Postpartum second time around

Today I am 3 weeks postpartum with my sweet second baby Houston. 

I truthfully thought about skipping blogging about my postpartum experience second time around because I don't feel like I have a lot to say... but I know how much I appreciated reading back over my postpartum experiences with Leo and figured - it's my blog I can talk about whatever I want, as boring as it may be... and even if my experience is atypical - it is my experience.

Pretty much by recovery with Houston has been amazing.
I don't know if this is typical of a second baby or if perhaps I was just really, really sore after having Leo, but pain/uncomfortableness level between the two is not even comparable.
After Leo it took days and days before I could even sit and stand without pain and I had muscle soreness all over my body.  Literally the hour after giving birth to Houston I felt almost completely normal.
I had 0 swelling, 0 pain, and very minimal bleeding. I felt good enough to start going on walks right away and even went swimming 6 days pp.  That would not have happened after having Leo.  At just a few days pp I started aiming to walk a mile each day and then around 2 weeks pp I've upped it to try to get at least 2 miles in and also doing other light exercises.  Tomorrow at 3 weeks pp I'm going to start the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred that I had success with after having Leo.
I feel as though my stomach has gotten flatter much quicker the 2nd time, although at the doctor for Houston's 2 week appointment I weighed myself and still weighed 15lbs more than I did before I got pregnant!  I was truthfully pretty surprised, but I guess that's one of the things about being tall is that you can gain weight and spread it out more.  The majority of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit again within about a week, despite these extra 15 or so pounds.  I also think this time I gained my weight more in my lower half... I can tell my hips and thighs are bigger. Maybe Jillian can help with with that. lol.

As I mentioned in Houston's 2 week update - the ease of breastfeeding this time has been a huge part of my great recovery.  We haven't had any issues for which I am thankful for literally every single time he nurses.  I had a terrible first couple of months feeding Leo. Not having to worry about that this time is the biggest relief.

I have not felt emotional or as though my hormones were out of wack at all.  I distinctly remember one time(and only 1 time thankfully) after having Leo where I just felt like crying for absolutely no reason and didn't feel like myself.  It only happened once, but I think it must have been a small glimpse into what some women deal with after giving birth.  With Houston the transition has been so amazingly smooth.  The closest I have come to crying or feeling overwhelmed has been watching him and Leo interact and just thanking God that these two blessings are mine.

People keep asking me how I am doing and how I am adjusting to motherhood with 2 and it's like I feel a weird sense of guilt over how well we are doing.  I'm not going to say it's super easy, it's not.  It's a lot to have two people completely dependent on you, but it's no where near as hard as I expected it to be, or how hard others scared me into thinking it'd be.  I was especially nervous knowing that my family wouldn't be able to visit right after having Houston (long story but dad has broken leg and my mom has a broken arm....) and that Lee would only have a week vacation, but Houston has made life easy on us.

I don't know if it's just my personality.  I've always been a go with the flow, adaptable kind of person. I don't get stressed out by much.  And i'm pretty sure that I must have 2 extremely easy children... so the combo of those things - and my amazing, helpful husband (when he's not at work) - has made this seriously as easy as I make it look on my instagram account. haha. Sometimes you can believe everything you see on the internet.
And really - we're still only 3 weeks into this family of 4 business. I know it's going to get harder. I know we'll have rough days.  We have had a few of those already. One day last week Leo literally pooped his pants 3x. The kid who poops once a day every single day without fail found it in himself one day to poop 4x... 3 of which were in his underwear... but you know what it's just poop.  You can flush it and throw underwear in the washer (or trash, lol) and it all goes away.

I made myself crazy the last few weeks before Houston was born preparing "busy bags" for Leo.  I did every pinterest thing I found... and 3 weeks later I haven't pulled out a single one of them yet. I will and I should... but I still find plenty of time in the day to spend quality time with Leo.  We do all the activities that we did before Houston was born and more now!  We just find ways to include Houston - we read together and Leo reads to Houston.  We play doctor but do a check up on Houston too.  We play with the superheros and explain to Houston who each of the guys are. We take walks together.  We even all 3 took a bath together the other day... haha.  And it wasn't that hard and we all 3 got clean at the same time! 

