I'm aliveeeeee

I am going to be so mad at myself with Declan is a toddler and I want to go back and look at the first year of his life and I realize that I did horribly at this blogging thing. See, the thing about me is that I can totally focused on a certain thing and I will do it constantly for MONTHS. Like, watch a certain tv show or get invested in a book series, blog about my life, fan girl in a certain fandom, etc. And then I will crash and will move onto something totally different. It's annoying and I hate that I can move from one interest to another so easily.

I'm going to try harder to get back on board with this blogging business. Maybe I can write myself notes to remind myself to update at least once a week? Anyone out there want to remind me? I promise my life is sort of interesting. ;)

On the baby news front, Declan is such a sweetie pie. 5 months old now, which is so insane that i don't want to talk about it again. He rolls both ways (although he doesn't like to roll from belly to back for some reason) grabs his toes all the time, blows spit bubbles like it is his business, and is vocal ALL THE TIME. He's also discovered the world of jumping, so it's an adventure trying to hold him. He has hit or miss days when it comes to eating, but for the most part he is eating 6oz every 3.5hrs or so. He was sleeping through the night, but now he's back to eating at least once (or twice, like last night). No idea what he weighs, but at his 4mo check is was 15lbs even. So, a chunky little thing. :)

As you can see, those blue eyes have decided to stick around. :)

Em is doing SO well in school. She has made a million friends and I'm pretty sure we have a birthday party to go to every weekend since October. Her birthday was last week, so I have to get a 6th birthday post up within the next few days. 

Connor...he's just an all around boy! Lord have mercy, he is a delightful little handful. He's now potty trained and we've got the binky usage down to just beditme, which is a such an accomplishment since this thing was glued to his face for the first 3 years of his life.

Finally, the best Santa picture in the history of ever. Catalog pic, I swear.

I'm the lamest blogger ever

Yes, we are still all alive. No, I have no idea why I haven't taken the time to sit down and let you all know what's going on in my crazy, busy life.

The footnotes:

- Em is loving school. First parent teacher conference and they basically said she can just go ahead and graduate high school because she is so smart (or something like that. She is ahead, though.)

- Connor is pure boy. Just innocent meanness. He also now has boy hands. Mom's of boys will know what boy hands are. Instead of just normal preschooler hands, they are starting to look like the hands of a little boy. Rough and dirty with square, blunt fingernails. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

-Declan continues to be the perfect baby that ever was. So cute and happy and squishy. He's always smiling, he laughs if you just look at him, he's rolling both ways, he's sleeping through the night. He's just a joy. And he turned 4 months old 2 days ago. UM, WHAT THE WHAT?

I promise to get his 4mo post up in the next few days. Pinky promise. I also promise to catch up on all of my blogs. I'm a couple of weeks behind, so here's hoping you guys have all been just as lazy as me!

Until then, Happy late Halloween!

3 months old!

Declan turned 3 months old on October 2nd. He's now in that fun baby stage and I am just eating him up. Just a happy easy baby for the most part.

sleeping pattern - We are starting to get into more of a pattern in this area. I have to leave at 7:25 to take emma to school, so it's hit or miss if he wakes up or not while we are gone. He wakes up when I put him in his car seat but I'd say 7-8 times out of 10 he's asleep by the time we get back home. He'll usually nap in his car seat while I get Connor situated with breakfast and some cartoons (or hogging my computer like he's been doing lately. Note to Santa, the kids need their own!). He's wake by at least 9 and stays up until 11:30 or noon. Back to sleep and then he wakes up when it's time to get emma. I wish I could have it where he is ready for nap when we go get her since he sleeps so nicely in the car but I haven't gotten it there yet. One more cat nap around 5 and then he's in bed for the night anywhere between 8-10. I then usually don't hear from him again until close to 5am. He has his off nights but for the most part, he just wakes up once (and truthfully, I'm not even sure I can count a 5am feeding as a night feeding). I love that I am getting true naps out of him, instead of cat naps *cough Emma cough*.

Feedings - Usually 4oz every 3hrs or so. I keep thinking he's going to start wanting more than that, but he seems really content right now with that amount. I've noticed that when he sees me chewing, he starts mimicking me with his mouth. He's not quite ready for solids, of course, but it's one of many signs! I did a Baby Led Weaning (BLW) approach with C and I loved it. No feeding with a spoon, just cutting up food that I eat and letting him eat that from the get-go. I wasn't super passionate about it and he did have pureed food on occasion but I'll definitely be going that route again.

New discoveries/accomplishments - Dude has decided that rolling just isn't all it's cracked up to be. He hasn't done it in probably 6 weeks. He rolls onto his side no problem on his back but he's then content to just lay there. Tummy time is usually spent with his face planted on the floor, using his vocal cords to let me know that THIS IS NOT OK. So yeah, no dice on the rolling. Connor took for-ev-er (cue the dude from The Sandlot) to roll. Like almost 6mo! So I'm not worried on that front. He's super smiley, has started giggling, makes the worlds best eye contact (looooook into my eyes) and has started reaching for things. He's not well-tuned in that department. He sort of just flings his hand toward whatever he wants and bats around at it.  If he's on his back his head, shoulders, and legs are all completely up as he tries to sit up on his own. I wish I had his core strength. Overall, I think his development is right on track. 

It's all in the details - officially in 3-6mo. Size 2 diapers. Size 1 in shoes.

I can't wait to see how he changes as the holidays get closer and closer. He's such a camera ham that I'm probably not going to get one of those awesome "OMG! I'm so scared!" pictures with Santa Claus (because let's face it, those are freaking adorable). He'll just be all calm and chill with Em. It will be Connor giving St Nick the ole' stink eye. Trust me.

Quick up date

_We are all still sick. We are probably going to infect the entire world! Connor still has a nasty cough and Declan has yucky eyes and a snotty nose (I had to rush him to the doctor last monday after he suddenly developed a 101.6 fever. It was gone by the time we made it up there. Weird!).

_ I have become obsessed with The Vampire Diaries and my heart is about to explode with fangirl feelings. I literally push my husband into bed every night so that I can have the tv and rewatch the third season. I need help, ya'll.

_I promise a 3mo post about Declan's latest months is coming. The reason I started this blog was so that I could look back and sort of "relive" what was going on at this stage of our life.

_Declan is seriously one of the most cutest babies in the whole entire world. No joke. I mean, lookie.

He's turning into quite the chunky little thing (and a major ham for the camera)

Welcome to my life

Yesterday was eventful to say the least.

- Connor is battling some sort of bug that appeared last Thursday. I finally decided to take him in to the doctor. Bad cough, runny nose, yellow discharge from eyes. Verdict? Allergies, which I kinda sorta don't agree with. He's now on Clariton once a day for a couple of weeks and some sort antibiotic eye drops. What does C think about that? No bueno. He spit the medicine out all over the couch this morning and screams "it tickles! (???) whenever we are able to pry an eye open to get drops in it. He's growing like a weed, though. 36lbs! Big boy!

Besides that, this is what went down.

-My car would not start, so I somehow figured out how to jump start my car without killing myself in order to get to town.

- While doing this, Declan threw up all over his clothes. And then pooped.

- I get to the doctors office and immediately try to restart my car. It won't start. I must call my husband and let him know that we are stranded.

- I parked in a parking space that had a ton of empty spaces around it, that way DH could get in to jump start me. When I got out, EVERY PARKING SPOT WAS TAKEN. It was almost comical. So DH had to pull an "Austin Powers" (you know, back up then pull forward then back up and then pull forward) until he was close enough to start my car.

