One Month Old!

Baby Thomas turned one month old last week.  I'm still surprised by how fast it's going.  It's kind of like the phrase that a lot of people said while I was serving as a missionary for my Church:  "the days are like weeks, and the weeks are like days."  The sentiment is that each individual day is long and grueling, but before you know it a week has passed and it feels like the blink of any eye, and you can't believe how much happened in such a short amount of time.  So at the same time, things seem to go on and on, yet it's slipping away quickly at the same time.  That's how I feel right now. :)

So as far as updates, not too much is different yet, but a few things that have been going on are these:
-Thomas sleeps consistently for about 5 hours per night, then wakes up frequently after that
-He nurses quite often during the day to make up for his long sleep at night
-He is going through a phase where he wants to be held more often.  He gets upset at being put down for too long.  It drives mommy a little crazy feeling so tethered to him, but wearing him a wrap helps.
-He is trying to lift his head up more and more; I can tell his neck muscles are getting stronger
-He still poops and farts ALL the time.  I don't know if I've ever seen a kid with so much going on in the digestive area.
-He is trying to look at us more.  I think his eyesight is getting better.  His eyes are still a grayish blue color.

Grant has been a challenge lately.  He is mostly ready to potty train, but refuses to sit on the potty.  He screams when I try to make him.  He has started immediately taking off his diaper any time he goes to the bathroom.  It was so funny (NOT) when he did it while I had visitors last week.  He has also been doing this during naptime, when he seems to conveniently save up his poops, then take off his diaper and get poop everywhere.  I am trying to work on a plan to get him more potty trained but it is a difficult because my hands are literally full with a newborn and nursing all the time.

However some cute things Grant has been doing make up for all of that.  He has grown quite complimentary.  He noticed when we changed Thomas' onesie the other day and said, "cool shirt!"  He saw James wearing a hat the other day and said, "Nice hat, daddy!"  He also says please ("pweeeaaase!") and thank you ("tank oo, mama!" regularly and also "welcome, mama!"  He will say "bless you" and "'scuse you" at the right times, too.  He's been doing that for quite a while, but I thought I'd mention it.  He will also prompt us if we forget to say one of these things in the appropriate social context, as well.  Funny kid.

James has been working a lot the past two weeks and will next week too.  Last week he worked 70 something hours.  This happens every few months when quarterly reports are due.  It is really not fun for us, but it's a necessary evil.  It will be nice when we get our daddy back.

As usual, here are a few pictures:

 Movie night last weekend.  Grant likes to hold Thomas, but only for a little while.  Then he's over it.

 It's finally cool enough to play outside.  Grant is liking the backyard more and more and is getting braver about going out there by himself since usually I am busy with Thomas inside.

 We went to a pumpkin patch last weekend.  Grant liked the little pumpkins the best.

 Grant and his cousin Eli.  This was the most fantastic picture we could get of them together. ;)

 First pic as a family of FOUR.  I can't believe it.

 Grant looking snazzy in some hand-me-downs for Church.

 Thomas' first Sunday at Church.  He did pretty good.  He slept most of the time which made it a lot easier.

 Grant holding Thomas.  Thomas not so excited about it.

Giving him kisses.

He is a good big brother.

 I got some Halloween cookies a few weeks ago and they had purple tinted sprinkes which turned Grant's teeth purple, haha.  They were in the shape of spider webs. and he kept asking me for "spider webs" every chance he got.  He still has not forgotten about the "spider webs," and still asks for them.

Thomas all bundled up.  He really likes to be swaddled and it helps him to stay calm.

And to conclude...here is a funny video we took of Grant last weekend, dancing to "Lean like a Cholo," haha.  It was soooo funny.

Pinterest Challenge!

I was inspired by a friend who recently created and completed her own "Pinterest Challenge."  Basically, you commit to complete one project that you have found on Pinterest every day for 30 days.  For those who don't know, Pinterest is "a virtual pinboard...that lets you organize and share beautiful things you find on the web...used to plan weddings, decorate homes, and organize favorite recipes."

I was impressed by all the projects that she accomplished, so I took a look at my pinboards and got started. Here is a little about what I did during the first week.

{I just realized my last blog post said that I never have time to clean, yet somehow I found time to do these...each one honestly didn't take very long, and it helped me feel like I "accomplished" something during the day, so take that for what it's worth!  haha}

Day 1:  Pretty Makeup Brush Holder

This was an easy one.  I already had this leftover from a centerpiece and I have had no idea what to do with it, because I had taken the flowers out to use for something else.

