Sick baby and mommy

It is official Owen is in the middle of his first cold. I seem to have it worse than him which I hear is typical of a breastfed baby... Thankfully. Last night he woke himself up with a little cough from his runny nose down the back of his throat. Poor thing was so uncomfortable laying down that he let me hold and snuggle him and he fell asleep in my arms in the rocking chair.

He doesn't look to sick, but laying his head on me is a sign he is tired and not feeling good.

Owen : 8 months

mama's happy baby!

check me out I am sitting up!

• You have started talking
• first you say na-na-na for night night; we think this means "I want to be in my crib with my woombie"
• then one night you said clear as day "I love you" back at daddy! (people may not believe me but you did!!)
• when we were driving to the beach you said "na na na na mama and dada na na na" this was the first time you said dada; broke daddy's heart that we had to keep driving and not get you to your crib like you needed.

so sleepy

sleeping on his belly

• Sleep:
• You have learned to sleep without your swaddle around you; you are still clutching it and sucking on the fabric.  When I hand your woombie you kick and squeal with happiness!
• You like your room nice and toasty when you sleep...if its not you like to let us know!
• You can go some days with only 2 naps, but then you do still need 3 naps

• Eating:
• you will eat just about everything I will give you some new things you have tried are:  lasagna, refried beans, cake, puffs, spinach, but you don't like baby food with textures!  That stuff you will gag and spit back out.  
• You still like fresh food best...the baby food that I make for you...or our food now! 

You are such a good baby!  Have I mentioned that?  Sometimes we are so busy and you only get one nap and still you are so good for mama.  I try to make our days at home special and low key so that you can make up that much needed sleep for growing.

Owen playing on the floor

I know it is long, but I couldn't edit it down...so just enjoy all 3 glorious minutes of my funny little boy! 

cleaning old books

I have a huge list of projects for around the house,

Next up was cleaning up my old childhood books-

Little Golden Books

Dr. Seuss

Disney Books


Some books that were my moms...Owen's Neanna's Books!


The problem is they were dusty and smelled horrible they had that mildew STINK.  After scouring the internet I think I found my solution!


First, I wiped the books with one of those prewet disposable wipes. 

Then, I tried the microwave trick, its goal is to remove the moisture and therefore the stink....well, little golden books do have some metal in that gold finish!  So they make some crazy sparks if you are not careful.  Big fat FAIL!


Success came when I did the following:

place dryer sheets between the pages of each book 

put the books into gallon freezer bags

 

put the bags in the freezer for a week

took them out of the bags and put into the sun for an afternoon

 

I am amazed that they now don't stink like mildew....maybe a little too much like laundry, but they are definitely up to par for my standard of acceptable smelliness!

they know

I swear Owen knows if we are eating or trying to sleep.  For instance, how many times have I sat down to dinner and Owen wakes up 10 minutes early!  Seriously, in 10 minutes I can have my plate wiped clean and in the dishwasher. 

So this brings me about today.  I don't know if it was his extra long nap in the morning or the fact that I had given him juice a little bit before putting him down, but he took forever to settle down and fall asleep.  Of course, this happens on the ONE day I decide I am going to let myself take a nap.  So, I put Owen down and he was happily playing for a while and started to quiet down so I laid down in my bed.  Not even 10 minutes later he is loudly whining like he needs something.  I think maybe his foot is stuck in the rails or he finally pooped.  So, I check on him, no foot stuck, no poop.  I went ahead and nursed him as we are transitioning between a 3 hour to a 4 hour schedule and at this point it had been just over 3 hours and he didn't eat very well earlier.  So, back in the crib he goes.  I laid back down too.  15 minutes later he is crying out again.  This time I did the diaper check and foot check; patted him and left.  15 minutes later, he is crying out again. I peak from the doorway and he is on his side facing the wall with his arm in the air.  The arm is going from his side to straight up in the air and he is pumping it as fast as he can, up down up down in the dark it looked like a little blur. 

I think to myself....my nap isn't going to happen especially since I didn't eat very much for lunch and I am hungry.  So, I sit down with my snack and realize that I hear nothing.  The kid has fallen asleep as soon as I got up!

I swear they know...and do it on purpose!

Owen: 7 months/remembering 9-11

Today we remember 9-11, ten years ago and the innocent people who lost their lives and all the soldiers who lost their lives defending our country after the attack.  I am remembering the people who keep us safe so that I can live my life raising this precious little boy.  Thank you to anyone who is reading this that has family or friends that they are remembering today.

There is not many times in our life that we can remember the exact moment and time where we were in time.  10 years ago today, I was sitting on the lawn on the UNCG campus drawing buildings for a class.  I remember all of a sudden we noticed that students were acting strangely, crying, walking quickly.  It was in between class time so we knew something was up.  We ran back to our classroom, someone had a radio on and we tried to figure out what was happening.  Our professor canceled class and I headed back to my dorm room in time to watch the replay of the plane hitting the 2nd tower.  My Mom saw it happen live.  My sorority sisters were mostly gathering together all trying to figure out what was going on and we were calling family members to absorb the shock together.

