how brady gets a bath in the treehouse

it really is lots of work, trust me. The really really hard part is after his bath, when I have to take on too! This tub ROCKS!

we call my parents grandma and grandpa who live in the treehouse because they have a log and stone house.

Brady's 2nd Christmas

I think Brady had a good Christmas. He really got into opening gifts to our surprise! It was way cute! We had x-mas with my side, the whole gang, on x-mas eve. Our tradition is to have crab legs and prime rib. YUMMMM! On christmas day we took it easy. Highlight was the pizza party at my sisters. We made our own pizzas, then had sundaes, and played Wii.

We arrived at my parents on monday, were intending to leave today, but we are now staying for another night or 2. My dad acquired a 1950 dozer, and they are tinkering on it. No biggy..... but this house is SO NOT baby proof, and it is impossible to really baby proof it (dont tell the building inspector about the gaping opening under the railings that I can fall thru!) so we cant take our eyes off him for long at all. I am constantly chasing saying "off the steps!". My parents have this weird heating system, geothermo heat with high velocity airflow, so they have these vents in the floor, it is basically a hole the size of a golf ball, to a 1 yr old, it is a fabulous place to put things into! Yeah... it's a lt of work hanging out here! not like our basement at home were it is so baby proof we rarely have to get up! I am hoping daddy will let me spend plenty of time sewing when we get home, undisturbed by baby of course.

unfortunate update

Baby girl Kennedy (sp) was delivered this afternoon. Please say a prayer for Chance and Kennedy's mom and dad for strength during this difficult time. There is still plenty of risk for my SIL, I pray she recovers well.

so many emotions

A year ago today we brought our little miricle home from the hospital. Chris and I are spoiling him with tight hugs and asking him for lots of kisses.

My SIL went into labor last night and delivered thier little boy, Chance. Her and her husband said he was beautiful and perfect. He was just 1 lb, and was stillborn. Thier little girl was not delivered and is doing well. There are huge risks to both mom and baby for infection.

new picture blog!

link is on the right to our family picture blog! check there as often as you wish.

prayers please

Last week wednesday my SIL and her husband had an ultra sound, and it showed 2 perfect babies at 21 weeks. A boy and a girl. (they had 2 1sr tri miscarriages prior to this pregnancy) Then on sunday her water broke. Turns out it was the sac around the boy. He is strong and hanging on. The girl is doing well at this point. We hope these babies hang on for as long as they can and keep growing.

Happy First Birthday, Brady!

Because I have dial up at home, I am not able to post all the photo's I would like to. So you are gonna have to wait! In the meantime, here is a classic first birthday shot. ;-)

We had a party for Brady yesterday. Because of the the weather my whole family did not make the 2.75 hour trip (they had 4" of snow by 5pm last night!). And Chris's parents couldnt make the trip either. Chris's 2 sisters and thier families were able to join us. We also called a few local friends last minute and asked them if they wanted to join us. (didnt invite them originally because with just our parents and siblings and their family.... that makes 23 people, a full house). So, Tony and Andrea from across the street joined us (they are expecting thier first baby any day now. Brady would love to share his birthday with him!). And The Swens joined us too. We kept is casual and fun. And it was! Thanks to those that were able to make it! It was nice to be able to celebrate with you! Those that couldnt make it, you'll get your turn!

Highlights.... the cake on the face! Cousin Lydia helping open gifts. Brady debating giving Lydia a black eye (hahaha, just kidding! but watch out lydia at your next party!) Chris's top notch bloody mary's. good friends and family. Lots of laughs and smiles!

Last night Chris and I were chatting about the day and the fact we have a 1 year old. First, fabulous day for all of us! 2nd, we have the most wonderful little boy. Way more amazing then we ever imagined. The first year of a baby's life is incredible, all the changes they go thru, and watching them become who they are. We are so much in love with this little boy!

Brady's first Christmas program

Last night was Brady's first christmas program/party. It was so cute, the kids were all so good. Santa even came! They were all excited to see him!

Our daycare is a family, in home daycare- so these are all the kids! Yeah, there is lots of boy stuff going on there! Brady is still the baby. Tracy (the daycare Mom) did a great job putting it together. We feel lucky to really like Brady's daycare. The whole family is so involved with the kids and pitches in. I have never experienced a daycare center, but so far I am very pleased with the in-home daycare setting.

Brady's job was ringing the bells, he did great.

Brady's first gift from Santa! And his first present he ever got to open! Lucky for him, santa was willing to help him open it.

Brady was in aww of Santa, he LOVED Mrs. Clause!

He and I are so intertwined

I think I mentioned recently that this is the BEST I have felt in a long time in reference to my post partum depression (PPD). Lately I have been thinking about my journey in the last year, and have realized it is so intertwined with Brady's sleep patterns.

In the first 8 weeks or so, things were the worst for me, he didnt sleep worth a hoot and woke every couple hours and was clingy. Then I hit a milestone w/ PPD, started liking and bonding with Brady and he then started to sleep better.

Then thru the next 8 months or so my PPD weaved up and down giving me hard times and good times and Brady's sleep seemed to weave with it. There were times when my attitude and love towards him was high (that has been constant since about 8 weeks), but my self worth was in the dumps and he would become clingy and not wanting to sleep.

In the last month I have made huge progress, and in return Brady has started sleeping nicely in the last couple weeks.

It is just crazy how the 2 of us are so connected in ways that I will never understand.

HAHAHAHA

I have the weirdest dreams, and am a strange sleeper! Last night I went to bed at 8 in the spare room because Chris was watching TV in the bedroom. Around 10:30 he woke me up and said I was screaming. I must have been loud because Chris never wakes to Brady's cries and the doors were closed. I dont know what I was dreaming, but my cousins Nikki and Kelly were involved.

I told chris there was no way I was screaming, but then realized my throat hurt really bad. Then I got a case of the giggles, and I could not stop giggling!

Brady fell asleep in his highchair during dinner last night. He was OUT! So I put him in his crib, he was just in a diaper and got really mad when I tried to put PJ's on him. I bundled him up in a blanket thinking he would wake soon. But no.... So after chris and I were up from me screaming we put PJ's on brady, he woke but took a bottle and went right back to sleep. I didnt wake him up till 6:30 this morning! (he went to sleep at 6 last night). He has been playing so hard lately.

my update for the week

I have been a little MIA this week, I normally blog almost daily. So here is all what is up......

Mom and Dad came for dinner last night. They were in town for a meeting. It was nice to see them, and they spent some time with little B too. Just a couple more weeks we will see them again! The month of dec. is nice, we get to see my family a lot!

The economy is absolutly freaking me out. Combine that with Christmas and I have to consciencely make an effort not to have an anxiety attack. I feel the anxiety start to creep over me, however I am proud to say I am coping well and not letting it get out of hand.

This morning I saw my pshych dr. So I got to take some time and evaluate me and my ppd. I am happy to report that this is the most ME that I have been in a long time. We decided to stick with my currant dosage of Zoloft and re-evaluate things in 3 months, maybe then I will be ready to decrease the dose, not quite ready yet. Finally I am enjoying things in life like I used to. Sure, I am a different person then who I was b4 brady, but I am once again that positive, spunky, happy person that I really am. Hmm... it may be time to change my "about me" paragraph for this blog.... things are starting to come together. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

I also got to see little Miss Erin today. She is so cute and chunky! I had to borrow her bottom to try my diaper on her. She is about 4 months I think..... and cooing and smiling. precious! Anywho, I do have to make some revisions to my diaper to fit a smaller baby.

recent photo's!

Brady loves his rocking chair! But he smacks his head back trying to make it rock, so we have to help him. (ok, maybe he does need a haircut).

Brady and his cousin Olivia reading thier book! This book is so cute, is a a big stuffed Golden Book! adorable! it is all so soft. Brady loves it.