- I had to take C's prescription to get filled, which was going to take 2 hours. T.WO. So I went to Dh's work, where he left me so he could get another battery for my car.

- I then had to go back to pick up the medication and found out Tr.icare only pays for one of them. Oh, thanks.

-I am now in that awkward time table of "not enough time to go home, but also super early to pick up my kindergartner". So I have like 30 minutes to kill. Both boys are asleep! I can just park in the waiting line and read my book! Except Declan wakes up as soon as the car stops moving. And C wakes himself up coughing. Now they are both crying. Yay. *___ *

HOWEVER, when DH got home he took the two older ones outside with him and the baby ended up passing out for a 4 hour nap. So, it ended on a good note. :)

[totally picturing you all reading this like this]

Coming up - Declan turns 3 months next week. Someone hold me!

Little Ballerina

3 weeks ago Emma started her first dance class. She'd been doing gymnastics since she was 18mo and I felt like maybe we should try something else out. She enjoyed gymnastics while there, but she never talked about it between classes, didn't notice if we skipped a class, etc. So, right after Declan was born I took her out and started looking for dance classes. I found one that started in September and looked perfect for us. She's in a class for kindergartners-2nd graders and it's a ballet/tap/hip hop combo. Once a week and she has a big dance recital next May. SO looking forward to that. With gymnastics, it was just practice week after week, not really leading up to anything since there are no competitions at her age (and considering how little she really thought about it, I'm not sure she would have put in the time to actually get on the team).

And oh my word, she LOVES it! I wish I would have just made the switch sooner. She smiles the whole time and asks constantly throughout the week when it's time for ballet again. She's also excited at the thought of preforming on stage because my daughter is a weirdo and loves stuff like that (I am obviously a normal person and have a huge case of stage fright ;) ). I've been joking that she must of gotten her dancing abilities from her father (to which he replied, "you mean she was awesome out there? Ha) but this week she was much more in control of her body and I think come May she, and the rest of the group, will have their dances down.

Happy 3rd birthday!

My sweet, sweet middle child turned 3 years old on Monday of this week (the 10th). It has been such a wonderful 3 years of being his mama. Never had to deal with tantrums, no separation anxiety, slept through the night by 2mo, gained weight well and never got sick....all in all, a perfect child. The definition of a middle child. He was always a serious baby, never quick to smile and how you had to work for those laughs. I think that made them extra special. He's not quite so serious now and his sense of humor? I better get myself prepared now for lots of trips to the principals office because he's going to be the class clown. He still co-sleeps which doesn't bother me in the slightest (although I do get a few horrified looks when I mention it). He's only little this one time and he'll move into his own room in his own time. I will also be able to tell his future wife that he is a bed hog, so she will be prepared for that. He loves chicken nuggets with "big ketchup" (which means he just wants a huge glop of ketchup that takes up half the plate). He still loves his binkie and I am taking the same approach I take with the sleeping arrangements: he's only little once. As long as he doesn't have it stuffed in his pocket on his wedding day we'll be doing good. He's about 75% potty trained. He can count to 20, knows all shapes (including trapezoid!) and colors, and has absolutely no interest in ever learning the abc's. He can play computer games like a pro and wants to be Mike the Knight when he grows up. He's so excited about getting bigger and tells me constantly that "I'm a big boy!". He still has some baby chub, which I love. He's a boy through and through and has forced me to start learning superhero names. What is it with boys and super hero's? It's like they are programmed from birth to be obsessed with men in tights and capes and to run around in batman underwear yelling "POWER!" (this happened today).

Connor has taught me what it means to be a mommy to a little boy and I couldn't be more blessed to have him. Happy birthday my sweet boy! I love you more than words can say.

2 months!

Declan turned 2 months old way back on the 2nd and what a month it has been! This little ball of grumpiness has slowly turned into this slightly larger ball of happiness (there is still some meanness mixed it, but it's more of the normal variety and not the 'omg, my child has colic' type). 

Sleeping patterns - Sleeping is still hit or miss, but definitely more hitting right now. He goes to bed around 9pm or so and then sleeps until sometime between 4-5:30. Eats and then goes back to sleep until 8 or so. So, a nice little stretch there. If I'd actually go to bed at 9 and I'd get a lot of sleep but I end up staring at the computer like a zombie until at least 11, go to sleep, and then moan about how tired I am the next morning. I'm going to kick myself the night he ends up waking up every hour (he's slept so good lately that I KNOW it's coming). Naps are still a work in progress, but I've learned my lesson of trying to get him to nap in the living room where all the action is. I've been laying him on either my bed or Em's bed ( no worries, he's safe) and he's had several good naps there. His favorite place to nap is still in his car seat. Only problem is, the car seat must be in the car. With the car running. And moving. So there are days where I'm all "Connor, let's go to sonic!" just because D had been fighting sleep all day.

Height - he's 10 weeks old and last time he was measured was 2 weeks ago. He was 22 inches then.

Weight - 2 weeks ago he was 11lbs 5oz.

Eating Habits - While we don't really have a set schedule down, he usually eats every 3-4hrs during the day, unless he gets sleepy inbetween that. Then he snacks himself to sleep. From about 7-to whenever he finally conks out is also a big cluster feeding. With the bottle. LOL. He eats usually 4oz at a time, although I've noticed there are times where 30 minutes later he wants 2 more oz, so we'll be into the 5-6oz bottle range here soon enough. As for nursing, I guess we can consider me still doing it? He nurses a few times a day, never for long, but long enough to keep at least a little milk supply up. I have thoughts every once in awhile to  ditching the bottle and work on getting my supply up (since he does still latch on fine) but for the most part I am happy with how things are going in this department.

New foods he liked - nothing but formula and breastmilk in these parts!

New discoveries he's made - Since we're still in the beginning stages of this month, there hasn't been A LOT of new things going on. He's super,SUPER, smiley and I swear a laugh is coming any minute. He puts his hands together all the time, and has started bicycling his little leggies. He's also been focusing on certain objects and you can just see the wheels turning in his head as he tries to figure out how to move his hands toward it. My smart man!

Me - I'm doing well in the emotional department. Physical department is still an on-going process. Why can't I lose these extra 8lbs?! I can tell you exactly where those extra pounds are hanging out, too (4lbs in my butt/thigh region, 3lbs in my stomach, and 1lb split between my arms. I don't wave at people at the moment..hah). I ran for about 11 minutes on the treadmill before thinking "I'm so bored!" so obviously I am doing everything in my power to lose this weight - this is sarcasm. I am doing nothing but complaining about the weight - this is truth. I have given myself a goal. All weight off by Halloween. So there, stubborn me.

Whooo Pig Sooie!

Update on school

I am so thankful to have a little girl who loves school. The last 3-4 weeks have been really emotional and I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm not stuffed into a straight jacket at this point is because she was/is so calm about the whole thing. I keep hearing stories of kids who cried when their parents left and I swear I feel my heart just breaking. especially since I have this nagging feeling that I'll be going through that when C starts school.

The first day of kindergarten, I was up like 2hrs before I needed to be. I was so freaking _nervous_ about how the day was going to go. Would she cry? Would she get lost? What if I have a complete meltdown and the principal has to carry me out of the building? These were all legit concerns. DH took the morning off to see his little girl off to school, so it was nice having another adult there while I was learning the new school day routine. (for what it's worth, I have that down to a T now. I think I could pack a lunch/sign a check/feed a baby all at the same time now). I got her dressed in one of her new outfits, tried to talk her into eating something - didn't work - and away we went. 

