Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

How many times have you heard this saying and thought, "That is such a silly phrase. What does that even mean?" Countless... until this morning at 4am when it all clicked together.

I woke up to feed Baby J and decided to give him a bottle. It was pre-measured with 4.5oz of precious breastmilk. Jackson is a notoriously sloppy eater when it comes to bottles, so I was expecting him to make a bit of a mess. We start the feeding and the next thing I know my shirt is soaked! I was so confused in my half-sleep state and at first thought it was just JB being a baby piglet. Then I feel his shirt - totally soaked as well. I tip the bottle back up and see only 2 oz left in it. I did something wrong when I put it together and it just poured out all over me and my starving child.

feeding FAIL. Thankfully I had another bottle to give him or we both would have been wailing.

This makes the second time I have poured a drink on someone, but my little guy didn't deserve it (cannot say the same for the jerk in the diner).

Oh the adventures of being a mommy :)

4 Weeks/1 Month

Jackson is one month old! Boy has he come a long way s
ince we met him on Feb. 24th. He is SO big these days! He is also developing and changing so much every day, and I love to spend time just watching his faces, or watching him sleep. Creepy mom alert....

Milestones:

JB has slept for 5+ hours twice this week. Hoping that this continues, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I'm still not used to this at all, so I wake up often just to check on him. I will calm down eventually and then I will get 5+ hours of sleep too!

Jackson has lots of new faces that mimic mommy's faces. My favorites are his crazy eyes look and his kissy-face/zoolander face.

He is more and more alert every day. Lately he has been staying awake in the mornings from 7:30-10ish. Then he gets an hour nap and is up again until 1.

I am still attempting to transition him out of sleeping in his car seat. Slowly but surely it will happen. I hope.

He is very demanding these days. He wants to be held or sleep in my lap all morning long, which means I don't get to eat breakfast unless I shovel it in my mouth while holding him. Today he has only allowed me to have some coffee and an oatmeal cookie. Okay, I chose the cookie. But it was staring me down and I was hungry :)

Jack is growing like crazy and has the cutest pudgy belly and double chin. Why is fat and chub so cute on babies and so not cute on me?? I attribute this growth to his voracious appetite. He is eating about 4-5oz every two-three hours. Yum yum yum!

Here is the little chunky butt at 1 month old:

I always catch him mid-yawn. Adorable!

Oatmeal Cookies

I had the baking urge today, so I took advantage of JB taking a nap and made one of my favorite cookies - the oatmeal craisin cookie. Here is the delicious recipe:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups oatmeal
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and both sugars together until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. Slowly add in dry ingredients.

Add oats, white chocolate chips, and craisins. Mix together with spoon (hand mixer just doesn't do this well).

Spoon onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!!

Here are mine from today:

Yummy :)

Blowouts - A Whole New Meaning

Blowouts to me used to be what I received at the end of a hair appointment (get your minds out of the gutter people); I left with a beautiful, smooth, shiny head of hair. Ahh.... the days.

Blowouts after baby = disgusting event at the changing table. My child has an extraordinary ability to blow his you-know-what all the way out of his diaper and up his back. Sometimes it gets out of the sides and onto his clothes, my clothes, his legs, my hands, the boppy pillow, the couch, you get the picture.

I wish there was a magic wand where his poop could become jelly beans, just like the little bunny in the new movie, Hop. I can dream, right?

Oh Baby!

I have the cutest kid ever. Okay, so all parents say that, but it's true in this case :)

He has adorable eyes, ears, hands, feet, and the cutest little lips.

Not so cute? The fact that he wants to be held 24/7 when he's awake. It's making me crazy. Was making me crazy - until I purchased a Moby wrap and started babywearing. Now I can actually get things done around the house (to an extent, don't think I back to my usual Martha Stewart self yet). In fact, I am wearing him while I type this message. I love this thing and I am so thankful that I purchased it. One of the best baby purchases I made.

Another incredible purchase? The Summer Infant Sleek Video Monitor. Hello, piece of mind! I convinced Trevor that we NEEDED this item if Jackson was ever going to sleep in his own room. He wasn't sold on it, but he gave in to my incessant begging and let me get it. I used my bargain shopping skills and ended up getting it for $73 instead of the normal retail price of $199, so that made him a little happier with the purchase.

This thing is incredible! It has great picture and sound quality (I can even hear him breathe!), and is worth every cent. Trevor even thinks it's pretty cool :)
Jack has now slept alone in his room for the past few nights and it's working out great. Anytime I want to I can see what's going on and how he's doing.

Next step - getting him out of the habit of sleeping in the car seat. Wish me luck.....

3 Weeks Old!

It's hard to believe that three weeks have passed by since Jackson was born. Time is flying by and I have little moments every day where I think that he will never again be this small. It makes me weepy and emotional - a true sign of mommyhood!

He is growing so much every day - he is filling out all of his newborn clothes now and soon he will move up to 0-3 month clothing. He is super alert when he is awake, and I love to watch his little eyes take everything in.

