Almost 4 months

Motherhood is more and more exciting every day. I wouldn't trade it for the world. With the excitement always comes the challenges and lessons learned.

At this rate I'm only getting one post a month. Seriously I think about updating my blog weekly if not more. I hate not being able to update because I would love to keep better track of all the things that happen with us and I don't just mean milestones. Did I mention I hate being so busy?? My day normally consists of getting up around 5:40 AM, getting to work at 7 (Ok, more like 7:05), coming home at lunch (12-1) to tidy up and grab some lunch, go back to work until 4, go get Landon and by the time I get home some days its 5:30 unless I have dance (then earlier), 2 nights a week I have dance but either way the only time by butt sits down is at dinner, Landon goes to bed between 7-8 after his bath and a bed time story, and usually my butt doesn't sit back down until 9-10 PM. Its ridiculous. Did I mention I was pumping about 5-6 times a day. Keyword: WAS!!!

I decided that I'm ok giving Landon some formula. I was hoping it would help him sleep through the night, since I can't remember the last time that was. He was doing so well and I shouldn't complain because he only gets up once a night to eat and go right back to sleep. Anyway...I've about had enough of this pumping and very lil nursing. So I've cut back to pumping about every 8 hours and when I can I nurse in the middle of the night and on the weekends.

On September 10th, my mom's b-day, Landon rolled from his belly to his back. I had him in his crib for some belly time while I was packing and getting ready to go away for our first vacation to WVU and next thing I knew he was on his back. It took me a few seconds to realize what happened. I was like "wait, I didn't put you on your back!!" So I flipped him back to his belly and he did it again. Mike wasn't nearly as excited as I was but thats ok.

On the 23rd, I went to pick him up from my mom's and heard him LOL for the first time. It was great! After we left Gran's I brought him home and before Mike got home I had him on his back on the couch and realized he was playing with his feet, trying to get them to his mouth. So cute! I have a video of this so check it out at the end.

This past Monday night Landon had his first sleepover at Gran's. I slept like a rock all night! It was weird not having him home. So the reason he stayed at my mom's was because my week started off great! At midnight Monday morning Jake and Bailey were sprayed by a skunk. OMIGOD! I never smelled anything so freakin bad in my life. If you haven't experienced it and I don't mean just driving by a dead one on the road, you have NO IDEA how horrible that stench is. Its still lingering but I made up a solution (4 cups peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, & 1 teaspoon of liquid soap) which we bathed the dogs in. The next day my dad came over and sprayed the house with Nature's Miracle Skunk Remover. Or something like that which helped A LOT!

So after that, all week I've been looking forward to having a 4 day weekend. We made plans just to do a day trip or 2. And son-of-a-bitch I came home sick as a dog Thursday night. So sick my parents took Landon for the night because Mike was in WVU for another game. Seriously?? I can't catch a break and I'm getting a little pissed. Thankfully I felt better in about 24 hours. But now I feel achy and tired. I just cried Thursday night when my parents came and than took Landon home with them and I cried when Mike brought him home Friday!!! Now I think I have a sick baby for he has done nothing but slept and his temperature is slowly creeping up. :-( I will never forgive myself if he gets sick. Ok I probably will but I will feel awful!!!

So now that I've gotten that all out here are some pictures from this month and a video.
div>

Tailgating at his 2nd mountaineer game!

Mommy & Landon

The 3 of us!

Opa & Gran with Landon at Cooper's Rock. I love his face!

In the bumbo...


The day he discovered his feet.

Funny face.

This picture was taken today.

As well as this one...

3 months old

Can you believe it? Yesterday my little guy turned 3 months old??

Some of you may have been wondering what's new with Landon...well the little guy's new thing is trying to sit up. He lounges in his bouncer or swing and all of a sudden he does an ab crunch and throws his head forward. Its funny cuz it looks like he holds his breath and his eyes get wide...like "oh look what I can do". He is also exploring more and more with his mouth, chewing on his hands, drooling, and grabbing things and trying to put them in his mouth. He's also watching his feet more and more which can be comical.

