Monday, November 8, 2010

LOL...ROTFL...and other junk

If a blog was in need of dusting, it would be this one.  Yikes!

Here's a question for ya...have you ever physically rolled on the floor laughing?  Marcus and I had a hilarious conversation the other night regarding how we can't stand the LOL, ROTFL, etc., that so many people use.  Granted, it adds some 'umph' to a statement when you think something is funny.  I kind of look at it as nervous laughing.  You know those conversations where you just laugh because there is nothing else to do? Yeah, oh my...LOL. 

As our conversation went on, I asked Marcus, "Seriously, how often in life have you physically rolled on the floor laughing? I can count on one hand how many times I have literally fallen to one knee, have to hold myself up from falling down from laughing so hard. Apparently the internet is full of people who are constantly on the floor, rolling around in laughter."

Marcus then said, "Yeah, and what happens if I find something funny and I'm laughing on the inside? Is that LI (laughing inside)??"

Or if you snort when you laugh...what would that be?  Just SNORT!!

When you are at casa dePaula and something is funny, don't be shocked if you just hear us say "LOL!" instead of laughing or if you see us rolling on the floor you'll know why. 

Me: LI :)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The iPhone...

Last week we went over to my dear friend Stacie's house.  Stacie and her husband, Ray, are some of our favorite people and their daughter, Olivia, is just as sweet as can be.  We mixed a little business with pleasure by having dinner over there while Marcus worked on Stacie's computer.  Perfect! 

After dinner Olivia kindly asked if she could play with my iPhone.  No problem!  I hand it to her and the minute Isaac sees the phone he beelines to wherever Olivia is going to get in on the iPhone action.  We have developed a bit of a monster when it comes to Isaac playing with our phones.  He LOVES it...a little too much.  And the scary thing is...he can work the phone really well.  Who says iPhones are complicated?!?

Olivia plops down on the couch and plays quietly while Isaac tries to hoist his deliciously chunky leg up on the couch.  He gets up and instantly tries to crawl on top of Olivia to get to the phone.  She patiently lets Isaac reach over her and try to get to the phone and...well...I'll let the pictures talk for themselves. 

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Errr...what?

Last night my sweet friend Rebecca Moody reminded me that I haven't blogged in a loooong time.  Eerrkk...yes, it has been a long time.  I could come up with a great excuse but I'm not going to.  Someone once said that it's not that we don't have the time, it's that we don't MAKE the time.  So friends, I didn't make the time.  It's that simple.  Sorry for being lame.  LAME-O! 

A few weeks ago we were up in Iowa visiting my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and my aunt Inge who was up visiting from Texas.  Boy oh boy, it was soooo good to see them!  My parents have a huge backyard full of trees and lots of fun grubby things for a 17 month old to get into.  We had a blast & I know Isaac loved every single minute of it.  Especially when he could play in little baby pool they got him. 

One afternoon Mom and I were sitting out back watching Isaac run around and explore when I asked her, "What do you think about Isaac being an only child?" I think this kind of threw her for a loop.  I went on to say how I have no clue how we could add another child to our already crazy lives.  With us starting this new business, both of us working like crazy, trying to keep up with the house, and getting into a comfortable rhythm with working and raising Isaac, the thought of having another baby right now is kind of...to be perfectly honest...not really there quite yet. 

She smiled (which made me think, "Ooo, she has a doozy coming up.") and said, "OK...what I'm going to say isn't meant to be hurtful because every first time mother does this and it's not just you." 

Ooohhh boy...here it comes. 

"Kids are work but you're making MORE work out of it than what you need to be."

I have to be honest when I say, yes, I was slightly offended for the first 30 seconds after that comment.  But then it sunk in.  She is totally right!  I WAS making more work out of it! 

She used an example from that very day.  When Isaac was roaming around their backyard I followed him around the entire time.  She said, "Let him roam!  We are sitting less than 20-30 feet from him...he's fine!  He needs some independence."  And then she delivered the absolute truth..."You don't have to entertain him all the time!" 

