OWEN: two months

This boy!!

weight: 12.5 lbs

length: 25 inches (99%!!)

We can't get enough of him. It is amazing how many changes happen by each passing week in the life of a newborn. He seems like a totally different baby than he did at just 1 month old.

This month Owen started smiling...and I have yet to catch it on camera because he gets so distracted by my phone in his face. Go figure ;-) He is such a cheeser and it seriously just melts my heart. He smiles SO big for his sisters. It makes me laugh so hard because they sit on either side of his bouncer chair and he just turns his head back and forth to look at both of them. Ellie likes to put her face RIGHT in front of his, and usually say something way too loud for anyone to hear, but he just loves her. Brinley still can't get enough of him. She is always using Owen as an excuse to get out of anything. The second she sits down to eat dinner, Mommy! Can I kiss Owen?? The second she goes into quiet time, Mommy, I just need to give you and Owen a kiss. It's adorable, but after doing that 15 times during dinner and quiet time...it's not so adorable. haha. 

He loves his mama! He loves to watch me. He tracks me all around the house. And he settles down (usually) when he hears my voice. I just love him so much! He is a nursing champ and I'm so appreciate of that. The poor thing knows that getting an uninterrupted nursing session is hard to come by, so he chows down and gets the job done in 15 minutes. I've learned to nurse on the go too. I've put Ellie on the potty while nursing, I've done bath time while nursing, I've accepted a UPS package while nursing (sorry dude, but I did have my cover on...sometimes when your milk has let-down, you just can't put that baby down!). 

Owen loves it when daddy comes home from work. He smiles and smiles at Ryan. Those two have the cutest bond. Ryan can get Owen to sleep usually without a peep from Owen. Or if he is fighting naps with me, I had him over to Ryan, and he is usually out within a minute or two. I blame it on Owen smelling my milk, but let's be honest...he just loves his daddy!

Enjoy the photo dump!

Likes and Dislikes

Brinley

Likes:

smothering Owen with kisses any chance she gets

dinosaurs

wild kratts

pink anything

purses

eating sushi

playing outside

swimming

Dislikes:

eating dinner

ellie biting her

owen crying when she's holding him

cleaning up her bedroom

getting her hair washed

having her hair brushed

Ellie

Likes:

wearing panties like a big girl (finally!!!!!!!)

eating bananas

running outside and not listening to mom and dad

yelling and talking LOUDLY all day long

giving hugs and kisses

bugging her big sister any chance she gets

reading books

shutting doors

clipping every set of car seat clips she can find

Dislikes:

being told what to do

eating dinner when it is dinner time

sitting in time out

brushing her teeth

getting her things taken away by Brinley

Owen

Likes:

sleeping

eating

watching mama

smiling at his sisters

getting his face tickled

being swaddled

Dislikes:

being hot

getting poked in the eye by Ellie

loud noises (cue: the cutest baby pouty lip ever!)

not eating

big burps and spit ups

Daddy

Likes:

watching the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup! 

playing with the girls

cuddling with Owen

date nights with me :-)

Dislikes:

getting spit up on again after just getting spit up on

not having a/c in his car (but we got it fixed, yay!)

not finding time to exercise

being tired

Mama

Likes:

licorice

sleeping more than 5+ hours at night

my solly baby wrap (see above^^)

making dinner every night of the week (or should I say, being able to put together fast meals every night of the week, huge achievement!)

getting out of the house alone

Dislikes:

waking up every 2 hours or more at night (thankfully those nights aren't too regular anymore)

listening to Brinley and Ellie fighting

dealing with Ellie's biting habit...

not having chocolate in the house

lingering baby weight and clothes not fitting right still

running out of ideas for the girls to do during the day inside since it is TOO hot to play outside

Brinley's Preschool Graduation

Our little Graduate!! 

It was such a fun weekend celebrating Brinley graduating from preschool. She had a fantastic first school year and we are so proud of her. She excelled in every subject and learned so much. Her teachers, Ms. Jane and Ms. Gigi absolutely loved her. They reminded me often of how smart Brinley is and that her memory is like a lock box. Every time Ms. Gigi would read a book to the class on a certain animal that Brinley already knew about, she had to tell the class everything. Ms. Gigi would tell me frequently that Brinley taught the class all about jaguars, or this certain kind of lizard, or an owl. The girl knows her stuff! I felt like every morning we walked into the school to drop her off, I looked and acted like a tornado storming through. Everyone loved Ellie and seeing my pregnant belly grow, and then finally meeting Owen. I have nothing but the highest recommendations for this school for anyone who would ask. The teachers and staff made it such an enjoyable year for all of us, and I seriously almost cried when I hugged her teacher after the ceremony. She went above and beyond and showed so much love and interested in our girl. A good teacher makes all the difference and we lucked out with 2 of the best!

