And this is his “sweetheart” face.  Who doesn’t want to just kiss him 1000 times when he looks like this!?  By the way, that outfit is a 9 month size outfit, which I’m sure has been shrunk in the dryer over the years, and it was also worn by Alan, as a baby.    I have been careful to save each one of the boys a few outfits, which I keep in each of their individual trunks.  But of course, this is 2013, so their “trunks” are actually just rubbermaid bins.

11th Wedding Anniversary

  I can’t believe it, but here we are with only three weeks of summer vacation left.  Phew!  We’ve been working towards this goal all summer, and yet there are so many things on my “summer to do” list that have been left undone.  You really cannot imagine or remember how difficult it is to get anything done with a new baby around.  I always forget just how much work it is!

   I mean, sure, he sleeps most of the day, but that’s in increments of time, so every three-ish hours I must be available to feed the little man.  Then once he’s been fed, he is awake for a little while (not long).  Then it’s nap time again.  There are 2 hours between each feeding and play time that I have to work with feeding the family and taking care of the other children.

These were my goals for the summer:

  1.  Give birth  (check)  : )

  2.  6 weeks of recovery = no expectations

  3.  Make sure each boy completes his 15 books read for the library.

     (Hurray!  We have finished this, but now I have to find time to take them to the library to get their prize booklet.  I bet they will freak out when they discover the “prize” is a coupon booklet.  Why?  Because my kids, like most kids in this city, are spoiled.  *sigh*  Maybe they will surprise me, but I’m banking on disappointment.

    If everyone could refrain from buying these boys a single thing until Joshua’s birthday, that would be great.

   4.  Make Caleb practice writing daily……….(yeah that’s been more like weekly…..regret #1.  Add that to my new list.)

   5.  Teach both big boys to ride their bikes w/no training wheels.

…….So I started on that with Joshua today.  It was going really well until he spotted Zoe.  Then he panicked, and he went from sweet 7-year-old to horribly crabby and embarrassed 7-year-old.  Will try again this week.

   6.  Finish Caleb’s baby book.  check!

  7.  Start and finish Daniel’s baby book.    ……oops

  8.  Lose 30 pounds.   hmmmm  Do you think I can lose 10 more pounds in 3 weeks?  Because I’m thinking probably not.

  9.  Train back up for 5k in September.

New List:

  1.  Begin meal planning and cooking dinner.  ; )

  2.  Make Caleb write Nicholas B. back.

  3.  More bike riding lessons…….  No one ever told me that that KILLS your back.  Seriously.

  4.  Forget the baby book.  That can wait.  Reduce blogging to every other day.

  5.  Lose 5 more pounds before school starts.

  6.  3 months.  3 months forgiveness policy on recovering from new baby.  : )  That’s the new rule     here.

Me and John David, ready for our night out

For our 11th Anniversary, Alan, John David, and I went on our classic go-to date:  Outback and Target.  It is perfectly acceptable to act like an old married couple when you are, in fact, an old married couple.  ; )  A good time was had by all.  John David only got upset once–right when they brought us our food.  Thankfully, we’ve had this same baby four times now, so we knew that would happen and were well prepared.

 We occasionally get around to making him practice his writing.

 I thought his truck was cute.

 Joshua, hard at work, and you can see Daniel’s coloring contribution.  You know what Daniel calls his brothers?  He doesn’t call them Joshua and Caleb.  He says, “Brubber!  Brubber!  Where brubbers?”

 7 weeks

 Alan cut Daniel’s hair!!

  ****John David****

  Our smallest man is doing really great.  The other night he slept 7 hours straight!  Success!  Most nights he sleeps a 5-6 hour stretch, so for a 7 week old, we are quite happy.  He’s growing like a weed. According to my bathroom scale, he weighs 13 pounds, and we’ve moved him up to size 2 diapers.  He smiles often, seems genuinely entertained by his brothers, and…….and now he’s awake so I’d better go.  Babies must be fed!

Quote of the week:

Caleb:  “So do you have like a hole in your stomach that you feed him from?”

 John David and me

6 weeks postpartum

I have returned to wearing make-up –finally– but my hair straightener will probably be completely rusted before it sees usage again!

