Happy Hopefuls

i'd like to respond, please

2012-01-27T09:43:00.000-05:00

To my Readers,

I wanted to stop and thank you for a minute.

I love hearing from you and seeing that your reading my blog. It warms my heart that you're continuing to read even though my pregnancy is over and I have a little baby at home. I know the excitement of a pregnancy can be (a little) more enjoyable to read about verses day-to-day mommy blogging, so for those that don't come around as much, you are missed.

With that said, I'd still like to be able to respond to those that leave comments, by email. Do you know that the majority of you leave comments (wrestling kitties, Stephanie, etc....) that I'd love to respond to and I cannot, because your settings on blogger don't allow me?

You can change those settings by following these steps:

When on blogger, in the upper right hand corner, there is your picture and your name of your google account.
Click on this drop down menu.
Choose "Blogger Profile".
Once in your "Blogger Profile", choose the "Edit Profile" button, which will bring up another screen for editing.
The second option down, is "Show email address" and you'll need to check this box.
Down further, there is a box that says "Email Address" and next to it says, "Changing this does not change the e-mail address you use to sign-in." Here you may pick a different email address to have your comment responses sent to, if you don't want it to be your personal email and maybe your blog specific email address.
Once you have this all set, save your settings.

From here on, when you leave a comment, you'll also be able to receive a response... especially when you leave a question in the comments.

Hope this helps!
I hope that in the future, when these setting have been changed, we will be able to communicate more efficiently.

Happy Friday!

I've written about this here and here, if you'd like to reference these posts too. These are for blogger users that are still using the old interface.

Shrimp Swim Lessons

2012-01-26T08:38:00.000-05:00

Swim lessons were a hit! Not only did Coen kick and flail around like he does in the bath tub, he also didn't mind being dunked as well.

Our class was a little unstructured, in my opinion. The age range of the students could be anywhere from 6 months to 36 months, and there was quite a mix. The instructor didn't really instruct unless the children were older and the parents could ask them to do more. And that was cute to watch, but Coen basically just swam around with me and that was it. The instructor said that she really doesn't do much in the class because it's basically to get them comfortable with the water and see if they love it or hate it.

Coen was good for about 20 minutes, kicking and splashing and moving around. Then he got ahold of a measuring cup and chewed on it for about the last 20 minutes. It was what was making him happy and at that point I didn't care because the water was warm and he was happy.

Afterward, we got out of the pool and we went into the family locker room to change him out of everything. When he was laying down, I noticed that one area on his gums was bleeding. He was getting another tooth in! That will make 3 on top and 2 on the bottom.

So that's why he was so obsessed with the measuring cup in him mouth for him to chew on! I thought something was up, but thank goodness we were in the pool and he just drooled in there instead of all over himself.

Can't wait to see how this weekend goes! I hope he continues to love it!

believe in who?

2012-01-25T10:56:00.002-05:00

I claim to be a spiritual person.

I say that I believe in God.

I have gone to church, but not like I used to.

I believe in something.

I can feel something.

But what is it?

This, emptiness, is something that I've struggled to communicate for years.

I know that I believe in something. When I walk into our home church, there is almost always "that feeling" that comes over me and I cannot explain it. When I sing in church and a song really hits me, I can't help but get misty eyed about it. Just because I can feel something real...

But what is it?

Growing up, we went to church almost every weekend, for most of my childhood. We were involved in youth group, Sunday school, mission trips, and a variation of other church-like activities. In my opinion, we were fairly active.

After I started college, I wasn't a very good Sunday-church-goer, but I went when I could. When I started dating S., we went on and off at first, but then he was asked to sing in a band at a contemporary worship service at a church MILES from our house. He did that for about 6 years and it was nice. We loved the church for a little while but we weren't part of their community. We didn't participate in anything but the Sunday service when he was paid to be there and when we didn't go, we didn't go anywhere else, either. Going to church, started to take well over 3 hours and sometimes more. It became a chore, not something we enjoyed doing.

After our 6 years attending the Lutheran Church as a couple and then we moved further from the church, we decided that it just wasn't doing it for us anymore and we needed to part ways.

I was brought up in a Presbyterian church, my husband in a Methodist church and when we went to the Lutheran church, it was only a little different than what we were used to. It was still church.

My husband didn't really go to church much when he was a toddler, as I remember him telling me. But as his older brother got into Young Life, his family started to attend church a lot more. They became very active in their (rather large) Methodist church. S. was in the choir and would go on traveling choir tours, his brother later became a Pastor himself and they all became and appeared to be very spiritual people.

After we split from the Lutheran church, we (unfortunately) took a very long break from church.

When we had our house guests living with us (my in laws), we started going to the local Methodist church with them. They preferred the traditional service, we like the contemporary service, so we would flip flop week to week and we'd enjoy going. But then the contemporary service got weird, the choir was creepy, it became too predictable and we no longer enjoyed going. People were really fake (choir members), it wasn't too welcoming and just didn't feel like it was a good fit for us. After our house guests left, we pretty much decided that it wasn't working for us and we stopped going. Shortly after that, my in laws stopped going to the traditional service, for other reasons.

Since then, we haven't been to a church for a regular service that isn't holiday or funeral related in over 2 years.

Sad to admit, yes, but the truth.

Our philosophy was and is that God doesn't live in a building, so, why stress about going to a church?

It's always been important to me. When I take the time and reconnect and really feel the connection. It's good and it's there. I want my relationship with God to be present in our day to day lives, enough so that it influences our family and our children.

