Jam Packed

Holy moly I forgot to discuss something miraculous in last night's post... Ayden slept in 4 hour increments on Monday night.  It was glorious!!  Last night his first sleep session was 4 hours then the rest were only 2 but getting four hours consecutively makes a world of difference! Here's hoping he makes it a habit. :)

Today's dose of morning smiles!

We didn't even leave the house today yet managed to make it a very busy day! 

We tried out more big boy cloth diapers:

Bum Genius 4.0s.  I think he liked them. :)

We played:

He's become very interested in his high contrast mobile all of the sudden.

Ayden took a nap in his crib for the first time (by accident...):

He got a little fussy while I was getting ready and could tell that he was fighting sleep pretty hard so I picked him up and cuddled him for a bit then decided to give my Moby D a try for the first time.  I laid him in his crib to look at his mobile again while I put the wrap on and when I went to get him, he was asleep!  I just sat there watching him for a bit because it was so cute (and of course snapped this picture to send to David).  As usual, he kept startling himself awake, then would fall back to sleep so I decided to give the sleep sack a try again:

I also removed a couple of toys.  Our crib is currently set up for play rather than sleep so I guess we have to make a few changes since he's deemed it nap worthy.  I kept the video monitor very close to make sure he was okay in there.  He slept for almost an hour! 

While he slept, I did some diaper laundry:

I do the diaper laundry every other day and today was diaper day.  Since it was so beautiful outside, I decided to sun the diapers for the first time.  The pre-folds had gotten pretty stained over the past 6 weeks.  It was amazing how quickly the sun bleached them.  They look as good as new!

Ayden woke up in a great mood...

But was still a little sleepy so we finally got to try out the Moby D:

I had purchased the Moby D wrap at a consignment event early in my pregnancy.  I'm not really sure why I hadn't used it yet but Ayden had a bit of projectile spit up on the black Moby last night.  Needless to say, it was in the laundry so I pulled out the back up.  The verdict: I loved it!  The Moby D has a panel of woven fabric in the front.  Since woven fabric doesn't stretch, Ayden stayed in position better and I felt like it gave a little more support.  It is not as easy to nurse in and is shorter so it ties on the side but other than those two things, I like it just as much as the regular Moby. Plus I think the woven fabric looks pretty cool.

While Ayden napped some more in the Moby D, I prepped for dinner.

Cilantro Turkey Burgers and Sweet Potato Steak Fries

We had our last home birth midwife appointment this evening and also knew we wanted to do our workout.  Cramming both of those things as well as dinner into our evening seemed a little daunting so I did all the prep work ahead of time to save the time later. 

A friend of mine came over with her little 18 month old son and we went for a walk and talked.  It was nice to have some social time!

We had our midwife appointment at 5:30:

9lbs 8oz!!!  Growing like CRAZY!

Then we did the shoulders and arms workout from P90X (Ayden SLEPT through most of it in his bouncy seat!!), then we had dinner and went to bed.

Whew!  A jam packed, yet wonderful day :).  How was your day?!?

~Sarah

Workin' It Out!

Elmer Fudd Morning Smile :)

Today was beautiful!!

So crazy that we had so much snow yesterday and then so much warmth and sunshine today. Again, that's Kentucky weather for ya. So glad my immune system is holding up through all these crazy fluctuations in temperature.

I tried something new during Ayden's morning nap today. We want to save full on swaddling for our nighttime routine but he still kind of needs it during the day.  He'll just get to sleep and then all of the sudden all of his limbs will jerk out from his body and wake him up.  I had read somewhere to use a sleep sack but tie up the arms.  It isn't as tight as a swaddle on his body but it does keep his little arms in check.  He fell asleep on his own and slept for 45 minutes.  Not too shabby.  I'll keep trying it for a little while and keep you posted...

