The One with the Thirteen Month Update

Yea, I'm super late on this one.  Chasing after a 13 month old is exhausting!

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Liam Michael you are

THIRTEEN MONTHS OLD!

Kid, you are a one-man comedy show, wrecking ball, and Energizer bunny all wrapped into one!

What are your stats and what does the doctor say?

We don't go back to see Dr. G. until August but I'm guessing you are around 27 pounds.  You don't seem to have gotten too much taller based on how your pants are fitting, but you are looking so much more like a toddler every day.  You have a whole head full of blond hair and Daddy keeps talking about getting you a hair cut (not happening!).

What are you eating?

You continue to be an eating machine and will shovel just about anything we give you into your mouth.  This month, Mommy gave you a few more "unhealthy" choices for foods while we were eating at some restaurants.  You had chowder and clam cakes, mozzarella sticks, chicken fingers, kielbasa, and hot dogs.  You also tried your first taste of donut cake at your birthday party.  Fruit continues to be your favorite thing to eat, but you do still love hummus, macaroni, meatballs, and peanut butter.  After your one-year wellness visit with Dr. G. we go the go ahead to try whole milk and we haven't looked back since.  You now get one 6-ounce bottle of whole milk in the morning when you first wake up and one 6-ounce bottle of whole milk before bed.  You have sippy or straw cups of milk with your meals and water in between.

When do you sleep and eat?

Ever since you started walking (and trying to run most days!), your sleeping habits during the day have really changed.  You are typically awake between 6:00 and 6:30 most mornings and you have your bottle with Mommy in your room.  Your breakfast is usually around 7:45-8:00, depending on what time you get up.  On most days, you are ready for a nap between 9:30 and 10:00.  This nap is now at least an hour in length (and you slept for 3 hours the other day!), but can sometimes be closer to two hours depending on how tired you are.  You have lunch around noontime and take another nap by 2:30ish on most days.  If you take a longer nap in the morning, you have been known to skip an afternoon nap...makes the early evenings before bed time suuuper fun!  We have dinner between 5:30 and 6:00 and you are still asleep by 7:30 most nights.

What size clothes and diapers are you wearing?

You are wearing 18 month and 18-24 month clothes, although a few 12-18 month clothes do still fit.  You are still in size 4 Pampers Cruisers during the day.  We switched to size 5 Huggies Overnites at night and added an extra absorbency pad inside the diaper.  You have been leak-free since then.

What are some things you love?

You love to move everywhere and have taken to running around the house whenever you can.  You absolutely LOVE being outside and got some great new toys for playing outside for your birthday.  You are obsessed with the timer on the kitchen stove and will sit and stare at it while it counts down from a minute.  You are taking more of an interest in books lately and will bring them to us to read to you.  You still love to drive Max crazy and try to "play" ball with him regularly.  Everything still goes in your mouth and you still love the top to Nana's cup, the spatulas and spoons, and the dog's toys.  You enjoy making noise of any sort - screeching, screaming, or banging being at the top of your list.  You like to dance to the music channel on TV and always love to roll around on Mommy and Daddy's bed.  You love the water and think dumping Max's water bowl out is a game.

What are some things you don't love?

There honestly isn't too much that you don't like, except when told no when there is something that you really want (case in point - the picture below).  You can get awfully wiggly and crabby on the changing table, making diaper changes a bit of a challenge lately.  You do not like time out and are starting to learn the concept of consequences.

All because Mommy told you not to eat the soap.

What can you do?

You have learned a lot of new things this month in the language department (although you are not saying actual words).  You can wave hi and bye and will share an object when we ask you to.  You can now sign "please" and will do it constantly to show us that you want something.  You are able to squat down to pick something up.  You will hold our hand and bring us to what you want (like jumping on the bed).

What are you saying?

You have started to say mama more, but we still aren't quite sure you understand the meaning behind it.  You are trying to get words out and will attempt to repeat a sound after we say it, but I wouldn't say there are any actual words yet.  You can still follow simple commands and understand a lot of what we say - especially if we mention going outside or in the stroller!

How many teeth do you have?

I think you may hold the record for the most teeth coming in at one time.  While we knew that two molars were coming in at the beginning of the month, we were shocked to find out that all four molars were coming in at once!  You handled it like a champ and now have 12 teeth!