The plan was for all of us to walk her to her classroom, but I guess every other parent had the same idea, since it was a mad-house. DH eventually just decided to stay in the car with the boys while I walked Em to her room. To get to her room you have to walk through the 4th grade wing, and let me tell you. 4th graders are intimidating. They have this aura about them that says "yeah, I'm the top dog around here". Plus the fact that most of them were taller than me! So yeah, we staked out the place and found a better, more direct, route to where she waits for her class that doesn't involve walking through a hall of menacing 10 year olds. ;)

The first day I was able to walk her directly to her classroom. I helped her put her backpack in her little cubby, walked her to her desk and then stood in the doorway with my heart in my throat. She just looked so _tiny_ sitting there and it took everything in me not to just scoop her up and run out of there. I didn't want to linger too long so I put my sunglasses back on (to hide the tears)and walked away. And oh how it hurt. By the time I got back to the car, the tears were coming hot and fast. We didn't know any different, her and I. I had been a stay at home mom since the beginning and suddenly this new person, this STRANGER, was going to have her more throughout the week than I was. DH was awesome and had me giggling by the time we left the parking lot by telling me stories of all the other moms who were coming out of the school bawling their eyes out. Then, when we turned on the radio, one of the announcers was joking around and was telling everyone to take it easy on the road, since there would be a lot of parents out and about that morning who'd be trying to drive through all the tears. Strangely, that also made me feel better. I guess it reminded me that I wasn't the only one hurting that morning. Some probably even had it worse, since I'm sure not all kids went willingly into their rooms after a quick hug from mom like mine did. 

I watched the clock that entire day and had the boys packed in the car ready to go about 10 minutes before we ever had to leave. My teeny girl came out of the building with a huge smile on her face and it hasn't been any different in the past 3 weeks. She goes to school happy and excited and comes out grinning. I thank my lucky stars every day for that. As for me, I'm doing ok. I sign what I need to sign in her folder, I send checks for school t-shirts, and I look forward to school fundraisers like it's my job (and it sort of is). I'm trying to be the best parent of a kindergartner I can be. I might even attend my first PTA meeting next week. :)

First day of school

All backed up

I could have probably found a more appropriate name for this post (hee. 15yr old sense of humor FTW) but it's true. I'm all backed up. On posts, that is. I still haven't managed to write about Em's first few weeks of school, Declan somehow turned 2 months over the weekend, and Labor Day weekend really deserves a post of it's own. And oh, I STILL have to write about D's birth story. Luckily I've written it out somewhere else, so it's just a matter of copy and paste.

The thing is, I have absolutely no time! Right now C is hovering around me saying "can I play games now?". He's discovered the joys of online games (thank you, Nick jr) and insists on doing them THE WHOLE DAY. I have to literally pry him from the the computer during meals and when it's time to go get Em from school. Declan has decided not to sleep during the day unless he's in the carseat, in a moving car. So, his naps have correlated with morning drop off and afternoon pickup. This means during the day he's awake and demanding attention. and sitting here in the bouncy seat while I try to type obviously doesn't do it for him.

So yeah, I've been slacking. I do plan on getting in Emma's kindergarten post and D's 2 month post by this weekend. I hope. But in the meantime, a few quick things.

* C's birthday party is this sunday and we ordered him an awesome castle birthday cake yesterday

* D had two 9 hour nights this week. I felt like I'd slept for a week!

* My weight loss is still going nice and slow. In the last 3 weeks I've lost 1.5 pounds. I have no idea why I am averaging only 1/2 a pound a week right now, but it's all kinds of irritating. Still 8lbs to go!

* 2 out of 3 kids have their Halloween costumes already! Can I get a high five?!

* Emma asked a little boy on the playground to marry her yesterday. I am in some major trouble here in about 10 years! LOL

* E ended up square dancing in TWO groups over the weekend and somehow _I_ was the one exhausted by the end of it. Oh, to be young. ;)

Out like a light.

It's currently 9:30 at night and ALL THREE KIDS ARE ASLEEP. Yes, that deserves caps. Because, like, this never happens. Most people brag if all the kids are in bed by 8, but I see this as a total victory.

The house is trashed and our weekend is incredibly too full of plans but I'm just enjoying the silence. Because today has been LOUD. Poor Declan seems to be battling some tummy craps or something. Dude was just not happy. Connor has become obsessed with computer games and insists on playing them with the speakers on high. Emma just talks like she's speaking in a megaphone. So yeah, lots and lots of noise.

Night time around here as become sort of odd. I feel like we're getting into a nice groove in the morning. We all get up with minimal fussing, and so far we haven't even come close to being late for school! Emma still insists on me walking her in, so I do the nice thing and at least brush my hair for those who have to look at me. I'd be lying if I said I'm not looking forward to when she gets comfortable enough to be dropped off in the drop off line, because then my primping will be at the bare minimum. I predict lots of baseball caps and pj pants in my future, but my hobo appearance will mean I got 15-20 extra minutes of sleep that morning. But anywho, nights have been rough. Declan is getting to sleep well enough, but he's went from waking up 0-1 time a night to around 3 a night. 3 times being up is still ok for being almost 2 months old, but it's hard when we were waking up one time. I want that one time back! Last night I literally fell asleep while I was feeding him. It's a weird feeling to wake up all disoriented with a passed out kid in your arms. The good thing is that Declan doesn't mess around when he wakes to eat. The times I have been coherent I've timed it, and on average it takes us 15 minutes to be be changed, fed, and be put back to sleep. Not too shabby.

I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend! Just tomorrow we have a parade, Em square dances twice with two different groups, and then the Razorback football game. WPS!

8 week well baby check-up

Not only did Declan turn 8 weeks old yesterday, but he also had his 2 month check-up (although he technically doesn't turn 2 months until this coming up Sunday). This is what went down.

My growing boy- He weighs in at 11lbs 4oz, which I think is pretty impressive. He's gained at least 4lbs since he's been born. For being my littlest little, he's eating and gaining the most, which is sort of funny to no one but me. :) The ped never tells me percentiles, but just from using trusty Dr. Google, he seems to be right around the 50th% or so.

He's at 22 inches now, which means he's still a shorty. He's gained 2.5 inches since birth, however. % wise, he's around the 25th. So not really proportional in that area. It just makes him look chubbier, all those rolls on this short little body. He's actually in the 75th% in what he weighs vs how long he is. HA!

His blue, blue eyes were mentioned and even the doctor said that since they haven't changed at all, maybe he'll keep that color. Fingers crossed!

His head control was noted as "excellent" and "really impressive" which is nice things to hear about your kid. He also showed her how well he's doing during tummy time. Really, there wasn't one question she asked me that I couldn't say 'yep, he's doing that" to. 

We were advised we could start adding some rice cereal to his bottles if we wanted to try to help with the spit up, but I'm wary to do that. His little belly isn't designed for anything other than breast milk or formula until closer to 6mo, so the thought of filling it up with cereal kind of makes me pause. Plus there's the constipation issue. On the other hand, _everyone_ I've talked to have said that it does seem to help with the spit up problem. If I push much harder, he'll probably have to go on medicine and I'm not sure which is best out of the two evils.

