I Love My Job

I say it all the time, but I LOVE being a mom. It's always been my dream job and it turns out that it fits me perfectly. I don't care if I have to sacrifice having certain things, because I get to spend each day with our little boy. Okay...I'll admit, sometimes I get jealous of  people who have cool things like iPhones and such, but to me this is so worth it. I mean, how can you resist this?



Yeah, I get frustrated at night when he wakes up and won't go to sleep. I'm kind of grouchy in the middle of the night. A few times I've ended up on the couch while Daniel sleeps in the swing, but it's not something I do a lot because I don't want him thinking it's okay to sleep in the swing every night. It's usually reserved for when I'm at my wit's end. But then in the morning he wakes up and gives me a giant smile...and who can stay grouchy after that?!

Last night I was prepared to be awake a lot because Daniel had his 2 month check up plus shots yesterday morning. He now weighs 12 pounds 12 ounces and is 24.25 inches long! He was so smiley the whole time and I felt bad because I knew what was coming. Once again, I did something I said I'd never do. I teared up and had to blink back the tears when he got them. He screamed out and had the saddest little cry I think I've ever heard. (Isn't it funny how in tune we are with our own children? No other baby has ever made me feel quite like that). Once I was able to pick him up, he calmed down, but he had crocodile tears.

The rest of our day was filled with Tylenol, cuddles and lots of sleeping. Between 1:00 in the afternoon until 3:30 this morning I think he was up for maybe 2 hours total and when he was he was sad. He got a fever from the shots as well. Right around 100 degrees, so not a huge deal, but I'm glad that it went away quickly.

We were up and down a couple of times after 3:30 and finally got up at 5:30. We napped together later though. He seems to be feeling better today, which makes me a happy mommy.

Another thing I love about being home, is that I have a lot of freedom and flexibility. I have the privilege of taking naps if I need to after getting up in the night. I can make appointments and not worry about getting time off at work. I can run errands during the day, and it's getting a bit easier for me to do this with a baby.  Daniel doesn't even cry anymore when I put him in his car seat.

Today we went and got an oil change and picked up a few things at WalMart. He just rides in the card, looks around, falls asleep and gets "oohed and ahhed over by random strangers". Funny how when you're alone no one bothers you. Put a baby in your cart and all of a sudden people go out of their way to walk over and peer into your cart. Ha ha!

Thursday Daniel and I are heading to Iowa, while Jacob has All State. This will be his first time to Iowa and  my first long drive alone with a baby. I think I'm taking everything but the kitchen sink for Daniel. Babies sure need a lot of stuff. Thankfully a friend is letting us borrow a bouncy seat and my mom is buying diapers so that's a couple less things I need to bring. I had planned to come home on Sunday, but my parents didn't think I should be driving after dark with a baby, so I'll be coming home Monday morning. We sure will miss Jacob/Daddy!

Mommy and Daniel's Day of Fun

People keep commenting on how brave I am to take my baby out with me. Sure, everything takes a bit longer, but it's really not that bad!

Yesterday I finally had my 6 week post partum checkup (almost 8 weeks really) and I wanted to take Daniel along so my doctor could see him. Plus I had shopping to do and since I haven't been faithful in doing bottles it made sense to take him. Jacob had the day off and enjoyed the quiet all day.

He slept the whole way to Springfield and of course woke up as soon as we got there. He got fussy in the waiting room, so I took him out of the car seat to play with him. He continued fussing until he had a giant poop! Once I got in the exam room, I got him changed and he was content again. Of course we had to wait awhile before the doctor came in and he got fussy again, so I fed him enough to calm him down before she came in.

I've said it many times, but I love my OB. If all doctor's were like her, I'd be a lot more trusting of what they say. I really wish she was a family doctor too. Daniel was starting to fuss again, so she held him and played with him. He even spit up on her and she didn't mind one bit.  I was able to get a few pictures of her with him. They crack me up!

I ended up feeding him again before we left and then we headed out to go shopping. I had Christmas money for him and for me. I ended up buying a bunch of stuff for him and nothing for me, Buying for a baby is way more fun!

This is the loot that Daniel scored.

First stop was Babies R Us. My deals were the baseball t-shirt, shorts and Cards shirt. Those 3 together were around $6 on major clearance. I remember wanting to get him a Cardinals t-shirt last summer but they were $17. This proves that patience is a good thing! I also got him a bigger swaddle blanket and "Love You Forever"

Next we went to Kohls. I had a newborn outfit to return that he never wore and still had the tags on it. With that money I got the monkey outfit and the ducky book and it only cost me a little over a dollar. I was smart and used the stroller so I wouldn't have to haul the car seat carrier all through the store.

I also met up with my friend, Audrey who gave me 2 big bags of clothes. Mostly 12 month clothes that don't fit her little guy anymore. Hopefully we can get some use out of them. There was also an adorable Halloween costume, so as long as it fits, Daniel will be a giraffe this year!

