Two Months Old

I'm a couple days late on this post, but my kiddo turned two months old on Monday!  We went to the doctor and found out he now weighs 14lbs, 1 oz and is 23 1/4 inches long.  Of course his weight puts him over the 97th percentile, lol.  He's a chunky monkey!  He got 3 shots at the appointment, and unfortunately they put him in a bad mood for the rest of the day.  But, the super exciting news surrounding his 2-month birthday is that he finally has started a good sleep routine!  We tried a couple new things, and he slept for 7.5 hours the first night (broken up into two sessions).  The next night he slept for about 9 overall.  This has been the biggest relief for me and Meezy lately.  You have no idea how stressed out we had become over Dutch's horrible sleep pattern.  Every night he would fight us for 2-3 hours and refuse to go to sleep.  When he finally did, he would only sleep for 1-2 hours at a time.  Meezy and I were taking turns performing the daunting task of getting him to sleep each night, and then I had to deal with the persistent overnight sessions of feeding, rocking, consoling, etc.  It led to us just being exhausted every day and we pretty much dreaded nighttime.  I don't think it was strictly the new things we tried that have helped him go to sleep and stay asleep; I think it also has to do with him just getting a little older.  Either way, we are thanking our lucky stars that we're (hopefully) past the horrific nights.  Here are some recent pics:

     

Back to Reality

I decided to sign up for my old high school's annual 5K this past Saturday.  The problem was, I signed up just a week in advance, without having done any type of running to prepare.  The last time I ran was like 10+ months ago!  Bad move.  Two of my besties from high school signed up with me, and of course they are like the most fit ladies I know!  They both are avid runners, so I knew I'd be in trouble.  I made two attempts to run on the treadmill last week in preparation, but I only made it about a mile each time, which included walking a little halfway through.  The race path took us through the neighborhood surrounding the school, and there was no shortage of hills!  Basically, I did horribly.  I had to stop and walk numerous times, and the hills killed me.  I was so embarrassed with my stamina, or lack thereof.  I know I'm only 2 weeks into being cleared for exercise, but I still thought my previous athletic abilities would shine through a little.  I also thought since I have already lost 35 of the 45 pounds I gained in pregnancy, I would miraculously be close to being back in shape.  I guess the c-section and lack of exercise for so long really set me back.  I felt discouraged, but I figured this was the push I needed to do something about it.  My sister participates in a baby boot camp a few days a week, and she had asked me previously to accompany her.  I had declined in the past because it's at 9am, and mornings aren't always easy in my household.  But, after having seen what poor shape I'm currently in, I'm going to suck it up and make it work!  So, baby boot camp, here I come! 

Dutch's First Trip to Amarillo

Meezy and I packed up the munchkin and headed to Amarillo last weekend so Dutch could meet some of his family members and visit again with the ones he's already met.  We headed out around 7:30am on Saturday morning for the 350 mile journey.  It normally takes us about 5.5 hours, but we figured it would take much longer with a 7 week old in tow.  Much to our surprise, we only had to make one stop for a feeding and diaper changing, and we still got there in the same time as normal.  It was awesome!  He slept most of the way, which is great during the drive, but not so great for the rest of the day.  Poor guy just couldn't adjust well to the change in his schedule and ended up being a little fussy for the rest of the day.  I know we're lucky because "fussy" to us just means a little whiny and not wanting to be put down.  It doesn't mean wailing or uncontrollable crying.  And, considering how many family members wanted to hold him, it really wasn't that bad because he never was put down!  He took catnaps here and there, but didn't get in a good 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon like he normally does at home.  Luckily that didn't affect him at bedtime, and he only fought for 30-ish minutes before finally giving in to sleep for the night.  We spent Sunday visiting with family again, and the fussiness was still there, but it didn't affect the visit.  By the end of the day, though, we could tell he was exhausted.  We had planned to stay another night and depart on Monday, but when we saw how much our little guy just wanted to sleep, we figured it was best to hit the road and let him get his good sleep in the car. That way we could return to a normal schedule on Monday at home.  We left Amarillo around 9pm, and he slept for 4 hours straight!  If we hadn't needed to stop for gas, he might've made it all the way home without waking up.  I changed and fed him at the gas station, and then he slept again for the last 1.5 hours.  I'm glad we did it that way, even though we arrived home at 2:30am, because he got the sweet relief of sleep in the car, and still went back to sleep for a couple more hours once we got home.  Here are some pics from our fun weekend:

