I knew I needed to blog everything that has been happening in our lives in the three short weeks since Drew joined it, but I didn't know how to pare it all down. So instead, here it is: an update.
Drew-Boo:
Oh my, son, you are a champion nurser. You were born 8 pounds, 7 ounces. We made it all the way down to 7 pounds, 7 ounces when we had our two day check up at the doctor's office. On Wednesday, at my breast-feeding support group, you weighed in at 9 pounds, 14 ounces. Holy hell. And you have been consistently been eating about 4-4.5 ounces each time I have gone in and weighed you. Good Lord, boy! BUT, in all that, I am thrilled that we are having such a great nursing experience. I went into this breastfeeding experience with a very different expectation than I had with Catherine. I bought formula ahead of time to prepare for those cluster feeding experiences that I hated so much with Catherine. But I have only used two ounces, one ounce two different times. And it was during cluster feeding both times. The past 24 hours have been difficult as you have been nursing consistently about every two hours. And that includes the hour or so that you will nurse. Last night, you nursed from 3:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. and then from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. It was tough, especially because Eric wasn't feeling well, but otherwise, we kept on keepin' on.
You are growing so quickly, I am putting your newborn onesies away (22 inches long already!), and your newborn pants won't really fit around your size 1 diapers. But because I sold so many of James' clothes, you have a mish-mash of clothing items that don't really fit. Not to mention, the only pacifier we seem to be able to find is one of Catherine's old ones, which is pink and has a heart on the front. Sooo, for that, I'm sorry. Today, at the grocery store, I could tell the person talking to me about "the baby" couldn't tell if he was a girl or a boy. The onesie says boy, the pacifier says girl. Hmmm, sorry son!
James is absolutely smitten with you. He tells us all the time that he "loves Droob." It's amazing. Catherine is a little bit more indifferent, but she does try to help with you when you're crying by shoving our only pacifier into your eye. Right area, wrong orifice. But, she tries.
Speaking of Catherine:
Our Sweet Catherine:
I have some intense mom-guilt when it comes to our little girl. I wish I would have known what I know now about breastfeeding. I wish I would have done things differently with her. I wonder if I would have how many things would be different.
We finally got an appointment with the ENT clinic, which was yesterday, and the news we received was devastating to me as a mommy. According to your hearing test, you can hear the equivalent of if you or I had our fingers in our ears. When the doctor was telling us that, I thought, "Oh, well, that explains a little bit." However, I didn't realize how much until I actually tried it in the privacy of our bedroom after putting Drew down. I was shocked. You can hardly hear anything, little girl, and it makes me feel terrible for being short with you when you don't do something that I ask you to do. Or when I have put you in time out when you didn't follow my directions etc. Because you can't hear shit! It breaks my heart. Thankfully, surgery will be happening fairly quickly thanks to the fact they had an opening March 8. The doctor said once you have surgery, odds are your hearing will be 100%. Which makes me feel better, but not that much better.
We have a sound machine that we have used in your room since you were a baby because James can be really loud after you've gone to bed (and you still go to bed at 6:30 and James not until 7:30/8:00), so we have been using this sound machine to drown out all the noises a little boy makes. I realized last night you probably can't even hear it. And that made me incredibly sad. You can hear music, and you dance to it, but I guarantee it's just the bass beats. It's interesting to think about, and it makes me feel awful. Even though, in this case, there was nothing that I could do to help the fluid in your ears, but holy cow. I am trying to forgive myself, but it's difficult. There are so many things I know now that I wish I could go back and change.
James Thomas:
Oh buddy, you are amazing. In every awe-inspiring, horrifying sense of the word. You are loud, you are opinionated, you are FUNNY (when did you get a sense of humor??) and you are having a tough time at daycare. Thinking about it today, when you started daycare, you had four friends who were, essentially, the same age as you. There is only one of those friends left. You keep talking about starting school, which should be happening next year (pretty exciting!), and you so badly want to be like the "big kids." So it's hard when you fight us to go to daycare. We get it. It's hard to go to a place that has changed so much. And I feel badly for you, But at the end of the day, what an important life lesson you are learning. And I"m sure it's harder on mom than it is on you, but holy cow, what a battle it has become. Hopefully, it goes away soon.
