Surprise, Surprise

Baby #3 is on HER way!! We weren't expecting to have a third quite this soon, but apparently there are other plans for us! I'm kind of relieve that making the decision to have 3 was taken out of my hands! After getting over the initial shock, I'm actually really excited. Maybe third time is a charm to get a baby girl!!

I seem to be a little more nauseous earlier than with the other two. I got pretty car sick yesterday too. I already have to unbutton my pants when I'm sitting down because they cut into me too much although I haven't gained weight and I already feel like I'm sleeping on a rock if I lay on my stomach. I hear it comes with the territory of having 3 and I'm guessing it also comes with being pregnant more than not for 3 years or so. I felt all this early with Nate, too, but it was more around 8-9 weeks. I'm 5w3d, by the way. Tiredness has not kicked in yet, but I'm already experiencing my insomnia that I had with both boys.

Hopefully none of my symptoms get any worse and I'll start feeling better soon!!

End in Sight

At least I think it is!! I stopped breastfeeding Nate throughout the day on Friday. He is still nursing before bed and if he wakes through the night. I was somewhat sensing there may be an issue with my supply since the bout of mastitis I had a couple months ago. He always seemed hungry and his diapers weren't as wet. I blew it off as him starting his clingy/separation anxiety phase and the diapers on it being summer and me needing to up his water. But I kind of think my supply never really recovered. I've not had any problems with feeling full or engorgement, which I should have seeing as I dropped at least 4 feeding at once. He is sleeping SOOOOOOOOOOO much better. The first night he cried for a few minutes around 2:00 a.m. but went right back to sleep and didn't wake up til Logan got up. Every night since then it seems like he's been up once. There is definitely a huge gap between wakings now and I'm feeling so much more rested. He's been resisting his sippy before bed, so I'm giving him time to adjust and hoping he'll want his sippy over the boob soon like Logan did. He did take a little from his sippy before bed tonight though, so maybe we're heading in the right direction. I don't want to be completely weaned before 12 months, but at this point it's kind of up to him.

I tried giving him whole milk a couple days before, but it gave him diarrhea. He got hold of Logan's milk today and has had more diarrhea, so apparently he's not ready for cow milk yet. I've been using formula instead which he seems to take well and has no GI issues from. I don't remember the transition from formula to milk being too difficult with Logan, so hopefully Nate will be just as easy.

So now, on the off chance that I get to do something without the kids, I don't have to take Nate with me or time my outing to a 2 hr window! Hip hip hooray for a tiny bit of freedom!!!

I'm so proud of you Mommy!!!

A couple weeks ago, when I met Mom in Atlanta to get Laura, I was just getting over a stomach bug. Just south of Atlanta, it hit. I had to go to the bathroom RIGHT THEN! So I pulled off at the first exit I see. Once I'm off the interstate, I see a sign letting me know that I had taken the MLK exit. Now, I don't know about ya'll, but to me MLK is the absolute worst place to stop and use the bathroom. Luckily there was a mall area nearby and the first place I see is a Subway. Logan is asleep, Nate had just woke up. I park and hurry to unload both boys. Logan, of course, has taken his shoes off, so I have to wrestle with him to get his shoes on. I scoop up Nate and drag Logan as fast as I can to the restroom in the back of the restaurant. I have to hold Nate while I use the bathroom, because there's no way in hell I'm sitting him on a public bathroom floor. I give Logan all the usual instructions of DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING, even the sink. It was very difficult to get my pants up and fastened holding Nate, so the only possible solution is to open up my purse as far as I can and sit him in it. I then wrap my legs around him as tight as I can so he can't escape, just so I can pull my pants up. Finally, we're done. Success. No injuries, no dirty pants, etc. Just as we're leaving the restroom and shutting the door. Logan proceeds to tell me in his loudest, happiest voice "I'm so proud of you mommy, you pooped! Good job, you pooped in the potty". THE WHOLE WAY OUT OF THE RESTAURANT!!! Talk about embarrassing!! I just lowered my head, didn't look anyone in the eye and hightailed it out of there as fast as I could, all while trying to get Logan to stop talking.

Oh, the things toddlers will say....

Cape San Blas, FL

Almost 2 weeks back from vacation and I'm just now posting about it. Oops!!

