California Boy At Heart

Prayers

Please click here to read about an adorable little boy who desperately needs your prayers!

Happy birthday to me

This is the first year that August 9th arrived in the same way that August 8th, 7th, and 6th did... without feeling like any special day. I think that I have just had so many other things to focus on this year (hello, Jax!) that my birthday kind of snuck up on me without much warning. Don't get me wrong, I'm a total birthday person. I love the celebrations and good memories that come with birthdays and birthday parties. But this year was different. It wasn't bad, it just felt different.

For one, I woke up at 5 am on my birthday. Of course, it was to feed Jax but I was still awake much earlier than any other year. Ryan woke up, wished me happy birthday then went back to sleep. I have to give him props for remembering my birthday at 5 am.

For two, it was a Sunday so we had church. In my head, I just needed to get up and get ready for church. Which we did and it was no big deal. When we got home from church, we pretty much sat around all afternoon. I was relaxing, but kind of boring. We had arranged for Doug and Jen to watch Jax while we went out to dinner, so at 7 we finally went and dropped him off.

Ryan told me we had reservations, but he also told me that there were two paper bags in the fridge that I wasn't allowed to look in. I knew he was surprising me with something, but I wasn't sure what. Well this is what....

A picnic on the lake!!!

He even brought me shoes because I had worn heels

He brought all kinds of yummy food

and even yummy dessert; wine, chocolate and strawberries

He's pretty much the best husband ever!

I was extra surprised because he isn't generally the most romantic guy,

but boy did he pull off this one. It was AWESOME!!!

So, Happy Birthday to Me!

He's All Boy

I found this new clothing line through another mommy's blog that I read. For all you mommies out there who have boys, check it out. It's a very new line so there isn't a ton of merchandise yet, but what they have is super cute! Click here to see it... He's All Boy. There is more info about it on the other blog, so click on the other link above to check that out, too!

Acting like a 4-month-old...

2 months!

Jax is 2 months old today! Time has flown by, it's nuts. We had a doctor's appointment this morning at 8am. Much too early! 8am by itself isn't too early, but the time that I must set my alarm for in order to be ready by 8am... that's what is too early. But, I was very happy because Jax didn't even wake up to my alarm and I ended up having to wake him up to feed him before we left. He slept the whole time I was getting ready. It was awesome. We got to the doctor on time and daddy met us there. Here's Jax's 2-months stats...

Height- 22.8 inches (50th percentile)

Weight- 12.9 lbs (75th percentile)

Head circumference- 15.9 inches (45th percentile)

He's a chunker and I love it! But overall, he's pretty average except for one thing... he has the head/neck control of a 4 month old!!! Dr. Olsen put Jax on his tummy and he used his hands to push his head up and look around. Dr. Olsen was so surprised. She said that they expect that from babies who are 4 months old, not TWO months! I was so proud. Not to mention that it also made me feel like a good mommy because we do tummy time and play time and I try to help him strengthen his neck muscles. Yay for me!

Jax also had to get his first immunizations today. Boo. I know they are necessary, but I really hate seeing him hurt. The funny thing is, he actually handled it better than I did! He wailed right when she poked him, but then Ryan picked him up and he calmed right down. I was the one who had trouble stopping crying. It just made me so sad. He was supposed to get one oral and 3 shots for a total of 8 vaccines today. However, I just really felt like that was too much at one time, so we did the oral and one shot today and we will go back in a month for the other 2 shots. Besides that, our next appointment is at 4 months!

Here's the handsome boy with a big ol' I'm-2-months-old grin!

Baby Einstein

So, I totally caught Jax watching TV. Seriously. He's two months old. Much to young to be enamored by the TV. But it made me realize that I already need to be careful what I'm watching. Which is a bummer. It's not like I'm obsessed with TV or anything. Ok, maybe I am... but still. I don't want him to follow in my footsteps.

However, it also made me excited because I realized that I can start using the Baby Einstein DVD's. And no surprise here, but he LOVES them. We are currently watching Baby Beethoven. He is sitting in his swing, staring at the TV, making tons of noise and moving his arms around. It's adorable. I want to record it, but I realized that it's kind of dumb to record my kid watching TV. Ha! Oh well... this moment will be etched in my mind forever. Or at least until something cuter happens.

