My nights have been sadly lacking in sleep lately. Last night was pretty typical (lately anyway). It went something like this:
11:00pm Fall asleep about 11pm (I was actually in bed and exhausted much early but for some reason couldn't seem to get to sleep quickly) And I really shouldn't complain too much because Adrian was mostly asleep by 10pm with just a little case of the wiggles. But of course I can complain. This is my blog after all!
12:55am Adrian wakes up, feed and change him then pump (actually I woke Jake up for the changing part because I was pumping... he wasn't very happy with me for waking him from a dead sleep. Oh, so sorry! I must have mistaken you for the father!)
3:15am Adrian wakes up again (You've got to be kidding me!!!) Feed him 6oz
5:55am Adrian awake AGAIN (This is ridiculous!!!!!!) change diaper, feed 3oz, pump all in a state of half zombie
6:3ish Jake's alarm goes off and he turns all the lights on looking for his black belt. If I could have found it I'd have potentially beat him with it.
7:00am Adrian is already squirming for whatever reason. I can't remember what I did with him except I did have Jake put him in bed next to me.
8:00am Allie mercifully slept in this morning... yesterday she was in our room by 5:30am. I wanted to cry!
What this timeline sadly doesn't include is how long I was up each time. If I have to change diaper, feed Adrian AND pump it's a minimum of 45 minutes. So sad!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
First Solids
As Adrian has turned 4 months and watches us intently as we eat, it was time to try the rice cereal. Like Allie, he wasn't really ready for it. He just spit every bit of it back out and made the cutest gross faces every time I put it back in. Guess I'll try again in another few weeks.
Messy Faces
Why do we, as parents, love to take pictures of our messy kid's faces? They are just so cute (even though we do have to do the cleanup afterwords)!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Just an update
I don't have much to post lately. Seems like everything has finally slowed down after the holidays. We are all doing great though.
Jake just bought a seasons pass to Snoqualmie and is trying to get in time twice a week (once at night during the week and one day on the weekend) to get up there. He is generally a snow boarder, but tried out skiing last week with our friend Justin and is now hooked. Great... just what we needed... another sport! (Can you just feel the sarcasm?)
Adrian is still growing like a weed and is almost too heavy to carry in his car seat (which he is almost to big for anyway). I think he is working on teeth as well. He's been waking up a lot at night sadly, and not napping well during the day either. Unfortunately for me, that means I'm getting very little sleep at night too and I think both kids have some pact to have one of them awake at all times during the day so I don't get to take a nap to help. So sad for me! Eventually, I'll crack and cry over absolutely nothing (which is what I do when I'm ridiculously tired), at which time Jake will hopefully send me to bed early so I can sleep.
Allie is using complete sentences and can (most of the time on request) count to ten. 1 and 7 seem to be her problem numbers, but if you get her past those, she does great! She also heard me say to Adrian (for dropping his toy) Uh-oh, spaghettio!... not sure where I got that, but she got such a kick out of it she hasn't stopped saying it all day. She also constantly says "Oh ya mama!" with her hand in the thumbs up position which she learned from Aunt Laura (or Yallo as she wants to be called). I think we do it about 50 times a day and surprisingly enough, it never gets tired (at least so far).
Jake's parents will hopefully be coming this weekend (Friday and Saturday) so we can do our Christmas with them. We missed them this year due to the snow which made travel virtually impossible.
That's about it for now!
Jake just bought a seasons pass to Snoqualmie and is trying to get in time twice a week (once at night during the week and one day on the weekend) to get up there. He is generally a snow boarder, but tried out skiing last week with our friend Justin and is now hooked. Great... just what we needed... another sport! (Can you just feel the sarcasm?)
Adrian is still growing like a weed and is almost too heavy to carry in his car seat (which he is almost to big for anyway). I think he is working on teeth as well. He's been waking up a lot at night sadly, and not napping well during the day either. Unfortunately for me, that means I'm getting very little sleep at night too and I think both kids have some pact to have one of them awake at all times during the day so I don't get to take a nap to help. So sad for me! Eventually, I'll crack and cry over absolutely nothing (which is what I do when I'm ridiculously tired), at which time Jake will hopefully send me to bed early so I can sleep.
