Things to celebrate, and things not to celebrate

So, I've been wanting to blog for at least two weeks now, but I just haven't been able to. First, my computer has had a virus so I didn't want to infect anything. Second, J.R. has been sick, so I've been trying to take care of him, and the boys, and the house all with a busy schedule. I'm a mom, that's how it goes.

Not Going Down Without a Fight

So, the week we moved, we started Aaron on formula. As sad as it makes me, I am happy that I was able to supply all breast milk for him for 5 months (with Ben, I started supplementing at 3 months; when I went back to work). For that, I am thankful. Unfortunately, as soon as we started formula, I dried up quick!! It was a matter of weeks before we was formula all day. I'm really, really disappointed. I think I'm just very stressed out right now - I'm super busy at work and I was missing my daily appointments to pump. I reduced my appointments to two a day because I was feeling awful when I'd pump and get 2 oz. At least twice a day it seemed like I was getting a little more. Moving was a stress (although J.R. definitely had the brunt of it) and I'm stressed about finances as our rent is now higher, and J.R.'s unemployment runs out very soon. Stress reeks havoc on my body, so I think that was a big part of it.



However, I'm not going down without a fight. Two Fridays ago, Aaron was up twice overnight. I nursed him the first time he got up, and just knew that was going to be the last time. It was very sad for me, but at the same time, I felt OK. Then Sunday we were out, and he was hungry, so I tried to nurse him to see if that would calm him while the bottle warmed. He seemed OK. Monday I went pumpless to work. Tuesday morning I woke up and my t-shirt was a little wet on one side, then I saw a drop of milk on the other side after my shower. I took my pump to work and got 4.5 oz!! I was thrilled - literally dancing! That was the last time I pumped, which I have to say, does not make me sad. Since then, I have nursed Aaron three times. I'm not sure how much he got, but at least once, he had milk dripping down his cheek, and two nights ago he almost fell asleep. So, he is at least getting enough to hold him over until a bottle warms. This makes me happy!



Again, I'm happy I went all breast milk for 5 months, but I'm disappointed it took only weeks to go all formula. There were many days at the beginning I thought of how it would be so much simpler to not breastfeed. I was tired in the middle of the night and wanted help. I was sore and felt like I couldn't do anything else. I knew I just had to work through it. I did, and now, I'll miss it so much.



We started rice cereal over the weekend. He's not a huge fan, but we'll work on it. On the bright side...he's sleeping through the night!

We moved!

We did it, we offically moved into our new apartment. We didn't move too far away; we are only two miles from our old place. This apartment is bigger. We are in a complex, which I'm ok with. I've lived in complexes before, and they are nice. There are several perks. One being maintenance! I don't have to call the landlord and not have him show up. In this place, they'll actually respond. There is a gym and a lending library also. There is a swimming pool, but we have to pay for it. We probably won't because the Philadelphia swimming pools are free, so we will just go there. There is a nice one pretty close to us.

As for the apartment, the kitchen is small, but there is room to move around and there is plenty of cabinet space. Ben seems to approve of the space.

The living room/dining room area is much, much larger. There is lots of room for the kids' toys. The 2nd bedroom is bigger than the old nursery. We can fit Aaron and Ben in there. Our bedroom is a little smaller, but there is still plenty of room, and I get to keep my scrapbook area! The closet space here is unbelievable. That is one thing we definitely didn't have in the old place. We have a storage locker, but I have so much stuff to store, we are quickly running out of space. Parking is decent, even late at night. We can hear some traffic from the main road we live on, but it's not to bad. It gets loud when the windows are open, so I can't leave the kids' window open when they are trying to sleep.

We are so blessed to have the friends we do who helped us move. We were able to get the keys to the new place on Sept. 16 and we didn't end our old lease until Sept. 30. It was nice to have two weeks to move. We spent almost every night moving over a carload of stuff at a time. On the 19th, our friends Jerry and Sharon drove up from Maryland with a box trailer and grabbed all our big furniture and everything we had boxed up to that point. My friend Pete from work came over that day too, so we had some hands helping lift and move and keep two kids occupied. Then a former student came over one night, and current student came over on her day off, and watched the boys so that we could bring some more stuff over and unpack. Then the weekend of the 25th, J.R.'s parents came up and took the boys all day Saturday and by the end of the weekend, everything was out of the old place and into the new.

We still have tubs to unpack and things to put away. I'm sure it'll take us a while to get completely settled in. Mostly the stuff to put away now are the things that we just don't know what to do with yet. Although there is a lot of closet space, things are just laid out differently so it's hard to find room for some things. We also lost the desk and the paper stand, so J.R.'s computer is on an old night stand in the living room and the printer is on top of the entertainment center.

We have a lot of stuff. I have a lot of stuff. I've done three yard sales and I'm doing another one in two weeks. For a packrat (I prefer to call myself sentimental) I'm doing very well at getting rid of stuff. I've sent quite a bit to Salvation Army as well. I want to go through my holiday decorations and the toys to see if there is anything to get rid of at the next yard sale. Among other things, I also have all the baby clothes that are too small for Aaron...which by the way, means anything under 6-9 months! I'm even selling some scrapbook stuff. See, I am doing good!

A friend asked tonight if I missed the old place and without hesitation, I said NO! We are adjusting well. I love the space, it's clean, there are no mice and it feels so good to be out of the bedroom! We are enjoying actually being in the living room each night! We ate dinner at our kitchen table once! Since then, it's been covered up by stuff, but we've been doing some cleaning so we can see most of the table top again. I'm sure by the end of the week we'll be eating there as a family again.

August/September updates

So, it's not so much that I've been too busy to blog (although I really don't have any free time), it's more like I don't have much to blog about. There is nothing going on that is all that exciting. Here is all I can think of:

I ended my 13 weeks of maternity leave with a week of jury duty. I really thought I wouldn't get picked. I figured, what judge and lawyers would want me on their jury. I'm a nursing mom and would need to leave the courtroom every 2 hours to pump. Well, the judge apparently didn't see that as a hardship, and I did tell him that as long as I could pump during a morning break, lunch break and afternoon break, I'd be OK. We started late most mornings and obviously got a lunch every day. Whenever he thought about breaking in the afternoon, he'd look over at me and ask, out loud mind you, if I was OK or if I needed a break. So, everything worked out for me. It was a joke one day as we came back from our lunch break late. A few other jurors were afraid we wouldn't get an afternoon break so I told them to signal me if they needed to go to the bathroom and I'd get the attention of the court crier. The signal...they imitated milking a cow then grabbed their boobs. So funny - it made me laugh out loud. Fortunately, it was a much more casual courtroom than I expected. We found the defendant guilty, and I'm waiting to hear what his jail sentence is.

