Leaving the house

Me n Boo are going to meet one of my very best friends Tab for lunch today. I am excited to see her and catch up. I miss out on seeing my friends, but hopefully now that Boo is getting bigger I can go and do a little more. I will probably go visit mom too. She got some splinters in her foot a couple of weeks ago. She dug them out. It was still majorly bothering her, so she went to the dr 2 or 3 times. It got infected. Finally dr agreed to dig around again... A BIG GIANT 3 CM LOG in her foot!!!! I know getting it out hurt, but I am glad it's out!! Hope she is doing ok.

Mobile Baby

Boo is definitely mobile now. I'm not sure if it's officially crawling, but it's scooting, rooting, wiggling, whatever it takes to get from where he is to where he wants to be. He likes to get up on all fours and rock back and forth and launch himself forward. So cute except when he launches on to hard floor and bumps his head. It's so hard to see your child hurting. I used to put him on the bathroom rug while I bathed and then bathed him. Now I can't do that unless I want him to be licking the toilet... He can't really sit up well enough and stable enough to take a bath sitting up, and he H-A-T-E-S to lay down for any reason, especially a bath. So the options are: daddy helps us so Boo can bathe with me or a crying bath laying down or licking the toilet... Anyway, he is so close to really crawling, putting one hand in front of the other in coordination with one foot in front of the other. I'm certainly not rushing it, but it's coming for me ready or not. Also, he likes his toys, but what he really wants to play with is adult stuff, like, say, remote controls, phones, keys, shoes, and the like. Computers and cameras are really nice to lick and chew on. LOL

Crazy day

Today is crazy already. Paulina's car wouldn't start, so I had to bring Boo to her house. So I'm a little behind at work. I have a visitor at work waiting for me. I had to pump before I could get started with the meeting. Of course he was early since I am late. Oh well. Here we go.

Blessed

I am truly blessed. My life is peaceful. My child is healthy.

Stellan is doing better today. I was so worried yesterday.

The story about the mother in San Antonio who killed her baby really haunts me. I won't go into the horrible details. What bothers me the most is the life that was lost. I feel motivated to research what resources are available to mothers with postpartum depression. There is no way for all of these types of incidents to be avoided, but there has to be a way to reduce them. It is just not acceptable, not comprehensible to me that a mother kills her child. I remember after I gave birth and was sent home, there were no calls made to check on us or scheduled dr visits until 6 weeks pp. The hospital did call me at 6 weeks and I thought that was good, but is that enough? They asked questions geared to pp depression. My dr visit at 6 weeks pp asked questions. Is that enough? I'm not sure what could possibly help. There was the mother who killed her 18 month old. Was there a way to prevent that? Children are a precious gift. But they can try your patience and your nerves. And your mental health, at any age. And if you call CPS or the police and tell them you are having thoughts about hurting your child, what do they do? Do they take the child forever? For one week? Two? Will you ever see them again? If a mother has thoughts about hurting her child, do those thoughts go away? I just hurt for these children and the families. I wish there was more to do to help. Again, I am blessed to have a strong support system. If I ever needed help with Boo or a night off, all I would have to do is make a phone call. I just can't imagine the thought even crossing a mother's mind to hurt their child. I don't like being away from him at all.

I am blessed.

Praying

I am praying for Stellan hard today. Please join me. He has some heart problems, but he seemed to be getting better. I just can't imagine the pain this family is going through. I just pray that he makes it through the day and gets better.

http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

I am so grateful to have a healthy child.

Just checking in

I am making some tea and then off to try to get Boo to go to bed. I'm not sure if he is getting sick or just allergies. The cough and congestion is there, but not getting worse. He just has some cranky moments. It's like he just realized he can scream really loud. He has not been liking getting a diaper change. He did good with dinner and bath tonight. Ok I hear him crying upstairs with Nathan. Better go check. Good night.

Depressing Local News

Everything is fine with us. I just keep reading depressing local news. Every mother worries about what could happen to her baby. I think we all have nightmares and horrible thoughts about accidents. But these two events just break my heart. I try not to obsess about bad things, but I do read the news. A 25 year old mother in Houston shot and killed her 18 month old daughter, then killed herself. They were found by the woman's husband and child's father in the bathtub. The woman had some mental problems. A Jasper county citizen called police to inquire about a badly sunburned child. The police went to the home to check on the child and found a meth lab. The odors in the home were horrible and unbearable. The child was in the home. The child was removed from parents care. I pray that this child suffers no lasting effects from the exposure. I just don't understand how these people could do such horrible things to a child. I freak out over what accidents could happen. I certainly try my best to take good care of my child. I can't imagine my purposeful actions causing harm to my child. I am also blessed to have a good support system in family and friends that are always willing to help.

