Boring Days & Plans for Fun

So, I had all these grand plans of writing more often now that I was home, but I am finding that our days -- at least for now -- are a little mundane. 

We get up. We eat some breakfast. We go to the park or visit friends that are also home. Snack time. Nap time. Then trying to fill the afternoon with activities indoors because it's still too freaking hot to go outside late in the day (seriously. 90 degrees still. WHERE IS FALL?) There really isn't much to talk about just yet. 

During nap time, I try my best to get some things done around the house. My goal this first week was to get my house as clean as possible, and we seem to be moving on a one room a day plan. My toddler, he keeps me busy and as much as I wish accomplishing more during the day was possible, it's just not with him in tow. i love this kid, but man -- he is always on the move. And blogging? Forget about it. At least on a regular basis until I get more on a schedule. 

I am sure there are more things to do around town that wouldn't involve the blazing heat. In fact, I KNOW there are. But I'm a recluse. If it was up to me, we would never leave the house. Ever! With us moving next year, I don't really want to make new friends. I'm happy with the couple that I have that are at home during the day (hi ladies!) and I have found that if we go to the park early enough, nobody else is there. The process that is involved with making new friends at this age is long and tedious & I am just not interested (hi, can we say lone wolf?) 

But, that is not what is best for Lucas. He needs to be around other kids, at least a couple times a week so that he knows he's not the only one. Eighteen months, I'm finding, is a difficult age. There are things we need to work on, like sharing and how to play with other children, that we can't do by ourselves. 

So, I'm trying to find a way to get out of my shell. To not be such an introverted recluse. To find a balance of making myself comfortable (hello couch & yoga pants!) while also making sure that Lucas benefits from my time at home with him. 

Monday I am signing him up for swim lessons. This is something that I have wanted to do with him for a very long time, but there is only one place here in town (a town of 100,000 people) that offered weekends classes. ONE weekend class, to be exact, and it always filled up before I got a chance to sign him up when I was working. But now that I am home, I can take advantage, hopefully, of the week day classes. This will be twice a week & will tucker him out plenty during the day, while also providing him with some outside of the home activities! We are also looking into Story Time at the local library, as well as POSSIBLY some little gym type classes (which are apparently ridiculously expensive. We will see if we can swing it on one budget). Of course there is the playground as well as the occasional play date. 

I know that once this baby arrives around New Year, our time will be a little more limited as we adjust to the new arrival as well as preparing for our impending move. (I REALLY wish I could tell you where we are going! If I have told you ... Shhhh! In time, people. In time!) So it's important to me to take full advantage of this time with Lucas while I have it, no matter how uncomfortable it makes me in the process. 

July Adventures

It wasn't until I was going through some photos I recently uploaded for friends & family that I realized how jam packed our month of July was! It seemed that every weekend we were off doing something, and most of the time as a family! These past few months have just been so awful, so it's nice to look back at these past few weeks & see that even amidst the shit storm, we still made time together as a family (most of the time) to do something.

It's been great and so much fun. Part of me is sort of glad we aren't moving in a few weeks, so we can enjoy the weather here a little longer and do a few more things. There are a couple of places we still want to visit, and the beach is perfect this time of year.

The first weekend of July, Lucas and I headed North to Charlottesville, VA, to visit one of my dearest and greatest friends, Lauren. It was a weekend filled with orchards, vineyards (including Dave Matthew's personal vineyard ... Swoon!), a fantastic farmer's market, gorgeous scenery, too much humidity and hanging out and just enjoying time with a friend that I miss dearly! Lucas and I both had a blast, and while it was the farthest I had traveled with Lucas by car by myself (five hours total with stops) we had a blast. I LOVE that area. I had been once before when my best friend came out and we made the trek to see a Dave Matthews Band concert (die hards, I tell you), so I was happy to get back. Simply gorgeous & hopefully we as a family can make it up there again to see Lauren and her husband before we move/they take off to their next location!

The husband and I also decided one Saturday that we needed to get out of town, so we made the drive up to Raleigh (about an hour and a half drive for us) to visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science. We didn't really know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised by how wonderful this museum was! Completely kid friendly and Lucas LOVED every bit of it. It was so fun to see him run around and get excited about fish in tanks, live butterflies and all the other things he could get his hands on! We will definitely be heading back there soon.

Then, of course, since it's blistering hot here (well, not as bad as it COULD be. It's been a pretty mild summer in our neck of the woods) we've spent lots of time in various friends' pools as well as visiting the beach. Lucas loves the water and loved digging in the sand last weekend when we headed out to the Wilmington area. If I can convince the husband to do so, I want to go back out there this weekend! It's a bit of a drive, and parking is a bitch, but it was worth it for the time we were able to spend out there.

What about you? What have you done this summer? What are your favorite things to do in your area? I can't wait for August and September, and all the things we have planned!

