Prepster

I grew up during that stage of the early 80s when preppy was cool. Even at 6 years of age, I refused to wear anything that didn't have an alligator on it and made my Marshall's-shopping mom go out and seek out bargain-priced clothes in kelly green. No other color would do. Not much has changed since then. I strayed a bit in junior high and high school with the tight-rolled jeans, and the ice-skater tops and leggings, colored jeans, grunge and then the icky oversized men's clothing, but eventually came back to beloved fabrics like madras, twill and seersucker.

For so many years, I have longed to have a child not only to love, but to dress in clothes from the Baby Polo section. Now, he is here... and it is so much fun. Yesterday, I begrudgingly put away all of his 0-3 month clothes and pulled out the 3-6 months. For all my worrying about his growth, I still got a little misty putting away those tiny onesies. Sadly, I found this adorable Polo rugby outfit amidst the stack of stuff he hasn't worn. My mom gave us this outfit for Christmas and I freaking LOVE it. I say sadly, because 1) it's 95 degrees outside and 2) Polo makes their kids clothes so small. The sizing does not compare to other brands, at all. Peanut outgrew the Polo 3 month stuff about 6 weeks ago... and this rugby outfit is 3 mo. Poop! I put it on him today, so he could wear it at least once (we'll stay inside, I guess)... and it really is a bit snug.

Not to worry, Ralph Lauren's web store is having a 25% off sale on baby stuff right now and I googled a discount code that worked for free shipping. FREESHIP1X I got some 9 month stuff he can wear now and a bunch of stuff for next summer, too, so our lad will not go without his seersucker, madras and twill. If anyone would like to invite us to a Hamptons barbecue, to go shell-seeking or over for mint juleps, we are ready!

AC: Peace

My foray into the world of Gymboree

Actual email from me to Mike regarding our morning:

So, we went to Gymboree this morning… John Michael spit up all over his rugby outfit in the car on the way there, had a big booger in his nose I didn't notice prior to class and had scratches all over his face from putting his hands in his eyes, etc., so I totally felt like he was the “dirty kid”/class thug. Wow, was it ever a sprint into the world of stay at home motherhood or what. 1. We had to play with finger puppets… one of which is the Gymboree “Jim” who is a clown. Your sister would hate it and I am not sure I was totally crazy about the clown presence, myself. There was lots of singing and playing etc…. JM was pretty good. He hated the tummy time part and cried a little, but otherwise he was completely mesmerized by all the bright colors and even more by the babies. He has never been around that many other kids and was literally arching his back to look across the room at this other little guy. He is SO going to be rolling over soon. I was afraid he was going to do it in class and you wouldn’t get to see it. We need to practice with him at home on a mat and put something interesting in his line of sight and I bet he’ll do it. Anyway, get this… it is $65 a month for one class a week!!! And, I thought Body Business was pricey. He loved it, but there is no way we are forking over that kind of money to play with finger puppets… I want to see if we can find something similar for cheaper… I think going at the 11:15 or maybe late afternoon might work with his naps… Today the timing was perfect. He woke up and I fed him right before class and he passed out in his carseat after class…

Our big boy

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

We went to the lake this weekend, the three of us and it was great. Does John Michael not look like he just came off the rugby field in this outfit? Auntie Ger sent this from Ireland for him and I swear, with the bald head, he looks not only Irish, but also like he could step into the pub for a pint after a match.

Secondly, he had a few big milestones this weekend. No, unfortunately not sleeping throught the night. But, he seems to have entered a new phase where he can nap for hours on end. We also put him in the Bjorn facing forward... and he is playing with his feet all the time... and, after covering him up with some extremely gentle (and expensive) infant sunscreen our ped. recommended, we put him in a floatie in the lake for about 10 minutes on Saturday morning. He was a little nervous at first, but loved it.

I spent much of the weekend reading Weissbluth's sleep book, which is really interesting. And, making Mike listen to music that I downloaded... We took a trip back in time to 1996. It's pretty sad that my favorite music is still music I liked in college.... Indigo Girls Swamp Ophelia, Creedence, a new Dave Matthews Best of What's Around 2 disc set that just came out and a Best of Motown. I am finally not sick of Dave Matthews anymore. It's taken 10 years, but I can finally listen to Crash again and I found myself still liking it.

On a completely unrelated note, the world is a lot smaller because of Facebook. You should log on and see if your high school prom date is on there, because mine is and he added me to his friend list, as did numerous other random Iowans who I grew up with. Good times.

3 month photo slideshow

We got JM's proof's back from Life in Motion photography and they are WONDERFUL! To entice us to buy meelions and meelions of photos of him, she put together a slideshow of them for us and did such an awesome job of capturing how he is right now. I love it so much!

As a side note, no, I did not know I was going to have my picture taken that day. Yuck! I look awful.

