I Like Being Naked

Like the title says, I enjoy nudity. I guess I should clarify though...I like wearing nothing but my underwear around the house. Sometimes I'll sit around in my underwear and watch TV. Other times I blog in my underwear. I sleep in just a t-shirt and my underwear. It's just more comfortable than clothing. And when I'm getting ready in the morning, it's just cooler. I sweat under the bathroom lights.

The only problem with this secret pleasure? We have a HUGE window on the front of our house that is directly in line with my staircase to the second floor and aligns with my second floor hallway. I also don't like closing the blinds on the back of the house. I don't really see a point since they all face the backyard. So it leads me to wonder, how many of my neighbors have seen me in my underwear? At least I wear nice undewear. :) Or underwear at all!

All Dressed and Ready to Go

So I really shouldn't complain because my kid has been napping for an hour....but I want to get out of the house! I'm showered, makeuped and ready to go. And today I felt like I did everything right...almost like I've figured out how to get him to nap.

Now the funny thing is, I'm probably wrong. Or it will work for like 2 more days and then my little tricks won't make him fall asleep anymore. But I guess I have to take the wins when I can get them.

Oh, and he's sleeping in his crib for naps now...it's a step in the right direction. :)

SNOW!

For once the weather man got it right....we got a sh*t load of snow. We have at least a foot and it's STILL snowing at 11:45 AM. Max is much too excited to take a nap....yeah right....The poor kid has gas and is trying to work that out and sleep at the same time...as long as he's resting, I guess I'm okay with his not actually sleeping. It's not like we can go for a car ride today...

But back to the snow....I don't know how I'm going to get the dogs outside today to go to the bathroom. Kendall claims that at 6am there wasn't that much out on the deck and they scurried their little furry butts out there. Now the snow is so high it would be over Maggie's head. It's tempting to let her try it....

I also got a snow day out of this mess. Which means that I get an extra day of pay in March because I don't have to take a sick day for today. Hooray! Even though I knew I wasn't going in anyways, the phone call was still exciting.

We couldn't do it......maybe tonight.....or next week. :P

Sad :(

Max is 7 weeks old today. And tonight, for the very first time, we are going to try laying him to sleep in his own crib. And that makes me sad. For the last 49 days he's slept in our room with us. And now I have this irrational feeling that we are kicking him out of the nest. Like he's not good enough to sleep with mom and dad.

I think it's because the dogs sleep in the bedroom with us. Maggie even sleeps in bed with us. So putting Max in his own room makes it feel like we're excluding him from the "fun". We still let the dogs sleep in our room, so why not Max?

I'm sure that I will get over this...but right now, it makes me sad. :(

Great Grandma and Grandpa

Max was in a pretty good mood this morning when he got to spend time with his Great Grandma and Grandpa. I was really happy to get these shots. Someday Max will hopefully appreciate them. My grandparents are both almost in their 90s...there is not guarantee that they will live long enough for Max to remember them the way I remember my great grandma.

Right now I am enjoying some alone time upstairs in the bedroom while Kendall and my mom juggle the fussy boy back and forth. I'm waiting for them to both quit and hand him off to the boob....which is inevitably what everyone seems to do when they can't calm him. My mom has generously offered to come back down when her bosses go to Florida in a few weeks. I've decided to take her up on the offer. I could really use a day where I can get my hair cut and maybe a pedicure. If she comes down, I can do that....and we can finally get all of those boxes of Christmas decorations back into the basement.....

First Big Trip

We're off to Cleveland for the weekend so that Max can finally meet his great grandparents and his great aunt and great uncle. They're all super excited. I think it's going to be a very busy weekend for us and Max might be exhausted at the end (heck, we probably will be too!) but it will be worth the trip for people to ooh and aah over how adorable our kid is. :)

I wanted to get a pack n play that we could leave up there so we don't always have to haul ours. After searching several used stores and searching Craigslist, I found one! It's practically new (maybe used once or twice) and comes with everything ours does....except the big price. I only paid 60 bucks! And that's talking them down from their original price! I got a steal! :) I'll post a pictures of it and some of Aaron's photos of Max when I get a chance.

Random Blurbs

Yesterday evening we went to Kroger to pick up a few items. On that list was supposed to be a box of condoms, as I don't feel like having two babies under the age of 1. We walked into the store, picked up our bread, milk, pears, etc, and were on our way to the pharmacy section when a woman stops me and says, "Aren't you Mrs. E-----?" Turns out it was the mom of one of my current students. At that point I refused to go buy the condoms. Kendall didn't understand. He wanted to know why I wouldn't buy them. I told him, "When I'm Mrs. E-----, I don't have sex. We got Max by holding hands."

