From pregnancy to birth and beyond!

Goodness where do I start?

2011-11-30T20:18:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone! I know it's been so long since I posted, but I can hardly find any time to get on the computer. Almost all my communication these days is via Facebooking from my phone!

Let's see...My dad recently had to have a pacemaker put in. It was a very scary time for me (as well as him and the rest of my family!) but he's doing great now. My dad has always seemed invincible, to me and those days/weeks were pretty stressful. I love you Daddy and I'm so happy you're doing so much better!

My teen son is still unemployed but I'm not letting it get to me. He's been super helpful the past week and I'm grateful that he's been staying home to help out with things.Hubby is still working, yay :)

Nathan. Oh boy. Nathan.

We can't have chairs around our dining room table anymore because he climbs up them and onto the table. We can't even have his highchair set up anymore unless it's mealtime. I can't have a chair in front of the computer desk or he'll stand on it and smack the keyboard, turn the monitor around and click and scroll the mouse constantly. I have a gazillion duplicate files and folders on my desktop with strange names like ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]vcfgty67]]]]]]]]]]]]6 7 and ___B B_ v=3ewsdd# and a .jpg named +31286254174445204. *rolls eyes* We've also taken away his little ride-on cars because he's learned to push them into the kitchen, stand on them and proceed to play with the stove burners. We don't use the front 2 burners anymore because he loves to reach up to them. I can't sit down and watch tv anymore because he's discovered where the power buttons are for the tv and the cable box. So I'll be in the middle of watching Ellen and bam, he turns it off. I've learned to just record the shows I want to watch and watch them after he's gone to bed.

BUT, I'm proud of him for his development and curiosity. He's so wonderful! He's talking now, saying things that are appropriate to the situation. He'll say "all done" when he's done eating or when he doesn't want to do something anymore (mainly baths, he's not fond of bathing anymore but being good parents, we still do it ;) ) He also says "no" when he means it and will point at something and grunt when he wants it. He even brought his sippy cup to me in the kitchen earlier because it was empty and he wanted more water.He has 12 teeth and I think his canines are coming in. We've been teaching him how to brush and he does okay. His last checkup (2 weeks ago) he weighed 25 pounds. I think he was 32" tall. He's around the 75% for his height and weight.

I'm doing okay. My doctor upped my depression/anxiety medication and my anxiety is nearly gone but I've noticed that I don't get quite as excited about things anymore. I'm just kind of going along at a level pace. I'm not terribly happy about it (ha, get it? nevermind, haha) but I'd rather have a subdued mental state than a panicky one. I think anyway. We'll see how it goes over the next few months.

I'll try to post more sometime soon. I hope everyone is well, and Erin, I'm with you on the terrible twos at 18 months old! :)

Too long!

2011-10-03T16:39:00.000-04:00

Wow has it really been that long since I posted? I've been using Facebook a lot lately so you can find me there if you're curious about what we've been up to :)Things are going good here. Nathan is starting to talk a little. He can say "uh oh" and "bye bye". He knows where his belly, nose and mouth are if you ask him to show you. He's overdue for a checkup so I'll be making an appointment with the doctor soon.My diet is on hold for now. I hope to start up again soon.Hope everyone is well and Erin, I've got you in my thoughts and hope you have a smooth labor and delivery of Riley! :)

We're doing fine

2011-08-30T12:40:00.000-04:00

Sorry it's been so long. We've been busy lately. Went to the Toronto Fan Expo on Sunday, had a lot of fun :)

Nathan is a Jonas fan!

Hope everyone is well and I will post more soon.

New blog for my diet stuff

2011-08-09T16:37:00.001-04:00

If anyone is interested in following my hcg diet, make sure to read my other blog:

My Journey with hCG

Rainy day and the hCG diet

2011-08-09T09:41:00.001-04:00

It's supposed to rain all day today. It's been so hot lately that it's nice to have a bit of cool finally.

Nathan is doing good. He's still not talking, but he understands a lot of things. One of his molars is coming in and he's been awfully cranky, especially at night. He doesn't eat much for breakfast and lunch but he's quite a porker at dinner time, haha.

I've started the hcg diet and have lost quite a bit of weight. I started on July 28th and have lost 18 pounds. It hasn't been too difficult eating such low calorie meals (500 calories a day) and to be honest, I've actually enjoyed it. I've discovered new recipes and meals to eat and even with not being able to eat a large variety, I've learned how to make what I can eat very tasty. One thing that I discovered while researching online are Miracle Noodles. I absolutely love them. Toss some with low sodium chicken broth, some poultry seasoning, a little sea salt and strips of grilled chicken (3.5oz of chicken breast) and some grape tomatoes on the side and it's like eating raman :) I just might start another blog here and list all the recipes I've made so I can remember them and share them with others. Even when I go to Phase 3 of the diet (maintenance, where I can eat more calories) I can eat these foods, just slightly larger portions. When the diet is over, I plan on still eating these foods, they're really good!

Hope everyone is well. I'll post some pictures soon!

P.S. Here's a video of Nathan from Sunday night :)

Latest updates

2011-07-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Wow, I didn't realize it'd been so long since I posted!

Nathan is doing great! He's said his first word(s) the other day - "thank you". I think it's pretty awesome that his first word was actually two words :) He's not saying too much else but he's able to wave now, hold his own sippy cup (we use the kind with the straw) and walks backwards, haha. I take him for swimming lessons every tuesday and thursday. It's more of a water confidence class but we do practice floating, jumping in, and going under the water. We've actually got to leave for swimming fairly soon but wanted to get a quick post in.

He had his 1 year checkup and shots at the end of June. He was 30" tall and about 23 pounds. I've really got to take some new pictures and post them. Maybe I'll do that this week. I've been feeling really busy lately but at the same time kind of stagnant. I think I might apply for a job at our local walmart for nights and weekends. I need to do something outside of the house, at least for the rest of the summer.

Gotta get going, I'll try to post more this week. Hope everyone is well!

Back from the beach!

2011-06-17T17:53:00.001-04:00

We had such a great time out west! I miss it so much and it was so hard to leave my family. We're going to try to get out there every other year if we can. Nathan had a great time! His cousins love him and he was getting so much attention! My family also had a birthday party for him and my dad which was so sweet. I've got some great photos that I'll try to post at the end of this entry.

Nathan is teething big time. He will barely eat anything except yogurt so I try to at least feed him that if he won't eat anything else. His upper incisors are coming in and he keeps pulling on his ears. He scratched the back of his left ear and made it bleed. It was all caked in his hair. I feel so bad for the little guy. His internal clock has been pretty out of whack lately from the time changes from our trip and last night he slept 14 hours straight. That was pretty nice :)

Here are some photos from our trip. I'll try to post again this weekend.

1 Year!

2011-06-06T20:34:00.000-04:00

Nathan turned 1 on Sunday! I can't believe it's already been a year! I am really slacking on the blogging as well as uploading photos/videos. I am having a hard time finding time and when I do find the time to do something for me, I usually sleep, haha!

Nathan goes in for his one year shots and checkup on the 23rd. I can't really say how much he weighs or how tall he is, but he seems to be about average. And he's so trim! Hubby and I are both on the heavier side but Nathan is so thin. My teen is very thin as well. And I'm thin underneath, really! :)

Nathan is walking like a pro still. He can now get up to standing on his own without having to pull himself up on something. And wow does he love to walk. A few times a week we'll take a walk around the block and he actually walks - no stroller. He loves it!

I'm headed out west in 2 days, I can't wait! We're having a family reunion out in Oregon. I haven't been to the west coast since 2002. I was born and raised in Southern California and have lived the majority of my life all along the west coast. My parents moved back out there from Maryland just recently so now ALL my family is out there. I have nephews and a niece that I've never met! I am so excited!

I've been pretty busy as well. I still go to my monday moms group and tomorrow I'm headed to a local park for a potluck with some moms from that group as well as a social moms group I'm a part of. Last week my monday moms and I met at a park and enjoyed some snacks and conversation :) The rest of my week is pretty full so I don't know if I'll be posting until sometime after the 15th. Then on the 24th I'm headed out with all the moms again for a night out. A wedding dress and wine party, sounds fun! We wear our wedding dresses and bring a bottle of wine then after we're heading to a local nightclub for some dancing (not in our wedding dresses!). That should be fun and I'm looking forward to it!

Gotta get going and do some laundry. Hope everyone is doing well. If I get around to it, I'll upload some photos and videos of Nathan :)

Updates

2011-05-24T11:22:00.002-04:00

It's been a while! Things with us are good. Nathan went through a growth spurt a few weeks ago but he's settled back down. It was impossible to keep his tummy full and he was sleeping so much! He's not sleeping as much now, maybe one nap a day, but he still sleeps up to 10 hours a night (thank goodness for that). He's still teething and he's starting to bite now which just sucks. He'll come up to me like he's going to give me a kiss (which he's been doing for a few months) but instead he'll chomp down on my cheek. He's actually drawn blood too. So we're working on that and he seems to be doing a little better.

His hair is still very blonde and it's starting to curl which is cute :) It's almost too long now and I'm tempted to trim it myself.

My teen has enrolled in summer school and has started volunteering at the center where I go for my moms group. He does the yardwork in the play yard :) He's also made some good friends out here finally and he's happy about that.

Hubby, Nathan and I are heading to Washington and Oregon in 2 weeks! I am so excited about that!

Gotta get going, hope everyone is well and I'll try to read and comment on blogs when I get a little more time. :)

Happy Mother's Day :)

2011-05-09T15:16:00.001-04:00

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! I completely flaked and didn't send out cards :(

Nathan is going through a growth spurt and is eating anything you give him. I've been really having to keep the floors clean or else he'd eat every little speck, haha.

The weather is beautiful and I've been gardening. I'll post some pictures sometime. I've been busy lately and feel bad that I haven't posted. I'll post more when I can :)

Hello!

2011-05-04T11:23:00.001-04:00

Things here are good! Nathan is walking! I'll try to update again later today but in the meantime here is a video of Nathan :)

Walking!

2011-04-18T12:18:00.000-04:00

2011-04-07T10:09:00.001-04:00

It's my birthday, yay!