What are some firsts from this month?

You celebrated your first birthday with a big party with all our family and friends.  You went for your first ride in your tricycle.  

What are some of your nicknames?

Swiper, Mr. Man, Liam Michael, Stinker

What are we looking forward to in the next month?

We will be celebrating Father's Day with a special weekend for Daddy.  We will also be going to Connecticut to celebrate Uncle R.J.'s graduation and you will also celebrate the 4th of July with a party at our house.  Mommy will be on summer vacation very soon and is very much looking forward to spending extra time with you.

You are so much fun, little man and we can't wait to explore and enjoy the summer with you!

The One with the Thursday Thoughts

Happy Friday Eve people!

How is everyone's week going?

Mine feels endless and I am so very happy that tomorrow is Friday.

The following thoroughly unimportant thoughts have been swirling in my brain...

• I just whacked my elbow on the chair in the kitchen when I was walking by.  Of all the places on my body to hit, I choose the one place that has not an ounce of fat or flab.  There are certainly plenty of other cushy places that wouldn't have hurt as much, but somehow I managed to hit straight bone.

• I have a shopping date this weekend with myself.  I need some retail therapy big time.  Even if I just browse, I need to get out and look at some pretty things (who am I kidding, I can't "just browse").

• I need a Starbucks caramel apple spice in my life very soon.  I've managed to survive thus far this fall without one, but it is definitely in the plans this weekend.

• As I was typing this post, I dropped my laptop on the floor while reaching for the baby monitor.  When I tried to stop it from falling, I somehow managed to smash/scrape my finger into the side of the screen and cut my skin enough to bleed.  Blogging injury?  I am a hot mess sometimes.

• L is days away from rolling over from back to belly.  He apparently wants to defy all norms and go this way first.  He has no desire to go from belly to back.

• This crazy beast is curled up next to me on the couch keeping my company until Hubs finally gets home from work.

• My view from the shower the other morning (please excuse the mess of a bathroom).  Cannot handle his open-mouthed smile.

• I realized the other day that I have no fall scented candles in the house.  Clearly my shopping trip this weekend will include a trip to Bath and Body Works.  While I'm not into the pumpkin, I can definitely get behind all the apple scented candles this year.

• Several friends/acquaintances/blogging peeps are pregnant or just had babies.  I am already thinking about when we can do a FET (frozen embryo transfer).  We only have one frobaby and the chances of it leading to a successful pregnancy aren't great, but I feel like we have to try.  My IF brain is already preparing for the worst and we haven't even planned if/when we are going to do this.  That feeling of failure and disappointment is always there.

• I need some new songs for my iPod.  What is everyone listening to these days?

(My finger and elbow are throbbing by the way)

• This weekend will hopefully involve some of these apple fritters so I can use up some of the apples from our trip to the orchard last weekend.

I'm off to try to catch up on a few DVRed shows.  Keeping up with fall TV is tough this year with work and a baby!

The One with the Thursday Thoughts

Two days in a row with a post?  Who the hell is this blogger and what did you do with Jessica?

So life has been pretty uneventful lately (other than the whole getting ready to go back to school...more on that below) and I am soaking up every last second with the little man before I start working.

• I have not tried on any of my capris or pants with zippers and buttons since I had Liam.  I don't have the slightest idea what I am going to wear once school starts if when they don't fit.

• We had a few trial run days this week where I left for school around the time I would like to leave once school starts.  Obviously my mom and Liam were fine and I was a wreck.  The only thing that saved me was that I knew I could leave whenever I wanted and come home.  Next week will suck.

• I really despise doing bulletin boards.  It's just one more thing to add to the list of things to get accomplished every month.  But it did turn out cute.

• I've been trying to add a Pinterest hover button over my pictures.  All the instructions I can find tell me to find </body> in my blogging template.  I don't have </body> anywhere in my template.  Any ideas blogging friends?  I'm getting frustrated.

• Today I spent an insane amount of hours reorganizing my classroom books.  It was quite the mess in there and it's definitely not done.  Maybe I'll just tell the kids they can't touch any of the books yet!

Hot effin mess.  And there are some many more books that aren't in this picture.

•  L does this hysterical eyebrow raising thing.  His eyebrows are so blonde you can barely see them, but he is getting so expressive with them.