Allie is using complete sentences and can (most of the time on request) count to ten. 1 and 7 seem to be her problem numbers, but if you get her past those, she does great! She also heard me say to Adrian (for dropping his toy) Uh-oh, spaghettio!... not sure where I got that, but she got such a kick out of it she hasn't stopped saying it all day. She also constantly says "Oh ya mama!" with her hand in the thumbs up position which she learned from Aunt Laura (or Yallo as she wants to be called). I think we do it about 50 times a day and surprisingly enough, it never gets tired (at least so far).
Jake's parents will hopefully be coming this weekend (Friday and Saturday) so we can do our Christmas with them. We missed them this year due to the snow which made travel virtually impossible.
That's about it for now!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Looking Back at 2008
As we say goodbye to an old year and welcome a new one, I find myself looking back at 2008 and all that has transpired. Most people put this in a newsletter and send it out with their Christmas cards. So, I guess this is in a way my newsletter.
Some people have amazing memories (or good record keeping skills) and are able to tell you month by month what happened in their lives that year. That is not me. I'm not sure if it is due to aging (I'll be 30 this month... Ahhhhhh) or running around like a crazy lady keeping track of and caring for three people besides myself, but somehow I no longer seem to remember everything. So, here's the best I can do.
JANUARY 2008:
We celebrated Allison's 1st birthday on January 28th with her Sassy and Pappy in Oregon. Both Jake and I had such a hard time believing our baby was 1!!! It has been so amazing watching her grow into the little bundle of dynamite she is and seeing her personality come alive. She seems to pick up and learn new things everyday!
I had my first ultrasound and saw Adrian as a 7 week gummy bear looking little guy. If you've never seen an ultrasound at this stage trust me... looks just like a gummy bear! As 2007 began on a high note for me with the birth of my daughter Allison, it also ended on a high note when I found out around Christmas time I was pregnant with my Adrian. After having my second miscarriage shortly before Thanksgiving 2007, nothing could have made me happier. So, starting out 2008 with a baby in my belly, I knew it would be a crazy but wonderful year for us.
FEBRUARY:
This month began a full year of my family coming in waves to visit. Mike was first, staying with us for a week. Allie still hasn't stopped asking where 'Michael go?' She absolutely adores him! He spent a lot of time pushing her around in a laundry basket, making her squeal with delight.
MARCH:
My sister BethelLee moved back to Seattle (staying with us for a couple of months) after a 7 year absence. It has been so wonderful having an her around and very active in the kids lives. Allie loves when Titi (her nickname for BethelLee) comes over and they fly and play together for hours. She even asked today if "Titi come over?"
Made it to my second trimester with Adrian! This was a huge relief to me since I lost the last one in week 11.
APRIL:
Jake and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary. I’d add more here, but can’t even remember what we did.
Katie and Ryan took a trip to India to scope out the lay of the land as they were planning on moving there (as missionaries) just after I had Adrian. This was really hard to deal with because it made it their upcoming departure a reality.
MAY:
Jake, Allie and I took a family vacation to Hawaii for 8 days. Allie was 15 months old and I was already 5 months pregnant with Adrian. Not a good mix for that kind of vacation, but we did have a good time regardless of our complaining.
Jake took a mountain bike riding trip with Mr. Mockli Sir (Jake’s nickname for Chris and the only way I hear his name in my head) to Moab for 5 days (and only tried to kill himself twice). I stayed home with Allie.
JUNE:
Amber, Beth and I spent a weekend in Portland to celebrate Amber’s graduation from Western. This was the longest I was every away from Allie, and Jake finally experienced a weekend with just the two of them. Of course she was an angel which both relieved and annoyed me. You’d have to be a stay at home mom to truly understand this I think.
We resigned our lease with our current apartment for another year. I definitely didn’t think we’d be here this long (up until this point I literally hadn’t even put out any pictures because I didn’t want to have to take them down, patch holes and repack them if we were going to buy a house right away). It hasn’t been by any means a terrible place to live, but I don’t think we’ll sign here again. At this point, we’ve pretty much given up any near future plans to buy a house, but we will look to rent one when the lease here is up.
JULY:
This month was a hard one in my pregnancy with Adrian. We spent several long sessions in the hospital’s version of the pregnancy emergency room for monitoring due to an irregular heartbeat of Adrian’s and then the next day preterm contractions for me.