Our freshly cut Christmas tree! Brady approved.

This toy, Ollie the Octopus was supposed to be a stocking stuffer, but dada could resist trying it out. It is so cool! He spins and shoots water up in the air. Not sure who liked it more.....

My diapers!!!!

Getting this images were nearly impossible with an active 11.5 month old! As you can see in the top picture someone is rolling to get up, and in the bottom he is kicking towards me. I gave him this bottle of milk thinking "this will keep him still", it didnt work. (with that said, he has gotten the OK to drink whole cows milk)

I am so proud of this diaper I made yesterday. Look at that fit around the theighs. There is room to grow too, he is wearing it on the medium setting. I love the trim fit. And it has been tested too! First time wearing it (just after this photo shoot), he had the runs and it was contained! (an antibiotic is giving him the runs) I like the metal snaps, we found with our active boy the plastic snaps were not holding.

This diaper is a ONE SIZE POCKET DIAPER. No cover is needed, the outer is waterproof. The inside is a microsuade material that keeps Brady feeling dry.

(in non-technical terms, this one size diaper should fit a baby from birth to about 35/40 pounds I would guess, see the snaps, that is how they get adjusted, it is so simple. You need to insert the absorbant material. I like to use a hemp douler with a terryclothe insert. The insert allows you to customize were absorption is needed, for Brady- he likes to hold his pee then let it all go at once, so we need something to catch it fast and absorb it all and lots of it.)

I am learning that with prints in the waterproof fabric you do not get such a trim fit (I have noticed the big diaper makers usually use solid colors and few prints). I am trying a few different materials to see what we like best and what sews the best. still a couple flaws to work out, but I have a whole diaper stash to make so we should get this perfected. Brady's friend Erin who is 3 months old will be testing some of my diapers for me.

More photo's to come later! as I keep making more! this is so much fun. :-)

dancing in the kitchen at 5am

Brady and I had some fun this morning dancing in the kitchen to some Bon Jovi. He is the cutest little dancer, it is so precious!

We were dancing because he slept from 8-4:45!!!! without waking! This is huge! SO HUGE! He has never slept over 6 hour stretches, and the norm has been waking every 4-5 hours. I hope it is not a coincidence. Hopefully it is the effects of our "teaching brady to sleep".

We seem to be naturally weaning- I realized that yesterday. It is bittersweet. Awesome that he is ready and doing it on his own, isnt that a nursing mom's dream? Sad because my little baby is growing up, but happy because he is becoming an independant little man.

Rashes, vomit and inside out panties.

The last 24 hours have been crazy! Brady has the worst diaper rash ever. He is on a antibiotic that gives him diahrea a few times a day. It is obviously quite painful. Hopefully it will be better really soon, I have never seen such a huge area covered in a rash.

Chris is home sick today. Hope brady doesnt get it, I dont want to experience a baby vomiting.

As always I rushed to get ready for work today. I do wake 1.5 hours B4 I need to leave, but getting me ready, brady ready, lunches made and breakfast, the time flys by. Anywho, I have discovered that my undies are inside out.

a baby changes everything

Pre-brady I figured a baby would change things, but it really changes everything. Your sence of normality changes, there really isnt a normal anymore. Who you are, and who you think you are all changes. Relationships change too. You look at your mom and dad from new eyes. Everything that had been ~just the way things go~ with your spouse changes too. Your basic needs go to the wayside for the needs of someone else who is completely dependant on you.

I dont think anyone can truely understand how a baby changes EVERYTHING until they live it. It presents a whole new challange in your life.

I made a diaper!

It was so much fun yesterday, having some Sarah time and sewing. I made a diaper for Brady! It is so cute, cant wait to post a picture. It took a long time to make the pattern, and figure out what steps go in which order. Good thing I bought a new steam ripper. ;-) Brady tried it out, so it is dirty- but I promise a picture this week!

My Sarah time wasnt uninterupted of course. Daddy isnt so good at getting someone to take a nap, probably because he is all tense, rocking brady like a maniac saying "fall to sleep dammit". With momma to the rescue, he was sleeping soundly in his crib within 10 minutes. There are some things mom's are just better at.

We are teaching our son to sleep. Seriously, who would have thought getting a baby to sleep was something you had to teach, for this kid it is. Daddy is on board, and helping me, which is fabulous, because Brady is content not getting out of his crib at night for dad. So far it seems to be working and he is starting to sleep longer stretches.

our turkey day

was fabulous! I hope to post pictures another time.

We spent the day with my inlaws. However MIL and FIL could not make it, it was at Chris's big sisters house. I have some great photo's of the 3 siblings getting dinner on the table, that I cant wait to share!

AND! Dinner was served 3 minutes early!!!!!! Nothing was forgotten, nothing was messed up, it was all perfect. Lots of smiles, just a few tears from the youngin's. Well, there was one disaster, Chris shot hot turkey drippings from the baster all over the counter. He claims the baster was broken.

Everyone should Breastfeed

I heard a report on NPR this morning that trace amounts of melamine has been found in US formula. The FDA is saying that levels are extremely low, and it doesnt cause any concern.

I like to be open minded, I aim to be open minded. But lately I find that I judge people who say No to breastfeeding. I am not talking about years ago. I am talking about today, with what we hear about plastics, and formula, and dishsoap. The information is readily available to us to research and learn why breastmilk is the obvious choice.

It would be so great to change everyone's viewpoint on breastfeeding. Let's have that be the norm, and the use of formula should be rare. It is such the perfect food for infants, and there is no worry about the plastics or the dishsoaps used either. Nursing in public needs to be better accepted too. Come on! We have the most perfect food available to us right now for free, we shouldnt be embarassed about needing to nurse in public.

Seems like I am becoming kind of crunchy lately. I'm loving the cloth diapers, and last night I picked up some new laundry detergent that is much easier on our world (7th generation is the brand). When I think about some of this stuff, the answer seems to be so obvious that it leaves me wondering why I never did it that way before. BTW, I am looking for a new deoderant, anyone with a suggestion? I have been getting rashes from my Secret antiperspirant and want to go with something more natural.

7 UP!

7 up!
7 things I can do...
1. Bake and cook
2. Take a very very fast shower when I have to
3. Obsess about things
4. Sew
5. Clean like a mad woman
6. Grow plants
7. Budget and save $

7 things I can't do...
1. Fix other peoples hair
2. Function with a headache, even a small one
3. Walk by a plant without identifing it
4. Deal with the sight of blood
5. Watch me or someone get a shot
6. Fold underwear (more so WONT do)
7. Have any noise while I sleep

7 things I always say...
1. "Has anybody seen my baby brayden", followed up with a Peek a Boo.
2. Roaring, to hear my brady roar back.
3. "Not for Brady's!", as I head off brady sprinting to the dog food bowls.
4. "Not for Oli's!" as I take a stuffed animal from the dogs mouth.
5. "Don't move! I need a picture of this!"
6. "I'm gonna blog about this!" followed by an evil snicker.
7. Silly songs. I LOVE making up silly songs about everything under the sun and singing them to Brady, Chris, and the dog. Actually... even my co-workers. hahaha

7 things I always eat...
1. Peanut butter (REAL brand of course!) and jam (my homemade of course) sandwiches for my on the go breakfast, always on 12 grain wheat.
2. Coffee. must have coffee
3. Lasagna, chris and I constantly competing for the best pan of lasanga. Mine has 9 noodles, and his is "noodlier" with 12 noodles.
4. Kashi stuff. Love the granola, or Go lean ceral. Ceral bars. They have a mean cookie, Dark chocolate oatmeal. One is a great snack!
5. Trail mix. I love to make my own, because the ones you buy dont have nearly enough chocolate. I can use salt free nuts too in mine, and dried cranberries, and choco covered raisins. My trail mix ROCKS!
6. Banana a day!
6. Apple a day!
7. Steel Cut Oats. On my days off, Brady and I love to have this for breakfast!