THAT was it!  She was so completely right!  I must say, Isaac is REALLY good about playing by himself.  I'll plop him down with a stack of books, his blocks and an apple and he's good to go.  I'll close the gate in the kitchen to keep him contained while I do dishes and he has a great time.  For the longest time I felt like I needed to be a cruise director...keeping him happy, entertained and learning something during all waking hours.  It doesn't need to be that way...at all. 

Granted, Isaac's at that age where he is VERY active (running, running, running!) so I keep a close eye on him so he doesn't chop off one of his arms, but I'm giving him a bit more freedom, not chasing him around every second, helping him to learn when I say "NO!" I mean no, you aren't going to play in the dog's water bowl any more.

Kids are going to cry, hurt themselves from time to time, fall down and get back up...it's just a part of life.  Can I protect him from every little thing?  Nope.  Should I try to?  Of course, but it doesn't mean we are going to always catch it.  I just pray over Isaac every morning that God will protect him and give me the grace to unclench a little bit more :)  

Am I warming up to having another child?  Of course.  I go through phases where I have to slap myself on the back of the head and say, "Stop being selfish!" Because it totally is a selfish thing...we are very comfortable right now how things are going.  But it's not about me or my plan or my controlling the situation.  It's about God's timing and plan. 


So I'm letting go bit by bit and letting Isaac be Isaac, which is a wonderful and freeing thing but also a joy to witness.  He has a wonderful time playing, I can get a ton of stuff done AND still have time to play with him and enjoy him fully. Ahhh....

And when he comes running up to me with one of his books, you better believe I drop everything and we read it together.  That's a non-negotiable one :)

 

Friday, April 2, 2010

A big announcement that doesn't include a baby...

The world's worst blogger is...this girl...right here.  Sitting right here behind my dining room table desk trying to wrap my brain around my never ending to-do list.  Tis the life of a mother, a wife, professional, a semi-sane person.  That is my dumb way of saying "sorry for being lame and only posting one blog in the month of March!" LAME-O!! 

I think March, which somehow turned into April overnight, snuck up on everyone.  Seriously...what happened to March??  It's kind of nice that it went by so quickly due to the fact that the weather was FREAKING COLD and now we are in glorious Spring.  Ahhh, thank you Lord for the warmer weather :)

Now on to a little announcement!  Nope...no new babies are being added to the casa dePaula clan quite yet.  BUT we are bringing about something new and exciting to our lives and hopefully to the lives of others very soon.  I originally wanted to announce this once we had the new website up, but that won't be for another few weeks. 

We are...how do you put it...re-working our business.  Five years ago I started BookEnd Media, which is a publicity/PR firm that focuses on independent artists/bands, authors, and small businesses.  Due to the changing landscape of the media (print media, radio, TV, etc.) it has gotten increasingly difficult to get coverage for indie artists, which was incredibly frustrating because these artists deserve so much more media attention than what they were getting.  They are amazing!!  This in turn made me very frustrated and not enjoy my job...at all. 

About a month or so ago I had a meeting with a client/friend regarding a new project they have coming up.  I'm really excited about what they are doing to change things up, stir the pot a bit, and get out of the traditional mold of things within the music industry.  Walking away from that meeting I challenged myself to change things up within my company...try something new and turn things around not only for the company but, more importantly, for our clients.

Marcus and I are thrilled to announce that we are starting a new digital PR/Marketing firm called Mixtus Media Solutions.  We are going completely digital (focusing on blogs, podcasts, internet radio, webzines, etc.) and adding to the mix website design/development (thanks to my braziliant husband) as well as social network management/development.  We are SO excited about it and already have several projects underway.  Anyone who knows Marcus knows that he is a freaking amazing website designer (check out www.amycourts.com or www.thevillagechapel.com) so I'm really excited that we are making that a major part of the new company. 

I won't go into all of the details right now, but all that to say, we will let everyone know once the website, Facebook, blog, Twitter, etc., is up for Mixtus Media Solutions.  More details to come! 