So, where am I ten years later?  Well, I am living 45 minutes from where I was that day.  I am married, I have 2 sons in heaven and 1 here in my arms.  I am heading to church to remember the church members that have passed away this year and remembering 9-11 during our service.  Then we will be having a carry-in lunch in the Hut.  I will probably spend the afternoon at home letting my little boy nap and hopefully get together with some friends for dinner.  I wonder if in ten years I will remember this day as clearly.

I think it is fitting to remember this past month on this day, I would like to think that those who gave their lives would tell us to cherish our lives...because every moment, every minute is so precious and special.

I dedicate this month of remembering Owen to those people we are remembering today. 

• eating everything in site!  You are so willing to open your mouth and try everything...well except for anything with a texture!  You will gag and make the funniest faces if it has too much texture!
• you have tried: mangos, bananas, peaches,  (yes we both found them disgusting out of the jar), lima beans, kiwi, re-fried beans, a tiny sip of a mocha decaf frap (ops! forgot how good you are with a straw!) i am sure there is more foods I am forgetting! 
• when you nurse you have started the funniest thing:  if I don't let you hold onto my face/chin (b/c you might scratch me) then you will scratch your head and drag your hand from your forehead to the back of your head like you are nervous or stressed out!  You look like a little old man when you do this!
• you have learned to sit up, though I still need to be nearby to spot you
• you do the funniest crunches throughout the day! Yup my baby almost has abs of steel...IF he didn't have rolls of chub covering them!
• You lift your legs and bottom in the air when I change your diaper to help me.
• You like it when I clean your nose with the air bulb from the hospital....you think it is a fun game!!  
• You got the sniffles from teething just a few days from turning 7 months and you have been making the funniest face and sniffing in and out very quickly!
• You are TOTALLY working on your top teeth and I wasn't ready for the bottom 2, but they are pretty cute so I figure the top ones will be cute too!  But don't feel like you have to grow up too fast!
• You pat the books when I read them too you and all I want for my birthday is a chair I can put in our sunroom so we can read together.  I want to spend all my time in that room with you!
• You are still nursing and we haven't tried a bottle in months!  I am so proud of us!!  If you had asked me if we would get this far I would have never believed it!  
• Here is a sample of the schedule we have been living:  wake up at 7 and coo with daddy before work (from your crib), sleep till 9am, get up, nurse, eat veggies, play in jumperoo, morning nap, get up at 12pm, nurse, sometimes eat another solid food, play/run errands, afternoon nap, at 3pm get up, nurse, play, quick nap before daddy gets home at 6pm, nurse, eat solids, play with daddy and then get ready for bed.  Nurse again at 10:30pm our most precious snuggle time.  Most days we miss one of those naps b/c we are so busy running errands or whatever, but you are flexible and do so good!!
• You started swim lessons this month and LOVED it!!!  You splashed your face and mommy's face the whole time!  I am loving watching you enjoy your firsts!  We haven't dunked you yet, but I am sure it is coming!

doing his daily crunches

yup its documented, he is sitting up on his own!

very focused! love the faces he makes

stop the paparazzi, i have had enough 

look at that profile, so handsome!

he loves his daddy, and his scratchy beard!

first day at swim lessons

he did great!

Labor Day: truely a laborus day

Is it being a new mom?  Is it because I am home most of my day?  But I feel like I can't get everything done.  I feel like there is always more I could be doing.  I could list out about 10-15 responsibilities that I have very quickly, then I could list just as many items that need doing, projects for Owen, projects for the house, cleaning and organizing.  Seriously, the list is endless.  Sometimes, I start one thing and then it leads to 5 other things.

For example:, today I wanted to put away the pj's my mom got Owen, sounds simple right....get the carters bag out of the living room!

• I go to hang his clothes up in his closet, but find that it is overflowing with clothes that are too small or out of season
• so I needed a box to save his clothes in 
• so I had to go into the basement (here is where I see all the other projects that are haunting me)
• I wanted a large plastic container like I have put his other clothes in, but didn't have an empty one, but there was a "Jeanna: winter scarves & purses" bin that has been in the way.
• So up to the living room where I sorted thru that container that hasn't been opened in 2 years.
• Then I had to get a bag for the items to donate
• Then I had to put the items I wanted to keep in my bedroom (they still need to be put away...)
• Finally I have an empty container, so back to Owen's room I go!
• The container is full before I can blink, but I decide that is enough for one day.
• But while I am at it I went ahead and did some other organizing in his closet.
• Now there is a few random things on the floor, but for the most part it is cleared out.
• I still need to label the rubber bin and take down to the basement.

 Are you bored yet reading all that?  Seriously, I feel like everyday is a little like this.  I have been trying to keep on task, but it is hard too. I guess it goes back to my ADD that they said I had when I was young.

BUT to make myself feel better I should say the other things I tackled today:

• Organizing Owen's closet 
• Cleaning out 1 rubber bin from basement that hadn't been opened in years
• de-junked the drawer in the hall bath that wouldn't open that was driving me NUTS!
• did 2 loads of laundry and all of Owen's is put away, just a little of ours is on the bed folded ready to be put away
• Put dinner into the crockpot and stirred occasionally throughout the day
• did about 2 hours of items for HES/family business
• cleaned out email inbox
• read a little from my book (got to have some reward time in my day!)
• blogged 2 entrys about Owen!!!
• boxed up pictures that are going to be mailed off to be scanned! (major on going project and I am sick of seeing the boxes sitting around my sunroom!)