I had a couple of returns to make at Old Navy. I just carried the car seat in there. Ugh. That was dumb. I just had them put the money back on my card and left. He was sleeping, but A: the carrier is heavy. and B: I was having a huge hot flash in there and just wanted to get out fast!

Last stop was Target. That's the one I looked forward to the most...yet ended up exhausted in the end. Daniel had woken up so I decided to change his diaper. He wasn't fussy, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he started wailing to let me know it was time to eat. I had my nursing cover, but I pondered where to sit and feed him? Then it dawned on me. I rolled on back to the dressing rooms and asked the attendant if I could feed him in one of the rooms. Pretty genius if I do say so myself.

They're rearranging the entire store, so stuff was EVERYWHERE. Pretty confusing. I ended up getting Daniel the music toy and a winter coat for next year. The coat was originally $32.99 and I got it for $9.58! (Well actually free because I had a gift card, but still a sweet deal). I really wanted to get him a couple of older sleep and plays, but due to everything being scattered and them clearancing out a lot of stuff I couldn't find any.  I finally decided to see if there was anything I could find for me. Well...that's when Daniel decided our day of fun was now over. I was THAT mom...wheeling my baby through the store and he wailed and carried on. Oops! He was out about 2 minutes after the car started and he slept all the way home.

I exhausted the poor boy! He fell asleep at 10:00ish (an hour earlier than usual) and slept until 3:30! Then we were up for awhile and then he slept another 3.5. Woohoo! Successful day and night. Plus he was happy when he woke up!

It's been hard to keep up here...mostly because I prefer to cuddle with my little man! A couple of other things:

*Daniel has started smiling more and recognizes Jacob and I. It melts my heart each time he smiles (and it makes up for his screaming too!)

*Over the weekend we went to Villa Grove to surprise Grandma and Grandpa. It worked! They were very surprised when we came walking into church! We stayed the whole day.

First time at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

They had so much fun getting to play with him more and see more of his smile. He even started rolling to his side. Probably won't be too long before he completely rolls over.

*Next weekend Jacob is going to All State. If the weather holds out, Daniel and I are going to trek to Iowa for a visit! I have no clue how a 4.5 hour car ride will go by myself. I'm sure It'll take closer to 5.5, but that's okay. Jacob gets really busy in the winter, so we really don't know when we'd make it together with him, so he said to go ahead and go if I want to. I want him to meet his great grandparents before he gets too much bigger. I'll also plan on going to Valley View so all my church peeps can see him too! I called and rescheduled his doctor appt. I had it scheduled for next Thursday, but he's getting shots and I don't know how he'll react. Don't want to take a miserable baby on a trip, so we bumped it up to next Monday. Yay!

Catching Up

Hmm...where to start? I had no idea how difficult it would be to keep up with blogging when I had a baby! In fact, he started crying as soon as I typed that.

We had a wonderful Christmas at home. This was our first time celebrating at our own house. On Christmas Eve we ate junk food (an Elam tradition) which consisted of pizza, chips and queso, mozzarella bites and sugar cookies. Plus we watched Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story.

Jacob, Daniel and I spent Christmas morning together as a family opening gifts. We had gifts from my parents, as well as from each other. Daniel obviously didn't care what we were doing so he fussed and slept through most of it!











I really think this will be our new tradition. We loved being at home and when my sisters and I were younger we spent every Christmas Day at home...other than one year when we went to Chariton for Christmas. We can travel to the grandparents or them to us each year!

Jacob's family arrived just after noon and I cooked Christmas dinner. Brenda brought the veggies and dessert, and I made roast, potatoes, deviled eggs and rolls. Then we spent the afternoon celebrating with them!











Then Grandma and Grandma Thatcher and Aunt Kendra came for a visit. Daniel enjoyed seeing them and we had a good time with them as well!





Daniel got a new bed when they came too! He upgraded from the bouncy seat next to our bed to a bassinet.



Let's see...what are some other highlights?

*Daniel had his 1st bottle with Daddy one night. He did great! Although the next time we tried he didn't do so well!



*He helped us cheer for our favorite teams in their Bowl games!





*We still have day and night slightly mixed up. We have our good nights and our bad nights. 2 nights ago was an AWFUL night, and last night was SO much better. I decided not to "force" bedtime. He usually falls asleep between 9:00 and 10:30, but then wakes back up a little bit later and wants to just hang out and/or cry. Normally this is when I try to go to bed. Last night he had his snooze and woke up just after 9:30. So he and I stayed up and played and watched TV until 11:00. Then I fed him and he passed out. He slept from 11:30-3:30!!! Much better than 2 hours or less. I have no clue if it will work again tonight, but I'm going to try it. I even got an hour nap in today while he was sleeping.

*Little Man is still growing like a weed. I boxed up all of his newborn stuff the other day. He hasn't worn them in a couple of weeks, but I had been putting it off because I was sad. He can't wear his teeny tiny stuff anymore! In fact, I think he's starting to get a little chunky. Haha! He's so dang cute.

Well, the little dude is screaming, so I suppose that means that I'm done writing for now!