Mommy Knows Best

Having Lincoln has made me realize that I know what Lincoln wants and needs more than anybody else on this planet (except for Daddy), and I need to own this knowledge. I know his cry, what each cry means and I don't have to guess. I know if he's tired, hungry, just plain uncomfortable, bored, or just wanting to be in his swing.

We have started feeding Lincoln cereal and trying different pureed fruits and vegetables. I know he's 3 months old. I know people think he's too young, including his doctor. I also know that I'm his mom and our baby is constantly hangry.

Hangry is a verb we use in our house to describe Lincoln when he is hungry while being simultaneously angry about being hungry. It results in red face screaming and what we call 'Hulk Baby Smash' mode. He only enters Hulk Baby Smash mode when he is hangry! Any other emotion is accompanied with whining, not red faced screaming.

Our baby is hangry and he needs a bit more than formula to keep his belly full, so he can sleep through the night. He has been waking up at 3:30 every night to eat because he's hangry. The day we started feeding him cereal and fruits, he began sleeping a solid 7-9 hours every night! He was just so tired during the day, that I know he was not getting enough sleep from waking up 1-2 times a night to eat because 6 oz. of formula just wasn't cutting it. Lincoln is so much happier and we're all getting solid sleep now!

Now we just have to get him sleeping in a flat surface aka his crib....

About to realize he's in his car seat, in a car that's not moving.
Let the whining commence.

Good morning!

Watching Hoosiers on AMC.
Such a good classic movie about basketball.
If you haven't seen it you need to!

Being cute trying to crawl.

Matching Daddy with all his striped polo onesies.

He's not going to die from a whole 2 oz. of cereal mixed with veggies/fruit and formula a day. I don't care what my doctor and books say. I'm starting our baby on solid foods because Mommy knows best.

~Julia

Poop!

One thing that I did not realize that being a new parent would consist of is how much Nate and I talk about poop. We are both constantly asking each other, "When was the last time Lincoln pooped? Did it look normal? Hey come check this out, is this ok?" I have never looked, wiped, smelled so much poop in my life. I also did not think that such a tiny creature would be capable of the amount of poo that Link has each day. I know that I am not the only parent out there worried about her kids poo because if you google normal baby then poop is the third entry down on automatic search. There is also a whole chapter dedicated to poop in the first year baby book.

I know that we obsess over poo because it is one of the only factors that can tell you if your baby is ill, constipated, or just not feeling good in general. I have learned though that it really is not that big of a deal as long as your baby is pooping once a day, it does not have blood, diarrhea looking, is completely black or white in color, or hard and looks like grown up poo (meaning constipation). Otherwise baby poo can be the color of a packet of skittles minus the red. There is of course the what I like to call the transition poo from birth to about day 3 where it is black and tar looking. Once they pass this stuff, your baby should be pooping normal poos. 

One thing no body tells you about is the infamous green poo. Lincoln poops some really nice seedy, yellow poo. Then one morning I got up to change his diaper. I opened the diaper and BAM! green poop filling up his whole diaper. I first though OMG! Lincoln has some type of disease or is horribly ill. I then went to doctor google and found out that it is normal for a green poo every now and then. Since Lincoln is formula fed, it is common for formula babies to have a green poop here and there since their formula is iron fortified. So yes, green poo is normal and no your kid will not die. I also found out that some infants just poo green poo. AWESOME!

Here is a very informative link on baby shit, and warning it has pictures (which I find helpful but others might find gross):  poop link w/pics

I also have pulled an uh-oh when I was checking Lincoln's bottom for poo with the good ole' sniff test. We were in the parked car, and I was pretty sure Lincoln had taken a fine dump when I was driving. I then proceeded to grab him out of his car seat, lifted him up to sniff, and BOOM! hit is head on top of the roof...whoops! I felt horrible but he didn't even notice. Now, that puts a another meaning in hard-headed. 

Such a pretty day!

Eating some lunch. The people behind us loved Link!
I look tired because I am. Love genetics and dark circles :(

~Julia

Getting Things Done With A Baby

As we all know, I am continually working very hard to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have been working out 5-6 days a week, but Lincoln's mood really dictates what activity I will be doing that day. This is how it just goes with a 9 week old. I have found that trying to get Lincoln on a schedule at night is imperative to sleeping at night, but during the day I tend to let him figure it out, and he really has. He tends to get up at 6am for about an hour then sleeps again from 7-8am. He will usually fall asleep again from 10ish to 12. Then he is up all afternoon until bed time at 8:30. On some days he will take a little cat nap from 3-4, but not always. I have found that forcing him into doing things at this age is just not worth it and just stresses us both out.

I have concluded that from his 10am-12pm nap is when I try to get all my stuff done for the day. I will sleep with him until 8am, then I'm up and ready to go.