With that, Aaron and I are doing well with the breastfeeding thing. He is taking a bottle for daddy great everyday while they are home together. I feed him from the breast for every other feeding, except occasional times if we are out and I know it would be a little difficult to feed him myself. So far, all breast milk, no formula! Woo hoo! I have a feeling that is going to end soon, but somehow we keep getting through another day! I'm really happy that we've gone this far. With Ben, I started supplementing at 3 months, when I went back to work. It helped this time, that I started pumping early and began a frozen backup. If I could get to 6 months with no formula - wow! That'd be awesome!

Work has been going well. I actually enjoy going because it gets me out of the house. I absolutely adore my kids and miss them when I'm not with them, but I really have no free time (as mentioned) so working almost feels like my free time.

Ben moved up to the next room at daycare. He moved up early. We were concerned because there have been several teacher changes at school, not to mention the change at home of having a baby, and now this is another change. We wanted to make sure he wasn't being moved up because they just needed room in his old room. They said he is ready for the new room. There are kids there that he already knows that were moved up previously, and four other kids moved up with him. He's doing great with potty training at school, and they think his communication skills are good, but will improve because there will be older kids that speak well, and he'll learn from them. J.R. and I have both had conversations with the new teachers and checked out the new room. Ben really likes it. There is a bucket of cars, so of course, he heads to that first thing every day. There are dinosaurs to play with, a construction corner, a book corner and there is a computer that they are going to let him play around with too. They are also going to teach him another language. I'm sure it won't be anything he'll be fluent in, I'm thinking more like teaching him hello, 1 2 3, etc. After all, he isn't even fluent in English yet!

Aaron gave us a scare a few weeks ago. He had a fever and a rash so J.R. took him to the Dr's. While there, Aaron started screaming and wouldn't stop. The Dr. wanted blood work so J.R. took him to CHOP because the blood work results would come back immediately. Apparently, fever, rash and screaming can equal meningitis. Fortunately, J.R. fed Aaron and he calmed down, and CHOP didn't need to take blood work. It's just a rash that they commonly see in the summertime. Phew. Two kids, two ER visits, one summer. I'm done!

We found a new apartment. It's not far from where we are now. The living room is bigger, so I'm very excited that I'll actually be able to have guests over. I'm looking forward to having a stamp party, and to having some of my student e-boards over for dinner/mentoring. The boys room is bigger too, so Aaron can actually go into his own room (well, with his brother) instead of staying in his pack and play in our room.

The past three nights I've been putting Aaron down for bed around 8:30 PM. He'll wake up 1 1/2-2 hours later, then around 5 or 6 am, so he's not quite ready for that early of a bedtime, but he'll get there! He's really a good sleeper. Most nights he does sleep all night. Ben's been sick with a fever for the past two days, so he's been sleeping with me. I've put Aaron in the crib to get him used to it, but end up putting him back in the pack and play after Ben falls asleep. Hopefully in the new place, I can get Ben to start going to bed earlier.

Well, for having nothing to say, I've said a lot. I guess there is more going on than I thought!

Facebook

First of all, I have had so many things happen this past week that I intended to blog about, but I just don't get the chance to sit and type. I'll catch up another time, but I do need to say that Aaron made his first trip to the Emergency Room this week. Long story short, Monday night he had a fever and a rash. I thought it was prickly heat, however on Tuesday the doctor ordered him to the hospital for blood work. It ended up being a virus and the doctor said he commonly sees this rash in the summer. As of tonight, his fever is gone (it's been gone) and the rash is barely visible.

So on to Facebook. I've been avoiding Facebook for about four years. Since I work at a University, I see all the students on Facebook, I hear them talk about it, and I didn't want to be apart of that. A bunch of my students threatened to start a page for me, and I would always respond with not wanting to know what they did at night. About a year and a half ago, I created a page for the "Year Book" to see if it would assist us in getting help putting the book together. Then about a year ago, I created a page for Ben. I figured enough of his life is on this blog, and all my students would get a kick out of it. A few months later J.R. joined, and I must say I think he's a bit addicted now!

Last summer/fall my High School Reunion Committee asked us to join Facebook so we could all keep in touch. I still didn't want a page, so I had Ben's page serve as me. I became interested, but still refused to get a page myself. At the reunion, I told a few people that if they joined Facebook, then I would. Well, soon enough, they all joined, so I figured I needed to own up to my promise. What a ride it was that first week. In the first 7 days, I had 100 friends. They were mostly from high school, a few alums from school/work (I still will not friend current students) and a few others. I'm not sure how many months I've been on now, maybe 6 months I guess, and I have over 350 friends. I make sure I'm friending real friends and acquaintances and not just every person I've every met even for 10 minutes. I hate to admit it, but it's been a ton of fun. I've reconnected with friends from high school, college, old babysitters and even family. As Ben I posted a few high school pictures, and I keep saying I want to post some college pics. I've reminisced a time or two and thought about people I have talked to in years.

Last week, I received a friend request from a woman that I didn't recognize (the pictures are so small) and didn't know the name. I let the request sit and every day or so, I'd look at the picture again to try and figure her out. We had no common friends and I couldn't see any of her profile info. Finally this week, it hit me...Jennie! Jen was my best friend in college during my freshman and sophomore years. She left school part way through junior year, and something happened to us and we lost touch. I was so excited she found me! I gave her my phone number and she called me that night.

Like I said, I reminisced before with others and planned to post some old pictures. But, after talking to Jen for a little while, I immediately grabbed my old photo albums and starting scanning pictures. We had a great conversation. We couldn't figure out why we fought, realized we were young and stupid (and drunk) and love the fact that as adults, none of that matters now and we are prepared to be friends forever. We brought up some old names and I told her some of the people I was friends with. She asked me about a few people in particular, and I said I hadn't really talked to them. I was just their Facebook friend.

