My baby has an ego

So, Jeffrey laughed for the first time last week. The CUTEST sound. Ever. When did he do it? While looking at himself in the mirror (naked, but that's beside the point) and having Jony make him dance. He LOVES to look at himself. He'll bust out the biggest smile and now his laugh. He won't laugh anywhere else! He's all smiles most of the time, but no laughing. He also thoroughly enjoys being able to see himself in the mirror while he gets his bath. Basically, the boy loves to look at himself. It's hard to blame him since he is so adorable (hehe), and it's pretty amusing. I am ready to hear more of that laugh, though!

Jinxed myself

Of course, the night after I post that, he starts getting fussy in his morning wake-up (between 3 and 5am). Last night, with a baby that was freaking out, I just went ahead and fed him immediately. We'll start again next week. I'm not sure if it's a growth spurt or if we're heading towards the 4 month wakeful already, but he was not a happy guy. I'm really dreading the 4 month wakeful. I mean, aren't we supposed to be able to get SOME full nights of sleep to rest up and prepare for it? Cruel. I will hope and pray that it won't be too bad for us. Heck, I'd love for it to stay the same if it meant it wouldn't get worse!

We're heading into a super busy weekend. Jony and I are both problem captains (meaning- we're kind of a big deal-lol) for a problem solving competition- Odyssey of the Mind, if you've heard of it. Well, the Region competition is tomorrow. That means tonight is all about setting up and preparing and tomorrow is a super long day of competition, judging, and the awards ceremony. It's exhausting without having a baby! To add to it all, Nana (Jony's grandmother) and Jony's two aunts are coming into town today, and we're expected to see them all as much as possible. They leave Monday morning. I'm thrilled for Jeffrey to meet his great-grandmother, but this weekend?!? Really?!?

Sleep...

It's probably every mom's greatest struggle. We're very lucky that Jeffrey is not a horrible sleeper; he was never one of those that woke up every hour. However, he's never been a great sleeper, either. He consistently wakes up once each night. It's not bad; we can definitely handle that. We are trying to see about getting him to sleep through the night, though. We're not fans of "crying it out," so we're doing things a bit differently. Since I know that he's not really hungry when he gets up, I'm holding out on feeding him for a certain amount of time (which increases every night) by soothing him. Not picking him up, though.. He gets a pacifier and then the clock gets set. Last night, he had to wait 10 minutes (it's our second night). He fell back asleep for two hours. Success. We're almost 100% sure that he was just so used to waking up then to eat since he needed it that now he's conditioned to still wake up. We'll see how it goes. I don't really consider his sleep a problem- it's only a problem when I become resentful towards him, and we're nowhere near that.

Last night was also his second night in his crib! We LOVE having our room back to ourselves.

3 Months!

I guess my little man is finished with the fourth trimester! He's developing such a personality and is so fun to play and interact with. I love watching him learn and grow everyday, although it's hard to believe how fast it's happening. He is now sleeping in his crib, and we're working on getting better sleep. Naps have become somewhat difficult since he get's distracted so easily and wants to watch and play with everything. He's still all smiles 90% of the time and loves making noises, especially squeals. He loves the "tongue game", where we just stick our tongues out at each other. He's not quite laughing yet, but he has made a few giggles. We know that he's trying. He does have a silent laugh, haha. In summary, he's super fun to be around.

Jeffrey's 3 month milestones:

• weighs about 12.7lb and is long (no idea on this one)
• still wearing 3-6 or 6-9 month onesies. The 3 month Carters seem to fit him the best.
• rolling back to belly
• starting to really enjoy tummy time- almost more than laying on his back!
• holds his head at a 90 degree angle when on his belly
• looks all around during tummy time; turns his head both directions
• reaches and grabs at things with 90% accuracy
• can hold onto items and bring them to his mouth
• is starting to reach for his feet. He LOVES when we bring them to his mouth
• can hold his weight on his legs; holds himself up as long as we have his hands
• is making vowel sounds and squeals

He has his 3 month appointment tomorrow!!

3 months!!!

He's such a big boy and has grown SO much in the last month. We're taking him on our first adventure to my parents' farm this weekend and are about to head off, so I'll post his accomplishments and milestones from the month when we get back. Maybe I'll even add a few pictures to make up for it.

I love my little 3 month old.