Right now, S. and I both are sort of in this same boat. We haven't felt the draw to attend a church, not only because we are unsure about what we need or want from a church, but also because we haven't looked for a church. We haven't made it a priority, and we realize that this needs to change in order for us to build the relationship again. At the rate we're going, it's going to take some time to get back in the groove and feel what we used to from a church.

But, the other question that we both have... is it God that we really believe in? And how do you feel fulfillment from a church when you aren't really sure that the people around you really believe or just lift their hands in praise, because that's what people do.

We know that bringing Christ into our family is important and we are making plans to do this. We don't have any specific church that we need to attend based on denomination, so it should be easy to figure out... right?

So far, our plan is to start attending this church that they are building just a mile from our house, when it's done. It's non-denominational, close and new. It might hold what we're looking for or it might not. Either way, we plan to give it a try and at this rate, that will be better than what we're not doing.

Yes, God doesn't live in a building, but sometimes it feels really good to walk into a building where lots of people are welcoming him. Hopefully we find a place that we can call ours, soon.

mama failed

2012-01-23T11:28:00.000-05:00

Had a huge "mama failed" moment last night and I literally cried through the whole thing.

My milk supply is really not keeping up with Coen's demand. I usually can pump what he'll eat for the next day and I'm just not able to do that anymore.

When he was eating like mad just a few days or weeks ago (when I posted last), we were not only nursing him on demand, but giving him a bottle when I just couldn't nurse him anymore (which I know isn't nursing on demand, but sometimes my body was just too sore and I couldn't). In doing this for almost 2 weeks, we have really cleared out my milk stock, that I once bragged about. We've dipped into it (my stock) time and time again to get through growth spurts and things, but these last two weeks really just blew threw the majority of it and I wasn't able to come to grips with it, until last night.

So, in complete desperation, I had to give Coen a bottle of formula.

Big Mama Fail. Lots and lots of tears.

I didn't want this moment to happen and I really thought that it wouldn't, but we're here.

So, last night, I nursed him through the morning hours, and today at the sitter's house, he's going to take 2oz formula to 2oz breast milk to see how it works. Because for now, I'm just going to keep pumping whatever I get and substitute when I need to. Last week I made 32oz of milk through the whole week. That would feed him in 2 days. With splitting the formula/breast milk combo, we'll make that last 4 days.

It's very sad for me to think that I'm just not able to provide for Coen, but I'm not going to give up. I'm taking a handful of supplements, as I normally would and I'm also going to start drinking Mother's Milk Tea to see what sort of increase I can induce. I'm also doing the power-hour of pumping for 3 days to see if that will help me at all. I talked about that here, when I did that after Coen was about 3 weeks old, but not in very good detail. Basically, for an hour a day, for three days, I would pump for 10 minutes, then I would break for 10 minutes, until I hit 1 hour. It helped then, so I'm going to give it a try to see if it will help now.

Any body have experience with this? Have any other suggestions?

I absolutely hate that my body is failing me. I hate that I'm having to do this to Coen, but it's my reality and it just stinks right now. I'm probably work to get over it, but it just really upsets me right now that it has come to this.

We'll see how the next couple weeks go and we'll see what his eating habits do, but I can't imagine that they'll decrease that much. He's a growing boy that's going to keep needing more. I just hope I can continue and whatever rate is possible.

eating us out of the house

2012-01-19T14:48:00.001-05:00

I've heard this phrase used with teenagers who are growing like mad and are literally eating everything in the house before someone else can even discover it was purchased. However, I never thought I'd use this phrase with my 7 month old.

I'm not kidding folks. Yesterday, for instance, he ate 6 4 oz bottles, about 2 tablespoons of rice cereal for breakfast, 2.5 ounces of rice cereal for dinner and still acted like he was hungry.

Today, he's had green beans for breakfast, sweet potatoes for a morning snack, 3 bottles and pears at lunch time.

I'm not sure I could've ever been prepared for how quickly solids were going to be increased in his diet, but as of today, we're going into three times a day and sometimes 2 at each sitting just to keep him full.

Is this normal?

I cannot believe it.

Over the last 3 weeks, he's had the flu and wasn't able to really eat. Then he was feeling better and eating more often, then it was like he just wasn't getting enough and started eating like a newborn (every 2 hours on the button). Now, with the extra feedings, I'm hoping he'll level back out. But holy moly.

My mind is going a mile a minute trying to keep up with the idea of feeding him solids three times a day and nursing him and potentially adding more because it's just not enough. My boobs hurt, but I have to keep doing what he needs on demand because it's what he needs.

It was like he went from... "okay mom, this isn't really my thing," too panting the moment he sees his spoon and bowl together until the food hits his mouth. It's unreal.

Any advise? Please.

they're on the move

2012-01-18T09:23:00.002-05:00

My sister and her husband have made the plunge. He's an arcitect and she's a dance education teacher, so they are Chicago bound to make these dreams come true in bigger ways. Her husband moves in a few weeks and she'll move a week or so later. It's wild.

Bittersweet, yes. My immediate family all lives fairly close to one another, within 20 minutes or so. But, for them, this is going to be a great move for the both of them!

Best part for our family is now we'll have an excuse to go and visit that lovely city and potentially have a space to stay... ha ha ha! I doubt it, but it's still fun to say.

Good luck on the move! Very exciting times ahead, for you two!!

Coen, 7 Months

2012-01-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Dear Coen,

You're 7 months, bubba and would couldn't be more happy about this. In this month, you've continued to grow and change so much, it's just blowing us away.

You sure had a lot of firsts in this month!