This makes me realize I'm not as grown up as I thought. Sure, I have FB friends that I didn't talk to much in high school that I'm communicating with now. I chat casually with a few long lost friends too. But I have friended so many people that I haven't even said hello to. I see other suggested friends pop up that are friends with my friends, and I let the opportunity of a rekindled friendship pass by because I am remembering that person as a high school classmate, instead of a grown up who I have a past connection with. I haven't friended classmates from college because I think of them as a partying partnership gone sour instead of wanting to mend broken bridges. Why do I not see these relationships through the eyes of an adult? As I approach another birthday I feel I'm "getting old", but with age comes wisdom, and I'm wising up to the fact that it feels pretty good to admit I don't know everything, that I made and still make mistakes, and rekindling relationships makes my heart warm.

Jesus tells us to love one another, so I'm going to do just that. I'm logging off now to log onto Facebook. I'm going to search for a few former acquaintances and request their friendship. Then I'm going to write a few letters to let people know how much they meant to me at one time and how much the mean to me still.

Chloe

We just finished making a really hard decision. Well, I left it up to J.R. and he made the decision. We gave Chloe away.

A few weeks ago we had Ben's follow up allergist appointment. He's still allergic to milk, and of course now cashews, and now he is allergic to dogs. It stinks not only because we have a dog, but because I don't want him to grow up having to take medicine in order to go somewhere where there is a dog, or not go somewhere at all. J.R. and are I are both dog lovers and we want the kids to be dog lovers too.

We figured out the allergy because it seems Ben always has a cough. Chloe was at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a month. When we went down to visit and to bring Chloe back home, we noticed Ben's cough. I thought he just had a cold (we were out on the boat and there was wind), but we noticed he hadn't been coughing during the past month. Chloe stayed at Gma and Gpa's while we came home. We had the doctor check it out and, in fact he has the allergy.

The doctor said it's not a severe allergy. We could get rid of Chloe, we could let Ben cough, or
we could put Ben on Zerteck (sp?). Since there are other options, I did not want to put Ben on medication. We struggled internally with what we wanted to do. Should we let Ben cough? He's not bothered by it and it doesn't always seem that bad. We are looking for a new apartment, so maybe we'll just get something without carpeting, and we'll swiffer everyday. Finally, J.R. and talked about it last weekend. I ended up telling him since Chloe is really his dog, he can make the decision. He said he knew what he should do, but it's not what he wanted. He took a few days, and the decided that Chloe needed to stay at her Grandparents'.

He is incredibly sad. He's had Chloe for 7 years. I think it helps that she's staying in the family and we can go and visit anytime we want. I'm sad not only because I loved her too, but because she lived with four other families before J.R. took her and I promised her we'd never give her up - that we'd give her her final home. Gma and Gpa treat her like royalty. She goes for walks everyday and gets regular baths. We weren't able to do that for her anymore. We are blessed that Gma and Gpa are generous people and are willing to give her so much love and a great home.

Chloe isn't gone for good. We'll get to visit. We are still going to miss her terribly though.

Beach Vacation

We just came back from a long weekend at the beach. Although I'm not much for laying in the sand and getting sunburned and sweaty, it's nice having in-laws that live at the beach. We went for lunch/dinner/drinks at bayside restaurants,

took boat rides and went fishing, saw fireworks (from the boat), had another birthday party for Ben, played games on the boardwalk,

and took Ben to a waterpark.

We had a really great time. We were able to spend time with family and enjoyed being away from home for a few days. We were lucky to spend time with Aunt Nancy, who we only see once a year.

I did a total mommy thing...something I thought I'd never do. A few weeks ago I bought matching 4th of July t-shirts for all of us to wear! So silly, but it was fun. We wore them on the boat when we watched the fireworks. Aaron fell asleep for his first fireworks. Actually, I think they were Ben's first fireworks too; last year for the 4th there was a bad lightning storm so we ended up watching Mother Nature's fireworks. From our spot on the bay, we could see fireworks all up and down the coast of Ocean City. Ben had fun finding the "booms" and pointing them out to us. However, he fell alseep on J.R.'s lap before the big firework displays started.

I think my favorite part of the weekend was taking Ben to the waterpark. Last year he hated it, but this year not only was he a year older, but we just let him do whatever he wanted. He immediately went to the kid's waterslide and went down a few times, hesitantly at first, but he did well. He tried to squish the small water fountain in the pool

and we went in the lazy river.

I took him down the big waterslide, but he didn't like it when we went under water at the end. After sitting on my lap for a while, he went back to the kid's slide. I'm not lying when I say he must have gone down 40-50 times. He was practically the only slider, so the lifeguard was paying special attention to him. She was running down the steps and picking him up to take him to the top. He could have climbed the steps himself, but I think she had a crush on him :) He got spoiled from the star treatment and started to call for her if he had to wait for her to get to the bottom of the step. So funny. What a little rock star! Here's video of him sliding.

Sleep

At one time, I was able to link a song from Rhapsody to my blog. I can't do that anymore, so just sing "Who Needs Sleep" by the Barenaked Ladies, here. .......Who needs sleep? Well you're never gonna get it. Who needs sleep? Tell me what's that for?......

Aaron is doing OK with sleep. He falls asleep for the night usually somewhere between 11pm and 12 am. Yeah, I know, another night-owl kid. He did fall asleep around 9pm one night and slept til 12am or so. He'll fall asleep early, like 7, 8 or 9, but then he'll only sleep for a 1/2 hour or so then wake up again. At that point, it's just a feeding frenzy, but if he'll sleep for 6 hours after feeding him for 2, I'll do it. He has given me 6 hours a few times. So on the nights he falls asleep at 12, he wakes up at 6 and it feels like it's been all night. Most nights, it's 3 1/2 or 4 hours, then every 1 1/2 to 2 hours after that. Around 6am he wants to stay awake. Most days I'm able to get him back to sleep, if only for another 2 hours. In a few weeks I'll have to get up for work at 6am so I guess I'll have to get used to it. Aaron is a great sleeper during the day. (Doesn't it figure) He'll sleep for a good chunk of the late morning/afternoon, then nap again around dinner time. I don't necessarily want him to sleep through dinner time because I'd like him to fall asleep for the night shortly after dinner time; but it gives me a chance to get dinner ready for Ben (and the family) if I need to, and/or eat. I'm trying to work on some kind of a schedule for him based on his sleep patterns, but of course, every time I think I have something, something screws it up.