To make things easier I always have at least one load of laundry ready to go, so that each day I can get some laundry done. That is the first thing I do once Lincoln passes out in his swing. I then vacuum every other day, and the other days I wipe down all surfaces and get to the bathrooms. The major things like dusting, cleaning base boards, and major detail work I leave to the weekends where Nate is there to help. I then will water the plants inside and outside. Once all that is complete, I give Sheila some attention and then I work out. I never sacrifice my work out time. If I don't get to a chore I wanted to do so be it, it will be there tomorrow. I have also found that cleaning while you go makes things much easier. Don't let dishes, laundry and other shit just pile up. If you clean while you go it makes getting other chores done so much quicker.

In order to get my baby weight off, I have implemented several things to help. The one thing that I love to do is run. Since I started coaching again at night at 5:15pm-9pm I have had to do away with my night jogging with Nate. I will be picking it up again in about 3 more weeks when Lincoln is 3 months old and is large enough to use the fantastic baby jogging stroller I am planning on buying! This will make things much easier because then I can work out at any point during the morning and even Shelia can get some exercise too!

When I do run though I use the Nike plus running app. I think it is great for those of us who like to run 10 miles or less each run and it keeps track of your route using a GPS off of your phone. The app shows how fast you were running during the route and it keeps track of your miles and time per mile. You can also program it before you start your run to how many miles you want to run. It then keeps track and will tell you in your head phones when you hit each mile and how fast you are running. Oh and on top of it, it takes all the music on your iphone and plays it while you run. It also creates a playlist of certain music that plays fast beats so when you need a pick me up during your run, you just tap your phone for a 'powersong'. Seriously some cool shit.

In the meantime, I have began using You Tube as my source for all things fitness. I did not realize, but there are so many great work out videos on there! My favorite would be the BeFit station by Lionsgate. They take a bunch of their workout DVD's and post certain full segments of each one. It is fantastic. You can also rent other work out DVD's from their station too. It's truly amazing. It's so nice to be able to clear out the living room, have Lincoln in his swing and work up a sweat.

Working out is also not a lot of fun unless you have music motivation. I use Pandora and they have actual workout music from hip-hop to dance to top hits. This is great.

I have begun coaching again but it is actually nice because it gives Lincoln and Nate time together, gives me a break, and I love bringing home a paycheck. It really helps with me mentally to not just feel like I am living in baby land all the time.

One thing that is starting to scare me, in a good way, with Lincoln is how strong he is. Man he is small but mighty. He's so strong that I can no longer leave the room if he is not strapped into something because he can roll him self out. He also knows how to push himself around the floor on his stomach using his knees and grabbing with his hands. I used to have him do tummy time in his pack n' play, but in the last couple of days he has started scooting himself so quickly across the pack n' play that he ends up just smashing his head into the walls. Now, I just lay a huge blanket out and let him go to town on his belly in the living room and that gives him ample space to wiggle and move. He also can scoot him self around on his back using his legs and just pushing his head around. I like that he is developing and its really awesome to see, but I didn't think at 9 weeks we would be at the point where I would have a pseudo-mobile baby. At his last doctor's appointment our doctor was even surprised how strong he is and said, "Yeah I would watch out for crawling/rolling baby sooner that you think." Great...  Hopefully I can get a video up here next time of him in action.

Ahhh...this face means time to get stuff done.

~Julia

Baby Shots SUCK.

I know that logically in my mind Lincoln needs his vaccines, but man are baby shots the worst fucking thing ever. I would say only watching holocaust and slavery historical videos makes my heart bleed, as much if not a little bit more. I mean, I would think watching a whole group of humans suffer surpasses baby shots, but I would say only by a tiny bit if its your own kid getting them.

Lincoln handled them like a champ. I, of course, laughed in order to avoid crying. The nurse administering the shots gave me what I would call, 'the worst parent on the planet' stare when I started to laugh. I then shot her a dodgy look and said, "I have to laugh to stop my self from crying, we don't need two crying babies in the room."  She then smiled. Lesson is don't judge others before knowing. I unfortunately suck at that, so maybe the lord was trying to teach me a lesson.  The nurse then missed one of the pricked spots to bandage, and I got Lincoln's blood on one of my really nice Antropologie shirts. Thank goodness, I got the blood out when we got home or else I would of asked the doctors office for a 55 dollar reimbursement. (Just kidding...well kinda).

What Lincoln thinks of baby shots.

Lincoln has started to throw up/vomit after meals thanks to the oral vaccine he got at the doctor's office for rotavirus. Nathan and I are huge advocates of vaccines and Lincoln will still be getting the second series of the rotavirus, even though he suffers from one of the side effects. It's not like he's vomiting a lot, just after some feedings and Lincoln has never been a 'throw up' baby. It has been decreasing since Thursday. I'm sure in a few days it will disappear. For whatever reason, he likes to throw up on me more than Nathan. He has gotten Nathan only once with his milky white spew and has gotten me about 10 times. I think he secretly knows that Daddy is usually in his work garments and his mom is in sweats, so he figures my outfit probably deserves a bit of throw up. 

