After Baby Aftermath

My husband and I decided a long time ago that a good way to keep the romance alive in our relationship was to set aside at least one day per month to do something just for use without Blaine or friends or anybody... just us. We decide to make the day the 28th of each month call it our "Anniversary". Instead of a yearly anniversary we basically have a monthly one (no gift required, but appreciated). Yesterday was officially 5 year & 5 month anniversary. For a change of pace (and because we just didn't want to be away from the kids)we took them out to McDonald's (again, another family first) and enjoyed watching Levy sleep and Blaine run around. I also figured out what precious newborn has reaked havoc on my body. Now, my body wasn't perfect by any means before I got pregnant, but I was in decent shape. I am not overweight now, just wayyyyyy out of shape.

Evidence #1 (Ok, I was really gonna upload the photos, but a "Server Rejected" message keep showing up, lucky me!!!)

I now have a "gift" to hopefully give my husband next month. I have a goal to get back into shape. I know that it will take more than a month, but I hope that this month will be the first step to get back into a healthy routine. While working out at an adult gym is probably out of the question, I will be able spend more time with the kids playing int he yard and at the park to get into shape. Two birds with one stone. I can do it, I can do it.

The Cake Monster

Last Saturday Blaine and I had a blast baking a red velvet cake for Father's Day. Blaine enjoyed measuring the water and oil that went into the cake mix, but the blender scared him a little. Of course we used white cream cheese icing and to top it off.... blue sprinkles. Yes, my son made his father a patriotic, red-white-and-blue Father's day cake. Tim was excited to get it and proudly showed it off at a friend's cookout that Sunday.

Now for the painful part...... eating the cake. Oh, don't think that is tasted bad, on contrar, it tasted great and it's chock full of CALORIES. I just had a baby two weeks before hand and needless to say I am not back in the best shape of my life. Far from it. And here I go letting the 5 year old talk me into baking a cake for his Dad knowing good and well that a majority of that cake will eventually be making it's way to my plate. And boy did it! Over 3/4 of that glorious, delicious, and totally loaded down with calories cake made it to my plate.

And if it doesn't watch it's back I'll be eating that final piece tonight !! 

1 vs 100

Ok, so it actually wasn't 100, it was only 5, but it was still just a nerve racking as if it had been 100. 

The outing for today was to go to the Airport Park and expend some pent up energy running around the playground. We met a friend and her two yr old there and prepared for a little relaxing. About a half hour later a few other parents and there small children showed up which got me excited because I wanted Blaine to have someone his age to play with. I didn't realize that the two of the "children of the corn" had just arrived.

First the little girl sat right next to me, like touching my leg close, pointed at my newborn and said "cute baby". Scooting away I said thanks. She ran off. Then her twin brother runs up and starts eyeballing my newborns pacifier. Before I could stop him he snatched it up and it took both his grandmother and me to pry his hands off of it. While all this is going on my five year old is running and screaming about Ben 10 at the top of his lungs. 

After recovering from that scare the next little girl that ran up and told me I had a cute baby was easy to handle. Then all hell broke loose with my friend's two yr old being pushed down by the second little girl, the Corn boy snatching my son's watch and running for the hills with it and every other child at the playground joining in on the chase to catch him, including Blaine.

An eventful first trip to the playground.... and Blaine wants to go back Tuesday. He said "It's a date Mom!"

Happy Father's Day

First off, Happy Father's Day to all the: fathers, dads, daddys, papas, pops, and pas in the world. I hope everyone took the time to go see their dad, give him a call, or just sit in quite reflection if he is no longer alive. 

My step-father is the person that I really consider to be my "Father". Looking back on my childhood I now understand that all he did was to my benefit even if I didn't know it at the time. Even when I moved out and did several things that hurt both him and my mother, they were still there to take me back when I needed them most. When I found out I was pregnant with Blaine, he was there to help, give me a lecture on sex, and provide a home for my baby. When I met Tim he was there to interrogate him and make sure he was a good man. He never differentiated between me and his sons, we were all his kids. He never treated them better or gave them special treatment.

My biggest wish is that he was around to meet Levy. I am sure that he is looking down from above and I hope that the way I have lived my life makes him smile.

Feeding the ducks

I took both the boys to the local church to feed the ducks. I have talked about taking Blaine there for months, but I never could seem to find the time to actually go. Yesterday afternoon we gathered up all the bread and french fries we could find and loaded up in the car. As soon as we pulled into the front parking area next to the pond the ducks and geese flocked around the car and Blaine was very excited as we got out of the car.

 Five minutes later my soon-to-be six year old was holding on tight to my legs and yelling at the ducks to step back. There are several different species of goose and duck that leave at this pond during the warmer months and none of them have any sense of personal space. The white ducks would get so close they would stand on my feet and the Canadian geese, who are only inches shorter than Blaine, would stare him down until he threw the bread at them. Several times whole slices of bread where thrown into the feeding frenzy before I could stop him.

In the end it was a great outing! Blaine eventually overcame his fear and he even ended up naming a few of the more stubborn ducks that wouldn't leave him alone. It was a bonding experience to say the least and although Levy slept though it I am sure he had a good time.

Social Outings

Having a newborn at home has opened up a world of new experiences from midnight feedings and diaper changes to a redistribution of household chores. It appears to have also changed our social circle and social outings.

My husband and I were both very young we began dating and although Blaine was less than 6 months old at the time we still managed to go out to eat, see the occasional movie, and hang out with friends. Over the past few years it has become standard practice to have Blaine with us and most of our friends, both those with and without kids of their own, have come to accept that. We had hoped to assimilate Levy into this same routine, but alas I do not think that it will be as easy this time.