Anyhoo, without further ado... get out your kleenex: JM 3 month slideshow here

Good news? 3 months

Well, the baby is still on the lean side weighing in at the 10th percentile. He's almost 11 lbs, but the doctor isn't concerned. He's grown almost an inch in the last month and his head has also grown, so he's in the 50th percentile for both of those. Considering that he's happy and healthy, we are supposed to keep doing what we're doing. We thought maybe he might want us to start rice cereal, but not until 4 months, I guess. Generally a good visit... I need to look at the big picture and not focus on the numbers, I know!
AC: Forgiveness

Running good for mama and baby

Well, I joined a gym. I went to a couple of free sessions at Body Business and really liked the feel of it. I got to meet some of the childcare ladies and decided that I was wrong in my initial impression. When I go during the day, there are a lot of old people there. I have never, in fact, seen so many old people at a gym. Beyond that, they do a lot of neat activities and there is a real community feel. And, they have free babysitting so you can go see a movie at the Drafthouse one Saturday a month. Sweet!

Mike and I are going to train for the White Rock half in December so today, I went and dropped JM off in childcare and ran in the neighborhood for 30 minutes and then did some abs. It was a little hard at first to think about a "stranger" taking care of our son, but overall I really need to recharge my batteries during the day, so it's good for both of us probably for me to let go and do this. I feel really conflicted about letting him nap in his carseat a few times a week, when at this point, he is sleeping in his crib 95% of the time, so I hope that's okay. I need to get out for my mental health.

Anyway, the run was crap. I felt so sluggish and slow. I am not the "lightening bolt" by any means at this point, but felt reenergized getting out there... and when I picked JM from childcare, he was fast asleep and stayed that way for about an hour afterwards, so he was, too.

We have a 3 month weigh-in tomorrow morning with the ped. I know the little one has gained weight. I can just tell. In an ideal world, he will have gained an ounce a day... which would mean he is at least 11 lbs. 12 1/2 oz. Please God. I know my heart is going to beat wildly when we get him on the scale and know I shouldn't focus so much on the numbers, but I am me. Let's hope for the best! We also need to talk to the ped. about his sleeping habits. Little guy has been consistently getting up every 3 hours during the night and we've attended to his every cry. Should we be doing this? Hmmm...

AC: Trust

My baby has hair!

I have hair!!!
Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

all of a sudden John Michael has a lot more peach fuzz. It's so cute! (13 weeks)

Addicted to Facebook

photos: JM with cousins Madeleine and Lucian and Poppa Art. JM does some flirting with the cute running ladies.

I am probably so 2003 here, but I just joined Facebook and I'm addicted. I always thought it was kind of a weird "My Space" thing for the youngins, but I am fascinated by how many cool people that I know are on there. I've been chatting with a girl from MU that I used to drive to and from CR with for breaks... Austin friends... NC friends... grade school friends... Fridays friends (did I ever mention on here that I was a TGI Fridays w/w back in the days of flair? uh huh!).... It is a colossal phenomenal time-waster. It's amazing how quickly people can find you once you have a shared connection. Wow.

Hormones are raging in me this weekend. Friday we went out with the running people and last night we went out to my mom's for Art's birthday. I pretty much had a meltdown to Mike last night. Today I freaked out because our house was in a state of disarray. It was only after having a budget meeting with Mike that I finally chilled out. BFing has not been going well the past few days with the baby crying on the breast again and arching his back. I thought we were over that like a month ago. He does not do this when Mike feeds him his bottle.... so I've been mystified as to why it was happening. Sure enough, today after I calmed myself down, relaxed and started watching Father of the Bride, he stopped crying and started eating. It is ME! My nerves contribute to his fussiness. Wow.

This afternoon we took JM to Mamma Mia and he was a dream. I actually fed him in the theatre and it went pretty well. First off, I loved the movie. So fun. I had him under the hooter hider and it was pretty warm in there and he pretty much ate for like an hour under there, snoozing on and off. His dreams came true. He would be a good Chinese baby, wrapped up in a swaddle, grazing while I worked in the rice patty. We went to church at 5:30 and he was fussy yet again. He is a generally happy guy, but every time we go to church, he cries. I wonder if people see us walk in and think "oh, there are the people with the baby who always cries." :)

After church, Mike went to his CRHP meeting, so we are having a fun mom-son date night. I figured out how to do Facebook one-handed while I feed him (God help us), and I gave him a bath and put him down. He has a new trick where he bends both legs at the same time and shoves his booty in the air and pushes himself backward on his back towards the end of the changing table. He is going to be flipping over before we know it.

Off to bed, I think part of my problem this weekend is that I am tired. I haven't napped for days.

AC: communication

Mama Tuesdays

.... I am in a current state of bliss. Lauren's friend Tracey came and watched JM for three hours this morning, so I could go volunteer at the hospital and go to the gym. I had told the volunteer coordinator to take me off the schedule, but they never did, so I saw that as a sign that God wanted me there for some reason. So my plan is going forward, that the 2nd Tuesday I'm scheduled to volunteer will be "MB day," the one day a month I can do whatever I want to do and permanently on the calendar.