• I have been reading other blogs but have been slacking on my commenting because I usually read them on my phone while feeding L. So I promise I am still reading and will try to be better about commenting. 

• Sophie the giraffe is definitely laced with crack.

• Max chomped huge bites into a bunch of papers that were in a bag on a chair that should have been out of his reach.  He got in big trouble.  Sometimes this dog drives me insane.

• I need to decide on a fall bag.  I have been using the diaper bag as my purse since L was born but I guess I need a real bag again now that I am going back to work and am pretty sure I won't need diapers and butt paste while I'm there.  I think I'll pull out my fabulous polka-dot Kate Spade.

• It's time for meal planning and lunch making again.  I am looking for some new dinner recipes and plan on spending some time with my Pinterest board this weekend.

L and I are off to run some errands while I can still go out in the middle of the day on a Thursday.

The One with the First Father's Day

I realize it's been almost two weeks since Father's Day but I really wanted to do a quick recap post about how we spent Hubs' first Father's Day.

I knew I wanted his first holiday as a daddy to be extra special so I planned a few things to celebrate him.  Everything was a surprise (which was pure torture for Hubs!) and I had so much fun deciding what to do for him.

We started off Saturday by heading out to lunch.  We just went to a local chain restaurant because we were both starving and wanted to squeeze lunch in before Liam woke up.

I then gave Hubs directions to an appliance store about 30 minutes away where we went to pick out his present.  I kinda messed up and thought we would be able to take the present home that day.  Unfortunately, we had to order it and they told us we were going to have to wait almost two weeks for it to be delivered.  However, Hubs was pretty excited that we ordered this...

Samsung 65" Smart LED TV.  Similar here.

We had been talking about getting a new TV for a while to replace the ancient rear-projection TV we had in our living room.  I decided it would make a really great Father's Day gift.  Hubs was definitely a little disappointed that we couldn't take the TV home that afternoon, but was looking forward to it being delivered.

I digress momentarily...
Because my husband is the world's most impatient person, he actually got out of work early one day last week and went to pick up the TV.  I was in Chicago so he had to put everything together himself (and I had to fix it when I got home because he had it hooked up incorrectly!), but we now have a giant TV in our living room.

Back to the weekend...
Saturday afternoon we headed to a graduation party and then just relaxed at home watching the hockey game (on our crappy old TV as Hubs kept teasing me about!).

On Sunday, we went out for an awesome breakfast place that Hubs has been talking about since we first went there several months ago.  They have fantastic food and huge portions.  Like pancakes that are the size of the entire plate.  It was so yummy!  I totally forgot to take a picture of my food, but I was very full when we left.  Liam was awesome throughout the entire breakfast and woke up to eat just as we were finishing our meals.

I had originally planned for us to head up to Boston for lunch/dinner but we were both so full from breakfast that we decided to postpone that trip to another weekend (Hubs still doesn't know where we will be going).  So, we went up to IKEA instead to pick out a TV stand.

We got this one.

While Liam and I were away in Chicago and after Hubs picked up the TV, he decided to put that stand together.  If you have ever bought anything from IKEA you know everything comes in eighty billion pieces and you have to almost whittle the wood yourself to put it together.

Hubs was less than thrilled with the whole experience and has informed me we will never be buying anything from IKEA again (and I quote..."not even a fucking wooden spoon").

Thank God I was halfway across the country for this hot mess!

 By the time I got home from Chicago, this monstrosity was in my living room.

  While it is huge, I will admit it's nice to be able to read the guide without squinting.

When we got home that day, I snapped a few pictures of my boys.

We had a great weekend together and I think Hubs enjoyed his first Father's Day.  He is such an awesome father to both Liam and Max and we are so lucky to have him.

Love you honey!

The One with the Thursday Thoughts

How is it Thursday already?  I feel like this week has flown by.  That is most definitely because I am not working.  If I were stuck in school, it would be the longest.week.ever.  They are all like that in June.

Here's what's floating around in my head today...

• I went into school yesterday to go over a few things with my sub.  She has been doing an awesome job with the kids and they seem to be learning everything they are supposed to.  However, my anal, controlling, OCD self couldn't stand that there were no extra sharpened pencils in the bucket for extra sharpened pencils.  In fact, I sharpened a whole bunch when I was there last Thursday after school because there weren't any then either.  So in less than a week, my hoarding students went through eleventy jillion pencils and there are no more.  Good thing school is almost done because apparently no more pencils will be sharpened.  So stupid, I know.  But these are the things that bug me.

