This past weekend we took a trip to DC to visit our friends Nick and Meg who are expecting their first baby on November 1st. They let us stay at their house, which is extremely nice considering the amount of things we have to bring for Bentley. We arrived late Friday night and spent an hour or two catching up. The next morning we walked to a nice place for breakfast then sent the boys to the bro shower (just picture lots and lots of drinking). Meg and I took a short walk and let Bentley entertain us. We even took a quick nap before going to pick up the guys at 8 p.m. Yes 8, Jeremy wanted to be around to help put Ben to bed. We were even in bed by 11, not bad for being out of town. It was so nice to see Nick and Meg and we are so excited for their baby girls arrival!
Ben has been doing well. He is starting to let go and stand on his own, not holding on to anything, but he is very inconsistent with it. He is clapping now and is notorious for waving bye after someone has just left, so I am the only person to see it. (I swear he does it, I even swear he occasionally says "ba ba" as he does it). He LOVES LOVES LOVES doggies! He will chase a dog down, not be scared, and giggles the cutest giggle when they lick him. We have even been practicing sharing. He will play with something and then hold it up for me to play with, but sometimes when he holds something out to "share" with the dogs and they sniff it he burst into laughter. He is so cute and entertaining.
We are going to the pumpkin patch this weekend!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Breastfeeding 101
As I close out the chapter of breastfeeding, I wanted to write this for my friends who are having babies and for when I have my next baby (don't worry...nothing too graphic here):
1. The first 8 weeks suck! It hurts, you don't exactly know what you are doing, and your husband can't help. Keep pushing through...it will get better and it is TOTALLY worth it!
2. Do not be scared of your pump! It is your friend. Do not be scared about if you pump and your baby gets hungry...your boobs are smart and they are never empty.
3. Your boobs are smart! (yes, boys, they are smart). Your boobs know when to produce milk, how much, and how much fat/protein/ vitamins the baby needs.You can not overfeed a child either when breastfeeding. They are a guaranteed way to soothe your child! I think that is pretty smart....
4. Ask your husband for help. Even if he just changes the diaper and hands him off to you to feed. Sometimes you can feed and have him rock the baby to sleep. It is a mothers instinct to care for the child, but you need a break or you will go insane and it is great bonding time for the dad!
5. Don't be embarrassed to use the ta-tas in public (to an extent, and with a cover-up on)... I am very shy and did not want to breast feed in public. However, there came a time when I was stuck somewhere, child screaming, and no other place to go. You do what you have to do for your child, that is why they call you a mother. I found a balance where I only fed in public if it was absolutely necessary, I did feed the baby around family and friends if they were comfortable wit it (I always asked first and covered myself up).
6. Dont feed the baby in bed (I know A LOT of people will disagree wit this...) here is the deal. I always fed Ben in his rocking chair at night, then when I put him down he knew it was sleep time. Then one day I started feeding him in bed with me. He thought this meant I was like McDonalds, you know, open all night.Even though it took a lot of effort and will power to get up, I got so much more sleep getting up with him and he didn't get confused, bed is for sleeping.
7. Use the lactation consultants and any friends you know that have breastfed. This does not come naturally and you will inevitably have some questions. Sometimes you may need to vent about how much it hurts or how you are up every hour feeding the baby...call me or someone who has bf before...believe me they will understand!
8.Do not let anyone guilt you for breastfeeding or for stopping at whatever time you choose to. We all know the recommendation of 1 year, however, you have to do what is right for you and your child. No one should influence your choice, because I am sure as mom you are going to do what is best for your child. Take pride in your decisions to breastfeed at all, and take pride in how long you do it because some breastmilk is better than none at all
9. Breastfeeding is an AMAZING experience. You get to spend quiet time with your child. Relax and enjoy every moment of it...they wont be little for long.
1. The first 8 weeks suck! It hurts, you don't exactly know what you are doing, and your husband can't help. Keep pushing through...it will get better and it is TOTALLY worth it!
2. Do not be scared of your pump! It is your friend. Do not be scared about if you pump and your baby gets hungry...your boobs are smart and they are never empty.