So...THAT is what is keeping us busy these days.  Not to mention the amazing journey of raising our Isaac Henry...but he's the good & fun kind of busy :)  Uff, can't get enough of that kid!! 

I'll do better with the blogging...promise!  Love to you all!! 

Monday, March 8, 2010

Beans vs. the baby

I don't know if anyone recalls the brilliant 80's movie Mr. Mom.  Like many movies from our childhood, my brother Ross likes to pick one or two quotes that he uses over and over and busts them out whenever possible.  One quote from Mr. Mom that he uses goes something like, "Are you crazy?  You're feeding your baby chili??" The baby in the movie gets a hold of a can of chili during a chaotic day and she ends up having atomic diapers.  Jack, aka Mr. Mom, wears goggles, rubber gloves, an apron, a clothes pin on his nose and uses tongs to change the diaper.  It's pretty hilarious. 

I think it was this movie that kept me from feeding Isaac beans.  Granted, beans aren't the only piece of the puzzle within chili, but what other ingredient can boast the song "Beans, beans, the magical fruit...."??  Hence my hesitation. 

Isaac is still on his picky eating streak so I thought for sure that he would resist the option of eating black beans.  My mother-in-law, Barbara, made some amazing black beans and rice yesterday so we thought we would give it a shot and gave him one.  He LLLOOOOOVVVVEEEEDDDD it.  So much so I couldn't put enough on his tray fast enough.  He would bounce with delight every time he would put one in his mouth.  I told Marcus then and there that he would have the great joy of changing his diaper the next day.

So beneath his very Norwegian exterior there certainly is a Brazilian with a great love for black beans.  

Thursday, March 4, 2010

French radio vs. feeling pewy....

This is too hilarious so of course I have to share it.  I'm listening to Chanteurs.org on iTunes radio that plays, as they say, 'French songs since 1890 of the dead artists'.  Nice.  I'm listening to Trois Menestrels--Balde de Davy Crockett , which is The Ballad of Davy Crockett in French.  I guess you really have to hear it to sense the full aroma of its hilarity. 

For the past few weeks we have seen back-to-back illness with the little nugget.  The week before it was a cold that turned into RSV, this week it was a fever and general 'pew-ness' that knocked him out. Thankfully he woke up today without a fever and was free of the general funk that took over yesterday.  We can't seem to get past the plugged up nose.  Darn you nose...

So last week, when we actually had a spurt of warmer weather, I decided some fresh air would be good for our lungs.  I bundled Isaac up, put his little hat on and thought we were ready to go.  My over thinking Mama Brain thought, "You know, a little blanket might be that added umph we need to keep him toasty." Yeah, Isaac didn't think so.  It wasn't a thick blanket, mind you.  It was more like a receiving blanket.  But he did not like that one bit.  My thoughts were, "Deal with it puddin'!  It's cold!" Note the hands in the second picture...frustrated with a capital YEEEOOOWWWZZZAA!! 

He revolted by taking his shoe and sock off every 30 seconds. 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sad face :(

Is this just not the saddest thing??!!??  Breaks my heart.  But it's getting some much needed medicine into his sweet little lungs and doing a lot of good.  This was after he became transfixed with his Baby Einstein video.  Praises be for educational DVDs in times like these! 

Thankfully he's feeling better and seems to be on the mend.  Thank you for your prayers!! 

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Sinus suckers...

I've hit a point in Isaac's life where I'm OK with him eating something that has fallen on the ground, not freaking out when he finds one of the dog toys and starts to chew on it, or picks up the side of the rug and, for one reason or another, wants to put it in his mouth.  Don't get me wrong, I take whatever he has put in his mouth and say, "Ick!  That's gross!" and not encourage him chewing on everything he finds, but I don't throw a little nutty like I used to.  I think every mother hits a point where they go, "Ehh, it's fine.  He's building immunity..." and we move on. 

