Week 4: 1/22/12-1/28/12

Sunday January 22nd: In this house, we go through a TON of bananas.  Natalie has one most days and Nate eats two for breakfast every day he's working.  That being said, I usually can't fit them all in a single bag at the grocery store, and I've had to start going at least once a week (instead of my bi-weekly trips I'd planned for).  Sometimes, though, the bananas don't get eaten before they start to get a little icky looking.  This was the case with the last bunch, as the girls and Nate were all home Monday for the MLK holiday.  So, I had 3 nasty looking bananas sitting on the chair with two bushels of pretty yellow-green ones.  And I decided to put them to use.  The other deliciousness that I made up yesterday was my friend's mom's simple banana bread.  I think I cooked it a little too long - recipe called for an hour, and I let it sit in the oven for 55 minutes, but it probably would've been done and nice and gooey on top around 45 minutes.  So this morning, we're feasting on ham and cheese scrambled eggs with bacon and banana bread before settling in for a day of video games with Daddy.  Hudson is holding his head up almost all the time now, which is fantastic for his progress, but makes it difficult to burp him.  While he was trying to roll over a little bit ago, he seems to have lost interest in it recently.  Guess we need to start working on that here shortly.  He's 7 weeks old today, and I still haven't updated my ticker to show that he's no longer in-utero - > top of the to-do list.

Monday, January 23rd: I jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. Not really sure what the big deal is, but I am enjoying looking at what other people like.

Tuesday, January 24th: Today we went to Raleigh to celebrate (belatedly) Mimi's birthday with dinner at Ruby Tuesday... and I fit back into my size 2 jeans for the first time!

Wednesday, January 25th: Go Georgia Bulldogs!!  Hudson's become super-drooly all of a sudden, so we've broken out a ton of bibs from Jessica and Marcia to try to keep the drool (and sometimes spit up) off his outfits for more than 10 minutes.

Thursday, January 26th: Snuggley day at home day (after running to work with daddy first thing to get paperwork).  More cleaning of Hudson's clothes unearthed some really cute outfits that I had to get on him at least once before they were too tiny - here's one of my favorites!

Friday, January 27th: Today was a crazy busy day!  I had a million and one errands to run, so this is the attempt at a chub-a-lub picture from the 10 minutes of down-time we had around 8 this morning before: getting the brakes fixed, taking lunch to Daddy, eating lunch ourselves, buying diapers at Babies R Us, visiting old office buddies, getting adult beverages for the weekend, going to the post office, and grocery shopping at both BJs and Walmart.  What a sweet baby during the 10+ hours we were on the road!

Saturday, January 28th: Tomorrow is Natalie's 13th birthday, but we're going to celebrate today.  After a bit of a drama-fiasco (ah, teenage girls), the surprise plan has been simplified to Mimi and Megan coming to visit, a trip to Celebration Station for mini golf, go karts, and arcade games.  We pigged out on pizza, breadsticks, and Cheetos while watching the end of Glee season 1 beforehand (Megan's addicted, so I was jumping on the bandwagon) and Bojangles and pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing afterwards.  Hope she had a good time!

This week I was really bad, and I apologize.  I posted Sunday on its day, but didn't make any notes again until the following Monday when I realized I'd missed the posting deadline (good thing I'm doing this for me and not as part of a community)... so this week's updates are going to seem a little lame. Sorry!

Week 3: January 15th-21st

Sunday, January 15th: This is the beginning of couple very difficult days for us.  A year ago today, the events were set in motion that would lead to the injury of my placenta and the announcement of the passing of our daughter, Kylie Jeanne.  As much as I miss her every day, especially considering how much Hudson looks like her, I take solace in the knowledge that everything happens for a reason and we have completed our little family with the welcome of our little man since then.  I know she's watching over us and looking out for her little brother.

Monday, January 16th: Happy Birthday to my little brother, Blake, who is 15 today! Hard to believe how quickly the time has flown.  Seems like just yesterday he was a sweet, cuddly little baby and today he's an opinionated, sassy almost-man with facial hair and a deep voice!

Tuesday, January 17th: Shop 'til you drop!  No, really.  Mimi came to town today and we went to BJ's to do some grocery shopping for those few items that are more convenient to buy in super-size (for cost only, since space is always super limited).  It's been a while since I've done BJ's shopping and I guess I'm out of practice because Hudson and I crashed when we were done :)

Wednesday, January 18th: Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mommy - Mimi, I guess she is now.  Congratulations on another year of practice at being 29! (Though, I think you might have to start bumping that number up as I quickly approach the last year of aging myself :-P)

Thursday, January 19th: Today has been a not-very-relaxing day at home. Hudson's been feeling a little off since late last night - leading to lots of throwing up, crying, and cuddling time. As much as I love my little man, it's really hard on days when all he does is cry. :( Natalie spent the night at her friend's house this evening, and Nate's started his "tax time" hours and was working late, so Lyssie and I spent the evening watching girly movies!