First Christmas.
First time in at a church service and first Christmas Eve service. (more on this another day)
First time in the car for 8 hours to Virginia.
First time to Washington DC.
First time eating pears, squash, and apples.
First time out to the state.
First time driving through a tunnel (our 5 year old nephew was getting a kick out this one, so I documented it).
First time to the National Zoo.
First time being watched by someone who isn't family or a good friend of ours...
First time seeing snow, even though it was pathetic.
First New Years.
First time sitting up, unsupported for about 3 minutes.
First time getting the flu. Barf.
First time sitting in an auditorium and listening to the local symphony.

There are probably a few that I'm forgetting, but those are the major ones from this month.

This is from one of the first times you army crawled and got to your destination, successfully. See the determination?

Other stats:

Teeth: The bottom two are fully in and top two are coming in. I feel bad that they are coming in at the same time, but at least it's faster for you and doesn't spread the pain out over a longer period of time.
You're in 3-6 month clothes, 6 month clothes, some 9 month clothes and some 6-12 month clothes. Most things that are 6-12 or 9 months, are just a little too long for you, especially the pants. Just have to give it a little more time to get you into those sizes, but I have to say baby clothes are just so annoying with how different certain sizes fit! Very annoying.
You're still wearing size 3, Luvs diapers and they seem to still be doing the job.
You're eating BM (my milk) and have only had that your entire life. About 5.5 months, we started with solid food and have been slowly introducing you to more as you show interest. Messy, but exciting.
You last weighed in at 16.2 lbs and 27 inches long, so you're still growing like a weed.
You love anything that play music, you love listening to people talk, you like to pull hair and earrings, you love to be on the floor and be free, you love rolling around and army crawling, and you are still just an all around happy baby. You don't cry unless you're pissed about your teeth, frustrated with a toy, hungry, tired or dirty. The first two are new, but still just part of being a baby.
You're still doing great at the sitter's too. She loves and you and you get along great with the other kids which continues to be such a relief.
You're sleeping schedule just sucks, to be honest. You're sleeping like a newborn, but you have several variables in your way. I'm hoping to get you back to the 8 to 9 hour window of sleeping over the next few months. We both need that.
You're still working on your army crawl but it doesn't hinder you from not getting where you want or to whatever you want. Between rolling and army crawling you get everywhere and sometimes really fast!
Sitting is a work in progress, but you're starting to do it and it's really cute!

This is right after you woke up. I just love this face!

Your first Christmas, was just the biggest joy for everyone. Everyone wanted to be with you or around you all the time. It was great too, because you had a ball.

First off, Christmas Eve was at Nana and Grandpa George's house. We hung out most of the afternoon, had snacks, watched Christmas Vacation and football, ate dinner really fast, ran to church for your first church service that you actually did pretty well through and then back to their house for gifts! Opening gifts with you was just hilarious. You would grunt with excitement, scream with joy and just hold onto whatever was given to you... wrapped boxes, bags, tissue paper, wrapping paper.... whatever. It was so funny and you didn't stop. You'd go on and on and on and on with everything, the whole night! It had us all in tears because we were laughing so hard!

Reading your Christmas card before you put it in your mouth.

Christmas morning, we opened gifts at home in the morning together as our family of 3, plus William and Toby. It was great. We had time together to just be our family. It was quiet, we played carols and just loved on you. It was your first Christmas and we were both so excited to enjoy it with you.

At about 2pm on Christmas day, we had Nana, Grandpa George, Uncle Geoff, Grandma C and Grandpa C over to hang out, watch some football ~~or basketball I cannot remember~~, eat Christmas dinner and spend time as a family. Normally, we just do the other side of the family on this day, but because you're around, everyone wants to be around you whenever they can. So, we let them.

You received lots of books, jammies, a few toys, ornaments, a new-to-us jogging stroller (that is awesome!) and money for your savings account. It was a great Christmas for you and I felt like you received the right amount of things for your age and what you actually needed. I was fearing that I was going to feel overwhelmed, but I didn't. Thank goodness.

Santa's little helper.

The day after Christmas, we did brave the shopping rush and went to a few stores to buy for other family that we were going to visit and then on the 27th, we were off to Virginia. This was a little rough. Who would want to be in their car seat for almost 8.5 hours with just a few breaks in between? I wouldn't and I know that after about 5 hours, you didn't either. We made it though, with just a few stops on the way there and on the way back. There were a few moments where I thought you were just losing it and that you weren't going to bring it back together, but you did. Now we can say that we can travel with you, but I would advise doing 8 to 9 hours in one day. That was just too hard.

Our visit with your cousins (all 4 of them) was great! They love being around you and entertaining you. AC was all about putting on the show and making you giggle and boy did he ever. He had the whole table in stitches one night and it was so good we video taped it! He was improving like a pro! It was great!

After we returned home, we unpacked and repacked before heading south to Charlotte's first birthday party and New Years Eve evening, we were with N&J for a crazy good dinner..

Any toy that makes noise, is your friend, however those toys don't leave that house and go to public places. Not only because they are your favorite and I don't want them hitting the floor but also because they make noise. Your baby einstein mp3 player is your absolute favorite right now, as you can tell below.

Sitting up has been something we've worked on but not something we've really sweated about. You'll do these things when you're ready and we're ready whenever you are. But we practice sitting up and pulling you up to build those muscles. Then the other day, we propped you up, pulled your legs apart to help balance you and then you were on your own. It was like a switch went off and you were doing it. Don't get me wrong, you do swing to the ground when we least expect it and it's so fast, so we can't sit you on your own alone, but you're sitting and it's fantastic! So cute, strong and independent.

Oh and then the last thing of last month to hit you was the dreaded flu. Seriously, the most awful and discusting thing to ever enter our house. To spare you a lot of detail, you basically threw up for 24 hours, then on and off for about a week. You were in the ER and pediatrican's office to both confirm there was nothing we could do and also to know what was going on.