Thankfully Isaac has been quite the healthy kid and we haven't had to face much sickness in his first year of life.  So when he came down with a monster cold I thought, "Well, we had it coming." That was two weeks ago.  Over the weekend he started coughing...all...night...long.  And it wasn't that, "Dang, I have a tickle in the back of my throat" cough.  Oh no, no, no.  It was the "GGGGRRRAAAAAAA!!!!  I'm coming out of the depths of your son's toenails" kind of cough. 

In steps our amazing, I can't say enough good things about her, Dr. Jennifer Cox of Mercy Children's Clinic in Franklin, TN.  I called her last week and she said that if he doesn't get better over the next few days then we need to make an appointment.  The weekend hit and, wohoooo boy, did that cough turn it's ugly head and say ROAR! 

I called for an appointment yesterday and found out the earliest they could get us in was three days later.  I guess every child in middle Tennessee is sick at the same time.  So I called Dr. Cox, explained his symptoms and she said, "Yeah, he needs to get in right away." So off to Franklin we go...

Two hours, a breathing treatment, and a screaming child later, we find out he has RSV (respiratory syncytial virus).  Thankfully it is treatable and hopefully he is on the tail end of it.  They sent us home with a nebulizer and we have to give him breathing treatments every 4-6 hours for the next 48 hours.  If you hear a pissed off kid screaming, don't worry, it's just Isaac throwing a fit from his breathing treatment.  I think we can safely say he doesn't like things strapped to his head. 

All in all, I am so thankful for loving and caring medical doctors and health care.  Seriously thankful. 

Thursday, February 18, 2010

And so it begins....

Here we go.  I'm going to say it.  It's here.  It's starting to show its ugly face. We have gradually entered into an area of...dare I say it...temper tantrums.  Yes, one year old temper tantrums.  Truth be told, it's nothing horribly bad nor a phase where I want to pull every last hair out of my head, but I see Isaac starting to generate some genuine feelings about certain situations.  Sometimes I just tell him, "Little dude, it's really not that bad.  You will live.  I promise." And other times I just laugh.  Like any good mother would. 

It started with Isaac wanting to chew on his nightlight.  It's actually a very cool nightlight and I don't blame him one bit for wanting to carry it around and consider it a very non-cuddly little friend, but we draw the line at him chewing on it.  I give him three, "Isaac, that's not for babies.  We don't chew on nightlights." He generally looks at me, puts it down then immediately picks it back up again, and starts to put it in his mouth.  Like he's thinking, "Oh yeah, she's forgotten about that by now." I say this again and we go through the situation again.  The third time I pull it out of his mouth, which irks him and he begins to cry like it's the end of the world and someone just told him that graham crackers aren't an actual food group. 

He snaps out of it pretty quickly and moves on to something else.  But it's happening a few times a day and I know this is just the beginning.  Thankfully he is an overall very happy and joyful kid, so I focus on that when "Mr. Nasty" starts to emerge.  It's an inevitable aspect of kid-dom.  Lucky us. 

Monday, February 15, 2010

Teething rail swords...

When we found out we were having a boy, obviously I was beyond excited and so thrilled for such an amazing gift.  A son. A beautiful baby boy.  Then flashbacks of my little brother in his random stages of boy-dom filled my head and I started to think through how to completely pad our house down with foam padding and bubble wrap.  If he is anything like my brother, heaven help us, he will be...active and quite boisterous. 

Although he looks exactly like my brother when he smiles, I don't think we have a Ross Jr. on our hands.  But he does hold a sliver of his uncles mischief and humor, that's for sure.

When we found out we were pregnant with Isaac we obviously went looking for a crib.  Being huge IKEA fans (and the fact that Marcus' gorgeous sister works there) we knew we wanted to get the crib from there.  We found one that turned into a toddler bed, which we loved, and it came with a "teething strip" that went along the top rail of the crib.  Perfect!  Now, I'm not sure if every crib comes with that, but I thought that was brilliant.

Anyway, fast forward to Isaac's crazy teething explosion (he's a year old and has nine teeth) and you find that teething guard being put to good use.  Trouble is that he found a way to get his little teeth under the part that hooks around the rail and he pulled it up.  No harm done...we pushed it back into place and we are good to go.