3. Your boobs are smart! (yes, boys, they are smart). Your boobs know when to produce milk, how much, and how much fat/protein/ vitamins the baby needs.You can not overfeed a child either when breastfeeding. They are a guaranteed way to soothe your child! I think that is pretty smart....
4. Ask your husband for help. Even if he just changes the diaper and hands him off to you to feed. Sometimes you can feed and have him rock the baby to sleep. It is a mothers instinct to care for the child, but you need a break or you will go insane and it is great bonding time for the dad!
5. Don't be embarrassed to use the ta-tas in public (to an extent, and with a cover-up on)... I am very shy and did not want to breast feed in public. However, there came a time when I was stuck somewhere, child screaming, and no other place to go. You do what you have to do for your child, that is why they call you a mother. I found a balance where I only fed in public if it was absolutely necessary, I did feed the baby around family and friends if they were comfortable wit it (I always asked first and covered myself up).
6. Dont feed the baby in bed (I know A LOT of people will disagree wit this...) here is the deal. I always fed Ben in his rocking chair at night, then when I put him down he knew it was sleep time. Then one day I started feeding him in bed with me. He thought this meant I was like McDonalds, you know, open all night.Even though it took a lot of effort and will power to get up, I got so much more sleep getting up with him and he didn't get confused, bed is for sleeping.
7. Use the lactation consultants and any friends you know that have breastfed. This does not come naturally and you will inevitably have some questions. Sometimes you may need to vent about how much it hurts or how you are up every hour feeding the baby...call me or someone who has bf before...believe me they will understand!
8.Do not let anyone guilt you for breastfeeding or for stopping at whatever time you choose to. We all know the recommendation of 1 year, however, you have to do what is right for you and your child. No one should influence your choice, because I am sure as mom you are going to do what is best for your child. Take pride in your decisions to breastfeed at all, and take pride in how long you do it because some breastmilk is better than none at all
9. Breastfeeding is an AMAZING experience. You get to spend quiet time with your child. Relax and enjoy every moment of it...they wont be little for long.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
First day of October...
I woke up and rested in bed until 10 this morning. Today was Jeremy's day to get up with Ben. Then we headed to the FREEZING VT tailgate. It was way to cold and neither Bentley nor I wanted to be there. Okay, I will admit...Bentley handled the cold better than I did....I just get grumpy when I am cold. Then we came home and watched the VT game (which was not pretty to watch), had some hot chocolate, played with Bentley, enjoyed the fireplace.
We are going to celebrate my nephew's birthday tomorrow, inside where it is warm!
I woke up and rested in bed until 10 this morning. Today was Jeremy's day to get up with Ben. Then we headed to the FREEZING VT tailgate. It was way to cold and neither Bentley nor I wanted to be there. Okay, I will admit...Bentley handled the cold better than I did....I just get grumpy when I am cold. Then we came home and watched the VT game (which was not pretty to watch), had some hot chocolate, played with Bentley, enjoyed the fireplace.
We are going to celebrate my nephew's birthday tomorrow, inside where it is warm!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Pet Turtle
Some days I feel like I live in a zoo...today was one of them. Between the barking dog, crying baby, and a turtle crawling around our house, I could have sworn we had a sign hanging above our front door that said ZOO. It is all in a days work, being a stay at home mom......
Our Turtle Friend
Bentley Chasing the Turtle
Daddy, Turtle, and Ben
What a FUN night!
Our Turtle Friend
Bentley Chasing the Turtle
Daddy, Turtle, and Ben
What a FUN night!
Reaching Goals
Lately Bentley has been practicing walking. One of his favorite things to do these days is take a push toy and walk behind it. He loves to practice and gets so excited to be able to go places. He has been keeping me on my toes. He has gotten faster crawling and has found cords and other items that we need to do to baby proof the house. Bentley likes to share things with the dogs, Jeremy, or myself. He also likes to give his momma kisses (which Jeremy thinks is gross, because they can be a little sloppy and there is a possibility of a little nibble in there as well)! Bentley has been doing well with sleeping. He goes to bed easily at night and then wakes up around 11 when we are going to bed. We pat his cute tushy and he goes back to sleep until 5ish when he wakes up to eat, then goes back to sleep until 7 or 8. I am liking this new schedule!
