Merry Christmas from the Williamson's!

Some exciting news - bullet point style

So, I'm gonna say it, I suck at blogging late.  Poor C is only getting his monthly updates for the most part and Baby W2 is pretty non existent past me making it's announcement months ago!  But I wanted to share some updates and to keep it quick and simple we're doing it bullet point style.

- Yes, I'm still preggo.  I'm 24 weeks tomorrow.  Check out the belly at 20 weeks and the C 20 week belly below.  Its been a pretty easy pregnancy, just like C's.  My only slight complaint is some round ligament pains in my lower abdomen, think my c-section scar area.  It isn't the problem, its just the best way to describe the area.  Apparently my back to back pregnancies are helping to support my uterus as things stretch and grow!  We had our 20 week scan back on November 30, and remained Team Green despite some slight wavering on my part.  Baby was looking good and almost identical to C at that point in terms of weight (15 ounces, C was 16 ounces) and heartbeat (153 bpm, C was in the 140's).  At this point, I'm thinking its a girl just based on heartbeat, but I really have no clue.  And an ultrasound update of Baby W2.

- We've planned C's 1st birthday bash.  Its happening in RVa so his family can surround him for his big celebration.  Fair warning, we've agreed a blow out is in order for birthday #1, but remaining celebrations will be lowkey affairs - think pizza and cake with kiddie games for #2 and onward!  Because we're making the trip back to VA for the party and its happening over President's Day weekend we sent a save the date magnet to everyone.  Don't think I went crazy, these were done for about $20 on Vistaprint using their business card size personalized magnet option.

- Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 20 I turn the big 3-0.  I'm not dreading it and it feels like any other birthday.  But I have a strong feeling its because I'm where I want to be in life, or where I wanted to be by 30 - married, kids, house, stability.  All those good things that seem so far away at 20!  In a major twist, RCW has planned a big surprise trip for us.  I don't have a clue where we're going!!  He planned everything.  My parents are keeping C and we're leaving tomorrow on a plane and returning on Sunday before Christmas Eve.  It'll be our first time away from C.  I'm a bit anxious about it, but as RCW pointed out its better to leave him for this as a test drive before the very first time being in the hospital when we have Baby W2.  I'm putting it out there, I think we're going to NYC.  I'll let you know!

- And the biggest news to end with.  I quit my job!  Effective January 1, I'm going to be a stay at home momma.  Between C being sick, some changes at his school that we weren't loving, RCW passing his test which means a nice little raise, it all seemed to line up.  Our game plan all along was that I would eventually stay at home with the babies.  We got here a little earlier than we thought, but I'm so excited and thrilled that I get to have his opportunity and privilege!!  In addition to staying home, I'll be taking my final four classes at the University of Louisville in spring semester to finally get my degree in May (yay!) and I'm going to hopefully be doing some at home work for a friend who has a fundraising consulting business to keep me sane and on the grid!  The first few months will be anything but boring as we adjust to this new life!  And if any stay at home moms have tips, tricks and hints, please share them with me!

I think those are the big hits of what has been happening around here.  I hope all are doing well! I catch up on Reader every couple of weeks despite the lack of comments.  Hopefully everyone is have a great holiday season and everyone enjoys a few days off with family and friends starting this weekend!

Little Man - 10 Month Update

 
Weight/Height: We're back to our at home methods until his 1 year check up.  The scale put him at 23.4 pounds (75th percentile) and our measuring him put him at 29.5 inches (66th percentile).  Either our techniques for determining his height aren't working or little man didn't grow this month!

Eating:  What to say.  With our month plus of sickness eating has been a lot of formula, Pedialite in Strawberry and Grape flavors and the occasional meal.  But what has happened is C has definitively dropped his 2pm bottle.  Also, because I couldn't find Plum Organics oatmeal anywhere in town, he has finally also stopped taking oatmeal in his formula and thankfully his spitting up has NOT increased.  Amen!  Also, since RCW and I have been home with him so much, I can also happily say C is 100% off of bottles!  For about a week and a half now he hasn't had a nipple in his mouth and is only drinking formula or water from sippy cups.  Our preferred version is the Nuby, but he also does well with the Nuk Graduate sippy cup.  Our baby isn't a baby anymore!  On the food front, his pincher grasp has developed nicely and he adores picking up Cheerios one at a time.  Otherwise, we're still gung ho with baby led weaning.  When he is feeling well, he's eating breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner and its usually whatever we're eating.  Unless we're eating unhealthy food like pizza, in which case a pretty typical meal for C is green beans, sweet potato wedges, turkey or chicken and cantaloupe.  He's loving some applesauce lately, but to minimize mess we have been helping him by spoonfeeding him that and yogurt.  The only other addition is since he's got the stomach bug round 2, we're using a new probiotic, Florstor for Kids, with his morning and bedtime formula.  Here's hoping it helps and he isn't sick for Christmas!

