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Finally, A Moment To Myself

Alright, so, the last few days with Trae have been a challenge.  He was doing so well sleeping through the night every night, then all of a sudden it's like he is a newborn again.  He is up and inconsolable every three hours.  It. Is. Driving. Me. Crazy.  If you didn't know, I'm really serious when I put a period after every word.  He has also been super cranky and really tired during the day too.  The problem is, he just won't sleep during the day now.  I even gave in and put him in his swing and NOTHING.  Really, I am frustrated and glad beyond belief that Art is coming home soon because I need a Trae break.  I love being a mom always, and I enjoy being with Trae 98% of the time... but the other 2%... I just need some time for me.

I am also super stressed about this week.  Art will be home this week, which is always nice, but there is just so much we need to accomplish in seven days.  We need to find a house to rent, buy a million groceries, see family and friends... I know it doesn't sound like that much.  I am just overwhelmed.  Debbie Downer, Negative Nancy, blah, blah, blah...  On the positive side, Art coming home always means one good thing: take out sushi!  We wait until Trae goes to sleep then order up some sushi... and of course a seaweed salad for me, because YUM.

Trae fell asleep sitting up... while eating.  I told you, the kid has been tired.

Trae has also discovered that his hands are really great because they can hold a bottle.  He still needs a little help, but he'll have it down soon.

In exchange for Trae not letting me sleep and waking me up at 6 every morning, I took two hours to get ready on Saturday while Trae (somewhat) patiently watched.  I feel like it was a fair trade.

Just Some Thoughts...

Hi, friends.  I feel like I have been a little MIA for the last week.  Honestly, I have been completely uninspired when it comes to blogging.  I have been spending a lot of time with Trae, as I should.  When he is sleeping, I have been getting my nerd on by watching documentaries on Netflix instead of blogging.

Today, I watched Babies.  Wow.  Fascinating, really.  Here is what I got from the film.  In America, we are so privileged with so many unnecessary things.  Let me give some background for those who haven't seen it.  The documentary follows four babies throughout their first year of life.  There are no words to the documentary, just film showing how they are developing.  I really didn't pay too much attention to the specific places where these babies were born.  Only one of these babies was born in the US.  The others were born in... I want to say Africa, Japan, and Mongolia.  I think I got that right.  I just couldn't help noticing how different the US birth was than the others.  The baby was born in the hospital.  It was shown being connected to IVs right after birth.  I guess that was the main thing that got me.  I just think it is so unnecessary.  The baby in Africa was born in a village where it grew up naked and rode around on his mother's back while she went about her daily work.  It developed just the same as the US baby.  In fact all of them developed just fine.  We really pamper babies here.  Please don't take that the wrong way.  I am so thankful that we have the technology to do so, but I wonder how much is really necessary.    I LOVED my epidural, but birth would have happened fine (but very painfully) without it.  I'm glad that the hospital was able to monitor Trae, but I think he would have turned out fine without all the heel pricks and newborn checks and what not.  Just thoughts there.  Great documentary.  If you like that kind of stuff, please watch.

In other news, my little Trae is a little bit sick today.  He had his first fever.  Poor guy.  He didn't let it get him down though.  Other than being a little more tired than usual, he was fine.  Of course, I am a worried mama.  I have never had a sick baby before.  It makes it hard having Art gone and trying to figure out if he is okay.  What if he isn't okay and I am here by myself?  I think that is where a mother's instincts come in.  Going back to what I said earlier about the movie, in the US, we are able to take classes before we have a baby and we prepare ourselves by reading up on anything and everything.  I know I did.  But really, I think all women are born with a motherly instinct.  I'm sure without my Google searches today, I would have still known when to worry about a fever.  The way we are made is amazing, you guys.  God did some great thinking when he created humans.  I believe we have far more instincts than we will ever realize because we let technology take care of everything.

And finally, I opened up the mail today to find a Mother's Day gift for me, from Art...