Friday, January 20th: Well Hudson was a little better today - still napping lots, but not throwing up as much... bad news is that now I've got a case of the ickies: fever, chills, headache, body aches, shivers, exhaustion. That being said, we spent a TON of time snuggled up sleeping on the couch.  Glad we could make each other feel better and I hope that this doesn't last too long.

Saturday, January 21st: Still feeling a little under the weather today, so we aren't heading to Raleigh to celebrate Mimi's birthday party today, but we're going to postpone that to Tuesday evening when we're heading out there anyways.  Tons more snuggling going on today while we try to kick the end of our not-feeling-wells, and we're going for some comfort food instead of going anywhere on this drizzly, cold, nasty January day: chicken and dumplings.

Week 2: 1.8.12-1.14.12

Sunday, January 8th: Today we vegged out around the house and played video game with Daddy, munching on a delicious broccoli cheese soup dip for lunch :) Hudson is almost entirely in 3 month size clothes, so we're breaking out the adorable new clothes we got for Christmas - like this outfit from Grammy that says "Grandma loves my chubby cheeks".

Monday, January 9th: Look at that beautifully empty dryer! I finally finished getting all the laundry folded and put away... at least for a couple days.  Made a delicious (and simple) chicken rice bake for dinner tonight!

Tuesday, January 10th: Even though this was supposed to be Mimi's week to come to Greensboro, we ended up in Raleigh because she had a schedule conflict and couldn't make it out here.  We had lunch with Miss Jen and her adorable children Jordan, almost 5, and Joey, recently 3 - who are just smitten with Hudson.  After running around for a little while (including getting our new Moby Wrap that we haven't had a chance to try out yet and a new pair of cute flats for super cheap), we met Miss Joy for coffee.  Tons of lady loving for little Hudson today!

Wednesday, January 11th: Nate took the day off today (very rare that he actually gets to enjoy time off on his scheduled day away from the dealership due to budget numbers, staffing, etc.) to spend time with Hudson and I.  Not a whole lot of "productivity" occurred in our house, but we did get some nice cuddle time in!

Thursday, January 12th: Ah, a day to relax at home :) I spent some more time today going through Hudson's clothes to figure out what does and doesn't still fit him, so that I can eliminate the guesswork in the mornings when we're running late for doctors appointments or I'm running around with a cold, fussy baby.  Hudson enjoyed some time on his new playmat that Mimi and Pop gave him for Christmas, cooing at the animals, yarking up his lunch, and then snoozing during tummy time.

Friday, January 13th: As a side note, I love Friday the 13ths - that's the day Nate and I went on our first date... so when people talk about bad luck and darkness on this day, I have to just laugh at them, because the greatest thing that ever happened to me started on a Friday the 13th!  Hudson slept really well last night and today (130-6, 630-830, 10-12) and then we went to visit Daddy for a cookout lunch at DriveTime and then headed to WalMart to get a little grocery shopping done.  We tried out (and had the first successful positioning) our new Moby Wrap!

Saturday, January 14th: Pop and Auntie Megan came to visit today - and what that really means is that they're out to get some Hudson time.  We ventured out to a new place for lunch today (very hard to do with the picky eaters) - Mimi's Cafe.

New Year = New Approach 1.1.12-1.7.12

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Get back to pre-baby weight ASAP (no later than my birthday)... and if I can get back to pre-Nate weight, that'd be even better.
2. Get back into pre-baby jeans ASAP (they're the only thing that doesn't fit)... and if I can get back into pre-Nate jeans, I'd be ecstatic.
3. Dedicate time for blogging.  I just realized that the only pictures on here of my little mister are the ones on our Christmas card/baby announcement.  Bad Momma! 

So I've decided to change things up a little bit.  I'm going to set my blog to automatically post on Saturdays and I'm going to jot down things that happen during the week as they come up - that way I'm not struggling to remember a month later when I'm doing another famous catch-up post.  Also, I'm going to try to take a picture every day - or at least a few each week - to document the goings on of our lives... so when I go to fill the next collage for the wall, it won't be so difficult to find pictures to put in it.

Here goes.

Sunday, January 1st: Nate's sister Angie and her kiddos (Salissa - 18, Maddy - 14, Seiji - 11) came to visit for New Year's Eve.  We had a relatively uneventful time, but we were ALL awake at midnight when the ball dropped!

Monday, January 2nd: Nate had the day off!!  DriveTime observes Sunday holidays the following Monday, so he got a rare day off.  Since the girls are out of school, we all sat around playing Final Fantasy together.

Tuesday, January 3rd: Hudson and I trekked to Raleigh to visit the chiropractor (my old injuries have been flaring up again with the beating of being pregnant, delivery, and now the adjustment to toting around a quickly-growing little one all the time).  We got to run around town with Mimi and visit her co-workers, old friends, do a little shopping, and spend a few minutes with Pop, Auntie, and Uncle (plus the puppies).  Nate's car broke down on the side of the road on my way home, which terrified me, but he was able to get a ride home safely.