2011-04-07T08:46:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday to me! The big 4-0! I'm currently enjoying my best present yet, Nathan is still asleep and it's almost 9am!

We went to a Mom show here in town on March 27th and a lady there was taking professional photos of the babies. She was going to send out one free photo from the shoot and we have the option to purchase the rest. She's going to send the rest to me in a lower resolution and I can buy them if I want and I will definitely do that. If we buy 5 we get the rest free and she took about 20. I'll post the photo soon.

It's been a while since my last post and wow, Nathan is changing so fast! The house is officially baby-proofed. My husband installed cabinet/drawer locks in the kitchen last night and we have a real baby gate now on our stairs instead of the styrofoam thing. Nathan was getting into everything in the kitchen drawers and I actually had to empty them out and put everything in boxes. Now I can finally put it all back. He was also moving the styrofoam board and climbing up the stairs (he can go all the way up all 12 with no problem). My anxiety had been pretty high the past few weeks because of his mobility and curiosity but it's been better now that he can't get up the stairs.

He took 4 steps yesterday! I think he'll be walking very soon. He's also teething again and I think more are coming through the bottom next to his two existing teeth. His top two teeth are almost all the way out.

Nathan's hair is getting lighter and is becoming curly. His eyes are hazel. They turn green when he's sad or very happy and they're a brownish color the rest of the time. My husband has hazel eyes and I'd always noticed that they turn green when he's sad (it takes A LOT to get my husband visibly happy so I've only ever noticed them change when he's sad, haha).

Hope everyone is doing good!

T-shirt weather, yay!

2011-03-14T15:03:00.003-04:00

It's so nice out! The sun is shining and there are people walking around the neighborhood in t-shirts. It's funny though because it's only 30F.

Nathan had his 9 month checkup last week. He's surprisingly average with his physical stats. We think he's really big but it's actually all in his chest and shoulders. He's 28" long, 19lbs. 13oz., and his head is 45.8cm (18"). According to ParentsCanada, Nathan will be 5'10" and 156lbs. when fully grown. The height prediction I can understand, but not the weight. That's way too thin, in my opinion! Too bad they can't predict how smart he'll be based on his head size, haha.

Nathan is advanced as far as development goes. He's cruising like a pro, feeding himself finger foods, clapping his hands, babbling all the time, pointing out the correct pictures in his book when you ask him "where is the...". He's been practicing his waving lately too. We're working on "bye bye" and "hello" while waving and the word "gentle" when it comes to playing with our cat. She's scratched him a few times but she seems to enjoy his attention. My goal is for him to be able to learn what "gentle" means and not pull her fur every time she lets him touch her.

He can climb up stairs and has been able to get down a step on his own. We've finally got the stairs blocked off with a big piece of 2" thick styrofoam insulation. There's no way to mount a baby gate on the stairs going up so we had to improvise. We cut a hole in it so the cat can get to her food and litter box. We left one step free so he can still climb up a little.

My teen is doing well. He's applied at a few places and I think he's got a good chance at getting a job at one of them. He's still lonely but I think once he gets into the workforce he'll make friends. He's shown an interest in archery so he's been looking around for archery events/clubs that he can attend.

Hubby is doing well too. He's been back from Sweden for a week now. He was able to get a lot accomplished while he was there and his boss seems happy about all the work they got done. I think he'll be promoted soon which will be nice! I'm also thinking about looking for work for the evenings and every other weekend so that would be even nicer, financially :)

I bought a Wii today! I haven't hooked it up yet but I'll have hubby do it later. I'm excited!

That's it for now :) Make sure to check out Nathan's new pictures! I hope to upload some videos soon too.

New pictures up!

2011-03-14T13:27:00.001-04:00

It's been a while, but I will make a new post soon! In the meantime, here are a few new pictures of Nathan.

Hope everyone is well!

It's so nice to see the sun!

2011-03-03T08:41:00.002-05:00

It's been pretty nice here the past few days. We had a little snow earlier but the sun has been out for a day or two. It's still very chilly but at least there's sun!

My teen and I had a few issues earlier this week but things seem to be better. He applied for a few jobs yesterday which I'm happy about :)

Nathan is doing good. He had a rough week too with all the stress in the house recently but we're all making an effort to have good days. It hurts me to see everyone on edge. I'll explain more later.

I miss my hubby but he'll be home on Saturday, yay! He calls me every night :)

More soon. Hope everyone is well.

Snow, snow, go away

2011-02-26T13:33:00.002-05:00

We had such nice weather not too long ago and now it's been snowing for 2 days. Just small flakes but enough to have to shovel the driveway. Ah well. Next week it's supposed to warm up to 6 (43F) - I am so looking forward to that!

We're all doing fine here. Nathan is playing at the moment and seems very content. We're heading to Shoppers Drug Mart soon as they're having their 20x the points event if I spend $50 which is easy to do considering Nathan's formula is about that much and we've only got one can left! I've been saving my points so when they have their points redemption day I'll be able to get a Wii for only $10 :) Gotta have goals and this is one of my silly ones! I'm currently at around 85,000 points and I need 95,000 to get the Wii and I will definitely be getting that last 10k today.

On monday I'm going to be going to a Mom & Baby Bootcamp workout session! I'm looking forward to that! A few ladies I know also do a Stroller Fit walk session at the local rec center but I haven't made it to one of those yet with them. There's also a swim session but I don't think I'm even close to being comfortable putting on a bathing suit just yet!!

Sorry for the lapse in postings, I've just been busy lately. I hope everyone is doing good!

Warming up!

2011-02-19T21:29:00.004-05:00

The weather has been warming up lately and our snow is actually starting to melt! I can even see the grass in our yards! Sadly winter isn't over yet so I'm sure we'll be seeing more snow.

Hubby left for Sweden today and will be back on March 5th. I have help with the house and Nathan though - my teen son moved back home :) I am very happy that he's back and I really hope we can get things working out for him so he's happy. He's been very helpful and he seems to be glad to be home. I miss my husband though, but he said he'd call every day so I will look forward to that.

Nathan is doing great. He can't seem to get enough food to eat and he'll eat just about anything I put in front of him. He had hummus the other day and he made the funniest face but he kept wanting more. He seems to absolutely love fish, mashed potatoes, and cheese. He's not very fond of jarred food anymore. He's still not doing too well with figuring out how to use a sippy cup but he's becoming a pro with self-feeding finger foods.

I'm going to go read my book and relax for a bit. I've got a cheesecake baking at the moment or else I'd just crawl in bed to read and then fall asleep.

Hope everyone is well :)

Exercise, have fun and win stuff!

2011-02-16T11:56:00.002-05:00

WOWbabyandkids.com Due Date Dance-off!

Makes me wish I was pregnant again so I could enter! :)

Vote for Nathan!!

2011-02-14T19:50:00.002-05:00

Johnson's Baby Photo Contest

Remember that you can vote daily!

Happy Valentine's Day! Is it Spring Yet?

2011-02-14T14:29:00.007-05:00

I'm getting so tired of the snow and the cold! This weekend I cried and told my husband that I needed to see some green, I needed to see some color, so he took us all out to the Royal Botanical Gardens yesterday! I love my husband :) I think they specialize in outside gardens but there were a few rooms inside that had flowers and trees. One room was full of Hyacinth and they smelled so good! Another room was full of trees that thrive in mediterranean climates but I noticed that a lot of them were plants and trees I'd grown up around in Southern California. On a big wall map it showed that, sure enough, the area I grew up in is a mediterranean climate. Plants like Jasmine and trees like Bottlebrushes. It was nice to see plants and trees that I hadn't seen in so long and to be honest, it made me homesick. But it was nice also to show my hubby the plants and trees and he was happy that it made me happy :)

It was our 5 year anniversary this past friday. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Well, we did go out to dinner at this family restaurant I've been wanting to try since we moved here and it was pretty good. Nathan had some fish, mashed potatoes and steamed zucchini. Since our anniversary is so close to Valentine's Day we usually celebrate both together. Last night he took us to Mandarin for chinese buffet. We had to wait 45 minutes but it was worth it, as always. It's my favorite restaurant :) Nathan had salmon and cottage cheese and some cooked soft apples.

My husband might be going to Sweden this week for work, for 2 and a half weeks. I'd love to go too but I'd rather save money for my family reunion out in Oregon that's planned for June. It's going to be tough with him gone, and he's not 100% sure he's going to go yet, but I want him to go because, well, it's Sweden! Who wouldn't want to go? My husband, that's who! He's a pretty introverted guy and he wouldn't do any sightseeing, plus he'd be working 16+ hour days. But still, it's Sweden! I wish I could say "I've been to Europe"!

Nathan is doing great. He's cruising all over the living room, feeding himself his finger foods and clapping his hands on his own. He loves to eat and will eat just about anything I give him. I'm starting to make dinners for us that he can eat too. Tonight it's honey-mustard curry chicken so he won't be able to have any of that, but I might make some on the side without the honey.

I talked to my teen son about two weeks ago and he wants to move back home with us. I told him he is more than welcome to come home, but haven't talked to him since then so I'm not sure if he's still wanting to do that. I hope so.

I hope everyone is doing well. To E: I am so sorry you are feeling so down. I wish I could help somehow, but know that I am thinking of you and praying that you will start feeling better, physically and emotionally. You are always in my thoughts!

Hugs to all!

P.S. Forgot to mention that I've figured out what I want to be when I grow up! A community outreach worker!

P.P.S. Also forgot to mention that I've applied for Canadian citizenship!

Snack time

2011-02-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

Playing with the paper

2011-02-08T13:25:00.000-05:00

8 months!

2011-02-08T09:40:00.002-05:00

Nathan turned 8 months on Saturday. I noticed yesterday that his top teeth are coming in, and he's cruising now. He's been waking up at night lately from the teething but he usually falls back asleep after a bottle. I've got a lot of pictures to post and I'll try to do that today.

I've been busy lately too. My husband and I took Nathan out last weekend for a walk at a local sportsplex. They have a walking track that's above an ice rink so while we walked around we could watch the little kids learning to ice skate down below. There's also a hockey rink there and we watched some junior hockey for a little bit. I think that when Nathan is walking we'll take him back and get him in some ice skates. We're in Canada after all, doesn't everyone here know how to ice skate? :)

Nathan is crying, time for a nap. I'll try to post pictures and videos later and update here when I've done that.