What a great guy.  I have been given strict orders not to wear it until Mother's Day, but until then, I have had a good time looking at it.  How did he know something like this would suit me so well?  Oh, I may or may not email him links of things I find that I love.  I just let his conscious lead him when it comes to what I deserve.  Haha.  I think he did good.  This necklace is handmade and can be found here.

Oh, hi. It's been awhile.

Hi, friends!  It has been almost a week break from blogging for me.  I would be lying if I said I had thought of it once.  My husband is home, and we have been busy.  Imagine trying to fit a months worth of activities into one week.  That's what we try to do.  Since he is gone so much, we try to do as much fun stuff together as we can while he is home.  This time, we have had a nice take-out, stay-at-home date consisting of a ridiculous amount of sushi.  We have taken Trae out to lunch with some friends.  We went to the pet store a few times, of course, and we have been looking for a new house to live in when our lease is up in this apartment.  Other than that, we have watched lots of Netflix while Trae sleeps... and we may have enjoyed some wine... and beer... and liquor.  Never too much at one time, of course :)  I have come to figure out that being old means that I definitely can't try to be as cool (or so I thought) as I was in college... which is code for no more than two or three drinks for me, or I pay for it the next day.

I have been getting addicted to documentaries on Netflix lately.  I am kind of (a lot of) a nerd, so when you put an unlimited amount of documentaries in front of me, I have to watch.  I may have graduated from college, but really, I love to learn.  I miss school a lot.  Maybe one day when Trae is in school, I will go back and get a few more useless degrees... Let's face it, sociology can't really be used unless you want to go to grad school... And honestly, I would love to.  Before I was pregnant with Trae, I was going back to school for addiction counseling.  Maybe I can finish that up too.

Well, what else do I need to update on?  I took a nap today for the first time in forever.  That sure felt good.  Art got his birthday/Christmas present... finally!  It's a guitar.  He could tell you all about it, but really it's just a shiny new guitar to me.  Moxy had to go to the vet and cost us a butt-load of money.  In the end, we paid a lot of money to get some eye drops and be told that 15 pounds makes him overweight, even though he is down from his previous 17 pound monster weight.  Trae is fantastic and laughs all the time.  I got a great video of it tonight, until he spit up his existence in the middle of my recording.  It's been a good week.  I wish it didn't have to end.

Art has gone to jam with his dad, who also has a shiny new guitar.  Therefore, I am going to spend my night watching Netflix documentaries, cuddled on the couch with my little cat-child, Moo.  Tomorrow is church, and if I get REALLY brave, I might leave Trae in the nursery for the first time, but I doubt I can let go for that long.  Have a wonderful night.  Pictures next time, promise.

A Little Scattered

As I mentioned in my last post, my little boy get his first set of shots.  While he was there, we got his weight and height.  It is always exciting for me to see how much he has grown.  He is now a whopping 24 pounds and in the 80th percentile.  He has come a long way from the 6 pound 12th percentile he started out in.  He is also not almost 24 inches!  He has grown so much.  I swear most of it has happened in the last two weeks.

My husband is home this week.  Weeks like these make me feel like my life is normal.  I wish life was like this every day.  It is so nice being able to have someone around to talk to.  You can always tell when I have  been deprived of human interaction.  I will talk your head off.  As much as I love talking to Trae right now, sometimes I just wish he could talk back.  It's great having someone home to have dinner with.  It's even better to wake up and have your husband home.  This is how it's supposed to be, y'all.  Art's job is just so hard.  I have to constantly remind myself that it is a blessing that he has a job.  Remind, remind, remind...

Well, we have gotten the opportunity to do a little bit of driving long distances with Trae in the last week.  We have been going all over the place taking him to visit great grandparents and aunts and uncles.  Let me tell you, driving anywhere over five miles with a baby is HARD!  There is so much to bring.  Diapers, wipes, bottles, blankets, bouncy seats...  These little ones are hard to please!