My motto since I first found out that I was pregnant with Leo has been - if so-and-so can do it so can I.  Almost all of the couple I know have at least 1 kid and they make it work.  And out of those people almost all of them go on to have a 2nd kid and they just figure it out.  We're all just learning as we go.

Postpartum hair

I'm almost a year postpartum and my hair is seriously out of control!  At about 3-6 months postpartum I experienced a lot of hair loss.  It was especially noticeable around my forehead.  I had some pretty thin spots!

Now 6 months later I have more new hair growing in than I know what to do with!  I have these curls popping up all over my head!!! It is impossible to wear my hair in a pony tail or bun without a head band and when I wear it down I still have a few rogue hairs doing what they please - which is usually sticking straight up!

I told Lee I was just going to cut bangs to incorporate all these new hairs and he adamantly said no.  He hated when I had bangs!  So I sometimes when I really want to feel like my husband thinks I'm beautiful I pull all the hairs down and roll them under......... haha!

The good news is that my hair is GROWING!
It might be longer than it has ever been.  It's close between now and when we left Grenada.
It's passed my belly button and depending on what pants I'm wearing it touches my waist band!
I definitely need a cut, I just haven't made the time!

I sent this pic to my niece the other day.  We have an ongoing "who's hair is longer" battle.

I'm currently in the lead ;)

Thankfully I live in the sunshine state and 9/10 have a pair of sunglasses pushed up on my head taming my wild mane!

Anyone experienced insane hair loss and regrowth after having a baby?

Baby with a snowman cup

I'm still working on Leo's 9 month post.
It's a lot of work you know and we've had visitors and I've been sick and so busy just doing stuff.
Is that enough excuses?

anyway.

I just wanted to write down this sweet little moment that happened on Sunday and save it in my memory bank.

Leo has entered what I guess is the 9 month sleep regression people talk about.  I don't know, but all of a sudden about 2 weeks ago he decided that 3am was a great time to wake up and scream. Not cry, but scream bloody murder like he was being attacked... and then continue to scream until I give in and feed him (which I KNOW they say not to do, but come on, if you've had a screaming baby for 5 minutes you know what's it's like to just do whatever it takes to calm them down and get some sleep) or the other option is - Lee paces around the house or bounces him on his lap for over an hour and he finally gives up and goes to sleep.  The later doesn't happen too often because Lee actually isn't here in the middle of the night a lot lately!  He's off delivering babies!
So I've been fighting a sore throat and cold as well as being up in the middle of the night and then up for the day at 6am most days...
Sunday happened to be Lee's day off, but he was leading the music at church and needed to be there extra early so I didn't even get to sleep in like I usually do on his day off! waaa

That afternoon while Leo was taking a nap Lee and I both laid down to get some sleep (lets face it as tired as I am, I know Lee is even more tired.  Dude has been working so many hours this month it's insane) and as soon as we'd fallen asleep Leo woke up screaming....
Lee hoped out of bed immediately and told me to stay in bed that he'd take Leo for a walk.
I needed that nap because over an hour later I woke up rested to Lee and Leo peeking through the doorway of the bedroom.
Leo was holding a snowman cup that was half his size with the hugest grin on his face.
It was just the most precious little sight.
That little baby was so proud of his new cup and wanted to show his mommy.

I said what is that?! and Lee said - we saw it in Target and he really wanted it!
hahahaha.
Isn't that sweet?

I didn't know a silly plastic cup could make me so happy.
or maybe it was the Daddy that wanted his baby to be happy so he bought him a snowman cup.
;)






ps. for the past two nights Leo has slept through the night again... but getting him to sleep has been a struggle and today he skipped his morning nap.
boooo

8 months

I'm a week behind on posting Leo's 8 month update, but I kinda doubt anyone was waiting on the edge of their seat waiting to hear what he's been up to ;)
If you were, then you are in luck because I'm about to share all things Leo!

This past week was definitely the busiest we've had since moving to Florida.

I spent two days getting the car checked up/fixed... we've basically replaced every single part of this van this year.  I wish I was exaggerating, but it's like once we're in this deep might as well fix another $300 worth to keep it going for the next couple years... I am so thankful for this van, don't get me wrong, I just long for the days in Grenada when we didn't have a car at all! haha the next best thing though has to be a lease!  I LOVE our leased car!  I think I want to lease for ever!  Brand new, no maintenance.
aaaaaaanyway.

