Mr. Bright Eyes

Since I now have such a wake-y boy, I have been neglecting my blog. I am writing today with the unfortunate news that my blog is sure to be further neglected because I have to return to work tomorrow. Waaaah! Luckily, I am finishing out the year and knocking out some pd and then will return home for the rest of summer! Yay! I found out a few weeks ago that today is my 60th day of FMLA leave and after that your benefits expire. Yikes! So I am dragging myself back to work tomorrow. Honestly, I AM excited to see my kids, coworkers, and simply get out of the house. But I could do with about two days, instead of seven. And yes, if you are reading this and you had to go back to work after six weeks, please feel free to not pity me one bit. Being a SAHM is not really up my alley. I love my job and the sense of purpose it gives me. However, I wish so much that we were in a financial position that I could work part time. But we're not, so there you have it.
Back to the babe. Man, he has been SO alert! He just smiles and smiles all the time. He likes to do this thing where he is on his playmat and he makes this smug little smirk as if to say "Oh yeah, you think that's cool? Watch this." And then he smacks the crap out of the dangling animals. So then I will start carrying on "Oh wow! You're so strong!" and he just grins and grins showing off for his mama. ADORABLE! New faves are also being bounced on the bed and laying on my belly and flipping himself off onto the bed. And yes, we've videotaped it all.
Roman turned three months this past Tuesday. I wish he were going to the doctor, because I would love to see how much he weighs and his height, but not until next month. We have a new doctor by the way. Dr. Tim Corba at KidsRGr8 (I despise the name) Pediatrics. When I was pregnant I heard he was awesome, but I did not want to drive all the way to New Albany. Then when we found out our doctor sucks, I still figured we couldn't go to Dr. Corba because he has to be in network with Baptist East because of Warren's insurance. However, we found out we can and so we are. Best of all, NO required vaccinations!!!
I took three month photos of Roman yesterday and they are precious.

This is my favorite :)

Rambling

Roman is settling into a nice little pattern. It's called sleep and lots of it. I am sure that I cannot possibly be lucky enough for this to last forever, but Roman is sleeping through the night every other night or so, getting up and sleeping another four hours. He is awake for about two hours, twice a day and then three to four hours before bed. It is magical. He is also taking up to 7 oz bottles. I feel like I could be overfeeding him, but I googled it and it seems ok. Speaking of google, thank goodness for google. What exactly did people do before it?
I had a fabulous and much needed weekend this past weekend. It was spring break for JCPS so Kerry and Nikki visited Thursday. Nikki even babysat so I could rescue my broken flash drive. Christie hung out all day Friday. Then Saturday we all, plus Ashley, had girls night at Kerrys. It was my first, as Ashley said, "kid party". Highlights of cuteness include Liam meeting Roman and saying, "Oh that's M..." looking at his sister sitting on the floor, looking back at Roman, utterly confused as to who the baby, who was NOT his sister, was. Then Liam's lullaby to Roman, "It's niiiight, and you're sleeeeepy, and the owls, hoo, hoo. And there's cornnn..." What? Even better than all the kids cuteness-all the kids ASLEEP! My darling husband was kind enough to come pick me up from Kerry's, so I could enjoy my sangria, courtesy of Nikki.
In other news, I am thinking about starting Weight Watchers. My mom has recently lost 16 lbs doing it. I have lost 23 lbs since Roman was born. I have 12 to lose from the baby, and yes I regret gaining as much as I did. I would also like to lose another 8 (well really 18, but we'll stick with 8) that I was packing before ever getting pregnant. So my grand total would be 20 lbs. I am a terrible dieter and a worse exerciser. I actually eat really healthy, very little processed foods, all whole grains, etc. I am bad at dieting because I love tortilla chips, cookies (organic and multigrain, but still a cookie), and wine. I don't really want to fork out the money, but if it works... we'll see. I also really want to go to Pure Barre, but considering it is like a million dollars, that is definitely not happening.
Roman is smiling more and more. At everyone but me. Except for when I was singing a Jay Z song the other day when he woke up during my workout. He actually will turn away to smile at someone else, just to not smile at me. I swear, it really makes me miss my other kids, who love me back. Ooooh and I get to be their teacher again next year too, I am going to third grade with them! Back to my grumpy baby, he isn't bad, he doesn't cry much, but he is just a grumpy old man little thing! I hope he gets more cheerful!
Next week Annie is coming to KY for a visit and I am so excited! More girl time!!!! I need some Warren time too. We were supposed to have a date night last week, but he worked late, I had a rough day with the baby, and Zeus got sick which prevented Dad from being able to watch Roman. Soon, hopefully!

Ahhhh...quiet.