Ben's sleep routine is AWFUL!!! He is now going to sleep between 11 and 11:30 pm. Ugh!! It's been so hard to get him to get him ready for bed when I'm attached to Aaron. He's been watching a lot of videos before bed and I absolutely hate it. He was doing so well when I could read him a bunch of books (and I mean a bunch - I love to read to him so I'll pull out at least 10 books for him!) then we'd turn out the light and he'd fall asleep, most nights in less than 5 minutes. When I'm busy with Aaron, it's most easy for J.R. to pop in a video to help Ben fall asleep, which he used to do quite often (fall asleep, that is). Just the other day I found something on-line that states it's bad for kids to fall asleep with the t.v. on because they won't sleep very well. (I've read that about adults too, which is why it's not great to have a t.v. in the bedroom - a bedroom should be a place for relaxing, I read). I showed that to J.R. not to pick on him, but just to show him some back up on how I feel. For a couple of days, we had no t.v. and read books instead and Ben stayed in bed all night. On the nights where he'd watch t.v. (the no t.v. thing didn't last), he'd wake up in the middle of the night, like usual, and fall asleep again with us in our bed. I'm really trying as best I can to get back into a bedtime routine with Ben, but it's so hard. Tonight I wanted him to have a bath at 9pm, then brush his teeth and start reading books so we could hopefully turn the lights out after 10pm and he could fall asleep soon after. Well, instead he got a "Babar" video. I finally took him to get washed up and teeth brushed after 10pm, we only read 2 books because he wasn't paying attention to them (he threw a small fit at first because he didn't want to read - he probably figured out it meant bedtime was soon), and I turned the light out and forced him to stay in bed. He of course screamed for a while, but he was asleep before 10:45.

J.R. had Aaron while I was getting Ben ready for Ben. J.R. put Aaron down around 10:30 so he could lie down with Ben and I. Aaron was pretty awake, but he still fell asleep! We were both pretty happy about that. We'll see how long he sleeps til. Right now, I'm the only one awake. I need to put Ben in his crib and hopefully I'll be able to sleep for a couple of hours before Aaron wakes up....which might be soon because I just heard him make a noise. Sigh....

Who needs sleep?(well you're never gonna get it)

Who needs sleep?(tell me what's that for)

Who needs sleep?(be happy with what you're getting

There's a guy who's been awake since the Second World War)

Thomas and the Emergency Room

So, I'm all ready to blog about our day at Strasburg Railroad on Friday, and how we took Ben (and Aaron) to see Thomas the Tank Engine. I'm thinking about how it's great Ben is now identifying characters and has favorites. We are able to buy things for him now that he likes, like a coloring book with "Cars" on it, Thomas the Tank Engine mini trains (thanks Karin), Bob the Builder Videos, etc. When I was able to shop for the birthday party, it was cool. Taking Ben to see Thomas was fun. It's been fun mommy stuff...another notch on my "I feel like real mommy" belt. Fun events for Ben's childhood. Well, how's this for a "I feel like a real mommy" moment ... our first emergency room visit.

About 15 minutes after we got home, I took a couple of necklaces out of a container of jewelry cleaner. Ben grabbed the lidless container and before I could get it out of his hands, he shook it, sending cleaner all over his shirt, face, and in his eyes. I had J.R. rush Ben to the sink to spray cold water in his eyes and I called poison control. She told me to put Ben in the bath, dump water over his head into his face for 20 minutes and go to the Emergency Room. So, we did and of course Ben hated that. He was fine for the drive over to CHOP though, and for our surprisingly short wait in an extremely full waiting room. But if he was OK, would I have a story to tell? Of course not.

A doctor took a PH test by sticking a small piece of paper in each eye. We knew he wasn't going to like it, so in order to prepare him, two nurses wrapped him in a sheet like a cocoon. That probably scared him more than someone poking his eye. The PH test came back high so they had to flush his eyes. If you thought Ben hated the cocoon, he despised what happened next. No, I'm not sure despise is a harsh enough word. Anyway, they wrapped him back up in the sheet, placed him on a board and velcroed him into the board. Horrible. He's screaming, I'm praying, and Aaron is not happy either. Aaron finally decides to eat, so at least he's not screaming anymore, but I can't get up to be with Ben. That was a good thing, I guess, because since a nurse (there are now four in the room) is standing in front of me, I can't see the plastic contact lens type things go into Ben's eyes. The lenses are attached to tubes which are attached to IV bags which then empty out into Ben's eyes. He's screaming, I'm crying, and thankfully J.R. is able to stand next to Ben and talk to him the whole time. The nurse in front of me walks away and I can see the saline solution running out of Ben's eyes...into his nose, his mouth, his ears. (I'm thinking to myself "He's going to drown!") The longest 10 minutes of my life passes and the tubes are taken out of his eyes (thankfully the nurse came back in and blocked my view again). They test the PH level again and check for scratches to his eyes. My prayers are answered and he's fine. He doesn't have to go through any more trauma. A Child Life Specialist (counselor) came in and told us he's too young to remember this. Thank God! He may not remember, but I'll never forget the picture in my head.

Ben fell asleep on the ride home, and stayed with us in bed that night. He was fine the next day. I don't know if he remembers anything, and I don't want to bring it up. But I wonder if it taught him a lesson.

Ben's Two Year Well Visit

Yesterday was Ben's 2-year well visit at the doctors. Unfortunately, we couldn't see our usual doctor. She is so nice and has been there while Ben has been "growing up". We did see another nice doctor though, and here are Ben's stats... He is 26 lbs, is 35 inches tall and his head is 19 inches around (all nice even numbers). She didn't give me any percentiles. I answered yes to all the "is he doing this" questions, like, does he say a lot of words & can he kick a ball. He said he's doing great. Next well visit will be his 3-year appointment! Aaron was supposed to have his 2 month visit at the same time, but we don't have insurance for him yet so I had to cancel. Hopefully we'll get an answer back soon so we can reschedule. I had him weighed at my breastfeeding group, and he's 13 lbs and 3 oz. He's half the size of Ben!