 I just love this little outfit.  By the way, after Daniel the Chubby it’s nice to have a baby who can fit into newborn socks!

He’s still grow-grow-growing, and he still looks like Joshua to me.

*********

 

The New Normal

 

It’s been 7 weeks now, and I’m not sure if we’ve really found our new normal yet, but we are getting there!

 

   I think Alan’s birthday was pretty indicative of what it’s like around here:

 

Alan woke up sick, and we all hung out at the house doing nothing special at all…..sorry, Alan.  Well, we’ll just call the new baby our ‘something special’ for this year!

 

New babies are such a serious show stopper.  I have a friend from college that calls this phase “baby jail.”  I think that sums it up pretty well.  I have several overdue appointments scheduled for this week, and with a breastfeeding baby that can be a challenge…..

 

So it’s always a mathematical problem of how to handle each appointment….ugh…..and in this sprawling metropolis, you often have to just take what appt. time you can get.  So here are my options, this week, with Alan being off work:

 

#1. Feed the baby right before I leave (Look, Bobby, I know you just fed an hour and a half ago, but please please eat again for my convenience!!!)

 

……..and dash back between 2-3 hours later to spare Alan having to deal with a crying baby.

 

2.   Pump before I leave, and let Alan give him a bottle while I’m gone.  (We’ve actually pulled this off once now!  So exciting!  He drank 5 ounces).

 

3.  Take baby with me….risking having to listen to him scream and cry in the car seat, while I feel awful about it.  PLUS risk having to breastfeed the baby in …..dumdumdum……public.  *gasp*

 

Now how is it that I have nursed four babies and yet am still not good at that?

 

I tend to tuck away into the nursery to feed the baby at home, so I’m not in the habit of covering.  I haven’t had a baby yet that seems to appreciate being hidden under a blanket for his meal.

 

Plus, what if the office timing is bad??  What if he needs to be fed at 3ish, but I end up at the doctor’s office too long, not leaving me time to feed him?

 

This has also happened already, at his two well baby exams.  Thankfully, we had an understanding doctor who let me feed him while she did paperwork, ha!  Then another time, they took f-o-r-e-v-e-r drawing his blood, and he was starving by the time we got him out of there.

 

See, this is why I don’t enjoy leaving the house like I used to!

 

Now, I suppose at this point I have completely ruined your delusion that I am an easy going person, as you have just read all of my neurotic thoughts on breastfeeding.

 

By the way,  good news:  He is doing much better with his feeding routine.  He now sleeps one 5 or more hour stretch.  One night he actually slept 6 1/2 hours straight.  I was GIDDY.

 

….So if you come visit us, and suddenly I disappear for a while, do not be offended.

I’m just an inept public breast-feeder.  Maybe when I get used to this again I’ll be able to *chill* a bit!

 

 

 

  Have you ever woken up one morning feeling miraculously better??  I had that happen today!  (Praise the Lord!)  The iron supplements are working, and I can’t tell you how exciting that is.  I was able to actually work today, and when I say work, I do mean work.

   I just refuse to call myself a stay at home mom.  Yes, I suppose that’s what I am, but there’s something about that title that implies that I do not work.  It is possible to be a stay at home mom and actually be a lady who lunches….but that is sooooo not the case here, so let me tell ya:  I work!

  In fact, there is John David crying and hiccuping now, so I will finish at my next “break”!

  So anyway….I have been back at work today:  calming babies, feeding children, potty training Daniel,  making phone calls, cleaning up messes, de-cluttering, doing laundry, and I even showered and washed my hair!

  Now I’ve just got to get the rest of me put back together!  The other day I was out walking when I ran into Abby, who asked me why I was limping.  Limping?  Huh!?

  When you have a new baby (along with a few old ones–ha!), you often develop problems like this that you are just too tired to notice.  Isn’t that funny?  Once she said it, I realized that I actually was limping, because my old hip problem was hurting.  Jeepers.  Well, that comes and goes, so I’ll just have to deal with that later.  Do you think there is anyone under the sun that doesn’t have back pain when they’re carrying around a baby all day?  I have to keep reminding myself to stand up straight, and that seems to help a little.  Giving birth can really mess a girl up!