Sleeping:  Looking back at last month, I'm happy to say sleep has improved this month.  I don't recall an up in the middle of the night episode at all in recent weeks (knock on wood!).  He's napping well, especially when he's at home with us and still going to bed for the night by 8pm.  His internal clock is still set for 5am, but thanks to the past 10 months, so is RCW's and sometime's mine!  If C could ever get to 6am, I'd be right up with him, but until that happens 5am morning wake up is usually daddy-son bonding time, while I get to sleep in a little bit longer.  I'm trying to enjoy it because I know the midnight feedings and wakeups are quickly approaching as #2's birth day draws closer and closer!  Bedtime this past month has shifted a bit.  We used to religiously rock C after his bedtime bottle until he was asleep and then put him down.  In the past few weeks, he's been getting a bit goofy once he's sleepy.  He likes to smile and laugh up close in your face and perhaps flirt his way out of bedtime! We give him his formula, still rock him to try and settle and calm him down, but usually he's being put in the crib awake.  He wiggles around, usually to shift onto his side with his butt and leg up in the air and making what can only be described as growling sounds.  Within 5 to 10 minutes, he's out for the night though!  He isn't as easy at nap time at home though and still required some rocking/bouncing on the exercise ball to make sure he's sound asleep before he goes down in the crib. 

Diapers:  Does anyone else battle diaper rash on a regular basis?!  C has a clear bum and all was right in the world.  Then it came back.  With a vengeance.  We got confirmation from our pediatrician that he has a yeast infection that could have stemmed from a combination of being on amoxicillin for his RSV induced ear infection as well as his stomach bug induced diarrhea AND he is cutting more teeth.  His bottom 2 lateral incisors are finally coming in, which teething always leads to diaper rash for us.  We have some special prescription cream to use twice a day to treat the yeast infection and then we're alternating with A+D and California Baby creams.  We also got our Disana wool cover, lanolized it and have had some success.  The first night, he did leak and we needed to lanolize it a second time.  I had heard from pro cloth diaper momma Emily that sometime merino wool took a couple lanolizing sessions to work, and ours did.  Once it was ready and dry, which takes a good 48 hours, we were back into the stomach bug, but still used it.  It worked great to keep a poo leak off C's pjs, sheets and blankets!  It was washed and we're ready to try it out again now.  We have high hopes that it will work wonders for leaks once it is ready and we are ready at the same time!

Clothes: We are in 12 month size everything now.  And some things are 18 months!  Our big boy needs big clothes!  And besides his pjs, almost everything he wears is 2 piece pants and a top.  As he's learning to stand up and soon walk, we also realized recently the one piece outfits without coating on the feet cause him slip and slide too much on our hardwood floors.  Little man is usually sockless to help in his cruising along the sofa, walls, furniture efforts!

Social Butterfly: For this month, this should be titled The Hermit.  Due to all his sickness (hand, foot, mouth - stomach bug - RSV with ear infection - stomach bug) C has barely been to school, much less around anyone else besides RCW and I these past couple of months.  Poor kid!  Luckily he likes us and seems to be learning to play well on his own at times too, which I think is important (coming from the only child!).  His most frequent trips seemed to be to the pediatrician with a couple outings to Target or Kroger.  We did take him to see Lights Under Louisville where he enjoyed being in the front seat of the car than actually looking at the lights!  In a week or so, he'll finally have some more interaction as we head to VA for Christmas to see the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!

Playtime:   Even in the past month its seems like C has changed dramatically in terms of playing!  Stationary toys aren't his favorite things right now.  He is on the move ALL THE TIME!  We got him this Fisher Price musical walker and Fisher Price Laugh and Learn activity table during some post Black Friday sales and he loves them.  He pushes the walker around all the time, but also will occasionally sit in front of it to play with the buttons on it.  With the table, he plays with it, but thanks to the hardwood floors he prefers to push it places!  He found the front door recently and loves to walk along the door and look out of the side windows to see the front yard, especially now that the Christmas lights are up.  In the past couple weeks he has gotten more daring with his balance as he learns, which has resulted in quite few more bumps to the bum and noggin.  I don't know when he'll actually take those first few steps on his own, but I think he's well on his way.

Personality: C is such a happy guy.  I feel like most parents say that.  But really he is.  With all of his sickness, he's had quite a few visits to my office for some half days with me and every time we're there I'm told he has the happiest disposition of any sick baby people have ever seen.  I'll take it!  Yes, he has his meltdowns, but he loves being around people and seeing the world and new things.  As he's learning to walk more, we can see determination and massive curiosity in him.  He is in to EVERYTHING!  And he loves the outdoors.  He'll stare out the front or back doors and if we aren't careful when letting the dogs inside, he'll scoot right out the door to get outside!  And as I type, just like most, he really wants what he isn't suppose to have such as the laptop or mouse!

Milestones: In C's tenth month, his biggest milestone was saying goodbye to bottles and hello to sippy cups full time!  His mobility is increasing and while he still crawls, he prefers to be walking along the sofa, coffee table, walls, doors, furniture and pushing his walker and other larger toys to get from place to place.  He has also become quite fond of what we refer to as the jungle gym or our bar height kitchen table and chairs! C celebrated his first Thanksgiving during his tenth month with some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and a side of RSV at home in Louisville with our little family of mom, dad and pups.  His pincher grasp has developed great and he loves picking up little things whether that is a Cheerio for snack or a leaf or fur from the dogs.  His top four teeth are all in and his bottom 2 lateral incisors are on their way, soon he'll have 8 little teeth!  We're also working on waving and learning 'dada' with C.  He's getting there with both of them.  We can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring for our little man!