Hope everyone is doing good. :)

Template too much?

2011-02-04T10:06:00.002-05:00

I love this new background but it seems a bit busy. To the five or so of you that read this blog, please let me know if these template changes are too much. Thanks :)

2011-02-04T08:49:00.001-05:00

Big storm coming & updates

2011-02-01T13:18:00.002-05:00

We're supposed to be getting the strongest storm of the season tonight and tomorrow. Yay. Actually I'm sort of looking forward to it. I've cancelled my two appointments that I have tomorrow in anticipation of the storm and I'm all set to be stuck at home for a few days.

I haven't made a "normal" post in a while so thought I'd do that while Nathan is sleeping.

Things around here are a little hectic now that Nathan is mobile. He is ALWAYS moving! He pulls himself up on everything and can even climb the stairs now. We're kind of in a predicament though because if we put up a baby gate to block the stairs then our cat won't be able to get to her litter box that's up there and her box that's downstairs is already blocked off by the other baby gate. So we're trying to figure out what to do. We've got the coffee table in front of the stairs now to prevent Nathan from climbing up and that seems to work. It sucks having to move the table all the time though but at least our cat can poop when she needs to, haha.

Nathan is still sleeping 12 hours a night. He rarely wakes up anymore at odd hours for a bottle. It's really nice to be able to sleep through the night! He's up every day around 7am then down for a nap mid-morning, usually. He was up until noon today so he probably won't be taking his normal afternoon nap.

His two bottom teeth are coming in nicely and he's got quite a head of hair. It was a light blonde but it seems to be darkening up a little and we still see hints of red. He still eats jarred food but we give him little bits of our dinner if it's safe (no peanuts, egg whites, etc.) and he also has his own little puffs that we give him after he's had his meal. We're also trying to introduce a sippy cup. He can't figure it out yet, but we fill it with water and put it on his tray with his little puffs. It almost always ends up on the floor along with most of the puffs, but he'll get better with time.

That's it for now. I'd like to do a few things around the house while I can. I hope everyone is well :)

Mr. Sticky!

2011-01-29T16:09:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I rarely buy anything from those demonstrators in stores, you know the ones that announce over the PA system that they're giving away free stuff to the first 25 customers or whatever and you end up getting your free item but then they try to sell you something you're really not interested in... or worse yet, you have to listen to them hawk their product before you get the free item.

I did go to one at Walmart once and came home with a decorative veggie/fruit cutting thing which I have never used.

But today, I actually bought something from the demonstrator and I used it as soon as I got home and I love it! I figure that whatever can make my life easier as a homemaker then I'm all for it.

Anyway, as the title of the post says, it's Mr. Sticky! Silly name but whatever, haha. Turn your sound down as the video on the site starts automatically.

Hope everyone is well. We're doing fine here and I'll post more soon, promise :)

To my son

2011-01-27T11:06:00.004-05:00

I was just perusing Facebook (which I rarely do) and saw that my teen isn't doing too well (according to what I read anyway). So this post is to my son and I know he reads my blog whenever he can. Maybe this isn't the place for this, but just emailing him doesn't seem like enough.

Andrew, I wish things were better for you. I'm sad that you don't seem to have a place to live. What happened with the salvation army? I know I could email you and keep all of this private, but I'm pretty sure you'd just reply that everything is fine and for me not to worry. Whether you like it or not, I'm going to worry. I think of you every single day and wonder how you're doing so even if you're doing "fine", I'm going to worry, even if you are really and truly fine.

I love you with all of my heart and keep hoping and praying that one day you'll realize where you are in life and that it's not where you should or want to be. I will keep hoping and praying (and worrying in the meantime) that moment will come. But I want you to remember that you will always have a home here with us. You never have to wonder where you will be sleeping or if you will have a meal or a shower.

I know that your friends are very important to you and they keep you going. But one day you need to realize that in order to advance in life, you need to put yourself ahead of your friends. You need to take care of you and not depend on your friends for validation or feelings of worth/esteem. You may, at times, feel that everything is wonderful when you're with your friends and you're having a great time but what happens the next day? What happens a week later? Where will you be sleeping? How will you support yourself if you have no address to put down on a job application, no education to list.

I mean no disrespect to your friends at all. You talk to me about them and I see how happy you get. I am grateful that they have been there for you when you needed them and I'm NOT suggesting you stop being friends with them. Please believe that! I just want you to focus on you and realize that you are a great person, a wonderful man, who has so much potential and I want you to find that! I only want success for you, even if that means just finishing school and getting a job somewhere. Once you do that, the possibilities are endless.

Remember that we are always here for you. Always. You will always have a home here in Waterloo with us. We will do whatever we can to help you while you're here with us.

I miss you and love you with all of my heart.

Mom

Pro Crawler

2011-01-25T12:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday!!

2011-01-25T08:40:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to my son! He's 19 today!

I love you and hope you have a great day!

New photos and videos up!

2011-01-24T12:43:00.003-05:00

7 month pictures!

and three new videos on YouTube

So busy!

2011-01-22T20:06:00.003-05:00

I've had an extremely busy week but didn't realize it'd been since the 10th since I last posted.

I don't have much time right now but wanted to do a quick update.

We're all doing good! Nathan is wonderful! I'm doing pretty well, the medication is doing its thing.

I hope everyone is good and I'll try to post more stuff tomorrow or Monday.

Take care!

2011-01-10T16:44:00.001-05:00

7 months!

2011-01-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

Nathan turned 7 months on the 5th! He's changed so much in less than a month, it's almost hard for even me to believe he's the same baby! He's getting more hair, his eyes are finally settling on a color (they're brown), he has 2 teeth (well, they're not all the way in yet), even his face is changing. Not to mention his mobility which is crazy! He loves to crawl, pull himself up on things and stand and has started trying to stand on his own a little. No real cruising yet though.

He's starting to get upset when he can't have something or you take something away from him. Last week he crawled into the kitchen while I was unloading the dishwasher and so I let him explore it a little bit. He grabbed onto the basket and it rolled back and forth and he thought that was great. I decided that wasn't too safe so we stopped doing that and he was fine but then today he wanted to play with it again while I was doing dishes and I wouldn't let him touch the basket and wow did he hate that. I even took a video which I might post to youtube later.

Then he crawled toward the front entry area which we usually have to block off (baby gates aren't wide enough) so he won't get a hold of dirty shoes or salt dragged in from outside and he didn't like that either. I put his car seat in the way and he decided to collapse half in and half out of that and cry. I took a video of that too, haha.

Speaking of car seats, I had to go out and buy a bigger seat for him yesterday. It's still an infant seat, but it converts to a toddler seat as well. His little seat just wasn't wide enough for his shoulders so it was hard for me to dress him up warmly because he wouldn't have enough room to sit comfortably. This new seat is much better though now it's harder for me because I can't just lift the whole seat out and take it with me into the store or the house. I actually have to take him out of it since the seat stays permanently in the car now.

I'm going to be attending another class at the Early Years Center (Our Place) on Wednesdays called Coffee Time.

"Come and join us for coffee and a light snack while we share the events of the day to day life as a parent/partner/friend. Each week we will discuss current events, parenting issues, relationships, finding time for yourself and whatever else is on your mind."

I'm looking forward to that! I've also talked to a lady that works at the center about me getting more involved with volunteer work there. So now I'm on the fundraiser committee for the center. I'm excited about that. Also I'm going to be going to another group on Thursday evenings that's at a local counselling center here. It's called Finding the Calm in the Storm and it's about how to deal with anxiety.

"Dealing with your anxiety can be a draining process. All of us have worries at some time or another. Some are quite helpful; but many worries are recurring and are inefficient thoughts that leave you feeling anxious or distressed. Finding the Calm in the Storm provides skills and techniques to help you gain control of symptoms of worry, anxiety and panic attacks."

One of the facilitators for my Monday morning group works at this counselling center and asked if any of us would be interested. Since my main concern is anxiety and not necessarily depression I told her I'd love to attend.

Also, my medicine seems to be working. There have been a few times that I've felt the anxiety and panic come on but I've been able to stop myself and just calm myself down. It happened just this morning as well and I'm pretty proud of myself for being able to stop the attack :)

I drove to London last week to visit my teen son. He seems to be doing pretty well. He's enrolled back in school which I'm very happy about. I'll be seeing him next week when I go to London for a doctor appointment. And yes, son, you left your candy in the car but I'll try really hard to save some of it till I see you next week ;) I love you!

I'll be posting pictures and videos soon to shutterfly and youtube.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T12:37:00.004-05:00

It's been really difficult for me to find time to get on the computer lately. Nathan is a handful. A HUGE handful!

He officially started crawling on December 20th, had a tooth break through on the 26th (the second tooth has since broken through as well), and now he's pulling himself to standing on whatever he can pull himself up on. He will not sit still at all unless he's strapped in his car seat or highchair. We've put up a baby gate on the first floor so he won't tumble down the stairs to the bathroom there (and eventually to the basement which we have to leave open for the cat to get to her box). He hasn't made an attempt to go upstairs yet so there's no gate there yet - but soon, I just know it. We don't let him crawl around upstairs since there's no gate up there yet either, unless we're there and following his every move.

He's very close to cruising and I have a feeling he'll be walking on his own well before his birthday. My other son started walking at 9 months.

I'm hardly getting any time to do my own stuff now that Nathan is mobile and also because he hardly naps anymore. He was up at 4am yesterday and maybe napped for a total of an hour, in 15 minute increments. He was so grumpy all day because he was so tired but he refused to sleep. At bedtime last night he refused to be put in his crib and was screaming and crying and throwing fits because he was so exhausted. I'm sure it's also his teeth that are bothering him but I'd never seen him so grumpy! He eventually went to bed and hubby and I were able to spend some quiet time together (playing video games, haha!).

My husband has been off work for almost 3 weeks so Nathan's routine had changed while daddy was home. He's back at work today so maybe I can get Nathan back to his normal nap/sleep schedule. I hope I can anyway. He's actually asleep right now (going on 20 minutes) so I'm able to make this post.