Wednesday, January 4th: After taking Nate to work in the morning since his driver had to be towed in, Hudson and I spent a glorious day at home.  He's been a little fussy lately - randomly going from being perfectly content and smiling to actually crying (as opposed to his pterodactyl squeal).  He's been sleeping differently the last couple days - stretching out feedings to 3-4 hours a couple times in a row then power-eating every hour.

Thursday, January 5th: We had lunch with Meagan and Ethan today at Applebee's.  This was one of the first times that Meagan had been out with Ethan and we were so glad that we got to spend time with them!  He's gotten sooo big since we saw them last (though I'm sure Hudson has too, since our last visit was when I was in the hospital).  The boys were very well-behaved throughout lunch, cuddling and munching a little, but mostly just relaxing.  Thank goodness we weren't "those" parents - you know the ones... screaming children, messy tables, distraught server, annoyed patrons around us.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the boys together this time (though I wish I had, since it was exactly a month after the last picture we have of them together, but maybe next time).  Later on, Hudson was helping me level my black mage in Final Fantasy XI so we could play with Daddy and the girls.

Friday, January 6th: What a busy day! Little man got up just before 8am to eat, threw up all over the place, pooped on me, peed on me (after we got out of the shower), and has been generally cranky today and didn't want to nap until 4pm!  Washed 6 loads of laundry, did 3 loads of dishes, scrubbed the counters, sink, and stove, did some cleaning out of our closet (still have a lot left to do there), cleaned our bathroom, organized the living room, had a lovely visit with an old friend/employer, and spent FOREVER making my "famous" lasagna.  Had to pick the girls up from school after they auditioned for all-state chorus, but spent the later part of the evening watching TV and playing FFXI... and Nate's promotion finally went through - he's officially out of training - sooooo proud of him!!

Saturday, January 7th: One good thing about him having his days/nights confused is that he sleeps all day and is a wonderful travel baby.  That being said, we had a crazy day of running around and still not getting anything done... how does this happen??  We spent 6 hours and $200 running around town to get (most of) the necessities - not particularly new/exciting/different.  But you know what is?  I was going through his outfits trying to find something for him to wear (this spit-up thing has us going through TONS of laundry) and started setting aside the outfits that weren't fitting well any more... and there were quite a few of them.  Hudson is wearing a 3-6 month outfit today :( He's so skinny that they're tent-like on him, but as long as he is, the rest of the outfits are making him all scruchy.  I'm sure that, since this outfit is a hand-me-down, it's shrunk at least a little, but still... 3-6 months already?!?!?!

**Note: Sorry for the delay in this post.  My calendar on my computer was set incorrectly, which means that the auto-posting was messed up.**

One Month Update

I can't believe Hudson is already a month old - oh, how the time flies when you're sleep deprived and covered in breast milk, spit-up, and baby poop.  So what's been goin on in the last month?

Hudson is around 8 pounds (he was 7 pounds 14 ounces at the doctor a little less than a week ago) and around 22 inches long (he was 22" two weeks ago and only 21.5" at abovementioned appointment, so all measurements are guesstimates).

He LOVES to eat!  Some feedings are 3 hours apart and some are 45 minutes apart; sometimes he nurses for 10-15 minutes and sometimes for nearly an hour.  No matter the specifics, he is the happiest and most calm while attached to the breast.

What goes in must come out... and boy, does it!  Almost every diaper is both wet and stinky at this point, but hopefully that'll change when he's older and we start to introduce solids.  He's at the brink of growing out of newborn size diapers.  The Pampers Swaddlers that we've loved so much are a little snug to wear to bed (when the changings are stretched out a bit), but when we tried to bump up to a size 1, they came most of the way up to his armpits!  He doesn't like having his diaper changed, and this is one of the few times we hear him cry.

While I haven't started going through his clothes yet (on next week's to-do list), I've started putting Hudson in some 0-3 month size clothes along with the newborns.  We'll be searching out bigger outfits soon as I can see him growing before my eyes! The couple preemie outfits he had look like doll's clothes against him now!

His sleep schedule's a little wonky: out most of the day and up a couple times during the night, but he loves to cuddle, so we can "Monkey Up" (when we lay him on our chests, he snuggles down between my breasts or into that comfy spot between pecs and shoulder on Nate, drapes one leg and one arm around our sides, and grabs ahold of our shirts below the armpits) as his daddy calls it, when he's awake and we'd rather not be.  He hasn't made it to his crib yet since he eats so frequently, and isn't too fond of the bassinet, so most of the time he sleeps on/with us or in his car seat with his "white noise simulator" (read vibrator, lol).

Hudson is very personable, loves to travel, and will cuddle with anyone.  He loves sitting and playing video games with daddy, and snuggling up to watch tv or read with me. 
I can't believe how much our lives have changed since his arrival (and because of it) and I never thought I'd be able to love him this much!

Happy one month, Monkey!!

**Note: Sorry for the delay in this post. My calendar on my computer was set incorrectly, which means that the auto-posting was messed up.**