Meezy and his mini-me

My sweet boy

So kissable

My little buddy

Napping on his uncle Josh

Dutch's cousin Emma

Daddies on stroller duty

Napping on his Oma

Meeting his Opa

Killing me with the cuteness

Wide-eyed

Dutch's cousin KC

Hugs from Mamaw

Aunt Felicia

Smiling at his Aunt Felicia

Checking out his Uncle Cary

Taking a break with Dad

Happy boy on Aunt Michal-ann's shoulder

It's Friday!

I love Fridays because they just seem more relaxed.  Even though I usually have to work on the weekends, Fridays still make me feel calmer and usually put me in a good mood.  One way to start the day off even better is to see this sweet face smiling back at me:

I put Dutch in his rocker while I was going to get ready for the day, but then I saw how much fun he was having making the rocker bounce, which in turn made the stuffed animals on his mobile move, so I decided to stop and film him.  It was pretty sweet, until about 50 seconds in when he let out a nice surprise!

 

This Week in Pictures

The highlight of last week was my hubby's 30th birthday!  We originally thought we'd plan a whole day's worth of fun activities for him and his friends to celebrate the occasion, but then we realized how much work that would take and just how tired and busy we both have been lately!  We decided we'd save the major celebrations for a later date, when we feel less overwhelmed.  In the meantime, I had a bunch of cookies and brownies delivered to Meezy's work on his birthday from Tiff's Treats.  He had no idea they were coming, so that was a fun surprise.  I also created a custom sampler from Amazing Clubs so that he'll receive something cool once a month for the next 6 months.  I'm excited to see what the first delivery brings! Here's Dutch's contribution to Meezy's birthday:

Happy birthday, Dad!

The lowlight of last week, which unfortunately also fell on Meezy's birthday, were the tornadoes that hit our city.  This was probably the most scared I have been while living in Dallas.  I was watching the coverage on TV, and saw the live footage of the tornado plowing through Lancaster, and started to freak out.  The sirens were going off in my neighborhood.  Meezy was at work, and it was just Dutch and me at home (with 3 dogs!).  I wasn't sure where the safest place in the house would be in the event a tornado touched down nearby, but my best guess was our pantry that is situated underneath our stairs.  I put Dutch in his carseat and put him in the pantry, while I stood right at the door to it, watching and listening to the news to see if we were in imminent danger.  I was in contact with Meezy on and off, but his building made them get in the stairwells, where he didn't have cell coverage.  We've had tornado threats in our area before, but this was the first time I was directly responsible for someone else's life at the time, and it really hit home.  I was terrified for my child, not for myself.  If ever there was a time where the overwhelming feeling of motherhood could be encompassed, this was it.  I'm so glad we were spared from the tornado's path, and my heart goes out to the families who lost everything.

    Where Dutch rode out the storm

Sweet boy was oblivious to Mommy's terror!

Needless to say, the rest of the week was much more enjoyable!  We received an awesome onesie from one of Meezy's poker buddies with the Dutch lion on the front that represents KNVB (Royal Dutch Football Association).  I just had to snap a pic of my cutie reppin' his heritage.

Hup Holland!

The day after the storms, the weather was beautiful, so I took the little munchkin on a walk around the neighborhood.  When you have a face like this staring up at you, you have to remind yourself to watch where you're walking!  I have a hard time concentrating on the path in front of me when I see this:

Hi Mom!

Lastly, this past week also brought us a rare event - a stress-free bedtime routine one night.  Lately it seems like Dutch really fights going to sleep, and some nights we'll spend a couple hours trying to soothe him and calm him.  We can't put him down; we constantly have to change his position; he won't fall asleep; he's fussy; he won't take a pacifier, etc.  It's so stressful, and it exhausts us.  Some nights we don't all get to sleep until 1 or 2am, and we just feel so beat down.  But, alas, we had one night this week where Dutch effortlessly fell asleep on the couch next to me at 10:30pm, slept until 1:30am, woke up and fed, then quickly fell back asleep for another 3 hours. It was glorious! It also happened to be the night he was wearing some adorable jammies. Babies in footies are like the cutest thing ever!