Then this week was Halloween and I of course spent way too much time working on costumes. Thrift store hunting, craft store, and last minute runs to the dollar tree. Even Leo's store bought costume I had to go and mess with.  I think that's a sign of some type of control issue perhaps.
I am very happy with the end result though!! Leo's Grandma Coghill bought the costume last year after Halloween on sale and was almost too small to squeeze him into, but we made it!
 Pictures to follow.

On Thursday I did a community tour for two applicants interviewing at Lee's program, which was fun.  I've always wanted to be a tour guide!  Hopefully I'll get to do more of those types of things.

And then the biggie - yesterday was our Fall Block Party at church!!
I was at church for TWELVE hours straight yesterday, which would have been a long time no matter what, but I also was doing this with Leo and no Lee for about 8 of those hours because Lee was working. (Lee's on his inpatient rotation and has been working about 14 hour days - boo)
I did have lots of help from others though, every time I'd turn around another  person would have Leo, haha, thankfully we haven't  got to the stranger anxiety stage yet and maybe with all the interaction with others we'll skip it?? I can hope... I love that Leo is so social and friendly with others.  He makes people's day by smiling and letting them hold him.  I makes my heart feel all mushy.

The block party was a HUGE success! It went better than I could have ever expected.  We had so many people from the community come!  I probably didn't know more than half of the people there!  There were kids everywhere!  I guess that's what happens when you have free bounce houses, candy, and food! :)

Needless to say I was very, very thankful for that extra hour this weekend.  I didn't get any extra sleep, but I did get some more things done!
Leo adjusted to the time change quite well but we also had him out until about 11pm that night at a party so.....  it's only Halloween once a year, right?
We don't have him out late often, with the exception of Wednesday night church, but when we do he handles it great.
Have I ever mentioned that I hit the jackpot of babies?

At 8 months Leo is seriously the funnest and sweetest he's ever been, but also the most curious and investigative.  He must know about everything.  He climbs in and over whatever is in his path to get to where he wants to be.
We've basically given him free reign of the entire living room, dining area, and hallway. I've found it easiest to just close all the doors in the house and put the packnplay up blocking the kitchen and let him do what he wants.   I also think this has helped with the separation stuff because he can follow me where ever he wants or be across the room playing with his toys and not feel like I've left him because there is no barrier up.  I mean, this could be completely untrue, but it seems like it to me.

I also think this is why he's so mobile.  I give him lots of space to explore and opportunities to cruise on stuff.
He has gotten so fast.  He flies across the room.  And he loves to be chased, he'll giggle and crawl away and then stop and look back to see how close you are.  He's so fun.



A couple days after he turned 8 months he started clapping his hands!  I should probably be sharing that on the 9 month post... but whateves.  It's so sweet!!!!

Before he turned 8 months he could stand for a few seconds here and there.  Only when he wants to.  I think walking is not far off... but I can wait.

He now has 4 teeth!  Two bottom and his two eye teeth - fangs just in time for Halloween :)

He has figured out feeding himself and we're practicing with more and more foods.
His favorite might still be oatmeal, but I've been giving him that less and less and introducing more foods.  He had yogurt for the first time a few weeks ago and loved it.
We've given him a lot of the common allergens - strawberries, eggs, and peanut butter.  Thank God he has not had a reaction to peanuts!  I started by letting him just lick some off of my finger (the all natural, just peanuts kind) and did that for a few days (and didn't introduce anything else new) and then gave it to him on some toast and he loves that.  He'll eat a whole piece of bread with peanut butter on it!
Lee said now that he's had it with no reaction we need to keep giving it to him at regularly to ensure he doesn't develop an allergy.  I'm like I'll do what I have to do to ensure I can keep peanut butter in my house.  I LOVE it.
Something else he's liked ok is ground turkey crumbles.  And lemons. haha we gave him one in a restaurant to watch his reaction and nothing. he just sucked on it.




I had to take Leo to the doctor this past month for what I thought might be an ear infection, but turned out to be a bunch of clogged wax. bleh.  The dr scraped out his ears and so.much.wax came out it was sick, but thankfully it wasn't an infection!  Leo's made it 8months+ with no medications! yay!
He was just a little over 24lbs then!