We found out I had gestational diabetes and kept a close watch on the both of us the rest of the pregnancy. On the positive side, due to the diabetic diet, I gained very little weight during the pregnancy and within 2 months of having Adrian, I lost all the baby weight, plus another 20+ lbs.
Jake’s Grandma Theresa was in town the end of the month and it was really good to be able to visit with her.
My good friend Trina along with Amber and Beth threw me a baby shower. It was a lot of fun and I was so glad to finally get all the last minute stuff ready for Adrian’s arrival.
AUGUST:
We spent a lot of time with Katie, Ryan, Taylor and Logan which we just loved! Allie had such a blast with them around. It was sweet to see the kids bonding and sad knowing when they left, Allie would have little to no memory of this time or them.
Mishael, Mike and Laura came to visit for a week, spending half with us and camping on the ocean the other half. Unfortunately do to school starting for both the girls, they missed Adrian's birth by a couple of days.
Adrian was born by c-section August 27th at 8lbs 1oz. I honestly didn’t remember my recovery from the first c-section being as hard as it was the second time, but jake assures me it was. I think I just had an unrealistic expectations of being able to jump up and go right afterwards. Plus, maybe it was harder too having Allie around and not being able to do much with her.
Allie spent a week plus with Sassy and Pappy surrounding Adrian’s birth. She had so much fun feeding kitties, playing in the garden and following Pappy everywhere he went. I however missed her so much, Jake and I took Adrian down there soon after he was born to spend some time with them and bring Allie home.
SEPTEMBER:
Jake and I tried to adjust to no sleep once again (we still aren’t used to it).
The Vars departed to their new home in India. Allie still talks about Taylor (taytay as she calls her but already doesn’t remember Logan’s name).
Mom, Aunt Jackie and Faith came to visit when Adrian was about 3-4 weeks old. I felt pretty bad still from the c-section coupled with the no sleeping thing and probably wasn’t very good company. But I enjoyed having them around none the less.
Started the MOPS program at Evergreen Community Church. I love it! We have a lot of fun with the crafts, and I enjoy talking and sharing child raising experiences with the ladies at my table. (We are even getting together outside of MOPS this week at the tot spot. I’m hoping to find some good mommy friends through it.)
OCTOBER:
Had a radio-active iodine test due to a nodule my doctor found on my thyroid. Definitely wasn’t thrilled 1) to have one more thing to worry about and 2) more doctor visits! But I was told that the results came out normal and there was nothing to be concerned about and we would just keep an eye on it.
Was still struggling with the diabetes, which I expected to go away right after Adrian was born. Little did I know it takes a while for your body to begin working again after the trauma… duh!
My dad and Mishael came for a visit towards the end of the month. It was short, but sweet. Watching dad hold his first grandson was something truly special!
NOVEMBER:
The kids and I spent a week at Camp Sassapap (Lori and Marlin’s in Portland). The help was lovely and Allie had so much fun with the grandparents.
Had a seizure due to low bloodsugar (was eating still like a diabetic because I thought I was one) and got a ride in an ambulance (my very first and hopefully last time) for the record, a very expensive way to get to the emergency room. I went to the doctor the next week and had my blood tested and low and behold… my levels were normal. (I guess I am still supposed to consider myself diabetic and will go for more testing after I’m done nursing Adrian).
Spent Thanksgiving with Jake’s parents (is it confusing that we have so many different names for them Just to clarify for those of you who don’t know, Lori and Marlin, Jake’s parents, Sassy and Pappy and Camp Sassapap are all the same people) My sister, brother and a friend joined us and we had a great time. Sadly, it wasn’t the same without Katie, Ryan and the kiddos far away in India.
DECEMBER:
Jake and I spent a weekend in Seattle. Two whole nights without the kiddos! It was lovely to spend quality time with him and not have to worry about Allie and Adri as Jake’s parents were up for the weekend watching them at our place. We did a whole lot of walking (the weather surprisingly cooperated) around our city, enjoyed sleeping in (sadly I still had to pump) and watched a lot of tv… something we always do at hotels because we don’t have it here. Kind of silly huh?