Side note... Mojo is not such a fan of the Baby Beethoven. She's barking at it.

An impromptu photo sesh

Hello!

Hmmmmm....

Laughing (he hasn't gotten the noise part down yet)

Mojo guarding her baby brother

Big smile!!

Poopy poop poop

That word has so many meanings on so many levels. It's what fills Jax's diapers anywhere from 1 to 5 times a day. It's also what spills out into his clothes (time to move him from NB to size 1 diapers). It's how I've been feeling for the past week. It's what my post-baby body looks like. 

Yuck.

For some reason these past 7 or 10 days have just been yucky. I was feeling ok about my baby body, but now it's bugging me. I'm sick of having a flabby tummy. I'm sick of wearing the same clothes over and over because nothing else fits. I'm sick of looking flabby in the clothes that do fit. I'm sick of seeing such a high number on the scale. I'm sick of feeling like I'm not being an attractive wife. I'm just sick of it all. 

I'm fully aware that it's only been 7 weeks. And that I wasn't even allowed to workout until last week. But that doesn't make me feel better. I'm also aware that I will never have the same body I did before I got pregnant. But that doesn't make me feel better either. I can't believe I used to think I wasn't skinny. I would kill for my size 6 body back. Seriously! 

I miss feeling pretty. I miss getting my hair and nails done. I miss getting waxes (even though they hurt like you-know-what). It's so hard to have the desire to do my hair and make-up in the morning when I know I'm not going to be doing much all day. If I do it, I feel like it's a waste of time. If I don't do it, I feel like poop. On top of that, comfy clothes are pretty much all that fits. Plus it's so much more convenient when I have to sit and feed Jax every 2 hours. But again, if I get all dressed, I feel like it's a waste of time. If I don't get dressed, I feel like poop. It's a vicious circle that has really been getting to me recently. 

Okay... I'm done living in my own little pity party and I'm on to new resolutions. I deserve to feel pretty again. Accomplishing that requires some effort on my part (going for a 2 mile walk every morning and eating healthier) and it requires some money (hair and nails). But I deserve it. All mommies do. This is my new job and if I were working outside the house, I would make an effort to look good. So I should do the same thing here. I refuse to be one of those moms who wears sweats all day and forgets her old self. I deserve better. Ryan and Jax definitely deserve better. It's my new goal!

On a little side note, Jax started SMILING!!! He is seriously the cutest kid on the face of the earth. Yipee!

He also loves to sit wide-eyed and look around. He stares at ceiling fans forever! And he loves to lay on his back and play. It's awesome!

6 weeks of lovin'

Jax is 6 weeks old today. I can't believe it. With each day comes new discoveries about his personality, what he likes, what he doesn't like, how to be a good mommy, etc. 

This morning I learned that when you burp a baby, you should make sure that the burpie is actually covering you. As much as I love having spit-up down my shirt and in my hair, I think I will pay more attention from now on. 

We have also discovered that Jax loves bathtime. He was a bit fussy last night as Ryan was stripping him down but once he hit that water, it all went away. He was one happy baby! And I was one happy mommy! I just love the way he smells and feels when he is clean. It's heaven to me. I could just eat him up!

I've also discovered that I fall asleep rather easily these days. And not just at night. Yesterday, I fed Jax at about 3 in the afternoon, burped him... then woke up at 530 when Ryan walked through the door. Oops. I was planning on doing the dishes before Ryan got home. So much for that goal. It's much harder to accomplish things when you have a baby hanging on you.

Speaking of which, I am trying so hard to not let Jax be attached at my hip. As much as I want to hold him FOREVER, I know that it's only going to cause problems later. Of course I snuggle with him and hold him and love on him. But once he's asleep, I've been trying really hard to put him down. The only problem is that he's already attached and sometimes doesn't stay asleep long once I put him down. Once he wakes up, I generally try to calm him down again then put him somewhere else. It's a steady rotation between his swing (which he does the best in), his bouncer (which he used to like, but doesn't anymore) and his crib (which he has yet to sleep in longer than about 5 or 10 minutes). I figure that I will just keep doing it and eventually he will catch on and be okay with it. 

Oh the joys of motherhood!