He also got his first round of shots, sort of. Just by knowing my son's personality and how he reacts to things, I knew I didn't want to give him more than 2 at a time, at least right now. So, after some discussions with the nurse, we have a plan in action for the next several months. Yesterday he got Dtap (with polio mixed in) and the rotavirus oral vaccine (since Em is in school). In 30 days he'll go back and get the Hib and PC vaccine. I'm assuming the Heb B will be combined with the Hib, although I'm not concerned with the Heb B at all. At 4mo, he'll get the round he got at 2mo, 5mo he'll get the round from 3mo, etc. By 7mo he should be caught up and then I'll do the regular shot schedule from there (except for MMR/chicken pox which I delay until 2). He did awesome with the shot he did get and didn't even cry. However, as I expected, he had a rough night last night. Thankfully no fever, just really cranky and unhappy (which I know isn't uncommon for him at night, but I could tell a difference). He's slept through taking big sis to school and is still passed out, so he's still in the middle of his vaccine-induced sleep they all seem to go through.

All in all, a nice appointment. Connor screamed "I'm hungry! I need Sonic" the entire time, but that's to be expected, because I'm pretty sure _I_ sound like that when I'm hungry. ;)

Baby blues

I am right in the middle of trying to write Emma's first week of kindergarten post, but I want to do it justice, so it's taking me a bit to get it all down. Plus the fact I have about 10 minutes on the computer at a time before a child needs help right that minute.

But lookie here at this child's eyes.

Even if they eventually turn brown or green (Connor got DH's brown ones and Em got my green ones) at least I have proof that Declan did have some amazing blue eyes at one point. They seem almost too blue to change, but Connor's didn't turn brown until after 6 months, so who knows. I do know that whatever color they end up being, he's going to have some gorgeous eyes. :)

Declan - 7 weeks

Declan turned 7 weeks yesterday and I'm really starting to see a difference in him. He's not this little squished ball of newbornness anymore. He's this not so little baby who kicks his legs, smiles at me, and is starting to become more vocal in things other than crying. I'm not sure which I'm more fond of - the smiling or the not crying. ;)

Sleeping - we still have no schedule for this and it's something I'm really going to have to start working on. Night before last it was after midnight before he went to sleep. Last night he was out by 9. The not knowing every night can be exhausting. In my dream world, I'd like him to be in bed by 7 every night, a dream feed around 11, and then a feeding around 6-6:30 before I got Em up for school. So far he's slept while taking her to school and has been waking up around 8:30 or 9 for a few hours. Up around noon and then back down for a nap when it's time to get Emma. So, that's working out ok for the most part. If, you know, he actually sleeps. He still has problems staying asleep once I get him to that point. I'm starting to put him in my bedroom for naps since all that newborness disappearing I mentioned earlier? It comes with a price. He can't sleep through a lot of noise anymore. I'm hoping the dark and quiet will help him take better naps. I'm still thanking my lucky stars that he sleeps so well at night, though. The night he didn't go to bed until after midnight he didn't even wake up again until it was time for his morning feeding at 6. And last night he slept from 9 until almost 3am before waking up. 

Eating - he's a piglet, for sure. I think once he's old enough for solid food, he's going to go to town! There have been time he's taken all 4oz and only an hour or so later start rooting around for me, so I think 5-6oz bottles are in our immediate future. I do wish he's take a pacifier since sometime he eats just to comfort himself. This results in _ a lot_ of spit up because he overfeeds. I keep trying different ones and you'd think I was shoving a stick in his mouth by the faces he makes. He even gags sometimes! Probably in the long run it will be good that he never took a binkie (considering the fact my almost 3 year old still has one, and seems to have no desire to ever give it up. He'll have it in his pocket on his wedding day) but right now I think he'd benefit from one. Emma never took one, but she didn't have any interest in sucking on anything, so it was never an issue. He is still nursing occasionally, but I admit this hasn't happened as much as usual over the last few days. It's been a hectic time with big sis starting school and for whatever reason, it was pushed to the back burner. He's been a bit more interested in it today, though. Funny, but last night during Em's square dancing practice, he started trying to latch on to my friends shoulder, so he still acts like a little nursling for the most part. :) He's going through a wicked good 6 week growth spurt right now, so I'm anxious to see what he weighs at the end of it. He's not been weighed in a while, but I'll probably do that this weekend so that I can compare it to what the scale at his doctors says on Monday.

Milestones - He's FINALLY starting to smile at me now. I mean, his first smile was when he was a few days shy of 5 weeks. But he's _really_ smiling now. Still hard to get on camera, but those shy smiles are the best. I caught the funniest smile a few days ago and it makes me laugh every time I look at it. Maybe because most babies don't smile with their lips closed? He looks rather smug, doesn't he? ;) 

In other milestone news, he's continuing his mission of rolling early. He's now rolled both back to belly and belly to back (just once on the belly to back and twice the other way). His head control impresses me so much. It will be no time until I can just swing him on my hip when carrying him (although I'll miss the snuggly newborn carrying positions). He's cooing all the time now. He coo's more than he smiles, although dude has the happiest eyes ever. He "smizes" for sure. :) I'm going to perish from the cuteness when I get that first laugh from him.

Grumpy McGrumperson - Once again, his mood was just a little bit better this week than last. He still has his moments, especially when he's tired, but now I can say "he's just tired" which is so much better than saying 'I don't know why he's crying". He's also started complaining when he has a dirty diaper, which is also nice because I can _do_ something about those grumpy periods. I still can't just sit him down and let him amuse himself, because he immediately thinks "this ain't happening,woman" and sets me straight, but if he gives me sweet baby smiles I don't mind. ;)I hope I'll soon be able to drop this topic all together.

Me - My appointment is tomorrow, so I should get the all clear in that department. I either seem to be trying to start my first period or still have a little postpartum bleeding. I did have a gap of about 4 days between them. Weight loss is still a slow going process. I've had two friends tell me this week that I've lost all my baby weight, which is nice to hear but also not true. I have somewhere between 8-10lbs left to lose, depending on scale and time of day. I start exercising, do really well at it for a couple of days, and then drop it again. I'm hopeless. I also continue to have problems with my face breaking out, which also happened with Emma. I can't quite remember when that started clearing up but I still notice it when she was around 3mo in pictures. Since it's hormonal, it's not easy to treat. I figure by the time D's baby acne clears up is when my (mommy?)acne will as well.

Coming up - a post all about Emma's first few days of school!

Oh, so tired!

I feel like there is so much to blog about here recently and just not enough time in the day to sit down and write it. My big girl started kindergarten today and that definitely deserves it's own post (fyi, she rocked it!). My littlest man also turned 7 weeks old today and I'm hoping to write about what he's been up to since I'm not quite ready to give up those weekly updates yet.


All 3 kids have been asleep for almost an hour, so I'm going to enjoy this time by watching bad Lifetime movies (which, let's face it, are the best!) and perhaps sneaking in a quick shower. Because at this stage in my life, a quick shower is something to look forward to!

Open House!

Earlier this evening was Em's kindergarten open house. Up until this point I was having some major freak-outs. Thinking about my tiny girl in this class room all by herself would literally keep me up at night (along with, you know, a 1mo old). I felt like how tonight would go would make or break me in terms with how I feel leading up to Monday morning. So I am very happy to report that things couldn't have gone any better!

