Grandma Meets Baby

So, my mom flew home Sunday night, and baby's first night in his own room went very well, the second night not so well, and the third night so-so. The first night, he slept at least 4 hours straight for the first time ever, and I only got up twice all night. I don't know how they do it, but babies can smell mamas and they just don't sleep as well near them.

Watching both of my boys solo is going just fine. For the last couple of days though, the baby had been saving up his poop. He finally pooped this morning. My son, learning about poop and pee, was as usual interested in "helping" me change the diaper. But, because there was so much yellow, he gagged, and puked 5 times. Then, he puked a 6th time from looking at his own puke which was all over the place. We shouldn't have had such a big breakfast. All I can say is he has his father's stomach. He probably understands better now why daddy gags and pukes when his diaper is being changed.

Here are the promised photos from my mom's visit:

Grandma Linda was very excited when she came to Alaska to play with our son and also to meet the baby. She is being silly here!

Things stayed pretty normal around here. More house projects were executed, like reversing the swing on the bathroom door. Btw, as I type, there is hammering upstairs as the boys reset closet doors that were not hung right when we built the house. It never ends when you're a homeowner and want things to stay nice.

But, we tried some new activities too, like making sugar cookies with baby-sized cookie cutters.

And bringing a one-month old baby to the World Ice Festival or whatever they call the big shabang.

We rode on a train /sleigh pulled by 4-wheeler.

And slid down ice . . . about 20 times

The baby had his first bottle of breast-milk.

We did toddler gymnastics one day and visited an indoor playground another.

We sewed a flat pillow for the toddler, a skirt, made bean bags, and

spent another afternoon making sock puppets for my son's two year birthday party.

We made a turkey with some really fancy stuffing.

We met a new cousin, who's now almost one year old.

And we went ice skating again (this is an in-the-car-shot).

He grumpily made decorations for (his) birthday party.

The baby kept growing bigger and bigger.

And then we partied.

And after it all, we took a nap or two.

Sleep Deprivation

I'm not sure whether or not I'll get more sleep or less sleep after my mom goes home to Minnesota. The baby still does not sleep more than two hours at night and to top it off it seems like he becomes more fussy every day that goes by these last couple of weeks. Well, sometimes he'll sleep three hours if I'm really lucky, but mostly two and sometimes just one. A couple of friends have explained to me that their mothers or mother-in-laws, when they visit, will offer to take the baby all night long, claiming that they can rest when they get home and the mother can't. I even know of a grand-mother of two babies under one year who will watch the grandkids by herself for a whole weekend. What a luxury for those parents! However, because my mom lives so far away, our visits are more like vacations. We do a lot together and take a lot of photos during them, so I think they are actually a bit more exhausting for me than life normally is.

Lets do a replay of last night or any night:

7:30 Begin toddler's bedtime process, baby is colicky at this time also

8:30 Leave toddler in his bed, baby starts to relax and get sleepy

9:30 Toddler sleeps after leading him back to his bed about 10 times in the past hour

10:00 Mommy lies down

10:30 Mommy sleeps

11:30 Baby wakes (change, feed, burp, swaddle, sleep--takes about 20 - 40min)

12:30 Daddy comes to bed, mommy usually wakes

1:30 Baby wakes (change, feed, burp, swaddle, sleep)

1:45 Mom falls asleep but baby cries, reinsert pacifier

2:30 Baby sleeps after having rocked and reinserted pacifier several times

3:30 Baby wakes (change, feed, burp, swaddle, sleep--takes about 20 - 40min)

5:30 A repeat of what happened from 1:30-2:30

6:00 Toddler wakes, someone brings him warm milk in a sippy cup to entice him to sleep 1 hour more

6:30 Toddler wants to go downstairs and play

7:00 Baby wakes (change, feed, up for good)

So, at night I started thinking . . . I bet I get out of bed 30 times during the night. Last night I counted: 20 times. I feel okay this morning. I think the nights during which I get up 30 times are the nights when I am almost in tears in the morning, put the crying baby on my husband's side of the king bed, insert earplugs, and try to sleep, unsuccessfully. Anyway, we put our first son in his own room at 6 weeks. My mom leaves tonight, so we'll try to put the baby in his own room tonight, at 7 weeks old. When my dad comes to visit, we'll have to move the baby back to ours. But, I not sure with this baby whether moving him will make the nights more or less sleepless.