7 People I tag...--Anyone who is reading this and/or who has a blog!--

setting ourselve up

We just cant win in the sleep department. Ear infections or teething gets in the way, as soon as we get a new pattern started, it all changes from ears or teeth or weekends away.

Seems like the key is consistancy.... sometimes you just get desparate for sleep, and you will do anything for sleep.

We're trying, really. Sleep has been our biggest challange.

Ladies and Brady's day of shopping

That's what my sister's kids called today. Me and Brady, my mom, my sister and her 2 girls went shopping in Eau Claire today. It was a productive shopping day for me! I had a few missions to accomplish.

#1. A pair of shoes that fit my fat footed cutie pie. The best fitting pair came from Sears, and they are size 5 EXTRA WIDE! lol. Size 5 wide were just not quite right, these fit so nice! There is a little room to grow into too. I hope his fat feet slim down, because shoe shopping for him wasnt fun! Nor cheap!

#2. Snowpants or a snow suit. At Kohls we found a snowsuit! Has attached/not attached mittens, matching hat, and even booties that can be taken off too. It looks so cozy, we are ready to play in the snow now!

#3. More long sleeve onsies. They are working so well for this active 11 month old. It is dang hard to find then in size 18-24 months, but we did at Old Navy, and they were a steal!

#4. Christmas gifts for Brady. Got one! (well, 3 because osme of those onsies will be x-mas gifts) It is a set of music making stuff! Designed for toddlers of course. A drum, rattles, xylophne too! more goodies in there. Double score that it all neatly contains itself in the drum when it is time to put it away. Now my little music lover can be the rock star that he is..... or country music star.... whatever, we flexible.

Dada is due home any minute now. He went hunting. Opening rifle weekend here in WI. He got a doe yesterday (earn a buck territory).

Sounds like someone is rummaging thru my "to be filed box", it is no longer a pile, but now a box. Anyone else have one of those that only gets emptied 2 times a year?

TMI

For those that dont know what TMI is, it's too much information.

11 months after baby, still no period!!!! It's kind of nice really.....

why is christmas like this?

I am getting un-nerved about christmas. This happens every year. The true meaning of Christmas gets lost behind all the presents. So many people go overboard on gifts too. Christmas seems to be focused on how much you spend on each person for gifts.

For me, ideally christmas would be plenty of time spent with family, a handful of gifts for the children, games and fun, plenty of good food, thoughtful gift-giving, a church service, waking up in your own bed, and lots of smiles. We all live an intense busy life it seems, christmas shouldnt be a chore, we should be kicking back and looking forward to that day.

Knowing what christmas is to me, doesnt make it any easier to change it.

My co-worker Dana is the most thoughtful gift-giver. She is a natural. for my 30th b-day she gave me a simple little gift of scrapbooking stickers. She knows scrapbooking is my relief, and probably spent $5-$10 and made a huge impact on me because she ~knows~ me. All the gifts that she talks about giving to her family and friends make me think "wow, she is so thoughtful".

ears again

Yesterday, later in the day brady developed a high temp. (over 104) Chris said he wasnt lifting his head, and completely not himself. So he took him to urgent care and I met them there. When they got there his temp was about 102. Brady's eyes were gross. They were dripping snot. Dr said he probably has a sinus infection, there is no where else for the snot to go, but out the eyes. lovely. And of course an ear infection. We opted to get an injected antibiotic over an oral one. While we were sitting there waiting, I thought he felt really really warm. They took his temp again, and sure enough, it was high 104's. They gave him motrin, and we stayed until his temp came down. It did. :-)

More later!!!!!!! crabby boy.

OK, dad's home so I can post some more. Brady did ok over night, his fever kept jumping as the pain reliver wore off. We saw Dr. L, and got another antibiotic injection.

He is WALKING!

Brady is about 10.5 months and is walking! More then a couple random steps, but he is walking clear across the room! It even appears that he is prefering to walk over crawling. Except this morning, when he crawled at lightning speed to the dog bowls.

Daddy calls us every evening to check up on us and see what is happening. I think he misses Little B. He always asks what he is doing, such as giving 5's, so bigs, and all that good stuff. Daddy will be surprised to see him so skilled at walking when he returns.

Have I blogged that as of last week my hours have been cut back? Not sure.... Anyway, I feel so much more human and happy. I'm working M-Th 8-5. (a perk of working seasonally I guess) My whole outlook on things is much better and less stressed. Life isnt feeling so chaotic these days. With Dada gone, I leave at 6:45 (like usual) to drop off brady. But now I have to pick him up to, that is at 6. I really dont have much quality time with Little B on working days, but we have been making up for it on my days off.

Success in over night diapering!

We are having success! Basiclly, we are using Brady's cloth diapers.... either a happy hempy with a hemp insert. This requires a cover, and the waterpruf cover was leaking at the top. No matter how much I stuffed it! So I took the leap and tried a wool cover. Yes, I was a total skeptic. It made no sence how wool would absorb, but not wick. And.... that I leave it out to dry during the day and it would be ~clean~ after it dried. (something w/ the lanolin and wool naturally does this) I dont completely understand why, but I am impressed happy. Brady is too. Click here to see our babyology wool diaper soaker. If our single happy hempy is dirty, we have had success using a Bum Genius loaded with hemp inserts.

We also got another Bum Genius cloth diaper. I had wanted one in Clemintine orange, but that orange is rather dull and girlie. So we got the new blue, Moonbeam. Check out the Bum Genius here.

his kisses ROCK!

Brady gives me the greatest kisses. Once in a blue moon they are tender and soft. However, most of the time he grabs me by the back of my head and pulls me to his face, to give me a big sloppy open mouth kiss which always includes teeth and tongue. LOL. Then he hops down and crawls away to play. Very cute! 100% boy.

We finally found a toy that has met its match! Its made by v-tech, the crawl and move ball and it rocks too! Brady will chase this ball around and giggle, clap, and have so much fun. Most toys hold his attention for about 5 minutes, this one will for over 30 minutes!

This is the first toy I have purchased for Brady! Score!

brady's first shiner

Here it is, Brady's first black eye. It just happened last night, so I exptect it to get worse yet.

just you and me; and me and you

Dada left last night to go bow hunting. He has vacation time all next week, and will be gone next weekend too. So it's just Little B and I for the next 9 days. Dada is staying at his parents, which is about 1.5 hours away.

Now. If a mommy wanted to leave for 9 days...... would that ever fly? Probably not, because a mommy more then likely cant be away from her little one for that long. I am surely not ready to be away from Little B for 9 days!

In the meantime... either my computer or my virus program is pissing me off. We have dial up.... so downloading things to try and fix it takes forever and ties up the phone lines.

Brady is taking steps! He started this about a week ago, just a few wobbly steps. Yesterday he was taking a few steps many times during the day. Which leads into the next paragraph......

.............. Brady has his first black eye. Stay tuned for pictures (I am downloading something for a virus scan, and dont want to upload a pict while I am doing that). We were visiting with neighbors/friends last night. Andrea is due iu Dec with a boy, and has been on bed rest for 3 weeks. They live across the cul du sac. So Rachel, our ~ex-neighbor~, and I took Andrea and Tony dinner and visited with them a bit too.

he is so cute when,

Brady is cute often. :-) But the thing that gets me lately is this:

If brady wakes an hour before I need to get up or less, I put him in bed with me. We normally are not co-sleepers, but I want that extra sleep in the morning. ;-) Almost every time my alarm clock goes off (music), Brady goes from dead asleep to up on his knees ~dancing~. It is so freaking cute! You cant help but wake up happy to this smiling, dancing baby next to you.

