Friday, June 22, 2012

20 Weeks Photo

Ok so obviously my nap time = blog time didn’t work out well.  I have been running around all week having play dates and trying to get ready for our trip this weekend.  So, sorry for the fail on that one.  But here are some cute baby pictures!  We have his traditional 20 weeks photo along with a few others from the photo shoot.  Enjoy and have a great weekend!
Oh and if you are new around here, there is a new page that tells a quick summary of our life over on the left hand side of the blog called Our Story.  Check it out!







Monday, June 18, 2012

Nap Time=Blog Time

In an effort to blog more, I’m going to try this week to do a quick post during one of Jude’s naps everyday this week.  Also, I’m sure we won’t be posting next week much (if at all) because we are taking little dude on a road trip!  I’m really really excited for it as we will be seeing all of my family along with lots of good friends.  But, I’m also a bit nervous as it is an 8 hour car ride, gulp, with my five month old.  I think we have an okay plan though, we are trying to break it up a bit and drive at night and during normal nap times for the little man.
Here is the plan:
Friday night around 7pm drive 3 1/2 hours to Dallas and spend the night with S’s little brother
Saturday around Jude’s morning nap drive 3 hours to OKC to see some friends and spend the night with my little brother and his wife
Sunday around Jude’s nap time drive 1 1/2 hours to Tulsa to spend the week with my mom and other little brother
On the way back we are spending the night in OKC and then the next day driving the whole rest of the 6 hour drive during the night, leaving around 7pm.
So, anyone have any tips for road trips with a baby?  We are packing his pack and play for him to sleep in and his swing if we can fit it and I’m really hoping that he will sleep for at least 80% of the journey.  Other than that I guess our plan is to stop a bit along the way if needed to give him a break from the car.  Also I think one of us will be sitting in the back seat with him for most of the trip so that if he is awake maybe we can talk to him and play with him to keep him from going crazy.  We are probably crazy for doing this, but I feel optimistic that it won’t be too bad and that seeing everyone and getting away for a bit will make it all worth it in the end. :)
-Liz

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Diary of a Stay At Home Mom

Today was a glorious day because Jude is on the nap wagon.  He took an amazing almost 3 hour nap this morning and is back down again right now after very minimal fussing.  The nap this morning was such a blessing because I was so VERY tired and so mommy napped too.  I think that naps are the measure of a stay at home mom’s day and how good it is because they are truly the only “break” time that you get.   So naps are important.  So very important.

I love my little Jujubee and staying home with him just feels so right even though it can be very very hard.  I have the most amazing wife and I just don’t know how anyone does this without a partner like her.  Everyday she comes home from work and immediately scoops him up in her arms and doesn’t focus on anything but him until he goes to bed.  On days when she works in the evenings (not getting home till 11pm) she still almost always gets up with him at 7am (or earlier if he is being an early bird) and plays with him and lets me sleep in.  And don’t even get me started on the amazing mom that she is on her days off!  No child was ever so loved and well taken care of, especially by S.  Anyone would be lucky to have her as a mom or wife.  She really is the best.  And, she got a cute cute cute hair cut yesterday!  Check it out!
Today is a good day but I am still in my pjs and it is almost 3pm.  I still haven’t had a shower, a regular meal or a glass of water.  I haven’t brushed my hair, I haven’t been outside, and I haven’t gotten anything “acomplished” as far as house work or anything other than baby care is concerned.  Most of this is my own fault for napping when Jude napped instead of getting things done.  And of course he is napping right now and here I am blogging instead of doing the above things that I need to get done.  