• I started the massive project entitled, "Pack for a week-long road trip with your newborn and your mother including clothes and the like for a wedding you are in."  It is overwhelming to say the least.  Liam's crib is currently the place that all things that are being packed have landed.  Good thing he doesn't sleep in it yet.

This is like 4 things out of the 6 million more that need to be packed.  I have lists all over the house.

• If Max steals one more pillow off the couch or sock or towel or blanket, I may kill him.  He's been warned.

• I am really craving a Passion Tea Lemonade from Starbucks.  And also the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad from Panera.  And some chocolate.  There will definitely be a food stop or two when L and I go out to run errands in a bit.

• Hubs is on a "we are moving" kick.  I have been on that kick for a while for space and school reasons, but now he is suddenly on the bandwagon because he wants a new car.  Do not even ask how making a huge purchase like a house would mean that he could get a new car.  His logic baffles me.

• I am working on this project for my best friend's wedding shower gift.  She already knows about it, so it's not like I'm ruining the secret or anything.  Relax.  It is also getting packed for the road trip next week.

• My kid is the loudest freaking waker-upper ever.  He stretches, grunts, groans, farts, and makes all these ridiculous noises for like an hour before he actually wakes up.  It's hysterical to listen to.  Unless it starts at 4 am.  Then it's terrible.  But still kinda hysterical and definitely still adorable.

• Big Father's Day plans in the works for this weekend.  Recap post coming next week.

• After taking an hour and a half to wake up this morning, I leaned over and saw this.  ::melt my heart::

Off to run those errands.  Have a wonderful Thursday!

The One with the Maternity Pictures

This is going to be a very photo heavy post so be warned now.

On March 30th, Hubs, Max and I headed down and over to Portsmouth, RI to take our maternity pictures with the very talented Joe Laurin.  Joe was recommended to me by Julie Furtado who took our beloved Grizzly's pictures a few summers ago.  Joe was so much fun to work with and I am beyond thrilled with the pictures that he took.  We lucked out with great weather too!

I have already chosen several to print and frame (took me hours to narrow them down btw!)

 

 Don't let this picture fool you...took us about 100 tries to get one decent one!

I am so very happy that we decided to have these pictures taken.  After the long road to get pregnant and knowing that we may not get here again, I never want to forget this time in our lives.

The One with the Weekly Pregnancy Update

33 Weeks

I really loathe making those 3's.

How far along? 33 weeks (durian fruit...here's the Wikipedia explanation of this strange spikey fruit because I had no clue what the hell it was!)

Total weight gain/loss: +14 pounds according to the scale this morning...although with the massive quantities of Easter candy I'm consuming I see that number going up soon.

From the doctor: This was an off-week for an appointment so nothing new to report.

Maternity clothes: My new stuff from Gap and Old Navy arrived the other day and I headed over to Macy's yesterday to pick up a few things.  I got some shirts (I'm wearing one in the picture above) and also picked up a nightgown and robe for the hospital.

Sleep: This really hasn't been too much of a problem.  I wake up a few times at night, but I find myself able to go back to sleep.
Best moment this week: Seeing very good friends on Saturday.

Miss Anything? Goat cheese and Diet Coke.  I had a nagging headache yesterday and really wanted a cold DC to possibly help.  I know I can have an occasional one, but I've been trying to be good and resisted.  Definitely requesting those in the hospital.

Movement: Oh yes and I do love it.  Elbows, knees, and the bum are definitely starting to be recognizable at certain times when he moves.  I am also feeling him more on my cervix so maybe he's turned himself (fingers crossed!)
Food cravings: No real cravings, just hungry pretty much all the time.
Anything making you queasy or sick? Nothing really, but I just need to eat more frequent smaller portions to keep my stomach from getting too full.
Gender: Little guy.
Labor Signs: Nothing yet, but I can't believe that this whole labor thing is going to happen so soon!
Symptoms: Hip pain, difficulty breathing, dry skin

Major purchases this week? I picked up a few outfits and socks at Target and Macy's while I was out and about.  And I didn't buy it, but our highchair arrived this week from my fantastic aunt and uncle in North Carolina.  Well, technically it arrived last week, but we had to return it because it didn't work correctly and it needed to be exchanged.  Hubs put the new one together today and I love the way it looks.  I'll let you know how well it works with a baby in it in about 6 or 7 months!