You love "Droob" and tell us this all the time. When Drew first came home, I was worried because you started treating Catherine pretty poorly. Taking her toys, shoving her down, and just overall not being very nice. Luckily, that is subsiding, and you're sliding into your role as a big brother. It's adorable, as you always want to make sure you are kissing "Droob" good night, and one night, when I came downstairs to grab some water and Drew started crying, I heard you on the monitor saying, "It's ok, buddy." Melt my heart!
You are such a lover and a fighter rolled up into this loud little ball of boy. I am enjoying this trip and you certainly keep things interesting!
The Kitchen:
Ohhhhh, the kitchen. Ugh. It's slow-going, but at least I am no longer walking on a combo of sub-floor, 70's linoleum, 90's linoleum, and our new flooring. Eric was able to rip it all out two days ago and now I am just walking on sub floor and our new flooring. Hopefully, Eric will be able to install it sometime this weekend.
All of our cabinets are in, all the handles are on the cabinets, and I have begun arranging the kitchen the way I want. Although it's extremely stressful, which Eric makes fun of me for. I am having a hard time figuring out where I want to put things. I actually don't really like our lazy susan's, and luckily, they came with a shelf you can use instead. Even though it's going to be a bitch, Eric is going to uninstall the lazy susan's and just install the shelves for me. For the things I will be keeping in there, it's more feasible to have shelving anyway. So I have been SLOOOOOWLY putting things here and there, and I think I like the set-up I have going. Eric teases me that even if I decide, I can change my mind. The thing he doesn't understand is I think things through greatly before I execute. So then when I execute, I only have to do so once and not have to think about it anymore. However, this time, I don't know if what I decide is actually going to work, or if everything will be fit, or if I will have to change it. I don't want to do that. So I am thinking it through A LOT. Oh well! It's working out so far!
I was able to put every single glass Anchor and Corningware dish that I own (which happens to be at least 20 - WTF?) in ONE CABINET. That's awesome. I used to have to keep them in the hutch that my dad built me. Some of those glass baking dishes have never seen the oven. Or the dishwasher. The countertop was installed, everything has been painted, we are slooooowly picking out backsplash, which has proven to be very difficult. Eric doesn't want the thin glass tile that is so in right now, because that's just it: it's "in." Soon, it will be "out" and we want a classic kitchen that will hold for the next seven years, as our seven year plan is to move to a bigger house. Wahoo!
Slowly, but surely, our kitchen is coming along, with all the other things Eric has been doing, is actually a miracle. I am hoping that we will be able to finish it by the time April rolls around. I think the goal was going to be before Drew-boo came along, but obviously, that was a pipe dream!
Eric and Me:
I am thoroughly enjoying my maternity leave, and thankfully, Drew has been a great baby, so I am glad to help him out. Next, I am hoping that we will get into our taxes, as I would really like to have those done as soon as possible! We shall see.
We are in desperate need of a date night, but he has been working at home the past week, so I have been able to see him and we are able to spend a lot of time together when Drew is sleeping, which is nice.
I go back to school April 4, but I am thinking of taking another two weeks. Eric doesn't know this, but now that I'm staring down the barrel of week 4 of my maternity leave, I really don't know if I will be ready to go back at week 8. Week 10 would probably be better, and I know I will be able to do that. I plan to broach the subject with Eric this weekend sometime, so hopefully, he will be supportive of it. We shall see - it will be another two weeks of unpaid time, but I think for my breastfeeding experience, and for how much I have been breastfeeding, it will be worth it. We will see. There is no way that I want to be a stay at home mom, but I do want to spend this time with my last baby.
Speaking of last baby, yes, this is our last baby. The Iowa Urology Clinic phone number is the only thing on our fridge. Eric just has to call (because I'm not doing it for him!). I am slowly gathering stuff for my second "No More Kids" Yard Sale, and all in all, we are cruising through as a family of five. It's been fairly easy to throw a third into the fray. I believe going from one to two is much more difficult than two to three. People talk about zone defense with the third, but so far, it's been fairly easy. I am thankful for that.
Eric has been a rock star, Drew has fit into the picture nicely, Catherine's hearing and speaking issues will hopefully be resolved by summer, and James is well on his way to being ready for Pre-School. I am so thankful for our little family and I am ready to be done with this "having babies" part of my life.
No really, this was our last one. ;)
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