Here is a time line of our normal day:
7am- change Jude out of pjs and feed a bottle
7:30am- Jude plays in his crib under his mobile while I slowly wake up
8am- We hang out in the kitchen while I have some sort of caffeine and he plays at his highchair
8:30am- We play in his room with various toys, read books, play under his activity mat
9am- Change to the living room to play or the front porch
9:30am- Hopefully nap time.  As soon as he is down I race for the shower, eat something, and spend any extra time on the computer or picking up the house
11am- Bottle time
11:30am- Playing in various locations in the house or running errands around town
1:30pm- Hopefully nap time.  As soon as he is down I try to eat again and make bottles for the evening
3pm- Bottle time
3:30pm- Playing and trying to kill time till S comes home at 5:30ish, normally counting down the time at this point
5:30pm- S comes home and takes over.  Now a days when she gets home they play a bit and then it’s solid food time. This week is bananas and next week will be sweet potato
6pm- Tiny bit of play time with S
6:30pm- Bath time
6:45pm- Last bottle of the day and bedtime

Time to get snappy before he wakes up, momma NEEDS a shower!
-Liz

Thursday, June 14, 2012

19 Weeks Photo!

In just one week, Jude will be 5 months old.  Wow, crazy town.  It is amazing how much he changes everyday.  This week he had banana for the first time.  I think he likes it, but he makes some funny faces in the process.  Grandma (S’s mom) was here for a few days and we all had a great time.  More blogging later as I have a baby who is waking up.  

Jude, in all of his 19 weeks of glory:

Friday, June 8, 2012

First haircut and some teeth

Jude had his first professional haircut today.  He was starting to look a little shaggy.  I think maybe his hair won’t be so crazy now, but only the morning will tell if that is true.  Here is a before pic of his hair.


He was the youngest haircut the lady had ever done.  Not most 4.5 month olds need a haircut.  Here are some pics of him getting his haircut.  They even put him in a little smock.  It was really cute even though he mostly ate it:)

He was so good and just sat on my lap while he got his hair cut.  Here is the after pic.  

So handsome, right??

I also got a shot of his teeth recently.  I am not afraid to stick my fingers in his mouth and check them out.  It was really funny the other day when one of our play date moms said she doesn’t do that to her kid.  I have always been checking out those teeth!
Crazy little teeth!

My dad came for a visit with his girlfriend, her kids and my brother.  It was a good visit.  My mom is coming into town on Sunday.  I am hoping that will be a good visit considering that our relationship is not always great.  The for sure great part about her coming is that Liz and I will stay in a hotel one night while she stays with Jude.  We are going to get SO MUCH SLEEP that night! So excited!  It is a little get away for us to celebrate our 4 year wedding anniversary that was on Thurs.  We had a sitter come and watch him and had a lunch together before I went to work, but a night in a hotel without a baby is going to be a blast!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!
-S




Wednesday, June 6, 2012

4 Month Check Up

On Monday Jude had his 4 month check up.  Everything looks great and our little man isn’t so little anymore!  He clocked in at 15 lbs which puts him in the 50-75% and at 26 inches which puts him in the 90%!  Such a tall boy!  He also of course got his shots, which he seemed to react better to this time around.  Not so much fussy, but he was running a low fever for most of the night.  Oh, and this was exciting, Sunday night both S and I went in his room at some point when he woke up and both times he had magically flipped himself from his back to his tummy!  And then while we were at the doctor’s office waiting for the shots S was playing with him on the exam table and he rolled from front to back and then back to front!  I had never seen him roll all the way over at all so it was pretty exciting to see him do both right in a row!  Guess we officially have a roller on our hands.

We also started feeding him rice cereal by spoon this week and just got from Amazon today a baby food cook book which I’m excited to use.  We arn’t going to be giving him much as far as variety until he is 6 months but there are a few things we are going to try.  I’m looking forward to it.

Jude loves to swim!  We have been to the pool 3 times now and he loves to be in the water.  We are planning on going again today, so excited because my most favorite thing to do is swim.  So glad my little man likes it too!

Ok, here are some cute pictures!
 Baby Mario looking good in his mustache!

 First time at the pool!

 Yummy rice cereal!

