He's Quite a Character!!

Our boy has become quite a little character these days. When he gets going, he talks like crazy and will make the funniest sounds. And he loves to reach out and grab anything, especially your face, too. Bath time is always a new adventure, and he really likes to play with his toys. See below where he managed to wrangle a stingray! :) And a friend from work bought him a 'Johnny Jump Up' that hangs from the doorway, and he loves to hang out on it. He does a little bouncing here and there, but really just enjoys chewing/sucking on the side of it. We started giving Austin cereal two weeks ago and he absolutely loves it!! Here are a few pics and videos of Austin lately. I go back to work in less than a week, so I'm sure I will have a really good post for you soon!!! Enjoy
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It's a Jungle Out There!

I thought I would give a quick update on my playroom project. Well, just as I suspected, this has been very time-consuming. Painting all the background and the animals on the wall has proven to be a very tedious job. And trying to entertain Austin all day hasn't allowed me much time to work on it. When he naps during the day, I usually try to shower, do laundry, or straighten up the house. So, I'm really only able to work on it a few hours in the evening after he goes to sleep. But it's coming along, and I'm pretty proud of myself. I still have alot left to do, but here are a few pics of my work so far! :)

Austin's 4 Months Old!!

Here we are again, another month just flew by and my baby boy is 4 months old now. Aaaahhhh! I can't handle this! I feel like we just came home from the hospital last week. :( But Austin is doing amazing and growing like crazy. We had his 4 month checkup this morning. He weighed 16 lbs. 3oz. (75th percentile) and was 24 3/4 in. long (25th percentile). Okay, so he's short and stocky, but adorable as can be! The pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to start some rice cereal, so we'll be experimenting with that this evening hopefully. Finally, we get to break out the highchair. I'm so excited! He took his shots like a champ again and only cried for a second. Now, he's fast asleep for what I'm sure will be a long 2-3 hour nap (which gives me plenty of time for a blog update).

Austin is sleeping anywhere from 10-12 hours straight through each night and takes two naps during the day usually. We are truly blessed that he sleeps so well. Of course, I have a feeling our next kiddo will be the exact opposite. And we're on a pretty good schedule everyday, taking four 8oz. bottles. He is so interactive these days, constantly cooing and grabbing at things. I bought a Baby Einstein DVD the other day, but he had no interest when I put it on. But the second I turned on his favorite show, Handy Manny, he went crazy cooing and kicking his legs. He absolutely loves that show. And he has grown to love his Baby Einstein activity bouncer, even though his short little legs just barely reach the floor. And he's loving tummy time more and more each day. We've gotten him to rollover from back to tummy a few times, but hasn't totally gotten the hang of it yet. But when we put him in his crib at night, he turned the complete opposite way by morning.

Now for the sad part. I am supposed to return to work 3 weeks from today, which already brings tears to my eyes. I'm trying not to think about it yet, but I know I'll probably have a breakdown that first week back. I have spent nearly 24/7 with my chunky monkey since he was born, and it breaks my heart that I will only get to see him a few hours a day once I go back. Don't get me wrong, I love my job (most of the time) and the challenges it brings. But I'm afraid that those 'challenges' are also going to bring me lots of stress and late hours that will keep me from my baby boy. I'm definitely going back to KPMG to give it a try to see how the whole work/life balance thing plays out. But my priorities have definitely changed, and I want to be at home as much as possible. If things don't work out to where I can have adequate time at home, I may have to explore other opportunities. Maybe this is just crazy talk and the high ranking 'one of Working Mother magazines top companies to work for' will end up working out. We'll just have to wait and see. But not working, is not really an option, so I will have to find something. Jordan has big plans of restoring his grandad's '69 Chevy truck (a.k.a. Ol' Red) and getting an in-ground pool next spring, so work it is. I don't know how families do it on a single income anyways. Well, unless you're married to a partner. :)

Jet-Lagged!!