My MIL decided she wanted to go to the open house with us. I was a little apprehensive about someone else besides me, DH, and the kids going to something so important, but it ended up being a good thing. She got to see her granddaughter in her element (because seriously, my girl was made for school. Reading, learning, making friends in 2 seconds? That's her thing), she helped cart around a fussy baby, plus when I felt uncertain about the pick-up schedule from school, she had no qualms about just marching up to the teacher and asking again. So, a good thing. :)

We got there about 6 this evening and made our way to the kindergarten wing. One of the first people we saw was this dad of one of the little girls from Em's t-ball team. I had worried about his daughter and Em having the same class because she was the one always in trouble, not listening, running away, etc. I do like her dad, though, especially since him and DH hit it off. I was sort of cute, him having a daddy friend. :) So, of course, Em and M ended up in the same class together! I'm ok with it, as long as my little follower doesn't start coming home in trouble! Because when I say little follower, I mean it. The whole "if someone jumped off a cliff, would you?" applies to her because if one of her friends jumped off that cliff, she'd take a running leap right behind them.

She made another little friend while I filled out the endless piles of paperwork, so I'm not worried about that come Monday at all. Girl can make her some friends. She actually didn't want to leave when it was time to go and I had to tell her it was only 4 more sleeps until her first day of school. So yeah, my little 5yr old is going to be all calm and chill when she gets dropped off, while I'll be discreetly breathing into a paper bag. 

The rest of the week/end looks a little something like this:

Friday - dropping the kids off at my mom's early and then me and my bestie are going shopping at the Rhea Lana sale here in town. I've started early on the kids' fall/winter wardrobe, so I'm hoping to pick up some pj's and play clothes this time around.

Saturday - clean. CLEAN. C.L.E.A.N.

Sunday - take Emma to the grocery store to pick out what she wants to pack for lunch for the week. They don't have the lunch menu up yet at school so I'm not sure when she'll actually eat there.

Before heading out. Aren't they the cutest?

Even Declan got in on the action, although all 3 look decidedly unimpressed. Here. And also, how huge does my 6.5 week old baby look here? There was another couple in Emma's classroom that had  baby and my MIL had guessed that the boys were around the same age. Nope. Other baby was 3 months old!

The big 6 weeks!

For whatever reason, I've always counted 6 weeks as a little baby milestone. They're getting out of the newborn stage and some personality is starting to shine through. Plus only 6 more weeks of counting his age in weeks! After they hit 12 weeks, their age starts being labeled in months. Or at least that's always how I've done it. We continued to have some highs and lows this past week, but overall things are starting to feel a bit more "normal" (I say this lightly, since how normal can life be with 3 kids under 5??) 

Sleeping - This is one area that we can't seem to get a clear routine on. So far I have not tried staying on a schedule. I'm the type of parent who likes a bit of scheduling in their day. I mean, I'm not the type who'd come home because it was baby's nap time because baby MUST nap at this particular time or anything. But it makes the day a bit less chaotic if things follow a small routine for the most part. Right now I've just been following his cues and hoping he'd sort of develop a schedule all on his own. I think he started to, but over the past few days it's just been a jumbled mess. One day he'd sleep all afternoon, have a brief period of wake time in the evening and then slept all night. The next day he'd be awake ALL DAY LONG and then still not go to bed very easily. Last night he woke up around 6pm. Usually he's asleep at that time, wake up around 8ish, and then down for the night around 10-11. But he stayed awake from 6pm until a bit after midnight last night. 6 full hours. He'd occasionally pass out in my arms but as _soon_ as I'd lie him down, those baby blues would pop right back open. I handled the first few hours pretty well, even though DH has been working a night shift and wasn't home. But by 10 or so I was starting to get run-down. When did DID fall asleep finally, he woke once at 5:30am to eat and then didn't move again until 10:30 this morning. So we are all over the place! With Emma starting school next week, I think this really help us start getting into more normal schedule. He'll have to be fed at the same time every morning before we take her to school, fed the same time before we pick her up, etc. That should also carry over into when he sleeps as well.

Eating - My goodness my boy is getting chunky! I've not weighed him since last week, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was at 11lbs+ now. He's also growing in length and it's noticeable! His little feeties are starting to dangle over the edge of his car seat now and we have officially grown out of the majority of newborn clothes. I squeezed him into his 4th of July onesie he wore home from the hospital today and it was funny seeing all of rolls pouring over the sides. ;) So yeah, eating is good. We're still doing a mixture of nursing/bottle feeding although the bottle is more for actual nutrition while nursing has become sort of his pacifier (which he doesn't take, no matter how many times I've tried) If he's crying and I know he's not hungry, cold, hot, needs changing, not sleepy, etc I just latch him on and he's happy. He doesn't nurse for very long, usually long enough to settle down. He then just unlatches and hangs out down there for a bit..lol. It's cute seeing him all snuggled up against me and I feel like our bond is really starting to take off. Last night, during his marathon awake time, at one point he just stared into my eyes and gave me teeny little half smiles. I don't want to get all mushy on you, but it was way cute. Trust  me. :) Back to the eating, he almost always takes 4oz every 2.5-4hrs at this point. His longest stretch at night without eating has been 7hrs. On average he eats about 27.5oz a day at this point, which is perfect. I still write down every time he eats and how much. We always find random sheets of paper where I've jotted down times and oz's. At some point I'll have to see if he wants 5oz but right now he seems satisfied with the 4 and can go up to 4hrs sometimes before showing signs he's hungry again.

Milestones - He's really starting to smile, although they are still very random - which means I haven't been able to capture them on film yet. He's still more apt to smile at the ceiling fan, but he gave my dad 2 smiles today, so I'm hopeful that will be the norm soon. Earlier this week I was starting to get worried about lack of eye contact, even though it's still pretty early. But over the last few days he's really picked up in that area and I'm happy to say he's starting to become a pro. His head control continues to amaze me. While laying on my chest, he's able to lift his head completely up to stare at me. I'm hoping I can start using my Ergo carrier sooner rather than later. I'm too cheap to buy an infant insert so until he has good head control, I'm stuck with just my pouch sling. He likes it ok, but I think we will both be much more comfortable with I can pull the Ergo out. It's awesome and SO worth the money.

Grumpy McGrumperson - This week also marked a happier baby. He's still got a small case of colic I believe (it brought a certain amount of relief to just admit that's what the deal is. It's nothing health related or something I am doing wrong. Just something he'll have to grow out of) but overall I am seeing a little bit of improvement. Night time, before bed, is still a chaotic time and he spends much of that time crying. It breaks my heart when I KNOW he's tired but he just can't get himself settled down. There's a lot of me just holding and rocking him while he cries. Then it's like he just flips a switch and he immediately stops crying and just goes to sleep. Only problem is that I never know when that is going to be. Definitely a work in progress. He's also still very much a 2-parent kid. I tried taking just him grocery shopping yesterday. Yeahhhh, bad idea. Dude woke up by the time I got to my first aisle and was crying by the time I left it. And then proceeded to cry and cry. And did I mention cry? I eventually had to chalk up the trip as a fail and left. Not sure when I'll tempt that little adventure again. We really haven't taken him out in public yet, mostly for that reason right there. He's not a "hang out in the car seat/stroller all content and happy while I do my business" so until he either a.) gets that way or b.) becomes big enough for me to just stick him in the Ergo I don't think we'll get out that much without using grandma and grandpa as babysitters. I'm already starting to worry how it will be at Em's open house later this week. Fingers crossed!