I have been watching coverage of the inauguration events in D.C. I totally want to be there! One of our college friends is there right now and posted pictures on her Facebook page and I'm so jealous! Kendall has a cousin who lives in the D.C. area, if I were her, I'd be at all the events I could. My guess is that she isn't going to any of them. That's just her personality.

I think Max is starting to get the concept of a nap and how to fall asleep on his own. Saturday and Sunday he took several naps each day. Today he is resisting his nap (as usual) but in a much more quiet fashion. I think he's actually trying to fall asleep on his own. He's had a lot less gas since we started his Zantac for possible reflux. I think that helps too. Oh, and we have this floor mat/activity gym thing that seems to make him fall asleep! I think it's the Mozart. I will now be investing in multiple Mozart CDs.....

Jessica and Aaron came up on Saturday to take pictures of Max. Jessica said some of them came out really well, we're still waiting to see them. I'll post a few when they are done. I have full confidence that they'll be amazing because Aaron is a great photographer. They've also generously offered to take pictures at 3 months and any other age milestone we'd like to have them taken at. :) So good to have friends with talents....any accountants out there? Hahaha.

We bought some Space Bags. I'm eager to get my maternity clothes in storage and we have some sweaters and blankets that we don't use very often anymore that we'd like to compress. I'll be interested to see if they actually work as well as they advertise. I'll let you know.

I'm not as good at reviewing movies as Karen is, but here are the movies we've seen lately and the grade we would give them: Atonement (A-), Meet Dave (B+), Speed Racer (B-), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (C-), Appaloosa (A). I'm also still looking forward to seeing The Duchess, Elizabeth the Golden Age, and the series Secret Life of an American Teenager.

Daytime TV

Staying home with Max does have its perks, even if I spend much of it with him attached at the nipple or rocking in my arms. My favorite perk is daytime TV. I'm addicted to it now.

I spend the first 4 hours of the morning watching the Today Show. Now I'm also trying to fold laundry, feed Max, comfort him, check Facebook, clean, etc. But I'm addicted! My favorite is the 10 to 11 hour with Hoda and Kathie Lee. They're so obnoxious that I just can't stop watching!

Then from 11 to 12 I watch The View. Another delicious addiction. I love the Hot Topics portion of each day. One of today's topics: Could you let your mother come live with you? They were talking about the Obamas and how Michelle's mom was going to move into the White House to help take care of the girls. Many of the women on the panel said they could let their own mother move in but not their mother-in-law. Sherry Jackson was like, "Hell no!" I definitely couldn't let my m-i-l move in, but my own mom is a different story.

Then from 12 to 1 I watch Rachel Ray. Some days she's on mute because I'm trying to get Max to sleep. But I've learned two or three new easy recipes from watching. Sometimes she's annoying, but other times entertaining. One day she did DNA testing on mixed breed dogs. It was kind of fun.

From 1 to 4 I try not to watch too much TV. Or it's just on as background noise. I usually switch to TLC. On days like today, it just pisses me off though. I was watching The Baby Story (one I used to find entertaining in college and then depressing while trying to get pregnant, and then terrifying while pregnant) and it was just pissing me off. They show these women (many first time moms) and they do fine in the first 24 hours after getting home. Then they cut to them 6-10 weeks later. None of them ever say they're having any problems. BULLSH*T. They're all lying for the cameras. I wanted to break the TV today because Max was being a total monster. I just yelled, "Lies! All lies!" That made me feel a little better.

From 4 to 5 I watch Ellen. I LOVE Ellen. I want to go see a taping of the show sometime. Too bad she's in LA. I like her interviews and she plays fun games. Currently she's stalking George Clooney, trying to get him on the show for an interview. Her motto today was "George is mine in '09." LOVE IT! At this point in the day, I need her entertainment.

I may just have to TIVO some of this stuff when I go back to work. At the very least I'll TIVO Hoda & Kathie, The View, and Ellen. Good thing I only have to work 44 days before summer vacation. :)

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I feel a little better now.

Growth Spurt- OUCH!

So the last day or so, Max has been going through a growth spurt. While this is great for his sleep cycle (he slept 5 extra daytime hours yesterday) it's not so great for my boobs. He's eating every 2 hours. Yeah..........