I just got the boy off to sleep. I am working this week on tracking his sleep, so I can try to start getting him on a schedule. I even made a spreadsheet on google docs that I must say makes me feel a little psycho. There are colors for eat, sleep, and awake. The schedule is really for me; he seems to do just fine. I just really need to start getting out of the house more and would like to be able to kind of plan when to do it. Plus I cannot begin to explain how the time blurs together and Warren and I can't remember when he slept, when he ate, when he needs to eat again, etc. Speaking of eating, that is about the only time my grumpy butt baby is ever happy. He doesn't cry much, but he is a fussy little thing. He fusses awake, he fusses asleep, and he even fusses towards the end of his bottle. He fusses in his swing, he fusses on his playmat. He fusses when he farts, which is alarmingly often (like I'm not quite sure it's normal!). He fusses changing clothes, he fusses changing diapers. Joy says it's the Thomas in him making him so grumpy. He won't really openly smile at you either, the best you get is a little smirk. EXCEPT he will grin it up at Warren everyday when he gets home. Me...never. We had family photos taken this past Sunday by the wonderful Jessie Kriech-Higdon (more about that later!) and she posted some teasers yesterday. There is a photo where you look and think, "Oh how cute, look at Roman smile." But I know the truth. That is no smile. A yawn, a noise, or something made him open his mouth up, but it wasn't a smile. Anyways, the photos are precious. My little man looks as handsome as can be. I will post her teasers later. So Kentucky had a good run. They were undefeated since Roman's birth, making it all the way to the Final Four, but on Saturday Roman's good luck ran out. I was just happy they made it as far as they did because I got some good use out of his newborn UK outfits :) He has now offically outgrown anything newborn size and I have a whole bag full of clothes he outgrew. It is so crazy. I am so afraid it will all go by so fast I won't be able to remember. He went to the doctor for his one month checkup last week. He was 9 lbs 6 oz. I think he seems abnormally strong still. He can roll from side to side and if he's on his belly he can scoot a little. He also is pulling at my hair. Hard. With a death grip. It's funny too when he lays on his playmat he hits the dangling animals until he gets really frustrated and starts fussing. I think he is ready for some mobility to kick it. I hate to break it to him, but he still has awhile. I am getting really excited for Easter. It will be Roman's first big holiday. (I do not count St. Patricks Day as a big holiday until you are of drinking age.) While Joy was here she and I went and I got Easter baskets for the whole family from World Market and lots of stuffers. We are going to Murray and I am so excited to see everyone and especially for Roman to meet his cousins! Not that he'll know, so I guess it would be better to say for his cousins to meet him :) Eventually I hope to have more to say than the play by play of Roman's every move, but right now we've been stuck inside due to weather and age :) So that's all I've got.

Go Roman, It's Your Birthday

Yesterday was Roman's 1 month birthday. So he needed a photo, especially a photo with a loud, celebratory color scheme. It is unbelievable that a month has passed already!

Month One Memories

There are a few moments from the past month I might try to forget (hormonal crying, sleep deprivation, etc.) but for the most part I feel like there are precious minutes that I fear will slip away from my memory if I don't write about them. For starters, Roman is exceptionally strong. (Doctor's opinion, not biased mom's.) And he is a fighter, kicking and squirming and throwing his head (which he can control already) around, prompting Joy to buy him a bunch of swaddlers and proclaim dealing with Roman is like wrestling monkeys. So for now it is sticking. I don't know if I have called him Roman enough times to count on one hand, it's just Monkey. My crazy little Monkey <3 Oh and about how strong the Monkey is, he is also rolling from side to side. I know NOTHING about babies, but this seems to impress those who do! Roman has already outgrown several newborn outfits, but only lengthwise. So most of the time he has on enormous outfits that fit just right down to his big feet. The boy's socks are all too short, but loose. He also enjoys clawing his own face with his massive hands, which do not look like baby hands at all. It is just like he has four year old hands or something. Looks wise, he definitely favors Warren, but as he picks up weight in his cheeks he looks more like me. I don't know how I feel about that fact, kinda feels like I am insulting myself! He has Warren's mouth and I often see Warren in the faces that he makes. That is my favorite Roman activity. Watching the faces he makes, usually right after he eats. I need to videotape it-not because anyone else would care to see it, but just for me! When he was about a week old we just woke up one morning and his eyes looked different. They had magically developed that under eye puffy thing that people with deep set eyes have. That is also Warren, I don't have deep set eyes. I guess I never wrote much about the first two weeks. First of all, the hospital. Ick. If we have any more children I am pretty sure I want to have a home birth. It really wasn't that bad, and as a first time mom it was nice having the nurses checking on you and getting everything for you. The on staff pediatrician at Clark was awful. She acted as if we were irresponsible idiots for declining some of the newborn care procedures that are completely unnecessary. As if I did not thoroughly research every decision before I made it. She is also the one who made us stay the second night. Ugh. Once we were home, I could not have made it without Joy. She was here for a week feeding us, running errands, cleaning, and doing everything for us so we could take care of Roman. There was a lot of crying that first week. Mostly because of breastfeeding, which was an epic fail. I tried different positions, products, met with a lactation consultant, everything. There just seemed to be too many cards stacked against me. The pain was unbearable and made me not even want to hold Roman for fear he would want to nurse. Then on top of that, the poor boy wasn't getting enough milk. Which I learned makes newborns lethargic, not crying. So he was too tired to eat, making him be more tired. Finally, he was so out of it we couldn't get him to wake up at all, even after undressing him, clapping, singing, and tickling his feet. That's when we popped open the formula. I am still pumping, but chalking it up to an epic fail was my turnaround point of tears stopping and me being a happy mama. After Joy left, my first week by myself started off well. By day two I had things pretty down pat. I complained to Ashley of being bored in the afternoon! Then that night I got a fever. After it reached 102.5, I went to the doctor the next morning (causing Warren to miss yet another day of work) and I had mastitis. By the next day everything was fine though and it's been going pretty smoothly ever since. Minus a few disastrous bodily function episodes! But I think that just comes with the territory.
This week was an adventurous week. My goal for the week was to get him to sleep, especially for naps when I am here by myself, without being held. That was successful. Kristen 1, Roman 0. He is also now spending an hour or so on his playmat listening to Children's Folk Music on Pandora. We also made our first trip out together. The day he was three weeks old we went to Target. Woo-hoo! The cute thing was that when we were there a lady was looking at Roman and asked me how old he was. "Three weeks today," I replied. She asked if it was our first trip out and I told her that indeed it was. She said, "Let me tell you something. 27 years ago, on the day my baby was three weeks old we made our first trip out and it was to Target." Today I think Warren and I might try to take him to the grocery for the first time. Sounds terrible. Roman celebrated his first St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. We went to Christie and Ian's (Roman's first trip to someone's house!) and had a delicious dinner. Also, being that it is March Maddness we have had many UK outfit photo ops.
As far as being at home, I don't really like it right now. I guess it will get better when he is older, but right now I get REALLY bored. The weather is getting nicer, and he is getting older, so hopefully we can start getting out more. I am really bad at talking to him when we are here all day too. I try, because I know it is good for him, but it is a struggle for me to try to talk to someone who neither understands, nor can respond. The flip side of this, is that me and that boy are bonded. When his belly hurts, I am the only person he will calm down for. I know weird little tricks to take care of him. It makes me sad for Warren, because I know he hates leaving everyday, but at the same time I would be lying if I said I didn't like Roman needing his mama.
Warren's mom is coming back today for work/a visit. While she is here I want to try to get some family photos of us. Amazingly, a lot has changed in the two weeks since she left. No more tears, Roman is fattening up and more lively, we are capable of feeding ourselves, all sorts of accomplishments. Yeah, be impressed :)