Last week I put Isaac down for his nap and, like usual, he plays and sings away for about 10-15 minutes before settling down for his nap.  But about 5 minutes later, I hear this tapping sound.  Tap...tap...tap.  Then it got a little louder...and then I hear things being knocked down.  Now, mind you, we have moved everything WELL out of his Go-Go-Gadget arm reach so this made me very curious and I went upstairs to check. 

I open the door to see that he had completely pulled off the full length of the teething guard rail and was using it as a sword to swipe things off of his bookshelf.  He was holding it in his chubby little hands, smiling and laughing like crazy.  Of course I started laughing with him and though, "Ooohhh boy, do we have a live one on our hands." 

Monday, February 1, 2010

Aaaannnnd, we're back.....

If I could say "crazy" in several languages right now I would.  But since I can only speak elementary Spanish that I learned on Sesame Street I'll have to stick with English.  So yes, the past two weeks have been nutty insane, but it's been a good nutty insane. 

The biggest news is that ISAAC HENRY IS A YEAR OLD!!!  My sweet baby boy turned one on January 27th and I cry every time I think about it.  I'm so proud, in awe, and insanely in love with this kid that I am about to pop.  We celebrated on his actual birthday with his own little cake and we were going to have some friends over for a little party on Saturday, but due to the seven inches of snow and layers of ice under that, we had to cancel.  I was soooo bummed and quite sad.  I know Isaac doesn't know the difference, but dang, it's his FIRST birthday!  We celebrated and dug into another cake, which didn't bum him out in the least.  This was his first experience with sugar and it's safe to say he is a fan.

Unlike other kids and their first cake experience, Isaac isn't a "dig his hands in and smoosh it in his mouth" type of guy.  Nope.  He's a "bend down and eat it like a dog" kind of kid.  He started doing this when he couldn't pick up his pears at lunch one day.  He continues the tradition with his cake and, boy oh boy, was he proud of himself after every bite.  He loved every minute of it.

  

My Mom, brother and sister-in-law made their way down to Nashville from Iowa for Isaac's birthday it was sooooo good to see them.  Sadly my dad had to work and he was greatly missed.  We did get to see him for a few hours though, which was fantastic but waaayyy too short.  He drove my mom down to Paducah, KY and Marcus, Isaac and I met them there to pick her up.  Isaac had his first Cracker Barrel experience and is officially addicted to biscuits.  Isaac adores his grandparents but has a special place in his heart for my dad, which warms my heart like no other.  We got some amazingly sweet pictures of them.  Uff...for sweet. 



In true Hanson fashion, we can't seem to have Mom and Dad down to visit without some crazy big project to tackle while they are here.  This trip was no different and Mom and I finally painted the entryway.  Only took seven years to actually get it painted.  When Marcus moved in the painting wasn't completely finished, so he put that on his "someday I'll get to that list" which has since grown to more than a mile long.

Right before we got married the main floor toilet overflowed and leaked down one of the walls in the entryway, which caused paint to bubble and drywall to break apart.  Three years ago Marcus fixed the hole in the wall, added a doorbell, which required more drywall patching and an even greater need for paint.  Paint was purchased four months ago and was FINALLY used on Monday.  Gracious.  It looks fantastic and I am SOOOOOO beyond thankful for my Mom and her mad crazy painting skills.  Next up on the to-do list, the garage.  You can start praying for me now.

 
 

I wish I had some before and after shots of the entryway, but I'm a moron and forgot to take pictures.  The "after" is much better anyway. 

So there you have it!  The last two weeks at casa dePaula.  Posts will be more regular now that we are back to our regularly scheduled programming.  Love to all!! 

Thursday, January 14, 2010

A bundled up little bug...

It's been cold...really cold in Nashville.  Granted, I'm originally from Iowa and it's 10 times colder up there, so when I complain to my family that it's 21 degrees out, they say, "That's a flippin heatwave!" I was talking with my mom last week and she said, "Yeah, we are supposed to get into the 30's next week!" When I was a kid I remember seeing people walk around in shorts when it got up to 30 because it felt so much warmer than the -27 we experienced a few days before. 