Busy Momma

I'm just at home taking care of Boo. He's sitting in my lap happy for the moment trying to get closer to the keyboard. Mya spent the night last night, so that's always fun. She's getting better at sharing her toys with Boo now that he is big enough to grab everything from her and actually play with her. And she loves to hold him and hug him. She wouldn't sleep on the couch, so she slept on our bed at our feet. Boo did good, only up one time. It's so hot outside here, so we stayed in for the most part except for a few minutes to blow bubbles outside. Nathan's parents came over, and I went to the grocery store and let them keep Boo for a little while. Kind of strange going to the store by myself. Mya is funny. Everytime she did something that got on my nerves or didn't listen to me, I would say, "I'm calling your Mommy." She would say, "I'm so sorry!" More like "So sh-orree!" with a sad look on her face. I couldn't help myself from saying stuff to her just to get her to say it. Ok Boo has had enough sitting. Time for bath, booby, and bedtime!

TGIT

For thank goodness it's Thursday... Friday for me. I'm glad that the weekend is coming. No big plans, so hopefully we will just hang out. Maybe clean the house. I hope Nathan will spend some time with Boo. They really missed each other while Nathan was gone. Boo was so happy to see his daddy. Normally I might be upset that Nathan walked through the door and smiled at Boo and grabbed him and didn't say a word to me, but it didn't bother me at all. Boo did good again last night, waking up once, and sleeping in his bed. I did sleep late again. Oh well.

All by ourselves

Me and Boo were all by ourselves last night. Nathan had to go to Houston for work. He will be back tonight. We missed him a lot. But we survived. Here are the things Nathan always does that I had to do:
Feed the cats.
Lock the doors and turn off outside lights.
Helps clean the kitchen and do dishes.
Helps pick up the house. (Ok so the house is a little messy today.)
Holds Boo while I have a few minutes here and there to myself.

I went to see my friends baby last night. She was so precious and sweet. Boo really wanted to touch her and he did grab her foot one time...

Things to talk about

I have a few things to share today.

First, we are not buying a new car right now. They didn't want to give us even close on what our car is worth for trade in. I'm ok with it really. We may consider selling it outright in a few weeks.

Boo is with Aunt Nicole today. Mya has a cold and was running fever. We don't want Boo to get sick. It's too hard to keep a 3 year olds hands to herself. Boo has a little cough and sniffle, but it's not a full blown cold...

I am really a reality tv junkie. I admit it. Lately, Boo will NOT take a nap unless I hold him. He just wakes up when I put him down. So I watch tv. I watched some of "Raising Sextuplets" the other day... C-Razy. 6 little kids. The mom ran a half marathon. They seem happy, but it must be a tough life. Also, the last "16 and Pregnant" was the saddest thing I've ever seen. They gave the baby up in an open adoption. I can't decide how I feel about it. They planned it out. The adoptive couple wanted a baby. The 16 year olds had a tough home life. So it seems like the best thing. But giving up your baby? I couldn't do it. 16 or 26. No way. Your body wants the baby close. My arms ache when Boo is not near. And going through labor and delivery is only tolerable when you get to bring home a baby. It was very moving to say the least.

Stayin home

We are staying home today. Boo has a little cough and snuffiness. I don't know if it will be a full blown cold or not, but I would rather not get all the babies at church sick. We had a nice night visiting with Nathan's family. They all came over just to see one little boy. Mom bought Boo the big giant expensive entertainer. He really likes it. I just couldn't see spending $100, and she really wanted him to have it. Me, Mom, Mya, and Boo went shopping yesterday. The kids were vey good. They have a bungee jumpy trampoline at the mall, and Mya loved that. I bought her some shoes. We walked, ate. I bought some make-up, two pair of pants, and two tops. Mom just had to buy the kids some Baby Gap clothes. They are super cute. Some of them are the next size up, so he won't wear them for a while, but it's nice to have plenty of clothes for when he does grow a little.

Too cute for words

Here is Chesley swimming with Aunt Nicole. He is wearing sunglasses from a Build a Bear teddy bear.