Mustache Bash!

Little man turned ONE last week, and this past Saturday we had all of our closest friends over to help us celebrate! My sister, Aimie, flew in from Seattle and spent the weekend with us, which was GREAT! I adore her and it's always nice to spend time with her. Plus, she was a GEM helping me get ready for the party on Saturday!

We went a little overboard, but we sort of looked at it this way -- with our impending PCS, this may be the last time we have all of our closest friends in one place with us. So many of us are going in different directions in the coming months, so it was nice to have those that matter the most to us in one place. 

We went with a MUSTACHE BASH theme! It seemed appropriately silly & it really was a hit. Guests were provided with some fake mustaches to wear, and I'm pretty sure seeing all the little babies with these on their faces was the highlight for many!

Most of these decorations came from Three Little Monkey's Studio on Etsy. There were SO MANY other things in the package I received that we didn't even print off. Photo props. Thank you cards. Name tags for the food. All so adorable.

The little popcorn bags, the mustache straws and the stick on mustache's themselves all came from our local Party City. We kept the food pretty simple -- popcorn & hot dogs for the kiddos, hamburgers, turkey burgers, pasta salad, a green salad and lots of chips. Cupcakes were ordered from our local grocery store & we bought an over-sized cupcake for Lucas's cake smash. All in all, I think the party was a SUCCESS! We had so much fun & the kids were all so well behaved (trust me -- there were a ton of them!)

It does make me think I'll have to step it up for next year! Guess I should start working on theme ideas now :)

When Babies Get Sick*

This past week, our household was stricken with a seriously horrible bug. Things were going completely fine in our household up until Wednesday. M had to leave to go to the field for a few days to take part in some Army training, so the two of us were left alone for a few days. No big deal.

On Wednesday night, around 8:30 p.m., after a happy, healthy, normal day, I went in to check on the little guy before making myself a salad and setteling in for the night. In the 30 seconds it took me to walk from his nursery to the couch, all hell broke lose. Upon getting back to the living room, I heard him throwing up and crying on the monitor.

And from there it didn't stop. Every 10-15 minutes for the next four and a half hours.

Y'all, I can handle a little throw up. It honestly doesn't bother me. So I tried to stay calm, and my AMAZING friend Lauren contacted our other friend Lauren, whose husband happens to be a doctor, to get some advice and  plan of attack for me. Fluids in small doses. Monitor. Go from there. Ok. I can handle this. No big deal. At one point I got him to sleep and for 45 minutes, things were calm. My intention was to get our bed ready and have him sleep with me all night incase something else happened. I also needed to get the dogs out of the house for a few minutes so they could do their thing before we settled down. But as soon as I laid him down in the crib, he woke up and instantly threw up again.

After two hours, things had still not slowed down, so I called the advice nurse line at the local civilian hospital. We were going to stop the fluids, give him a warm bath and try to get his stomach calmed down. Then, in an hour, call back and reasses the situation. Upon hanging up the phone with her, his throwup went from normal to a bright neon yellow.

Stomach bile. I called back and we were told to come in immediately.

At this point, I was in sort of a state of panic. There was no more calm. It was 10:30 at night. I couldn't get ahold of M due to where he was and the horrible cell phone reception. Lucas was still throwing up every 10-15 minutes at this point, and somehow I needed to get dressed, pack the diaper bag and get to the hosipital. Lauren #1 (which, coincidiently, I do refer to the Lauren's as Lauren #1 & Lauren #2 in my real life. It makes it easier for the husband to understand which I am talking about! ha!), who I had been texting the entire time, offered to come stay with me, and then incedently go to the hospital with me. But in my head, all I could think was, I have 10 minute windows. That's it. So after he threw up, I set him on the bed (he wasn't going anywhere) and packed up his diaper bag with extra blankets, extra pajamas and a few necessities just in case. I knew that if we went, we would be going for a while. I threw on some clothes & put the dogs in the kennel.

I waited until the next wave hit, and then we locked up and I drove like a crazy person to the civilian hospital, which, thank goodness, is only about 10 minutes away. I FINALLY got a hold of M, told him what was going on, and promised to keep him updated. The staff at the ER facility were amazing, so sweet and so sympathetic. They got us back almost right away to a room but before they could do anything to make the vomiting stop, they wanted to do some xrays. Because of the amount of stomach bile that he was throwing up, the frequency and the color, the doctor thought that his intestines may be twisting and causing everything that was happening. So while we waited for the xrays to come back, I continued to just nurture and help him through the waves.

It was painful. As his mom, I wanted to make it stop. It was not a pretty picture, which bright yellow bile coming out both his mouth and his nose because there was just so much of it. But I shockingly kept it together. When the xrays came back that everything in his stomach and abdomen was fine, they hooked up him to an IV to get some fluids into him. The poor kid was so worn out, y'all, he didn't cry when they stuck the needle into him. It broke my heart.