We also went to visit Ayden's grandma (David's mom) at work today. She was a proud grandma showing off her adorable grandson. He was super serious and a bit fussy the whole time. Her co-workers kept saying things like, "We're used to seeing him so happy in all of his pictures..."and "Isn't he so serious?" I actually don't think that anyone but David and I have seen his cute little personality and smiles in person... When I first reflected on this thought I was a little bummed, feeling like I needed to defend and or justify his actions. Then I stopped myself because I realized that he is who he is and it's our job to embrace him and be proud. It's possible that he may be shy and never be his true self around strangers and that's okay. It's also possible that he'll grow out of it completely and be Mr. Social. You just never know... Either way we need to make sure he is proud to be him no matter his disposition.

We did another full P90X workout tonight.  Ayden hung out in his bouncy seat while we did Plyometrics. He even fell asleep for a little bit.  I have to say I was a little worried about how I would manage to start working out again.  I just couldn't picture how it could be possible.  With all of the other hats that I wear these days (wife, mother, daughter, sister, pet owner, etc.) it seemed almost impossible to still wear the "me" hat.  I often find myself feeling a little bit guilty when he's just sitting there while we work out.  Then I remind myself that:

1. We are right there in front of him where he can see us at all times so he doesn't feel lonely.  We also talk to him off and on throughout which is great for developing his listening and language skills.
2. Working out gives me more energy and makes me feel good which then makes me an even better mommy for him.
3. We are already modeling a healthy lifestyle for him.  Hopefully he'll grow to love it too and join us some day!
4. We believe that taking care of ourselves by eating right and being physically fit are preventative medicine. By making exercise a priority, I am (hopefully) going to live a longer, healthier life which will benefit Ayden in the long run for obvious reasons.
5. It is important that David and I make time to connect and working out together does that for us.
6. Last but not least, babies need to learn how to be "alone."  Meaning they need to be able to happily exist without constant stimulation.  Don't get me wrong, we bounce, rock, cuddle, and baby wear all day long.  All of those things are VERY important for babies, but we also feel it is important for him to be able to just "be."  Our exercise time is a good start for practicing that skill. (Don't worry, if he were to really start to cry, I would scoop him up in a heartbeat but since he's been content and just hanging out I figure he's not unhappy.)

Getting back into exercise feels so good.  I had no idea how much I missed it!!  David told me I'd just have to get over feeling guilty because there's NOTHING wrong with it. :)  

In other news, Ayden has discovered his hands.  When he's hungry, he'll put his little fist up to his mouth and make really loud, lip smacking sucking noises.  There's not actually anything going IN his mouth.  He just sucks on the outside of his fist. It's too funny :).

"Feed Me!"

Do you ever feel guilty for taking some time for yourself?  What do you like to do during your "me time?"

~Sarah

Snow Day!

My morning dose of smiles!

We woke up to a winter wonderland this morning!

Maverick was one happy pooch!  Obviously he LOVES the snow and the poor dog hadn't had any worth being excited for yet this winter.  Now that it's March he finally got to have some!

So crazy that schools let out 2 hours early on Friday for tornado weather, then had a snow day today...  That's Kentucky weather for ya!

I summoned the teacher in me and spent most of the day in my pajamas in true snow day fashion.  

I usually clean the house on Fridays to prepare for the weekend so that we can spend all of our time running errands, working on projects, spending family time together, etc. as apposed to worrying about housework.  This past Friday, however, I spent in the next town over for my doctor's appointment and being sheltered from a tornado that never came.  Needless to say, we went into the weekend with a messy house and then just added to it so today was catchup day... I feel like I spent the whole day cleaning the kitchen and feeding Ayden. I had planned to get the house back in tip top shape but the day just got away from me.  I was even being productive the whole time. Crazy how that can happen.  Come 3:30 or so I decided to finally change out of my PJs and venture out to run a couple of errands.  

My little helper

David and I got home around the same time so we decided to do a light workout together.  Now that we're officially 6 weeks postpartum, I have been given the green light to resume all physical activity. I'm excited to get my body toned again! We put Ayden in his bouncy seat in the room with us and chose the chest and back workout from P90X.  We took it easy but it felt good to get my blood pumping and to challenge my muscles again, even if it was just a little.  While we were pregnant we always talked about how it would be important to model a healthy, active lifestyle for Ayden and having him in the room while we work out is one way to accomplish that.  He did great!  We got to do the entire hour long workout.  We would take turns including him by interacting with him between sets, making our movements exaggerated so they'd catch his eye and talking to him about what we were doing.  We can't wait to introduce his door jumper to him!  We think that will be the perfect activity for him while we work out.  We'll all be working out together :).

