I Hate Blogging

Yep, I hate it.

I hate figuring out what to write about.

I hate trying to find time to write about whatever I decided I wanted to write about.

So...

I'm done! No more blogging for me. It's a waste of time for me!

BYE!

Our Summer Travels

So, Preston was born May 17th, we went to Northern Washington State for my sister-in-laws wedding on July 11th-18th and then to Lake Tahoe August 25th-28th for my husband's cousins wedding.

Wow, traveling with an infant sure does require a lot of luggage (damn, I wish I had a picture).

We had 1 suitcase for me and baby, 1 for my husband, 1 carry-on, my breastpump, purse, Preston's Boppy (highly recommend for younger babies), and a mini freezer pack that holds 2 bottles. Oh, and how could I forget, the carseat and base. I'm sure we looked ridiculous to others.

When we dropped our car off at an off-site parking lot, a couple on our shuttle laughed at us. They said, "And we thought traveling with just the 2 of us was hard enough until we saw you guys with an infant." All I could do was laugh also. He confirmed that we indeed looked quite crazy.

I was very nervous about a 2-3 hour flight to Washington with an 8 week old baby who liked to be constantly moving.

I had Preston in the Moby while we had our layover and he loved it.

I also had to find a bathroom with an outlet so I could pump (that was interesting). I got 'er done though!

Needless to say, he proved me wrong. I shouldn't have worried a bit. He was amazing. Everyone loved him, ooh'd and aaah'd over him, including the flight attendants (who were amazing, I have to say) and he got fussy once but when we got him to sleep or fed him, he was fine.

We did a lot while in Washington, we even went to Vancouver (which made for a not-so-fun car ride home). He slept through the night 2 times while we were there and slept through the entire wedding reception.

Lunch in Vancouver

Hotel room for the wedding

It's wedding time!

Such a great baby!

I was beyond happy that I knew he had the ability to do great on planes since we had Lake Tahoe coming up a few weeks later.

At this point he was, 14 weeks old, bigger and MUCH heavier so I had a harder time getting him to sleep in my seat.

We got SO lucky that we got the front row of the plane so it was easy on & off and I didn't have to worry about exposing myself to the entire plane when trying to nurse him. We also had a wonderful man sitting next to us with his own grandchildren so he just loved Preston.

Once we got to Tahoe, we had to wait for my sister and brother-in-law to get there, rent a car and then drive about an hour to our condo. Luckily we had fed Preston while waiting for them so he was all set for the drive. We got a Cadillac as our rental (talk about baller status) and Preston slept the whole way there.

It was MUCH cooler in Tahoe than Phoenix but it was very refreshing. Tahoe is a beautiful place in the summer. I have never been during the winter and I don't really have any desire either.

Waiting for his Aunt and Uncle.

Loving the cooler weather.

Really liking the water but it's a bit cold.

Meeting his cousin, who is 12 days younger, for the first time.

LOVE him!!

I love my family!

We also didn't get the front row on our way home...we were towards the middle of the plan in the middle and inside seats. This made it harder to get up to change him, to rock him and to nurse him. I'm sure I exposed myself once or twice. (Preston's not a huge fan of the nursing cover.)

He got fussy at one point towards the end of the flight but I fed him and he fell asleep.

We had a great vacation but we were definitely happy to be home. He's a great traveler and we're happy we started so young.

Nothing worse than a little spilled milk

And I never thought I'd say that.

After I finished my first pump of the day yesterday, I was trasferring my milk into a storage bag when it slipped out of my hand and fell onto the mini fridge and my milk spilled ALL over the fridge.

It took my breath away, my heart started pounding and I almost started crying. No, really, this all happened.

I work hard for this milk and to see it go to waste is heart breaking. Luckily, I didn't spill it all and I was able to salvage most of it but I'm still saddened by it.

Here is the proof and this is after I cleaned some of it up already....

Yep, such a disgrace!

 ::Le Sigh::

We celebrate in STYLE

Labor Day is usually not a day we like to “celebrate” but this year was a bit different.

My Mom has been in town since August 31^st visiting us and her first grandbaby. (If you remember, she was here for his birth (insert link to back post) and had to leave when he was only 10 days old. (Yes, I cried….a lot.)

We have 2 couples of friends who have babies very close in age with Preston (I’m taking 2 days and 5 weeks apart) so we wanted to have them over to “play”. I also wanted my Mom to meet them and their kiddo’s. My Mom had met one couple while she was here because they had their baby 2 days before Preston was born.

We made the most amazing BBQ chicken, had pasta salad and watermelon then topped if off with YUMMY chocolate cupcakes.

