Taking care of my baby's momma

I have found that it is very important to take care of yourself when you stay at home with a baby. It is easy to fall into a pattern of not showering and sitting around in your PJ’s all day focusing 100% of your attention on the baby. If you don't focus anything on yourself, you start feeling like a slug and you have 0 energy and are no fun to be around (even the baby thinks so). I went to go get my hair trimmed and my eyebrows done today for the first time since Ryan was born. It’s nice to look and feel like a normal human being, maybe I can keep this up… okay probably not but it sure feels good today.

Energy Boost

I have a new reason to lose the pregnancy weight… I need to be able to keep up with Ryan. I swear, when he is awake he has more energy then he knows what to do with. I know from the past that when I am in shape I feel better and am more awake/ alert during the day. So I am turning a new leaf, I don’t think I have a choice… his energy is just going to increase as he gets older. So this weekend Don and I bought a treadmill! I have already run on it once… it was a pitiful excuse for running, but we all have to start somewhere right? I feel good about this... I plan on running during Ryan’s morning nap and then at night when Don comes home. My pre-pregnancy pants better watch out because mamma's coming home!

Notice the disparity in energy levels...

Yay Treadmill!

Passage of Time

Having a child makes you acutely aware of the passage of time. I like most have let days and weeks pass me by without ever noticing (especially when it came to school). With a child, especially a newborn you notice everyday. Ryan turned two months old last week, WOW. Two short months and everything has changed. When Ryan was first born he couldn’t focus his eyes on anything, he couldn’t sleep for long amounts of time, he couldn’t interact, and everything was about survival. At two months old he can track people with his eyes, he smiles when you play with him, he recognizes people, and he has a blooming personality (which is a lot like mine… watch out world) everyday he is developing more and more into his own unique person. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Surviving Shots

We made it through the first round of shots. Ryan was a trooper, he cried harder getting weighed then he did with the shots. He has only recently started to get fussy (5 or so hours later) we gave him a dose of Tylenol and he is doing much better. Hopefully he gets a good night of sleep and is right as rain in the morning. We decided on getting two of the shots this time, we are going to go back in a month and get another one. I feel pretty comfortable with our decision and the doctor didn’t give us a hard time which was nice.

Baby Smile

If you want something that makes you smile check out the video. He gets the open mouth smile from me... I give it to him all the time.

Life Decisions

The hardest part of being a new parent is not the lack of sleep, it isn’t the lack of personal time or even dealing with a crying baby… it is making life decisions for your child. I have always been the sort of person that just sort of makes decisions and lives with the consequences (good and bad, this is how I roll). Well this philosophy doesn’t work when it is someone else’s life you are making the decision for. Okay enough of an introduction; Ryan has his 2 month appointment at the pediatricians on Friday. He has like 6 immunizations they want to give him, that would mean sticking my baby with 6 needles. While I am not a huge fan of the needles I am also wary of what is in the shot. They have taken Mercury out of MOST shots, but there are still a few that contain it. Almost all of them still contain aluminum, formaldehyde and “animal products.” I have to weigh all these things against Ryan getting some horrific disease. So what is a parent to do? My mind changes on a daily basis, who knows what I will think by Friday. What I think will happen is, I will allow them to give him 2 shots, the ones that protect against the most common baby problems. I am not looking forward to 1) dealing with the doctor, 2) seeing Ryan get shots (which ever ones I choose to get), 3) dealing with the possible aftermath of the shots (fever, general crankiness, no sleeping etc.). Hopefully it works out better then I have imagined thus far…. I guess we will have to wait until Friday!

Weekend of Firsts

Ryan had a weekend full of firsts. On Friday Ryan got to spend some time at grandmas so mom and dad could go out on a date to WALL.E. Saturday we went to Kerr Lake with grandma and Uncle David. Ryan got to go on his first boat ride which was fun. He was fabulous and liked the warm weather; He loves being outside. Sunday we went to a Durham Bulls baseball game with grandma, Uncle David, Kristy and Robert. Our seats were a little scary for grandma (we were in the heart of foul ball territory) so she took Ryan to walk around the park. He liked all the people and noise and when we got in the car he was “talking” all the way home with a big smile. Mom is no fun and forgot to take pictures all weekend… So I guess you will just have to use your imagination!