Chris and I noticed that Brady has gotten very busy in the last 2 weeks. We can hardly keep up to him, he is into everything and never sitting still.

Things I Don't Quite Get

Employers providing health insurance. I dont understand why THEY are expected to provide health insurance. Think about the small businesses out there...... they cant afford to be competitive with the larger companies. If I wasnt married to Chris, I could never afford to have my job. However this business employs about 30 people, our town needs businesses like this one.

Greeting Cards. Why are they so popular? And why are we mailing a mass produced piece of paper that we simply sign and mail?

Salary Employment. I think people mostly get screwed in this situation. Bosses see it as paying someone to get the work done. Most of the time that is an unrealistic expectation to achieve without putting in extra hours.

Very High Heels. Women, why are we doing this to our feet? Our precious feet!?!

Organics in the US. I could create an entire blog based on this. The US does a horrible job with what thier organic guidelines are. With my Agriculture background I am quite opinionated on this. I think the USDA needs to re-evaluate what deems a product as organic, and in the meantime consumers should look into just how organic the product they are paying so much more for really is. (other countries can do it, why cant we?)

Pesticides labeled as natural. A complete false sence of security (just like organics). There are some natural ingredients that are far more dangerous then something that is not labeled as Natural.

halloween pictures

here are some of our weekend pictures! brady was a girafe at daycare, I hope to add some of those cute pictures that tracy took.

speaking of daycare.... this is what happens to one of the projects they made, after you try eating it. It is this paper, that has a black coating, and you scratch in your picture to expose the colorful paper below. Dont know how to describe it, but I recommend not licking it. This photo was AFTER we washed out his mouth.

Our little halloween bat! The costume fit perfectly and brady was so cute in it! Thanks Aunt Sheri!

Brady's favorite drawer in mommy's bathroom.

Daddy with his hot little stud muffin.

the bat was flying! brady loves to fly!

it was cold.

This morning Brady was crying at about 4:45, I usually wake at 5:30. So, I was gonna put him in bed with Chris and I and let him sleep with his daddy after I woke up. (I didnt really want to sit in a rocking chair nursing him for 30 minutes and loose that sleep. As I was walking to our bed I stepped in something! I yelled, AHHH, I JUST STEPPED IN DOG SHIT! Chris flew out of bed (he was sound asleep snoring prior to this), and asked if it was warm or cold. ????????????? I am standing in the dark, with something squished between my toes, and you want to know if it is warm or cold????? I yelled, please take your baby from my arms!

Lights go on, and I learn it is just dog vomit, not shit. Made me feel a little better anyway. Daddy took baby, laughed at me, soon brady was laughing too. I gave dad the choice- stay up for the day and help with baby, or clean up the vomit and go back to sleep. He choose baby. They snuggled in bed and watched me clean it up! Laughing together, giving each other 5's.

There is some movie that chris always quotes "he called the shit poop". I am thinking adam sandler, but not sure. Chris would know. So chris was laughing and saying "she called the puke shit". what a morning. We were all wide awake after this!

Am I the warped one?

Chris and I were finally able to talk yesterday. What started it was me discussing what was said saturday morning, and my theory on why he say's things like that and does some things to me that I dont like. That went over well.

Then we started talking about work, jobs, household responcibility and that sort of stuff. We pretty well agreed, or came to a conclusion on everything except one thing. this isnt the first time he has said this to me, he says it often. "your not the first mom to work, everyone else has done it before, you can to". OK, got it. However, here is my objection to him saying this as a reason for me to pick up the slack at home. I work 10 hour days, with a 45 minute drive one way. So..... from june-november I wake at 5:30, leave for daycare and work at 6:45, arrive at work by 7:45. Work till 6 or 6:30, and arrive home 7-7:30. I go to bed at 9, and I am the one that wakes with Brady 1plus times a night. I do that 5 days a week. (in april, May and half of june I do it 6 days a week, and they are more then 10 hour days. In the winter my schedule relaxes and I usually work 4 9 hour days each week).

I want your comments! Annonymous is fine by me. I am asking for your opinion. I am a ninny and need to be like the other full time working moms? Or is my hubby in the wrong to compare me with all the other working mom's of the US. Thanks for your comments!

mama!

Brady said Mama to me this morning! Yay! for a couple weeks he has been saying it while crawling to me crying hard, saying mamamamama. This morning, it was plan as day, a "i am happy" sort of tone Mama.

He has been braver taking some more steps too. He also trys to stand up from sitting without holding on to anything.

such a little boy now.

my organization efforts

I wish I was naturally one of those people that was an excellent organizer. You know who they are. I'm not. My way or organizing an area is to first have a desparate need, then an attack plan.

Our kitchen counter got attacked this weekend. It is the dumping grounds for when we come in the house. Particularily, the mail. So, I found this unused basket in the house and some colorful files. Made into piles everything on the counters in the kitchen. Then made a file for each: sarah's stuff, chris's stuff, sarah's attn needed, chris's attn needed, bills, coupons, to be filed, and receipts to keep. there was even some room in that basket for a cup that holds pens and scratch paper.

lets hope this helps us to keep our kitchen more organized.

not even going to repeat it.

Chris said something to me completely out of line this morning. He was mad at me for waking him up to care for Brady, I think anyway. It was so hurtful, and idiotic really to say something like what he said. Does he have a spiteful side? This is so not the man I married.

You know, he really needs to sensor his tongue. He has said a few things in the last couple weeks that I wont even repeat. In the year 2008, no one should say things like that. What is this teaching our son.

I dont think I have ever been this hurt by him. Sure, he said he was sorry and ment it. but it was so out of line. Incedibly out of line.

Brady's update.

We saw Dr. L. on Wednesday. his ears are CLEAR! YAY! No fluid, no redness, they looked normal for once. Yay!

However, he cant catch a break- as now he is fiesty because he is cutting top teeth. He was just a bear last night. On top of that, he has a hellacious diaper rash.... all over down there.... I mean all over. (lots of diahrea the last week or more from his meds is to blame) So, we are gooping him up and changing his diaper often, even letting him wonder around w/out a diaper a little bit to dry things up.

still taking him in.

he had a good night last night, and is moderatly cranky today. He has been tugging his ears a bit, so I am taking him in anyway to see Dr. L. He is still not himself, something is up. I hope not.... but we will see. We got a work-in appt, so chances are good that we will be there for an eternity.

velcro baby: take 2

Something is up yet again. Starting later in the day yesterday, baby b turned into a velcro baby again. Glued to me, or tracy (his daycare provider). We had a horrible night of sleep, and in the end I broke the rules (set up by me, so I can break them if I want too!) and put him in bed with me so we both could get just a little sleep.

We noticed some ear tugging the last couple days, and so did tracy. He does not have a fever.

I have the next 2 days off, so chances are, we are going to see Dr. L.

more sleep talk!

Well, he must be feeling better because he is waking just once a night again. Whew! that every couple hours stuff wasnt fun. Saturday was fabulous. he slept from 9-7, waking once at 3. Last night he was crabby and tired, so he fell asleep at 7, and was up at 4! But I did get a nice long shower while Baby B played in his exersaucer, and I got to eat a hot breakfast. I'll survive.

books on cd

LOVE THEM! I am a NPR, and WPR fanatic usually. Lately I cant take anothers person's veiwpoint on the economy or the election. I'm not content listening to music either lately.

Brady and I went to the library Wednesday and got a few of them for me to listen to on my way to work.

sleep obsession continued-

It has been ages since I have gotten a full nights sleep. I can hardly even believe that I used to sleep a full night without waking once.

Nights has been hard with Brady's ears, the runs, teething... the bad nights have been more abundant then the good ones lately.