Alright, posting photos of my mom's visit is going to take more time. I apologize, but you're going to have to check back later for those. Beleive it or not, tomorrow (Day 1 of Week 8) is the first day that I will watch both of my children for the entire day all by myself. I'm not sure how this has been post-poned for so long, but I guess we have all of our visitors and babysitters play dates staggered just right. I'm kind of excited to see how I and the boys do together. I think we will do just fine.

Oh My, How Time Flies: Week 6

My sweet baby is 6 weeks old today! He was 8lb 13oz at 1 month, 3lbs more than at birth! And he is much chubbier today. He's already outgrown a Huggies Diaper box full of clothes. And speaking of Huggies, I kept track at first and he used 7 packs of diapers in 4 weeks, which is more than 10 diapers per day. Talk about a jump start on a carbon footprint, eh? Just think, the first about 3 years of everyone's urine is trapped in diapers in landfills.

I'm having trouble finding time to blog or facebook or even send an adequate email. I hope this doesn't have to come to an end. But, things will just get busier once my extra hands are gone for good.

My mom has been here for a week already, and she's been a great help! We've done so much, I don't even know where to start. I know we've had fun and stayed busy, but in my mind it's all a blur. I'll try to post the highlights later, maybe after I get some sleep and can think more clearly!

Hittin' the Ice

Alright, now for some real fun! It's been unseasonably warm for over a week now: temps between 10 and 45 F. We had to bump up our outdoor activities a notch. My husband upgraded his skis and took a couple of trips down the river. And I dusted off my skates and hit the rinks.

Until last week, I'd only walked around the track at the Big Dipper Ice Arena with other moms and kids. It's boring; even my son threw a fit when I'd drag him along on these "play dates." Being on the ice is a whole 'nother ball game. Cold air in your face, loud music, kids playing around you. You can look up at the ceiling and see yourself skating in the mirrors. It was tough to skate backward with all of the kids in my way, and after a while I became so dizzy from going in circles that I had to quit and go eat a burger. But, baby came along for a nap in the stands to cheer me on.

Not old enough to skate (or rather feet too thick to fit into conventional skates), he preferred to pull rather than ride in his sled on the ice track. But, he sucked it up and rode in the sled while our friend Sadie pulled him.

This time we became even more hungry and had to hit Quiznos. This is where we learned our son is old enough finally to be bribed. He ate his sandwich like a champion after being promised he could play with a gadget if he did so. Thanks, Sadie!

We spent a considerable amount of time recently playing with our neighbors. They live about 10 minutes away, so it's easy to do things spur of the moment. During one of our playdates, we spent 2 hours playing on the river. Again, we were overdressed for the awesome temps! Anyway, the kids insisted on walking or pulling the sleds instead of being pulled. We made snow angels, threw snow balls, pointed out dogs and airplanes and had a few laughs. It was a great day!

Winter House Projects

Despite the inherent lack of sleep we've had, things have improved. The baby is finally sleeping slightly longer: sometimes almost 3 hours instead of 1-2. Also, he's pooping less at night, which means we don't have to bathe him in our master bath sink every hour or so to prevent the acidic breast-milk poop from eating his little butt away. This is nice! It creates more time for other things, like house projects. Man, the boys sure had a lot of fun working with tools around the house. Look! Our washer wouldn't drain because it sucked a baby washcloth into the pump! Now that's some strong suction!

1 Month Down

Daddy's maternity leave is over today. He's used up almost all of his sick time, so it's time to head back to the office (or the salt mine as he and I fondly call the local oil refinery where we met 5 years ago as shift-workers). He and I have had a great, sleepless month with our two boys, now 1 month old and 23 months old. I cannot believe it has been one month already. Our youngest has already grown out of clothes. He's bursting out of the newborn (5-8lb) ones, but I refuse to retire them until my mom arrives in a couple of days and can see him in them. We'll see how much he weighs at his 1 month appointment, tomorrow. Our oldest just went through a growth spurt as well. They grow up too quickly.