Jeremy and I have started running. He is trying to help me get back in shape. I know several other girls who have had their baby around the same time I have and are back down to their “original weight” or below. It has been weighing pretty heavy on me lately and I get pretty bummed because I have never had to deal with having to lose weight (when I was young I used to have to TRY to gain weight). I am hopeful that I will be able to get to my goal sooner rather than later.
Besides getting healthier and loving on my amazing son and husband, my goal is to get on here and update more frequently with pictures and post. I am going to leave you with one of my favorite pictures….Bentley in the bath tub….look at that face!
Jeremy and I have started running. He is trying to help me get back in shape. I know several other girls who have had their baby around the same time I have and are back down to their “original weight” or below. It has been weighing pretty heavy on me lately and I get pretty bummed because I have never had to deal with having to lose weight (when I was young I used to have to TRY to gain weight). I am hopeful that I will be able to get to my goal sooner rather than later.
Besides getting healthier and loving on my amazing son and husband, my goal is to get on here and update more frequently with pictures and post. I am going to leave you with one of my favorite pictures….Bentley in the bath tub….look at that face!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Always Learning
It is getting increasingly difficult to update my blog due to the increasing mobility of Bentley and trying to keep the house clean so here are some (other) things we have realized:
1. We can no longer eat at the coffee table. Bentley grabs everything off the coffee table, making dinner a little more exciting than we would like for it to be. Guess we are taking another step in growing up and eating a “the big table”. Jeremy wants to know why you can teach a dog to stay out of your food, but you can’t teach a baby?
2. We have a very healthy happy little boy: he is 19 pounds 2 oz. and 28 inches long. He can wave bye bye and is learning how to feed himself.
3. I have tons and tons of friends that are pregnant and seeing their pictures online makes me miss being pregnant. I mean, the kind of pregnant when you don’t have another kid to chase around (that just seems hard).
4. Housework is never finished, you get done with something and then have to start over again.
5. Shopping with a baby is soo difficult. You have to park near the carts, put the baby in the carts, deal with people constantly stopping you to tell you how cute your baby is, then inevitably you get to the check-out and have forgotten something, ya know- wallet, milk, everything on your list. You get the picture!
6. Most people assume you no longer want to do things, so you no longer get invited. We are still young- we like to have a beer (well one of us at least, the other is still alcohol free). We just can no longer go to a bar, we believe in taking care of our child and only doing things that are child friendly (i.e.- cookouts, hanging out at a house, dinner).
7. Bringing me to my next point- I very rarely drink, however, since having Bentley I have been craving a beer…just one.
8. Fall is finally here. I am excited for cool weather (but not as cool as it was this past weekend at the tailgate…that was just down right cold)! On the same subject, I do not think we will be taking Bentley to any more tailgates if it was as cold as it was on Saturday. He was not having fun and I would rather him be able to play than have to be held all day in a blanket.
9. I love Breastfeeding! I am currently in the process of weaning, but have realized how much I enjoyed that time spent with him. I am going to miss it. I had a couple rough weeks in the beginning but it was TOTALLY worth it!
10. I remember sitting in my moms arms as she rocked me in a rocking chair and thinking about how amazing my parents are and how that was the best feeling in the world. I thought that my parents were the best things in the world and when I was snuggled up life was perfect. As I was holding Bentley today I had similar emotions…life was perfect! I hope that Jeremy and I can be everything Bentley thinks that we are.
P.S.- We have some really AWESOME pictures to show you once we get a cord to download them :)
1. We can no longer eat at the coffee table. Bentley grabs everything off the coffee table, making dinner a little more exciting than we would like for it to be. Guess we are taking another step in growing up and eating a “the big table”. Jeremy wants to know why you can teach a dog to stay out of your food, but you can’t teach a baby?
2. We have a very healthy happy little boy: he is 19 pounds 2 oz. and 28 inches long. He can wave bye bye and is learning how to feed himself.
3. I have tons and tons of friends that are pregnant and seeing their pictures online makes me miss being pregnant. I mean, the kind of pregnant when you don’t have another kid to chase around (that just seems hard).