He has been a peach the last couple days. Spunk and energy is back- so he must be feeling better. He has been a pooping machine, the meds must be hard on his tummy. He ate like a rockstar yesterday. We are going to go broke if he keeps eating like this! Beef strogonoff seems to top his list! Now, if we can get him to sleep a little better....

velcro baby

Now that we are on week 3 of ear infections, I have labeled my kid the velcro baby. He has been stuck to my side.

Last night was a rough night. He woke a lot, then didnt want to be put down. I always try laying him back down and rubbing his back before I pick him up, it usually works. Last night it would not work, and when I picked him up he about choked me he was clinging to me so tight. (he has a case of the runs from his antibiotic) Any time I moved, he would wake up and hold me even tighter.

Nights like last night, make me wish I had that comfy rocking chair!

yep, like his mom

Brady is having an allergic reaction to zithromax (sp) this weekend. his whole body has a rash. It is better then it was yesterday, and as of yesterday his ear was still infected. Onto another antibiotic.

I'm so forgetful. the reason why Brady is like me, is that I am allergic to many meds. Pennicilin, sulfas, and ethromycin. (I didnt have ear ifections this young my mom told me, I had them the worst in 1st and 2nd grades).

misc photos

While we were making applesauce this last weekend, Brady loved chewing on an apple slice. Very cute. He really is a healthy little eater.

Photo above really shows just how big this little boy smiles all the time. Below, he 2 little teeth. That's all he has at 9.5 months!
The laundry fiasco. Wear (get it?) do I begin? We got our new washer and dryer. They are fab. Chris LOVES to wash and dry the laundry all the time. I get to fold it, he never folds. It usually does pile up before I get around to folding it. (as he is at home for much more time then I am at home, and really, how hard is it to toss them in and take them out?) Luckily we both work blue collar sort of jobs, so we dont have to be crisp and absolutely wrinkle free. Out of this whole mess, I put about 5 peices back in the dryer to fluff and remove the wrinkles.

Just this morning, he put the load from the washer to the dryer. Called me in a panic on the way to work- he couldnt find his pack of gum. I opened the dryer- and there was gum all over the inside of the dryer, and on the clothes. Lucky for us, we are quite skilled at removing gum, permante marker, paint markers, crayons, tissues, and all sorts of other stuff from clothes and the machines.

is retrain a word?

If I havent already trained my brain to do something differently; then I am not retraining it. But does the word retrain really make sence?

I'll get back to ya on that in a few years, once I get caught up on sleep.

retrain my brain

I'm trying to go from someone who always remembered everything, to someone that cant remember anything. My brain feels so scrambled. I am sure it is the effects of broken (or lack of) sleep for months on end. Getting more sleep is not the answer, I need to be better organized and make myself notes. time to think more long term.

Perfect example. Yesterday I had to make 2 phone calls right away in the morning. One was to call for an appointment for Brady, and the other........ was...... I forgot. It bugged me all day. I knew I had to do something, but I could not remember what. (chris couldnt rememeber either, but I probably never told him). It finally occured to me this morning! I had to make a kennel appt for Oliver for this weekend. duh.

In the past, I have been able to recall and remember lots of stuff with out needing to write them down. things are coming back to kick my in the A$$ lately because I either forgot, or I cant even remember needing to do something.

I'm working on retraining my brain to do things differently then I usually would. eeeekkkk.

yep, he is like his mom

Here we go again, yet another round of ear infections. On friday we finished meds for an ear infection, by sunday he was hot and cranky. Last night we got no sleep. chris took Brady in today after work, he asked Dr. C. if we should be taking Brady to a ENT specialist, Dr. c said to continue to moniter the duration and frequnecy of ear infections, at this point he doesnt feel it is needed.

So, I hope this new med knocks out the infection, and we can all be happy and sleep semi-decent for awhile!

lost the touch

Yesterday chris and I set out to take care of the carrots from the garden that have been sitting on our counter for a week. I was thinking I would can them, then we decided to freeze them. I ran down stairs, and got 4 bags of frozen strawberries out of the freezer (?????), this lead to needing more fruit pectin set stuff, so a trip to the store was needed. We ended up at a farmers market type stand buying a bushel of apples. So, we made applesauce!

I pulled lots of no brainer stuff while we made and canned the applesauce. I grew up doing this with my mom, but I have never canned w/out my mommy. I read the directions for the canner, so did chris..... we did stuff we didnt have to do... filled the jars too full.... amazingly, the jars sealed!!!!! they over flowed while they were being processed- but they still managed to seal. So, we have some delicious apple sauce for the winter! (after we clean the goopies off the lids)

Oh, LOL. I made breakfast yesterday. Pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Oliver ended up getting 3 eggs, and 6 pancakes because I was such an air head. I dont know what was wrong, but I was clumsie, like it was my first time in the kitchen. It wasnt even funny.

This morning, before work I made the freezer jam. I've done it b4, but yet again, I was like a fish out of water.

What is going on???? I am normally quite talented at this stuff. I had my coffee both days, cant blame that. for the first time in a week I got some sleep (baby b only woke once both nights, as opposed to every 1-2 hours like he had been doing while sick). Maybe it is the 10 months of constant bad sleep affecting my brain? Dont know... but I want that touch back!

political overload

It's hard to turn on the radio or TV lately without hearing something about the economy or the elections. Sure, all this is good that people are involved and wanting to make an informed decision. I just want to listen to something a little lighter, maybe a little humorous. Even TV programs are hard to get into. Seems like you need to watch every week to keep up on what is happening or else they werent worth watching. What happened to shows like Friends, where you could miss a few weeks and it would still be fun to watch it? I'd like some more tv shows on like that. It might be time for me to get back into my audio books for my drive to and fro work. That should help.

pure craziness

We are still laughing about the other night.... I had some sort of dream, something with Brady being wrapped up in blankets and stuck. Woke up the next morning, and all of the pillow cases were on the floor. LOL. we are ~tons of pillows~ sort of people too. LOL.

I like to make up crazy songs. Helps me find humor in things... like waking up at 3:30am because someone doesnt want to sleep anymore (today). so... here is today's song:

You're a little turkey,
we're gonna eat you,
for thanksgiving.
I'll have a thigh,
Dad'll have cheeks,
even Ollie will get a treat.

So I am singing this song over and over, at obscene hours, trying not to cry because all I wanna do is get more sleep.... and Brady is laughing hysterically at me. If only he knew, I am singing a song about eating him on thanksgiving. hehehee. (evil laugh) I told my mom about my song on my way to work, and how I am going absolutly crazy! Turns out, she used to sing to my sister and I about stuffing us in stockings (at christmas time) and shipping us away. Must be where I get the singing crazy songs from....

feeling normal

shhhh... dont tell... but yesterday I worked from 9:30-6pm, and that is what I am working today too (as opposed to working 7:45-6, which is what I am ~supposed~ to be working). I feel like a normal, functioning human being. Not like a scrambled chicken with my head cut off. Quite enjoyable. I was able to relax a bit, play, have dinner with my family, SHOWER, and make cream of rice for Brady and I to share. But tomorrow things change.

I've been thinking about finding someone to ride share with. It's a long haul to work, and even with the kick-ass milage my car gets, it still costs me about $7.50 (currant gas prices) just to go to and come home from work each day. It probably wont work till after thanksgiving, because I dont have much flexiblity until then with the hours I work.

Brady was a hand full last night. I take comfort in the fact that most adults can fall asleep on thier own w/out rocking, nursing, a bottle, or someone rubbing thier back half the night. So there is hope. Chances are, he is just a bit off because of this cold and ear infection.

lots of ear infections

This a.m. when I dropped Brady off with his sitter, she said that all the kids have double ear infections. They all got a high fever fast, and ear infections. Must have been a virus.

Chris has a head cold. So, the world has stopped. LOL. Our house has had it's share of bugs already this year. Not looking forward to this winter.