Whew!!! I am so exhausted!! We got up at 5am on Friday morning to get loaded up, pick up my mom, and get to the airport. I left Austin in his jammies, so that we wouldn't disturb him and he could continue to sleep as long as possible. Got all checked in and it was time to say goodbye. Jordan picked up Austin from the stroller, turned away, was telling him bye, and started crying!! Why the hell does he want to get me all choked up before I leave?! I guess he thought our plane might crash or something (don’t get me wrong, the thought definitely crossed my mind). It was the sweetest thing though. Going through security was an adventure. Shoes off, liquids in ziploc, carseat through the x-ray, and collapse the stroller to JAM into the x-ray. Formula wasn't an issue because I brought powder and bought water once we got through security. Our flight wasn't full at all, and then when people around us saw the baby, a few of them moved. Whatever. I fed Austin as soon as we got on the plane so he was eating during takeoff. The he napped for about an hour. Then awake for 2 hours to play, and then slept the last 30 minutes during the landing. He was SO good!! I was so proud of him; not a peep out of him. But then we got off the plane, and my stroller (that I had checked at the gate right before we stepped on the plane) was nowhere to be found! Needless to say, I was in a pissed off mood. And the baggage people were no help at all. But we had to catch a bus for the hour ride from Boston to NH, so lugging the carseat with my chunky monkey and the luggage was interesting. Austin was great on the busride; loved staring out the window.

My Nana greeted us at the bus station and she was so excited to see us. Boy was it cold there!! She made homemade spaghetti and my mom's brother and sister came over for dinner. The airline finally called and said they found my stroller and it would be there by 10pm. Well, I didn’t get it til 2pm the next day, but was just thankful they found it. The few days we had we spent visiting lots of family and helping my aunt get settled into her new apartment and get it decorated. My mom and I ran around to a bunch of stores buying decor, rugs, and a kitchen set to surprise her. She was very thankful. Austin didn't sleep that well the first night, but he was just so out of his element and jet lagged. So the next two nights, we broke the rules and he slept in the bed with me and slept 8 hours. It's not his usual 10-11 hours, but I was thankful.

Then on Sunday, it was all over the news that a big snow storm was headed up the east coast. WTF?! I was kinda ready to get home and didn't want to have to stay another night. What can I say, I missed Jordan, Jordan missed Austin (and me, I hope), and I was ready to get Austin back home in his usual schedule. Well, this big storm dumped 16 inches of snow that day, the buses was delayed and many flights were canceled. But not ours. We did take off an hour late due to all the standby people from the canceled flights before us and de-icing the plane. I fed Austin while we waited to board the plane. I then changed two poopy diapers before we boarded. Then he slept for the first 2 hours of the flight.

When he woke, it was time to eat. But he had a wet diaper I needed to change first. We opted to change him in the seat (which we had done on the flight up) since it was a little turbulent and I was afraid to put him on the tiny changing table in the lav. !?
As soon as I opened his diaper, forceful stream of piss started going everywhere. (I usually cover his weewee with a cloth diaper so this doesn't happen, but I wasn't fast enough.) My seat, arm, and hand was covered in piss. As my mom and I are trying to compose ourselves from laughing so hard and trying not cause a scene, Austin starts to grunt. Aaaahh!!!! The diaper was already open. He started pooping! I was panicking, as poop got on the side of my jeans!! I cleaned up as best I could and then fed him. We played for a bit, and then I could smell he pooped again! Then the pilot announced 'flight attendants prepare for landing'. So, like the bad mother I am, I made him sit in it til we got off the plane. But he never cried on either flight and was the best baby ever!!! People on the plane even commented to us how wonderful he was being. Jordan was waiting for us at the baggage claim and was so glad to have us home. Then Austin projectile spitup all over his daddy. Welcome back, right

We are definitely glad to be back home. We gave Austin a bath when we got home last night, Jordan fed him, and then laid him down and he slept 10 hours again.

Happy 3 Months to My Turkey!

Aaaahhh! Where did the time go?! My baby boy is already a quarter of a year old!! Oh, he is changing so much everyday, it makes me sad. He is just the light of our lives and is getting so big. And I'm so happy that he is on a great schedule and sleeping 10 hours at night. We are finally enjoying a full night sleep again.

I will be taking Austin on his first plane ride at the end of this month. We're going with my mom to fly to Boston to go visit my Nana (Austin's GiGi) for 4 days. I still have a little bit of time off left from work, so we thought we would take advantage of it. I really hope that he is a good baby during the flight so that everyone doesn't hate me at the end. But I'm definitely not looking forward to going through security, lugging a stroller and luggage, and a baby through airport security. But we'll manage. I'm excited to go up there to visit my mom's side of the family and introduce them all to Austin. It's going to be really cold up there though, which I hate. We're going to be bundled up for sure! Jordan has to work, so he'll be staying behind. But 4 days without a wife and baby can be kinda dangerous. He better behave in our absence

We had a pretty mellow Valentine's Day. I guess things really change once you have a baby. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. Jordan brought me home red and white roses of course. We just ate Blackeyed Pea to go and chilled around the house that night. Then on Sunday my sis volunteered to watch Austin so that we could have some time to go out. We went to watch 'He's Just Not That Into You' and ate at a great Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a bucket of beer. It was a nice time and my baby boy was so glad to see me when we got back!