Here's a picture of Ben in a new outfit that mommy and daddy bought him for his birthday. The shirt is so outrageous it's adorable!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ben!

Today is Ben's 2nd birthday! We celebrated while we were on vacation last week in Massachusetts. My mom and I went to the party store to pick out plates and things. It was so fun for me. I used to work at that store (it's what brought me to PA) and see parents go overboard buying party items for their kids. Now I was doing it! Ben loves the movie "Cars" right now, so we bought Cars themed items. I was so excited because I knew he'd love it. We bought the plates and napkins for cake, loot bags and punching balloons. We even bought a "McQueen" cookie because it didn't have milk in it. I wanted a balloon, but the store was out of stock. I was so happy shopping I could have cried. Then, we went to the supermarket to buy a cake. The bakery had a Cars cake! The baker was extremely gracious and made a cake for later that same day. There was even a real McQueen car that came off the cake. I think Ben really enjoyed everything, at least as much as a two year old could.

Ben's cake

Ben got to open presents three times. Grampy came down from Maine on Friday, with gifts from him and Gramy. Sunday, we went to Auntie Linda's and hung out by the lake for the day. Auntie Linda, Nana and Kelley all brought gifts. For the party, cousin Brooke was there with Uncle Joe and Auntie Lisa, Memere, cousin Brad with cousin Daisy, and of course, Pepere and Grammie (along with Mom and Dad). Ben is a well loved little boy. We haven't even seen Grandma and Grandpa yet!

Brooke and Daisy playing with Ben's new track and car sets.

Ben and Memere playing in the backyard.

Brooke taking Ben for a ride in the "Barbie car".

Another allergy

We found out Ben has an allergy to cashews...the hard way. We are on vacation at my mom's house and Ben was given a couple of cashew crumbs last night. He had ONE. I don't think he liked it because the other couple of crumbs he gave back to my mom. A little while later, he was rubbing his eyes quite a bit. I took a look at his face and he was getting welts and hives all over it. Then his whole head got beat red and there were welts all over. He started really scratching his head. I called the doctor's office. The nurse told me to give him benedril. His breathing was fine, fortunately. He did continue to get hives all over his belly, his groin and the backs of his knees were very red also. Poor little guy couldn't stop scratching. Then his eyes became swollen. He looked like a completely different person. The benedril slowed his itchiness. I thought it would put him to sleep, but no such thing. All this happened around 5PM, he didn't fall asleep until 10:30PM. He did fall asleep on his own; he fell asleep on the couch right beside me. I didn't even realize he was sleeping at first. I didn't think I'd sleep much last night because I thought I'd be too nervous that he'd stop breathing. He didn't cough or wheeze before he fell asleep, and I checked on him a few times and he was fine, so I ended up sleeping OK. In fact, he slept well at all....he slept until 10:20AM! Aaron slept pretty much all night too...he also fell asleep around 10:30PM and woke up at 6:00 AM.

Here's a few pics of Ben with his swollen eyes.

Daddy was making Ben laugh because at this point, Ben wasn't feeling very well.

Breastfeeding

Both kids were asleep by 9:30 the other night.

I'm going to say breastfeeding is going well. Aaron is now 11 lbs. 1 oz.

Yeah...(shakes, not nods, head)

Yesterday I went to a breastfeeding moms group. It was nice. There were 14 moms with their babies there. We all weighed our babies and then just talked to one another. There was a lactation consultant there to answer questions if we had them. It was a really nice opportunity to get out of the house and talk to other moms about breastfeeding, sleeping, etc. I didn't get the chance to form any mom-friendships this pregnancy like I did when I was pregnant with Ben. I only really talked with two women, one more than the other, but I still enjoyed myself. I'm looking forward to going back after the holiday.

According to Aaron's weight, I'd say he's getting enough to eat. I don't really worry about that like I did with Ben. He's still kind of funny about the right side. It still hurts a little when he latches on, and last night and tonight he's not really wanting that side. During the day though, he was ok. I'm pumping already, and I have two bags stored in the freezer and four or five bottles in the fridge. J.R. has already used about 6 bottles because I've gone out a few times and left Aaron at home. I'm feeling really good about my pumping too. Right now, I can get three ounces from each side pretty easily. If I ever did that with Ben it was probably once. I received some reading material in the hospital that said I should pump every day to start a storage. It was good advice and I'm trying to do that. If he continues to not want my right side at night, I can pump it in the morning and that'll be my daily pump.

Aaron and I still have colds. I feel bad because I'm breathing all over him and I'm sure that's not letting him get better. I've started all night coughing fits - that's so lovely. He's still coughing a bit and there are times when I can tell he has that tickle that wants to make him cough, but he can't. Sometimes it seems like his milk isn't making its way down to his tummy because of congestion. He's breathing a little better at night, but he's still making some funny noises. I'm already nervous enough about him at night, I don't really need that on top of it. Hopefully we'll both be better soon. It's been over a week already.

Ben was funny tonight. He's been sitting in the car seat and he wants to sit inside the boppy, whether on my lap or not. Tonight I was sitting on the couch and he wanted to sit in the boppy. I put it aside of me so he could sit in it, and that made him happy for a minute. Then he put around my waist and sat inside of it - rather cute actually. Then...he leaned his head forward and opened his mouth towards my boob (I only had a bra on). It was strange, but funny at the same time. I had to explain that was only for Aaron, but when he was little, he used to do that. Such a weird situation to be in. Other than that, he's been really good about Aaron breastfeeding.

Gaining Weight

We had Aaron's two week Dr's appointment today. At his first appointment the Dr. said he needed to gain weight, so we went back a few days later, and he did in fact start to gain weight. He was 8 lbs 9 oz. Today, he's 9 lbs 15.6 oz! No wonder why his NB clothing doesn't fit! He's going to be a chunker, this one. Ben was 1 1/2 months before the NB clothes didn't fit. I'm not sure when he hit 10 lbs, but he was 12 lbs 11 oz at 3 months. He grew in length a little bit too. J.R. thinks he'll be 6 ft. when he gets older.

