miss Michelle with her clingy-ness and problems with sharing. I don't see a big enough spark with Gia. I'm going with Tenley and Ali as the last 2 remaining. I say this based on the order in which he handed out the roses the last 2 episodes. Vienna has always received the last rose which tells me she is barely hanging on. Both Tenley and Ali have received roses early on in ceremonies which tells me there was no doubt in Jake's mind that he likes them and could see a possible future with either of them. Home town visits should be interesting.

Sorry if this post wasn't too exciting but I'm super sleepy.