Baby Boot Camp

I feel like I sit down every week to write and want to start: "MAN, what a week it's been!" Every week is a new adventure with the little one... and every week I want to say that this has been my favorite week with him so far. He is in what I call 'Baby Boot Camp' right now. I'm trying to transition him from the 2 1/2-3 hour feedings to 4, with 3-4 oz instead of 2-3. It's the first step in getting him to sleep through the night. Yesterday was his first real day of BBC and it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. Around hour 2 1/2 after his last feeding he started to get to get pretty fussy, because he's used to eating on demand... and now I'm trying to get away from that and get him on this schedule. This morning, I had to distract him from eating twice, for two hours both times to get him to eat at his 4 hour mark... (not very fun when your tired), but now that it's been 24 hours of this, he's doing amazing. There's been ZERO fussiness inbetween feedings, so that's basically 3 straight hours of a content baby! I'm so happy that I'm already seeing results. It's not the easiest thing to not give in, esp when your tired, but it'll be worth it when he's sleeping through the night! I bet he'll be sleeping at least 8 hours straight in a few weeks!

In other news: I FINALLY FINISHED THE NURSERY!
here's a sneak peak:

The amazing changing table/dresser/bookshelf that Harland made (I painted!) haha

The painting I did for him in his safari room

I was waiting for Harland to make the crib, but I figured it would take about 3 more months until he had time so I suprised him with one-- he was pretty relieved he didn't have to make it. Sonia painted the letters for one of his babyshower gifts! Pretty friggin amazing job.

He loves his mobile, thanks Abby!

His organized closet.. with clothes up till 2 years!

Let's see, what did we do this week...

Thursday I went back to work! I dropped Brodie off at his great grandma's and headed to work. It felt like the first day of school after summer break haha. It was great to see everyone, and great to not have to waddle around to get to my tables. Not so great to have rock hard boobs. I don't know what I'm going to do about pumping, I hope my managers are understanding about what I have to do... we'll see. Went back to pick up Bro man and he was KNOCKED out. Nanny must have put some rum in his bottle bc I was trying everything I could to wake him up to get some relief in my boobs. Putting a wet Qtip slightly in his ear finally worked. Then I picked up Linds and her friends from the highschool (WIERD) and took them back to my house to watch baby while Harland, Sonia, Nick, Omar, his gf, and I went to the new COWBOYS stadium to watch them practice.

Friday, after not being with baby all day, I really just wanted to stay with him--- so we all went to dinner with Sean, Brandi, Michele, Chase, and their parents.

looks like a gas smile... or maybe that he was in the company of huge boobs. and no, brandi still hasn't popped yet. c'mon Tucker!!

Sat was Nick's "Suprise" Birthday Party in Greenville... let's just say lot's of drama. LOTS. Sonia's sister was watching Brodie at her house so we went back there and spent the night.

Sunday we spent in recovery. In more ways than one.

Monday, Harland played hookey so we went to lunch with the Gonzales (we like them.. can you tell?) and then Main Event to whoop some ASS in shuffle board. Then I beat Harland in air hockey (shocker)... then moved over to shoot hoops. Total score: Harland 29, Nick 31, ME 41!! Not to toot my own horn but uh.. TOOT TOOT!! haha Nick's gonna be pissed when he reads this.

My babygirl Ily

Peek-a-boo!

Future husband and wife. hahaha

Today I had my 6 week check up... and I was suppose to have a biopsy on my cervix and to have Morena (sp?) put in. Well they didn't have it in their little chart that I was suppose to get either so I have to come back. I reaaally wanted to get that over with. And again, for more than one reason. :) Oh and to top it off, the doctor said, "Wow, you have really dark circles under your eyes!" Well jee, what a fun doctors visit that turned out to be.

Anyways, I'm waiting on Sonia to put up picks.. so check back in a few days for more on this blog.

Here's some funny pics of Bro Man...

He slept like this for 20 min straight... I guess he didn't want anyone touching his face

hahah sleep sitting

I was watching TV and all of a sudden I hear "MOM can I come play!?" and see this. I couldn't stop laughing.

Happy Birthday Michele!