Aaron's first doctor's visit

We took Aaron for his first Dr's appt. on Monday. He's doing well, but he is still down in weight, now weighing 8 lbs. 4 oz. The Dr. wants us to come back on Thursday for a weight check. She gave me some breast feeding tips and told me to try and feed him more often during the day. She also said his jandice isn't that bad. I told her we are putting him in the afternoon sun for a few minutes each day and she said that's fine. Nothing to worry about there. I did have a question about his eyes, as he had some awful goop in one of them. I thought I might have pink eye, so I was worried. The Dr. thinks he has some blocked tear ducts, nothing unusual. She told me to massage his eyes a bit, however, this can last in infants for several months. Massaging may push open the ducts a bit, even if temporarily. If we have to, it can be treated.

Here's a pic of Aaron sunbathing.

A baby story

So, to bed I went on April 21, just like every other pregnant night. I woke up April 22 just like every other pregnant morning. NOT! I woke up shortly before 4 AM with what I quickly realized was a contraction. As they continued to come, they were 10 minutes (some less) apart. At 5:10 AM I told J.R. to call his mom. I figured by the time she got up, showered, and drove 3 hours here, I'd be ready for the hospital. Contractions with Ben started much further apart, and my doctor told me this labor would be 1/2 of what Ben's was. I have another friend who recently had a baby and said her doctor said don't wait for 5 minute-apart contractions with baby #2. So, at less than 10 minutes apart at 5 AM, I had to be going soon, right?

Aaron was born at 10:06 PM. Sigh.

Here's the rest...

I thought daycare opened at 6:30 AM, so J.R. dropped off Ben early. I didn't know if I'd still be at home when my mom in law got here. J.R. got to daycare at 6:45 AM and the first teacher got there at 6:50 AM. She was happy to take Ben, even though they didn't open until 7:30 AM. My mom in law got here shortly before 8:30 AM, needless to say I was still at home. I continued to have contractions all day. I learned from my first time around, that when the birthing class teacher said walk - contractions will come faster, she was right, so I started walking around the house. Contractions got as close as 3 minutes apart, but I didn't feel like any progress was being made. I was exhausted, so I laid down for a little while. Contractions went back up to 6-8 minutes apart. It was a long, tiring, painful day, but finally at 8:00 PM I called the hospital. Without hesitation, the doctor told me to come in. We said goodbye to Ben and Grandma and made our way in. I guess we got there about 8:30 PM and it wasn't long after that when I was settled into a delivery room bed.


The big scare this time around was we lost Aaron's heartbeat and the resident doctor who delivered me said we might have to do an emergency C-section if it couldn't be found (he'd want to get the baby out asap if that was the case). I have to admit, I was in so much pain at the time, that I wouldn't have minded the C-section if the result would have been an immediate birth. As much as I wanted the baby to be OK, I wanted the pain gone! I also almost caved to an epidural. I had one contraction and I felt like it wasn't going to be long before I'd be ready to push. The doctor in charge told me NOT TO PUSH and it was too early and I should go a few more contractions before she'd check me. My immediate answer to her - "YOU KEEP SAYING THAT!" She had said it once before. I think she finally got the hint when I contracted again and said to J.R. that I was ready, and made comments about how I wanted it to be over. I also asked the nurse to explain the epidural process to me. Well, when the doctor checked me she whipped everyone into shape and exclaimed, "This baby is ready to come out! Everyone get ready, let's go". Can I say it? I TOLD YOU SO! It was four or five contractions later that Aaron Ronald, all 8 lbs, 13 oz and 22 inches of him was laying on my belly. (Oh my goodness he's a big one, they said. Yeah, I told you he was going to be but you didn't believe me on that either!) There was much relief, let me tell ya! J.R. was very excited to cut the cord - through tears he told me. He wasn't able to with Ben because Ben's cord was wrapped around his neck.

Big brother Ben came to visit us Thursday afternoon. He was very excited to give me flowers when he came in the room and was happy to see Mommy, Daddy and his new brother. With my help, he got to hold Aaron for some pictures, but immediately lost interest when Grandma gave him some cars. Ben can say Aaron's name, it sounds very cute.

We stayed at the hospital until Friday morning. Now we are home and settled in. Ben is doing well with Aaron, so far. Today I was feeding Aaron and Ben came up on the bed with us, looked at Aaron and said his name over and over again. He's enjoying Aaron's company. Hopefully this transition will continue to go well for him.

Due Date!

I asked J.R. to take a picture of me tonight, but he didn't. If he had, you'd see me standing there, hair back in a messy ponytail; no make up, bright red nose and tired eyes; a Phish t-shirt and fleece pajama pants; and a big round belly. Yup, a big round belly. Today is "40 weeks and 0 days pregnant" according to the little ticker at the bottom of my blog, and still no baby. I thought 2nd babies weren't usually late, or came earlier than 1st babies?

I still feel good, so I'm OK. I went to the Dr.'s yesterday and I'm 3 cm dilated. The Dr. tried to help me along a little, but I guess it didn't work, or at least not work immediately. She also said she was on-call today and would love to deliver my baby. She's my favorite Dr. at the practice, so I would have loved to have had her deliver. It's 11PM now, and I don't see me having a baby before midnight.

I went to work both yesterday and today and plan to go in tomorrow as long as things haven't started. I've only been going in for 1/2 days. I'm still sleeping like crap, but now it's because of this stupid head cold and coughing fits! Early this morning I ended up sleeping mostly upright on the couch because my cough, J.R.'s cough and J.R.'s snoring kept me awake in the bedroom. I did wake up to the cutest face in the world staring at me with a big smile. I was still tired, but couldn't sleep because Ben wanted to crawl all over me, and when he wasn't, I could hear Ben and J.R. playing. I sat on the couch for a while staring at nothing, and not a lot of energy to do anything around the house. So, I figured I'd go into work. I got a few things done, went to a meeting and felt productive, so I feel I made the right decision. Besides, I'd rather keep going to work and then I have the full 12 weeks after the baby is born to stay home with him. I can stay home for more of the summer as well!

I'm certainly ready now though. I got to go to all the events at school that I wanted to go to this weekend. I have all my work finished in such a way that it's easy for someone to pick up where I left off. At home, the bassinet is up and we bought a plastic chest-of-drawers to put more baby clothes in. My suitcase is not only packed, but it's in the car. Now all I need, is a new baby.