Moving to OS

Our Kissaluv diaper rental ends tomorrow (my little boy is 3 months tomorrow?!?), so that means that it is time to move to the big boy diapers that he'll have until he gets his first pair of Superman briefs. We bought a few of the diapers we thought would have the possibility of being "the one" that works the best for us. We've been trying them out throughout the week, although it's tough since they only get one use between washes. We're starting to get a good feel for what's going on, though.

Diapers in the running: BumGenius OS, Fuzzibunz OS, Rocky Mountain, Monkeysnuggles OS

They're all pretty great, although they're starting to fall into an order.

So far, I LOVE the Rocky Mountain diaper. First off, it's adorable with little monkeys on it. It's trim, and it holds in super poops. You really can't get much better than that. The part that makes it work so well is their leg system, which is crucial when you have Mr. Skinny Thigh.

In second place comes the BumGenius. Obviously, these wouldn't be as popular if they didn't work great. I like having the velcro still for a perfect fit.

Third comes the Fuzzibunz. I would like this one more than the BG if it didn't have the snap system that it does. We have to do some awkward snapping to fit around his belly since it's so thin. It's a great diaper, though.

The Monkeysnuggles has fabulous absorbancy, but it's leg holes are just a little too much for my little boy. It'll be a great diaper for nightime, though, when the likelihood of poop is much lower.

Based on our trials, I believe we'll be going for a mix of BG and Rocky Mountains. We get store credit for returning our trial which we'll use to get some BGs. We'll get the rest of our stash in Rocky Mountains. The tough part now is to get by with just our pre-folds and the tester diapers until the stash arrives!!

The Weekend in Review

It was exhausting and relaxing all at the same time. Jony didn't have to work on Friday and had Monday off, so it was a nice 4 day weekend with all of the family together. It's amazing how quickly I got used to having him around to help with stuff. Today has been rough remembering how to do it all alone.

The Anniversary party: It went off without a hitch! They were completely surprised, and we had a great turn-out. Thankfully, it wasn't raining, so people were able to go outside for a little bit around the fire pit. We managed to get the house clean and all of the food prepared while taking care of a little boy who requires some serious playtime. We were on the go all day long. It was a great party, though! Jeffrey looked so adorable in his little button up shirt and jeans- like a little boy!!

Valentine's Day: I don't have Mr. Romantic as a husband, so we didn't do anything. He did let me sleep, though, so that's a pretty awesome gift. We had planned on just making some steaks and eating at home, but my parents invited us over. So, we spent Valentine's eating steaks with my parents and sister's family. It was fun.

I'm looking forward to next weekend. We're going to my family's farm to celebrate my mom's birthday. The exciting part? When Jeffrey wakes up in the morning, we can hand him off to Memaw (my mom) and go back to sleep until he wakes up from his morning nap! I'm SO excited. The bad part is that we're starting operation de-swaddle and sleep in his crib when we get back home. Eek...

We brought sexy back

After over 12 weeks after our sweet little boy was born, we finally had ourselves some sexy time. It really wasn't too bad. Granted, I gave myself plenty of time to heal ;) We just went slow. I could definitely tell that I'm dryer than I used to be (tmi?), but it's nothing we can't handle. My first thought afterwards? I'm so glad that's over. lol. It's not because it was bad (it wasn't), but I've been dreading it for so long! Saying that you feel like a virgin again is a very accurate description. Now, we can move on and actually have a normal sex life again! yay!

It's Awards Season!!

I've managed to accumulate 2 awards over this last week or so, and I'm just now getting my "interesting" facts put together. I really am super boring, so I apologize in advance.


First, I recieved the Sugar Doll Award from Mr. and Mrs. G , who is already 16 weeks along with her little baby G! For this award, you get 10 facts about me.

Second, the Beautiful Blogger award is from Mrs. Trophy Wife who has an adorable son, Sullivan, just a little bit younger than Jeffrey! She's much better about getting pictures on her blog than I am.

So, 17 facts about myself....

1. I can remember the exact moment that I fell in love with Jony. It was the summer before freshman year of high school, and we were all at a friend's house. I was sitting in the living room, and he walked into the kitchen. There was just something that happened when I saw him come in that changed my life forever. It took him a few more years ;)

2. I'm empathetic to a fault. Even if I haven't experienced the same problems/issues as someone, I can truly empathize for them. This became super hard to deal with when I started lurking/participating in The Bump and also when my friend irl had her miscarriage.

3. As ashamed as I am to admit it, I'm addicted to Farmville. I always hated the Facebook applications, but Jony convinced me to play it when I was at home waiting for Jeffrey to come out those last few weeks. Now, I can't stop. Sigh.