Face is better & Our boy is growing fast!

I thought it was time for another blog post. I've been sorta getting bored staying home so much lately. With my constant sinus infection, crooked face, and Austin having a cold, I haven't been out of the house much lately. To let you know how bored I was yesterday, I scooped two bags of dog shit in the backyard! Jordan knew I was bored, but was very proud of me. Anyways, my face has finally improved! I'd say it's back to 90% normal (well, for me anyways) again. I am so thankful that it cleared up so fast and that I didn't have any lasting effects from it. And there was no way I was going back to work looking like that! And I think I finally got my sinus infection under control after the second round of antibiotics. Geez, with all the meds I've been taking lately, I sure hope my birth control is working properly! I guess I'm just playing the odds since it took us so long to get pregnant the first time, hopefully it wouldn't happen on accident. But I guess that would be my luck. That would be just fine with me though. Jordan thinks I'm crazy for already talking about having our next baby. I can't help it, I'm just so in love with my chunky monkey!! Seriously though, we will probably wait til the beginning of 2010 before trying again.

So, my little man will be 3 months old next week.I totally cannot believe it! I had to take him to the pediatrician yesterday because he developed a cold and I wanted to get it checked out to make sure it wasn't RSV or anything serious. Nope, just a cold, so I've been lathering him with Vick's VapoRub like crazy. But he did get weighed at the doc and he is now 14lbs. 2oz. He is growing like a weed! Well, not up, but out, I guess. Austin has been so much fun these past few weeks. He is smiling so much and just cooing up a storm. He is definitely a morning person, and is always grinning from ear-to-ear at 7am. I guess I need to become more of a morning person for his sake. I bought him a Bumbo a few weeks ago, which he used to just flop over in. I put him in it last night and he just sat there like a big boy. He seemed to really like it, too. And he is doing so good at tummy time and can really hold his little head up pretty good. If only his cheeks weren't so big, they wouldn't weigh him down! Bathtime is one of his favorites, too. We have put his little bath in the big tub and fill both up so he can splash around. I honestly think he'd stay in there all night if we let him.

I have about two months left before I have to return to work. I am going to cherish every moment we have left together. My one project I am starting this weekend (and hopefully have it all finished before I return to work) is to decorate the children's retreat room in our house. This room has previously been used as Jordan's work-out room with the treadmill and weight set. But that stuff is getting moved upstairs to the gameroom this weekend for me to begin the transformation. I figured I needed to do something gender-neutral, in case we have a girl next go around. So, I decided to do a jungle theme. I am going to attempt painting a mural on the walls in there myself. I'm pretty crafty and I was a good art student in high school. I bought a little projector on eBay that will project a small pic on the wall for me to trace. I'm sure this will become a much bigger task than I anticipated, but it will be worth it. I had thought about paying a muralist to come paint, but they are super-expensive and I figured it would be more special if I did it. And I think I am going to get my step-dad to help build an indoor treehouse sort of thing in the corner of the room. It's going to be the best playroom ever!!

Here's a quick little clip of our little man.

What the hell is wrong with my face?!

It seems I always have to have some medical problem to make my life interesting. Today I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy. Basically it's paralysis of one side of your face. Yesterday, all of a sudden I couldn't move the right side of my face! It completely freaked me out. My eye doesn't really blink or close all the way, when I try to smile nothing happens on that side, and even my taste buds on that side don't seem to be working. And my speech is also slurred, and eating and drinking on that side is quite difficult. I feel like I look like complete freak show, especially when I try to smile. I went to the doctor this afternoon and he confirmed the diagnosis I had already came up with from my great friend Google. But my doc is also sending me for a consult with a neurologist on Monday morning, just to be sure there isn't something else that he's missing.

Apparently, Bell's Palsy is inflammation of some nerve in the face that causes the paralysis. It can be caused by many many things like infections, viruses, colds, flu, and even pregnancy. He thinks it was probably triggered by the bad sinus infection I just got over. He said I should recover within 6 weeks, but maybe sooner or even later. WTF?! How am I supposed to go out in public like this? I got a steroid shot from the doc and some other meds that may speed up the recovery time, but who knows. Needless to say, I'm pretty freaked out about the whole thing and got really upset about it tonight. So, you all may see less of me in person until I get back to normal.; I'm just really self-conscious about the way I look and talk right now. :( Please say a prayer that this goes away; the sooner the better.