Insomnia has set in

Vomiting by itself, I hate. Now, being nine months pregnant and vomiting....not at all what I wanted to be doing Sunday after Easter dinner. I slept all day Monday, until my doctor's appointment. When I told the doctor my other symptoms, she said it sounded like I had the flu that everyone has right now (she also told me I am 1 cm dilated). Great. Well, after sleeping, comfortably I might add, all day Monday, I haven't been able to sleep since. I've been staying in bed, keeping my eyes closed hoping I'll sleep, but it only half works. At 4:15 AM this morning, I've given up and decided to blog.

Ben isn't sleeping that great either. For the last few nights he's been waking up 3-4 times a night. He falls asleep, so we put him in his crib. He wakes up, he comes back to bed with us, then falls asleep. So we put him in his crib, he wakes up and he comes back to bed with us. Lather, rinse, repeat. J.R. hasn't been able to rock him or soothe him to sleep in the nursery, so he keeps coming in with us. Of course, that's helping me sleep - NOT. At least he's not screaming and crying like he was a few weeks ago.

Another thing with Ben, for the past couple of days in school, he's been crying for me on and off all day. I have a feeling he's figuring out that his world is about ready to be rocked. I don't think he knows how, but he knows. He was very cute the other night when I was sick. I just didn't feel good so I was lying in bed and I was just crying. He crawled up next to me, looked me in the eye to kind of say, what's the matter mommy? and just gave me one of his big cheesy grins. It instantly made me smile. He's been looking at me in the face a lot lately. Just with this big deep stare with those loving eyes and he'll take my face in his hands and lower my head to kiss me on the forehead. Very cute as usual!

Pregnancy wise, I'm feeling great. I just wish I hadn't been so sick these last few weeks. That's what's making me feel so bad. Sunday night was probably the first night I really said - I'm done, I want this baby out. But then I realized, the baby could come, but I'd still be sick. So really, it's the sickness I'm done with. I made it through to the Student Awards tonight, and my big goal is to make it to the Masque's opening night on Friday. After that, I would really like to make it to their senior pinning after the show on Sunday. If I'm still up and around, I think I've decided tonight that I'll take a 1/2 day on Monday. I have a doctor's appointment at 11:30. Then from there... I'm feeling better about leaving work where work stands. I still haven't packed yet (although the baby's clothes are out and I know what pj's I want to bring) and the bassinet isn't up. I'll pack when I get home from work tomorrow (tonight I guess) and J.R. wants to steam clean the bedroom carpet before he puts up the bassinet. I guess if I go before the bassinet goes up, J.R. can put it up while I'm in the hospital. He can't take showers there anyway, so he's going to have to come home every day anyway.

Like I said, pregnancy wise, I feel great and I'd still like to make it to my due date. I really wish everyone would stop rushing me and telling me they want the baby now, or the sickness I'm feeling is my body getting ready, or telling me I must be anxious, etc. I am perfectly fine! Remember, this is the lady who LOVES being pregnant, and honestly, is going to be very sad when this week is over (no more babies for us).

Teacher's Pet

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday. I didn't have her check to me to see how far along I am - I'm not sure I want to know how close, or how far, I am. I measured at 38 which is perfect, and my blood pressure was great. So...I'm healthy :) My next appointment is Monday.

We had a parent teacher conference today with Ben's daycare teacher. She said to us, "Don't tell anyone, but Ben is my favorite". Of course, I'm telling everyone :) She says she loves Ben because he loves to learn from her and is good at taking direction, although he also likes to see what he can get away with, and that makes her laugh. She says he is very good when she tries to get him to stop doing something he shouldn't - like if he has something he's not supposed to have. She'll just say his name and tell him he's not supposed to have something or to bring it back and he just kind of looks at her like, "are you for real...oh, alright" and does whatever she says. They interact well together it sounds like. We, both J.R. and I and school, are going to continue working on colors and numbers with him. We all know he recognizes the color blue, but I'm concerned he's not picking up the rest. And numbers...he's been counting along for a long time now, especially because they count at school when they wash their hands, and Ben LOVES to wash his hands. However, he hasn't ever really said the numbers. Now he does say "two" and "nine". J.R. and I want him to be able to say 1-10 for right now. The only bad report the teacher gave us was that he pushes. However, she didn't really bring it up as a bad thing - she didn't seem concerned. I certainly don't want him to push though. She says he'll do it when one girl, in particular, tries to hug him. He doesn't want it so he pushes her away. The teacher says he'll also push sometimes just to get attention. I guess it is age appropriate but I still don't like it.

One thing we really notice Ben is starting to do is actually sing songs. He's been "singing" songs for a while now, but it's really been more motions then him actually saying anything. He's verbalizing a lot more now. Most of it we can only understand because we know what he's trying to sing, but, that makes it even more cute. Last night, he came into the bedroom and started twirling around then said "down" and fell to the ground. He was playing "Ring Around the Rosie". Of course he got J.R. and I to play with him after awhile. Here's some video of him doing it. I tried not to sing to much, because I wanted to capture him singing, but he wouldn't really do anything unless I sang.

We also went to the "Please Touch" museum last week. Here are some pictures from that.

Easter Eggs and Updates

Wow, it's been awhile. So ok, here goes.

I guess we'll start with our illnesses. Ben was sick about two weeks ago (Grammie jinxed us - he was fine until she flew out for the weekend. Poor Ben is always sick when Grammie's here). He had a bad cold and a small ear infection. He passed on his cold to us. J.R. has a little coughing thing going on, but I got it bad. I had an awful cold for the first week that grew into a sinus infection during the second week. The whole right side of my side was hurting. At my last dr's appointment I was given two perscriptions, and finally I feel them working.

Because Ben was sick, it totally messed up his sleep habits. He was finally doing great...falling asleep fairly well, and sleeping through the night. While sick, we was waking up during the night and SCREAMING for up to 2 hours at a time. Then it would take forever to get him to fall back asleep. There were several nights where he only got about 4 hours of sleep. It was awful. Nothing would satisfy him. He's falling asleep much easier now, but still waking up in the middle of the night. At least now, we can bring him into bed with us and he goes right back to sleep. We'll do this for a little while then hopefully we'll be able to get him to stay in his crib all night again.

