Brody was in such a great mood this weekend! He is such a fun loving happy baby and this weekend was no exception. We spent our mornings snuggling on the couch watching cartoons. Despite the difficulty I have getting out of bed some weekend mornings, I love this time of day with him. There is nothing greater than walking in his room and seeing his face light up, legs start kicking and his little 2 tooth grin when he sees you. We spend the next half hour or so just snuggling on the couch watching cartoons until he is ready for his bottle. I wish I could spend every morning this way, but unfortunately I have to be at work before he is out of bed
The constant rain on Saturday forced us to spend most of the day indoors. We did venture out with Brody to a new wings place that Dave wanted to try. Brody did very well at the restaurant. He loves sitting in his high chair and making a mess with the food we give him . Before we left I told Dave that when ever I went out to eat with Anne and Theresa they made an effort to sweep up after their kids. We decided that we would do the same. The funny part about this is that the mess Brody had made with his mandarin arranges was small in my eyes but to Dave it was ridiculous. Never the less we probably left our table area cleaner than when we sat down.
Rainbow After the Rain
Sunday was busy, with random stuff. We did manage to get Brody's big boy car seat installed and so far I think he likes it. I guess he better because he will be in it for a LONG time.
Big Boy Car Seat!
Sunday evening I filled up the baby pool and Brody played in the water with Chase. I wish we would have gotten a picture of the two of them. I of course took a ton of pictures of Brody and I guess I will just post them all because they are all so cute I just can't pick.
Has it really been this long since I last blogged. I am so disappointed that I have not better documented this time in our lives. It really is crazy how much he has changed and how busy we have become. Since last posting we have been on so many adventures with our little buddy.
We took him on his first hiking trip to the Red River Gorge. We had to take a few stops to feed him and let him nap, but I think it is safe to say he loves being outdoors!
We have even been back to Florida twice. In April it was just Nana, Brody and I but in June Nana, Clark, Dave and I made it to the condo with Brody. Next time we hope that Uncle Aaron can make it. I am so thankful that Brody is such a well tempered baby, otherwise these trips would probably not have happened. Most of the time I have been traveling alone with him. We have become quite the traveling duo!
Beach vacationing is very different with a baby. It is incredible how
much stuff you need to keep him occupied/happy. Long gone are the days
of heading to the beach with just a towel, and a book. Now we have bags
of towels, sunscreen, formula, water, solid food, spoons, dry clothes,
bathing suits, regular diapers, swimmy diapers, floats, etc.
May was a busy busy busy month for me. Dave was gone in
Hawaii for three weeks and I was home with the little guy by myself.
Life sure is busy working full time and taking care of an infant. With
the help of Kaitlyn and my family though we made it. I even hosted
Mothers day for my family.
Memorial day weekend was one
of our busiest yet. We went to so many parties. Brody's cousin Cole
turned one, Jackie graduated college, Deacon turned 6, Clark turned 60,
and we had the Memorial Day Parade. Brody was such a little ham at all
the parties and despite my predictions he loved the parade and all the
loud noise.
Mothers Day 2013
Kaitlyn and Brody Made Costers!!!
Cole Turns 1
So far the rest our summer has been spent mostly at home, at the pool, or in NKY. Dave and I are really enjoying watching him grow and become more and more interactive. He is on the verge of crawling, has two teeth, and is just full of smiles and giggles. He still is sleeping like a champ, but sadly does not cuddle like he used to. =(
Lovin the Baby Pool!
6 Month Photos:
http://aaronmconway.com/
Best Buddies!!
Brody is changing so much, and he is changing so quickly. I love watching him learn and navigate life as an infant. I just can't believe he is already 7 months old. I know that before we know it we will be celebrating his one year birthday.
I started back to work on February 13 and it was so much harder than I thought it would be. Tuesday night was especially hard because I gave myself permission to get emotional about leaving him. I rocked him to sleep that night and then came down stairs and cried so hard. Although I knew he would be fine because he is such and easy going baby I worried that our nanny Kaitlyn would have trouble learning his cues and he would cry more than usual because she would not be able to anticipate his needs like I can. I do realize that the real reason I was upset was not because I was sad or scared for him but I was sad for me. I didn't want him to become more attached to Kaitlyn than me, I was afraid he would begin to want her when I was with him and I was angry because going back to work was not what I wanted to do but knew I had to.
When I woke Wednesday morning it went better than I thought. I got up at 5:00 pumped, and then got myself ready for work. Dave, Kaitlyn and I had planned out that I would not get Brody out of bed this morning and I was going to just get ready for work and leave without even glancing at him. I was afraid that if I looked at him that morning I wouldn't be able to stop the waterworks and showing up to work like that would be so embarrassing. I should have known that this was never going to work. I couldn't leave without seeing him. I woke him up at 5:45 fed him a bottle and we played till 6:30. I even managed to keep my emotions in check! When Kaitlyn arrived she brought two heart shaped homemade cookies for me. It was this simple gesture that really made my day so much better. I knew Brody was in such good hands and even if it took some time for her to learn his cues I knew that she would love him and care for him like he was her own.
My original assignment, for my first day back, was at the clinic doing pediatric cases. I knew this would be to hard so the group switched my line with Leah's line. I ended up having an easy case load at the hospital which was very helpful. I realized that I had spent so much time worrying about leaving Brody that I had not even thought about how it would be to practice anesthesia after being gone for 11 weeks. Luckily for me the day went pretty smooth. It was great to see everyone again and I really do love my job so in some ways it was nice to be back to work.
The first weekend after returning to work I knew I would just want to snuggle Brody so I had told Dave it was fine if he went out of town. I came to regret this decision, and like so many working Moms I had so much to get caught up on over the weekend that it was much busier than I had thought it would be. Luckily for me Dave came home from his vacation on Monday night instead of Wednesday, which was so helpful. I learned over the last week and a half that our nights are so busy after work that it really helps to have Dave home. Currently our routine is that I get home at 4 and I feed Brody regardless of when he ate last and then we snuggle on the couch for awhile. After Brody wakes up we play until Dave comes home from work around 6. A few of our evenings have been a little rough due to a decreased milk supply but we are working on improving that. Dave and I usually tag team dinner and while I am giving Brody his bath at 7 Dave is in charge of transferring pumped milk from bottles to bags, and cleaning all my pump and bottle supplies for the next day. After Brody's bath he eats and then around 7:45 I read him a story, rock him until he is drowsy and he goes to sleep in his crib at 8. He now sleeps without being swaddled which to my surprise was no issue to break. Luckily for us Brody stirs but never wakes until 5:45AM when get him up to eat and play before work. He is such a good sleeper!!!
So far we are adjusting as best we can to our new normal life and will continue to work out the details. Overall I am as happy as I can be with this new routine. I am so thankful for Kaitlyn and one day hope to work 4 days a week instead of 5 so that I can spend more time watching my little man grow.