Brady is still a bit off. His meds have givin him the runs. I am trying not to put him in bed with me at night (so no habits form), so I am spending time rubbing his back while he is falling asleep. Hope this dedication pays off really soon. Daddy (b4 the world stopped) helped with this task over the weekend.

big 3-0 today

It's my 30th birthday today. I am working. Not much celebrating goin on. I think we are grilling steaks tonight. The fact that I am now 30, doesnt really phase me. No biggy.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Sarah: http://dragonandrew.blogspot.com/ Joy! I loved Sarah's random facts... now you get to hear 7 of mine.

1. I am a picker. If I have a pimple, I must pick it. A scab, gotta pick it. Anything that really shouldnt be there... I gotta pick it. I HAVE to pick it. Just HAVE to. OH! chris has this crater on the side of his face.... about once a month I get to pick it! LOL, it causes me so much happiness to empty that crater next to his ear. LOL. (anyone think I am whacked?)

2. I confuse the words filthy, and filty. I don't know if I am filthy or filty. which on is it again?

3. My dreams are so vivid I confuse them with real life. Some days I end up quite confused.

4. I am obsessed with the amount of sleep that I get or dont get these days. when you are lacking it on a nightly basis, it can become an obsession. Seriously, you can pay me with sleep.... if that was possible.

5. I absolutley hate to clean my car. Yeah, I love a clean car- but that is so rare. I hate vacumming it, wiping things down. Just hate it. Lots of plants get hauled in that car, so it is full of dirt and leaves! I also eat breakfast (and sometimes lunch or dinner) in there too.... I throw out the trash, but the crumbs stay with me.

6. Who's dat? What dat? How dat? I say dat way too much! I think I sound like a redneck.

7. I occassionally google "when to be hospitalized for mental disorder", just to ensure myself that it isnt needed quite yet.



I am tagging: (I am lacking friends)
Tracy: http://jtratcliff.blogspot.com/
Lisa: http://www.kennedytwins0912.blogspot.com/
Emily: (do you even blog anymore?) http://emilys-so-called-life.blogspot.com/
Stephanie: http://twoandtwomakesfour.blogspot.com/
Stephanie: http://raisingapumpkin.blogspot.com/

enonomy and work complaints

Many businesses are needing to downsize because prices are going up. In the case of business I work for, we havent lost work in comparison to the last 3 seasons but we have decreased the amount of staff working. Prices of fuel have gone up, plants, products, everything has gone up. So..... less staff, and same amount of work...... It makes no sence! People are being pushed to work harder, longer hours. But now we are doing the work of 2 or more people. No raises are in sight either, and our cost of living is skyrocketing.

What irritates me, is that I am salary. No one here has job descriptions, because everyone works together to get things done (my bosses idea). But we are all strapped, and trying to get our own departments work done..... and we are supposed to help each other? When I bring up that I am unhappy with the hours that I am working, I am told that I am not getting paid for the hours that I work, but the job that I do (salary). Ok.... no job description, not enough staff.... how do I know when to end my day? In previous seasons it was when the work was done I left. This season, I just leave at the end of ~my shift~. Because if I wait till the work is done, I aint never leavin!

With the economy in this scarey state that we are currently in- I am unable to make a decision. We would like to move, maybe build, maybe buy land. Scared to do that right now! Will jobs be available in 5 years? I am starting to wonder. I'd like to make the sacrifice (live simply) and either go PT or get a new job (maybe even be a SAHM)- but to scared to make that move with how the economy looks.

So I guess I will just hang tight. Try to be as happy as I can be today, and tomorrow. Hope our economy shapes up so I can make some changes in my life.

hope he doesnt take after me

I had a ton of ear infections as a child. Tubes put in multiple times (I am sure mom knows just how many times), and even had to have my eardrum reconstructed (in 3rd grade, I remeber that because my teacher, Mrs. Larson, gave me a yellow bunny, it was just b4 easter). I remember the pain of them, seemed to happen ALL time time until about 6th grade. I threw up from them too. In 5th grade I yaked on my desk, my teacher, Mr. Solberg, ran out of the classroom so fast, and so did all the other kids. I was so embarassed. But the ear infections did that to me. I missed lots of school. I still get them fairly often as an adult, about 2 a year.

Brady has had 4 ear infections since he was born. 3 of them were from birth to 4 months. It feels more like he has had a dozen of them. This last one has been the most difficult on all of us. He cried so hard there were streams of tears. He wanted nothing but to be in my arms (I have mastered using the toilet while holding a kid, not that I ever wanted to master that..... but it was better then the screaming from being put down). Dad even had a hard time, all of his tricks (distractions, truck rides) failed.

Anywho. I hope he doesnt take after me, and we have a good winter with few ear infections.

to be a mom of a sick kid

is sort of powerful. The sick kid wants Mom and no one else will do.

The good points:

• I got to take a nice nap (because I could not put someone down!)
• I got to watch a movie, Fool Gold (because I could not put someone down!)
• I got the bills paid
• We cuddled most of the day

The bad points:

• Wow, my arms are tired from holding a 22 pound chunk all day.
• I got no sleep last night.
• I realize once again what it was like with a needy newborn attached to the breast.
• This is taking forever to type, why do the keys have to click?
• I had to miss work and I am so far behind. (daddy just doesnt suffice when Brady is sick, he wants his mommy!)
• It's hard for me to hang out in my house doing absolutely nothing (make something, clean something).

BTW, Baby B has a double ear infection and a high fever. Nothing else really.... no cold...

My 9 month old son

Isnt this outfit just cute? Sunday Brady first wore his cowboys outfit for Uncle Cal. Aww, shoot, I forgot to take a picture. ;-p

Everytime Brady see the door open, he is headed outside.













Grandma Bev and Aunt Shel kept brady entertained at the wedding this last weekend. they were shocked the amount of dinner he ate.
Brady in his "fancy pants", we are borrowing that name from Jen, John and Erin who are also trying out the clothe diapers with thier 5 week old. This is his Happy Heiny, in cow print.

I love this nursing photo. These are the beautiful blue eyes I see smiling at me everyday. That alone is enough "thanks mom". With his finger pointing and his smile, it's as if he is saying "this stuff is the bomb!". (or.... this is tits... LOL)






Brady likes to stand at the tub while Daddy prepares his bath. He likes to watch daddy swirl the water, he bangs on the side of the tub while he waits to get in. Last night they tried bubble bath! It was successful.

first word!

Dada. He said Dada, to his Dada last night. Doesnt seem fair, does it? But I will let Dada have his happy ~moment~. ;-) Never mind that Mama nourished you for months on end, and is still giving up sleep for you. ;-) It's still sweet he said his first word, even if it wasnt Mama. :-)

our night time diaper history

Brady has been wetting thru diapers for months now! We have tried them all! During the day he wears Luv's #3 and does fabulous in them. When he first started wetting thru at night we tried different brands of #4's then didnt work- he wet thru, and for awhile the huggies overnights #4's worked. In the last 2 weekend he has been wetting thru a huggies #4 by 2am! I tried all the other brands.... same results. Went back to #3's- that was a mess! and even tried 5's. still leaked thru!

Does he hold his pee all day, and wait till night? His mama thinks so! Way gross TMI ahead: I wrung the pee out of the soakers 2 nights ago, and it was unbelievable how much pee was in there!