We had a great time at the Cape. It is extremely laid back and seriously in the middle of nowhere. We didn't even have cell phone service most of the time. This is the kind of place where you go if you want to spend all day, every day, at the beach....because there is NOTHING else to do. So, that's what we did. We spent most of everyday at the beach. One day we went exploring down to Mexico Beach and the small towns in between, but that was about it. All in all, we had a great time, but I don't think it's a place we will go to again. At least not for a whole week. I think we need a little more civilization and something else to do. Even a putt putt coarse or something would have been welcome. We didn't find any good seafood, but on the last night a local walking down the beach started talking to Brent and we learned we should have been going into Appalachicola instead of Port St. Joe to eat. On Wednesday we broke out the fishing pole and caught a bunch of fish. Mostly catfish, but also some other small fish (no idea what they were). We night fished a couple times while Laura listened for the kids to wake up, which was a lot of fun. I think just getting adult time was fun, even if the fish weren't biting...but they were, so that made it even better! At night we enjoyed the company of our friends, Josh and Taylor, with some cold beverages and a deck of cards. I really enjoyed the evenings after the kids went to bed; laughing, telling stories, etc. Nate was sick for several days. He had a fever for 3 days and then a rash for 2 days following the fever. He was just not himself at all. He absolutely hated the sand and wasn't really a fan of the water either. He did fine in Hilton Head, so I guess being sick is what made him dislike it this time around. Laura was a huge help and I swear I'm never going on vacation without her again!

Here's some pics. Enjoy!! Sorry there's so many!

Well Check

Nate had his 9 month well check today (1 mth and 1 wk late). Just as I suspected, he's perfect ;) He weighed 19 lbs even (25%) and 29 inches long (50%). My chunky long baby is now skinny and average height. The only surprise we got is that he has thrush in the back of his mouth. He had a fever and rash for a couple days on vacation and the Dr said that probably upset the balance in his system. She prescribed us both stuff to get rid of it. Luckily I have no signs, but it spreads easily so they treat both baby and mom just in case. 7 weeks left of breastfeeding! Yay!

In other news, Nate now waves and claps. Laura and I stopped at the outlet malls on the way back from meeting mom to get her. A cashier waved at Nate and he waved back. Seriously, Baby Nate?? You wave at a cashier when I've been trying to get you to wave at me for MONTHS now??

We had a great time on vacation! I'll be posting about it soon.

It's working!!!

Nate only woke up once last night. He didn't stir or whine at any other time! Problem is, I seem to not be adjusting to his new schedule as easily. I laid awake for a while last night, I guess in anticipation of him waking at his normal times. I hope I adjust soon!!

I did get enough sleep that I'm skipping nap time today to sew. I'm making the kids a "Bag-o-Tricks" for the car ride to the beach. Just a cinch bag with their favorite things. For Logan I made sock puppets, a lap board covered with felt and I redneck laminated some stickers with layers of packaging tape and am adding velcro so he can make little scenes or whatever on the felt. Also some letters with velcro. I've also made him a crayon roll and adding a note book so he can draw. For Nate I'm going to add his favorite hand toys and hoping to make some felt and crunchy toys for him to explore. I'm also adding their favorite snacks and sippy. I'm trying to hide it all from Logan beforehand so it's all new and undiscovered so he's more interested in them. It's only a 5 hr trip, but if our 4 hr car ride home is any indication, it will probably take more like 7 hrs with stops for the boys to get out and stretch. I'm hoping my "Bag-o-Tricks" makes the stops a little less frequent. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm making it instead of buying? Well, I just wanted to see if I could...and use up some of my stockpile of craft supplies.

SLEEP!!

Seems like there *might* be a little sleep in my future!! I've been a mean mommy and have been letting Nate cry it out at night. I'm SOOOO over getting up and nursing every 1-2 hrs. Yes, no exaggeration...EVERY ONE TO TWO HOURS!!! Two nights ago is when I started it. He got up at his usual 9:00, 10:00 AND 11:00. When he got up at midnight I was officially done and let him cry. I went in after 10 minutes and talked to him but didn't pick him up and walked out. I planned on going back in 20 minutes but he was calming down by then and I was afraid I'd rile him up by going in, so I waited. By 30 minutes he was asleep!!! But he got up at 2 am and I didn't feel like fighting so I fed him. 2:00, 4:00 and again at 6:00. Ugh. So last night I said NO MORE! He stirred at 12 but went right back to sleep. He woke up again at 2 and 3 but went right back to sleep. At 4:00, it wasn't happening so I finally gave in a fed him. He slept all the way to 7:15 without waking. So I'm hoping tonight he either sleeps to 4 or only stirs and puts himself back to sleep all night. I'll wean him off the 4:00 feed in the next couple weeks as he adapts more to soothing himself to sleep and doesn't need his "pacifier" anymore. He can go 4+ hrs during the day, so there's no way he's hungry that much! He's also been putting himself to sleep for nap and at bed time for a while now, so that's been a stress relief too. Cross your fingers this works!!!