 

Alan’s taking leave next week, and I have so many plans for that leave!

  Postpartum Recovery Checklist!

-dentist

-dermatologist (already scheduled!)

-chiropractor

-hair cut

-pedicure

-Perhaps I’ll even cash in that spa gift card Amy and Monica got me!  Awesomeness!

Okay, it may take me a few weeks to accomplish all of that…..and there is John David crying again.

 

 Bobby’s first nap in Mommy’s bed

6 weeks old

Coming Soon:  I have 2 excellent new videos to share, but Blogger’s video uploader isn’t working (Here we go again, isn’t this why I left Xanga!?)

1. video of John David practicing his front to back rollover.  If you put his elbows under him, he can do a beautiful roll, from tummy to back.

2.  video of Daniel, breastfeeding a baby doll.  Ha!!!

….because sometimes reality looks like this

  Phew!  What a week.  I usually live for the weekend, but this weekend Alan had to work on Saturday too, leaving me looking like John David does in the photo above!  With Alan gone 11 hours/day and my mom gone, and still in recovery from the c-section, this week was one I will choose to never remember.

   Next week doesn’t look much better, but at least it will end at Friday.

  I have a theory, which I have not researched at all (except for personal experience, 4 times!), that one reason we do not remember these first weeks of the baby’s life is that we are so sleep deprived that our brain can’t convert our short term memories into long term ones.  IF I were an employed psychologist, which I am not, I would want to research that.  They say that there is also a hormone that aids in the forgetting, I don’t know.  I just know that a whole lot of the life I am currently living will soon be hard to recall.

  John David did something to me this week that babies sometimes do.  He suddenly slept a six hour stretch, the next night a 5 hour, and then LAST NIGHT he went back to waking up every two-and-one-half-hours……grrrrr

   Plus Alan left the house for work at 4AM this morning–you can’t make this stuff up–so trust me when I tell you that you would NOT have wanted to run into grouchy postpartum April today.  I just feel sorry for my children, who had no choice.

  We did take a few photos of the good parts of the week:

 This is something that seems to be unique to brothers.  Girls do not do this patting each other on the bottom thing.  Perhaps we’ve let them watch too much football.

 Daniel still adores Bobby.  This is Daniel getting a burp cloth ready to cover Bobby with, like a blanket.  I have so many pictures of Joshua and Caleb at this age that look exactly like this.

 Alan has shared his love of Eggos with all the boys, except Joshua who won’t touch them.

 Every thing Caleb reads or sees on t.v. becomes very inspirational to him.  This is Caleb asking to build a treehouse like Froggy did.

Caleb has spent this whole week in “Toy Story” world.  He has collected every Toy Story toy he has, and he carts them around the house in a box and a garbage bag.  He labeled the box “1st grade”, just as Andy had a box labeled “college” in the third movie.  He kept asking to put his toys in the attic, so finally I showed him a spot in the basement that he can pretend is the attic.

Joshua has informed that there’s a Toy Story 6, where Bonnie goes to college.

 …trying to capture the whole scene with only one hand…kind of impossible

 and precious photos of my 5 week old

Believe it or not, our favorite photographer Christopher came over this week and took JD’s picture, but we haven’t gotten to see those yet.  JD wasn’t very well behaved for that photo shoot.  We would take a picture, pick him up and calm him down, take a picture, pick him up and calm him down….you get the idea.

 This picture could be ANY of my children.  It’s like I keep having this same baby.  ; )  That outfit has been worn by all three of them, I think. I know Joshua wore it anyway.

This morning I turned on Toy Story 3 for the boys (have you noticed that’s the theme this summer?), and I went upstairs to take care of the baby.  I came down to find the camera in the floor.  Caleb and Daniel had taken lots of photos of themselves, the t.v., and the floor.

gee, I wonder who took that photo.

  Sometimes I say, “I know it sounds rough, but don’t worry, we’ll be okay.”

   I’m not saying that today.  Please worry and pray for us.  Ha! ; )  We would have never made it this week without my neighbors bringing those DELICIOUS meals.  We are sooooo thankful.

“Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.”  –Plato

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee:  be not dismayed; for I am thy God:  I will strengthen thee:  yea, I will help thee.”  Isaiah 41:10

Apparently this is my go-to postpartum dress b/c this is me 2 years ago, with Daniel 4 1/2 weeks after his birth.