4. Housework is never finished, you get done with something and then have to start over again.
5. Shopping with a baby is soo difficult. You have to park near the carts, put the baby in the carts, deal with people constantly stopping you to tell you how cute your baby is, then inevitably you get to the check-out and have forgotten something, ya know- wallet, milk, everything on your list. You get the picture!
6. Most people assume you no longer want to do things, so you no longer get invited. We are still young- we like to have a beer (well one of us at least, the other is still alcohol free). We just can no longer go to a bar, we believe in taking care of our child and only doing things that are child friendly (i.e.- cookouts, hanging out at a house, dinner).
7. Bringing me to my next point- I very rarely drink, however, since having Bentley I have been craving a beer…just one.
8. Fall is finally here. I am excited for cool weather (but not as cool as it was this past weekend at the tailgate…that was just down right cold)! On the same subject, I do not think we will be taking Bentley to any more tailgates if it was as cold as it was on Saturday. He was not having fun and I would rather him be able to play than have to be held all day in a blanket.
9. I love Breastfeeding! I am currently in the process of weaning, but have realized how much I enjoyed that time spent with him. I am going to miss it. I had a couple rough weeks in the beginning but it was TOTALLY worth it!
10. I remember sitting in my moms arms as she rocked me in a rocking chair and thinking about how amazing my parents are and how that was the best feeling in the world. I thought that my parents were the best things in the world and when I was snuggled up life was perfect. As I was holding Bentley today I had similar emotions…life was perfect! I hope that Jeremy and I can be everything Bentley thinks that we are.
P.S.- We have some really AWESOME pictures to show you once we get a cord to download them :)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Survived
I survived. Jeremy was out of town for 3 nights for a bachelor party this past weekend. It was very challenging to take care of Bentley all by myself (with a little help from my parents and Jeremy’s parents). Bentley hasn’t been sleeping well (per my previous post). However, Bentley and I both survived and I was soo excited to see Jeremy when he got home! He is such a good daddy! One of my favorite parts of the weekend was the fact that my nephew Brendan and my niece Lauren spent the night. We played VTechopoly and watched Soul Surfer. I think they had a good time. I know I sure did, I love spending time with them!
Bentley is such a big boy. Not only is he crawling, but he is also pulling himself up to a standing position and taking steps (while holding on to something) to move places. He wants to learn and is eager to explore everything. He interacts with me. I am afraid he is starting stranger anxiety though since he cries when I leave the room. I just love every minute with him!
On Saturday Bentley will be 6 months! I can’t believe it. One of the milestones though is the fact that I have been breastfeeding Bentley for 6 months. This is a MAJOR deal! I mean, if you read some of the post I put up when Bentley was first born, you will remember how tough it was for me. We have made it to our marked date of where we wanted to. If you nurse for the first 6 months of a baby’s life they will have life long benefits from breastfeeding! YAY US! With that being said we have started the weaning process (for personal and family reasons). It will most likely still be another month or two before he is completely weaned. I also will hopefully have enough breastmilk saved to continue feeding him once or twice a day breastmilk until he is one year old (which is also a big accomplishment)! I am feeling pretty proud of Bentley and I…..breastfeeding is not easy!
Bentley is such a big boy. Not only is he crawling, but he is also pulling himself up to a standing position and taking steps (while holding on to something) to move places. He wants to learn and is eager to explore everything. He interacts with me. I am afraid he is starting stranger anxiety though since he cries when I leave the room. I just love every minute with him!
On Saturday Bentley will be 6 months! I can’t believe it. One of the milestones though is the fact that I have been breastfeeding Bentley for 6 months. This is a MAJOR deal! I mean, if you read some of the post I put up when Bentley was first born, you will remember how tough it was for me. We have made it to our marked date of where we wanted to. If you nurse for the first 6 months of a baby’s life they will have life long benefits from breastfeeding! YAY US! With that being said we have started the weaning process (for personal and family reasons). It will most likely still be another month or two before he is completely weaned. I also will hopefully have enough breastmilk saved to continue feeding him once or twice a day breastmilk until he is one year old (which is also a big accomplishment)! I am feeling pretty proud of Bentley and I…..breastfeeding is not easy!
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