Wee Bit Obsessed...

With how these pictures turned out!

We had C's 9 month photoshoot this morning with our one and only photog - Little White Whale's Sarah.  This was the first shot we tried with C in his husky pjs and Santa hat loving being able to play with the lights, finally, after weeks of being told not to touch the Christmas tree!

Needless to say, even RCW agreed that the trouble of creating our own backdrop was well worth these results!  And just to give you guys an idea, creating the backdrop meant almost totally clearing out our bedroom, the one room in our house with decent natural lighting.  Yup, even the bed was propped up against the wall and everything other piece of furniture besides the dresser was moved out.  Then we hung a king sized white sheet on the wall and hung white lights on white wire from an old curtain rod.  1,200 white lights!  That we didn't purchase until the night before because we weren't thinking and originally grabbed white lights on green wire, so at 8:45pm last night I was running to KMart, the only place I could find online to guarantee they had white lights on white wire.  Bought 8 boxes, which we hung 6 and C played with 1 of.  And proceeded to hang to lights at 9pm last night, which is way past our normal hours of productivity!

But well worth it to see these images.  I'm pretty sure I could stare at them all day.  And I can't wait to see the rest of what Sarah captured once we changed C into a more formal outfit, brought in the huskies and old fashioned colored bulbs too!

RCWJr, PLS

Time to do a little bragging on my hubby.  He's amazing.  He's my best friend, a dedicated husband, hands-on dad who is a great playmate for C and he's my rock.  He started his career in land surveying over 10 years ago and today, I am oh so thrilled to shout from the rooftop of my little blog that RCW is officially a Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) by the Commonwealth of Kentucky!!

 

Back in October 2009, a month after our wedding, he took the first phase of the testing to become a Land Surveyor In Training.  He needed to achieve 10 years of experience to sit for the PLS test and hit that milestone this past August.  On October 26, RCW took an 8 hour test that was broken into 2 parts - federal and state.  Yesterday afternoon, he got an email that he passed the federal section and would find out about the state section within 2 weeks.  We were on pins and needles and celebrated cautiously.  He had been warned the state section was hard, that many times people pass the federal, but fail the state, including some of his coworkers and he walked out feeling about 70% confident about the state section.

Then this afternoon he randomly called me at work.  I thought maybe he was on a late lunch and just saying hi.  When I asked how his day was going, he replied, "Great for a KY licensed land surveyor!"  WHAT?!  Yup, apparently a coworker in another office of his company was on the website and randomly happened across RCW's name.  He called him to ask if that was him and sure enough, it was, it is!  If this guy hadn't randomly seen it, we wouldn't have found out for at least another week or so when we got a letter in the mail!

I'm so proud of RCW.  He worked his butt off for this test and his career and deserves all the accolades he can get!!

Love ya babe ♥

The Month of Sickness

On Sunday, October 28, C got a rash.  On Monday, October 29 we took him to the pediatrician.  He was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth and we were told he was contagious and couldn't go back to school or be around other kids for 7 days.

On Wednesday, November 14, I got a call from C's school.  He had had 3 diarrhea's in 3 hours and threw up all over a teacher when she picked him up from his crib.  I had to come get him.  And by the way, the stomach bug was going around.  We went to the pediatrician that afternoon and sure enough, he was diagnosed with a stomach bug.  We were told to limit his solid food intake, push formula and Pedialyte on him and it would last 2-3 days.  It took C until Sunday, November 18 to have a normal poo, which per our pediatrician signaled he could go back to school.  Sadly, with the stomach bug in our house, RCW and I both caught it and took turns taking care of C over the weekend.

But then that Sunday afternoon while RCW was holding him, he thought C felt hot.  He took his temperature and it was 100.9 degrees.  We gave him Infant's Advil and agreed if he was still running a temperature Monday morning we'd take him to the pediatrician again.  Sure enough, C woke up with a fever.  We went to the pediatrician again Monday, November 19.  In addition to the fever, C had started coughing a bit over the weekend too, but we didn't think anything of it.  Unfortunately, when the ped. listened to his breathing, he heard wheezing and tested him for RSV (through a nose swab).  That test came back positive.  And C was diagnosed with his first ear infection in his left ear.

RSV is highly contagious, especially to children under 1.  C was not allowed back to school until he went 24 hours without coughing.  And the pediatrician recommended we cancel our Thanksgiving plans.  C shouldn't be around or even in the same room as his cousins or his elderly great-grandparents.  All of a sudden our family filled first Thanksgiving celebration for C turned into a quarantined family of 3 party - and we had to cook at home ourselves!  The pediatrician thought C didn't have an extreme case and it should get better pretty quickly.  Sadly, C just got worse.  

We went back to the pediatrician Wednesday, November 21 because his wheezing had gotten so bad.  The doctor suggested we try a nebulizer and breathing treatment with albuterol.  Luckily, it worked for C.  The pediatrician could hear a major difference before and after the treatment.  Our poor little man was not a fan of receiving the breathing treatment.  Thank goodness RCW went with us, it took both of us to hold him down and force the treatment on him.  Longest 15 minutes ever!