Laura came for a little over two weeks over Christmas on her break from school. I absolutely LOVED having her. She was so helpful with the kids and we had lots of visiting time. She also took some wonderful pictures of the kiddos and myself as well as a family shot (I’m still waiting to see). I’m pretty excited she will be coming back for the whole summer as she’s doing an internship at a company in Bellevue.
We celebrated Christmas with Beth, Laura and Dan which was fun. Unfortunately Lori and Marlin were unable to make it up here due to the snow, so we still have Christmas with them to look forward to. Beth even stayed with us (Laura was already here) for a couple of nights which was a blast.
Some people have amazing memories (or good record keeping skills) and are able to tell you month by month what happened in their lives that year. That is not me. I'm not sure if it is due to aging (I'll be 30 this month... Ahhhhhh) or running around like a crazy lady keeping track of and caring for three people besides myself, but somehow I no longer seem to remember everything. So, here's the best I can do.
JANUARY 2008:
We celebrated Allison's 1st birthday on January 28th with her Sassy and Pappy in Oregon. Both Jake and I had such a hard time believing our baby was 1!!! It has been so amazing watching her grow into the little bundle of dynamite she is and seeing her personality come alive. She seems to pick up and learn new things everyday!
I had my first ultrasound and saw Adrian as a 7 week gummy bear looking little guy. If you've never seen an ultrasound at this stage trust me... looks just like a gummy bear! As 2007 began on a high note for me with the birth of my daughter Allison, it also ended on a high note when I found out around Christmas time I was pregnant with my Adrian. After having my second miscarriage shortly before Thanksgiving 2007, nothing could have made me happier. So, starting out 2008 with a baby in my belly, I knew it would be a crazy but wonderful year for us.
FEBRUARY:
This month began a full year of my family coming in waves to visit. Mike was first, staying with us for a week. Allie still hasn't stopped asking where 'Michael go?' She absolutely adores him! He spent a lot of time pushing her around in a laundry basket, making her squeal with delight.
MARCH:
My sister BethelLee moved back to Seattle (staying with us for a couple of months) after a 7 year absence. It has been so wonderful having an her around and very active in the kids lives. Allie loves when Titi (her nickname for BethelLee) comes over and they fly and play together for hours. She even asked today if "Titi come over?"
Made it to my second trimester with Adrian! This was a huge relief to me since I lost the last one in week 11.
APRIL:
Jake and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary. I’d add more here, but can’t even remember what we did.
Katie and Ryan took a trip to India to scope out the lay of the land as they were planning on moving there (as missionaries) just after I had Adrian. This was really hard to deal with because it made it their upcoming departure a reality.
MAY:
Jake, Allie and I took a family vacation to Hawaii for 8 days. Allie was 15 months old and I was already 5 months pregnant with Adrian. Not a good mix for that kind of vacation, but we did have a good time regardless of our complaining.
Jake took a mountain bike riding trip with Mr. Mockli Sir (Jake’s nickname for Chris and the only way I hear his name in my head) to Moab for 5 days (and only tried to kill himself twice). I stayed home with Allie.
JUNE:
Amber, Beth and I spent a weekend in Portland to celebrate Amber’s graduation from Western. This was the longest I was every away from Allie, and Jake finally experienced a weekend with just the two of them. Of course she was an angel which both relieved and annoyed me. You’d have to be a stay at home mom to truly understand this I think.
We resigned our lease with our current apartment for another year. I definitely didn’t think we’d be here this long (up until this point I literally hadn’t even put out any pictures because I didn’t want to have to take them down, patch holes and repack them if we were going to buy a house right away). It hasn’t been by any means a terrible place to live, but I don’t think we’ll sign here again. At this point, we’ve pretty much given up any near future plans to buy a house, but we will look to rent one when the lease here is up.
JULY:
This month was a hard one in my pregnancy with Adrian. We spent several long sessions in the hospital’s version of the pregnancy emergency room for monitoring due to an irregular heartbeat of Adrian’s and then the next day preterm contractions for me.
We found out I had gestational diabetes and kept a close watch on the both of us the rest of the pregnancy. On the positive side, due to the diabetic diet, I gained very little weight during the pregnancy and within 2 months of having Adrian, I lost all the baby weight, plus another 20+ lbs.
Jake’s Grandma Theresa was in town the end of the month and it was really good to be able to visit with her.