I was hoping he was done yesterday. But then this morning he woke up at 8 and was hungry. He had just eaten at 6. *sigh* At least he is sleeping again....hopefully past 10.

So, on another note, we got like 5 inches of snow yesterday. It's all very pretty to look at. And because we pay someone else to plow our drive, even Kendall got to enjoy the beauty. :) We had considered getting a snow blower, but then when we thought about it and did the math, it's more cost effective and convenient for us to just pay someone to bring the truck to the house and shove all the snow out of the way. Think about it...we maybe need a snow blower 4 times a year. It only costs us 25 bucks to have the guy come plow. So if a good snow blower costs around 500 bucks, it would take us 20 heavy snow falls (5 years) to get our money out of the blower. Then we have to store it. And get gas for it. And most importantly, USE IT. So in our minds it's totally worth the 100 bucks we spend a year to pay someone else. Because unlike my brother-in-law, my husband was sleeping at 6am instead of out snow blowing. :)

Rough Day

So yesterday was a really rough day in our house. The day started off okay. Max slept til 10. (That's with several feedings in between.)

After I fed him, he refused to burp. I tried all the tricks, multiple times. This led to several huge spit ups. One all over his pjs. No big deal, just change for the day. The all over his first outfit and the changing pad. Okay, fine, I have more clothes and extra covers for the pad.

Not 15 minutes later, he had a huge blow out in his diaper and it was all over his back, his onesie, his pants...and the changing pad cover. Fine, another wardrobe change, and I still had one last changing pad cover.

I was able to get him to sleep for an hour after his 12pm feeding. This means he was up from 10 to 12:30. He slept for an hour and was pretty much done for the day. He was awake til almost 4 and barely took a half hour nap. He didn't want to be put down. He was fussy unless I held him.

Then from 5 to 10 he was almost inconsolable. You could calm him down for a short period of time but then he would get upset again. We even tried to lay him down from 7:45 to 8:45. We kept going into his room to comfort him. He had HORRIBLE gas. He was crying in pain. We massaged, wiggled his legs, gave him his gas drops. He kept passing gas and crying. He'd conk out for about 10 minutes and then wake up screaming again. After an hour of this, we decided to take him out of his crib and just comfort him to sleep. Again, he wouldn't sleep for more than 10 minutes if you weren't holding him.

I got to the point where I started crying and couldn't stop. Kendall let me go upstairs for a while, but even up there I couldn't stop. Finally at 10:30 I fed him for the night and he passed out. He slept til 3. Then again til 7. Then til 9:30. He's now sleeping on me again because I know he needs the sleep and I'd rather it be on me than not sleeping.

The bottom line, a baby is considered colicky if they have at least 3 consecutive hours of fussiness or crying at least three days a week. It typically demonstrates itself between the hours of 5 and 10 each night. And it hits its peak at 6 weeks of age. I have a horrible feeling that Max has colic. Which means we could be dealing with this for the next 4 to 6 weeks. And it could get worse. *sigh* At the very least he has severe gas issues. And I don't know how to make him feel better. :( We've tried just about everything.

On another note, I've pretty much decided I'm not going back to work til April 13th. I have to petition the Superintendent for the last 4 weeks, but the guy I talked to from the district is pretty sure she'll let me have the time off. I also take a pay cut, but I just can't go back if this really is colic. That would mean that it ended just as I was heading back in March. I just can't stand the idea that I'd be heading back to work just as the bad run is ending. I want to go back when I have a happy baby. And going back that late means I only have to work 44 days before summer vacation. That sounds doable.

Spoiled?

Growing up, I'll admit it, I was spoiled rotten. My dad bought us some great stuff. So when I saw this onesie, I had to buy it for my kid. I wonder if grandpa will really buy him one...

My Kid's New Name

Just call him "The Cranky Afternoon Baby". My son has been a little difficult the last several days. He just won't sleep in the afternoon. He's too excited about the world. The problem is, he's tired. He NEEDS the sleep. He's also at his gassiest. *sigh*

I've spent the last two days getting very little accomplished after 1pm. He eats just fine. And then he won't go down to sleep. He gets that sleepy look. He yawns. I try rocking him. Swaddling him. Putting him in his swing. His bouncy seat that vibrates. Giving him a pacifier. Nothing works for more than 5 minutes of light sleeping. Then he's up and crying again. I give him the gas drops every two hours like the bottle says. He still has gas. I'm PRAYING this isn't colic.