Boon Flair Pedestal Highchair with Pneumatic Lift

Classes/Tours: We are finished with all of our classes and now just need to hope we remember it all when the big day comes.

Nursery: No big developments in there this week, but I am enjoying using my chair (I am blogging from there right now).  I am going to wash and organize a bunch of clothes after my shower in two weeks and Hubs promises he'll hang the bookshelves during our vacation in April.  I also picked up the wooden letters for his name to go above the crib, but we won't hang those until after he arrives so we can keep his name to ourselves.

How mama is feeling: I really do feel pretty good.  I'm tired and my body is sore, but I think I'm in pretty good spirits most of the time (Hubs may disagree with that one!).

Weekly wisdom:  Steal your husband's pajamas when yours no longer fit.  And while pregnancy is certainly not an excuse to eat everything in sight, enjoy your treats while you can.
Looking forward to: Pedicure on Wednesday, manicure and massage on Friday, and maternity pictures on Saturday.

Next appointment: March 27th.

On a side note, we've been doing some training with Max to get him ready for the little man's arrival.  He's been doing pretty well with the doll and I plan to try and take him for a walk with the stroller sometime in the next few weeks.  I have been using the purple Johnson & Johnson bedtime lotion on myself to get him used to that smell and he actually gets bathed using the baby shampoo so I'm hoping he's used to that smell already.  We've been playing some baby crying sounds on the phone for him to hear, but I am also going to put the phone in the crib with the doll to help him associate the two.  Once I have my shower and we get some more baby items, I am hoping to introduce more things to him.  We'll see how it goes...

The One with No Balls

Max lost his manhood on Thursday.

He was de-nutted, as Hubs keeps calling it.

When we first got him, there were talks of breeding him.  Max is show-quality dog from a highly reputable breeder in California.  However, Hubs and I quickly realized how much time and money was involved in this process and decided against it.  Hubs was still pushing for it, but there is no way we could get involved in the showing and breeding process, especially with the little guy on the way.

So, we scheduled Max's surgery.  For Valentine's Day.  Because clearly we are the meanest parents on the planet.

We also had his dew claws removed in anticipation of the baby's arrival.  They are extremely sharp and difficult to cut, plus he doesn't need them, so we figured since he would already be under for the neutering surgery we would do this as well.

All went well with the surgery and when I picked him up on Thursday after school, he was howling up a storm in his crate at the vet.  I think they were more than happy to be rid of him.

Because he's a dummy, Max managed to eat a piece of gauze that was on his paw after the surgery so the vet gave him some kind of mineral oil to help him pass it.  Well that was the biggest mistake ever because it totally effed up his stomach even more.

I got him home and he slept for most of the afternoon.

Until he started the farting.  This is way too much TMI, but every time he farted there was leakage.  It was a hot mess in my living room and I should probably be the spokeswoman for Shout pet stain remover.  There was no warning and it scared him every time it happened so there was running around during the leakage.  Yeah, it was not pretty.

Only the most manly men wear pink bandages.

I spent Thursday night in the living room sleeping on the couch because he was uncomfortable in his crate with his cone on.  It was a long night.

Friday was a little better, but the leakage continued and he managed to irritate one of his stitches in the snow and then the blood started.  I'm telling you, Shout should pay me because I used it so much.

I swear I didn't pose this picture.  Check out the tennis balls in the sun.  Max was sending us a message I think.

I have made no less than 4 trips to CVS since Thursday picking up bandages, tape, gauze, and baby wipes.  It has been quite a shit show (no pun intended) over here.

Saturday was a much better day and he even spent several hours sleeping in his crate last night which meant Mommy could sleep in her own bed for a few hours.

He's definitely feeling better today and is getting annoyed with the cone, but the minute it comes off he starts to lick.  

He fell asleep the other day like this.

I am on school vacation this week so I'll be home with him.  

Hopefully there will be no more bleeding or leakage.  

We made sure to buy him lots of tennis balls for when he is feeling better.  They may not be the same, but balls are balls.