I hope everyone is doing good. I want to say hello to my teen son and let him know that I love him and miss him and hope things are going good for him. I hope this year is a good one for you, I love you :)

Take care!

2011-01-04T12:16:00.001-05:00

Updates

2011-01-04T10:33:00.002-05:00

I was going to make a post but Nathan is up and crying - I'll post more soon! New pictures up on Shutterfly!

A new toy

2010-12-27T14:59:00.002-05:00

Crawling!

2010-12-27T14:59:00.001-05:00

A tooth!

2010-12-26T16:22:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

So much has been happening with Nathan the past two weeks, it's amazing! Today we were playing on the livingroom floor and I noticed a tooth coming in! And he's crawling!

We have family over, so I'm not sure when I'll have time to upload the videos and pictures that we have, but hopefully soon.

My teen son moved out a week ago. Unfortunately he didn't pass his classes last term and he was officially removed from his classes this term due to lates/absences. He made the decision to move back to London and so he's there. He did call me yesterday on Christmas and that made me happy :)

More soon, hopefully.

He's crawling!

2010-12-20T18:50:00.002-05:00

Nathan is officially crawling! I have some video that I'll upload when I can and post a link here.

Seriously time to get some baby gates and other things to baby-proof the house.

So tired

2010-12-16T15:57:00.004-05:00

I've had appointments early in the morning the past few days so we've been getting up extra early and it's catching up with me. I am so tired! I don't have anything scheduled for tomorrow so maybe I can sleep in a little. Maybe.

I took my medication for the first time today and was so nauseous earlier today. I'm feeling fine now. Maybe I'm extra tired from the medication, didn't think about that before.

Anyway, hope everyone is well. :) Nathan is good, hoping he'll take a nap soon!

6 month update

2010-12-15T14:11:00.003-05:00

I was supposed to take Nathan in for his 6 month shots and check-up this past monday but that didn't happen, which I'll explain later in this post. We managed to get an appointment at his doctor in London for this morning. We got back about an hour ago.

Nathan weighs 17.8 pounds (40th percentile), has a head circumference of 17.5 inches (58th percentile) and is 27.5 inches long (77th percentile!). He's so long which explains why he has to wear 12 month pajamas and even those are getting snug! We also like to say that his head is so big because it needs to be big to hold all his smarts :) The doctor asked me all sorts of questions about his development and apparently he's advanced for his age. I'm happy he's healthy and smart! The receptionist said it was hard to believe that he was only 6 months because of his size. He's actually a very trim little boy and I find it funny that people will comment on how big he is (referring to his weight eventhough they only ever see his face since he's always covered up with blankets in his carseat or stroller) and I make a point to say "Actually he's pretty thin, he just has chubby cheeks". Anyway, I think he's perfect!

Now onto other issues that I haven't been posting about.

I've been having severe anxiety attacks lately. I've been treated off and on my whole life for depression and anxiety but haven't been on any medication for it for years. Lately though it's been getting worse. I do suffer from some depression but it's the anxiety that scares me. It's interesting because I know when I'm about to have an attack and I'll be totally aware of who is around me and if Nathan is anywhere near me I'll go to a totally different room (or floor of the house) to have my freak-out. You'd think that if I was aware enough to know that I was about to have an attack and take precautions not to be around my baby that I'd be able to stop myself from having the attack in the first place. Ha. You'd think. Doesn't happen though. And I never have them when I'm alone, it's always been when my husband has been around. Maybe subconsciously I know that it's okay (well, not really okay, but safe, yeah, maybe safe is the word) to break down because he's there to help me back up. And he always does, but it's hard on him too.

So anyway, I had one on Monday and we missed Nathan's doctor appointment. I'm not upset about that at all really because it turns out we feel the new doctor's receptionist is very unkind and intimidating. I had my attack around 8:00am and by 8:30 we decided to call the office to tell them we had car trouble (which we did - our windshield wipers broke!) and wouldn't be able to make it. The office doesn't open until 9am but they don't even answer the phone until 9:30 and the office voice mail message says that you can't leave messages. Then at my doctor's office in London this morning they said the new doctor faxed them a note telling them that they were going to charge us for a missed appointment. Why does my doctor in London need to know that? And how the heck is someone supposed to cancel their appointment after business hours if they can't leave a message? You can bet that we'll be calling them when we get the bill. I'm also going to give them a crappy review on ratemds.com!

So I've got a prescription for Cipralex for my depression and anxiety. I start taking it tomorrow. I hope it's able to help!

That's it for now. I still need to upload pictures to my picture site, hopefully I can do that today when I have more time. I hope everyone is doing well!

Sitting up!

2010-12-14T17:09:00.000-05:00

Sitting up again... almost.

2010-12-14T11:36:00.000-05:00

Holiday Stress

2010-12-12T16:42:00.002-05:00

Wow, I didn't know it'd been so long since I actually wrote anything.

My teen failed his classes last term and was kicked out of this term due to too many absences. He's got one chance left with us. One more term, one more chance. We'll see what happens. I am so disappointed. He left this morning to go visit friends in London. He is using the only money he has on bus tickets to visit friends and has no money for food or whatever and expects his friends to pay for his meals and give him a place to sleep for a week. I don't put too much emphasis on giving and getting presents from people on Christmas, but my son would rather spend his small amount of money on himself than on anyone else. I don't remember the last time I got a present from him that he earned the money for.

I am so sad and mad and disappointed in the decisions he's made and his selfishness and excuses, but I'll get over it with time.

Nathan is doing great. He has his 6 month shots tomorrow so I'll find out his weight and length and all that then. We cut down our Christmas tree yesterday, I'll post pictures of that soon.

Hope everyone is well and big hugs to E. I'm thinking of you!

Sitting up... almost.

2010-12-03T11:57:00.000-05:00

Jumping Fun!

2010-12-03T11:55:00.000-05:00

2010-11-29T16:52:00.003-05:00

2010-11-29T16:52:00.001-05:00

Doing good :)

2010-11-22T11:54:00.002-05:00

Things here are going good. Nathan is doing great. Still no teeth and not crawling yet. He's still sleeping through the night most of the time and having 2 or 3 naps during the day. His naps have been getting longer though, up to 3 hours, but it's not interfering with his nighttime sleeping which is good. He's officially wearing 12 month old pajamas now and 9 month day clothes. He's eating a lot too! Sometimes 2 jars of food a day and he'll still have 3 or 4 full bottles of formula.

We might have a pediatrician, yay! I called one last week and they asked for our doctor in London to fax them a referral and I'm supposed to hear from the new doctor soon.

We're all doing fine here. My teen is still going to school which I'm very happy about and very proud of him. Hubby seems to be enjoying his work too. I might be getting involved more with the Early Years center here in town by volunteering. I'm excited about that!

Hope everyone is well :)

wow, 5 months!

2010-11-15T11:37:00.002-05:00

Nathan turned 5 months a little over a week ago! It's strange because I feel that he's been with us forever, yet it's only been 5 months. Well, I guess he's been with me longer which might be why it feels longer :)

Here's an update:

Almost crawling. He gets up on hands and knees like I mentioned before and loves to rock back and forth. He doesn't quite understand the concept of moving an arm or knee forward yet but I just know it will happen within the next few weeks.

So hungry! Nathan still has a few bottles during the day/night (around 4 or 5, each with about 7 or 8 ounces though he doesn't finish every bottle each time) but my goodness does he love solid food. By solid I mean mashed up pureed stuff in the jars. He'll eat a whole jar in a day. He always has his solid food meals during our meal times. It's always been important to me to have my family sit down together to eat and talk. I look forward to dinner time since that's when everyone is home (well, my teen isn't always around, but he's here often) and we can talk and share together. I was thinking about taking a class on how to make my own baby food but I might just stick with the jars as Nathan will probably start eating table food soon.

We've tried lots of different brands of jarred stuff and he'll eat just about any brand of fruit or veggies but it seems that he only likes a certain brand for his meat & veggie combos. I bought Mother Hen brand last week but it was just turkey and he didn't care for it. I've discovered that he'll eat almost anything if it's mixed with sweet potatoes!

We're happy that Nathan sleeps through the night now. He slept 12 hours straight last night! He did wake up once, grunted and then blew a razz then went back to sleep. We thought that was funny :) He's been razzing a lot lately which is his way of telling us that he's not happy about something. Of course we have our fun times together where we'll razz back and forth and he just loves it.

That's it for now. Nathan is napping so I'm going to relax while I can. I hope everyone is well!

Baby babble

2010-11-04T16:50:00.000-04:00

Razzing with Daddy

2010-11-04T16:49:00.001-04:00

Getting colder

2010-11-03T09:53:00.003-04:00

It's been getting pretty cold around here the past few days. We actually had some snow on Halloween but it didn't stick. Currently it's 29 (-2C). We're supposed to get snow later this week!

Things here are going good. Nathan is doing great, sleeping most of the night. He woke up twice last night, once at around 1:00am and had a full 7oz. of formula, then he woke up again at 3:00am and had another 7oz. He's also getting close to crawling! Well, at least scooting. He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. He did manage to scoot a foot or so on our bed the other day but hasn't had as much luck on hard surfaces. We're going to lower the crib mattress down this week and probably go out to get some baby gates. He's rolling over like a pro but still hasn't mastered rolling back onto his back. He always rolls onto his stomach at night and sleeps on his belly and I'm still fearful of the SIDS thing but all my books say that when a baby is able to roll on his own that the threat of SIDS has lessened.

I've been fighting a cold for about 4 days. My husband got it first then spread it to Nathan, then my teen got it, now I have it. I don't feel too bad, mainly just congestion.

Hope everyone is doing well. I owe a few emails to people and I'll try to get those out soon. Here's a photo of Nathan (and our cat Jubi) to brighten your day :)

Inconsolable

2010-10-26T13:24:00.005-04:00

I have a feeling Nathan is teething. He's been so fussy the past two days, nonstop crying but it's a fussy cry. He's eating normally, going to the bathroom normally, and sleeping fine at night. When I try to comfort him he's happy for a few minutes then starts crying/fussing again. He's also drooling CONSTANTLY and always shoving his hands or whatever is in them in his mouth and he's very congested. It's getting pretty frustrating for me because I know there's nothing I can do for him (other than comfort him, rub his gums, give him a chilled teething ring, etc.) not to mention all the crying. He's especially grumpy because he hasn't been able to take very long naps during the day so he's tired.