We were sent home with a nebulizer and told to do 3 breathing treatments a day on C.  In addition to continuing to give him amoxicillin to treat his ear infection.  Luckily, doing the treatment at home in his rocking chair with some Nick Jr. Bubble Guppies on the TV helped immensely! 

In addition to C being sick, RCW was diagnosed on Tuesday, November 20 with a double ear infection and RSV as well.  He was sent home with a Z-pack and inhaler full of albuterol.  I was diagnosed on Saturday, November 24 with bronchitis and a nasal infection and sent home with Flonase and an inhaler of albuterol.  The whole house is on albuterol to try and help our breathing!  Its a bit ridiculous. We're going on almost a week (tomorrow) of C getting breathing treatments.  He's still coughing, still wheezing and at times still trying to catch his breathe.  The pediatrician told us it could last 2-3 weeks!  Also, because C got RSV he has a 50:50 chance of having childhood asthma too.  But we're just lucky that we've been able to treat it at home.  We've heard of 3 different cases where babies with RSV end up in the hospital for 2-3 days for treatment!  Thank goodness we've been able to stay home with our little man and not have this turn into something much worse.  And overall, I'm loving being at home with him.  I just wish the cause wasn't because we were all sick.

Plus little man is still happy.  Just coughing and a bit more snuggly.  RCW and I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for the 3 of us and enjoyed our family holiday together inbetween puffs of albuterol!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing each of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!  So much to be thankful for today - our amazing little man who makes us smile everyday, Baby W2 baking away in my belly (20 weeks today!!), our marriage - I couldn't do any of this without the love and support of RCW, he is my rock, our sweet pups, our family and friends. 

We certainly are missing being surrounded by family today, but are making the best of enjoying our own little family holiday with the 3.5 of us and our pups at home today.

Hope you each have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

C's 2012 Thanksgiving Turkey

Little Man - 9 Month Update

  
Weight/Height: C has his official 9 month checkup on Monday, November 19.  I was smart and moved his appointment so he could have his 9 month photoshoot before he got his 9 month shots!  I'll update with the official stats after the appointment. C's official 9 month appointment still hasn't happened yet as of November 27.  He can't get his shots and have a well visit, until he is actually well!  So we did our at home methods.  He clocked in at 22.5 pounds (75th percentile) and 29.5 inches (81st percentile)!  Yay for our little man finally getting some height!

Eating: While I want to say we've had minimal changes this month, we had quite a few.  We are in the process of dropping a bottle.  Finally!  He is in a transition room at school and they are helping with dropping the bottle.  He gets one when he wakes up between 4:30am and 6:30am, one with breakfast at 8am, one before lunch at 11am and then goes until 4:30pm - 5:00pm which is his before dinner bottle and then his bedtime bottle between 7:30pm - 8:00pm.  Because of that, he's dropped to just 30 ounces a day.  This has only been going on for about a week and a half so we'll see how it continues!  He is eating more solids now and has breakfast, lunch and snack every day at school and dinner every night with us.  However, on weekends since he is still taking his bottle he doesn't have such a regimented eating schedule.  We just go with the flow of his day in every aspect - eating, napping and bottles.  We did try eggs with him at home this month and he threw up all over poor RCW during our sign and sign class.  We won't be trying eggs again anytime soon, but he hasn't shown any issues with other foods.  He is definitely eating more, working on his pincher grasp and learning to better use his teeth to bite pieces off to chew up.

Sleeping:  Oh sleep.  It ebbs and flows.  We have wonderful nights and we have dreadful nights and by we I mean RCW and C.  My husband is a saint and lets me and Baby W2 sleep while he gets up with C.  We have noticed a trend - weekends aren't great for us.  C tends to nap much more when he's home with us which can wreck havoc with his night schedule.  At school he is napping between 1 to 2 hours a day during one nap session only.  He does usually take a good hour nap when we get home in the afternoons, but on weekends.  Oh my gosh - that boy just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps.  I'm pretty sure its a toss up between we aren't as entertaining as the other kids and toys at school and he's making up for lack of naps Monday through Friday!  The other factors for his funky sleep this month - cutting his four top teeth and hand, foot and mouth.  We're hoping for more nights of solid sleep in the coming month!  But I have to give props because daylight savings time did not mess with C's schedule.  He has started sleeping in a bit later and is maintaining his normal 5am - 6am wake up time with a random 4:30am or 6:30am sprinkled in to keep us on our toes.  Here's hoping its just as easy when we spring forward in a few months too!