Here you are drinking pedialyte, which you've had three jugs of over the last week and a half, to help your system get back to normal. As of right now, we're 48 hours without vomit and I'm very happy.

In the ER.

I have to say though... I was so tired of smelling vomit, hearing vomit, catching vomit, being hit with vomit, cleaning vomit, washing vomit, fearing vomit and just being around vomit. It was awful. And I hope we're in the clear. Please send us good, well, thoughts.

You are the biggest joy to be around, even when you're sick, you light us up with your smile or scream. You make us happy to be your parents and so proud of everything that you do and learn, day to day. It's amazing how fast this time with you is going by... I just cannot believe you're 7 months old. I remember my friends writing about their 7 month olds and thinking how much older that was to you... Now we're here. Wild.

It's been so great watching you and being around you. I really hope this month is a good month for you. I hope those two top teeth come in and I hope that you don't have to battle anything else, like the flu. I hope you get a break because since you were 4 months old, you haven't really caught a break and it's hard on all of us. We're managing though, because it's just part of growing up.

Happy 7 Months, baby Coen!

We love you so much,

Mama and Dada

Follow Up | Sophie the Giraffe

2012-01-15T21:21:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to follow up to my worry about Sophie the Giraffe and Toby.

Sophie is like baby crack. It's a great toy, however, if we're going into public, she stays home. She's very entertaining for as loud and annoying she might be to some adult ears.

Toby, while has interest in every thing that hits the floor, has little to no interest in Sophie. So, it's great and we all win.

I have a friend who witnessed Coen's love for Sophie. She's 4 or 5 months pregnant and she went to the store and bought her immediately for her baby. It's a $22 squeaky dog toy for a baby (as someone once told me) but it's completely worth every penny (thank you Mego!).

So, if you're on the fence. Buy it.

BTW, Sophie's review was completely from my heart and I was by no means paid for this jibber jabber.

Happy Sunday (evening)!

last year

2012-01-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

This time last year I was 18 weeks pregnant. It's fun to remember all the things I was experiencing through that time.

I was about 18 weeks during this time, last year and Coen is 31 weeks, post gestational.

So crazy how it's going so fast!

major randomness

2012-01-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

throwing up

Coen's been throwing up since Wednesday night. At first it was just projectile then off and on from about 7pm until the next morning (Thursday) at 11am. At about 4am on Thursday morning, I called the dr and they said to feed him 1 ounce of milk every hour and just pump everything and feed him through a bottle. That if it got worse or turned green or wasn't wetting a diaper, I needed to bring him in. Then about 5pm on Thursday, it was like he threw up everything from 11am on and it turned green toward the end. I called the dr. again and they said to go to the ER. They pumped him full of pedialyte (6oz in about 2 hours) and we were sent home. Since then he was on pedialyte all day Friday and returned to nursing on Friday night. He did great except in the night time. I don't know if it's how he's laying or what but the last three days have been great and the nights have been miserable.

lack of sleep

Speaking of miserable nights. My 6 month old is sleeping like a newborn and it's beginning to kill me. We go through the same routine at night, he goes to bed (in his bed) great, but anywhere from 10pm to 1am, he gets up and is starving. I'll feed him, put him back down and then about 2 to 3 hours later he's up again. It's drying me insane, but I'm trying to just roll with it. I dream of an 8 hour night of sleep, but I honestly cannot remember what that feels like.
Because of this, I'd love to have a day where I could be off work, but still send Coen to the sitter. I haven't done that but I'm thinking about it. I say that and then I think about the fact that I'd still have to pump while I'd be off. Ugh, would make it almost not worth it.

purging

I'm having this increasing need to purge. I don't purge. In fact, my husband (in a joking manner) would call me a pack rat or a hoarder. I'm not, but I suppose I could be. I like to collect, I like to keep little things because of the memory they have and what not. But lately, I'd had a need to purge, I just don't know where to start.
How do you do it at your house? Do you keep things with memorable value? Concert tickets, programs, photos?
Do you have a system for going through and donating things in your house? Do you say, " if i haven't looked for you, touched you or needed you in a year, then goodbye"? What do you do?
I need motivation. I need suggestions. Help?

william

We're finding William a new home. We have come to an agreement and I believe that I'd found him a better home than we could ever give to him and I'm grateful. More on this after we have confirmation.

dentist

I'm almost 30 years old, I spent the last year of my life pregnant and eating a lot of sweets. Now I have 1.5 cavities. Gross. My dentist said that I could blame it on my pregnancy and, believe me, I am. I go today to get them both worked on. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm doing it because that's what you're supposed to do. I couldn't imagine if I didn't go to the dentist every 6 months! I would've been in bigger trouble than I am in these last 6 months. Oh well. :(

Seriously, tell me how your purge (see above)!

Introducing Solids

2012-01-06T10:05:00.000-05:00

I was really hesitant about solids. I think it was mainly because I was nervous that it would interupt our nursing relationship. But after his 6 month visit that was at about 5.5 months (because of timing) we made the leap. I bought organic oatmeal cereal (that until about 2 weeks ago I was calling rice cereal - *raising hand* NEW MOM!) and we tried it at 5.5 months. It didn't work out very well. He accepted it (a few bites), but wasn't swallowing it. He'd take it into his mouth, but because this was his first thing outside of breastmilk, it was werid to him. We did a few bites and then after having the entire high chair tray covered in oatmeal that had been spit all over it, we called it quits.

I just wanted him to get the taste, I didn't want him to love it immediately.

We waited a day and then we tried it again. Almost immediately, I got that same reaction. Spitting it back at me like, "lady you're crazy, I'm no eating that crap." So we waited a day. And we tried bananas that I had made myself from really ripe bananas and breastmilk.