Pregnancy wise, I'm doing well. Officially tomorrow I'll be "in the window" - two weeks left. At my last appointment I was 50% effaced, and I was barely "a fingertip" dialated. I was so nervous when the dr. was checking me - with Ben I was told I was barely a fingertip, then she said she'd get me started. Yeah, started with three days of contractions! I have my next appointment tomorrow, I'm weekly now.

Here's a pic of me and my boys.

This past weekend, we went to the Easter Eggstravaganza at our old church. Ben was so excited to get three eggs in his basket. He walked around showing everyone. Then he got two more inside where all the activties were. Here are some pictures of that.

He'll be a big boy!

OK, so I'm a bad blogger. I had a dr's appointment a week and a half ago, and never blogged about it. Boy, so much as happened since then :)

(Almost) A month ago I measured 3 cm. bigger than what I should have, right? So last week, I measured 2.5 cm bigger. The doctor said she wasn't too concerned about a big baby because Ben was only 7 lbs 1 oz. She ordered the ultrasound anyway. J.R. and I were actually excited because we knew that meant seeing the baby again. So, today was our ultrasound. I'm having a big baby. Sigh. I guess he's not huge, but big enough. Not big enough to worry about though. He's 6 lbs 7 oz right now, which means when born, he'll probably be about 8.5 lbs.

The technician said he only checked for weight, nothing developmentally, so it still looks like we are on target for an April 21 birth. What's funny is, I'm in the 75th percentile, so just going by the baby's measurements and weight today and no previous knowledge of me, the guess would be that I was 36 weeks and 2 days (in the 50th percentile) instead of 34 weeks and 2 days. Again, everything looks normal so there is absoultely nothing to worry about. Here are a couple of pictures that were taken.

I'm still feeling really good. I'm just a little more uncomfortable because I'm so big. It's getting really difficult to get a good night's sleep. Although I'll be nursing and up every 2 hours, I'm definitely looking forward to a somewhat better night's sleep. It'll be great to turn from side to side without having to pull myself up into sitting position by using the blankets as leverage, before I flip! It'll be nice to sleep on my back again, too. I didn't realize how much I did sleep on my back until I became pregnant and had to stop.

As for Ben, he's sleeping SO much better (boy I hope I didn't jinx that!). He's sleeping through the night much more than he was before. He's still going down late though, however, last night and tonight we was asleep by 10:30. Not at all great, but it's better than 11:30. Last night I tried to put him down starting around 9:15 and it turned out miserably. He screamed and cried for a while, but finally got him to read some books with me, then, once the lights went out, he cried for about 15-20 minutes more. That's a little longer than usual. I don't know. I'll keep plugging away.

Ben's been whiny at daycare this week. I'm sure lack of sleep has something to do with it. Today, he was a little aggressive - pushing and hitting. The teacher didn't seem to mind so much. She said it's his age. Several other of the kids his age were acting the same way. It may be the age he's at, but it doesn't mean I have to stand for it. I definitely don't want to support that habit. Ben's also been waking up in the middle of his naps crying. The teacher thinks Tuesday, anyway, he had a nightmare. I think he gets nightmares all the time. I don't know what the poor little guy dreams of, but I wish I could make it better.

Next doctor's appointment for me is next Tuesday, the 17th.

Are we in trouble???

We are just glad he was trying to climb in and not climb out! He's been wanting to get in his crib lately and play. He's discovering his stuffed animals too. It's really cute when he wants to lie down and go "night, night" with one of them.

Ben's been sleeping miserably lately. He's never been the greatest sleeper, but last week was just awful. There was one night were I think I got an hour's worth of sleep because he was just up all night. Any kind of routine we had has been broken. He still (after 20 months) won't fall asleep by himself. I can't just put him in his crib and let him fall asleep. Never could - I can let him cry, but after an hour and a half or so, I'd say the mission has failed. He has never been a self soother either. Right now, he and I, and lately J.R., will get into bed, turn off the light, and wait til he falls asleep. It used to be that his bedtime was 9:15 PM. However, now I'm falling asleep with Ben because by the time he's asleep, it's anywhere between 10PM and midnight, although it's usually between 10PM to 11PM. J.R. will put Ben in his crib once we know he's good and asleep. But, he's still waking up in the middle of the night. It used to be just once, now, it's several times. Unfortunately, a bad habit that's been started is taking Ben back to bed with us in the middle of the night. With us, he'll sleep; to sooth him in his room, he just cries and cries.

Two things to add to this. First, we found out why he was COMPLETELY miserable last week. All four of Ben's eye teeth have come in. He has two daggers coming in from the top - and they really look painful. One of his bottom eye teeth has pretty much fully come in, and the other is just barely poking through - though it's been looking like that for about two weeks now. His sleep this week has been much better, although he's still going to bed after 10PM and waking up in the middle of the night. 99% of the time, it's J.R. that gets him, and he's doing a great job trying to sooth him in his crib, or in his room, rather than bringing him into our room. The cute little brat though, calms down and wants to play in his crib instead of going back to sleep (It's 4:12AM right now, and I can hear Ben playing and daddy reading to him). Now, J.R. is bringing him back to bed with us because instead of Ben screaming, he's happy and wide awake, but, he'll fall asleep with us. I don't know how he falls asleep for a nap in Daycare everyday. I think it's because he sees all the other kids going to sleep, so he does what they do (instead of falling asleep with us, he's falling asleep with them - maybe that's where his dependency lies??)

The other thing is this...letting him sleep with us WORKS FOR US. Now obviously, last week was heck, but the teeth explain a lot. Like I said, he doesn't go to sleep by himself, so we are OK with him falling asleep in bed with us. I love curling up with him. He's so cute to look at when he's asleep. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he doesn't self sooth, but when he sleeps with us, but he stays asleep. We are OK with this. Really! I know there are lots of opinions out there, and a lot of down turned noses. Sure, we'd rather him go to sleep by himself at 8:00PM and sleep through the night. Until then, it works for us, we are OK with it, so we are going to do what we can to make sure we can all get the most sleep, and remain happy and healthy.