This has been the best week I've had in sooo long. Brodie has grown up so much... he's a completely different baby than he was last week... and the weeks before. He is so much more content. The only reason he cries is if he's hungry or wants to be held... which we are trying to do less. All the books I'm reading say enjoy your baby, and worry about training after a month. So the first thing we're doing differently is letting him cry--which is really hard. I've only let him do it for no more than 3 minutes bc I can't stand him being upset. I can definitely tell the difference in the "I'm hungry cry" vs. the "I want my mommy cry." Yesterday while I was getting a bottle ready for while we were at Harlands' game, he cried pretty hard and by the time I got back to him he had TEARS in his eyes! He was in his carseat so I couldn't pick him up but I felt horrible. He was like "YOU LEFT ME!" The second I kissed him and stroked his head he stopped crying. He just wanted his mommy. :) I feel like I actually know who my son is now. It's hard to basically figure out your own child in the beginning, you have to get to know each other and figure out his likes and dislikes, and now that I know, I feel a lot stronger bond.

Here are the "Adorable pics of Brodie" for the week... :)

My favorite outfit


This past week...

We took Brodie on his first stroller ride over to Dan's who made us an amazing meal. Half way there we realized the ride was pointless bc he slept the whole time.

The next day I went over to introduce Brodie to his future girlfriends, Brittyn and Kennedy, Stephs adorable twins. (Stephanie is without a doubt one of the best and most hardworking moms I've ever met!)

Friday, me and Linds went to Chili's at like midnight, and then took her 5 cheerleader friends home who were stranded. They piled in my trunk.

Saturday, we went swimming with the Gonzales'-- felt good to get out in the sun again. Brodie was in an air conditioned room right next to the pool where we could see and hear him. It was the perfect set up.

Goobers.

After not eating all day, we went to Ghengis Grill (YUM!) and then picked up my sister to babysit for the night. We went to Sting, a club in Addison, and I think I was the only white girl there. Nevertheless, it was one of the best nights I've had in a looong time. Harland and I were having a blast on the dance floor, and it was great to really have a good time with him again... it's been a whiiiile. We were limited on funds so we brought 2 flasks and just bought cokes (sneaky sneaky) and then I did something I'll never do again.. had our first shots of 151. The instant it went down, I regreted it. We went outside to get some air and let me stomach settle-- but after 3 cups of water I was feelin GREAT. :) Sonia showed me how to salsa.. and we ended up doing that on stage. ha. Great night. I missed that closeness with Harland because of constantly tending to the baby, but I feel it again.

The next day was Michele's birthday dinner at Nanny & Papa's. It was the first time Brodie was with his whole family (well my side) so I had to get a pic...


Michael crawled for the first time in front of all of us!!


PS. Harland hasn't smoked in 9 days!! Whoo-hoo!!

PSS. I'm going back to work this week... boo. So let me know if you want some Brodie time cuz I need sitters! :)

Weird things...

Here's some random things I've figured out that might help other moms out...

Weird things that make Brodie stop crying:

*THE DISHWASHER. I'll put his chair on the countertop when the dishwasher is on and he falls right asleep.

*THE DRYER. Put him in the carseat and the vibrations and load noise calms him down.

*THE VACUUM. You can vacuum right underneath his swing and he crashes out.

^^The only downside is the SECOND any of these turns off, he wakes right up.

**THE COLOR RED. It's the only color babies can see besides black and white. I put him in his chair and he didn't stop crying until he turned his head and saw the curtains. Kept him entertained for like 20 min! haha

If I find any other strange things make him happy, I'll let you know! :)

Quite the turn of events..

Lots of things are looking up! My left breast isn't producing enough milk for Brodie so I have to supplement with an ounce or two of formula which I hate to have to do, but for the first time in about 10 days he seems really satisfied after he eats... which has been leading him straight to sleep at night! Last night he woke up twice, ate, and went right back to sleep for four hours each time. We slept from 2am-noon... Thank you very much!


Thursday, Harland and Sean went to go watch the Cowboy game so Brandi and I hung out at her place... she took some really cute shots of Brodie and I with her new badass camera.










Friday, Harland and I went out while Lindsay watched little man, and she volunteered to watch him through the night! We warned her it wasn't easy, but she wanted to do it anyways. Do I have the best sister in the world or what?! We slept in the guestroom and every hour I woke up and walked by her door to see if he was crying, so I actually would have had better sleep if I would have slept with him myself. Oh well it was a good dose of birth control for her :) muahaha

Last night was Jess' 23rd birthday.. she had a Barbie and Ken themed party-- LOVE theme parties. I wore my old pink junior prom dress and went as evening gown Barbie. Good times. Wanted to stay longer but Lindsay was really tired from the night before so Amber took me home after an hour.


Another amazing turn of events: Harland says he's quitting smoking. This is basically the only thing we ever fight about... so if this were to magically happen, Harland would basically be superman. He has never lit up infront of me, but it breaks my heart to find lighters in his pants or when I can smell it on him. He says he's quitting because I hate it so much so it would mean the world to me if he went through with it. Cross your fingers!