Diapers: Oh diapers.  Sounds much like oh sleep, right?  We are still battling the diaper rash.  It cleared up while he was at home with us during his hand, foot and mouth sick week, but now its back.  Since he moved to a new room at school, the new teachers aren't exactly pros at cloth diapers.  He came home with one barely hanging on him last week with 2 snaps snapped instead of six!  While in his old room, a floater teacher changed his dipe and ruined it using real cream on his cloth without a liner.  Because of all that, I refuse to send him with liners and real diaper rash cream just yet.  It isn't horrible so at school he's getting California Baby and at home we're using A+D on liners and Lotrimen.  And I have to admit that after almost a week of waking up with wet pjs and sheets, I caved in and bought a pack of disposables.  I needed to try something!  Sadly, it seems RCW and I don't know how to use them as C leaked through a disposable last night too!  I bought a pack of Pampers Overnight Extra Protection.  I don't like using them, I feel like I caved, but we just needed to try them.  And they didn't work for us.  We're back in cloth and a wool cover will be coming to us in a day or two.  Cloth diaper mommas swear wool is leak proof - fingers crossed!

Clothes: While C is still wearing some 9 month outfits, they are getting tight and he's much more comfortable in the 12 month ones.  Since it has gotten colder, he's sleeping in Carter's fleece pjs in size 12 month and he looks like such a big boy!  I'm also realizing that as I try to stock up his extra play outfits at school for when he has an accident or swims in his lunch (most likely!) I can't find one piece outfits that are cute for him.  So many of the little sleep and play outfits are just tiny for 3 and 6 month olds.  Where did that little baby go?!

Social Butterfly: During this month C attended 3 of 4 Sing and Sign classes.  He missed one due to being quarantined for his hand, foot and mouth!  We had a great time and C seemed to enjoy being in a playgroup setting.  After that class, I definitely want to try and get into some other weekend classes, perhaps a winter swim class or other type of playgroup.  He also did a lot of shopping with momma, went out to eat a few times with mom and dad and made a trip to mom's office on one of his sick days.  He also made his first collegiate tour of the University of Louisville when he and RCW accompanied me for a library trip.  He got a lot of smiles from the college girls!  And the most stressful trip out for me was to the OB for a Baby W2 checkup with C in tow.  C was fine, but that waiting room full of pregnant ladies and post partum women did not seem to fine my adorable boy's babbling cute at 8:30am!  The place I've ever felt the most guilt with C was in that waiting room, which is just crazy.  C also celebrated his first Halloween with a costume party with the pups at Three Dog Bakery.  Our little Robin helped us win Best Overall for the costume contest!

Playtime:   In the past month, the changes C has made have been amazing.  It happens so quickly.  People tell you that, but you can't even begin to comprehend it until you see it for yourself.  He went from laying on his back, to rolling all over the place, to army crawling and then learning to sit up on his own and now he's full fledged crawling and pulling up on everything!  His favorite toys aren't toys!  He loves walking around the edges of the coffee table, pulling up on the sofa, playing with empty boxes and bubble wrap, finding the dog's food bowls to bang on the floor or splash in their water bowl and looking for cords to play with.  We've started to baby proof, but really we just need to make things more C-friendly.  He can't live in a bubble and neither can we or the dogs!  I'm pretty sure he's over the toys he has since they've been around since he was born, but I refuse to buy more since Christmas is right around the corner.  I did cave while he was home for the week and spent $20 on the Bright Starts Having a Ball Alphabet Pop Top.  He loves balls and really likes the lights, singing and spinning!  And he's starting to play more with a Melissa and Doug wooden knob house puzzle that we found at a yard sale over the summer.  He likes picking up the knobs and basically banging two pieces together like he's in a marching band!  But its a great toy for teaching colors and shapes or at least repeating them numerous times. 

Personality: I feel like RCW and I really got to see more of C's personality going with him to Sing and Sign this month.  Perhaps its the age range, but our little guy that we thought was super outgoing is a bit more introverted than I gave him credit for.  He seems to need some time to warm up to others before diving in.  Much like his momma!  He'd stay near RCW or I until about 20 minutes into a session, then he'd take off.  Crawling for toys, pulling up on the baby gate blocking off our area and making friends with the other babies.  It was so fun to see him interacting and making friends and interesting to see despite being our super happy baby and all over the place at home, in new places he needs some time to take in the surroundings and new people!  But overall, he's still our happy smiling baby boy.  Unless, he's being told 'no'. Then he pouts and cries, already!

Milestones: In C's ninth month, his biggest milestone was becoming fully mobile!  He went from army crawling to on his hands and knees crawling, pulling up on anything and everything and trying to walk and learning to sit up by himself.  We had to lower his crib mattress all the way down so he wouldn't hurt himself!  He also started taking baths in the regular bathtub - no more baby tub.  And he loves it!  He had his first Halloween and costume contest, which he won with the family and had his first real sickness with hand, foot and mouth causing him to stay home from school for a whole week.  He also cut his top four teeth and is trying hard to say 'mama'.  He says it occasionally, like when I picked him up from school one day, he saw me, reached up and said 'mama'.  I swear, even the teachers commented on it!  But it isn't with enough regularity for me to officially call it his first word!  He's still just babbling nonstop with lots of new consonant sounds!  C also learned how to clap this month after his first Sing and Sign class and has been giving RCW and I lots of applause at home.  He is also getting better and better with his sippy cup which is exciting as we think about transitioning away from bottles altogether.  This ninth month was probably the biggest so far in terms of milestones and change.  It just seemed to all happen so quickly!  Every day or two seemed to bring something new for C.  Its definitely a fun phase to watch him grow and learn all the time.  But I will admit, also a new chapter for RCW and I as parents.  We've had to start disciplining C and teaching him right from wrong.  The days of watching him lay on his back and not move or get into something are long gone!  Welcome to the days of having a little boy who is constantly on the go and curious to see what new things he can find!