Introducing Isaac to winter garments has been a bit of a challenge.  The kid doesn't like hats nor does he like anything on his hands, which makes gloves out of the question.  When I was getting him ready to head out the door for church on Sunday, I looked at him and said, "OK buddy, you're going to have to buck up and deal with wearing a hat because it's too cold not to." Much to my surprise, he kept his hat AND his hood on. 

My parents got Isaac a hat that we refer to as his "Grumpy Old Men" hat.  It has flaps that cover his ears and a strip that goes around his chin to keep the sucker on.  This strap pushes his cheeks together all the more and, heaven help me, I nearly pulled off to the side of the road from laughing looking back at him in the mirror.  He just sat there looking out the window with his hat on, which had been pushed down slightly so he was pushing his head back so he could see. 

On the way home the chin strap flipped up and went into his mouth. Isaac just went with it and sucked on it the entire way home.  Way to deal with it pal :) 




Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Oh butter, how I love you...

My mother has often said that Norwegian food is just a vehicle for butter.  This is very true.  If you have not encountered Norwegian food, it's very white, very bland, and dripping with butter every chance it can get.  I've often told my husband the only color in Norwegian food is if a vegetable is included in the dish.  It's true. 

I'm not sure if I come by my love of butter naturally, though my Norwegian blood, or what, but ooohhhh my, my, my.  I do love me some butter. 

About two months ago Marcus and I watched the glorious movie Julie and Julia, which I fell in love with.  I was thrilled to see that Julia Child was a lover of butter as well.  Being that I loved the movie and really want to become a better cook (or I just fell for the massive marketing push for the cookbooks, biographies, etc., of Julia Child...I'm such a sucker) I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  My dear readers, I fell...in...love with this book. 

It has taken me quite a while to actually enjoy cooking.  Four years to be exact because, well, that's how long we have been married.  I started cooking due to the fact that there was no way we could afford to eat out all the time and I wanted to have healthy foods around the house.  So I started off small, visiting the Food Network website daily, watching some online videos, and stepping out to grab the cooking bull by the horns.  Now, I must say, I really enjoy it. 

I know that French food is considered the 'end all be all' of cooking and, by some snobby foodies out there, the only way to go.  By purchasing Julia Child's cookbook, I felt like this was a big step into becoming a "good cook" or something like that. 

So I went through every page...all 500 plus pages.  Oh the butter that was involved with almost EVERY dish!  DIVINE!! I told Marcus I was so excited to try some of these out.  I started off simple with a butter basted strip of sirloin that I got for our steak salads.   Granted, I understand that "butter basted" meat completely counteracts the actual act of eating a salad, but I digress.  It was fantastic.  Then I moved on to a lemon butter chicken which was like the French's version of fried chicken.  Need I say more?? 

So here I am...up to my eyeballs with glorious butter filled dinners that are so good I can hardly see straight.  I told Marcus that we would only be able to make one of these recipes once a week since they were so rich.

Now, I take that back.  We might need to make that once a month. 

On Sunday I went to get dressed for church and, wouldn't you know it, my pants didn't fit. 

MY PANTS DIDN'T FIT!!!!!  BLAST IT ALL!!!

So, for now, I bid Julia a sad good-bye until Mama can get her act together.  Or resist big portions.  Or get off my butt and actually work out.  Blerg. 

Friday, January 8, 2010

Here she goes again....

Let's all do a universal eye roll here because I'm going to be talking for a moment about, you guessed it, baby poop.  I feel like I've talked about it quite a bit lately, but maybe those were conversations in my head rather than multiple posts on my blog.  Man, I need to get a life. 

Anyway, this is a quick one and it makes me laugh. 

This might sound weird, but Isaac is starting to feel more like a human.  He understands when I say, "Where is the green ball?" and he goes over and gets the green ball.  Or when I say, "Clap your hands!" he puts his hands together and shakes them up and down.  It's like he finally "gets us" if that makes sense.  He's so much fun. 