Me- I _think_ I can finally say that my postpartum bleeding has finally quit (although every time I have said this, it says "haha, no" and starts up again). I've also seemed to have finally gotten of the weight loss plateau and I lost a pound this week. Not a lot, but seeing as I stayed the exact same weight for almost 3 weeks prior to this, I'll take it. So only 9 more pounds to lose before I hit pre-pregnancy weight. My check-up isn't for another week since I had to reschedule, but I'm anxious to see what their scale says. Hormonal, I think I've moved past the "new mom" phase and am now in the "Omg, my oldest is starting kindergarten" phase. Seriously, I am freaking out. Today, while driving home, I passed by a school zone and they already had their traffic lights blinking, even though school is still a week away. Just seeing those flashing lights put me into full-blown panic mode. I'm going to have to hold it together for Emma's sake, but I am going to be cry some large, large tears come Monday. Open House is on Thursday and I'm hoping meeting her teacher and seeing her classroom will ease my fears a bit (because obviously my 5yr old starting school is all about ME...LOL) 

Non-baby related news - Life continues at a record breaking pace. Emma's square-dancing performance is  getting closer, she starts ballet in a couple of weeks, school, Connor's birthday/birthday party here in about 3.5 weeks, etc. I've almost completed his birthday present shopping. There are times where one of the kids hasn't expressed interest in any particular toy around bday and/or Christmas and we've ended up just having to do a lot of "filler" gifts. Just something to open with no real thought behind it. This year, though, C has been VERY vocal about things he wants and I am so excited to see his face on his birthday. :)

Declan - week 5

I promise that I won't give an update every week but I feel the need to document these first few weeks of life. They change so much during this time and I know I'll love being able to look back and read about his newborn period (and maybe look back and say "wow, I don't remember that time AT ALL. Because yeah, it will probably be a blur.) Since I just  posted his 1 month update last Thursday, not much has changed in terms of sleeping/eating so I'll just go over them quickly.

Sleeping - for the past few days this was all over the place. While he was still sleeping well at night (ahem, we had a 5 hour stretch last night! Way to go D!) the napping thing was shot. He'd fall asleep pretty easily in my arms but wake up within minutes after I laid him down. This went on from about 10 yesterday morning until 4 yesterday evening. I admit I shed a tear or two right along with him. Especially since Em and C were with my parents and I had had plans of really tackling this house, which has, you know, been abandoned over the past month. I eventually found this white noise video on youtube and I could seriously kiss whoever made it. It was a lifesaver and he passed out for a few hours after that. This video, however, is so freaking creepy that I'm halfway expecting the little girl from the Ring to come and kill me in about 7 days or so (well, 6 now ;) ). To be murdered brutally by a girl who needs to brush her hair is a small price to pay for a calm baby, though. Ha. Thankfully he seems to be back to normal on that front today. Knock on wood.

Eating - We went ahead and switched his formula to Gentlease. While I'm not sure if it will help some of the fussiness and gas he's had, that formula is my comfort zone. With Emma and her insane milk allergies she had, Gentlease was the last formula she was on before getting the go-ahead to reintroduce milk. With Connor, after I quit nursing him, I immediately went to that. I figured since it's partially broken down, it might be a bit more gentle on a belly that was used to breastmilk. He did wonderfully on it. When we started supplementing we just used the newborn formula since that's what they offered in the hospital. This weekend was the first time we had to buy formula due to a mix of not 100% bottlefeeding and from his doctor giving us free samples every time we had an appointment (fingers crossed that continues). Since we'd have to switch here in a few months anyway (Newborn is only used for newbies up to 3mo) I decided to just go with what I know. Best case scenario he gets a little more happy. Nursing wise, we're still on the same course. He nurses for naps and any time I just can't make him happy any other way. Since I haven't pumped in a few weeks I couldn't tell you how much I'm making but I do know he's getting something. I'm not sure I could label myself a nursing mother anymore, since "real" feedings are coming via bottle, but I'm content with all of our choices. He's definitely a growing boy. He eats 3-4oz every 3hrs or so, although he still likes to cluster feed, which is sort of funny. Old habits die hard, I guess. ;) I weighed him on the Wii fit this morning and he came in at a whopping 10.3lbs, which is roughly 10lbs 5oz or so. That means he's gained over 3lbs in 5 weeks since he got down to 7lbs even before leaving the hospital. :)

postpartum- I haven't really talked about how my recovery is going, especially physically. Emotionally, as you could probably tell from my earlier posts, has been an up-hill battle. I didn't have any sort of baby blues with Em was born. It was nothing but sunshine and rainbows and blah, blah, blah. With C it started out that way, but I noticed pretty quickly that something was "off" with me, emotionally. While everyone else gushed over this little perfect creature (and he was! Perfect, I mean. Not a creature ;) ) I would sort of sit there like a lump, dreading his next feeding. I think this deserves a post all it's own, but I sometimes think I have what is known as D-MER. Not all of the symptoms are/were there, but enough that Dr. Google kept pointing me in that direction time and time again. But anyway, within HOURS, I swear, of switching to a bottle I felt my depression start to lesson. It wasn't as severe this time, but I felt it coming on pretty quickly after we got home with Declan. I wouldn't let it get to the point it was with C, so that's when I started introducing bottles. I was so "it's all or nothing!" with Connor, so that was one of the things I knew I was going to change this time around. I was allowing myself to feel ok with combination feedings. I know I'm starting to ramble, so in conclusion, emotionally I have been progressively getting better. I still have my occasional freak outs, but life with 3 isn't looking so bad. I dare say, it's getting almost normal :)
Physically things are pretty much back to normal. TMI but I still have just enough bleeding to warrant a panty liner. Weight wise, I seemed to have hit an impasse. At 3 weeks postpartum I had lost 20lbs, which I was feeling so good about. Now at 5 weeks I have lost.....nothing. The exact same weight for 2 weeks. I was so hopeful this morning when I started up the Wii, but nothing. Obviously just trying to eat less isn't working anymore, so it might be time to dust off the treadmill (I kid. I'm sure it's nice and dust free since it's under about 300 piles of clean laundry.)  Overall, I'm just a slightly bigger, flabbier version of my old self. ;) 10 more pounds to lose and I'll be back to pre-pregnancy weight.

In non-baby related news, Emma starts kindergarten in 15 days. 15 DAYS. Two weeks. Someone hold me. Last week I took her in for her kindergarten testing. Just as I expected, she rocked it. I'll never know exactly how they scored her, but I'd like to think they wrote "this child is brilliant". All in caps, too. Sometime this week we'll find out which teacher she has and then next Thursday is Open house. Em also has sqauredancing once a week right now and I just signed her up for a ballet/tap/hip hop combo dance class that starts in Sept. She's a busy, busy girl. Connor continues to amaze me with his speech and just how freaking hilarious he is. Right now he's decided on a knight birthday part AND wants to be a knight for Halloween. Stay tuned for all kinds of birthday planning excitement.

1 month old!

I can't believe I have been a mom of 3 for one whole month. Some days it feels like he was born yesterday and other times I feel like it's been a million years (since I took a shower, brushed my teeth, cleaned the whole house, slept for more than 3 hours at a time, etc). While it might have taken me 4 full weeks, I finally feel like I'm starting to get to know him a little bit. I'm learning his cues, what he likes/dislikes, and we're slowly starting to figure out all the grumpiness that has surrounded us this month.