Remember to Vote Today!

First up the cuteness:  Its not a secret that we're a pretty Republican family and C needed to get in on the action for his first ever Presidential election!  

Rocking his onesie tonight, but no I won't be sending him to school in it tomorrow.

And his Election Day craft.  Luckily, thanks to Pinterest, you can make almost anything out of a hand or foot!  The GOP's elephant lent nicely to this handprint art.  (On a sidenote, its crazy how much bigger his hand is from this craft than from his very first St. Patrick's Day handprint art!  Obviously, I can see how big he's gotten, but seeing it with his handprint...it goes so fast! I'm so glad I'm a wee bit OCD about doing these things)

Now on a more serious note.  Regardless of who you're voting for, please go vote today.  Its our freedom and our right.  Don't take it for granted.  As I said we are a pretty Republican family, but honestly, after having grown up in local politics (my dad was an elected official, my mom ran for office) and having spent a good 5 years working on campaigns ranging from a local level to a federal level, I am a bit jaded by the process.  I hope that when C is able to vote in his very first Presidential election in 2032 at the ripe old age of 20 (his very first voting experience will be in 2030 when he turns 18 - eek) things are different than they are now with the political system.  Less games, less about popularity and who can raise the most money and more about the issues the world is facing.  A girl can dream, right?!

Now get off the blogs and go vote!

4 little top teeth!

Not the most attractive picture (with his chin drool rash!), but it shows off his pearly whites!  Getting this pic was harder than his bottom ones.  RCW was blowing raspberries on his neck to get him to laugh while I zoomed in with the camera.  I can't believe pretty soon C will have 6 teeth fully in!  Craziness!

I also hope that once these are in, he'll get back to a normal sleep schedule.  He has been waking up around 2am and not going back to sleep on his own until 4am.  Luckily, I have an amazing husband who is willing to sacrifice sleep to get up with C so this pregnant lady can continue resting at night.  I'm so thankful to have RCW willing and able to step up to the plate when C and I need him!

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Halloween from the Justice League

Happy Halloween to all the ghosts, goblins and witches out there today!  We hope you gets lots of treats and not so many tricks!

♥,
Batman (RCW), Wonder Woman (Steph), Robin (C),
Superman (Dallas), Green Lantern (Loucie) and The Flash (Sonny)

PS: for all who think our dogs always cooperate, this was the best out of about 50 remote control camera clicks!

Halloween Arts and Crafts

Halloween has been the first holiday that we could really go all out on fun stuff - thanks a lot Pinterest!  We did some arts and crafts for the season.

We started by letting C paint some pumpkins.  The big one stayed at home with us, while the two mini pumpkins were sent to Grandma B. and Grandma W.  However, I think C had more fun painting himself than the pumpkins!

Later in the month, with RCW's help we made nine little white footprints on black cardstock.  And turned out little feet into ghosts that were mailed with Halloween cards to great-grandmas, grandparents and a friend or two.  And of course I saved the best one for our fridge which I jazzed up with some orange cardstock.

Our last project was all me.  I decided I wanted to take a treat into C's classroom for his teachers.  He is in one large room split in half - Infant A (non mobile) and Infant B (mobile).  While he does have 2 teachers, Ms. Linda and Ms. Cat, the teachers on the other side are there to help and often the ones who are there when we drop him off early at 6:20am.  I had seen this pin and decided it would be a quick, easy and cheap little project to do and take into his teachers.  (Sidenote: C will be home sick on Halloween, do I take it up there anyway or just deliver when he goes back on Monday for some post-Halloween cheer?!)  I found this sparkly black tote in the $1 bin at Target.  Voila!

Did you guys do any Halloween arts and crafts?  Doing these got me so excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas which are right around the corner!

Hand Foot Mouth = a week off work

Sunday morning I got C up from a nap and he had a super soaked dipe.  I noticed some very small red raised bumps on his very inner left thigh and some right under his belly button.  I thought since he leaked through his dipe, his pee may have irritated his skin.  Throughout the day, the bumps got worse and started to spread over his body - to his right thigh, legs, feet, hands and arms.  The only place we didn't notice any were on his face and back.

We honestly thought he was having an allergic reaction to some scrambled eggs we'd given him Saturday morning.  He had a reaction at school a couple weeks ago to liquid egg mix, so Saturday we tried giving him real eggs.  He didn't break out in a rash, but did end up throwing them up.  We thought the bumps were delayed reaction to the eggs.  

I did keep wondering about hand foot and mouth, but C was taking his bottle and we never saw any sores in his mouth.  At dinner Sunday night we looked at this pin about rashes.  It made us believe he really did have an allergic reaction by reasons of elimination.  I ran out to Wal-Mart Market and got Children's Bena.dryl and we gave him half a teaspoon with his bedtime bottle.  We agreed if he woke up Monday morning with the rash I'd take him to the pediatrician especially after he started running a low grade temperature Sunday night.