Landon was at the pediatrician this past Thursday and had his first injection. Yes, I did say first. We are not following the typical vaccine schedule nor Dr. Sear's schedule. But that's a subject for another day. He received the HIB vaccine and according to Daddy was very fussy all day and running a low grade temp that night. My poor baby but he was so brave! I held him and the initial stick didn't phase him but all of a sudden his bottom lip came out and then the he left out a huge scream. I calmed him down and it only lasted 5-10 secs max. I was impressed!


He now weighs...drum roll please......13 pounds 15 ounces and is about 25 inches long. Yes, he's our chunky monkey.


Here are some more photos of Landon...

Since Landon has been trying to sit up I decided to buy Landon a Bumbo. I got it off of craigs list for $10. What a steal!! I paid more for the tray at BRU...$10.99

We've also tried out the jumperoo last week.

Trying out his new travel swing for WVU trips. "Eh," he says. "Not as good as my fisher price Little Lamb swing."

Changing table fun!

At our first WVU game. Honestly he didn't do bad at all!! Fussed for a few minutes during the first quarter and then fell asleep for 2 quarters.

Chillin' with Dad. Trying to get my fist in my mouth.

Here is a link if you want to see more photos of Landon. And if you're a facebook friend some of these are not on there (such as Gran's photos). :-) Baby T

PS I'll post this link on the side of my blog as well.

just DANCE!

So just a little update. Some of you may know that last summer I started my own dance company. It only consisted of a few students but I was renting from a local ballroom studio and teaching classes there. Well this summer two of my teachers from when I was younger were left go from the studio I grew up in for no reason. They were mailed a two sentence letter after one had been there for 30+ years. Can you believe it?? So good news is instead of totally giving up my dream, I've joined up with them. We are teaching at 2 locations. So far we have about 10 students signed up. But I'm positive more will sign up before the start of class tomorrow. Classes start tomorrow and I still have stuff to do but here I am updating my blog. HA HA! Oh well, I haven't in 3 weeks so its about time. Just another thing to add to my busy schedule. The past 2 months have been spent getting a website ready, advertising material, LLC agreements, bank account and so much more. So I've given up spending time writing here and posting/reading posts on PAL and reading my friends blogs. :-( I still really wish I was a SAHM....or if I could I would pause time because there really isn't enough hours in the day to get everything I want to get done completed.

Not enough time....

Banbear....like you said there is just not enough time in the day!! There are so many changes going on or things I would like to write about that would be nice to get off my chest but there is so much going on that I don't have time to! Frustrating!! Stay tuned, hopefully I'll get a chance to post about some more positive things. :-)

Landon & Daddy

Adjusting

I can't stress enough to those TTC or expecting mothers how much your life changes. How much your life with DH changes. Crazy changes. Body changes. You name it, it changes. Is it worth it for a LO? Without a doubt!


I don't remember what life was like before Landon and it has only been 10 weeks since his arrival. I can't remember the last time I've been this delighted, proud or the feeling of being on cloud 9. I just love spending time with my little guy and being around him whether he's happy, fussy, sleepy, playing, smiling, "talking", whatever it is...I just love it! I hate being away from him and thats why I hate working full time. Its not that I hate my job, its just I don't like being away from my LO.


So getting back to changes...adjusting to Landon has not been hard for me. Sure, I have my moments I get frustrated, or need me time, or need help, but he's been a fairly easy baby. I have fully embraced and love motherhood With that said, Mike and I have had a hard time adjusting to each other's new roles.


You always hear men and women are programed differently and becoming a mommy and a daddy is no exception. Daddy's are programed diffrently than mommy's. We are having a very hard time with this. I'm sure he won't be happy with me for posting about this but I know I'm not the only one out there going through this and I want others to know that this adjustment period is real and normal.


DH and I argue constantly about the way he does things vs the way I do things and dividing up household chores. Let's talk about this more in depth...I can't stand to hear Landon cry, it just breaks my heart so when DH can't get him to stop crying and sometimes from the lack of really trying on his part, I take Landon and try to calm him down or figure out whats wrong. This wears on me. I feel he should have this natural instinct as well to calm his baby down...but ladies they don't and then they get pissed when you take them away from them. I can understand how he may feel upset, like he can't do anything right but when I've given him tips and he doesn't use them it pisses me off.