I hope those darn teeth pop out soon! If anyone has any advice, please let me know! It's been a long time since I've had to deal with a teething baby.

Wanted to add that I've been giving him tylenol (ibuprofen doesn't seem to help with the pain, the tylenol seems to help a little) and letting him suck on a cold wet cloth.

Monday

2010-10-25T11:10:00.002-04:00

It's been a while! I tried logging in a few times last week and kept getting errors. Oh well, it's working now!

We just got back from our trip to the states to visit my parents. We had a great time and Nathan was so good in the car both ways! The drive took about 10-12 hours each way.

We went to Babies R Us while we were there and found a Bumbo for $15 less than what it is here in Canada. I figured that since our dollar is pretty close to the US dollar that it'd be silly not to get it since I've been wanting to get one for months.

My dad is doing much better. He's really got to watch his salt intake and he takes his BP a few times a day. I'm really happy I got to see him and that he got to see and hold is new grandchild :)

I uploaded some pics to my Shutterfly site. I'll be uploading some more vids to my YouTube channel as well.

Hope everyone is well!

Baby feeling better

2010-10-12T15:39:00.003-04:00

Nathan is getting better, yay! He's still got some congestion and a cough but he's got his voice back. He's been sleeping really well at night which we're loving!

Hubby, Nathan and I are heading to the states next week to visit my parents. My dad is having some health issues and I really want to give him and mom a hug and also let them meet their newest grandchild!

Things are going good here. I'll be posting some pictures and videos soon. Hope everyone is good!

Happy Anniversary to my sister and her hubby :)

Baby laryngitis

2010-10-08T11:06:00.002-04:00

Nathan's cold has turned into laryngitis. He's in decent spirits though and is only running a fever of a degree higher than normal. He's having a hard time breathing through his nose so I've been using a bulb syringe to try to clear out him out. It seems to work for a little bit but then he just gets all congested again. When he sneezes it's great, everything comes flying out and he breathes great, haha!

I feel bad about him having laryngitis but I have to admit that he sounds adorable. I'm such a bad parent! Hopefully everything will get better over the next few days.

He did end up getting his shots yesterday so I'm glad that's done.

Hope everyone is well :)

Sick baby :(

2010-10-07T10:22:00.002-04:00

Nathan's come down with a bad cold and cough. My husband is just getting over a cold so I know where Nathan got it! I'm taking him into the doctor today for a well-baby checkup. He was supposed to get his 4 month immunizations today too but that will have to wait until he's better.

Gotta get going as it's a long drive to the doctor's office!

2010-10-05T16:55:00.000-04:00

Rolling over...

2010-10-05T16:53:00.002-04:00

Now, as cute as Nathan's new found ability to roll over is, it's frustrating for me because he can't roll back and so every few minutes I'm rushing to his aid to put him back on his back. He hates being on his stomach! I did take a video of him rolling over a little bit ago and am uploading it to Youtube as I type. I'll post it here when it's done.

4 months!

2010-10-05T11:07:00.003-04:00

Nathan is 4 months old today! He's developing pretty fast it seems and so I've had to adapt to his new actions and attempts to communicate. His tired cry is much much different than it used to be. He'll make his body stiff as a board as he wails and the only thing that comforts him is laying on our bed and being fed as he drifts off to sleep. He only does this for naps, not for bedtime.

He seems to be sleeping more at night which is great. Sunday night he slept for eight hours! Last night he woke up once around 2:30 then slept through till 7:30am. It's great that he's sleeping in his own room now; I feel that I'm getting more sleep since I'm not waking up to every little sound he makes and when he does wake up in the middle of the night he usually can fall back asleep on his own.

He's also nearly mastered the art of turning over from back to belly so I need to watch out for that especially since he naps on our bed. Usually when he wakes up he doesn't cry, he just plays with his feet and babbles. He makes raspberry sounds now which I think is adorable, except when I'm feeding him solids. Feeding time tends to be quite messy :)

He has a favorite toy, it's just a teething square but he loves it. We just call it his "square", haha.

He's also laughing a lot more and really talking with his baby babble. He loves getting kisses and when I say "give mommy a kiss" he'll actually open his mouth and press it against my cheek. I always say "thank you!" after and he just squeals with delight. He loves it when my husband puts the top of his head near his face. He'll grab his hair and talk to my husband's head. I'll have to take a video of that next time.

I'm doing better. My carpal tunnel is almost completely gone! Actually, I don't think I've had any mistakes in this post that I've had to correct, yay! I'm doing better emotionally as well. I cried a few times yesterday over small things but I think it's hormones/PMS. My PPMD group is going good. I haven't been out with the other woman from my group yet but hopefully soon.

I'm going to be visiting my dad in a few weeks which I'm really looking forward to. He's had some health problems the past few weeks and I really want to spend some time with him and have him finally meet his grandson. I think Nathan is the 10th grandchild in the family now and only one of those is a girl!

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll post some pictures soon.

Update on my teen

2010-09-30T09:15:00.002-04:00

I've been meaning to post about my teen son. He's been doing great with school! He's been going every day since school started, almost 3 weeks ago and I am very proud of him. Here's a really recent picture of him from just a few weeks ago. He'll probably not like that I posted it, but oh well! I think he's a handsome young man :)

Fisher Price Recalls

2010-09-30T08:49:00.004-04:00

Just heard about the Fisher-Price/Mattel recalls and wanted to share it here. Here's the article and the list of items affected.

We're doing good here. I'm feeling a lot better. No anxiety attacks lately or bouts of depression. I did go shopping for me and Nathan yesterday and that made me feel good :) I haven't been shopping in a while, well, other than grocery shopping.

Nathan hasn't been sleeping very well lately. He's still waking up every 2 or 3 hours every night though last night he only woke up once. He'd been awake ALL DAY yesterday though so he was especially tired. I gave him a nice bath and made sure the environment was calm and soothing so he'd be relaxed after his bath. He woke up around 2am for a bottle then slept through till about 6:45 this morning. That was nice. And he's sleeping again now which is great. I just might have some time to paint or play some video games (yes, I still do that!).

My dad is still not doing too well and I'm thinking of and praying for him every day. I love you Daddy!

I hope everyone is well!

Anxiety sucks

2010-09-22T08:48:00.003-04:00

I had a mini breakdown last night - I hate it when that happens. Nathan hardly slept yesterday. I think the prunes he tried really didn't settle with him, he had gas all day and barely slept. He was a zombie from being so tired so we tried to put him down early. But he woke up during dinner so I got up from the table to get him and I didn't get to eat and I was starving.

I was also very very careless while making dinner and was preparing chicken just a little too close to some clean bottles so I played it safe and tossed them into the sink for a rewash and sterilization later.

Nathan kept crying after dinner so I changed him and then headed downstairs to make a bottle. I started assembling a bottle and then I realized that I hadn't washed my hands after changing him so I ended up tossing ALL of the clean and sterile bottle parts in the sink. At this point I had not one bottle or any bottle part clean and sterile and Nathan is upstairs crying his little heart out. So I washed my hands and started handwashing stuff to make a bottle. I tossed them in the sterilizer and popped it in the microwave for 5 minutes. I could have pulled my dinner out of the fridge and ate it during this time but I really wasn't thinking clearly (or sanely) so I just stood there looking at my kitchen thinking how dirty it was and how I'm such a bad homemaker for not mopping my floor or cleaning off the stovetop. I could feel my nerves about to snap.

The microwaved beeped and I'm supposed to leave the lid on it for a few minutes but my little baby is hungry and crying so I take the lid off and get a steam burn on my hand - which is still red today - then proceeded to make a bottle but noticed that the nipple ring is dirty. I snapped then and ended up having a little freak-out. My husband had taken Nathan off my hands while I was in the kitchen but he came down and found me crying on the kitchen floor. I was so mad that I had been so careless with all the bottles, not washing my hands, preparing raw chicken next to the bottles, not having been able to eat and kicking myself for giving Nathan prunes since we all know what prunes do and he was feeling it and suffering. I'd just spent 5 minutes waiting for the bottles to get sterilized and they weren't even clean in the end.

Apparently though, Nathan had fallen asleep while I was doing all of this. He was sleeping soundly in his crib upstairs. My husband got on the floor with me and hugged me and we talked. He cleaned up for me and washed and sterilized some bottles while I sat at the table and finally ate my dinner.

I'm feeling better today but still have this lingering depression feeling hanging over me. I'm just not happy and I hate this feeling. I mean I'm happy and grateful and feel blessed for being alive and having a family and all that, I just feel stagnant in other parts of my life and am having a hard time fixing that. Money is tight, my dad isn't feeling well, we don't have a doctor anymore... Oh well, first things first and that's try to find a doctor so I can talk about all of this and maybe try some medication. I'm supposed to be going to church this Sunday with a woman from my group, maybe that will be good for me.

No solid foods for Nathan today, I think I'll give his tummy a break.

Beautiful Day

2010-09-20T13:39:00.003-04:00

It's absolutely gorgeous out today. It's been so rainy for almost a week and today there's hardly a cloud in the sky and it's so blue. It's getting chilly though and we've started turning on the heater sometimes.

I had my second PPMD group today and I'm really enjoying it so far. I just might be going out with another woman from my group this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to that :)

Nathan is officially sleeping in his own room now in his crib! He had no trouble with the transition from bassinet to crib and he only wakes up once during the night to eat. I'm also trying to get him to nap in there instead of his swing.

He's completely out of 3 month old clothing and his 6 month stuff is getting a little snug around his chest. His 6 month pajamas weren't clean the other night so I put him in a 9 month one and it fit! A little bit big but I think I'll start buying that size instead of the 6 month stuff.