First Bath

Roman recently had his first bath. As you can see from the photos, he LOVED taking a bath (insert sarcasm here). Warren got the lovely job of scrubbing the boy down. After I snapped a few photos, my job was to pour the water over Roman. Before his bath was ready, I got peed on and then immediatly after his bath he peed through his diaper on Warren. Oh and to get ready for the bath, Warren and I googled "How to Give Your Baby a Bath". Ahhh parenting in the 21st century :) Oh and finally, makeup isn't happening for me these days, as you can see below! Enjoy!

It's a Boy!!!! Oh wait we already knew that.

Considering there is about to be a real baby, real soon, I figured I'd better get around to posting the pictures of our last look at baby Roman. These are the pictures from the 20 week ultrasound, when we found out it was a boy.

Well Hey There Little Fella

The past two weeks I have been completely freaked out because I have not been feeling the baby move all that much. However, the past two days that little sucker is acting like he just signed up for a kickboxing class. Then, last night, we were laying on the couch watching tv and....Warren felt his first kick!!!! Which he of course was so thrilled about! I was excited to tell people this, however, Roman is hanging out really low, so I am not really welcoming others to start feeling him kick if you know what I mean :)

Today I am going to a cloth diapering class. I am pretty sure I am cloth diapering, but ugh, every time I even try to read anything about it, they use all this terminology that I have no idea what it means. So I am going to go check it out.

Also, I think it is high time for some photos. I know I am due for a belly photo, and I also think I should share some very cute gifts I have gotten! I will see what I can do!

It's a Boy!!!

Today the doctor confirmed-it's a beautiful baby boy. With big feet :)

Doctor, Doctor

The doctor visit was pretty uneventful. We listened to the heartbeat and I got weighed. That's about it. I have lost one pound. Dr. Thompson asked if I have been sick. I said no, and that I had taken up having dessert nightly with a tall glass of milk (and if you know me you know there is no glass)! Keep this up and there might be something to this pregnancy stuff :) I know, I know, I'll start gaining soon. So a normal heartbeat is between 120-160. When Dr. Thompson listened to the heartbeat, she told us that it's an old wives tale that if the heartbeat is closer to 120 it is a boy, and if it is closer to 160 it is a girl. Ours was 140. REALLY?!?! On the topic of gender, my next appointment is on October 4th. I will be 18 weeks. My doctor's office seriously makes you wait until 20 weeks for your ultrasound. Lame. Sooooooo October 19 is my ultrasound-let the countdown begin!!!

Photos!

This is the onesie I made my parents and sister.

This is the picture frame we gave to Warren's parents.