And now we are enjoying summer break and getting mentally ready to send her off to Kindergarten in August!

Memorial Weekend

My parents were able to come down for Memorial weekend! We had such a blast together. When my parents walked in the door, it felt like my Mom had never left us since she was just here for Owen a few weeks before. My dad was completely mesmerized by Owen. That little boy stole his Grandpa's heart instantly!

We had lots of fun together. My parents main goal was to keep Brinley and Ellie as distracted and busy as possible to give me a break. They went to the beach, took the dogs for a walk, went out for dinner together, went to the park, and spent every quiet time over at their suite. It was a nice weekend for me :-) 

Ryan and I were also able to go out on a date! We went to this (new to us) Taco place in Stuart and it was delicious! A bit overpriced in my opinion, but still super yummy. We were SO TIRED that I know, without a doubt, that I was a pretty lame-o date. I kept yawning! It was just nice to get out of the house, you know? So grateful for the few moments Ryan and I have alone together. Life is busy for us right now and it always helps us connect back together when we have a moment without the girls interrupting us every 5 seconds. Owen slept the entire time too :-)

So a couple of weeks ago, I was at Target and spotted a cute shirt I wanted to get for Ryan. When he tried it on, he commented how much it looked like a grey shirt that I have. And then the next time he wore it, he got Ellie from after her nap time and she immediately said, "Daddy, why you wearing mama's shirt??" I MEAN!? That girl! We laughed so hard, so then while my parents were here, we just happened to wear the same shirts on the same day and we had to take a picture. 

OWEN: one month

This has felt like the longest month of my life! It feels like Owen has been in our family forever. And it doesn't help that when he was born, he was the size of an average 3 month old. Every day has been a mountain to overcome for me, and I'm happy to see this first month behind us. 

The past month, he has been a pretty typical newborn. Lots of off and on sleep during the day, and not a lot of sleep at night. It definitely has been challenging for me with the lack of sleep at night, and basically no opportunities to take a nap during the day. The girls can be demanding and trying to sync Owen's nap and Ellie's nap together can be tricky. I try to nap a few days a week and that seems to help. But lets be honest, I'll happily welcome Owen turning 4 months when we can start sleep training :-)

Owen is such a sweet baby. He rarely cries. but when he does, he either lets it completely out and is very loud and dramatic for a few minutes, or he does this really breathy high pitched cry and when he does that, we all just laugh because it is seriously the cutest ever. I need to catch it on video because I'm afraid one of these days he is going to stop doing it and I will cry. We aren't sure if he has a bit of acid reflux, but the pediatrician thinks it is what's causing him to be a bit more spitty and cause him to have a bit of a raspy voice. I hope he isn't in pain if he does have a bit of reflux, because his little raspy voice is so adorable!

Owen hates to not be constantly eating. Sometimes, he will sit and nurse for an hour straight. It does get exhausting, but he refuses to take a binky so he nurses to settle down and to also go to sleep. I'm really trying to get him to tolerate the binky so that I can have a break!! He does better taking the binky from Ryan, but if I try to give it to him, he screams until I breakdown and nurse him.

Brinley and Ellie are such mommies. They love Owen. They love to hold him. and kiss him. and talk to him. It is adorable. Sometimes it gets to be a little too much, but I try and let them love him (within reason) the way they know how. Ellie really loves to scream "OWEN'S CRYING MAMA!!!!!" in the car when he is crying. She has one volume and it is LOUD and she loves to let us all know when he cries.

Ryan and I think he looks so much like Brinley! His little bright eyes and the shape of his face are extremely familiar to us and whenever we see a picture of Brinley as a baby, then we finally get it! He is a boy version of Brinley! It will be interesting to watch him come into his features over the next few months to see if he continues to look like her. Brinley looooooves to hear that they look alike.