So, being my free spirited self, while we were out I got myself a new piercing that I have been wanting for a long time.  I got an anti-tragus piercing.  I will take a picture of mine when it is a little less swollen and nasty, but here is an idea...

It was quite a bit painful, to say the least... But, it's done!

My posting might be a little scattered for the rest of the week, but I will be back into the swing of things next Tuesday when Art goes back to work.  We have many relatives to squeeze into a short week while he is home.  I hope all of you are having a great week too!

Trae Has a Cough and a Tired Mom

Trae has not been sleeping well AT ALL the last few days. I think it is because of his cough. He will probably be going to the doctor Monday. Thanks to him sneezing all over me, I am now sick too. Honestly, the last thing I want to do at night is get up a million times to stick the stupid pacifier back in his mouth when it falls out. Someone needs to invent something to strap those things to their heads. Of course, at eight, he is awake and ready to go, and I am dead tired. Seriously, last night I went to bed at 7:30 with him... on a Friday night! A vast change from what my life used to be.

We had been on a pretty great schedule where he went to bed about 7:45 and slept 6 hours before eating once, then slept another 5 hours before getting up. The last few days have been a HUGE struggle to keep him awake until 7:30, then he wakes up about every hour just to make noise and drive me a little crazy. I hope he gets back to his old schedule soon. I really miss sleeping for more than an hour.

But, really, he is cute and that makes up for a lot of it.

I wish I could say that my Saturday was somewhat exciting, but really, it's not. At all. So far I have gone to McDonalds to enjoy one of their Frappes. (If you haven't tried one, try them. They are very yummy and very bad for you.) Then I balanced my checkbook. Yeah, that's my life. I would love to go somewhere, but it is so dang hard going anywhere by yourself with a little baby. Le sigh.

Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without.

Yeah, we match... That's right. As frustrated as I get with Art for always being gone, I could never imagine my life without him. This picture was taken in California. For some strange reason, my parents let me go there after we had been dating one whole month. Actually, I think I just told them I was going and they didn't so much have a choice. I was still surprised at the how little they protested, though. It was only the second time we had spent a large amount of time together. It was also the time that we went to look at engagement rings. We obviously aren't fans of things moving slowly. Haha... Hey, when you know, you know.

Mr. Mom

Look at my nice husband... doing such a great job of baby wearing.

Trae is 8 weeks old today. I cant believe that 8 weeks ago he was such a little guy.

He has grown so much. Not to mention that 8 weeks has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Happy 8 weeks, Trae!

Soy Good.

So, today is my last day with Art for awhile. I am pretty bummed, as I usually am the day before he leaves. But, over the last week, we have had lots of fun. Art has been able to spend a lot of time with Trae. Trae will smile so big for him. Speaking of my wonderful little baby, let me tell you, he is so fun. We have switched him to soy formula and all of a sudden, he is a different baby. I guess he has a milk problem, which was causing the constant crying. He is so happy all the time now. I love it. He will be eight weeks old tomorrow. I have some cute new pictures that I will put up tomorrow.

Something exciting, though... Today we payed off a big chunk of medical bills! I mean, we still have a lot left, but it feels good to start getting out of debt.

And last:

Day 11 - A picture of something you hate.

This is the most terrifying thing in my world. It's not just a cricket. It is a cave cricket. Those little black crickets have nothing on them. I know, scariest thing EVER. I HATE THEM.

What We Did

Hello, hello. Yesterday was a much needed date day for Art and I. Since my parents were in town, we were able to go to Kemah, TX for the day. They have a board walk there, which is where we spent our time. They have a little amusement park there with my very favorite huge swinging ship ride. I am sure there is a more technical name for this, but here it is...

Art is terrified of heights, or as he says, he is afraid of falling from heights, so him riding this with me was awesome. I love these rides! I also convinced him to go on the ferris wheel, where I paid him back for always trying to scare me by shaking our little gondola non-stop. Yes, I am mean.