Anyway- last night he wore a Happy Hempy: http://www.naturalbums.com/bumshop-pages/happyhempy.html with this hemp liner: http://www.naturalbums.com/bumshop-pages/insert_pages/happyheinystuffininserts.html and this cover: http://www.naturalbums.com/bumshop-pages/bummiscovers.html IT WORKED (that was one heavy diaper this morning)! He did not wet thru, his skin was beautifully dry this morning too. Downfall, all that stuff between his legs was kinda bulky. Bigger downfall- $$$$$$$$. So, we will try it again- maybe with a cheaper soaker? Before we invest in more of these particular diapers. (I wont have to buy alot of covers, those can be reused, and they dry really fast too.)

cant win

he wet thru last night. I tried a bum genius w/ a hemp stuffin and one of the bum genius soakers too.... on to something else tonight!

cloth diapers

so I bought a few last night to give a try, in hopes of avoiding the middle of the night diaper change. (and the leaking thru his diaper too) I got a Happy Heiny, a BumGenius, and a Happy Hempy. Also an assortment of "stuffing". There is a local company in Marshfield: www.naturalbums.com Check out the diapers if you havent seen what cloth diapering in 2008 is. check out the brands I mentioned!

I have always thought I would cloth diaper (pre-baby thoughts), but Chris is strongly opposed so I never pushed it. Still, I would like to try it. He didnt even want to look at them last night! till I said, "fine I will return them- but I plan to wake you up every night at 2am to a screeming/wet baby to change his clothes and his crib sheets". Then he agreed to look at them, and even said they were very soft.

While washing them last night I checked them over, they dont look all that hard to make. I am a decent sewer.... we'll see.

biting

wow, did that hurt! for the first time Brady bit me while nursing. I think we did the right thing, but I am nervous for our next nursing.

So here is what happened- he bit me, I pulled away and said firmly (and painfully) "Brady no, biting hurts mommy". He cried really, really hard. (made my heart sad, this was the first time I have had to discipline my little boy) I hugged him, then quit the nursing and gave him to dad. About an hour later we nursed again, and all was fine. Let's hope this remains a rare thing, because those sharp toothers HURT!

Back to my rocking chair/recliner obsession. ;-) I have started a rocking chair fund envelope in my closet. Any extra $$$ I stumble upon it goes in there. There is now $10.40 in it. I called in to cancel the gap insurance for paying off my car.... so I get the $10.40. Now....... I made the effort to pay off the car over a year early, shouldnt that money that we saved go into my rocking chair fund? I have decided I want the smaller one that I showed in a photo below. It really does fit ME better then the big comfy cushy one that fits Chris better.

new hair cut

Done with the ponytail every day look! It was time for a change. (no this is not the change I needed to stop the shit dreams either!)

This style should be easy, esp. considering I can throw on a baseball hat or stocking hat for work. I can doll it up if I desire too. I havent had bangs in probably 20 years either! so this should be a fun new style to try out.

Watcha think?

enough with the shit dreams!

Almost every night I have a dream that involves shit! Last night it was the toilet was overflowing and I could not get it to stop, and shit was everywhere. The other night there was shit in my bed. A recurrent dream of mine is me at the bottom of a hill with a septic pumper truck at the top- and the shit is flowing out of the truck down the hill towards me and I cant move.

A dream analyzer isn't needed to figure out why I am having all these dreams lately.

rocking chair quest

The rocking chair I have works, and it is soft. But it really doesnt fit me very well, and I dont find it that comfortable for the number of hours I spend in it, and have spent in it in the last 9 months. The back is really curved, and it makes it hard to nurse. I have modified it with a ton of pillows and blankets to make it remotely comfy. I have gotten some back aches from it.


Saturday Chris, Brayden and I went to the furniture store- just to see what they have. I fell in love with 2 chairs. They are over $600 each. Beautiful gliding motion.... oh so comfy! They are actually ~recliners~ more then they are rocking chairs. Chris loved the chocolate colored one, that was a recliner. It fit him well, but not me perfectly. I liked that one, and another one...

here it is... sort of. I like a different fabric and color..... and the one I liked was a swivel glider. Its a lazy boy. It fit me well, but it felt small to him.

This rocking chair is all I think about lately! I really would ike a new one... but over $600..... dont know if I can do it. We have other NEEDS... like a new matress.

yay for weekend!

I am SO happy it is here, and SO happy I will not be working. Major napping is on my adgenda.

life is great with:

diaper bags: I can stash so much stuff in one of those! Snack for baby, snack for me. Drink for baby, drink for me. Diapers of course. My wallet. nail clipper.

strollers: sort of like the diaper bag, you can stash so much stuff in it!

empty baby food jars: pill bottle, salad dressing to work, freezing your own baby food in, fresh chopped garlic.

our labor day

now that I have that gripe out of my system..... life can go on.

I am lunching, in my 90 degree office, and it is about 150% humidity. Maybe that is why I am full of complaints. The worse part... my valuable staff (no gripes there! they ROCK!) are either home with a newborn, at school teaching, or the day off. So I am inhaling my lunch while I sweat and type.

Brady and I had a fabulous day together yesterday. Daddy worked the labor day picnic all weekend. Brady seems to be at the very tail end of his cold and his teeth have poked thru- so life is better. We ate cantalope together, and peaches together too! He loves to suck on fruit with mommy and we get all sticky.

Every day, Chris and I say what a perfect little boy he is. He sort of came with a manual, we know when he is hungry, tired or just too hot. VERY VERY rarely does he just crab (when he is hot, LOL). He doesnt need someone there playing with him- he loves to play and explore things by himself too.

Brady had a tummy ache from his food I think. Couple hours after he ate Gerber #2 sweet potatoe and corn (pureed and so thin I added cereal) he started spitting up and it looked uncomofrtable. He would not nurse or take a bottle, and acted like he wanted to sleep but could not. This kid.... something HAS to be off for him not want to nurse! Daddy and I argued about who was going to bed and who was staying up with Brady, this was at 8:45. LOL. I tried snuggling Brady in the spare bed with me, and rubbed his back while he cried. Slowly he calmed down and fell asleep. After his 1am feeding he was just fine! whew!

is it me, or them with the problem?

major gripe time! This erks me so much at work! Sure, I am outside working... watering... whatever. I HATE when people pull up in the parking lot, and wave me over to ask me something. AAHHH! Get out of your car, and come ask me your question!

This morning, I had people do this before 11am! Serisously?!?! The first one was just passing thru and wanted to know what a bug was that she had in a jar. Ummm... cant you get out of your car and ask? The second one was needing directions. YOU need directions.... so YOU should get out of your car.

Maybe I look young and energetic? (which I am not, I am exhausted pretty much everyday). Is it that generation? They are usually 65 plus. Is it too hot to get out of the car? Sure, I would LOVE to stand on hot concrete and talk to you!

getting back to normal

I think the teeth have broke thru, and we are all on the tail end of our colds. Brady is much more content in the last 24 hours. :-)

teething

The last 4 days have been hard! for Chris, myself and brayden. He is slowly cutting 2 teeth with a cold! I have a cold too! Chris says he is getting on too (must feel left out? LOL)

I think this teething has been the hardest stage yet. I have to ponder that a bit.... but it just might be.

I took the leap!

well, was forced to anyway. I have been working on cutting out my ~pump at work on my lunch~ session. Brady really only drinks about 8oz of milk while I am work- so once my freezer stash is gone, he will get formula. Today I had to cover work alone, so I could not take a private lunch. This day was going to happen within a week or so, but the decision was made for me today.

I do feel like I am missing that part of Brady at work, but then kind of happy to have mobility while I am on lunch.

Not sure when we will wean any further. With him still waking once a night or more (like lately while teething!) nursing is SO easy. And I love our special snuggle time when we sing lullibyes and relax at the end of the day. We are not ready to give those times up just yet.

the padded room

Chris has been having a good time joking with me about "the padded room". Late last week I had a few days where I was laughing at absolutly nothing and thought I might need a mental evaluation. So then he started up with locking me in a padded room. Nice husband!

Exciting news! My co-worker Jen had her baby this morning! A girl! 2 weeks early. Yay! I am so excited for her and cant wait to meet Erin! (Jen is a frequent blog reader of mine, she needs a blog too now!)

TOOTH!