This month he also went to the zoo for the first time!  He liked it ok and I can assume will only lovae it more and more as he gets older.  We got a year long membership!



He attended his first magic show and stayed awake and attentive the entire time.  He loved it!  It was actually a real show for adults to benefit the children's hospital.  Our friends from church are professional magicians and comedians and they were performing so it was so much fun!!  They are incredible and I was dumbfounded several times.  He did a card trick that was unreal.  I'll have to see if it's posted online anywhere!

Other than that we've been going to MOPS, the beach, walks to the park, and church.  He is the most popular kid in the church.  The teens call him their mascot and I'm never lacking for someone to hold or entertain him.

His favorite things right now are -
the bathroom (if I'll let him in there) especially the shower curtain - it's the best
any open doors - he MUST get to them and see what's on the other side.  He crawled pretty much an entire basketball court (the sanctuary at church doubles as a gym) to get to an open door the other day.
his new musical, light up book I got for 50cents at a yard sale.  score!
being chased
crawling under things - baby needs a tunnel
crawling on mommy and daddy while we lay in the floor
the swimming pool




He's so sweet it hurts me.  I wish you could touch his little cheeks.  They are always so soft and the perfect temperature - if that makes sense.  They are just like begging to be kissed.
And he just has this angelic face and when looks at me and smiles it makes me melt.  Like literally my knees liquefy and I can't stand.
Oh Leo I just love being your mommy!

 He also figured out how to open these doors if they're not latched! ah! 

shower curtain fiend 

 Canadian Thanksgiving :) This is the day I gave him his first turkey! haha!

and this is why we don't "lock" him up often... he acts like it's the end of the world... does this mean he's spoiled?

I never would have guess that a 7 month old could "play" at the park... but he loves it! 

into eeeeeverything.

 at the zoo with momma and daddy! lucky duck!

 it was a rough morning... :)

 playing with our letters!  They're supposed to be for the bath... but I'm just not a fan of playing in the tub yet.  He's too slippery. 

on the bridge to the beach!  It's about 75-100 ft up in the air and it was a windy day - he loved it!! 

Notice he has an 8 on his shirt? :) 

I have more and hopefully better quality pictures on my camera - if I ever get them onto the computer that is! 

Teeth!

My last post was titled Sleep! and I ended by making a comment about how Leo would probably start teething and ruin it all....

well....

A couple days ago Leo was chewing on my finger (which isn't that unusual) and I felt something sharp!  His first tooth had popped through without me even noticing!  An adorable little bottom tooth.
Little guy showed no signs of teething other than a lot of drool, which he's been doing since the day he turned 9 weeks old.  I remember.

I was like wow this is way too good to be true! I could see the white of his 2nd tooth pushing up next to it and thought oh great he'll be getting a tooth right when we're flying to Ohio!
A fussy baby on a plane AND fussy baby in front of all the people I've been telling over and over again how good he always is.

Well that was 3 days ago and he has been more irritable than usual.  He hasn't been eating that well (solid foods) and nursing more often and last night he woke up twice in the night.   Poor little guy!!!
This morning I can feel both teeth through on the bottom so I hope the worse of that is over and we get a couple weeks of relief while we're traveling!!

We've decided to hold off on any type of pain intervention with Leo unless his teething pain gets a lot worse.  He's never had any type of medication and I'd like to keep it that way.  I also have read some pretty weird stuff about the teething tablets and the amber necklaces... so we won't be going that route either.
And in case you didn't hear the FDA came out and said no more baby Orajel!  So read up about that before you give your baby any type of numbing gel for teething!  http://www.webmd.com/fda/benzocaine-babies-not-good-mix


I'll be gone when Leo turns 7 months so I'll have to catch up on that post later.  But I'll give a quick little bit.  So much has been happening this month!

Leo can now crawl anywhere  he wants and as fast as he wants.  He will follow me all around the house and if he sees something he wants he makes a mad dash for it!  His favorite of course are electrical cords.  The only cords ever visible are our laptop chargers and he acts like it's Christmas morning when he can get his little hands on one!
Every morning I rearrange the living room putting the computers up and turning our coffee table sideways to block him in!