He's eating around 5.5 to 6oz. and I've actually started him on solid foods. I know a lot of people may not agree with that, but I felt he was ready to start and he's doing great. For the first week it was just rice cereal mixed with formula and he had no allergic reaction or upset tummy so I've introduced jarred food. I'm feeding him one kind for about 3 days then I try a new one. They're all mixed with a little rice cereal and I put a little formula in if it's too thick. He loves sweet potatoes, likes butternut squash, has mixed feelings about bananas, and hates apples and carrots. It's carrots again tonight and tomorrow, then prunes. Prunes are not what I would have chosen, but hubby did the grocery shopping ;)

We might be getting a family doctor soon. At least a pediatrician but hopefully someone we can all go to. It's really hard to find a walk-in clinic around here. In London they were everywhere! Canada is much different than the states and it's nearly impossible to find a family doctor here. Most people have to go to walk-in clinics and see a different doctor every time. That's what we're doing right now until we can find someone. I still have our doctor in London, but driving there is just a pain especially with a baby, and it's tough on the wallet with all the gas (and car repairs). I shouldn't complain too much though since we do have free health care in Canada and that is a blessing.

Hope everyone is well. New pictures on our shutterfly site and a vid on youtube that my hubby's mom took.

Feeling Better

2010-09-13T11:53:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling better but still find myself getting very panicky and stressed when it seems like I have a lot on my plate. I don't know if it's the PPMD or just normal reactions to stress.

I had my first PPMD group this morning and it went good. I almost feel that an hour and a half isn't enough time to talk considering how many women are signed up for the class, but maybe, over time, we can start meeting outside of class to do things together. We'll see I guess and in the meantime I'll have to make due with an hour and a half. I'm so grateful that there's even a group to attend, I should be happy with that :)

My husband is on a business trip in Ottawa for the next three days. It's going to be tough taking care of Nathan on my own at night. We have a pretty good routine down at night when Nathan wakes up to eat. Usually I hear Nathan first since his bassinet is right next to me. I'm the one that gets up and goes downstairs to make a bottle and my husband is the one that does the feeding. I stay awake usually in case I need to change a diaper. Nathan only poops when he's being fed, it's funny.

Nathan has also adopted a pretty strict bedtime routine and I find it humorous when my husband tries to put Nathan down at night and then wonders why he won't go to sleep. Nathan usually eats with us at the dinner table, then it's cuddle time on the bed or a bath. I do the whole baby lotion massage thing if he's had a bath then read him his favorite book(that Nursery Rhymes one), then I put him in his bassinet and he almost always falls asleep within a few minutes.

He's also pretty picky in the morning. He'll wake up around 6am, get fed, but he refuses to fall back asleep in his bassinet, so he sleeps with us in our bed until we get up around 7am then he loves to be in his swing with the television on and usually he'll fall back asleep around 9am until early afternoon.

There were other things I was going to post about but have forgotten. I have these moments where something happens or I think of something and think "I have to put that on my blog" but then I completely forget what it was when I finally sit down at my computer. Must be my old age, better start taking my ginkgo biloba again ;)

More later and hope everyone is well :)

Still here

2010-09-08T08:39:00.003-04:00

I haven't been feeling too well lately, emotionally, but wanted to check in. Nathan is doing great. My teen son starts school on the 13th which I'm excited about and so is he.

I hope everyone is well and I'll try to write more soon.

Updates!

2010-08-30T14:24:00.002-04:00

First of all let me say that I never thought that Nathan would be such a happy baby. He smiles almost constantly! I'll walk by him as he's in his swing and he'll smile at me. I change his diaper and he'll smile and laugh. He sits with us at the dinner table and he'll smile and talk the whole time we're eating. Even feeding him is a chore sometimes because he'll just smile and laugh and usually ends up spilling his formula all down his chin. We've actually started using bibs now!

He's also started sleeping more at night. He's been going for about 4 hours, sometimes more, between feeds. He's also up to 5 or 6oz. of formula at each feeding which is usually every 3 or 4 hours during the day.

I've noticed that he likes routine which is great for me. I love routines and schedules. That's not always a good thing because it can be very difficult for me to adapt to change. Nathan's schedule is pretty regular. He wakes up between 6 and 7am, sometimes with a whiny cry if he just wants attention, sometimes with a full blown "I'm starving" cry. Then he's up for about 2 hours, then down for a nap until noonish. Then he's up for more food and some play time for about an hour, then back to sleep till 3 or so. Then he's up till bedtime which lately has been between 7 and 8pm. Usually he'll sleep till 11 or 12 then wake up for 6oz. of formula. Last night he woke up around midnight to eat and didn't wake up again until 4:30am.

He also loves books. My goodness does he love books. He doesn't look at the pictures much but he loves to look at the words. Right now his favorite book is one that my birthmother sent:

It's a sing-a-long but we've only listened to the CD once. Nathan likes the book itself :) The pictures are great and the text really stands out which I think is why Nathan likes it so much!

Here are some of the other books we read to him:

That's it for now. Hope everyone is well!

New picture site!

2010-08-30T11:48:00.002-04:00

I was using Picasa for my pictures but decided to go with Shutterfly. I'll be uploading pictures there from now on.

I'll have a longer post soon, I promise! :)

Fun at the park

2010-08-20T15:14:00.004-04:00

Nathan and I went to Victoria Park today and fed the ducks and squirrels. Nathan loved laying under the trees so much that I had to take a few videos :)

There's a squirrel at the bottom of the tree.

More later :)

Happy Birthday Dad :)

2010-08-17T11:56:00.005-04:00

It's my dad's birthday today! Happy Birthday Daddy!

Just got back from our Infant Massage class. Nathan was extra fussy. He'd been up for a few hours early this morning with really bad gas and it was starting to bug him again during class. He wouldn't let me do anything but hold him. Other then the gas he's doing great. He was actually trying to grab a toy hanging from his play mat yesterday. I kept cheering him on until he got tired and frustrated :)

I think I'll head to Michael's and get some quotes on getting some things framed. They're having a 50% off framing sale, but they seem to have those quite often but it'll give me something to do outside of the house. My husband never got his University degrees framed so I think I'll get that done for him for his birthday in September. I also have a puzzle I just finished that I want to get framed. Those cats' eyes are pretty freaky though, haha. I've always liked putting together puzzles of cats (not photos but actual artwork prints of cats) and framing them.

10 weeks :)

2010-08-14T18:40:00.006-04:00

Nathan is 10 weeks old today! I haven't been taking too many photos of him lately but I'll do that this weekend for sure.

We've switched from powdered formula to concentrated and Nathan's gas has seemed to practically disappear. I think the powdered had too much air in it when we'd mix it with water whereas the concentrated is liquid and mixes smoothly with water. We're still using Dr. Brown's bottles mainly but I still use the Drop-ins and he seems to like those more. He latches on to the nipple a lot better.

Our Infant Massage group is going good. We've attended two classes so far. All of the other women seem to be really nice and their babies are adorable too. In a previous post I mentioned that Nathan was "flirting" with one of the other moms. Last week he was flirting with the instructor's demonstration doll, haha. He would stare at it and coo and make his baby noises. I'm a little sad that the class falls exactly during Nathan's nap time and he's usually pretty grumpy within 20 minutes of class starting. He'll let me massage him for a short period then I have to stop and give him a few minutes without touching. He is easily overstimulated, even at home. Sometimes he'll scream and cry if there's just too much going on around him.

My husband's brother is here for the weekend and all the guys (well, except Nathan) have gone to the movies so I have the house to myself. I think I'll have some ice cream and put my feet up for a bit while Nathan sleeps.

Hope everyone is well. More soon! :)

Edit:

Forgot to mention that we're talking about when to get pregnant again. I think we've decided to try around Christmas time :)

Quick update

2010-08-12T10:50:00.001-04:00

Things are going good here. Had the alternator replaced in the car and it's running great now.

Heading out to run some errands but I'll be writing more later today or tomorrow.

Hope everyone is well!

Car Problems but a Healthy Baby! (long post!)

2010-08-06T11:20:00.007-04:00

Nathan had his shots yesterday. I was anticipating him screaming for a while but surprisingly he only cried for about a minute. It was a pretty intense cry, similar to the way he used to cry when he was really hungry (he cries much differently now when hungry) but it didn't last long. He did end up sleeping for 5 hours after that though which was nice since we ended up having a very long day.

Nathan's weight is 12 pounds, he's 23 inches long. His head circumference is 40.7cm (16"). He is in the 75-85th percentile for his growth. He's a big boy :)

He is also almost constantly smiling when he's awake. He seems so happy almost all the time! He sits at the table with us when we have dinner and he keeps us entertained with his smiles and cooing :)

Last week when I was driving with my teen son to the movies our car's electricity kind of flickered. My ABS and air bag lights came on and the radio went out for a few seconds. The car shuddered a bit too. The ABS and air bag lights went back out and everything went back to normal but I was pretty scared since I was on the freeway so we got off and took city streets to get home.

We never got to see the movie, by the way, as it was sold out both times we went (we wanted to see Inception), but we did go out later in the week and saw Salt.

The next day I called our local Ford dealer and explained the issue and they had me take the car in and they shuttled me home. Later that day they called back and said they couldn't find anything with the electrical system but noticed that our brakes were really low. I had just mentioned to my husband a day or two earlier that I noticed the brake pedal had to go pretty close to the floor to get the car to stop but I hadn't had any issues with actually stopping. So we had the brakes done along with an oil change, tire rotation and overall inspection.

Since then we hadn't had any other electrical issues but they came back yesterday when I was coming home from Nathan's doctor appointment in London which is about 75 miles away. My car dash beeped and showed "Check Charging System" on the display and the battery light came on. I am really happy that I made it to my off ramp before the car decided to tell me there was a problem but my off ramp is still 20 miles from the Ford dealership.

So I called my husband then I called the Ford service center and they suggested I don't drive it and call roadside assistance. We don't have CAA but our extended warranty for our car has roadside assistance so I called them and they sent out a tow truck. I made sure to tell them that I needed a truck that could accommodate an infant car seat. The guy they sent out was so nice and he had such a nice truck. It was a Chevrolet something or other.