Talking right before a throw up episode.
I'm sure he was trying to warn me....

One thing that I have given up on for now is actually looking nice during the day, if I have no where to go. This has lead to me answering the door several times braless, deordantless, makeupless, in sweats, and hair in a nasty tangle bun. I would say our mailman and FedEx guy probably thinks I'm a complete schlupdinka, but I don't give a shit. I have a crying baby and barking dog here people! Then again they are older men, easily in their 60's, so my braless appearance might be welcomed. Hell, I'll take it. One positive is that the little old Jehovah Witness lady, that used to bother me by trying to convert me on a weekly basis, has stopped coming to our door after seeing me disheveled a few too many times. (NOTE: I have nothing against Jehova Witnesses, but seriously coming to my door weekly when I make it very clear that the man and I upstairs are doing fantastic is a bit much.)

Lincoln now weighs 11lbs. 4oz. and is 22.5 inches long. He now fits into a few 3 month clothing items! Hallelujah!  His wardrobe has been increasing in the past week by a lot and I could not be happier. 

Overalls finally fit! Mama's favorite!

This weekend Nate and I got to landscaping. Well rather, Nathan did most of it because Lincoln was not coopering that well. Oh, and the fact that he is a guy and can get things done about 10 times faster than I can had a lot do with it as well. I did get around to planting and weeding some areas though when Lincoln was napping or allowing us to put him in his Bimbo (Bumpo) seat.

Peppers and tomatoes
One of the plants is called the Abe Lincoln tomato.
Of course we had to get it!

Italian Parsley, Chocolate Mint (for cocktails), Thyme
and Cherry Tomato plants

We are going to finish building/landscaping
this hydrangea plant area next weekend.

Where Lincoln sat in about 30 min spans for 2x's that day.

~Julia

Lincoln Photoshoot

Click here to view these pictures larger

Spending Time With Others

Today is my 25th birthday and I could not be happier with the way my life has turned out so far. I am so blessed to have an amazing husband (who takes baby Lincoln almost every night!), a house that we own, three amazing pets, great friends, fantastic jobs, the best families, and of course our baby boy.

Speaking of great families Lincoln has the best around. I seriously could not ask for better family and in-laws. To me it was very important that Lincoln got to grow up with aunts, uncles and grandparents since I was about 3,000 miles away from all of my extended family growing up. This past weekend we spent 4 days just showing Lincoln off to all of his relatives and I could not of loved it more. Lincoln got to meet his Auntie Kaity on Thursday night. I just about cried when she held him because he had now met all of mine and Nate's brothers and sisters. It felt like I had just completed a mission with him being able to meet everybody, and I know that he will have the best time growing up with so much love.

Prior to Auntie Kaity meeting Lincoln she had decided that she would love to do a photo shoot with him. I of course agreed! Lincoln however had other ideas about his photo shoot when he decided to scratch the inside of his eye right before his shower. I usually clip his nails after his shower, so he just beat me to the punch. I decided to place a small, tiny amount of anti bacterial cream on it and it cleared up the next day, hence she was able to get some good quality photos. I know its not recommend to put neosporin on a baby, but honestly its not going to kill him and he looked good the next day. So sue me.  I will post the whole photo shoot from my shutterfly account.

The minor damage in the corner of the eye.

Beautiful!

Lincoln also received a Bumpo from his Marmy! He loves watching TV in it. I don't care what others think about babies watching TV. Reality is that he likes it, its not going to kill him, and it really only keeps his attention for about 10 minutes. It's really not that big of a deal people!

Loves the TV!

One thing that I have learned from visiting all the family we did this weekend is that its ok to let other relatives/family friends you trust to be with your baby, and more so take care of your baby. It brings me so much joy to see my siblings, parents, grandparents and family friends just love on Lincoln. Yes, I will admit that by Easter Sunday I was dying to hold Lincoln, but I knew that our relatives love it just as much. I also understand that there are some families out there who don't know their boundaries and that limits/lines need to be set. There is a fine line between boundaries though and selfishness. Choose wisely how you establish them, or else you could be cutting out a relationship that you might want back in a few years. Nate and I are so blessed to have such great families that boundary establishing has not really had to happen, and I know that it will stay this way. I have had to set boundaries with some extended family but that is just not something I wish to write about here. Maybe once I have more time I can actually sit and write an entry on boundary establishing, so look for that.

I just love our baby and am so glad he got to spend time with others! It was so great!

~Julia