Eating: He is eating every 2-3 hours, and if given a pumped bottle he will eat about 4oz at a time. We are supplementing with formula here and there, though I wish we weren't. I don't know why, but I just don't like when he gets it. He was really fussy the day after we gave it to him for the first time, and has been fussy every time since, so I feel like it's not settling well with him. We gave him sensitive tummy formula, but it still doesn't settle like breastmilk does.

Sleeping: He sleeps about three hours at a time, but last night he slept from 9pm-3am. It freaked me out!! I woke Trevor up to see if he thought Jack was fine. Turns out, he was :)
Hopefully he sleeps like that every night. I would be in heaven!

Likes: He loves loud white noise, like the oven fan, the vacuum cleaner, and the hair dryer.

Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed and taking baths. He hates being undressed in any way!

Put the Donut Down and No One Gets Hurt

Jackson will be three weeks old tomorrow, and so will my postpartum body. It's time for the both of us to shape up (okay, just me). I officially gained 28lbs during my pregnancy, and have lost all but 6 of them. I loved that the weight was just falling off at first and hoped that it would continue to my pre-preggo weight and size. No such luck. Looks like I am going to have to work for it. *sigh*

My plan is to work out a little every day (elliptical, light weights, strengthen ab muscles so my tummy doesn't look like a sad face anymore), and eat healthy. The working out part isn't that hard because I enjoy it. It's a little tough to find the time with Baby J, and I would rather nap, but I'm getting back in the swing of things.

It's the eating healthy that's killing my chances. I let go of my crazy caloric counting while I was pregnant, and didn't pay attention to serving sizes at all. It's not like I was at Taco Bell or McDonald's pounding down Big Macs and Spicy Chicken Burritos, but I definitely indulged in many a pint of ice cream and some yummy bleu cheese burgers from Whole Foods.

So now it's tougher than ever to give up my sweet tooth and embrace the urge to police myself. I always thought that I would bounce right back into shape, and then laugh at the people who say, "It took 9 months to put it on, it'll take 9 months to take it off". I still am hoping it doesn't take 9 months, but I'm thinking it might take 2, or 3 depending on how many more batches of caramel turtle brownies I make and how many more times I ask my mother-in-law to bring over donuts.

At the same time I'm patting myself on the back for another pound lost, I'm happy that the baby is gaining a bunch of weight. Funny how that works!

My goal is to be back in my normal shape by April 24th - Easter and two months after giving birth. I'm saving up my money to go on an awesome spending spree, so my rewards will include a nice new pricey pair of Citizens, a new handbag, and some gorgeous, ridiculously high-heeled shoes. And maybe a little cupcake here and there.

It's the Little Things

Being a new mommy is tough. Very rewarding, but definitely hard. I love being with my son more than anything, but he is quite the attention hog. It's simply impossible to get things done in a timely manner with him. Don't get me wrong, he's a great baby who isn't too fussy, but he is very particular about what he likes (just like mommy). He's not really into his swing, he doesn't enjoy his bouncy chair, and he hates to be flat on his back in the crib or pack n play for more than 30 minutes. So glad we spent hundreds of dollars on all this stuff just so he could love sleeping in his car seat.

I am lucky to get in a short workout and maybe a few loads of laundry during the day. I have hope that we will work out a better routine in the future, but until then I foresee lots of dog fur piling up and many nights where the husband brings home dinner.

I never believed moms when they would say they couldn't get anything done around the house, and I wasn't very tolerant of families who show up late to events. I'm SO getting that thrown in my face now!

I give thanks for the few moments of mommy-time between feedings and naps and rocking. Today it was to scarf down some brownie after lunch, and also to work out for 20 minutes when Trevor came home. I think those may have zeroed the other out....

I think I will take this in a positive way, and know that Baby J is probably doing me a favor. I've been known to be a bit obsessive when it comes to organizing and planning life, and that is just not possible these days. I guess I'm fulfilling my New Year's resolution to be more laid-back inadvertently!!

Here is a pic of the little guy hanging out in his crib (he lasted about 5 minutes):

2 Weeks Old

I am a few days late on this post, but JB is two weeks old already!! I can't even believe that it's been more than two weeks since I became a mommy and our family officially grew by one adorably perfect baby.

Jackson had his two-week appointment on Thursday and he is such a little rockstar. He weighed 7lb, 10oz. He's getting so big!

Every day brings new events for Jack. I love to watch him make new facial expressions and open his eyes more and more each day.

1 Week Old

It's already been an entire week since Jackson entered this world! The week has just flown by for us. It's already been such an adventure with our little guy.

He is such a good baby - he is rarely fussy and he's just so precious! We've experienced our first bath, our first walk around the neighborhood, and our first doctor's appointment.

We have learned that Jackson loves to go on walks or car rides, and he only sleeps for a long time in his car seat.

My first bath

My first walk

Hanging out in my swing