Heat Wave

Yesterday, it was just warm enough (+17) and I had enough energy that I had a craving to take out my skis. My cutoff for outdoor activity is around +10, so there aren't many days during a period of 5 months that I am willing to go out and play. My husband strapped on some snowshoes and packed me a trail down to the river, which is already hard-packed from snow-machine, skijor, and dog-sled activity. He also did a little skate skiing. Then, we took the dog and our older son out to play. We stayed out for quite a while, until our hands (and paws) got cold and we were exhausted from all of the fresh air.

Making trail through the front yard toward the river (as seen from master bedroom)

A pug enjoying the winter highway on the Chena River

Kid's still smiling after he had a double roll-over on the sled

Can't wait to try out the new swing set this spring!

Back on Track

Just to prove to you that life is not all fun and games for us up in Fairbanks, I'm here to tell you that we were a little out of sync a couple of days ago. From time to time, it happens. With our first son's birth, it happened during week 2. This birth, it happened during week 3. It happens when my husband and I will both feel extremely tired on the exact same day. This results in my husband incorporating cuss words into his vocabulary, both of us hurting each others' feelings throughout the day, and me bursting into tears at some point for no good reason. It's rare, but it happens. Our older son caught on too and decided to catch his first stomach bug later that day. Cleaning up after him at the same time we were giving our younger son butt-baths every 1-2 hours really pulled us back together, and after about 24 hours things were back to normal.

In fact, the next day ended quite well. Grandma Gigi gave our older son a bath and put him to bed. Meanwhile, we cleaned the house and put away laundry. My husband grocery shopped, and I plucked my eyebrows and revived my retainer, which I'm happy to report still fits after neglecting it for the 6 months I was pregnant and feeling sick. And I was in my bed by 9:30. It was a great Friday night! You know you're getting old when a babysitter, a stocked fridge, clean house, and early bedtime make for a good Friday night.

Unfortunately, Grandma Gigi is going to Anchorage a week early for a job interview. However, we've appreciated the moments she's helped around the house and she's taken our son out to play. And I still have my husband, my best helper, for one more week! And in 2 weeks, Grandma Linda comes to help and play! Life is good.

Growing Like a Weed: Week 3

The baby is beginning his 3rd week of life already! He's really starting to plump up nicely. I'm tempted to bring him to the public health clinic to get a free weight check because his next regular appointment is not until he's one month old. However, his cheeks are more chubby, belly is much more round, he still sleeps great (especially with mom), and he still does not cry unless you undress him. And then, still, he is pretty good. He seems perfectly healthy, and I know he must be close to 7 pounds already (left the hospital at 5lb 4oz), so I'll avoid the waiting room for today and just enjoy him at home.

I've been lounging around a lot, trying not to "overdo it." The only place I've gone (pretty much) besides the 4 baby check-ups I had during baby's 1st week of life is a 1 year olds birthday party at Kaleidoscope Billiards (fun!). There were a lot of cars to drive, cheetos, pizza, juice and ice cream cake to eat. Anyway, this means I wear sweatpants and baggy shirts all of the time. I think I need to spruce up my supply of sweatpants, so a trip to Old Navy is probably in order soon. I also need to go to a craft store and buy some supplies to make my son a flat pillow. Every night when I sneak in to peek at him, he's resting his head on the door of his car bed instead of on the mattress. But, I probably won't do either because if I leave the baby at home, he'll be hungry for my milk, and I don't like hauling him around on unnecessary trips when he's so little. The life of the breast-feeding mother begins once again. Thank goodness for Medela.

My mother-in-law is here to visit for a couple of weeks. I think it's been about a year since she's stayed with us, so she's having quite a fun time taking photos of the boys. Yesterday, she brought our older son to Gymnastics, Inc., where he unsurprisingly hogged the red car with the door that opens and closes like a real car. She has video footage of a girl stealing the car from him, and he was quite a polite little guy throughout the situation. I'm proud of my sweet boy . . . even if he does throw the occasional screaming fit! He's almost 2. What can you do? Anyway, they plan to go to Bonkers Indoor Playground, Barnes and Noble story time (more like to play with the giant train set they have), and 2 year old story time at the library (which also equates to toys . . . and fish . . . hamsters). It's nice to have family come and help out!