My good friend Trina along with Amber and Beth threw me a baby shower. It was a lot of fun and I was so glad to finally get all the last minute stuff ready for Adrian’s arrival.
AUGUST:
We spent a lot of time with Katie, Ryan, Taylor and Logan which we just loved! Allie had such a blast with them around. It was sweet to see the kids bonding and sad knowing when they left, Allie would have little to no memory of this time or them.
Mishael, Mike and Laura came to visit for a week, spending half with us and camping on the ocean the other half. Unfortunately do to school starting for both the girls, they missed Adrian's birth by a couple of days.
Adrian was born by c-section August 27th at 8lbs 1oz. I honestly didn’t remember my recovery from the first c-section being as hard as it was the second time, but jake assures me it was. I think I just had an unrealistic expectations of being able to jump up and go right afterwards. Plus, maybe it was harder too having Allie around and not being able to do much with her.
Allie spent a week plus with Sassy and Pappy surrounding Adrian’s birth. She had so much fun feeding kitties, playing in the garden and following Pappy everywhere he went. I however missed her so much, Jake and I took Adrian down there soon after he was born to spend some time with them and bring Allie home.
SEPTEMBER:
Jake and I tried to adjust to no sleep once again (we still aren’t used to it).
The Vars departed to their new home in India. Allie still talks about Taylor (taytay as she calls her but already doesn’t remember Logan’s name).
Mom, Aunt Jackie and Faith came to visit when Adrian was about 3-4 weeks old. I felt pretty bad still from the c-section coupled with the no sleeping thing and probably wasn’t very good company. But I enjoyed having them around none the less.
Started the MOPS program at Evergreen Community Church. I love it! We have a lot of fun with the crafts, and I enjoy talking and sharing child raising experiences with the ladies at my table. (We are even getting together outside of MOPS this week at the tot spot. I’m hoping to find some good mommy friends through it.)
OCTOBER:
Had a radio-active iodine test due to a nodule my doctor found on my thyroid. Definitely wasn’t thrilled 1) to have one more thing to worry about and 2) more doctor visits! But I was told that the results came out normal and there was nothing to be concerned about and we would just keep an eye on it.
Was still struggling with the diabetes, which I expected to go away right after Adrian was born. Little did I know it takes a while for your body to begin working again after the trauma… duh!
My dad and Mishael came for a visit towards the end of the month. It was short, but sweet. Watching dad hold his first grandson was something truly special!
NOVEMBER:
The kids and I spent a week at Camp Sassapap (Lori and Marlin’s in Portland). The help was lovely and Allie had so much fun with the grandparents.
Had a seizure due to low bloodsugar (was eating still like a diabetic because I thought I was one) and got a ride in an ambulance (my very first and hopefully last time) for the record, a very expensive way to get to the emergency room. I went to the doctor the next week and had my blood tested and low and behold… my levels were normal. (I guess I am still supposed to consider myself diabetic and will go for more testing after I’m done nursing Adrian).
Spent Thanksgiving with Jake’s parents (is it confusing that we have so many different names for them Just to clarify for those of you who don’t know, Lori and Marlin, Jake’s parents, Sassy and Pappy and Camp Sassapap are all the same people) My sister, brother and a friend joined us and we had a great time. Sadly, it wasn’t the same without Katie, Ryan and the kiddos far away in India.
DECEMBER:
Jake and I spent a weekend in Seattle. Two whole nights without the kiddos! It was lovely to spend quality time with him and not have to worry about Allie and Adri as Jake’s parents were up for the weekend watching them at our place. We did a whole lot of walking (the weather surprisingly cooperated) around our city, enjoyed sleeping in (sadly I still had to pump) and watched a lot of tv… something we always do at hotels because we don’t have it here. Kind of silly huh?
Laura came for a little over two weeks over Christmas on her break from school. I absolutely LOVED having her. She was so helpful with the kids and we had lots of visiting time. She also took some wonderful pictures of the kiddos and myself as well as a family shot (I’m still waiting to see). I’m pretty excited she will be coming back for the whole summer as she’s doing an internship at a company in Bellevue.
We celebrated Christmas with Beth, Laura and Dan which was fun. Unfortunately Lori and Marlin were unable to make it up here due to the snow, so we still have Christmas with them to look forward to. Beth even stayed with us (Laura was already here) for a couple of nights which was a blast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)