Monday came, the bumps were still there, I called in sick and we headed to a 9am pediatrician appointment.

Within moments of being with Dr. D. he confirmed C had hand foot and mouth disease.  While C has a mild case which means he doesn't have sores in his mouth and isn't running a 101+ degree temperature, he is still highly contagious to other children and adults who haven't had chicken pox through his saliva and other bodily secretions.  The doctor warned that his best advice was for C to stay home from school for 7 days!  Until next Monday, November 5. 

So if you see bumps like this, even if they aren't in your kiddo's mouth, get them to the doctor asap!  I'm just thankful C has a mild case because it looks horrible with just this!  I can't imagine if he had a severe case and they were in his mouth too.

I stayed home with him Monday, Tuesday and will be with him Thursday.  RCW is staying home Wednesday and Friday.  Remind me again why we live so far away from family members and grandmas who can help out?!  Basically, C can't go to school or be around kiddos because even though he has a mild case, he could pass the virus to another child who could end up with a severe reaction.  We had to be those parents to tell the daycare director who sent a note out to C's class letting them know and I sent a note to our Saturday Sing and Sign class to be the responsible parent too.

Luckily, C doesn't seem to mind the sores and doesn't seem to be in any pain.  There isn't any medicine or anything to give him.  The virus just has to run its course and the bumps could linger around for 2-3 weeks though.  Also, just like chicken pox, C will never get this strain of HFM again.  That's something to be thankful for!  And I'm really loving being at home with him.  I think I may cry going into work tomorrow and leaving him, even though its with RCW.  These past 2 days have just made me realize how much I want to be a SAHM to C and Baby W2!  

Also, into addition to the HFM, Dr. D. confirmed what RCW and I already knew - C is cutting his 4 top teeth right now!  THAT is causing more of a grumpiness and crankiness than the HFM.  C just doesn't seem to feel well, wants lots of cuddles (which I'm more than happy to oblige) and is waking up at night.  Last night he went down at 8pm and was up at 10:30pm, 11:30pm, 12:30pm, 2am and finally up for the day at 4:30am.  He just can't seem to get comfortable, tosses and turns and cries while in a half sleep state.

Two of the teeth are poking through the gums and we can see the other just underneath so hopefully they pop through soon and we can all get back to sleeping soundly from 8pm to 5am every night!

Parents of the Year, we are NOT!

We have been living up the fall fun with C this month.  Today we decided to bring the pumpkins in off the front porch and start carving them into Halloween jack-o-lanterns.  I couldn't wait to see what C did with the pumpkins guts as we cleaned them out!

But once it was clean, RCW said, 'Ok, time to put the baby in the pumpkin!'

And I said, 'No joke, yes!'  Photo op!

C sadly didn't want to cooperate.  This was our photo op.  We will not be winning Parents of the Year after putting our crying little man into a pumpkin!  But its still cute and a memory for us all! 

But before we forced him in a pumpkin, he was having fun getting his hands gooey and seeing what these big orange things were all about!

♥ them oh so very much

Even the pups got to enjoy some new Halloween toys, courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa B. and they really enjoyed eating some pumpkin guts!  My 4 little pumpkins ♥

Sadly, after all the excitement of cleaning out the pumpkins and getting C into a pumpkin, it was nap time.  The actual carving will be taking place with RCW and I later this week before Wednesday!  Hope everyone had a great pre-Halloween weekend!

Big Weekend of Firsts

We had a big weekend around our house!

Saturday morning started off at our very first Sing and Sign class.  We ventured out as a family, with RCW telling me if no other dad's were there he was leaving!  I think I may have scared him with the tale of Stephanie over at Blawnde's Blawg about her husband JJ's Kinder.musik experience!  Needless to say, we walked in and there were no other dads.  But the instructor made such a big deal about RCW being there, he couldn't just leave.  So he joined us and in the end we had a great time.  RCW and I learned a lot and are already using more signs at home with C!  We have 3 more classes and can't wait to see what else we'll learn and be able to utilize at home to have better communication with C.

It was at Sing and Sign that I'm convinced C finally caught on to clapping!  We sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" with clapping hands.  With all the adults and many of the babies clapping we were hoping C would catch on.  And while he didn't participate in class at that moment, he did start clapping after dinner Saturday night.  He's still getting the coordination part down, but most things in our house received his applause this weekend!

 

Another big milestone happened this weekend too.  While C has been working on it for a couple weeks, I feel ready to say, he is crawling!  He's still doing a 60% army crawl to 40% real crawl, but that boy is all over the house!  The free play we had most of the weekend helped him branch out and go - go - go!  Last night as we were getting ready for dinner, we saw this happening.  I had been loving the mostly stationary little baby, but that is officially over.  C is on the move!  Let the baby-proofing begin!

 

That was our weekend.  Hope your's was just as fabulous!  Happy Monday!

Really, C, Really?!

I've said it before, but one of my favorite skits from SNL are the Really?! skits with Amy and Seth or Seth and whomever!  I adore them.

This morning, I awoke from a great night's sleep only to want to say, Really, C?!?!

