.: July 2009

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Boobs suck!!

I cannot believe that Nathan is going to be 6 weeks old already on Sunday! It has absolutely FLOWN by! We are doing well overall...life is nuts with 4 kids...it seems to have affected everything! If you are reading this and trying to decide how far apart to space your kids, and I know some with disagree with me, but I would HIGHLY recommend more than 2 years, like much closer to 3 years! That has been the hardest part for me...dealing with Emily. Kelli was 3 years and 3 months when Emily was born and that seemed like such a smooth transition. Now perhaps the fact that we have no kitchen and are doing dishes in the bathtub and make weekly trips to the laundromat and have to really think ahead with meal preparation may be having some affect on things too! =) Nathan is sleeping really good at night (someone knock on some wood for me) but has been super fussy during the day. He has some issues with reflux so that is probably part of the reason...he is uncomfortable. I can get him calmed down and he will snuggle with me and sleep, but give him to anyone else or try to put him down and he wakes right up and screams. Now as a mom of 4, I have no problem letting him cry for a while, but if I let it go too long, he spits up like crazy from all the air he sucked in while crying...so I feel bad letting him cry too long. I have blogged before about the problems I have had with breastfeeding the other kids, so I wont bore you all with all the details, but we are having the same issues again with Nathan. It is extremely frustrating for me and a huge psychological battle but I decided that I just cannot be a good mom and wife and continue to do all that is necessary to increase or even keep my milk supply where it is...it literally consumes all my thoughts and a huge majority of my time. So this week I have been weaning him...which is another frustrating part...I have enough milk that it is uncomfortable to wean, but not enough to sustain him. But I already feel a sense of relief emotionally and know that he will be just fine. And actually today he has been much happier and is right now sleeping in the swing, something he has hardly done since just a few days of age. I certainly dont want to look back on these newborn days and only think of the stresses I endured because of breastfeeding, but want to remember every little first of his and also have the other kids and Brian look back fondly on these weeks as well, instead of mom always crying and talking about her boobs! =) Okay..enough about this and on to pictures of the cutie! He has some great stretches of alertness and he is just adorable as he looks around and checks out his surroundings. He has even started to do some smiling and cooing! I still think he looks nothing like the other kids, but sometime when I have some time (haha) I will compare some pictures at the same ages. And just a quick kitchen update...all cabinets are in, countertops come next Thursday and gas pipe for the stove and dryer are done. So just waiting on the electircal to be finished out and then we can get back to normal around here!! WhooHoo!!

This was after a super fussy stretch. I sat in the chair holding and rocking him for a few hours getting more and more frustrated by the minute that every room I could see from where I sat was an absolute disaster. So I laid him down and let him cry it out and cleaned. I decided that I would even vacuum and as I did he was totally quiet and then drifted off to sleep. So I left the vacuum running by his chair and got even more accomplished! =)

Monday, July 13, 2009

The kitchen~

It's coming along! Painting has started and hopefully will be finished this week and then the flooring on Saturday and cabinets next week!

here is a sample of the wall color, cabinets, flooring and countertops!

Friday, July 10, 2009

She is like no other...

The kids got Brian an air popcorn popper for Fathers Day and he got it out of the box and made popcorn with it for the first time the other night. The kids were fascinated by this...we usually use a "whirly pop" or have microwave (yuck!). So they bellied up to the table and watched in amazement! Emily was here at the table too...just didn't get her in the shot....

Now Emily is just a hilarious almost 2 year old. I have been around kids my whole life and I am not exaggerating when I say that she is thee most expressive child I have ever known! These next photos are just a glimpse of what we get to live with every day, and thankfully most days she wakes up like this as well!

Giving Papa a big smile

Hamming it up for Papa

Ooooo....what is that popping sound?

What just came flying out of that machine??

IT'S POPCORN!!!

Look everyone! It's Popcorn!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Soothed by siblings..

Nathan has been fussy during the day and it amazes me how both Andrew and Kelli can soothe him to sleep. Both of them remain completely calm (even more so than I do!) and just softly talk to him and reposition him until he settles in and drifts off to sleep...