And as soon as he mastered crawling he wanted to pull up on everything.  He seriously tries to climb the walls!! He's not that steady yet so this also means lots of tumbles and bumping of his little head if he can get to something to climb while I'm not watching.
His favorite climbing toy though is Lee or I.  We lay in the floor with him and he goes to town climbing all over us and pulling himself up to a standing position.  He's so cute, but it makes me sad my baby is getting way way too big!

He's currently napping after a big early lunch of sweet potatoes, chicken, and apple sauce.  Dude loves to eat!  I'm pretty sure his mouth is feeling better because he just ate like 6 oz of food and nursed...... that diaper should be fun later.
Probably as soon as we get in the air on the plane.

Thankfully it's only a 2 hour flight!


If I haven't said it yet, solid food diapers are the nastiest thing ever.  Thankfully this week I was able to catch one on the toilet................. but only 1.  :/  We're still working on it, but we'll probably take a break while we're in Ohio.  Hopefully Nanny likes to change diapers......

Leo helped me pack his suitcase :)  As you can tell he's pretty excited to wear his long sleeved clothes!

Sleep!

I know it just seems like yesterday that I posted Leo's 6 month updated and admitted that we weren't quite there yet with the sleep schedule.... but in the past 2 weeks something miraculous has happened!
Leo has started sleeping the entire night through!! 10, 11, even 12 hours!

So what changed?
Well.... I got a little tough.  (In addition to maintaining a schedule and bedtime each night and allowing him to fall asleep on his own)
I wouldn't say that we did the Cry It Out Method because that is just a little too sad for me to handle, but I did let him cry some...
I began this a couple months ago making him stretch his feedings out in the night.
I did this by when he would wake up, say around midnight, I would go in and comfort him, but not feed him.  Usually this was patting him and offering the pacifier, but sometimes I rocked him.  After a while he realized I wasn't going to feed him and fell back asleep........... or fought it majorly and screamed bloody murder until I gave in and fed him.  We had both.

Eventually he began sleeping longer and longer until we hit about a 6 hour plateau.
I was fine with the 6 hours because he's still a baby and there's always that nagging feeling in the back of your head that maybe he really is hungry and what kind of mother would I be if I was denying my baby food?!

Well at 6 months a normal, healthy baby can safely go 12 hours without food.
So when he got a little older Lee suggested we get a little tougher and teach him that he could go longer and longer.
So once again I began comforting him without food, which sometimes meant crying... there were 2 nights that there was a lot of crying, or it seemed more like screaming.  He wasn't sad. He was MAD.

But after 2 nights of that he stopped waking up for that middle of the night feeding and saved it for morning, which I am happy to do.  For close to 2 weeks now he's been waking between 5:30-7:30 to eat!  If it's more like 5:30 I'll bring him to bed with me and feed him and snuggle for another couple hours.  If it's 7:30 he'll be up for the morning.  To tell the truth I actually prefer the early morning feeding because I love falling asleep with him next to me, and Lee is usually up around 5:30 so we have the bed to ourselves.


Now that he's sleeping through the night it seems like the perfect time for him to start teething and screw it up...

I didn't know...

Since becoming a mother I've discovered several things that I didn't know that I didn't know.

Things like:

The difference in quality between brands of baby wipes.
Pampers - best.  Target -good.  Dollar General - bad.

The struggle in deciding whether to get the stroller out or just carry the carrier.
Do I take the small umbrella stroller or the too big jogging stroller?
What if he falls asleep? The umbrella stroller doesn't have shoulder straps or recline so he'll just fall over.
If I take the stroller where am I going to put my groceries?
If I just get the carrier will it even fit in the shopping carts?
And lastly, how luxuriously large Target's shopping  carts are.

Planning a day around nap and bedtimes.
Do I go at this time so he'll nap while we're there?
Do I stay home until after the nap and get stuff done around the house?
Is being out late at night worth a grumpy baby and not so good night of sleep?

How annoying it is to wear nothing but nursing bras.
How annoying it is to only have 4 nursing bras.
That it's more difficult to wear a fitted shirt with horizontal stripes when your boobs are larger because sometimes you look in the mirror and the stripes are not straight...
And what it feels like to have boobs larger than a 34B.
How when you lay down you can actually feel their weight and when you jump it kinda hurts.