Sleeping - For the most part, I can't complain. Besides today, where he's fought sleep all day, he takes about 2 really loooong naps. Usually from around 11-12 until 3 or so. He's then up for a few hours and goes back down around 5. Sleeps until around 8ish and then is up until bedtime. Last night he was asleep by 10:30. We  only have two wake-up calls during the night. One around 3am and then another around 6am. So, not bad at all. He seems to have a 4hr long stretch at the beginning and then a 3hr stretch. For the most part he goes back to sleep well after the 6am feeding, although for the past two days he's stayed up for a bit. I usually have to snuggle him back to sleep with me, but that's ok. We are obviously a pretty pro co-sleeping family, considering our 2yr old still co-sleeps full time. I won't know what to do with myself once all the kids are out of our room. I haven't quite got the hang of how to spend my time when he's sleeping during the day, though. Right now he seems to FINALLY be asleep for a while and instead of cleaning like I need to be doing, I am on here.

Feeding - It's still sort of all over the place, but it's obviously working since he seems to be growing at a nice rate. I don't know exact weight, but definitely in the 9-10lb range I would guess. That still seems little to me, since Connor was 11lbs at 5 weeks but Declan's getting some nice chub on him. As for what he's eating..um, pretty much anything he can get his mouth around. We do still nurse, although at this point it's more for going to sleep and for comfort. I think I would have to work to get him back to exclusively nursing and frankly that thought scares me. I wash my hair more in the sink than in the shower at this point, so having the time to sit around and do nothing but breastfeeding to boost my supply back up sounds like such a daunting task. I just don't think my heart is in it enough, although that in it's self makes me sad. With D being the last baby, I'll never have another chance to get this breastfeeding thing down. :( As for bottles, he's drinking between 2-4oz at a feeding, usually closer to 3-4oz. You know how one of the perks of bottlefeeding is that they go longer between feeds? Hahahaha. No. Declan still eats like an exclusively nursed baby. Every 2hrs or so, unless he's in one of his long naps, he's up and wanting to eat. He eats around 24-28oz a day which I think is pretty impressive for a 4 week old baby. I'm afraid to even contemplate how much he'd eat if he wasn't such a good sleeper at night.

Grumpy McGrumperson - Yes, he's still a meanie. DH and I spend the majority of our time talking about what we think is the matter. We first thought it the diaper rash that was making him so upset. I mean, I'm sure it definitely contributed to it, but his rash has finally started clearing up, with not a lot of improvement in the crying business. Because this kid can cry. And his little tear ducts are starting to work, which just makes it extra sad. Along with learning his cues, I'm also learning his cries. I got the "feed me woman!" cry and the "rock me to sleep, lady!" cry down pretty well. But then there are times where I know all of his needs are being met and yet he is still fussing, whimpering, and crying his little heart out. So this leaves colic or in pain. I vote in pain and here's why.
- He still spits up SO MUCH. If he's awake there's almost constantly a stream of liquid coming out of his mouth. He projectile vomits usually once or twice a day. His doctor sort of waved off my concerns at his last appointment since he gained so much weight but all of the spit up has got to be painful. So maybe acid reflux?
- He also sometimes has a really hoarse voice. Not when he really lets a scream out, but just the every day compaining. His voice even breaks sometimes which just breaks my heart. Dr. Google says that that is another symptom of acid reflux since all the spit up/acid irritates the vocal cords.
-Gas. SO MUCH GAS. From both ends. Also, when he first starts eating, I can actually hear his stomach gurgling which just seems weird to me. This makes me think milk allergy since he had those un-answered bloody stools.
- His poop is still odd to me. Still some orange mucous which the doctor agreed was a since of an allergy. I am supposed to bring in a sample any time I see this, so I have two diapers sitting in my fridge (I promise, they are wrapped up and covered and not just hanging out by the milk) but I haven't had the chance to make the 1hr drive up to his doctor yet. I'm hoping I can send a fresh dipe with DH tomorrow before the weekend or I'll just have to make the trip up there with 3 kids in tow. If he needs another formula and for me to change my diet up a little I sort of want to know.  There's just too many signs of something going on for me to just chalk up all the crying for colic. (Although I do think he also has a nice case of baby attitude that is just magnified by whatever else wrong.)


Milestones - Dude can hold his head up goooood. He also has rolled over twice! Once at 9 days old and then again about a week ago. Kid needs to slow it down some. I've also got a few smiles here but those are still few and far between. I don't want to wish his life away (ok, maybe just get to the point where he's happy) but I can not wait for months 4-6. Really, those are so fun because their personalities are really shining through, all the smiling. ALL THE GIGGLING. Oh, the cuteness is out of this world. Declan should hit that right around the holidays, which makes me all kinds of excited.

I promise he has hair, it's just all in back old man style.

I survived the week!

My husband got home, after a week away, last night right before it was time to put C to bed. The kids were ecstatic and so was I, especially when I handed over a screaming baby and took a shower. Welcome home, babe! ;)


I won't lie. This week was a rough one, even with all the help I got from my parents. One night I didn't get in bed until 3am. And neither did my 5yr old, which resulted in her sleeping in the next day until 2pm. I was advised from several people to wake her up...but um. No. Mostly because life is generally easier when one child is asleep I've come to find out, but also because the rule is never wake a sleeping child (unless you have to be somewhere or the house is on fire). So she slept until after lunch time and then I sent her to my parents house to spend the night. Mwhahaha - my best evil laugh.


Another night Declan decided to practice his best evil cry. For 2hrs straight. I'd almost come to the conclusion that he's just not that fond of me until 2 things happened this past week. First on Tuesday, during his doctor appointment to check his rash (more on that in a bit). For some insane reason, they thought they needed to check his temperature rectally. Even though they have every thermometer under the sun and even though that whole area was the reason why we were there. So my poor boy screamed in pain and continued to scream until the nurse handed him back to me. And then once he realized how had him, his cries died away and he spent the remainder of the appointment just staring at me. Cue heart melting. And then tonight!! At exactly 4 weeks old Declan smiled at me for the first time. It was just small quick crooked smiles where only one side actually went up, but still. Totally a smile. I would know. It was awesome and I loved it. So maybe he does like me just a little.


I won't get into all the ins and outs of our life/schedule since I plan on doing that during his 1 month old post later this week how he is 1 month I have no idea.  But I will leave you with this: I started this post at 8pm, after C went to bed. I am now deciding to just end it because it is 12:06am and I am tired but won't go to bed until I've watched an episode of Gossip girl on Netflix because that is what you get addicted to when your newborn doesn't fall asleep until after midnight (oh hia, run on sentence).


I'll also leave you with this. As C would say "he's super, super cute!".

Update!

I took D in for his appointment yesterday afternoon to check out his poor bottom. 


First, my boy is growing so much! Last Monday he weighed in at 7lbs 11oz. Yesterday he was 8lbs 9oz! Only 2oz shy of gaining an entire pound in one week! He still seems little to me, especially for only being 8.5lbs at 3 weeks old but his weight gain has been awesome. I'm hoping we don't have another doctor appointment until his 2mo check, but I'm going to be so anxious to see how much he weighs by that point. 


Diaper rash ended up being a severe yeast rash. We got a prescription for that so that should clear up nicely. Dr. G thinks his rash might be contributing to a lot of his crankiness, so fingers crossed that it's that. Obviously I don't want him to be crying from pain, but at least it would be something we can fix and not just his personality at the moment.  I was also told not to worry about the excessive amount of spitting up he does since his weight gain is so good. I guess I'm just going to have to deal with vomit in my hair, in my bra, and down my back for the foreseeable future. ;) As for the milk sensitivity, for right now there will be no change in my diet or in the formula. I'm to watch his diapers closely (should be fun) and if I see anything that gives me pause I just bring it in to be tested.