Once the IV was in, about 1:00 in the morning, they gave him 1ml of zofran, and holy crap ... BRAND NEW KID. The change was instant. The vomiting stopped. He was happy. He was smiling. It was a damn miracle. My hope was that he would go to sleep, but that was not the case. So for the next two hours, while we watched the bag of fluids drip into his IV, we curled up on the bed and watched cartoons on the TV in the room.

Around 3 a.m., the doctor decided that he wanted to try some pedialyte since there had been no episodes since the zofran was given. This made both the nurse and me nervous, but the kid sucked it down and then passed out (which was awesome for me ... I curled up next to him and was MORE than happy to close my eyes for a bit at this point). Around 4 a.m. the doctor came back in, said that since he had kept it down, they were going to discharge us and send us on our way. Their speculation at this point was that it was just a bug, but we were leaving with the understanding that if he threw up again, we needed to come right back.

Got it.

Around 5:30, we were finally able to head home. Lucas & I curled up in our bed and fell right asleep. We had a great day on Thursday with no episodes, but nothing for him except pedialyte, and then Friday we got hit with proof that it was a bug with more messy diapers than I care to talk about & myself catching whatever it was. Oh yeah, and M still out in the field. Mama throwing up & changing baby's dirty diapers did not make for a fun Friday.

And I just want to say to the friends who were there to help us -- and you know who you are -- THANK YOU. It really does take a village, people. We are so lucky to have people in our lives who will drop EVERYTHING at any hour of any day to help us out. I posted the above photo of Lucas with his IV on my facebook page that night, stating that we would be spending the evening in the ER, and I got multiple phone calls and text messages from people asking if we needed anything, on top of the three or four friends who knew what was going on from the beginning and their constant offers of support. This kid is loved by so many.

And as of today, we are all *fingers crossed* happy & HEALTHY.

 

 

Ten Months*

This past week, Lucas hit the ten month mark. Ten months, people. That's just two away from twelve.

How did we get here?

Time is moving way too quick these days.

Every month -- EVERY MONTH -- he amazes me at how much he grows & learns. This past month he decided that walking was what you wanted to do. Even though he took his first steps before Christmas, it was nothing but a few here, or a few there. Then one day, same as he has done with everything else, he decided that he was ready. And across the living room he went, in a wonderful, well-practiced stride. Like he had been doing it forever.

And he hasn't stopped since. Laps around the living room, chasing the dogs up and down the hallway, following me or M into every room of the house, and cracking up when he thinks he's made his getaway and got ahead of us. There are no ends to what he can do, and I hope that he continues with this gusto for life throughout childhood and adulthood. This kid is determined, and a perfectionist and puts everything he has into everything he's got. Rolling over. Crawling. Walking (and now, almost running). When he decides that he is ready to do something, he does it. No hesitation. It's truly an amazing character to see in him and I hope that it is one that he carries with him the rest of his life. It will get him far, this I promise you.

 

Lucas's also has "mama" and "dada" down so well. We continue to work on other vocabulary with him, and while he isn't saying any other words yet, he mimics us and our actions so well. We can wave bye bye and we are working on the meaning of some other words. Also? This kids curiosity. He wants to know everything about everybody. If he can't see what he wants, he will find a way.

This kid is an eating champ. His growth is still ridiculous and his love for food apparent. He will try anything we put in front of him. This is another reminder of just how much he is growing, as the more "real" food he eats, the less formula he is taking in during the day. Which means I am losing more of that precious one on one time that I get with him. Bottle feedings at night are still happening, although getting smaller and smaller in time, and more recently, has begun to sleep through the night. It's weird to me that I would be sentimental about this, but after this long, I have come to really love my time with him at night, snuggled up in the glider, warm under a blanket and feeling close to him.

Sometimes I get so sad at how quick he is growing. Every day I think to myself, how did we get here. How is it that I am staring down at his first birthday already. This year is going too, too quick and I am not ready for him to not be a baby anymore. I already feel like I have missed so much being a working mom & that he is growing at a rate much quicker than little babies should. I am trying, every day, to enjoy every little moment I have with him while he is still little and still wants me to rock him to sleep. To hold him. To play on the floor with him. To chase him around. I know it won't last forever. But the moment where we are sitting there, cuddled up on the couch, or when he reaches over and touches my face (or, you know, sometimes slaps. We're working on that.) ... they are wonderful. I know, in my heart, that hitting the one year mark is going to be tough. We are just under two months away and I have already gotten misty over it.

But at the same time, I love who he is now as a child & a little boy. So much love. So much life. He is worth every sleepless night that I have had in the past two years, through a painful pregnancy and figuring out life as a new mom. And as much as I want him to stay little forever, I am so excited to see the little boy -- and eventually, the man -- he will become.