Trying out Mom’s glasses aka Baby Drew Carey
-Liz

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Things Jude Taught Me

*When Jude is asleep, get in the shower/do the dishes/drink a glass of water/eat lunch ASAP.  All good things must come to an end and no nap ever last long enough.  So don’t squander it.

*Babies fart.  A lot.  Sometimes as loudly as an adult.  Never really knew that pleasant fact until Jude.  Thanks Jude for making the nurse at the NICU think me and your mom were rude for farting in front of her when it was YOU.

*Just when you think you know how Jude likes things, he will change his mind.

*No good decisions are ever made at 4am.  I used to think this was only true when drinking.  It is also true when parenting.

*Drool is NOT at all gross, at least comparatively.  Nor is it the worst thing you could get on your shirt/face/bed.

*Not everyone likes babies, and lots of people DO NOT want to hold your baby.  I really used to think that secretly everyone wanted to hold every baby they saw.  Turns out, that’s just me that feels that way.

*Baby hair is IMPOSSIBLE to style.  It does what it wants.

*Babies are not born ticklish.  Or at least they don’t laugh when you tickle them.  Jude is just now starting to laugh when you tickle him.  Always thought that was something you were born with.

*Belly buttons are NOT made by the doctor tying a knot in the umbilical cord.  It is much grosser than that and takes way too long to fall off.  I used to think you got an “outie” if the doctor tied the knot wrong.  And friend of mine told me the other day that she thought you could request an “innie” or an “outie” from the doctor when your baby way born.

*You cannot microwave breast milk but you can microwave formula, but you probably shouldn’t.  And the fact that your baby prefers his formula cold out of the fridge will freak out every mother over the age of 50.

*People are obsessed with putting rice cereal in bottles as a way to get babies to sleep.  If I had a dollar for every time someone told me to do that, I’d have like at least $27.

*Change diapers fast.  Mid diaper change is not a great time to look at a text message, remind your wife to do something, yell at the dog, etc.  Unless of course you LIKE pee everywhere.

*If the diaper is off and the baby farts, it is appropriate to be scared and jump to the side.  Things might be fine, but if not, you’ll be glad you jumped.

*People are nicer to you in public if you have a baby with you.  Why can’t people give sweet smiles and ask friendly nice questions when you are out alone?  Wouldn’t that be nice?

*When it comes to baby clothes, always buy bigger than what you currently need.  I swear Jude grows out of things on a daily basis.

*Bumbos are awesome.

*Pacifiers are awesome.  And now anytime someone says to me, “Oh, I’m not going to use a pacifier, I’m breast feeding,” all I hear is, “Oh, I want to do things the hard way and I like math. And dirty dishes in the sink.  And crying.  I love crying.”

*Nothing is sweeter than holding your baby while he sleeps.  Until that is your baby ONLY wants to sleep when you hold him.  Also it sucks after about an hour.

*Love.  Jude has taught me so much about love.  And here I thought I was going to be teaching him about it.

-Liz

Friday, June 1, 2012

17 Weeks Picture and Updates

I have so much to write about, but it will take me forever to properly do it.  So, some bullet points.
*Jude rolled over!  Only once so far, but yay!
*Jude got to meet S’s Dad and his family over Memorial Day weekend
*Jude got his first ear infection that same week
*Jude has now slept through the night 4 different times
*We have been giving him a little bit of rice cereal in his bedtime bottle this week.  He has been a finicky eater though and so not sure if it will end up being the magic that gets him to sleep through or not.
*Jude got to hang out with our dearest Roomie who was in town for a quick visit.  Glad we got to see her because she is getting ready to move to Australia to be with her one true love!  They recently got back together and we couldn’t be happier for her, though we hate that she will be so far away!
*Jude continues to grow and grow.  At his doctor’s appointment last week for his ear infection he weighed in at 15.2lbs and wasn’t even 4 months old then!
*Jude has his 4 month check up on Monday.  Not looking forward to him getting shots again.

And of course, here is his 17 week picture!
-Liz