Speaking of jumping... how for a couple months postpartum if I didn't pee before doing jumping jacks I'd definitely regret it.
The importance of kegel exercises.  I thought I knew, until I got home from the hospital and almost peed my pants sneezing... then I KNEW.

That talking with other moms about diapers, breastfeeding, sleep routines, solid foods, and everything else baby is something I would enjoy and do an obnoxious amount of.

That babies sleep both a ton and never.
And that babies have erections.  That wasn't in the book.

The annoyance of pulling out outfit after outfit that baby never wore because he grew too fast...
The problem with where the heck do I store all this baby crap that this baby will never use again - swing, bouncer, play mat, bathtub, totes and totes of clothes...
Should we keep everything?  What if our next baby is a girl?  When should we have another baby?

That I'd even be considering having another baby.
That I'd want another baby like, today.

Stay at Home Mom

The other day I mentioned that I can now refer to Lee as PGY1 on message boards and fb groups but I've also earned a new acronym as well - SAHM.
I'm definitely a SAHM because I'm typing this one handed while nursing my Leo.

I am new to this gig so I'm no expert.
My little one is a week shy of 5 months old.

As a whole it has been the fastest 5 months of my entire life, but in terms of individual days.... at times it has seemed quite long.

I remember that I used to think what do SAHMs do all day?!
And now that I have a tiny one I  think - what do SAHMs of older children do all day?! What did I do all day before having Leo?!
It's all perspective I guess.

I just thought I'd share what I do all day and offer some things that I have found to be helpful.
Maybe you're about to have a new baby of your own and you're curious or you're never having kids and think that being a SAHM is all about sitting around watching TV and drinking coffee.

This is not my everyday, but this is a typical day.

Wake up
Nurse
Get ready
Go for a walk
Come home
Play
Nap
Nurse
Play
Nap
Nurse
Play
Hope Daddy comes home soon
Nap
Cook dinner
Nurse
Go for a walk
Bath
Nurse
Put Leo to bed
Watch some tv or blog
Go to bed
Wake up in the middle of the night with Leo at least once, usually twice
Repeat

In the middle there I do laundry, dishes, clean the house, eat for myself, talk to my family and friends, change a lot of diapers, and keep Leo, Lee, and myself happy.
And you know what?  I am happy!
Being able to be here 24/7 to watch this baby grow and  learn is such an amazing experience.
This week he learned to sit up and last week he found his toes. It's always something new, exciting, and fascinating.

Leo is such a good baby.  He really makes my job easy and fun.
But I am also a pretty laid back person.  I just go with the flow.


Here are things that I've found important/helpful, but like I said I don't really know what I'm doing, Leo and I are learning together.

#1 - make friends with other moms.
We are very new to this area.  The only people I know are from our church (which is actually a lot! I love our new church and they LOVE Leo!!), from the hospital (and unfortunately none of the new residents here have wives that are mothers), and the few elderly ladies I've met in our condo complex.
So I haven't found a friend yet that I can just call up to hang out whenever I'm bored.  That is a goal.
All the MOPS and mommy and me kinda groups take the summer off here.  So in September I'll probably be joining some type of group or as Leo gets a little older venture out to the local park or library.
However, I have LOTS of friends and support from other mothers long distance. My best friend Amber has a little guy about 2 months older than Leo and we talk multiple times a day - texting, email, facebook, skype, etc.  Being able to share this new experience with someone else who can totally relate has been great.  We share the happy moments like - omg my baby just rolled over and the frustrating times - omg my baby screamed through the entire grocery store.

#2 - set goals.
I try to have a goal for each day.  Maybe it's going to the grocery store or cleaning the bathroom or painting my nails, haha!  Seriously.  It not only gives me something to look forward to, but I feel so accomplished when I am able to complete the task.  Sometimes if they're small goals I'll set two.  One before lunch and one after.  It sounds crazy, but it keeps me sane!

#3 - have a routine. I aim for a schedule, but settle for routine.