Then, we didn't have an BMs for 4 days. So I stopped solids all together, just to get him back on track.

After 4 days, he had two blows outs and we thought we were on track again, so I tried carrots that I had made. Had them one day, skipped a day and then had them another day and he was backed up again. So we stopped. This time it took just over 5 days to start the bowels moving again and when it happened, it was just everywhere.

Poor baby.

After that, we started back at it with sweet potatoes (2 to 3 oz a serving) and immediately, he was taking them in and actually swallowing every bite and we had no problems. We were even getting regular BMs which is what we want to see. So we'd do a day with solids and a day without for about a week alternating sweet potatoes.

Then we were in VA for the holidays and we had a really ripe pear, so I gave that a whirl and it was a hit! It's really strange how much their bodies can do and how much they change. But to introduce solids was a whole new ball game because it was really something foreign to them. But he's doing great and really accepting of every bite too. He's still eating every bottle that he would normally eat at the sitters and nursing as he normally would, we just introduce the solids around "dinner time" so that it's a constant hour for his body to have them.

So far, so good. And while I was nervous at first, I'm not now. It's actually been an okay transition.

If I would've known more about the BRAT diet at the beginning (just something I wasn't aware of) I would've gone for something different right out of the gate. We haven't been back to the oatmeal or the carrots, but we plan to soon.

I cannot believe it's already over...

2012-01-01T14:19:00.001-05:00

We had a great Christmas and I cannot wait to tell you all about it, but for now I'm going to cry while I think about packing up everything from Coen's first Christmas.

It's much more emotional than I thought and don't think that I haven't tried to convince my husband to keep it up until Valentine's just to make me happy, because I have. It didn't work.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Card 2011

2011-12-22T08:37:00.001-05:00

This might be our best Christmas card yet.

Merry Christmas to your family (Happy Holidays to those that don't do Christmas) and Happy New Year!

All pictures taken by Britt Lakin Photography. Love her.

From us...

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-05:00

To follow up from my post about Coen's 1st Christmas, I wanted to post about what we will get him for Christmas.

Growing up in my family, aside from our stockings and a handful of toys ~~or things we wanted that year maybe some clothes~~ my parents would always get us an ornament, a calendar and a book or some sort. Three gifts, in a sense. And I like this tradition. However, Coen isn't old enough to know what a calendar is, so instead, we'll subsititute with something he needs. This year we are sticking to just that.

We bought him this ornament.

Obviously with Coen's name.

We're giving him these books (because I could resist them both).

Winter by Roger Priddy

Merry Christmas, Little One! by Sandra Magsamen

And we're giving him a "My 1st Christmas" one-piece sleeper (that I don't have a picture of, but I will once it's Christmas Eve) because we felt that he needed another winter sleeper.

It doesn't seem like a lot, but honestly, we have a ton of things that he still hasn't used from our showers and things that we feel this is plenty for him on his first Christmas. The idea is to celebrate with him and to have him open a few gifts, but to not be blown away. We already have problems with putting things away, if we have more things, we're going to have to move (for real this time).

Plus, my family and other friends will spoil him with gifts that will be plenty and gracious. We will struggle with keeping those things tucked away that I wouldn't want to get him much more.

What do you do for your child's Christmas? Do you buy whatever you want for them? Or do you limit it?

1st Birthday Planning

2011-12-20T10:25:00.000-05:00

I know Coen is only 6 months, but I think about this from time to time and I wanted to share our thoughts.

We've (my husband and I have) talked about this a few times and every time, we come to the same conclusion.

Coen's first birthday will be a big deal. A huge deal! Our family will all be together to celebrate, but it will (mainly) be a family affair.

We'd love to include everyone, we really would. We have tons of friends with babies and children that would love to celebrate with him, I know this. However, it's just not practical. I don't want to host everyone in my house, because it's just not big enough and I don't want to rent a place. I want it to be about Coen and to invite everyone would just take the focus away and we just can't afford to invite everyone. Our plan is to invite all of our immediate family, a few of our closest friends and that's pretty much it. At least for the first one.

In my family, every birthday that comes around, we either have dinner at my parent's house or out somewhere. (Sean's family is adopting this method too.) It's the way we've always done it and while we don't have to go out for Coen's birthday dinner, I'd still like to have everyone together, just as though he's joining in on the birthday fun.

Some of our friends will probably feel left out. Some of them might be offended that we aren't including them, but I just don't want to start a trend and I don't want to feel like they would have to reciprocate the same sort of invite. It's just a lot of work and a lot of money. It won't always be this way, but I want his first birthday to be small and special for Coen.

I stressed about this when I was pregnant, too. Who to include and who not to include. I went round and round about it. I wanted to include everyone because it just seemed right and I know that they were excited for this moment in our lives. But after it was all said and done, I felt bad because there were several people that came to my shower that I couldn't even talk to because it was just a lot of people. (thank you W.) I don't want to feel that same way with birthday parties and since Coen is so little, I'd want him to have fun at his party and being held and in a chair isn't really his forte. I want him to be able to be on the floor if he wants or in his pack n' play... whatever and if I have a house full, that won't be able to happen. It's just what we think will work and we hope that everyone can appreciate this. We just want Coen to have a good time!

A friend of mine said that for her son's birthday they let him invite the number of friends as the year he is turning. So if he's going to be 5, he gets 5 friends. I think this is a great idea.