Finally there is a toother poking thru! He will be 8 months old in a couple days. Brady really isnt a baby in my mind anymore. He is a professional crawler, pulls to standing (and no longer falls down to sitting, it is controlled), he likes to eat by himself (unless he is starvin marvin), and now some teeth!

It melts daddy's heart when Brady uses his fingers to flap his lips when he makes noises- so hard to describ, but is is so cute! My little multi-tasker! Standing up with one hand, making a noise, and smacking his lips with his other hand. I think it is cute, but daddy thinks it's the best thing in the world. The thing that still gets me, is his beatiful sleeping face. Esp. when he makes sucking motions with his lips and nothing is in there.

Seriously, we have the most perfect little boy in the world. If he slept the night he would be 100% perfect. But I am content with this extremely happy, curious, and beautiful baby boy. Chris and I were chatting last night, wondering if other parents have this same thought? We cant even imagine that baby #2, or #3 could ever measure up to Brady. And do you have the room in your heart to love #2 or #3 like you do #1?

I am home sick today. I had a ruined weekend off because my mastitis is back. Thinking I never really got rid of it from just a couple weeks ago. Brady is at daycare so I can rest. Daddy is at work too, so I can rest! Daddy is the worst of the 2 of them. I can at least put brady in his jumper while I lay down.

battle wounds

Brady got bit at daycare for the first time! By his friend Carter. I guess Brady took the toy he wanted. He has a bite shaped mark on his right arm. I am sure this wont be the last!

hate it....

the first thing I hate is that I am working and Chris is shopping for a new washer and dryer....

the second thing I hate is the amt of $$$$ that we are going to end up spending to wash our clothes.

exhausted

I have been so exhausted lately, that I took an HPT this morning. I am that sort of exhausted.

It was negative.

sandbox fun!

Yesterday Brady got to play in the sand at the park! He liked feeling it in his hands, and that was about it.

Then last night Chris, Cal, Shel and I made freezer corn. I think the count is 58 quarts! We worked on it for about 6 hours. It was lots of work, but in the end it is worth it. Brady was an angel! He jumped in his jumper for the longest time! Finally he (and we) got dinner around 8pm- he wanted to feed him self! And he did. We have moved up to small cubes of cooked sweet potatoes. After his bath, the water was full of sand and sweet potatoes!

I am so tired today. It's one of those days that it seems the lack of continuous sleep is catching up to me! Between BS not wanting to go to bed some nights, and everything on my overflowing plate.... of'da. Seriously, I can hardly stay on my feet today!

many rambles

I just had 3 days off work, and my best time to blog is on my lunches, so I have so much to say!

Anniversay
What a great weekend! It was our 5yr anniversay saturday. We had a wonderful family day. Brady was an angel saturday. We went to Foxfire Botanical Garden, then to Wildwood Zoo for a picnic. See my other blog for more stuff about foxfire (hoping I have time to blog about it there!). Chris and I never give each other gifts for b-days or anniversary- but we did this time! I got him a new trek bike! he was so surprised. He got me a great book- Wildflowers of WI. (thanks Cheri for turning me on to it, sorry for wearing yours out!) He also gave me a certificate for 1.5 hour massage and a pedi. nice! On our way home we stopped at Cheri's (and her hubby dennis- I work with Cheri) too to see what they are up to and visit.

Brady's Dallas outfit
It's pictured below. We knew it shouldnt have entered out house! We did some laundry yesterday, and during the... ahem... dark blue load our washer started making horrid noises! Chris investigated it, I called Uncle Cal and Aunt Shel to inform them of the happenings. Sounds like we are getting a new wash machine. Thanks guys! That damn outfit! LOL. Come on guys, get knocked up so we can hand this Dallas gear down!

Crawling well!
Have I blogged yet that I have a crawler?!?! He is perfecting it now, but has been on the move for just over a week. Right about when he hit 7 months. He is pulling himself up to standing, which is scary stuff right now. We dropped down his crib mattress this weekend because I was loosing sleep that he would fall out, Chris did a fabulous job of covering the edges of the fireplace thingy.... our fireplace is raised, and BS kept going after the shiney fireplace and the edges are harsh. Fixed now! Great job daddy!

Bike Ride
Last night we went on a blike ride with Uncle Cal and Aunt Rochelle, then dinner at our house. Brady giggled, and showed off to his new audience his abilities- like eating cherios and moving and a groovin.

To sum it all up, I think all 3 of us had a great weekend. Wish I didnt work so many weekends so we could have more special days like saturday was (sunday was to, but Saturday was TOPS!). Cant wait to post picts.

growl!

For the last few nights when I get up with Brady to feed him his tummy has really been growling! I feel so bad for him because it is so loud and he is so eager to eat. We arent doing anything different then usual, so he must just be using all those calories more then usual.

Lucky for Cal....

he is a good brother in law. He is sort of an outlaw, and not your typical WI packer fan. Last night while chris was visiting Shel and Cal, they snuck this outfit on Brady!

moo

I completely feel like a cow. I have mastitis. Ouch!!!!! Really, ouch! It came on fast, and hurts incredibly bad. Yes, I know I am a ninny with a low tolerance to pain, but this really hurts. I started an antibiotic yesterday, dr. said it would get worse before it gets better and it did. But now I think things are better (or the pain pills are just taking effect). I had to take yesterday and today off work to empty my breast every 1-2 hours during the day and every 2-3 hours at night. (another reason I feel like a cow)

Dr. thinks it is just a odd thing- it usually happens in the early days of bf'ing when there are sores to allow bacteria in. It's been 7 months, and this hasnt happened yet. Hope it never happens again too! It seriously hurts bad!

oh crap

I think my heart has slowed down. Thank god my 5 yo neice stayed calm.

Brady and I are at my sisters hanging with her 3 kids today (yesterday and tomorrow too). He has been playing really well, crawling around. I talked with the kids about safe toys for brady too. Somehow he found something though!

I looked over at him, and he was doing really funny thing with his mouth. So I ran over, and felt around and felt something hard in there, but I could not get it out! I freaked out, and asked the kids to pull this thing out while I pry open his mouth. Stuck to his tongue was a rubber thing.... about the size of a quater. Taylor pulled it out of his mouth, calmly like a pro.

the next 3 days

Yesterday while I worked, Brady spent the day with his cousins Olivia and Lydia (and Aunt Stacia and Uncle Neil too). Sounds like they had a good day together, and Brady took a special liking to Uncle Neil. After work I picked him up and we drove to my parents house. Of course I was hungry and thirsty. ;-) (during college dad always said I came home to eat thier food and drink thier beer)

Today. tomorrow, and half of wednesday Brady and I are hanging out with Jason, Breanna and Taylor. It is 9:15, and they are begging to go swimming. We hope to go to the park and play, go to visit Grandma Rose, and do some other fun summer things.

I took one extra day off. Because of working this last weekend and next weekend, I already have today and tomorrow off. But with traveling with a 7 month old, an extra day is needed. I need this break from work, it is just getting to me. I relate seasonal work to being bi-polar. It is extremes- work your ass off an d have no life for a good portion of the year, and the other portion hardly work and get a life. Why didnt I think of this seasonal issue before I went to school for Horticulture?

I best go check on Jay-haug an Tay-haug, they are feeding the horses because I said they could go swimming after thier chores are done. I am sure they are racing thru.

cavity

I went to the dentist today. I knew it wasnt going to be pretty. With my PPD I neglected myself and my teeth for sure! (which is very common) I have one cavity on the outside of a lower tooth, and 6 teeth are being watched! yes, 6! I have been properly caring for my teeth for the last couple months, but I know I teeth barely got brushed for many days during a few months.

photos!

Toot, Toot! here I come!

Here is how we got that picture!

Dad and Mom love this photo.

This is where Brayden hangs out while I putz in my flower beds. He is on the front porch, lovin his exersaucer. See my flowerbed in the background?