  The baby is now officially 5 weeks old.  I am starting to feel much, much better.  This is the first day since giving birth that I have put on blue jeans.  They are maternity jeans since my regular jeans still don’t meet in the middle, but at least it is a step above jogging pants!

  There are lucky women who are back in their clothes by this point.  Well, pin a rose on their nose b/c that will never happen for this girl!  I gained 40.  I’ve lost 22.  I guess if I’d only gained 22, I’d be done. I’m just happy that I don’t have as far to go as I did after Daniel!  That was my largest pregnancy EVER.

  Monica and I were laughing at Supper Club about the fact that I am signed up to run a 5K in less than 2 months, and I’m not even cleared to exercise until August 1.  Pretty funny, but I am SO still going to do it.

  Yesterday I walked a little over a mile, in 90 degree heat and humidity, and my stitches didn’t sting a bit.  I would say I’m almost ready to run.  ; )  We’ll play it by ear, and if all else fails, I can walk the 5K.

   I think I ran into about 5 different people that I know on my walk yesterday.  There are a LOT of folks around here who have lost 1 day/week of work thanks to “sequestration.”  I’m sure it’s enjoyable to have a 3 day weekend, but you have to feel bad for the ones depending on that income!  When did our government become so ineffective?

   You all know I’m not overly political, so I won’t go there, but I will say that I sincerely HOPE we will all remember this next time it’s election time!

Baby Update:
Here’s a good reason to keep a log of how often you feed the baby:  After feeling discouraged over my current state of CONSTANTLY feeding the baby, I reviewed my records to realize that John David dropped from 10 feedings/ day to 8-9 feedings/day a week ago.  Yay for progress!!!

And last night was the first night that I didn’t fall asleep for hours on end in the chair in his room!

  As I mentioned, we had friends over for lunch Sunday.  They actually supplied the lunch.  Josh and Jaime were friends of Alan’s in college.  I met them while dating Alan.  They are a sweet couple that has been together I think since high school.  They have 5 children and one more on the way, so with their tribe plus ours, we had a house full of children.

   Was it crazy?  ……No, not really.  The kids don’t know each other, so they were all kind of quiet and shy at first.  Our Caleb was very good at breaking the ice, since he has never met a stranger, and eventually they were playing together nicely.  : )  The trampoline and light sabers were also a great help.  The trampoline and light sabers are 2 of the most important things we own!

 We lined them up on the couch by birth order, with the exception of Joshua holding John David.  Caleb wanted to hold the baby too, so he made up for that by holding Monkey Monkey.  : )

Their kids are so well behaved.  Well done, Josh and Jaime!

LtoR:  Caleb, Joshua and John David, Nathan, Caleb and Monkey Monkey, Emma Lee or Emily—I’m not sure which spelling, Joy, Daniel, and Merry

Benefit of home schooling (their kids are home schooled) I never realized before:  Their kids don’t know what a Nintendo DS is.  Jealous!!   That would help with our “coveting” problem, although our boys have been over that since summer started.  I wonder if they’ll start asking for a DS again once school starts back.

I’m telling you.  Light sabers rule all.

And yes, Caleb still wears his footy pajamas ALL the time.

I went to Target today and took J & C with me.  Joshua bought more Lego Chima (his current favorites) toys with his money.  He set them up like this and won’t let anyone touch them.  He’s in for a rude awakening when Dan wakes up from his nap…

  Right now my two littles are taking naps, Joshua is watching a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, and Mom and Dad took Caleb with them to Target.  My parents are thinking they may leave tomorrow instead of Friday b/c Dad is not feeling well.  : (  I really wish that he could get better.  Keep Dad in your prayers.

Funny quote:

Caleb, holding a burp cloth that has a picture ribbon of Linus and his blanket on it:  That’s who I want to be just like, right there.

Me:  You want to be like Linus?

Caleb:  Yeah.

Me:  Because of his blanket?

Caleb:  nodded

Me:  I think you already are like Linus, Caleb.  : )

(if you count Caleb’s fleece footy pajamas as being the same as Linus’s blanket….)