Pros and Cons (Pros win)

Things I miss:
1) Eating food while it is still hot (or cold)
2) Taking a shower at will
3) Sleeping through the night
4) Fitting into my pants (hopefully this is temporary)

Things that more then make up for it:
1) When your baby smiles at you, not just because they can but because they know you are their parent
2) Snuggling with a sleepy baby
3) Watching baby discover something new
4) The look on grandma or grandpas face when they see their grandchild
5) Playing with little tiny baby toes and fingers
6) Getting a positive reaction for my singing

Mason Visit

Don's parents left yesterday but wow did we put them to work while they were here :) They built us a deck and did a few other house projects in the short time they were here. Ryan of course loved them and while he was cranky for 2 of the days (stomach issues) the rest of the time he was full of more smiles then we had seen before. How could he not like all the grandparent attention? We are going to have to make our way to MA to visit them so Ryan can meet 4 great grandparents, his cousin Kaylie and Aunt Missy and lots and lots of other family! Below is a documentation of all the work that was accomplished in just a few days. (Extreme Makeover Home Edition eat your heart out :) )

The backyard BEFORE the deck.. shockingly we didn't hang out here very often. (the "patio" was a cement slab and a rotting square of wood)



There was a lot of measuring (measure 2x, cut once)...

Finally the foundation was done, that is what took the most amount of time, it is hard to build a level deck when the ground slopes


Here is the supervisor of the whole project... so far he approves..


Getting close...

Ryan had to test out the deck to make sure it was enjoyable enough.. he approved it

Finished! It looks kinda small from this angle but it is actually pretty big.

Hanging out on the deck after a lot of work.

There were a few other projects they took on when it was dark/raining outside (ceiling fan, shower heads and faucets). Grandpa and baby, Ryan fell asleep the second he was in either grandparents arms which is a good sign he liked them. He is going to have it rough with just me at home for the rest of the week.. he is used to getting LOTS of attention from everyone.

Sad Baby Face

Ryan has the sad face MASTERED, I caught it on video.... the lower lip quiver really makes it. He is totally faking how sad he is, notice by the end of the clip he is completely over it.

No worries, my next video will be Ryan happy!

Baby Smiles

This morning after I woke up I went down stairs and Don was holding Ryan. I said good morning to them both and Ryan looked at me and gave a huge smile. Could it get better then that? there is no better way to start your day!

Bedtime

We have discovered that when we stick to a schedule at night Ryan can sleep for a very long time (for a baby… a long time for my brother is like 16 hours without moving…). We start by giving him a bath which he loves, he smiles and kicks his feet, and everything is great. It’s funny to watch because every night it’s the same reaction, it looks new and exciting to him. The fun however stops when we take him out of the water. He is silent for probably 30 seconds and then he decides he is cold and screams bloody murder. There is no way to prevent this. We turn off the AC before the bath so there is no cold air blowing, we put the towel in the dryer to it is super toasty when we wrap him in it and we change him as fast as possible into his jammies…. But NOTHING even remotely calms him down. He screams as if he is truly mad with us (yes he has an angry scream… they don’t tell you about that one in the books… they only say hungry, uncomfortable, diaper change cries… but I tell you Ryan has an angry one). We give him a bottle at this point and he falls right asleep afterwards. He has gotten to the point where he sleeps about 5 hours then wakes up to eat and will go right back to sleep. We are moving in the right direction… oh the days of sleeping through the night, how I miss you… I hold out hope they will be back soon!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Forth Of July!Ryan has his red white and blue outfit on and is ready for his first holiday! (ok I am not an “outfit” person but I couldn’t help myself… blame it on being alone in the house with him all day most days during the week). We don’t have any huge plans; I think a few people might stop over for some of Dons excellent BBQ. We are also building a deck in the backyard… and by “we” I mean Don and his dad. I will post pictures when more progress has been made. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday!

Grandparents visit

Tomorrow Ryan is going to meet his grandma and grandpa from Massachusetts. They haven’t had a chance to meet him yet but Don tells me they are very excited. They have seen his pictures through this blog, and next week they will be on it! (If they let me get in at least one or two pictures).
Also, we have finally pulled out the video camera so I will try and figure out how to put some of the clips on here so you can see him in action. I caught his very sad face, you will be impressed; he is a PRO.