4. I pop almost everything you can think of. I started in middle school because it was the "cool" thing to do, and now I have to.

5. I had braces for 4 years in middle/high school. Then again for 6 months in college. That sucked.

6. I love sleeping. It's my favorite activity.

7. I'm not a neat/organized person, but I thrive off of to-do lists. I also have to have my planner with me at all times.

8. I get much more accomplished when I'm busy and stressed. My highest GPAs in college were when I had the most hours and the hardest classes, as well as the greatest responsibilities in my extracurricular.

9. The most fun I had in college was when I worked as a Writing Tutor in the library. Those were my best friends, and we had way too much fun. me=dork.

10. I was in a sorority- Zeta Tau Alpha, where I was the Scholarship Chair and then the Vice-President. This is usually a shock to people since I am not a "sorority girl" as they are usually percieved. (example: see #9, lol)

11. I've been involved in a creative problem solving organization, Odyssey of the Mind, since 4th grade (except for 5th). This is how I got to know Jony- he joined in 9th grade. Now, we're both State Problem Captains.

12. I love pretzels. I used to be obessed with them and could eat the all.the.time. I couldn't eat a single one while pregnant, though, and I'm just now starting to get back into it.

13. I eat a lot. I have a super fast metabolism, so you can't tell. I actually had medical issues with it being so fast in high school in regards to my reproductive system, so I never thought that I would be able to get pregnant.

14. To continue with that, my body rejects birth control. I've had at least 50% of the side effects listed, and it's caused some fairly severe health issues from not eating for a week (I didn't even realize it since I wasn't hungry at all) to cervical inflammation.

15. I like hosting parties and serving food for large amounts of people. I hate cooking food for only 2 people. Wierd, I know.

16. I used to play the Sims all the time and create my family. I always wanted to see which genders I would get when I played Jony and myself. We always got a boy, girl, and then a boy. We'll see how that plays in real life :) Some of the time, the girl and boy were twins. Yikes.

17. I cannot wait to be pregnant again and go through labor/delivery. I loved it. Don't count on seeing a BFP post this year, though. If I'm lucky, AF won't even come back until 2011.

Figures...

I'm a stay at home mom, but I do have a part time job. This job only keeps me out of the house for 12 hours a week. 4 hours 3 days a week. Otherwise, I'm completely devoted to being with Jeffrey. What does he decide to do while mommy is working? ROLL OVER! Of course, I'm thrilled that Jony got to see it, and I'm so proud of my little boy! He's been rolling up onto his sides for quite awhile now, but we just figured that would be it since he never attempted to go any farther. Jony said that he dropped a toy they were playing with today, and Jeffrey just rolled right on over to look at it. As though it was nothing. It does seem strange, though, since I've always heard about babies going tummy to back first. More than anything, it's so surreal that I have a child who has successfully rolled. How can he be that old already?!?

Note: I am working on these awards that I've been given, lol. I'm trying to think of things about me that are not ridiculously boring.

ETA: He did it again!!! And I got to see this time :)

In Awe

Everyone tells you that you can never truly understand what love is until you have a child. It really is so true. I love my husband, but there is just something different when it is your own flesh and blood. When I was pregnant, Jony and I used to sit and cuddle/play with our dog, Coco, while saying how hard it would be to love a child more than we love her. We knew that we would, but it was just so hard to even imagine. Now, I swear I can feel my heart swell up with pure joy whenever I look at him. I can be so tired in the morning and really not enjoy having to get out of bed, and then he smiles at me- so happy to see his mommy. Nothing could ever prepare you for how much love you feel at that moment. As his little personality develops (should I even say that it's his? He's EXACTLY the same as his father...), I fall in love with him even more. I can honestly say that I can't imagine loving him more than I do right now, but I know that I will. Tomorrow. Or even when he wakes up from his nap. Every time he eats and his little arm is flailing all about looking for something to hold. When he puts his hands behind his head during a diaper change as though he's saying "That's right. Do it for me. I'm in control." When he looks at me, smiles, and then lets out the biggest shriek ever. And on and on and on...

It also makes me wonder how I could possibly have room to love another child as much as I love him. I know I will, although I won't understand it until he/she is in my arms.