Meanwhile, my husband's been chipping away at my and his lists. It's pretty nice. We have 2 giant televisions, which have pretty much served as decoration until yesterday; we now have 8 local channels! I don't imagine I'll be watching much other than Sesame Street. Also, he dusted the fan on the 15 foot ceiling (gross). Installed programmable t-stats upstairs. And a ton of other things . . . today he'll do a few upgrades on some plumbing. This is in addition to doing the brunt of the cooking and cleaning. I've been somewhat productive myself. I've managed to do a little of the baby's cross-stitch that I plan to hang on his wall, finish one of the 7 books I've started, and also keep up with the laundry.

Well, it's time to move this sleeping baby off of my lap, load up the woodstove, and get a bite to eat.

As you can see for yourself, the big brother is doing great and still loves, loves, loves "his baby." He also loves having his gigi around . . . and her tuna fish sandwiches (see his shirt)!

3 Boys and Mum-mum

How could you not just love these 3 boys to death?

The one on the right is surprisingly good. He's a grunter, not a crier. And he eats and poops every 2 hours like clock-work, which keeps mom and dad on track. The one in the middle is a talker. He repeats words continuously and loudly until you repeat them back to him. He's a bundle of energy who wears everyone out, but he's a joy. And the one on the left is a life-saver. He takes care of all 3 (and the dog). And the family is a lot of work! He goes back to work in two weeks, which is sad for everyone.

Here is "mum-mum" and her little angel. Mum-mum is recovering nicely from the delivery, but is still tired due to the 'round the clock feedings and diaper-changes. Some days are good and some days are bad. Yesterday was a good day, but she overdid it riding tricycles around the house with the almost-2-year-old, so today is a bad day. A nap is probably in order. And mom and dad are looking forward to tomorrow when grandpa will take the almost-2-year-old for the day!!! Mum-mum is thankful for the help because she is definitely not up to taking care of both boys by herself. Perhaps if the older one had the laid-back personality of the younger one. But, that's never been the case.

Helping daddy grind coffee beans

Getting dressed to go spin in circles on the sled

Brotherly love . . . lots of kisses to the head

And to top off the goodness, mommy teared up when the boys surprised her with the full-treatment :)

Nikolai

Niko Gregory was born Sunday night and we were home Tuesday. It wasn't until the last hour at the hospital that I actually read some of the information in the hospital packet and realized . . . there was an upgrade from my last stay there: WIFI. So, I could've been on here while I was sitting around the hospital waiting to come home. But, since I've been home, I have just been spending time with my two sons, my husband, and my dog. It's not often we get to spend this much time together. And there is only another week to go before our live-in guests start arriving. First my mother-in-law from Anchorage, then my mother and then my father from Minnesota.

I think I may have brought someone else's baby home from the hospital. This baby is the sweetest thing on earth. He doesn't cry unless you undress him and make him cold. He barely fusses to poop. He sleeps day and night. And he has almost black hair. Gosh, I love him to death and am enjoying every second of him, so I sure hope I just lucked out and he is mine to keep.

Inspired

Just when I thought this blog was really heading downhill, I get three positive comments in one day. I've thought that my posts are scattered because I just don't have enough going on to write a lot about one topic. But, maybe people like the random thoughts. Feel free to comment on the blog! I mostly do this for personal entertainment, but nice words (or bad) are always inspiring.

Well, I am happy to report that a major project is almost finished . . . or has just begun. It depends how you look at it. In December, I spent a couple of weeks worth of nap times going through digital photos from 2006-2009. I managed to reduce the number of files from probably 15,000 to about 8,000. Once you get around to flipping them the right way, you see that a lot of them are blurry-faced or taken of the floor or you have 2 photos that are identical. It's easy to pick the ones that are crap and toss them. But, it is a frustrating process. We have 3 digital cameras, and since we spend a lot of time with my parents that adds 2 - 3 more. Organizing the combination of file names and dates is a nightmare. Needless to say, they're now all organized in folders by date and topic and fit into 8GB. Yesterday and today, I spent quite a bit of time going through these 8,000 files and choosing ones to print in these categories: House building & yard projects, My son's life in 2 years, Adventures in Minnesota, Mike and Sarah favorites, Inappropriate Baby Book Photos, and some other pretty ones that I would consider blowing up and putting on my wall if they look good in 4x6 (the test).