What do you do for your baby's/children's birthdays?

c-section, revisited

2011-12-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

After posting about Coen's 6 month post and looking back through all of the posts prior, I couldn't help but read word for word about his arrival. I've been reading several birth stories lately and you wouldn't believe how "easily" or naturally some babies arrive and how others just haven't been given a break and end up in c-section. I think I've said this before, but I really hate that I had to end up in a c-section. The emotions of pushing my baby through my body with my physical effort was just my dream labor. I get really emotional about not being able to have experienced that.

Yes, my dr. let me go as long as possible to have that natural delivery. Yes, my body was just failing me and yes, it was getting scary for Coen too. Yes, we both were much safer as a result of the c-section, but I still get sad about it. Maybe it's selfish, but it's just how I feel.

Yes, my lady parts are still in tact. Yes, my recovery was hard, but it could've been worse. Yes, I might always have to have a c-section in the future and yes, I could have a VBAC, but do I really want a VBAC? I don't know. There are a lot of risks. I could die. Our next baby could die. My insurance may not cover it. There's just a lot to go along with that decision. A lot.

I've been struggling with this a lot lately. Not because I'm going to be faced with the decision soon, but just because it's something I think about. Yes, having a c-section will be nice the next time around because I could say that I'd want to have my baby at 8:00am on whatever date and I'd have him in my arms at 8:40am... but what will the next time be like? Will I be full term or will it happen sooner? Will I have a scheduled c-section and not even experience labor again?

It's just a weight that ~~I let bother me constantly~~ I worry about from time to time... And sometimes it really does bothers me.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all works out.

Has anyone had a successful VBAC?

holla.......

2011-12-15T09:36:00.002-05:00

Coen: "Say what?"

"Mama's in her pre-pre-pregnancy jeans? NO........."

Mama: "Oh yes. Yes, I am!"

Today is a great day!

Coen, 6 Months

2011-12-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

Dear Coen,

6 months ago, we were here…

And now you’re here…

I cannot believe that it’s already the end of 2011 and you have already been with our family for 6 months! That just doesn’t seem right, but I know that it is. You’ve been the best gift ever and we couldn’t trade our time with you for the world. Can you believe you’re 6^th months old? Neither can I.

I used to be so sad to watch you change and grow with every passing day. While it is bittersweet, I’m enjoying it more and more every day that we get so spend time together and learn together about the things you can do.

You’re seriously one of the best babies! We tell people all the time that you literally only cry when you’re hungry or tired (or when you get shots), and you literally only cry during those times. Honestly, it’s the best cue ever because then we know right from that moment what’s going on. We haven’t really have many moments when we haven’t been able to quickly comfort you unless we’re in the car and those moments are really tough on me. The best part about you being a thumb sucker, is when those moments come up, that is when your thumb helps you out big time. It also helps when you are really hungry because you’ll pop your thumb in and out of your mouth and whine through the whole thing until I feed you.

You’re still teething like crazy, so if you don’t have your thumb in your mouth to self soothe while you’re tired or hungry, you do have your hands in your mouth a lot to help comfort your teeth/gum pain. And you do it more and more if you don’t have a toy near you to chew on. You have your two bottom front teeth (completely in) right now and from what I understand, you’ll be working on your top two very soon. You haven’t hindered our nursing relationship with this new grow and again, I’m very happy about this.

(Two bottom teeth, can you see them? This was about 2 weeks ago when they were first coming in. I planned to post this on FB, but decided not to. Thought it was better suited here. And yes, it did take me about 17 times to finally get this without your tongue in the way...)

Here are your stats from your 6^th Month Appointment:

16.4 pounds (7.78 pounds at birth)

26.75 length (21 inches long)

So basically, you’re still in the tall and lean stats, which means your falling right in line with your family genes! We have nothing but hopes of you taking after your dad, grandpas or uncles because they are all very tall and skinny. Even though I see tall to you now, I’m actually the runt of my family and your daddy is the same way. So you have some great height advantages.

Other things you’ve learned or are doing this month…

· You had rice cereal at the end of the month last month. It wasn’t your favorite and you basically spit it back in my face because it was just not that great tasting. That’s what I understand will happen with new things, though, so we’ll try it again, soon. We had three times to try it and then I made carrots for you to try. Those you liked a lot better and we’ve tried those two times now. Unfortunately your bm’s have really been effected by this new addition to your diet, so we’re just trying to keep track of those while we continue to introduce these new items.

· You’re really getting around. You haven’t tried to crawl or to get up on all fours or anything, but you’re really good and rolling and scooting around. We refer to your rolling style as “barrel rolling” all the time because no matter where you are, if you want to go somewhere you will roll like crazy to get there. It’s seriously so cute. We always put you down on a blanket to have you play but you almost always roll right off of it within minutes because of how quickly you like to get places. Carol says you do the same thing at her house, too. We get more of a workout by trying to keep you on the blanket and less time to play with you because we’re constantly trying to bring you back to the blanket. It’s hilarious and you are really quick.

· You’re propping yourself up a lot and I’ve tried to get you on your knees, but you aren’t interested.

· You’re really grabby and grab for everything that is in front of you. You especially like my hair (that I am actually trying to grow out…). It hurts a lot, but I’m getting used it. You also grab and pull on your own hair, especially when you are tired or hungry. You twirl your hair while you eat and that’s really sweet. Along the same lines of grabbing though, you grab for your toys on your car seat and if they slip away you just grab them right back. And your dad said that they slipped away off your car seat the other day and you didn’t really mind. It’s good that we have those rings close while you’re in the car because you just chew away on them.