So now I'm driving a 2011 Ford Focus and waiting for my service guy to call with the news about our car. It's either the battery or the alternator and I'm hoping it's the alternator because our warranty covers that. The Focus is really nice but super small compared to our Taurus. The baby's car seat fits but you have to move the front seat up so your head is nearly touching the windshield. Does not work for my husband at all since he's 6' and barely fits in our normal car! It smells nice though :) Oh and it has satellite radio which is awesome! We just might have to get that...

More later!

Immunizations today

2010-08-05T08:49:00.002-04:00

Nathan goes in for his shots today. I'm not looking forward to having him cry from the pain but I'm happy he'll be getting immunized.

We attended our first Infant Massage class on Tuesday and it went well! I learned how to massage his legs and tummy. The next few classes will be for the rest of his body. He started fussing so I had to stop for a bit. Too much rubbing I guess! He kept looking at the woman next to me and smiling at her and we joked that he was flirting with her, it was cute :) There were 5 other women with their babies. I didn't socialize much but hopefully I'll get to know them a little better over the next few weeks. I was going to go to the Baby Blanket Time class today but forgot that we had to drive an hour to the doctor for his appointment. I'll try to attend their next class.

I've been feeling a little better lately. I cried this morning because I let a few silly things get to me. I was changing Nathan like I usually do, on our bed on his change pad and he decided to throw up his breakfast from when his Daddy fed him earlier. I was still half asleep and was hoping to go back to bed but we ended up having to give him a bath, which actually was good since I didn't give him one last night like I wanted. He went back in the bassinet after that so we could get one more hour of sleep before the alarm went off. He was fussy and I ended up having to change a poopy diaper. My reaction time was slow and ended up getting peed on. It's happened quite a few times but this morning I cried about it because I was tired.

Then when I went to take my shower I dumped all the water out of his baby tub and went to put it away but hadn't dumped it all out and ended up spilling water all over the bathroom floor. I cried about that too.

And my hands are still numb. I've had to fix so many typos in this post already. Maybe one day I'll make a post without edits! It's pretty bad.

Nathan is crying, gotta go feed him. I'll post more after our appointment today.

Some pictures

2010-07-30T12:14:00.001-04:00

I just might make some friends

2010-07-29T09:30:00.005-04:00

I finally talked to the lady at Our Place yesterday. We'd been playing phone tag for about a week. I registered for their postpartum depression group that starts in September and also for their Infant Massage group that meets twice a week. Nathan and I will be attending the tuesday morning class.

"Parents with babies under 1 will learn how to massage their babies in a comfortable and relaxing environment. Our facilitators are certified members of the International Association of Infant Massage and will teach techniques that will help to relax the baby and relieve common physical discomforts. (4 week program)"

We're also going to the Baby Blanket Time class on either monday or thursday (it's a drop-in class so no registration required so we can go to either or even both classes).

"Parents of babies 12 months and younger can meet and socialize together. Learn songs, rhymes and finger plays to play with your baby. After the songs, stay to play with the teachers and other parents. Bring your baby’s favourite blanket along!"

I'm pretty excited about finally getting out of the house and hopefully making some friends!

My depression is still lingering. I had an episode yesterday but I felt better as the day went on. My husband and teen son are so patient with me and I am so so blessed to have them. I have such a wonderful family. :)

Nathan is doing fine. He's been pretty gassy lately but it doesn't last too long. He's really smiling now too and he seems to smile every time someone talks to him. He seems like a really happy baby. He's up to a little over 4oz.(130ml) every 2 to 3 hours and he's not sleeping through the night yet. He goes in for his shots on August 5th so I'll have info about his weight and stuff then.

To E: I read your blog every time you have a new post and just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you and baby! I hope you both start feeling better and as other posters have said, you can never hold your baby too much! Hugs to you and your little guy!

More later (along with pictures!) :)

Forgot to mention that we switched back to Dr. Brown's bottles.

7 weeks!

2010-07-23T16:54:00.002-04:00

Nathan has grown by leaps and bounds! I have been so bad at taking photos of him when he's awake. Usually he's moving nonstop so all the pictures are blurry. I'll have to fool around with the settings on my camera so I can catch him and keep him in focus.

Immunization appointment and general well-baby checkup in about a week so I'll know more then regarding his weight and length. He's pretty long already and we're going to have to move him out of the bassinet and into his crib soon. I've been putting him in his crib occasionally so he'll get used to it when that time comes.

He's up to about 4oz. of formula every 2 to 3 hours and is still not sleeping through the night. Last night he did sleep for 3 hours before waking up which is rare. I think his longest sleep stretch was 4 hours.

We've switched his formula a few times since my last post about switching back to his original. We've found one that seems to settle with him though he still fusses sometimes from gas. I'm trying a new bottle type with him to see if that helps. We were using Dr. Brown's.

There are so many things that could be upsetting his tummy. We've both hard and soft water here and we've been using filtered (with our Brita and still boiling for 5 minutes after filtering) hard water for his bottles. My husband did research on using the soft water and due to using salt to soften it, it can have a much higher concentration of sodium and it's not recommended even for us to drink. Today I decided to buy a big jug of bottled spring water from the store and have made a few bottles with it to see how it settles with him. I'm still boiling all the water we use.

He's able to hold his head up for extended periods when I'm holding him. He still hates tummy time but I try to make sure I give him a few minutes a day on his belly. Also, he's nearly out of size 1 diapers. I think my next diaper purchase will be size 2.

I've been doing better lately. I think most of my crying and general sadness has been amplified by my lack of sleep. I've been trying to get as much sleep as I can during the day (when there aren't an overabundance of chores to do!) when Nathan sleeps. My husband has nearly taken over the night feedings to allow me to get a few hours of sleep at night. He's so wonderful :) I'm feeling a bit more rested but what I wouldn't give for 8 or 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

Here are a few recent pictures of Nathan (and of me, in my awesome recliner). Hope everyone is well!

Still here

2010-07-16T13:14:00.002-04:00

We're still around.

I'm still fighting this depression and it's really wearing me out. That PPD support group doesn't meet in the summer which makes no sense to me. I do have a call into the lady that runs it and hope to hear back from her soon about finding another group I can attend. I'm going back to London next week to see my doctor about getting help so we'll see how that goes.

Nathan is getting big. I will send/post photos as soon as I'm able.

I'm pretty sure I missed my parents anniversary which I'm sad about. Mom, Dad, I hope you both had a great anniversary and I'm sorry I missed it :( I love you both.

More soon hopefully.

Smiles!

2010-07-10T17:17:00.002-04:00

Nathan had a real smile for me yesterday. In fact, he smiled at me twice! What I thought had been smiles in the past may have been attempts to smile, but yesterday they were real. His whole face lit up when he smiled. It was wonderful and I nearly cried :) He has yet to smile at daddy and big brother, but soon :)

I've been doing okay lately. My depression is still lingering and I find myself crying almost every day over something. It doesn't last long, the crying that is, but I usually end up in a funk for a few hours over whatever it was that set me off. I feel that I'm doing better than I was a few weeks ago, but I'm still frustrated that it's still around. I'm hoping to get involved with a place here called Our Place and they offer a support group on Mondays for mothers suffering from PPD. They'll watch Nathan while I'm there which is nice. I have to register ahead of time so it will be at least another week. I'm really looking forward to going. My husband and son have been so wonderful but I feel I really need some help and support from other mothers. I never thought I'd have postpartum depression but I'm glad that I have a family that supports me and wants to help me get better. It sucks being so sad all the time and not getting excited about things that used to interest me. Even shopping isn't fun! ;)

Nathan is doing great. We switched his formula again and he seems to have way less gas. Almost no fussing at all and he's sleeping really good. Well, when he sleeps! He is so stubborn when it comes to sleeping. He tries so hard to fight it and stay awake. His eyelids try so hard to close and his eyes roll back in his head but he fights it with everything he has to stay awake! It's a bit funny to watch actually. Eventually he just can't do it anymore and he'll drift off into dream land.

He's not eating quite as often anymore it seems but he's eating more during feeding (about 100mL or 3.5oz, approx., sometimes more). Maybe every 3 hours or so and I want to say that he's sleeping more during the night, maybe 3 hours there too. He naps a lot during the day, well, somedays. Today, no. He's been up almost all day and I finally was just able to put him down for a nap (after the whole fighting it thing I mentioned above).

He's able to lift his head 45 degrees when on his belly for a few seconds. Today he went all the way to 90 degrees for a few seconds. We really aren't doing as much tummy time as we should so I hope to start doing that more.

We're slowly getting settled in here. I have mixed feelings about this city but it's probably just because I'm so unfamiliar with it and have no clue where half the stores are that I used to shop at in London. Everyone (cashiers, neighbors, etc.) has been super nice though which is good.

My husband is really enjoying his job. He works with a few people that he worked with in London and he likes that. I'm still really happy that he got a job at RIM and I hope he continues to like working there. They still seem to be a really good company to work for. My son is enjoying the city too. We'll be going to his new high school this week to look at registering for fall. Now if I can just get some therapy and make some friends then we'll be set! :)

Hope everyone is well. I have to find the wires to my camera so I can get the pictures I've taken off of it and I'll post them as soon as I'm able.

Still here!

2010-07-08T13:37:00.002-04:00

We've been busy trying to get settled in and I'll be posting more soon!

We're all doing good except for the high temperatures and humidity and we don't have central air. We have a window AC unit in our bedroom though so we've all been hanging out there when it's really hot!

Hope everyone is good. I'll post more in the next few days!

To SandeeMomz :)

2010-07-05T10:08:00.001-04:00

Yep found my camera. Pictures being posted soon!

Love and hugs!

All moved in!

2010-07-05T10:06:00.003-04:00

We're finally in our new home! Everything is still in boxes though.

Pretty busy but wanted to make a quick post. Hope everyone is well. I'll make a longer post soon.

Nathan is doing good :) He's one month old now, yay! Pictures soon too.

The Queen is coming to Waterloo

2010-06-30T18:59:00.002-04:00

Maybe my husband will get to see her :)

The Queen Heads to RIM

"From there, they will be whisked away to the Waterloo headquarters of BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, where they will survey the facilities and meet with employees for 45 to 50 minutes."