Since Kemah is so close to the ocean, it had lots of sea food. We took that opportunity to indulge in some of our favorites. They had an Aquarium restaurant there. We love this restaurant, because if you know Art and I, we love fish aquariums. We have two huge aquariums in our apartment. This place has huge salt water aquariums throughout the restaurant. We aren't crazy about their food, so we went there for incredibly over-priced drinks.

After that, we had one of our favorite meals, sushi! I have seriously eaten SO MUCH sushi in the last few days. I could probably comfortably live off of sushi for a few weeks before ever getting tired of it.

After we left Kemah, we made a few more stops before returning home to be parents. One stop we made was at Goodwill. I found this little gem while we were there:

I love vintage-looking owls. I have quite a collection. Most of them came from Goodwill. This one fits into my collection quite perfectly.

Our final stop was Petco. Our cats have been slightly bored since Trae was born, which has led to them destroying our sofas. Art loves those cat towers... I don't so much, but we bought one anyway. Moxy and Moo are now happy kitties with a new place to sleep and scratch on.

I think I am doing better at picture taking, eh? And finally, a final photo with the 3o Day Photo Challenge, which is easily turning into a 60 challenge for me.

Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item.

I promise you, I am very tempted to put a picture of my child here, but I guess item means something not living and breathing. I really, really love my wedding ring. I lusted after this thing ever since I knew Art was the person I was going to marry. When it came time to actually get engaged, Art made me think there was no way I would get this one. He came up with multiple stories of how it was discontinued and made me pick a different ring, only to completely surprise me with this one. It now has a band of baguettes that goes under it too. Baguette diamonds are my absolute favorite. So, this is probably my most treasured non-living/breathing item.

Date Day Tomorrow!

Hey, guess what? Art is home! My parents are in town! Life is exciting this week. My parents have been awesome babysitters. I love holding Trae, but it is nice to have more than just a few minutes to get things done around here. Tomorrow Art and I are having a much needed date day while my parents spend more time with Trae. We are going to go to Keemah, and Art even agreed to ride a Ferris wheel with me. What a charm.

Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day.

I have thought long and hard about this one. I am generally happy being myself, so I had a hard time thinking of a specific person I would like to trade places with, but after some thinking, I came up with a very honest answer.

Let's see if I can make this make sense. I want to trade places with a normal family. By normal, I mean that I want to trade places with a family where the husband comes home every night. I want to stay me. I still want to be married to Art. I want my family to stay exactly the same. I just want it to be normal in a sense that I don't have to be lonely all the time. Depressing? Yes, probably, and I am sorry about that, but at least it's true.

Back to Church, Finally!

Has anyone ever watched Sister Wives? Laura and I have spent the last few hours watching the show on TLC. I consider myself to be a pretty open-minded person, but this family baffles me. I'm glad it works for them, but I have way too many negative things to say about polygamous marriages. I am sorry. I'm just not sure how this kind of relationship could be healthy for anyone involved.

On a totally different note, we took Trae to church for the first time today. I am slowly getting braver with getting him out, but I am still terrified of him getting germs somewhere. I see little kids, and all I think is little RSV carriers! I just want to protect him from everything. I have the feeling I will be like that for awhile. Trae was perfect during church. He slept the whole time. I have to admit, I was relieved because I didn't want to be that lady with the baby that starts screaming in the middle of the prayer.

Now, for the next day of the 30 Day Photo Challenge.

Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory.

I have two favorite, very special memories, so I am going to put two pictures up today...

Favorite memory 1: The day Trae was born. Holy cow, I was so swollen in this picture, but I still love it. It is actually the only one I have of all three of us after Trae was born. I still fall more in love with this baby everyday. That's not to say that we haven't had some hard days, but he is just so wonderful.

Favorite memory 2: The day I got married. Wonderful man, wonderful wedding, wonderful reception, wonderful marriage, the end.