People say that it takes around 6 weeks to start to fall into a routine when you have a new baby and I think they're right.  We are really finding our groove in our new life as a family of 3 and it feels so good!  What did we ever do without our little man??

What did/do you feel is important to instill in your children?

~Sarah

A Hairy Situation

Morning Smiles!

We gave our Seven pocket sling a try today. It was a little awkward getting him in because Ayden didn't want to bend at the waist for me at first but once in he, of course, fell asleep.

Our baby LOVES to be worn. So sweet <3. This option is nice because it's quick, easy, and compact. It'll be perfect to keep in the diaper bag for unplanned baby wearing opportunities. We tried it during his first week home and he screamed bloody murder so I'm glad he's come around!

 I've noticed over the past couple of days that Ayden and I are both shedding our hair... I had heard about postpartum hair loss. I was hoping that since I never got those thick, luxurious locks that everyone talks about during pregnancy, that I might skip over the hair loss part too. Guess I'm not so lucky. I get what seems like handfuls out in the shower and I've been finding my hairs all over the house and Ayden. I already have fine hair that's on the thin side so I hope it's not too bad while I wait for it to grow back. Oh well, it is what it is I suppose.

 As for Ayden's hair loss, I thought it looked like his bed had lint on it but upon closer inspection I realized his sweet downy hair has started to fall out too. I, again, knew this was a possibility but was hoping he might keep it (not that he even has too much to begin with). I was bald(ish) until I was around 2 or so and I fear my son will probably follow suit. When I was little, girls didn't wear all of the cute headbands and oversized bows that they wear these days. At least Ayden's a boy and we won't have to face those awkward moments when strangers stop to admire your "son" who is actually your daughter...

Bald baby Sarah

 This past week I've also noticed that I've been able to differentiate Ayden's cries. The one that I know the best is his sleepy cry. It's kind of a half hearted and whine that's not constant. I like knowing what it means because when I hear it I don't go running to scoop him up and cuddle him like I've been doing every time he so much as whimpers for the past 6 weeks. I just stay close by but leave him alone and he ends up falling asleep on his own (usually to wake up only 5 minutes later. Baby steps!). His dirty diaper cry is also a half hearted whiny cry but it's a little more persistent and his hungry cry is the cry we've been hearing all along. Let's not even discuss his gassy cry... So nice to have some sort of line of communication with him!!

Today was grocery day and I actually remembered to film a grocery haul! I'll also put together a "What's For Dinner" montage for our meals and will post them later this week.

In the Ergo at Whole Foods :)

In other news, Ayden had his first bottle of breast milk this evening.  We don't want to start giving them regularly but we do want him to be able to take one for when we want to go on dates.  I'm also in a wedding in October and want him to be able to be fed i case I can't get to him often enough.  He took it like a champ without a single issue.  Pretty awesome.

Daddy bonding time

I hope everyone has a great week!!!  Mine will be awesome because I'll be hanging with this guy!

:)

 ~Sarah

Busy Bees

We had a jam packed day today!

First, David's company reserved a movie theater and invited everyone to bring their families to see The Lorax.  It started at 10am so we got up and at 'em and made it on time!  I put the Moby on before we left and wore Ayden into the theater. 

 The movie was great!  He slept for almost the whole thing.  He woke in the middle for a nursing break and diaper change then went back to sleep for the rest.  

Next on our agenda was my great uncle's 80th surprise birthday party at 1:30.

Some of the fam.

My Moby Wrap was the talk of the party!  I guess baby wearing isn't very common in our town...

After we left the party, we headed out to run some errands.  We stopped by our local cloth diaper store to pick up one of these:

Makes any nursing bra into a nursing tank!

And also to get sized for the Bravado Allure underwire nursing bra.