At least he's quiet during feedings. After his 5 pm feeding frenzy it took me 30 minutes to get him to fall asleep this time. He started screaming as soon as he finished eating. He even took himself off the "tap" because he was sleeping. As soon as he fell off, screaming. He's finally asleep on my chest right now. I'm afraid to move. To make noise. To breathe!

As many of you know, it's hard being the stay at home parent during this age. You are the one feeding, changing, burping, and consoling them throughout much of the day. Then daddy comes home and it's almost like you want to throw the kid at him and say, "Your turn!"

And then there's the guilt. I feel bad because dinner isn't ready. I feel bad telling the dogs they can't bark when Kendall comes home. I feel bad if Max wakes up because I moved the wrong way. *sigh* As I told a coworker earlier today, I think that a mother's guilt magically appears with their baby's first breath. Growing up Catholic, I should be familiar with guilt. But this guilt is like no other.

I was explaining to this coworker how guilty I feel when Kendall has to get up in the middle of the night to help with Max. Their response made me feel a little better. "Yes, but even if he's tired, he still gets to leave the house and get a mental break." Oh how true that is!

10 Things I've Learned About Max

In the one month that I've spent with my son outside of the womb, I've learned many things about him. Here are just 10 of them...

1. Before a really good cry, he coughs. So you get ample warning that he's going to throw a big fit.
2. When having one of these crying fits, there are several things that will pacify him, including the Bonanza theme song. It's probably his favorite song right now. It usually makes him stop crying within 10 seconds.
3. He's a snuggler. He will squish up his body and nestle in the crook of your arm or even lay on the flat on your chest. Even if he's not sleepy. He'll just lay there with his feet tucked up and look around.
4. He gets the hiccups just as much now as he did when he was still in utero. I think he likes them. They never make him mad. He actually seems fascinated by them. His eyes get really wide and he looks around a lot while he has them.
5. When he eats, his stomach growls audibly- every time.
6. He does not like pacifiers. He will take one for a short period of time and then spit it out.
7. He has "man gas". And by that I mean you actually have to question who farted when it happens. You're not sure if it was Max or another adult in the room. They're that loud and powerful.
8. Needless to say, #7 means that we use a lot of gas drops to help his tummy- he likes the taste of the drops so much that he smacks his lips multiple times after we give it to him. I need to get this on video. It's cute.
9. When napping on his stomach (only on people) he sleeps on his hand and arm just like Kendall does. It's almost bizarre how many of Kendall's mannerisms he has. He will also wrap his right arm around your arm when napping like this.
10. He smiles before he poops. :)

Grrrr

Since I'm not mentioning the name of the district I work for, I think it's okay to post this...

My school district SUCKS at getting their act together sometimes. Seriously.

We've had an HSA style health plan for several years now. And yet it seems that every time funds are supposed to be put into our accounts to pay the bills....the money isn't there when it's supposed to be.

I have to say that we have a great health care plan. The district and teachers have found a way to keep our costs ridiculously low and still have excellent coverage. I pay nothing out of pocket except for the monthly premium that's pulled out of my paycheck. In return, I get all 4000 dollars of my deductible paid for by the school district. Which would be GREAT, if they could get the money into my account on time.

The 4000 dollars was supposed to be in our accounts and accessible by January 2nd. I can give them the holiday as a grace period. It's a banking holiday, no one can access the actual bank on that day. But it's now the 5th and I tried to buy 350 dollars in prescriptions. The card doesn't have any money on it! The school district tells me the money "should" be available by the 7th. Good thing it's not a new prescription and we still have pills at home. I was REALLY annoyed. Why? Because this has now happened to us THREE times. And every time, the school district tries to point the blame elsewhere. And they get extremely defensive when an employee is upset and wants an answer. I think we have a RIGHT to get upset.

This money better be there by Wednesday, or as a union rep, I'll be contacting our president...

Hello Baby!

The last few days have been different in our house. Max has decided to wake up. By wake up I mean that he now goes for 4 to 5 hour stretches where he doesn't want to sleep. About half of that time he is a happy baby who just wants to look around. For the second half, he's a cranky baby who is fighting sleep...because he wants to look around!

Kendall and I have started to hit a wall. We're both pretty tired. Between the middle of the night feedings and the fussiness, we're definitely starting to run low on energy. I almost wish our family had come to help us now instead of in the beginning. Maybe for the next baby....

Just wanted to post an update. I have to be honest, with the time I DO have to get on the Internet, I put Facebook before Blogging. I read the blogs, but I'm so addicted to Facebook now that I spend time there catching up with old friends. :) If you don't have Facebook, you should get it!