Jenny and Jason, parents of Mr. Reed, gave us and the other couple matching bathing suits so all 3 kids could match. Preston and Reed are the boys and Miss Ainsley is the only girl. Ainsley had on a pink flowered bathing suit while the boys had on blue swim trunks with matching flowers. Needless to say, it was quite adorable and they looked very stylish!

We put them all in the pool which they loved and then we brought them inside for pictures.

First time in the pool and he LOVED it.

Yep, my boy is a little shortie! :-)

Happy at the moment...

Reed was exhausted and wanted nothing to do with pictures. I don’t think he wanted to be alone with how he felt so he beat up Ainsley a little bit until she started crying. Preston just laid there with a look of pure confusion.

“Who are these babies and WHAT are they crying about?”

Preston wishing he could run away.

There is nothing better than 2 babies crying, one Mom yelling at the other “And you want another one?” while I laugh hysterically in the other room at them all while changing my son’s diaper.

Oh yeah and the Dad’s were outside still in the pool without a care in the world.

Why is that Mom’s are assumed to take on “all” of the responsibilities of having a baby? Ay yi yi, sometimes I wish I were the Dad so I could get a little break.

4 Month Sleep Regression

Oh my gosh, it’s great to know my child is normal.

We had been having a tough time with little Preston with his sleeping since Day 1. I chalked it up to him growing and me not producing enough milk at first but when he was not getting any better, we decided we needed a new approach.

At 3 months old, still I thought he was growing and he’d get into, this thing we like to call, sleeping eventually.

Let me give you a little background…..his Dad was NOT a sleeper as a baby and I WAS! I slept through the night at 9 days old. Now, Chris on the other hand had to be walked and walked and walked some more as a baby.

When I was pregnant, I prayed to God that our child would get my sleeping gene. HA, I bet God laughed at me.

OK, so back to Preston’s sleeping. We were putting him to bed between 9-10pm every night because he just wouldn’t go down any sooner. I wanted him to go down earlier for my sake so I could get more sleep since I was waking up at 4:30am once I returned back to work.

I bought a book called Happy Sleep Habits Happy Child that was highly recommended by my cousin in NY. She (my cousin) is a huge advocate for CIO (cry-it-out) as she has done it with her 4 children including a set of twins.

I, on the other hand, was NOT and we tried everything….check and console, rock to sleep, put him down drowsy but awake, etc. Nothing worked and I mean nothing. I felt like I was just doomed and would never get any sleep ever again.

Well, my Mom comes into town (August 31^st) and she sees that he’s not content for long periods of time, his attention span is short, he needs to be held almost constantly and she says “I think we should try this CIO thing” and I agree.

Since Chris was working (and has been working evenings since my return to work so we could avoid Daycare) I figured this was the perfect time to start.  I would have support while letting my child just cry.

Well, to not make this post super long and somewhat off topic I will just give you a quick synopsis of how it’s been.

First night = crying for 1 hour and 55 minutes until finally asleep and 7.5 hours of sleep

2^nd night = 25 minutes of crying until asleep and 8.5 hours of sleep

I felt like we were on the right path until naps were becoming a problem and he still wasn’t content for very long. Well, this path above, didn’t last long.

We’re still working on it and he is now on a schedule where he gets a bath at 6pm and is in his co-sleeper no later than 7 and he’s asleep by 7:30 at the latest. It’s great, I finally have time to myself at night to eat dinner or do the dishes.

He’s not sleeping through the night but only getting up once or twice to eat and then going back to sleep.

CIO DOES work and I can attest to that. I was a non-believer but I’ve had many Mom’s and even some Dad’s tell me it has worked on their children. It’s hard, I won’t deny that, but it helps them learn how to self soothe which is a life skill they need.

If anyone plans to do this, they have to commit to it and stick with it otherwise it causes confusion with your baby and you have let your child cry for no reason.

ANNNNNNNNNNYwho, let me get back to the original reason I was writing this post….4^th month sleep regression.

Here is some explanation that made me realize what is going on with Preston is completely normal. YAY!

When a newborn falls asleep, he immediately goes into deep sleep. We all go in and out of light and deep sleep. As adults, we might change positions, look at the clock, or reposition our pillow. Up until now, you may have rocked your baby or simply given him a pacifier and he slept for hours without waking up. Well, at 3 or 4 months old, your baby is now sleeping more like an adult. Now when he falls asleep, instead of entering deep sleep, he enters lighter sleep, first. That’s why if you help him fall asleep, then put him down, he is likely to wake up because she isn’t in her deep sleep, yet.

This sounds all too familiar lately in our household.