When I change a poopy diaper, for one reason or another, I started saying, "PPPEEEWWW!!  That stinks!" or "ICK!  That's gross!" mainly because, well, it's gross.  But Isaac has started to laugh, quite hard, when I say this.  It's like he's thinking, "You bet it is lady!!  It's GROSS!!  AND I KNOW IT!" It's like he gets how stinky and smelly it is.  Maybe that and the fact that he's overjoyed that he doesn't have to deal with it until he has to master the big bad potty training monster for a few years.  Oh the joys of being a kid. 

But big things happened last night...Isaac took 5 steps all by himself!  We even got it on video.  Feel free to partake:

http://www.youtube.com/user/jjreader1

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Lewis & Lola...

Dogs are a good prep course to having kids.  Especially puppies, who can sometimes be more high maintenance than a baby.  Before we were even pregnant a gal that we met at church asked if we had kids, to which I replied, "No, not yet.  But we have two dogs." She responded by saying, "Dogs are even more work than kids!  If you can handle a dog you can handle a kid."

Marcus and I talked quite a bit about how having dogs was a good way to get ready for a baby.  Some people laugh at us because...well...one is an animal and the other is a human.  True, but they are both hard work.  I think having a dog, especially our first who was 7 weeks old when we adopted her, was a good introduction to taking care of a kid.  I know many eyes must be rolling, but it's true for us. 

Enter in our two mutts...Lewis and Lola.  Lola is the black dog and Lewis is the strawberry blond.  Both are absolute gems and we adore them.  It was quite a shock to them when Isaac entered the scene because they weren't the center of attention anymore.  I feel bad that they get a bit neglected at times and don't get to snuggle up to us as much as they used to, but they are doing just fine...believe me.

So I thought I would attach a recent picture of them.  This is from our trip to Florida.  I have no idea how Lewis thought this position was comfortable, but he was pretty loopy on some pills that we had to give him for his motion sickness.  They are hilarious. 


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

What a boob...

We are in the home stretch of weaning Isaac.  Truth be told, I'm rather sad to see this sweet time with him go.  Granted, if you would have told me that I would say this when he was a month old I would have laughed in your face.  Isaac didn't take to breast feeding as quickly as some do, which was quite the humorous affair, though not at the time. 

We had to consult with a lactation specialist early on due to the fact that Isaac had a kung-fu grip on my boob and wasn't allowing milk to flow, which hurt like HELL.  I remember trying to feed him in the hospital for the first time.  The nurse brought him in and tried to show me how to latch him on.  That is when we discovered Isaac's "power suck" which made my toes curl up and yelp like a hurt puppy.  "Seriously?  It's supposed to be like this??  GOOD LORD HELP ME!!!"

God answered my prayers with one of the craziest women I have ever met.  Her name is Annie and her life is boobs.  Don't get me wrong, she is BRILLIANT and helped so much, but she's insane.  I say this with great affection because there is no way I could do what she does. 

I've never been a good "naked" person, unlike some gals I have known in my lifetime who have no problem walking around the house naked.  I went into having a baby knowing that the old pregnant bod was going to be on display quite a bit and came to terms with it.  But nothing prepared me for Annie coming into my room, opening my my top and going after my boob with little as much as saying, "Hi!  My name is Annie."

Every time Annie came into the room there was little small talk before going right for my top and going for the goods.  She was very sweet with Isaac, though, being a first time mom and seeing her try to maneuver his head to be where she wanted it on my boob, I would sit there thinking, "Gracious lady!  Gentle!  He's a day old!" But she would get him latched on and eating like a champ.  If only Isaac knew that Annie wasn't the magic pill that he needed every time he ate because when she left he would go back to his old way of eating. 

As you can see from the pictures I have posted Isaac caught on to breast feeding quite well. QUITE well...he's a healthy little nugget with energy to boot.  Annie would be proud.