So all I did was tie a ribbon around it, and stuck my makeup brushes in there.  Super easy and looks cute in my bathroom. :)

Original Pin:  (the link is bad, so here is just the picture)

My results:

Day 2:  Food coloring ice cubes for the bath

Original Pin (another bad link, so it's just the picture):

Our results:  Fun bathtime!  They melted pretty quickly, but Grant thought it was fun.  He was disappointed when they were all gone, lol.

Day 3: Blog Article: "Advice for second time moms to be"

It talks about transitioning from one kid to two.  

Some things I tried that the article suggested:

-Go hands free:  I tried out the Moby wrap for the first time and it REALLY seemed to help the fussiness and enabled me to do other things and not feel so tied down to a crying baby.  I'm definitely going to continue using it.

-Involve your first child:  he's been getting me diapers and I loved the hint about reading to him while i'm nursing the little one so he feels involved and it's good multitasking.  :)

I'm so glad a friend of mine pinned this!

Day 4:  Manual Binder

This was a really helpful idea.  You Put all your manuals into a binder, to keep all in one place:  

My results:

 I really like this one!  I already had the binder and page protectors, so it was easy to just throw stuff in there.  It cleared out a lot of space in my kitchen cabinets since most of the manuals are from appliances, etc., that are in the kitchen.  Great idea!  I still need to go through some of our electronics stuff to gather that stuff together, but so far I already have lots more space. :)

Day 5:  30 minute rolls

My results:

Mine definitely are a lot uglier than the blog!  I found that the dough was very sticky, even though I followed the recipe exactly, I couldn't really get it to form into balls, so I basically just dropped it in the pan.  Maybe I should have added more flour or something.

Anyway, they tasted pretty good.  They weren't amazing or anything, but for only taking 30 minutes it was worth it to have rolls with dinner.  They were more dense than I would think a roll should be.  But I'll still keep this recipe on hand for times when I want some bread with dinner in a hurry.

Day 6:  Organizing laundry room

One of the tips I did was to get a 3 bin organizer for separating laundry, since I'm bound to have more of it now.

My results:

I don't have a pic, but I found a much cheaper version of this at Walmart for $10.  It was easy to set up and I think it will work great!  So far I'm using one bag, for baby clothes, one for towels/blankets, and one for whites, since those are the loads I do most frequently.

This site actually has quite a bit of good tips for organizing if you click through them.  I would like to do more, but I'll have to get to it another time.

Day 7:  Emergency kits for kids/babies

My kit for my newborn:

We have family emergency kits, and I already had stuff for my toddler, although at another time I want to add more of the things on this list.

Since I just had a baby, I needed to add another bag for him.  I didn't have everything on the list, but I just put together what I had, and I'll add more later.  I like how the site gives you quantities.  I included: 20 diapers, travel container of baby wipes, small bottle of baby wash, wash cloths, burp cloths, baby blanket, a onesie and sleeper, a bottle with formula (even though I exclusively breastfeed, you never know what will happen), 6 bottles of water, and a flashlight.

Stay tuned for Week 2!

We have survived 3 weeks!

Thomas is now 3 weeks old and I'm happy to say we've survived being on our own for a little while now.  It was very scary for me to be in charge of two babies by myself all day and it has been challenging, but not as hard as I thought.

Having two kids, especially with one as a newborn, is MUCH busier than it was with just one toddler.  Grant could take care of a lot of his own needs and entertain himself a lot.  Now he is a little more clingy and it's hard to get him to not yell and poke the baby and wake him up.  He also has been extra stubborn with what his eating habits (which has been an ongoing struggle anyway), so that has taken a lot of my mental energy.  Thomas has gotten a little more clingy, too, wanting to be held a lot.  I've been using wraps and slings to carry him around for part of the day so that I can still do things while keeping him close and happy.

Basically I go back and forth between them a lot and the hardest times are when they both need something, and both end up crying LOUDLY at the same time.  Sometimes I cry too, haha.  There are also MANY more diaper changes with Thomas now.  This kid poops a lot!  Literally almost every single diaper has poop in it.  They aren't huge or overly stinky, but still- it gets old.  I can't wait to potty train Grant, but he's still not showing enough interest for me to think he's ready.  Hopefully not too much longer, though.

My house is always messy.  I am back to being able to get the dishes done every day, and maybe ONE other thing (load of laundry, clean one toilet, etc.), but that's it.  I had gotten into a really good cleaning schedule before Thomas was born and I wonder if I'll ever get there again.  So...if you want to feel better about your own messy house, just come over to mine and you won't feel so bad anymore. ;)  It's a public service that I provide, raising the self esteem of others everywhere.

So my life is pretty exciting, isn't it?!

Luckily, I have these two cuties who keep me laughing and fill my heart up with love and fulfillment.  I wouldn't trade them or this life for anything.