Here is Uncie Nathan blowing bubbles for Mya on the back deck. I was taking care of Chesley and just couldn't blow bubbles at that moment. She proceeded to throw a major fit. So Uncie Nathan blew bubbles. He's all tough on the outside and a big gooey mushey teddy bear on the inside.

If this doesn't brighten your day, I just don't know what will.

Car

We still haven't decided what to do about the car. I'm actually glad we are taking our time with the decision. Sometimes we are too impulsive. We bought the Charger on a whim. It was much more than what we wanted to spend. We bought our house after seeing it twice. So this time we will think it out. It's hard when you are upside down on a car note. I don't mind driving the Charger, but Nathan hates how rough it is for Boo.

I was running so late today. I slept late. Then I had to take Boo a little further this morning all the way to Paulina's house. Oh well. Today is quiet at work.

Lil Boo

Boo did good at his dr appt yesterday. He is 16 lbs. 4 oz. And 27” long. That’s 25% for weight and 69% for height. So he’s not the biggest kid on the block. That’s ok by us. I asked the dr lots of questions while he was checking out Boo. Most of these of affirmations of things I know, but I did learn some new things.

Boo doesn’t like to eat solids some days. Is that ok?
- Yes, most of his nutrition is from breastmilk/formula. Some cultures breastfeed till age 5 because there may not be enough food for the child to eat.
Is it ok to mix breastmilk directly with formula? Sometimes I don’t pump quite enough.
- Yes, that is fine.
Do I need to give him vitamins?
- No, he gets enough from breastmilk/formula. BM has less iron, but it is digested and absorbed better than the formula. We will test his iron levels at 9 months. Some kids need extra vitamin D, but mostly dark skinned children living in a cold climate where they do not get much sunlight.
- Me – Well, Boo is super white and it’s hot and sunny here, so we should be ok.
Does oragel really harden the gums?
- LOL, no. You can use it. You can try teething tablets, Tylenol and Motrin.
Is it normal for bug bites to cause big whelps?
- Yes, use hydrocortisone cream, let it dry, then antibiotic cream.

Some kids are crawling by 6 months and sitting up, but Boo has good strength, and he is very vocal and expressive.

So it was a good appt. He only cried for a few seconds after the shots. I was really worried about that.

Shots

Today Boo has to go to the dr for his check up and shots... I hate it. I really just want to walk out and not do it. Nathan is supposed to go with us. I was really feeling depressed and sorry for myself yesterday, so I didn't post. I promise it would have been dark and sad. Today I feel better. We had a nice evening but a hard night... like normal. Nathan woke up with us at 2 am and rocked Boo and tried to put him to sleep, but he is a major momma's boy. But it was nice that he got up. We gave him Tylenol at 3 am to ease teething pain. That will be one of my questions for the dr, what is the best thing to do? Teething tablets, tylenol, oragel? I've heard lots of different advice, so we'll get to hear what dr has to say.

Playin with kids

Mya finally gets to come over tonight. She has been breaking my heart every day wanting to come and stay the night. We all went to Target and bought too much stuff... Kids... Can't say no. And diapers.. so expensive. But I guess they are worth it. lol. So tonight should be fun.

Happy Half Birthday to Boo!

Today is Boo's Half Birthday! 6 months ago I was giving birth to the greatest joy in my life.

He slept a little better last night, from 8 pm to 3 am, which is a good stretch. I went to bed around 9:30, so I got a good amount of sleep. Then at 3 am, he wanted to talk... Fun... Then he slept from 4 am till 7 am. I did Tylenol again at bedtime. He didn't have an evening nap, so maybe if I get home earlier and he takes an evening nap, bedtime can be later and maybe he will sleep later. Maybe not.

Nathan is super obsessed with buying a car. I know it's easy to do. You start looking and comparing. There are endless combinations of options. I am thinking that it will be better all around. It just feels strange making such a big purchase when my goal right now is to cut expenses and save money. But this should help. I'm hoping he can test drive all the ones we like, and then when he narrows it down to two or three, me and Boo can come along, and we can actually put his carseat in the car. Right now we are thinking about the Toyota Rav4, Dodge Journey, and the Chevrolet Equinox. They're all in the same price range. I want a smooth ride, lower car payment, roomy enough for the car seat, and quality enough to last for 5 years. Does anyone own any of these? Suggestions?