Superbowl Sunday

It was so nice not to have the party yesterday. Instead, we spent the day lounging around as a family. It was so needed, especially after the hurrendous work week that Jony just put in last week. We needed some quality time together. Jeffrey was SO excited to play with dad so much. Jony was probably more excited to play with Jeffrey. We all got some good rest, too. That always helps make for a great weekend. Jeffrey has formed himself a great little nap routine, and all of the family is much happier for it. It barely takes any effort at all to get him off into dreamland, and he's SUPER happy when he wakes up. I love all the smiles.

Today, while not quite as lazy and relaxing, still has the makings of a great day. Jony has all of our crap (excuse me: garage sale items) out of our garage and into his parents garage. They're planning a garage sale in 2 or so weeks- yay! Jony got a ping-pong table from work that will be filling up the space in the garage. I currently have the most unhealthy (and thus, the most delicious) casserole baking so that Jeffrey can take it to woo Miss Sophia while we all enjoy some hilarous commericals. Perhaps even a little football here and there.

As for my FIL, things are looking pretty good! He was put on antiobioics which seem to be working. Finally. His lungs are sounding a lot clearer, and he feels a lot better. All great things! My MIL is going against his wishes (hopefully she follows through) and pulling out the carpet in their house and getting someone to retile their shower and put new drywall up in their bathroom. Jony and his doctors are insisting that this should all be done before he gets home to make sure that all the mold/mildew is gone so that he doesn't flare back up again. No word yet on the immunce deficiency aspect- this is potentially the most serious part of it all. At least it's not life threatening anymore, though!

FIL Update #2

party= cancelled. Well, postponed until next week as of now. That may not happen either, though. His infection has spread to his lungs, and they're not letting him leave until they get rid of it or know that it's going away from an antibiotic. This is not a good thing, so hopefully they caught it early.

FIL Update

So, it seems the infection has not gone away. He had been going to the specialist every day for the past week to get a small IV drip of antiobiotics, but that wasn't working as well as they had hoped. So, he's in the hospital for continuous IV. I feel bad for him since I hated the IV so much after I delivered. No word on if he'll be out soon or if we can still have the party.

I realize that I probably didn't sound like I really cared about his health in the last post, but it's because I (and Jony) care so much that we hate that he's not taking it seriously enough to help himself. I learned last night that fungal infections are only found in people with compromised immune systems, so forming a healthier lifestyle would help him tremendously. It's just so hard to think that, if nothing changes, my son could lose his grandfather before he gets to an age where he'd remember him. Our parents are already older for our age (one of the big reasons we started a family so early), so it's something we knew would happen eventually in his life while he's still pretty young. This is too young, though. Our hope is to have all four of our parents at his high school graduation. I fear that he'll be our only child that will have that :(

Sigh

My father-in-law is back in the hospital. This makes trip #4 in the last year or so. They just can't get a handle on this fungal infection (gross, i know) in his sinuses for some reason. I hate how it affects Jony, although I can understand. He's beginning to lose his patience with his dad, though. While this infection is not entirely his fault (it sort of is, though), he's certainly not helping himself at all. The infection was most likely caused by the mold that was growing in their bathroom. He had too much pride to just have someone come and redo their bathroom because he wanted to do it. A few years later and they are just now starting. The doctors also think that the mold got onto his CPAP machine, which he has to use nightly due to his weight-induced sleep apnea. Yet, his parents still eat fast food every day (at least once) and enjoy their nightly ice cream. His father is EXTREMELY overweight. So, it's a pretty frustrating experience since it could have all been avoided. If he doesn't change his lifestyle, I'm not sure what will happen. A healthier lifestyle would at least boost his immune system.

We're not sure if that means their 30th anniversary party is cancelled or not. We'll see what the doctors tell him today...

Relief

Jony was scheduled to go on a business trip all of next week, and I was terrifed. This raising a baby thing is hard enough with two people- how the heck could I do it alone?!? My prayers were answered- it was cancelled. YAY! I am not ready to be home alone for an entire week with a baby who has reverted back to only sleeping in 3 hour stretches while my husband is in Minnesota. Life is good again.

This Saturday, we're hosting a 30th anniversary shindig for my in-laws. Getting the house all spic and span and getting all the food stuff ready is on my agenda for the week. The thought of it all exhausts me. It should be a good time, though, and they'll be very surprised and happy. 30 years is an amazing milestone and so a little extra effort on my part is worth it.

Now that Jony is staying at home next week, maybe we can find something fun to do for Superbowl Sunday! Not that we're football fans (I know it's the Saints vs. ???), but I like to watch the commercials. I'd host a party, but I'm not ready to do that 2 days in a row. Time to start looking around!