We are ending Day 3 of me being a single parent to 3 kids. It hasn't been too bad as of yet, but that's probably because my parents have taken one of my kids (the two older ones, I'm not ready to send my littlest one away from me, no matter how grumpy he is ;) ) every day since Monday. Tonight will actually be my first night with all 3. As of right now, it's C's bedtime but Declan is wide awake so I'm not even going to attempt it. Em cried last night over missing Daddy which made me feel a mix of sadness (because come on, that's sad) and relief that we don't have to worry about year long deployments anymore. Something that didn't seem to bother her at 2 would be devastating to her now.

3 weeks!

We've definitely had our ups and downs this past week. I don't think I really thought bringing another child into the mix would change that much. Boy was I wrong! The whole dynamic of our family is off and it's been a challenge trying to get the hang of this whole "family of 5" thing. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change it for the world, but I think we will all breath a huge sigh of relief once we get things settled down.


The Downs - I figured I'd start with the rough stuff so that I can end this post on a positive note. :) D continues to be a grumpy little thing and I'm starting to think it's tummy related. Lots of crying, lots of puking, lots of pooping, etc. Just a little _too_ much of everything to be normal to me. He's also starting to get mucousy stool again. Sort of orangish and I swear I saw some red in it today, which makes me think maybe bloody stool again. If you remember, he had 24hrs where he has having some pretty impressive bloody stools back when he was 3-4 days old. It quit after I started just offering one breast a feeding, so I chalked it  up to a foremilk issue. But now I'm starting to think that he has a milk protein allergy. We went through the bloody stool bit with Em, although she never had the fussiness that seems to be happening with D. She ended up on Neocate since even Nutramigen wasn't broken down enough for her. It's definitely a weird experience to have your child's formula UPS'ed to you each month. I don't want to go down that road again, obviously, but I just want him to feel better.


Besides the crying and belly issues, he also has the worst diaper rash ever. Red and raw on his little behind and then broken out with little bumps above his private parts. We've already switched diapers in case it was a reaction to that, but no improvement so far. Because of all of these issues, I've decided to take him back to the doctor tomorrow. I just want answers! As far as feedings go, we are still all over the place. I've decided to stop pumping, however. I'm still not responding to it like I thought I would, and I just don't see the point in continuing if I can't save enough to freeze. So I'm just nursing and also giving formula in bottles. I remember being a wreck when I gave C his first bottle of formula because I wanted nursing to work out so badly. But this time around I've been more calm about it. It is what it is. Truthfully, I see myself going strictly to formula here at some point. Especially if he ends up allergic to milk. I'm having enough trouble keeping myself on track to nurse as long as possible. The thought of also having to completely change my diet literally makes me want to have a panic attack. I'm sad that breastfeeding doesn't form this awesome bond with my baby like it does for almost everyone else. I sometimes think it gets in the way of my bonding. It's happened two times in a row. Sigh. Like I said, it is what it is. I just hope I come out of the doctors office with a plan to treat both his booty and his tummy issues.


The Ups - Besides all the pooping and all the spitting up, he's obviously growing. He's filling his car seat out nicely, getting some pretty impressive baby chub, and I am noticing how much better 0-3mo clothes fit. He's also coming more aware during his wakeful periods. True, those wakeful periods usually have a ton of fussing during them but we do have moments where his eyes will connect with mine and we share a little moment. I need those, since the first 3 weeks haven't been that easy. I also think he's thisclose to smiling. I know it's still a few weeks before any real smiles, but he has smiley eyes. I always joke that he's "smizing". Any fans of America's Next Top Model will get the reference. ;) Sleep is also pretty easy for him. During the day he has problems staying to sleep, which is a mixture of two other kids being wild and the fact he likes to be held while he sleeps. But at night he sleeps SO well. We are usually up twice at night to eat, once around 2-3 and then again sometimes between 6-7. A normal night, he has a 4hr stretch and then a 3hr stretch. Can't beat that!


This coming up week is going to be a doozy, considering DH left this morning for Illinois with his Army Unit and won't be back until next monday. During the day will be fine, since I'm used to being here by myself with all 3 kids anyway, but night-time is going to be tricky. Pray for me!


Just some cuteness.

2 week appointment

I can't believe my little man is already 2 weeks old (technically 2 weeks, 2 days, but who's counting). Some days it feels like he's always been a part of our family and then there are other days where I think "wasn't it just yesterday life was super easy with only 2 kids?" Because seriously. Life is super easy with only 2 kids. It's been harder for me to adjust to a family of 5 than I thought it would be. Every day seems to get a bit easier, though, and I think once we really get a nice schedule down, things will smooth out. My insane mama hormones are also finally starting to ease up a bit. Thank goodness! I'll always be a crier, but it will be nice when I no longer burst into tears while driving home because I thought of a sad scene in a movie (this happened yesterday).


Declan's 2 week appointment (and 2w birthday) was on Monday. I'm not up to going somewhere with 3 kids by myself yet, so I dropped Em and C off at my mom's house before making the trip up there. D ended up throwing up all over his clothes on the way there (he's SUCH a 'spitter-upper') so it's a good thing you have to strip them down to their diapers when you get there. D was 7lbs 7oz at birth and 7lbs 4oz at his 1 week appointment. Monday he weighed in at 7lbs 11oz. She said his weight gain is perfect. I guess they are supposed to gain 20 grams a day and he was gaining over that. He'd also gained 1/4 of an inch. So still a little shorty. I haven't looked up what his percentages are yet, but I'd guess they are somewhere around the 50th or so. His teeny head went from 33cm a week ago to 34.5cm so he's definitely a growing boy!


His cord fell off when he was 9 days old, which was a far cry from the 1 month it took both Em and C. I'm glad it fell off because it was starting to have this odd smell to it. The doctor said that it was just from it drying out, so thankfully not an infection or anything.


She asked if I was still nursing (yes) but I also said that I was pumping and giving him bottles. She asked if I would eventually transition him to formula and when I said yes she gave me a 4 cans to take home, which I thought was nice. Formula has definitely gotten more expensive since C was a baby so while I'm not that fond of nursing, I want to last as long as possible. Not only for D, but also for our wallets!


Overall, it was a nice appointment even though Declan screamed his head off the entire time we were there. I haven't quite figured out if he's colicky or not. I don't think so, since he's grumpy pretty much anytime he's awake (haha) and seems to just have the "feed me if I am awake and hold me if I am asleep) attitude right now. A friend of mine who has 3 kids sort of laughed and said "I'm telling you, it's the 3rd child syndrome! My first two were angel babies when they were newborns, but my third was just mad" which explains my 3 perfectly. Luckily she said that everything calmed down around 10 weeks or so, so fingers crossed that happens here. He's still a super sweet baby and funnily enough, will calm down and just stare at me if I start singing "Silent Night". So I find myself singing Christmas carol's at 3 in the morning. :)

In other news, Em has officially started square-dancing practice. This was so fun for us last summer, so I've been looking forward to it for a while. She looks so cute out there dancing with her partner and her outfit this year is to die for! Their group name is Punks and Sparklers and we're going with a Patriotic/4th of July theme. Fireworks were canceled this year because of the burn ban, so they are being allowed during the Labor Day weekend (which is when their performances are). So the theme will work out great.