Our first attempt to go to a friend's cookout was.... awkward. It was a small get together and every adult there has kids of their own (they are all at least 2 yrs or older), but no one felt secure enough to even touch the baby. I got the feeling that while everyone there was happy to meet Levy, but they were not entirely comfortable interacting with him. I hope that in a few weeks or months our friends will be more open to touching and playing with him.

Learning to Play

I came to a realization yesterday that is both eye opening and heartbreaking at the same time. I took my oldest son, Blaine, out for ice cream yesterday and while we sat on the bench beside talking about our favorite Bey-blade and Pokemon I realized.... we had never done that before! 

Two weeks after I gave birth to Blaine I returned to school and then started a new job only four weeks after that. For the next four years I juggled college, a full time job, and a family. I always thought I did a pretty good job: the house was clean, supper was cooked, my grades were good, and I stayed on top of paperwork at the office. Yesterday showed me that I had failed in one major area: being a good mother to my son. 

Yes, did take him to the occasional birthday party and bought him a toy when shopping at Wal-Mart. I read books with him before bed time and talked about cartoons when we traveled in the car. But I never took him to the park just to run around with him, I never actually sat down and watched cartoons with him, I never helped him play with the toys we bought. Point blank, I failed at being a mother.

Now that I have Levy around and time off from any other responsibilities besides my kids and my family I can see what I have been doing wrong for all those years. As of today my goal in life is not to start a career or be debt free in 6 years. My goal in life is to be a good mother to both my boys and a good wife to my husband. My goal is go to the park and slide down the slide, catch lightening bugs in a jar, watch cartoons, and spend every precious moment I can with my two kids.

Cloth Diapers 101

After a week of being spoiled with disposable diapers I have realized that the time has come to finally break out the good ole' cloth diapers. Luckily, the last remaining portion of Levy's umbilical cord fell off during the night so I don't have to take precautions to avoid it.

My first try at putting on the cloth diaper went relatively well and after only a few small adjustments it was securely on and ready to go. Then came the waiting game, which didn't last long. As soon as I knew he was done doing his business we took a trip to the changing table to switch out diapers. 

I was expecting the present in the diaper, I was expecting to have a struggling baby to contend with, I was not expecting that same baby to decide he needed to pee a the precise moment I removed his diaper. After containing that flood I assessed the damage. My shirt, his clothes, the changing table, a stack of clean diapers and the floor had all been given a golden shower. Apparently he wasn't done! Round two got pee on his face, the other side of the changing table, and even more on me. 

Notes to self: 

1)     Make sure to keep him covered at all times! 

2)     And a full pee and poo diaper doesn't mean he is done.

Hopefully the second cloth diaper change will be less eventful.

Mommy's are Mammals

Today is second day that our newest addition has been home and ever since he was born I have managed to breastfeed him without drawing too much attention from Blaine. But today while in the middle of an afternoon feeding Blaine comes running into my bedroom to tell me a piece of information that just couldn't wait. He never gets it out. The conversation went a little like this.....

Blaine: "What are you doing?"

Me: "Feeding the baby, why?"

Blaine: "What are you feeding him?"

Me: "Milk"

Blaine: "How?"

Me: "Mommy makes milk now to feed the baby. I fed you the same way."

Blaine: "Nuh-uh, only mammals make milk. You aren't a mammal,..... are you mommy?"

Me: "Yes, Blaine I am a mammal. People are mammals"

Blaine: "Ok"

And then he ran from the room because I lost his attention.

I know to make sure to cover up more from now on, just as soon as the house gets cool.

SIDE NOTE: Our first day home with Levy can be summarized in a short, but very descriptive three word phrase "Broken AC Unit". And since we live in the deep South and it's well into one of the hottest summers we have seen a quite a while it is safe to say "yeah, it's hot!!"

WE HAVE A BABY !!!

"Good things come to those who wait."

For the past few weeks I have said that out loud to myself over a hundred and repeated in my mind another thousand times. I guess that is true because early, early yesterday morning my family and I were introduced to our newest addition, an 8lb 9oz bouncing baby boy with the name Levy Grayson.

While I had hoped to make it through the delivery process without the use of pain medicine, primarily because of the circumstances of our first son's birth, I eventually did ask for an epidural. Several of mine and my husband's closest friends and family stayed at the hospital well into the night to meet Levy.

We have nearly 36 hours with precious bundle of joy and he is settling into the family every well. Our oldest son was amazed by the machines in the delivery room, but fell asleep a few hours before his brother was born and didn't get to meet him until the next day. He was over joyed by the "Sibling Gift" that Levy got him. Several days prior to going into labor I had told Blaine that Levy wanted to get him something and while I pretended to cover my ears he told my belly what he wanted. Blaine smiled from ear to ear when he saw the blue gift bag laying beside Levy's bed. We are making sure to involve him in everything and I hope that with a little patience and understanding we will be able to get Blaine used to Levy being around.

Crying baby, guess it's time to eat!

The Waiting Game....

So I attended my "weekly/twice weekly/feels like everyday of the week" doctor's appointment yesterday and surprise surprise..... nothing had changed!

I was advised to keep my appointment for next week and told again that I will probably be induced on the 7th. However, after talking with the doctor for a while longer she decided to give me a "helping hand" for going into labor naturally. She did the exact "maneuver" that helped my mother-in-law have two of her kids and I am sure that it has helped millions of other women around the world go into labor.

Here I am almost 24 hours later and what has taken place during that time..... nothing! Nothing except phone calls and text messages from numerous family members trying to find out if I've started yet. Nothing except for every person I see at work, home, and everywhere in between asking me if I've started yet. Nothing!

All I can say is...
"Good things come to those who wait and I know that Levy is well worth the wait"