Now for some pics.  I realize Grant never has pants on in any of the pics.  A lot of times he just runs away after I change his diaper before we can get them back on.  In these pics, it was right after his bath. :)

Thomas' first bath

Staring me down...

After his 2 week checkup.  He gained back his birthweight.

I think his eyes may be blue, but it is hard to tell.  Guess we will wait and see.

Grant is obsessed with these pumpkins.  They came on a strand of lights that I got for decoration, but he pulled them all off.  He took one with him to cuddle with in bed last night.

So grown up...big brother!

Daddy and his boys!

Grant decided he wanted to go on a trip.  He has been dragging this suitcase around everywhere last night and this morning.

My little snuggler.  He is so precious.

Video of Grant and Thomas

Here's a little clip of Grant interacting with Thomas. His favorite thing to say is "he's awake! he's awake!" over and over again. Also, whenever Thomas' arm or leg touches Grant, Grant SCREAMS and laughs because it tickles him. Then usually he runs away. It's pretty funny.

One Week Old

Thomas is now a week old!  Time is already flying.  It feels like it has been one really long day.  The cycle of feeding and changing him makes every day feel the same and almost makes me lose track of what day it is.  My mom came for a few days to help us out and that made things a lot easier, especially with keeping Grant entertained.  And many thanks to our church family who kept us well supplied with meals during this first week.  A lot of people think that bringing neighbors and friends meals in this day and age is unnecessary with fast food, delivery, and frozen meals so easily accessible.  But it is something that I really appreciate.  It is one less thing that you have to think about and often you get to try something different from your ordinary meal rotation, and is usually much healthier compared to whatever takeout you might have gotten.  Plus, it is just nice to know that others care about your family and they get to meet the new baby when they come by.  So thanks again to everyone who thought about us!

We took Thomas to the doctor yesterday and he weighed 6lbs 11oz, so he has almost gained back to his birthweight which is great.  He has a bit of jaundice but nothing to be too concerned about.  We just need to make sure he eats regularly and gets some natural light each day.

So far, things with Thomas have been going really great and there have been several pretty big difference between the newborn experiences of Grant and Thomas.  I want to outline some of them so I can remember what it was like.

1.  Sleeping!  Thomas has been a much better sleeper than Grant so far.  Every night since birth he's had one block of sleep that is 3-6 hours long during the night, then will wake up about every 2 hours after that.  I could not believe it!  That makes such a HUGE difference being able to get 4 or so hours of uninterrupted sleep per night.  With Grant, he woke up every 2 hours to eat like CLOCKWORK.  It was beyond exhausting.  And Grant would also stay awake and fuss or cry for a while at night, too, and often would only sleep if one of us was holding him.  So far Thomas hasn't done either of those things.  So I've really been enjoying having Thomas sleep on his own in the bouncer or in the Rock and Play sleeper that my brother is letting us borrow.

2.  Eating!  Thomas overall nurses pretty well, but he does have a little trouble latching sometimes.  It just takes him a little while, but once he gets it, he gets it.  Overall I think Grant picked up nursing a little easier/faster, but we've still had a good experience with Thomas because I know a lot better what I'm doing this time around.  I thought I would experience less soreness, but it's about the same.  I guess it still takes some getting used to with each baby.  Thomas also seems to eat a little bit slower since he's always so sleepy, so our feedings take a bit longer.  Sometimes we will sit there for about an hour, or we'll have one 20 minute session, take a break, and then have another 20 minute session shortly thereafter.  Grant pretty much just took 20 minutes and that's it.

3.  Alertness! Overall Thomas is much sleepier and less alert than Grant was.  Grant was constantly moving his arms and legs around, would never stay swaddled, and was awake and alert quite a bit.  Thomas seems more calm and laid back.  Today was the first day where Thomas was pretty fussy for part of the day, so who knows if that will change in the long term.

4.  My recovery...so far it has been a million times better than with Grant.  I think my pre-eclampsia had progressed further the first time around before I had Grant, so my body had a harder time recovering.  The next day after having Thomas, I felt really yucky and swollen and in pain, but every day after that I have felt better and better.  It's still not a walk in the park but I can't even explain how great it is to see improvement each day.  With Grant, it felt like I kept feeling the crappiness of the first day went on for several weeks without much change.  I'm so happy things are better this time!

And now for some pictures...

Sleeping in daddy's arms

Meeting Nana

Sleeping and dreaming in his bouncer

Meeting Granny and Grandpa

Meeting Aunt Susan

Finally getting to see more of his eyes

I love how innocent and sweet he looks when he peeks his little eyes open

Snoozing away

Grant laying next to Thomas.  Whenever Thomas touches Grant with his arms or legs, Grant screams and says "it tickles!" and then usually runs away.  It's funny.

Finally getting some awake time!