We had his one month appointment last week and he is weighing in at 10 pounds 13 ounces and almost 24 inches long. He has grown a LOT since his 2 week appointment. Unfortunately, he has a bit of trush and with the possibility of acid reflux, we are busy trying to get that under control. More time sitting up after eating and more burps in between eating. The doctor loved him and he is a healthy little boy.

I also had my doctor's appointment! I can't believe it's been 6 weeks already. My body is healing great and my energy (besides being tired) is coming back too. I'm gearing up to start easing into exercising too, but as my doctor reminded me, the stitches inside my belly take up to 12 weeks to heal. So...slooooow to get back into exercising. I finally remembered to take a picture with the doctor, and he had these adorable bibs for his baby patients. We've been so blessed to have amazing doctors with each of our kids. Dr Hochman was awesome and I would love it if he delivered another baby for us. We shall see!

I invested in a Solly Wrap! I love it. It was pricey, but dang worth it. He loves being carried in it. I wear it at least once a day and it helps keeping my hands free and he usually passes out for a good 2 hour nap while in it. Can't complain about that! The material is so light and it stays tight which is something so important in a wrap. Super happy with it so far.

So far, month one was sleepless, happy, cuddly, cute, and quick! Now we are almost to month 2 and we'll see how consistent I am at getting monthly posts written for Owen. Poor 3rd baby...thankfully we have a ton of pictures of him so at least he isn't depleted in that category! 

Mother's Day

Leading up to Mother's Day, I was wanting to just skip the holiday completely. Mother's Day isn't necessarily my favorite holiday. I am completely happy and excited to praise my own mother who is absolutely amazing, but me? No thanks. My emotions and hormones have been all over the place since having Owen, and I just wasn't feeling my best to be celebrated by my kids and family.

The Friday before, Brinley had a Mother's Day brunch at her preschool and begged me to be there. So, at only 2ish weeks post-partum, in the school we went, with make-up and hair done, clothes on other than leggings and a nursing tank, Ellie in tow and Owen in his carseat. It had already been a big ordeal to get out the door, knowing I had to watch 3 kids, in public, while jugging nursing and diapers and feeling hot, and overwhelmed, and just not exactly wanting to be seen in public just yet, basically what I'm saying...it took a LOT of of me.

But it was all worth it. The brunch was absolutely adorable and seeing Brinley's face light up when she was singing those songs to me made me feel allllllll the feelings. I was tearing up and just loving her so much in that moment. She is such a sweetheart. We butt heads a lot, but man alive I love that girl. She is so nurturing and sweet and forgiving and helpful. I appreciate her so much, especially now that Owen is here. She is always putting out the Ellie fires when she's having a tantrum, or singing her songs before bedtime when I can't get up from nursing, and she's always there giving me hugs and kisses.

On Mother's Day, my gift from Ryan was another quiet Sunday without the girls at home. He has been a champ to take the girls to church by himself since Owen was born. He orchestrated another Mother's Day brunch for all the women in Relief Society in the Ward. They had fruit and pies and cheese and crackers and a chocolate fountain! It sounded like the perfect day for those women and I wished I was there! Ryan also got me a family gift that we opened after church, an ice cream maker! We made vanilla ice cream that night and it was delicious. My gift to myself was making what I wanted for dinner. Biscuits and gravy, baby! Everything turned out delicious and I couldn't stop eating. It was a wonderful day and I am so thankful to be a mother.

I don't think having a baby around Mother's Day helped my recovery much though. I had pretty big up and down feelings about being the "perfect" mother and being honored. Honestly, I have yelled and cried and have felt like the biggest failure more in the last few weeks than I ever have in my life. I have been easily frustrated and upset and tested way too many times. Being a mom is hard enough, and I seriously just wanted to skip over Mother's Day completely. I don't need a day to be honored. My wonderful husband is so sincere and loving and makes me feel like the best mom for our kids. He is genuine when he tells me and even though it has taken me a bit of time over the years to believe him, I do believe him. I am a good mom. Being a mom is HARD WORK. Every single day. The amount of patience and love and understanding and patience and more patience, and let's add more patience :-) we all need help every now and then, and I am so lucky to have a hard working husband who helps out at home without ever needing to be asked. So, what I'm trying to say is, Mother's Day shouldn't just be a day to be honored, but a reminder to honor our mother's every day throughout the year. I need to be better about giving myself a break, and that was my reminder on Mother' Day.