· You eat really well with me, but you also eat really with Carol or whoever will feed you your bottle. I don’t ever feed you a bottle so I had no idea that you were actually holding your own bottle until recently. Your aunt Julia said that you’ll get a good grip on it and pull it in until you’re done and if you try to pull the bottle away, you pull it right back to your mouth. I think this is hilarious. I’m also pumping still and that’s still going well for me too. I couldn’t be happier about the fact that that we’re still nursing and you’re still diggin’ it with no problems. Every baby is different, but this has been a complete blessing. Not only for the bond that we have, but also for you and your health. Not to mention how it’s helped us financially. Such a blessing.

· You’re talking up a storm. You babble about just about everything and have lots and lots to share. You have a lot of the dadadadada & bababababa babble down, I’m just waiting for the dada to be in context. That will just make your dad so happy!

· You also smile at everyone. We tell everyone that you haven’t met a stranger yet and it’s so true. You’re just a happy baby and find something worth smiling about with every face that you encounter. It’s pretty cute. We understand that a “stranger-anxiety” moment or milestone might be in your future (dr. said 7-9 months) but I’ll be surprised if that happens. We socialize you so much that we’d like to think you’ll just pass over this stage, but what do I know. We’ll just have to wait and see.

· You don’t mind the car rides if you aren’t hungry or tired. You actually are really calm in the car, especially in the day light when you can just look around and see what we are passing by. It’s interesting to watch you look out the windows when we are driving to see how mesmerized you are by everything.

· You still love your sitter and have no problem being with her all day. You love your friends that you get to visit with, even if the older kids do more than you. It’s fun to watch you play with them when I have time to sit with you there. You don’t mind all of the commotion and just because you aren’t crawling doesn’t mean that you won’t crawl across the room and chew on their shoe while they are sleeping. She’s really just a blessing to our family and I couldn’t be more happy with our decision. It took a lot of research, but I’m so glad we made the decision we did. She and her family are just amazing.

· You are quiet the wiggle worm and hard to hold onto. You’re always looking around and moving around, but your dad and I have the hang of keeping a hold of you, it’s the others I worry about.

· You’re wearing some 3-6 month clothes, but your starting to wear more and more 6-9 and 6-12 month clothes. It’s fun to dress you every day in something cute and remember where we got it, who it came from (used or borrowed) or who gave it to you (gifts). You’re so stinking cute in this big boy outfit (below) from CR. Such great clothes come from H&M Kids.

You’re doing so much and changing every day. We love every minute that we spend with you and we cannot wait to see how the next 6 months will go for you. It’s going to be amazing!

We’ve had a lot of firsts in these last few months and that’s going to keep going as time goes on. You’re going to experience your first Christmas Eve, your first holiday church service, your first Christmas morning and day with our family, your first visit from Santa and your first New Years Eve in the next month! It’s going to be great to watch you through all of the bright lights, gifts and sparkly things that are around this time of year. So far, I think you’re really loving it!

We experimented with a quick craft for Christmas and while it didn’t turn out the way that I had hoped, but it’s still really cute. I have to refine my process, but you get the idea.

Happy 6 month, Coen. We love you with every ounce of our beings, we are so blessed to have you in our lives and we cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives watching you grow. You’re absolutely amazing and we love you so much.

Merry Christmas, big boy.

We Love You,

Mama & Dad

Re-cap of the last 6 months:

our stockings

2011-12-09T09:45:00.001-05:00

And the stockings were hung, by the chimney with care...

With just a love and thread, they came together in just a few short days...

And before we they were done, we just had one more step to complete.

So, this all began last year when my sister arrived to my house with a stocking that she had made for us at a sewing class. It was just so cute that I thought I needed to have 4 more for my mantel for Christmas. Within the following month, we had the fabric, a few other items and we were sewing away. Then we stopped.

It wasn't until just after Thanksgiving this year that we picked it back up. We went to my mom's house and spread out over her entire dining room table and got to work. We cranked out two final products fairly quickly and we were just on the cusp of finishing the others when we hit a speed-bump and I had to head home. Plus, it was getting close to Coen's bedtime so we just put it on hold.

Then, a few weeks later a friend came over to make buckeyes and a stocking for her house. Once we were done with her project, she headed home, I put Coen in bed and got to work on my stockings. Since I had watched my sister help me finish two, I thought I could not only teach someone to make one on my own but also finish mine up. I only broke one needle in the process and had to re-thread my bobbin twice, but it was all good. I'm a pro at those things now!

It was so much fun. I've thought of ways to make mini ones to act as door hangers or to give as gifts with little treats in them. Now I know, so I'm more prone to try them again!

Do you want to learn how? I can teach you!

1st Christmas Gifts

2011-12-08T08:13:00.000-05:00

Coen will be 6 months old on Christmas. Because he's 6 months old, he really doesn't need that many things for Christmas. But we do have a few things on his list, that we've either talked about getting and just haven't yet or that we would need down the road, and we might as well ask for them as gifts.

What are they?

1. Money for his savings account

2. White short sleeve onesies

3. 9 month clothes or larger - Clothes/jammies - 6-12 old navy/gap, 9 + month carter, 12+ month gerber, etc... (he's got a lot of clothes, so only do this if you absolutely have to... )

4. Cloud B Sound Machine Giraffe

5. Food storage containers (ice trays with lids)

6. Books (any children's books you think are good, he has some, but could always use more.)

7. Manhattan Toy Winkle

8. Cube Learning Toy

9. Luvs Diapers Size 3

10. Target Sensitive Wipes (purple container)

We're also searching for an ornament for our family and an ornament for Coen. We're still looking.

Just a few things to have under the tree. Next year will be different, I'm sure!

Merry Christmas!

What do you get for your baby for their first Christmas?

days

2011-12-05T09:20:00.001-05:00

Some days are just better than others.