RCW was out of town Monday and Tuesday nights.  It was my first time alone all night with C.  While fighting a cold, growing Baby W2 and working.  Honestly, I don't know how single parents do it.  Rock on single moms and dads out there.  I'm pretty sure if this were a full time scanrio we'd be moving in with Gramma and Grandpa B. begging for help and some sleep!

Anyway, C is teething and has a touch my cold.  He slept fine over the weekend while Gramma and Grandpa were here and taking care of him and watching the monitor over night.  Well, Gramma says he woke for 15 minutes Saturday night, but RCW and I think if we'd be watching him, he would've fussed and self soothed back to sleep.  We think Gramma just wanted a reason to rock him at 2am!  He slept perfectly Sunday night. 

Then Monday night rolled around.  I got him to bed just fine.  I then stayed up way past my bedtime to get his 8 month update put together and posted.  I turned out the lights around 10:30pm.  By 11:05pm I awoke to hear him fussing.  I did what we usually do.  Watch the clock with groggy eyes for anywhere between 5 to 10 minutes to see if he's just stirring and will self-soothe back to sleep.  By 11:15pm he was still crying...loudly.  I was convinced our neighbors could probably hear him.  He was oh so loud!  The kicker is, he wasn't really awake. His eyes never opened, he never rolled over, pushed himself up or anything.  Just laid on his belly, tossing his head to the left and right, eyes shut and crying.  I went into his room and patted his back for a while.  However, every time I stopped, he started fussing again.  It was at this point I kept reminding myself that C wasn't giving me a hard time, C was having a hard time.  I finally gave in and picked him up.  I walked him, I patted him, I shushed him.  Since RCW wasn't home, I brought C into our bed.  I propped myself up and C fussed on and off on my shoulder while I patted his back and tried anything to calm him down.  It seemed as though he finally drifted back to a sound sleep as my eyelids were getting oh so heavy.  I thought about letting him just stay in the bed with me, but we aren't co-sleepers and with 3 huskies and C being so rolly-polly lately I sucked it up and held my breathe as I moved him back to his crib.  By 12:30am I was finally back in bed alone and hoping to get a few hours of sleep before the alarm went off at 5am. 

Sadly, at 2:30am another type of alarm went off. C.  Again.  We danced the same routine, but this time instead of bringing him to bed with me, I ended up rocking him in the chair in the living room and watching 90210 on the DVR at 3:00am.  He finally settled down and went to sleep and I crawled into bed at 4:00am hoping for another hour of sleep.  Tuesday morning I felt horrible because I had to wake him up at 6:00am so we could stay on schedule for the day.

After a very long Tuesday at work, I came home with C and we had a great afternoon.  He napped for me, we had dinner, bath and he went to bed just fine.  Tuesday night I gave him Advil in an attempt to keep him sleeping soundly all night.  I went to bed early Tuesday night and prayed C would sleep through the night.  Around 1:30am my little man was calling for me again.  Thankfully this time it only lasted an hour with rocking in the chair for about 30 minutes.

Wednesday night, RCW came home from being out of town for work.  I was so happy to have my partner back to help with everything and to hug!  C went to bed last night as usual after napping in the afternoon, playing with daddy, eating dinner and having a bath.  We ended up not giving him any Advil and RCW assured me that if he woke up he'd get up with him.  And that brings to my REALLY!? moment this morning.

Imagine my surprise when we all slept soundly through the night.  Yup.  Not a peep from C until his usual 5am wake up. 

What the heck??!  So to C, I say, really, little man, really?!

The Justice League

Or whatever its called.  I think RCW told me that was the name of a group of superheros or maybe I'm getting that from my extensive knowledge from watching The Big Bang Theory.
But with our family of 6 we needed a group of costumes and went with superheros.

Many thanks to Pinterest for my costume and crafting a Craigslist Cozy Coupe into the Batmobile!

The 2-legged members of our family got all dressed up this past weekend for a night at The World's Largest Halloween Party at the Louisville Zoo.  Gramma and Grandpa B. got to come along for the ride too since they were in town.  The adults loved seeing all the costumes and watching C watch everyone else and steer his car and C loved just being outside and out and about.  

At one point, Robin did pass out behind the wheel!

There were numerous characters that kids could take pictures with throughout the zoo.  We only stopped to take pictures with the superheros.  Batman wasn't thrilled that we handed over C, and before we could snap the picture C decided he wasn't thrilled either.  Batman Stranger Danger!

Before we left RCW gave C a real ride...pushing him while running through the parking lot.  I don't know which one of my boys was having more fun!

We soaked in this year while C was content being pushed in his Batmobile all night knowing next year we may have to create a costume with a leash involved!  Perhaps we should recycle and Wonder Woman can use her golden lasso on little Robin!

Later in the month the whole family will be dressing up for our annual visit to Three Dog Bakery's Howloween party and costume contest.  Dallas, Loucie and Sonny were our first babies and I swore having C wouldn't change what we did with them.  So far, so good!  But we'll see what happens next year at this time with 3 dogs and 2 babies in tow.  RCW and I are quickly becoming outnumbered!  Not to mention my creativity is being tested for coordinating costumes for such large numbers!

Hope everyone is enjoying their family fall festivities!