My hospital visit was good. I met with a man who had his 2nd foot amputated yesterday and he was so beautiful in his spirit... Apparently, another amputee is coming in to visit with him this afternoon about a prosthetic donation program called Limbs for Life, so he's hoping to get at least one foot donated soon. Hmm, maybe this is something I should pursue? I don't know how much a prosthetic foot costs, but man I would love to get him one. Apparently Medicare doesn't qualify him for funding for another foot until July of 2009. WTF? Anyway, he was really jazzed that the lady he was meeting with was kayaking in Dallas over the weekend and his eyes lighted up at the prospect of himself doing the same. Hope is a beautiful thing. Can you imagine being in his situation? Christ was definitely in this man... and with some of the other folks I met with, for sure.
UPDATE: I called the hospital caseworker who was working with the man I met today, to see if we could help him and it turns out that he does have insurance and has been preapproved for a prosthetic leg. He doesn't have to wait until next year! He should find out in the next few weeks about the second leg. The caseworker told me that hospital patients generally only retain about 5% of what they are told, so it's possible that he was confused, as he is getting the help he needs. Yeah! Anyway, Limbs for Life sounds cool. I had never heard of it.

I'm trying to find a gym close to our house that has a childcare system that I can trust. I need to get back in shape and get out into society a few times a week. I am toting around 10 extra pounds and I don't want them to be a permanent fixture on my midsection. Body Business gave me a free 7 day pass, so I went today after the hospital and really liked the Ab class I took. It's been seriously like a year since I did abs and I was embarassed by how weak my core was, but thankfully there were only 2 other people in the class and I was about 20 years younger than both, so at least I had that going for me as I tried to hoist myself up using my core strength. I really liked the feel of the gym, but it's double the price of Golds and I'm not sure I would go $45 a month's worth.

Peanut did great with Tracey, but the second she was going toward the door, he started screaming and was inconsolable. I am blessed that this is a first for us in his 12 weeks of life so far. He was PISSED. I tried to put him back down and he would get all cozy with me and start screaming the second his head hit the pillow... I tried to let him cry it out, but he was not having it. Finally, I reswaddled him and starting nursing him and sure enough, he conked out about 3 minutes in and has been out for about an hour since. Poor little guy. It's hard being a baby!

AC: light

mr. hollywood

our shoot with lyndsay this morning could not have gone any better. peanut was happy as a clam and cooperated way better and for much longer than I ever would have at 12 weeks old. he was naked for a while, wearing two other outfits, numerous cloth diapers, 2 caps, in a chair and outside and all around our house. lyndsay was very good with him and respectful of his schedule and i think he appreciated that, because he was quite calm and content. he seemed to really like looking at himself in her camera lens. perhaps a future in hollywood?

she put up a little teaser on her blog. consider me teased. i want to see more! ac: delight! indeed!

11 weeks

I am so excited. We set up a shoot for Sunday with Lyndsay from Life in Motion photography to capture Peanut at 3 months. She does beautiful work like this adorable picture of who I think is her son and I can't wait to see what she does with JM!

I'm also happy to report that I got out for not one, but two women's gatherings today. I had lunch with some CRHP ladies and adorable babies and dinner/happy hour with some of QueJ's friends. It was a major blessing for me to get out. This week I have been pretty holed up recovering from the baptism and I needed some adult conversation in a bad way!

Last night we were brave and tried the Baby Whisperer's advice on getting the little guy to sleep through the night and it was a total bust. Instead of not waking up, he actually managed to wake up more often than usual, because he was all confused. Kim's friend Marni suggested letting him cry for a little when he wakes up at 2 to see what he does. Since last night was such a disaster, I am not going to try tonight, so we all can get some sleep, but maybe this weekend.

fell in love with a boy

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Originally uploaded by our "nut" house

it's official. i am 100 percent head over heels in love. with john michael. we had his baptism this weekend and i am pretty sure i am not the only one. my family came in from chicago and mike's from all over texas and it was so much fun to see everyone interacting with our little guy. the weekend went off without a hitch. entertaining was fun. the baptism was beautiful. john michael looked adorable in my dad's Christening gown, booties and bonnet. i picked the blank angel on Sunday and it was really spooky. i was sitting in church, surrounded by so many loved ones and thinking about how wonderful our son is and what a blessing to so many of us. i have come a long way in the past few years and i am so thankful.

i really could waste the days away sitting and watching him. he is talking more than ever and it is the cutest thing i have ever seen. he says lots of ohs and eees and has figured out how to gurgle to scream and laugh really loud. he knows who i am and loves it when i interact with him, singing, making him dance or making noises back to him. he acts delighted by life for most of the time he is awake during the day. today i put him on his play mat and hung some connecting rings over his head and he was batting at them with his fist. a few weeks ago he was sleeping for an occasional 5 and 6 hour stretch, but for some reason the past 2 weeks, he has reverted to getting up every 3 hours to eat... he'll have a long stretch after his 7pm feeding, but then gets up usually at midnight, 3 and 6, but goes right down afterward, so it isn't too bad. he is definitely growing, too. he is finally starting to outgrow some of his 0-3 month clothes. he is so long that i am having a tough time buttoning the bottoms! i am happy that he's getting bigger and acting like such a big boy all of a sudden, but i want him to stay little forever!

ac: creativity