Saturday, October 26, 2013

Two Months

Hello there.  Today was a four cups of coffee day, which explains a lot about what life is like these days.  Daniel's been sleeping for longer stretches, usually about midnight to six, which is pretty good.  But definitely not anywhere close to good enough!  We're anxiously awaiting the day he can sleep through the night for a minimum of eight hours.  But he's pretty sweet and getting bigger all the time.


Playing football.

Can he catch it?

Yes!

Daddy and the big kid.

Benjamin is so funny these days.  A few months back he started talking about "the shivers", which is one of the Frog and Toad stories.  He's obsessed, and talks about it all the time.  He and Thomas have a game where Benjamin will hold the football and run, while Thomas chases him.  But Benjamin will drop the ball and then fall on the floor, and yell "I got tackled" while Thomas is still three feet away.  So silly. 

Watching Sesame Street in the morning. Perfect time for me to take a shower!

Benjamin still watches Sesame Street every day, and we've added "Potty Power", a DVD I bought that's supposed to encourage potty training.  He likes it, and asks to watch it, but whenever I ask if he wants to go sit on the potty he says no.  Maybe in a week or so, hopefully. 

Daniel showing off his cool new outfit.  Thanks, Aunt Marian!


Brothers.

Now that it's starting to feel more like fall, with highs in the low 70s, I've started lighting a pumpkin-scented candle.  Thomas thinks I'm ridiculous with my candle fixation.  I want to get some of those wood-wick candles, but I'm not sure if they'll ship here.  I like the crackly sound they make.  I had a stash of Yankee Candle stuff from when we moved and I guess I forgot about them last autumn, but now that I'm using them it feels more like home.  I love this season, wearing sweaters and feeling cozy.  We haven't turned the heat on yet, but probably will in the next couple weeks.

Leaning...

Hey there.

Smiles!

All in all, things are going pretty well.  We're so grateful for Daniel and Benjamin.  Despite the lack of complete rest, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  And now it's two months until Christmas.  Time is flying!

-Rachel

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Life is Good

This week was full of doctors visits.  My six week checkup on Monday, Daniel's six week checkup on Wednesday, and then my annual-ish eye exam happened today.  All good reports, Daniel is now a little over 10lbs and is getting bigger all around.  His pediatrician was impressed, and it's great encouragement that my nursing and our supplementing is working.  Hooray! 

In honor of our cold spell, we broke out the footie pjs!

Can't wait for more cold weather.

The only bummer came today at my eye exam.  Surprisingly my prescription stayed the same, but I was diagnosed with keratoconus, a steep cornea.  It's not super serious, and I'm in the early stages.  The doctor said that I should come back in three months to get checked, and I'm hoping that it's slow in progressing.  Maybe the hormones from pregnancy will subside and arrest any further change.  It's evidently treatable, but still something to keep an "eye" on.  ;-)

But the fun part, I picked out new glasses!  I'll post pictures once they arrive, I ordered regular glasses and prescription sunglasses. 

Daniel is doing really well sleeping, at least for the moment.  He'll stretch from midnight to about 6 or 6:30am.  It's been awesome to get more than just two or three hours at a time, but I'm sure come the next growth spurt I'll be singing a different tune. 

Now that we're getting more of a schedule, and more consistent sleep, I'm looking forward to having some time to get to the gym.  I'm glad to be back in "normal" jeans, but I can tell it's going to be a while before I'm in my skinny pairs again.  I had decided to wait until January but I think I'll start sooner, since things are settling down faster than I thought.  This requires some planning and initiative, so pray that I'll be diligent about actually working out.  My goal is to get to a reasonable weight to hopefully get rid of any effects of my PCOS, in case we decide to try to have more kids.


Funny faces.


Still having fun with my new app!

In other news, Benjamin is funny and sweet and occasionally infuriating.  Emy is amazing and I can't imagine life without her assistance.  We've started using The Fresh 20, which is a menu-planning service thing.  It's been really helpful, I'm terrible at thinking up meals and would get frustrated, and it was stressful for Thomas to come home and have me trying to think of something at the last minute.  Thomas is super helpful and will grocery shop on the weekend, and he'll help with food prep and cooking.  He's the best.  I'm really grateful for our friends who suggested this website, it's made a big difference.  And the food tastes good, is pretty healthy, and definitely is a welcome change from my usual standbys. 


Thanks for the cool Tshirt, Mimi and Papa!

That's it for now!
Rachel

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Six Weeks In...

We've made it this far!  Sleep is still elusive, but we're improving slowly.  Daniel usually nurses around 11pm and again at 3/4am then again at 7/8am.  So I get a couple naps in.  Thomas will do a bottle afterward or burp him, which gives me a break.  I feel so blessed to have such an awesome husband - he's the best dad and partner in diaper changing/bottle feeding/all-around parenting two boys.

Daniel at six weeks.

Benjamin in the same outfit, at two months.  Hopefully Daniel will get the same chubby cheeks soon.

Speaking of Thomas's amazing-ness, his birthday was this past week.  With the baby and all, we really didn't do anything special, aside from ordering Papa John's pizza.  I definitely dropped the ball, but hopefully we can do something more exciting for our anniversary to make up for it a bit.  Sadly the anniversary of Thomas's birth was the day his grandpa passed away.  It's hard to be far away and unable to go to the funeral, but we are so grateful for his grandpa's witness and love for the Lord and his family.     

I'm trying to do a better job of taking pictures of Benjamin as well as the baby.  I found an awesome app for my phone that lets you put in text or fun little doodles.



You start with this...

And end up with something like this!

Benjamin is so funny, he's very decisive about things he likes and doesn't.  Tonight I asked him if he wanted to wear his overalls again tomorrow, because I looove them, but he said no and that he wants to wear jeans.  Oh well.  Today the weather was very cool and fall-like, highs in the low 70s. 

Daniel has been doing great with nursing and only takes about 9oz of formula per day, which means that I'm making about 2/3 of what he needs.  I'm pretty excited about that, and that breastfeeding is successful so far.  I'm not counting on anything lasting, just trying to be content in the moment.

As far as the shutdown goes, life isn't much different.  Thomas is still working, which I was bummed about.  Fingers crossed Congress will figure it out and everything can get back to normal.  This weekend I got my nails done with a girlfriend, it was magical to get out of the house and chat and have my feet worked on.  It had been about two months, and things were really ugly.  I feel much more human.  I came home to a crying baby, but otherwise it worked out well. 

Benjamin wearing the blue sweater at four weeks.

Daniel wearing the blue sweater at six weeks.

 Time really flies when you're delirious from lack of sleep.  Although usually I feel pretty good, mostly after I inhale some liquid form of caffeine.  Late nights are starting to get easier, when he can do longer stretches around the 3-4am session.  We're so grateful for this little guy.  Looking forward to the 2 month mark when sleeping through the night becomes more attainable, though!

Rachel