And no matter what kind of day I'm having, looking at this sweet face make my heart melt all over again.

thumb sucking

2011-11-30T09:48:00.001-05:00

Yes, my son is a thumb-sucker.

Yes, I offered him a pacifier and for while it worked in the beginning, but he's over it.

No, I didn't want to push the pacifier.

Yes, I've tried it again and he'll take it, but it's not his favorite.

No, he doesn't suck his thumb all day every day.

Yes, he only does it when he's really tired or really hungry.

No, I'm not worried about not being able to take it away.

Yes, I think it's the cutest thing ever.

No, I don't want to stop him from doing it.

And no, I will not be sorry later. It's called self-soothing people.

Yes, I'm happy as heck that he does this. The last thing I want to do is spend the rest of my life searching for a stupid plastic germ filled chocking hazard.

My son sucks his thumb and I'm letting him.

Please, stop asking me about it.

introducing solids

2011-11-29T09:44:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving day, we attempted to try solids with Coen. We started with Earth's best, single grain, infant rice cereal.

How did it go? Well, something like this... Cereal = 0, Coen = 1

As of right now, solids are not a favorite in our household. I had read and had been told by our dr. to nurse Coen and then introduce the solids. At first, it was fun and different, but then it became messy and not so successful, so we just stopped. No big deal. The idea is to introduce him to solids, not to stuff him full of solids.

These are our goals with solids...

Continuing to nurse (on demand) as normal, making this the main source of his calorie intake.
Introduce solids about the same time of the day, after being nursed.
Feeding solids every other day, or every couple days to get him familiar.
Solids will be given after nursing and only one time per day (on the days given).
We started with cereal and will introduce veggies or fruit every 4 to 5 days, sticking with one item for 4 to 5 days at a time.
Making all food with milk that has been pumped/expressed.
We're going to do what works best for us. Depending on interest, reaction and bowel movements.

I had really wanted to wait until Coen was 6 months old to travel down this feeding solids road, however, we thought that he might be ready, so we just jumped in and gave it a try. He was 23 weeks and 6 days when gave him his first try and while he's still spitting almost every bite back at us, we're having fun watching him try something new. Hopefully after the next few weeks pass, he'll find a new love for them, but for now, we're just going to continue to take it slow and follow his lead. Plus, the last thing I would want to do is to feed him too much, too quickly and be faced with backed-up bowel issues.

If you have a breastfed baby and you need guidance, please visit Kelly Mom for some great guidance on just about any topic related to your baby but also about introducing solids.

Happy Tuesday!

fortune

2011-11-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been really rough with sleep. Some nights he'll sleep just fine and other nights he's coughing every hour or two hours and not able to get it under control. These are the days/weeks/months that I wish we had a video monitor. Why? Because we have a first floor master and while I'm enjoying running up and down the stairs every time we want to check on him, it's just not easy to do every time he's coughing uncontrollably and upset. It's really tough on me and my sleepy state. I've also spent the last few nights upstairs co-sleeping with him because it's just easier for me to be close to him and able to respond faster. Being downstairs hurts my response time and makes him more worked up by the time I can get up there and I don't like that.

This is my sleepy smilely baby before bed last night. He's just so happy.

A baby who doesn't sleep well = a mama & dadda that don't sleep well either. It's been a hard week and while I know that it will end soon, it just makes it hard for me to function at work.

The upside to the week...

Yes, getting gas for $0.94 per gallon!

We bought gift cards for some Christmas gifts and it went toward gas rewards which resulted in this awesome price per gallon. I was able to not only fill up my car, but 7 gallons in other gas cans that we used to fill up my husband's car and it only cost me about $20.14! It usually takes $50 to fill my car, so this was a great deal. Makes me smile just thinking about it. Too bad it doesn't last longer than one fill up.

Lastly, this was my fortune today. It thought it was perfect advise for a new mother, in or outside the home.

Happy Wednesday or for some people Friday... Enjoy your holiday!

4 generations

2011-11-17T11:16:00.001-05:00

Yes, another phone picture. But it's sweet.

This is Coen, Mr. Hope and Coen's Great-Grandfather who is 94. We hadn't had the two of them meet yet because I didn't want to go to an assisted living when he was little, then his grandfather was ill, then Coen was ill... So anyway, 5 months later they met and it was pretty cute. My only problem is I forgot my camera and only had my phone.

Oh well. Now if we would've had Mr. Hope's mom in there, it would've been 4 generations!

On a side note, Coen slept for an ungodly amount of time last night! And he only got up once to nurse, which is normal. But seriously, it was only once and then he went right back down. I think what helped was my response time and the fact that he's starting to feel better. He's still doing breathing treatments, but his cough is much better. He's still working up the mucus, but it's so much better than it was. I'm hoping this continues through the weekend as we have family staying with us and it would be much appreciated. However, I know that he's a baby and things change from day to day... So I just have to wait and see.

In other news, my mom is going on a spa retreat with other cancer patients this weekend. I'm so excited for her to go because she needs a break and a weekend to just take care of herself. She's not going with anyone she knows and she's just going by herself. She boarded the plane this morning and is headed to a very warm location! I'm ultra jealous, as it's something like 20 degrees out right now. I cannot wait to hear how it goes and how she feels upon her return. We hadn't seen much of her this week, so we skyped before I put Coen to bed last night so she could see him. She'll be back next week, so it will be nice to see her before Thanksgiving!

This weekend we I set up his high hair and he loves it. It makes it so easy for me to get things ready in the morning with him in the chair instead of his bouncy chair. The animals were just a little too close to him in the bouncy and now he can watch everything that I do while having him play in his high chair. It's great. Now just a few more weeks until he'll be eating out of that thing!

Have a great weekend!