#4 - include baby in household chores.
Leo is such a curious baby.  He loves to be talked to and to see what is going on.  I've found that things like folding laundry was so much more enjoyable when he's involved.  I'll sit him on the floor or in his jumper and fold the clothes in front of him explaining what each item is.
 For instance - This is a dress.  It's blue.  These are polka dots.  I wore this to church. This is a shirt.  It's red.  It's daddy's.
I do the same for dishes - This is yellow plate. This is a frying pan.
I used to bring him into the kitchen in his bouncer when I'd cook or do dishes, but I've recently discovered that it's so much easier to put him in his little umbrella stroller and push him around with me.  A, I no longer have to pick up a 19lb baby and bouncer and B, this house is a little larger than our last place so I can quickly move from room to room and bring him with me!

#5 - know what your baby likes and have a go-to will make baby happy in case of emergency trick.  Leo loves this one song that Lee started to signing to him when he was really tiny and now if I need a quick smile or to get his mind off of being upset I sing and he instantly snaps out of it.  He also has a favorite painting in his room (that mommy made!! ah feels so good) and for some reason he just lights up when he sees it.  And walks in the stroller are always a crowd pleaser.
Oh and Baby Einstein videos on youtube.  Yes I know all about limiting screen time (daddy's a dr, remember?) so this is only in small doses, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  Leo flips for these videos.  He loves any of them with the puppets.  This one is his all time favorite, skip to 8:36.



#6 - take advantage of nap time.
I feel kinda like this is something everyone says but it's much easier said than done.  If you can, ie you're not holding your baby during their nap, then get some stuff done while they're napping  or sit on the couch watching Cake Boss with your feet propped up.

#6 - get out of the house!
Leo loves to go on walks. Mommy loves to shop/browse.  Thankfully we live within walking distance to lots of stores so we often combine the two!

#7 - eat well.
This may sound silly, but one of the benefits of being at home to me is the ability to eat whatever you want, whenever you want  Who says you have to have lunch at noon?  Who says you can't have macaroni and cheese for breakfast?  Oh and drink lots and lots of water.  It's good for everything - including your milk supply!
And to be honest I have a stash in the fridge of Dr. Pepper (ok being really honest I think it's like Dr. Thunder... ;) and Reese Cups.  Some days I just need it!

#8 - be silly.
When it's just me and Leo I do lots of things I would never do in front of other people.  Things that I probably wouldn't do in front of Lee if I didn't already know that they'll make Leo laugh.  There's no need for sophistication with a baby.  I have a blast doing it and get in a pretty good workout dancing around like a fool.

#9 - share your day on social media.
I recently got an iphone. I know, I know, like 10 years later than the rest of the world.  But like I've explained, we are and have been poor!! But Lee's new job is paying for his phone bill and I could tack on for less than we were paying before! win win!
Anyway, I love sharing (er, oversharing?) pictures and videos of Leo!  It probably annoys some, but I know that our family and friends at home love it too! It's nice to have interaction with other people, be it virtually, when the only person you've had a conversation with the entire day is 4 months old.

#10 - don't loose sight of what you love to do.
Yes being a mother is the greatest thing I've yet to do.  Spending time with my Leo is tops.  But I do have other interests.  I try to sneak in some time painting or crafting when I can and Leo is already becoming a great thrifting and beach combing partner :)





I'm sure there are lots of tricks I don't even know yet - please share what works for you!!!

Sitting, standing-ish, "crawling"

Leo is in a hurry to be a big kid and this mommy has mixed feelings about it :/
For several weeks now he has been trying to sit up while he's laying on his back.  It's like he's doing crunches - so adorable!  He is getting stronger and stronger every day and is actually able to get his head and shoulders pretty high up.  When he throws his legs up he gets even more momentum!

We've been practicing sitting up here and there - mostly propped up on the couch or in my lap while I'm sitting cross legged, but this week he decided that he can sit up all by himself... for a while anyway.

The standing is just something I tried one day so I could get a good picture of his cute little baby jeans and he was able to do it!  I propped him up on a chair and he just stood there playing.  He can even hold on one handed.  Show off! 

And crawling... well... he can't crawl.  Dude is only 4 months old!  But he wants to crawl so so badly!  He had been just flailing his arms and legs hoping for movement, but now he is able to dig in with his feet and move himself forward slightly or push with his hands and go backwards. We're talking inches, but still.
And he is able to go in circles.  Very slow circles.