The reason I say the project may have just begun is because if there are some that I am happy with in 4x6, I'd like to spend the money and make some nice prints for the house. There is this great website called Mpix.com where you can order prints on canvas gallery wraps or standouts. However, it can get spendy if you want them large, which I do. Also, on snapfish and shutterfly, you can do some neat things with photo albums. The possibilities are endless.

Great Day

First off, I was able to sleep in this morning. My husband has arranged this with his boss . . . that on the days I have to watch my son my husband can go into work late so I can sleep in. It's nice to have a boss who has kids and understands what we're going through.

Today, the 21st, my husband predicted the baby would be born. He disagrees with me and says he meant next Thursday . . . but I know what I heard. Another person predicted Jan 12. I'm glad it wasn't then. Anyway, I had 6-8 hours of contractions last night. 4-5 minutes apart, but they weren't too painful and even though I've had them throughout the day also, I've chalked them up to Braxton Hicks contractions. I guess these fake contractions can be quite intense in second pregnancies. I didn't have to deal with the intermittent contractions last time. My water broke, I went in, and had the baby a few hours later. Even though it was new, I felt sort of a calm feeling throughout them last night. I just relaxed in my bed, knowing there is a great hospital with great people just 10 minutes away. I don't think I would feel so great if I were in rural Minnesota!

I got a message from a friend that her husband had a free DVD player for us. My husband gave away our bedroom TV and DVD player to a friend whose ex-wife took literally everything from his house. In place bought a friend's TV because they moved to Europe and couldn't use it there, which was quite the upgrade from what we had before. But, without TV reception, our lack of desire to purchase satellite, and without a DVD player we haven't used the TV yet . . . and it's been almost a year! Now, I can enjoy a movie in my brand new bedding.

I also received a wonderful email from a professor in Anchorage who appointing himself my graduate advisor. It is actually going to work. These courses that I started out taking for fun and to keep my mind busy during the boring winter months are going to amount to a Master's degree. I only have 3 courses left and I have a plan for 2 of the 3 of them. It's amazing how supportive people are when you tell them you've chosen to stay home to raise your children.

We have a birthday party coming up for the son of my husband's friend from college. It has been one of my goals to make new friends. This is a step in that direction because there will be all new people there. I have some good friends, don't get me wrong, but I need to make more friends with kids . . . preferably friends with more than one kid or friends that stay-at-home and friends that are reliable. This will provide for more play dates, which'll pass the days more easily.

And, to top it off, tonight my friend from college is making me meatloaf, her mom's recipe. She is just starting to try out recipes and in my opinion is a great cook. So, I will be able to relax and chat with her and work on my cross-stitch kid-free.

And not just to top it off but the icing on the cake. We're going to Argentina in 2013 . . . for an entire month! Can you say Aconcagua?

Random Lists

My to do list last week:

1) Don't expel baby for 2 more weeks (so I'm 1/2 way there--to Jan 25)

2) Eat

3) Sleep

4) Don't freak out

Outgrown coats in order:

1) Mountain hardware fleece

2) Marmot down

3) North Face down

4) Columbia white

5) Columbia blue

6) Carhart

7) A loaner from my grandmother-in-law. It's hideous (on me), so I'm going to try to have the baby before I can't zip the Carhart anymore

Favorite words my son says:

1) Mum-mum for mama

2) Jew for juice

3) Dithe for ice

4) Hee for hair

5) Uck (+ whiney face) for stuck

Nesting List:

1) Vacuum living room and put up my son's tent

2) Install infant seat in my car

3) Put sheets on crib

4) Organize a few more closets

5) Finish cross-stitch for baby’s room and frame it

6) Bring dog to town to be bathed and clipped