Source

The website is having a promo running until March 5th for 15% off!  The promo code is Mom237 at www.Bravadodesigns.com. I am eager to have a nursing bra option that can give me a little shape.  I know you have to be careful with underwires causing issues with plugged ducts and whatnot but this one apparently doesn't interfere with breast tissue.  I'll also be sure not to wear it if I'm having an overly full/engorged day.

Our  next stop was BuyBuyBaby for a few needed baby items as well as Lowe's for some household stuff.

Ayden was a little rockstar all day!  In a great mood and only cried when he needed something.  He did eventually get really tired of being in his car seat, though, and cried all the way home from our last errand but he stopped as soon as I took him out. We got home around 5:30 or so and I was EXHAUSTED so I did some side lying nursing and got a little bit of rest before heading to our friends' house for a dinner date.  Their sweet dog, Phyn, is always so interested in Ayden who just lays there and lets Phyn sniff to his little hearts content:

No worries, just sniffing.  No kissing :)

Dinner was great (she made us chicken cacciatore over spaghetti squash) and we always have lots of fun and laughs when we hang with them.  Now our busy day is done, we're home and it's off to bed we go!!  Until tomorrow!!

~Sarah

When It Rains, It Pours...

It was a green poop kind of day today...

I had my 6 week followup appointment with my backup midwife and all is well! :)  My home birth midwife's rule (if you didn't have any tearing or stitches) is that you can resume all physical activity once you go a full week without bleeding.  My bleeding stopped at 4 weeks exactly so I already knew I was in the clear.  I believe it all has to do with how you feel but it was still nice to hear that all is back on order from a professional. In case you were wondering, my home birth midwife is a CPM (Certified Professional Midwife) who only attends home births. I  also had a back up CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife), which was a good thing in  my case since I ended up transporting.  She is part of an OB practice and delivers in a hospital.  My backup midwife was the one who ended up delivering Ayden and she is also who I will see for well woman care from now on.

My appointment was at 9:30am and was 30 minutes away so I woke up around 7 to make sure I had enough time to get the both of us ready and Ayden fed before we left.  I also teach dance on Fridays so I had to make sure I had my dance clothes and enough diapers packed to last us the whole day.  

My morning smiles! :D

The plan was for me to go to my appointment and then hang out at my parents' house until dance (the hospital, my parents' house and the dance studio are all in the same town).  As it turns out, we ended up having severe weather warnings with a STRONG possibility for tornados so it was a good thing we were there to take shelter in their basement since we don't have one of our own.  All of the schools in our area let out two hours early, dance was cancelled and David left work to come be safe with us.

For any University of Kentucky basketball fans out there:
They supposedly hired Anthony Davis to block the storms :)
That's Kentucky right in the middle of all that red!

Ayden slept most of the morning and then woke up with green poop and terrible gas.  He was either eating, sleeping or crying almost the whole time we were there.  Our poor parents haven't really gotten to experience the happy, comfortable Ayden that I send them pictures and videos of every morning.  All in good time I suppose...

He plays with his ear while he nurses now :)

In the end the storms stayed North of us and we didn't get any more than some really cool lightning and some rain but it was fun for the whole family to hang out together for a while!

My sister's kids hanging with Ayden on the pool table.
Her little boy said, "Look, two sissy's"  So cute!

Did any of you get any crazy weather this week?  Hope everyone stayed safe!!

~Sarah

Happy March!

Signs of Spring have been popping up all around here!  I know it's not officially Spring until late March but it makes me so happy all the same.  I think Spring is my favorite season because I love the shift from cold to warm weather (not that we ever really had a winter this year...) as well as all of the new life.  We went for a super long walk and it was so nice!

Exhaustion really had its hold on me today.  Some days I can just power through and I totally forget about how little sleep I'm getting.  Today I was well aware.  On days like this I tend to be a little more emotional and I can't seem to get anything done which makes me feel frustrated.  I know it's all part of new mommyhood but it can be tough just the same.  Luckily I have this little face to look at and he reminds me of what's really important. Everything else can wait and tomorrow is a new day :).

Tomorrow morning I have my 6 week postpartum appointment!  

~Sarah