You might have heard about the 4 month sleep regression and wonder if your baby will go back to sleeping well. Some parents will be one of the lucky few whose baby will go back to sleeping well in 2-4 weeks, however, not all of us will be that lucky. For example, I find that babies who need a pacifier to sleep where you are replacing it many times per night do not stop needing that pacifier to sleep. You might get lucky and not have to replace it 10 times (maybe “just” 3-4), but maybe not. It is usually better to solve the root of the problem than to hope you are one of the lucky ones. So, maybe wait a few weeks, but if things aren’t better, plan to make changes. I talk to parents of 8 month olds and even 20 months old who are still waiting for their “baby” to grow out of their sleep problems.

You can read more about it here  and here.

Oooooh, my most beautiful precious baby boy!

Pumping at work

Pumping at work is……well, uncomfortable and interesting.

Luckily, I am provided a “Mother’s Room” (that’s within the bathroom) with a hard chair, a mini fridge and it feels like an iceberg. If you’ve never pumped before let me tell you about it. You have to lift your entire shirt up above your boobs so you can attach the cups so you are fully exposed. A room that feels like an iceberg is NOT ideal when half of you is exposed for 10-15 minutes.

My guess is a man designed the room and the temperature of it. Of course there is no thermostat in there for me to control so I have to bring a sweatshirt with me every time.

I pump 3 times while at work; 8am, 10:30 or 11am and 2pm.

Unfortunately, I am not the only Mom that uses the room. When I returned back to work (Aug 9^th) there were 3, yes, THREE other Mom’s using the room so we had to coordinate a schedule that would work best for all of us.

I wanted to make sure my supply stayed up so I decided to pump 3 times while the others only do it 2 times. Maybe they come in to work later than I do, I have no idea.

Of course sometimes schedules get messed up with meetings and such which is why sometimes I’m pumping at 10:30 and other times it’s 11. It’s annoying when I can’t go in at my schedule time due to work issues…….

(I am my child’s food source. That is my #1 priority right now. Nothing else matters to me. Sometimes I want to tell that to everyone at work. “I don’t care about my job right now; I HAVE to go empty myself so my child has food tomorrow.”)

Daddy giving Preston some Mommy milkers.

LIKE….one day the girl who goes in at 10:30 could not switch with me (I had a meeting at 11) so I went around the building looking for an extension cord. I was going to pump in the handicap stall but there was no outlet. I would have plugged the extension cord in the wall by the sink and brought it in the stall with me.

However, I was unable to find one SO I frantically ran around the building looking for a conference room without windows. There is ONE in the entire building and it does not have a lock. :-/

I hesitantly went in and set everything up. I put a little sticky note that read “Do Not Disturb” but was worried no one would see it, it was so small. I pumped for less than my normal time because I was afraid of being “caught” (as if I was doing something wrong) and I felt violated for some reason.

Okay, so pumping in and of itself is not a comfortable thing. It does not feel good and quite honestly, it sometimes hurts.

I bring in my pump bag with a paper bag that holds my supplies (breast shields, bottles to catch the milk, bags to store the milk in, a sharpie marker and my nipple cream). Yep, I bring in a lot and I feel a little weird doing it.

So, as I stated above, this Mother’s Room is inside the bathroom. You can only imagine the sounds I hear while I am pumping. When you’re in the bathroom, you can’t hear anything in the Mother’s Room but it’s not the same when you’re in the Mother’s Room and I don’t think anyone knows that but the Mothers using the room.

This could lead me into a whole other discussion but women are DI-SGUSTING when it comes to bathroom manners. I hear noises that sound like they should be coming from the men’s room but they aren’t. I am truly blown away by some women I work with and quite frankly I can’t even look at them in the eyes anymore.

1 year ago today

**This was written for yesterday**

We found out we were going to have a baby!

All started with this.....

I cannot believe it has already been 1 full year since we found out. Time has seriously flown by.

Sept 1st has forever changed my life.

Before Sept 1 2010, we would go out as we pleased at the drop of a hat, drink whenever we wanted, go see movies, go on spontaneous vacations, eat whatever we wanted, etc.

Little did we know what our lives were about to become.....

• Constant worrying about our growing baby in utero
• The food & beverages I consumed
• The vitamins I took to better help the development of our baby
• The crime/s around us
• Buying the best (safety wise) possible baby gear
• Buying a house within good school districts
• Buying a 2nd reliable car
• Reworking our work schedules so baby didn't have to go to Daycare
• Finding a 'good' Pediatrician
• Getting very little sleep
• Feeling sad with how far we are from our parents
• Loving someone more than we ever thought possible
• Buying diapers and baby clothes rather than clothes for us
• Talking about poop constantly

It is all worth it though for the beautiful baby we have created. When he smiles at us, there's not a care in the world!

Now, I have this beautiful guy!