If there is a bit of wisdom that I could pass along to other Moms who are in the beginning stages of breast feeding, I'd say give it at least a month.  A dear friend of mine said that to me when I was in the throws of breast feeding hell.  After a month, seriously almost to the day, it was a breeze.  Heck, you might even enjoy it...I dare you to.


 

Monday, January 4, 2010

Aaannnd, here we go....

Ah-ha!!  First post of 2010...four days into the New Year.  We are on top of things. 

I mentioned a little project that I'm going to embark on this year in my last post and now I'll go into a little more detail.  I'm actually pretty excited about it because it involves organizing things (even the word "organization" makes my fingers tingle) but it's also a new adventure and challenge.  Being someone who needs to name everything (seriously, I've named every single one of Isaac's stuffed animals) I haven't come up with a clever name for this project, so that is shortly coming. 

Since we are quickly approaching Isaac's first birthday on the 27th, I've been thinking back over the past year with quite a bit of amazement.  Not only did it go by freaky fast, but it also comes with the realization that we actually made it.  We did it!  We survived the first year of having a kid!

The first few months I didn't think I would make it, to be perfectly honest.  Marcus was (and is) my rock and he was amazingly encouraging and comforting to me in those first hormone filled, blindingly tired months.  I was up to my eyeballs in estrogen, at the time I hated nursing and I would much rather ripped my boobs off than deal with the pain of this 10 pound creature gnawing on me, he wasn't sleeping, and I wanted to punch the next person who said, "Oh, isn't motherhood just wonderful?"

At the time, no it wasn't.  I'm just being honest here people.  It was incredibly hard and I was scared to death that I would never love it like I should have.  Thankfully, I absolutely love it now.

I know you might question if I'm high when I say this, but I kind of miss those first few months.  Mainly because I'm on the other side of it now and I would be able to say with full assurance, "You can do this.  You will make it out alive...and with your boobs fully attached."

As women I think there is a thread within our DNA that makes us think that we need to have it all and do it all right away.  I went back to work three weeks after having Isaac, which was insane.  Granted, I work from home, but it was still adding a lot of stress on my already recovering body and dealing with a paper thin emotional state.  I thought I needed to be back at it, back to my normal weight, have my house clean and sparkling, and my life in order just weeks after having a baby. 

This is when my mom's wisdom and amazing help finally sank into my hard head.  She simply said, "Cut yourself some slack."

Simple words, yes, but oh so profound. 

It was then that I decided I needed to give myself a year.  An entire year with this kid to not only get my footing (because, let's be honest gals, it takes a while), to get to know this little guy, and to get to know myself again after having him because, as much as we sometimes don't like to admit it, we are different than what we used to be. 

So we are at that year mark and I'm ready to get things back in order.  I'm ready, with Isaac and Marcus in hand, to reclaim some order, some sanity, and some more of who I am now that I'm a Mom.  It's not a self-centered time by any means.  It's seeing how everything (marriage, baby, house, work, friends) can work in harmony together without letting our marriage, child, home, or even myself go by the wayside. 

My challenge is to document reclaiming life a year after having our first baby.  Now that I have regained some footing, I'm ready to get things back in order.  It's not going to be perfect by any means, and that's totally fine.  Add to that our goal to sell our house within the next year and, boy oh boy, do we have some work to do.  Marcus is creating a separate website for me to document all of this, so I'll be sure to post that once I get that in order. 

I'll have the purpose of this challenge in a more concise manner on the side...this explanation was more of a "throwing it out there" to get things rolling.  I'm one that needs accountability and, in a weird way, this blog & website will be my accountability.  I'll share ways and ideas that we have come up with to make our house more orderly & organized, how we have changed things to get the house ready to sell, new & inexpensive ways to entertain and educate Isaac, and how I'm finding my own voice, style, and identity again as a Mom.  Should be a fun ride.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with this long post!  Sorry if it feels more like a ramble rather than a fully thought out idea.  I'm getting my thoughts and ideas in order and I hope to get this rolling this week.  I'll keep you posted! 

Until then, I'll leave you with the strangest sleeping position I've found Isaac in. Not sure how or why he was like this, but he was obviously comfortable.