New car

Nathan wants us to get a new car. At first I was completely against it, but now I'm leaning that way. Right now we have 3 vehicles, not counting the old car that makes 4. Nathan's truck is almost paid off. The Charger was expensive. The Volvo was cheap and gets good gas mileage. We got it for me to drive to work and not put a lot of miles on the Charger. If we trade in both cars and get one new car, we would save about $500 a month! In the long run, we would end up spending the same amount. The new car note would go longer, but I'm liking saving $500 a month. Plus the Charger rides really rough and Boo bounces around all over the place. And the Volvo is too small for all of us to fit comfortably. We don't think we could sell the Charger to an individual for a good price, so we almost have to trade it in to a dealership and get something new. My goal is to get something cheap but still nice and big enough for kids. It would be nice if we could just sell both cars and get something used, but I think we would get a better trade-in value from a dealer. It sounds crazy, but since the Charger was expensive, we still owe a lot, and people don't want to spend that much. So we will see what happens.

Boo did a little better last night, sleeping from 9 till 3 am, then up and down from there. I'm still tired, but not as much as yesterday.

One little tooth

I almost didn't believe my eyes! Boo has cut his first tooth, on the bottom. It's little and sharp. Maybe that is causing his crankiness. This is not to complain, only to chronicle the life and times of our little boy. I have come to realize that children do not always behave logically. Of course everybody knows this, but they forget sometimes. I am tired of getting advice that if I do "this", my baby will do "that". Example: if you nurse your baby before bedtime, he will sleep all night. Or: if you have a constant routine, he will sleep all night. Bah!! I think that he is going to do what he is going to do. I do try to have a routine, but it doesn't matter. I try to put him in his bed at night, but he always wakes up. This doesn't bother me as much as some people think. I am his mother. It's just my job to take care of him. Of course I would like to sleep more, but it's just not in the cards for now. Last night he was up and down all night. I couldn't even tell you when because it's all a blur. He nursed about 5-6 times before bedtime last night, about every hour. He didn't like his bottle at all yesterday and didn't drink much. So when I was home with him, he was hungry. Maybe it's the tooth, maybe it's just a baby being unpredictable. In any case, we'll deal with it

Another issue - leaving Boo to do something "fun". I just don't have any desire to go out without him. I bought concert tickets for August, and I don't think I want to go. I know that logically, I need a break. I need to do something for me, but I don't want to. I am away from my child a lot already just to work. I want to be with him as much as possible when I am not working. I have a hard time even going to the church service for one hour. I do want our marriage to survive having a baby, but right now, I don't want to leave him. This is another thing I am getting a lot of advice on. Maybe my behavior is like Boo's, unpredictable.

Back to work

So I'm back at work today and not too happy about it. I really enjoyed being at home with Boo. I am a homebody and I can go 2-3 days without walking out the door and not going stir-crazy. Even then a trip to mom's or to the store is enough. Nathan is on board with working towards simplifying our lives so I can stay at home, but it is going to take time, and I'm not so good with being patient. It's really too hot outside right now for him to get a lot done on the house, and most of the work that needs to be done is outside. I guess I thought it would get easier to go to work, but really, for me at least, every day is harder than the day before.

Boo has not been doing good with eating food lately. He is just not interested. We will keep offering it and seeing what he wants to do. He's doing ok at night. It takes 2-3 times putting him down for him to stay asleep for long. Then he sleeps a few hours, eats, then a few more.

I was watching 16 and Pregnant on MTV yesterday while Boo took a nap (a strange occurance). It is interesting to see what these girls go through with becoming a very young mother. They are still children themselves. They do have a lot of hardships. Motherhood is the same demands whether you are 16 or 26 or 46. The boys (dads) really don't do well from what I saw. It's so easy for the mother to do everything for the baby, and the dads don't have to do anything. It's funny how things are so much the same, no matter how old you are. The difference is that an older woman is not surprised by how things go. The 16 year old moms are shocked that the dads want to go party and don't want to wake up with babies and change diapers. I just hope the show gives a wake up call to teenagers, but it probably won't. I really love the movie Juno, also about teen pregnancy, but some of the things in the movie are not realistic. Adoption is great, but Juno makes it look so easy to give your baby up for adoption. A lot of teens may think they can give up the baby, but maternal instinct is strong. I think a lot of times they see the baby and don't want to give it up. Just my thoughts.

Just hangin out at the house

That's about all that's going on this week. It's still hot outside, so we are staying inside. Boo is a little cranky today, waking up every time I lay him down for a nap. We'll probably go to mom's house tonight and give her birthday present.