Let's talk about dividing things up. I'm so sick of cleaning up after three people. It got old while I was home. Here is our division of household chores


DH pays the bills, mows the grass/snowblows/weed wacks, makes dinner, cleans the showers, does repairs on the house if able, run the wet vac (once in a blue moon), make appts for cars when needed, bathes the dogs on a rare occassion


My responsibilities are to vacuum, dust, wipe nose prints off the windows/doors, clean the bathrooms, clean up the kitchen (and I do this all the time because he doesn't clean up after he makes dinner), laundry (from start to finish), garden (though I've been slacking this summer...wonder why), tidy up (this includes hanging up his coat/clothes, putting his shoes away, etc), grocery shop though DH occassionally runs in....I'll let you know if I think of anything else.


OH and taking care of Landon...not that he doesn't help but this may result in a tif cuz DH doesn't do things my way. For example I've told him NOT to put the bottles in the dishwasher OR just boil them because it leaves this nasty film on the bottles and I just end up handwashing them anyway.


We both share taking care of the dogs and loading/emptying the dishwasher. I dunno does this seem equal to you or just the norm? After being back to work for 2 weeks I feel overwhelmed and stretched thin. For example yesterday I was up 4 times in 7 hours with DS which is highly unusual and finally at 7:oo AM I got up with him. I started cleaning around 9ish with breaks inbetween to calm Landon down or feed him. I went shopping with my mom for about 3 hours and when I got home I continued to clean so I wouldn't have to today. I didn't stop except for a visit from my co-worker Pip and her 2 sons, which was for a half hour, until 8:30. I was exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as I layed down. I think I've communicated that I do need more help but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.


So...what's Landon up to? He's teething!! Fist in his mouth, drooling, fussiness, knawing on our fingers or like I said his fist. I really can't believe it. He's doing just so well. Here are some more pics for this week.

Wearing some cute slippers that Gran got me.

Bless you!

Back to Work

I've always wanted to be a SAHM! My mom stayed home with me up until I was 16 or so. I hated it growing up but was later grateful. She returned back to work part-time when I was a sophomore in high school, by this time I was dancing 4 nights a week and knew the difference between right and wrong. I turned out fairly well I think...whether it was the fact that my SAH mom was able to instilled morals and values in me at an early age or the fact that my dad was a cop and I was too scared to get in trouble...or maybe it was a combination. Who knows? Sorry if I'm sorta rambling...I'll get to a point or maybe I won't tonight. Maybe you'll just learn more about us...or rather me, good or bad.

Anyway...returning to work has made me feel like a failure and as I typed those words tears are streaming down. I don't know how else to describe the feeling. I really don't. I'm not use to this feeling but my heart feels very heavy with guilt. I want my son to have what I had and I'm upset that he might never have his mom at home.

You would think that he was in daycare the way I'm acting. He's not. He's at the next best place than with him Mommy. He's with my mom, his Gran. This also kills me! She'll get to see all his milestones before I do (more than likely). Again I'm so glad its my mom!! :::more tears::: But at the same time it makes me sick that it won't be me. Maybe, I'm just a spoiled brat for feeling this way. I just have a feeling I'm going to envy her and when he goes running to her rather than me my heart is just going to break into pieces.

Even working part time would be so much better but I would give just about anything in the world to be a SAHM!! Unfortunately this won't be happening as Mike is in limbo with his job, I carry our insurance, and I'm in the process of becoming business partners with 2 other ladies for our dance company. More to come next post on my dance company, once I'm in a better mood. For now I'm off to go work out a little bit since Landon is getting some shut eye.

On a cheerier note here are some pictures of Landon the past week. BTW, he's 9 weeks old today. My baby is growing up!

One of the first smiles I have captured on film or a digital camera.

So serious....

Chillin at the pool.

This is how I chill in the bath tub. Really he always ends up this way.

It's almost bedtime.