Moving & PPD

2010-06-30T12:36:00.003-04:00

We'll be busy moving over the next few days so I won't be posting probably until Sunday or Monday. Our internet will be turned on at our new place on Sunday.

We're all doing good here. I think I've got a case of postpardum depression and we've been trying to deal with that over the past few weeks. A part of me thinks it's just trying to adjust to having my life be so different now that Nathan is here but I honestly think it's PPD. It's so hard for me to watch my family take care of things that I normally took care of before Nathan arrived such as laundry and general housekeeping. It's always been my job and I loved doing it. I know that my son and husband are helping because they know they should but in my head it feels like I'm slacking on my job though I'm really not. I am blessed with a wonderful husband and older son. I think I'll get better at accepting help over the next few days. :)

Nathan is going great. He's lifting his head when on his belly and on my shoulder. He loves to look around. He's also scooting himself a few inches when on his belly. And he still loves music.

Hope everyone is doing good. I'll post more when I can!

Nathan's 3 week birthday pictures

2010-06-28T18:02:00.004-04:00

Where's My Camera?!

2010-06-25T12:39:00.001-04:00

Nathan is actually enjoying his time with the play mat that I bought last week and now I can't find my camera!

*rushes off to clean the house*

err, I mean to search for the camera!

Nathan's 3 week doctor visit

2010-06-24T18:50:00.002-04:00

Nathan had his 3 week visit today. He weighs 9lbs. and 14oz. and is holding steady around 21" in length. Everything else is good. His diaper rash is gone and we've switched back to his original formula and his fussing seems to have ended! He went out with me to run various errands and he didn't cry once :)

Off to make dinner, more tomorrow. Hope everyone is well!

Earthquake!

2010-06-23T14:10:00.004-04:00

We had an earthquake here just a little bit ago. I'm originally from Southern California (born and raised and lived there for 30 years) so I'm used to them but it was odd to feel one here in Canada. I wasn't sure it was an actual earthquake since they just don't happen around here but I called my husband at work and he felt it too. It was his first earthquake! It wasn't very big here but I noticed my desk swaying back and forth. Anyway, just wanted to share :)

Magnitude 5.5 Quake

Music

2010-06-22T12:48:00.005-04:00

We've discovered Nathan just loves music. Here are a few links to some of the songs we play for him. And yes, they're almost all from video games we play :)

Song 1
Song 2
Song 3
Song 4
The piano songs above are by Jerry Martin and available on iTunes
Song 5(Helene has such a beautiful voice but please ignore the dancers, lol)

And some popular songs like Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" because I used to sing along with it on the radio while driving ;) He also likes jazz, and lately I've been playing Nikki Yanofsky for him.

Enjoy!

16 days old!

2010-06-22T12:02:00.006-04:00

Nathan is growing by leaps and bounds! He's already outgrown the outfits he wore during his first few days. Not sure if I even mentioned he never even fit into newborn diapers.

I took him to the doctor yesterday because he'd been so cranky the past few days. We switched his formula about 4 days ago and soon after he began to have gas and wow, he sure let us know he was uncomfortable! I think both hubby and I got maybe 2 hours of sleep for a few nights there. We just couldn't console him. He wouldn't cry, just fuss and squirm and general crankiness. Our doctor told us to give him 2 or 3 more days on the new formula and if it continues then to switch back to our original one.

I've also been giving him Infacol for the gas the past day and he seems to be doing better. Last night we actually had a good night and slept very well! He woke up at his usual 2 hour intervals for feeds and changes and then fell right back to sleep. It's nice being able to sleep in my bed next to my husband and not in the recliner :) We still have him in a bassinet next to the bed. I think in our new house we'll set the crib up in our room and try to get him used to sleeping in that, then eventually move it to his room (which is already decorated for a baby boy, yay!).

My teenage son has been such a blessing to have around. He is so happy to have a baby brother and he helps out with just about everything! I don't know what I'd do without his help and I make sure he knows how much I appreciate him.

(That glass of water on the floor behind my son is for our cat. She won't drink out of bowls, haha)

My feet and legs (okay, breasts too!) have finally returned to their normal size! I'm slowly returning to my pre-pregnancy state. According to my scale, I've lost 30 pounds in the past 2 weeks. Not sure if it's accurate but I am not complaining. Still have numbness in hands though :(

Gotta go make phone calls to have utilities turned on in our new place and get all that kind of stuff taken care of. Hope everyone is well!

New photos of Nathan

2010-06-20T19:53:00.004-04:00

Nathan at 2 weeks old!

Sleep when he sleeps...

2010-06-18T12:03:00.004-04:00

Now I know why everyone tells me to "sleep when your baby sleeps"... We are all so sleep deprived here! Nathan's schedule is so erratic. For a week or so there he seemed to have somewhat of a schedule but not anymore. I was up from 2am to 5am with him this morning. He doesn't cry, he just fusses. My husband took over then and brought him downstairs to keep him entertained for a while. He finally fell back to sleep around 8am this morning until 11am and we managed to sleep while he did. It's amazing what even 3 hours of sleep can do. I felt refreshed :) He just fell asleep again a little bit ago but instead of sleeping I'm up doing laundry and having some "me time". Yes, I will probably regret not using this time to nap too but I still have a house to take care of which brings me to my next paragraph...

My lochia doesn't seem to be slowing down. I'm afraid that I'm over doing things and not delegating household chores as often as I should. I'll call my doctor and make an appointment for next week about it.

Also I've got back pain which I've had even before being pregnant so I'm not terribly concerned about it other than it hurts. I'm taking Naproxen still for my carpal tunnel and it seems to help with my back. I may make an appointment with a chiropractor while we still have our health insurance. As far as the carpal tunnel goes, I've had some hand pain but nothing too bad but my fingers are still numb. I've had to keep my nails short because I started noticing small scratches on Nathan's legs from me changing him and not being able to feel where my fingers are. I have no worries about holding him, it's mainly small things that I can't grip like pens and silverware.

The moving company is coming out on Monday to get an idea of how much stuff they have to move.

I hope everyone is well. Once we hear from our new landlords about a move-in date then I'll send out address changes and birth announcements with pictures. Hopefully that'll be soon!

More later :)

We got it!

2010-06-15T16:20:00.003-04:00

We got the house yay! Hubby mailed off the money to our new landlord today! We hope to be moved in by July 2nd. July 1st is a holiday here in Canada so the moving company can't move us then. I am so excited! So now all we have to do is put in our change of address with the post office and transfer utilities over to the new address.

Here's a link to my son's new school and a .pdf with even more info about it if anyone is interested. It looks like a great school!

Our current landlords are coming over tonight to take a look at the place before they start showing it to potential tenants. Gotta go clean up for a bit!

House update!

2010-06-14T15:30:00.005-04:00

The owner of our new home called back! It looks like we got it! She wants to fax back some signed papers and give us info so we can express mail our rent/deposit. I am so excited! Here are a few more pictures.

The backyard photo only shows about half of the size of it. It's actually really big! I'm so excited to have a real backyard, and a decent sized kitchen! We currently have a galley kitchen (similar to this) and it's just too small for me since I love to cook and bake often.

So, once all the technicalities are taken care of (money sent, papers signed, etc.) we can call RIM's moving company and set a date for them to come out and start packing our stuff. I think they come out to estimate how much stuff we have, then they come back closer to our move date and do everything for us. I mean EVERYTHING! They'll pack our stuff, load it onto the truck, drive it to our new home and even unpack for us. We are so blessed that my husband was able to get a job with them. I really think we're going to have many good years ahead of us. Thank you to friends and family that kept us in their prayers during the past few months. We love you all so much.

I promise to write to everyone as soon as things here start settling down.

Nathan is fast asleep. I had a pretty sleepless night last night, maybe 3 hours of sleep total. Nathan is nocturnal, haha! Hubby went into work around 12:30 today so I was able to grab an hour or so of sleep before he left while he watched Nathan. He found this article online and so I've been trying to do what it says but Nathan is just too pooped! I might head out later and get him some sort of play gym/mat that will keep him stimulated for an hour or two between naps so that he'll sleep more at night. We have play time during the day where I cuddle with him, eat his toes and make up rhymes for him, but it seems like he needs way more interaction/stimulation that I'm able to give!

More soon!

New home!

2010-06-13T12:19:00.004-04:00

Template change! :)

Anyway... Some news! We think we've found our new home in Waterloo!

We had a relocation specialist do some searching for homes for us and yesterday we met up with her and saw about 7 or 8 different houses/townhomes in Waterloo yesterday. There were about 3 total that we liked but we narrowed it down to the one pictured above. We called the owner after dinner last night after hubby and I talked it over and then faxed our rental application today, now just waiting to hear from her! It's a really nice 3 bedroom 2.5 bath home with a nice kitchen and even an extra room that we're going to use for our computers. What I really like about it is that it's kind of a split level so there's no more than maybe 8 stairs going in any direction to any level. We have too many stairs in our current home and they're laminate and very slippery so I always ask hubby to take Nathan up and down them. I slipped on them in early pregnancy and really bruised my bum and I don't want that to happen while I'm carrying Nathan!

I've been wanting to send out birth announcements but since we're going to be moving soon I thought I would wait until we're sure that we got the house so then I can include our new address.

Everything else is good here. My in-laws left last night so we're on our own now! Hubby is going back to work tomorrow but he might only work half days if it turns out I need some extra help with Nathan. I'm feeling almost 100% since having Nathan, I'm happy my recovery has been so quick. I am experiencing a lot of breathlessness and my diaphragm hurts when I try to take deep breaths. I'm hoping it's just from the pushing I had to do to birth Nathan. My feet/legs are still balloons but it's so hard to find time to put them up. I've taken a few water pills to help flush the extra fluid away but haven't taken many so haven't noticed too much of a difference yet. My hands are still pretty numb but the arm pain is completely gone! YAY!

Nathan is doing great! He's up to almost 3.5oz. of formula every 2 or 3 hours. We have tummy time a few times a day. He's still sleeping most of the time but usually twice a day he'll be awake for a good hour or two just observing and taking in everything around him. He seems so intelligent already! His eyes are so big and always moving back and forth watching everything! His diaper rash is getting better too.

More later, hope everyone is good!