Nine Months*

Little man turned nine months old while we were in Seattle visiting family. Blogging wasn't something that was going to happen while we were out there, so I'm a little late on this (as always) but want to get these updates down regardless!

Lucas continues to be an amazing part of our lives. I am constantly amazed at how much he learns, grows, changes & challenges us on a daily basis. It's amazing to me how much he loves life, even at such an early age. He is so curious and constantly wants to be a part of whatever happens to be going on at that very moment. He is quick to peer over my shoulder, around the couch, through a doorway -- whatever he can do to see what he needs to see.

He is also continues to grow in crazy ways. Between Thanksgiving and his nine month birthday, he got two more teeth (with two more that followed shortly after). He weighs in at almost 25lbs, and while on the shorter end of things, is almost 28"

We are reaching that point where his first birthday is inching closer and closer. No longer do I have this tiny little newborn who needs me for every little thing. My kid is quite the opposite it feels like these days. He pushes away more than he snuggles. He is doing more and more on his own (although still little things in the grand scheme of it all) and every day, he looks more like a little BOY, then the baby I want him to stay. But even with that, my heart continues to swell at just how truly lucky we are to have a kid who is as amazing and wonderful as he is.

He truly is the happiest little kid out there.

We have entered the separation anxiety phase, though. There were many a time that I could walk out of  a room and he wouldn't notice. Not a near epic meltdown ensues almost every time. I would be lying if it didn't kind of make me feel good that he wants me around all the time, because I know that even though he is doing things on his own more and more, there is some peace in knowing that I can keep him calm. I know there will be days in the not so distant future where I will be an embarrassment, or an annoyance, or just a pain in the ass to him. So I am soaking in every aspect of this in-between phase -- not needing me for everything, but still needing me enough for others. (But really ... sometimes I just want to go to the bathroom alone!)

After what I feel like was MONTHS of fighting off one cold or another, he is finally on the mend and his eating habits are up again. This kid can MOW DOWN. No wonder he's the fluffy 25 lbs that he is! He is in no way, shape or form a picky eater as well. Food in front of his face? He will eat it. We are getting on a good routine of 4-5 8oz bottles a day. Typically one at breakfast, one at lunch, one at dinner and one before bed. Always one during the night.

Yes. My kid is 9 months old and still not sleeping through the night. As frustrating as this can be sometimes, part of me still enjoys it. I hate getting up at 2am. But I cherish every single snuggle that I get in those wee hours. They are important to me and again, something that I know will not last forever. They make me feel closer to him in ways that are hard to explain. Breastfeeding didn't work for us, so these are the only moments I have. I want to keep them as long as I can & I truly try to take advantage of every moment that he lets me hold him.

Halloween*

These past couple of weeks have been bananas, and I have seriously slacked on the blogging front. We have gotten bad news after bad news it seems in the past few weeks, and I sort of hit a wall where I couldn't really deal with it. So I needed to take a break from some things and regroup. I've been avoiding twitter for the most part, and blogging hasn't been a priority as I dealt with some things.

But. I'm working on some posts to get back up an running, to include our seven month update that I completely missed last week, some cloth diapering posts and our experiences with Baby Led Weaning so far. So as of now, we will resume our regularly scheduled programming.

Yesterday was Lucas's first Halloween! Obviously, at seven months old, he doesn't really know what's going on, or why he's wearing the crazy outfit that mama made him wear. But I gotta tell you, I think I had the cutest lion around:

Our Halloween was, for the most part, pretty low key. Lucas did some crafts at the sitters while also getting some costume time in with the other two kiddos. Afterwards, we headed over to another friends house where I strapped him into the carrier and we walked the neighborhood with her and her kids. It was nice and relaxing, and also perfectly cool (weather wise!) I can't wait for the next couple of years, when he really understands the concept of "trick-or-treat" and I get to watch him run all over the place, knocking on doors.

I can't believe how big this guy is getting, and my  heart melted a million times over seeing him dressed up in his adorable costume. I am looking forward to all the memories we are going to create going forward!

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

Crawling*

Well, it's official.

My kid is mobile.

We had been preparing for this day for a few weeks now. Lucas had been able to get up on his hands and knees for some time & had mastered the art of rocking pretty well. Eventually he got to the point where he figured out that in order to go forward, he needed to figure out what to do with his hands. Mostly, this resulted in him plopping down on his belly in frustration when it didn't work.

But this past weekend, at six months & one week, he figured it out.

Witness [and PLEASE ignore the heinous cackle that comes from my mouth at the end]:




And now he is on the move. The other night, he was doing laps around the nursery, chasing my mom on FaceTime. There is nothing half-way with this child. When he figures it out, he goes and doesn't stop! Needless to say, I will be spending this weekend baby-proofing the house to the best of our ability!