Merry Christmas

With the day almost here we are feeling incredibly blessed and grateful for another amazing year.  

From our family to your.....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

and 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

See you in 2013

What a week

I cannot begin without speaking of the horror which occurred to 27 innocent people and children on Friday.  As a family it has hit incredibly close to home, we have a first grader and in one year I will be a teacher in a classroom just like Sandy Hook, not to mention just the unimaginable pain that goes along with being lucky enough to love a child.  I am at loss for what to say, struggling to understand my feelings except that our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected by the senselessness which occurred to such innocent teachers and children.  Tragedy is an understatement and I certainly will take every opportunity to hug my children a little tighter and appreciate every moment we have as a family!

Without taking away from loss of innocence, so much has happened in our lives this past week.  Beginning with our little man turning 5 months old today!  It is so hard to believe that Graham completed our family five months ago.  At times it is hard to remember what life was like before, while other times I cannot believe it has already been 5 months!

Graham has grown and changed so much in the past 153 days.  He now weighs 14 pounds 7 ounces and is 26 inches long.  Graham is skinny ( below the 25%) and tall (the 75%) and has a whopping head (98%).  Clearly he is going to be very smart:)  We just moved him to size 3 diapers and he is comfortably wearing 3 to 6 month clothes.

"What Mommy?  You think I look handsome"

We have started food with Graham and overall he loves it.  He started with oatmeal about a week in half ago then every three to four days have introduced something new.  We began with bananas which he loved, then went to sweet potatoes ( not such a fan).  Next Graham had pears and he loved them, crying because we weren't getting them in his mouth quickly enough.  Yesterday he had peas for the first time.  While he didn't spit them out, he certainly was not crying to speed up the spoon.  I make all of the food he has had, and I love doing it.  We steam the veggies then puree them in the food processor.  I add oatmeal and breast milk to each food.  The fruits have only needed to be pureed so far.  Our little man certainly is growing up so quickly.  While I want to keep introducing new foods, I also find myself trying to slow things down a bit because he is growing way too fast.

Not a huge fan this day

Graham has not rolled over yet but can get all the way onto his side and then gets so frustrated.  Selfishly I am just fine with laying him down and knowing he will stay in that same spot so I see no rush in helping him figure out the mobility thing just yet.  G has also found his toes.  He loves to try to get his toes into his mouth.  He can keep himself busy for a good amount of time trying to work that out!!  Graham has also taken a serious lovin' to his brother, and Reece loves nothing more than being able to get Graham to laugh.  I cannot soak it up enough. Gregg and I have talked so much about the day that they "found" each other.  It is priceless!!

Sleep is honestly all over the place.  He will occasionally sleep through the night (10 pm to 630 ish am), most nights he wakes up around 4 am to eat then falls back asleep until 730 or 8 am, but we have also had our far share of days where Graham is crying every 2 -3 hours.  I really am at a loss for why or what to do.  Although after his last check up, the doctor did tell me that he can go at least six hours without needing to eat.  So on the nights he wakes often, I send Gregg in to give him the binkie and then he falls right back asleep.  I guess truth be told we really struggle with a schedule.  Graham is clearly the second child because we often have to wake him to run Reece to one of his countless activities.  He is often sleeping in his carseat, or we omit his bedtime routine, so my Christmas break goal is to work on G's schedule.  He needs at least one nap a day in his crib and a consistent bedtime.  We will see if we can make that happen even if just five days a week.  I am also ready to get rid of the binkie.  We could have a dozen binkies but somehow can never find one of them and usually it is in the middle of a 5 month old meltdown or at 4 am in the morning.  I hate that thing but also realize that it soothes Graham especially at night.  So my plan is to not give it to him except at night time.  I also hope that this with help him learn to soothe himself without needing us to come in and put the binkie back in his mouth.  We will see....

Graham is such a happy little man.  He still loves being outside, and luckily the temperatures have not gotten too cold yet that we can bundle him up for a little vitamin D and fresh air.   Graham is really observant and loves to watch the lights, motion, and sounds, wherever he is.  It won't surprise anyone who knows us, but G is quite a chatter box.  He loves to be sung to and will coo, babble, smile, and laugh back.  His smile never gets old and certainly makes our day!!   We have also spent the past few days trying to soak in every moment of Graham's first Christmas.  

Our little helper...

Visting a life size gingerbread house

 This is a Christmas party which was at Graham's day care... it was so much fun

Finally I have to mention that while we have been reminded how quickly life can change, we have so much to celebrate.  Gregg just accepted a new job as the superintendent of Tam O'Shanter Country Club.   Not only is it a huge promotion for him professionally but also a game changer for our family.  I couldn't be more proud of him!  Then yesterday I received my semester grades and am humbled but so proud to now be on the honor roll.  It certainly makes all the hard work and time away from my boys a little more worth the sacrifice.  Clearly 2012 has been a great year for us as a family and the future looks incredibly bright!  Christmas has come a little early for us and we will be celebrating!!!

Keepin' It Real

So I received an email the other day which really made me think, a friend was saying that even as we get older and have new and bigger responsibilities, she appreciates the fact as friends we don't glamorize things, we say it like it is.  She commented on appreciating that we don't post pictures of our crazy elves day after day, or our "our awesome weekend spent decorating with our well behaved children".  I was caught slightly off guard but appreciated the candor and realized that that's what good friends do.  I also realized that I find myself biting my tongue and not always saying exactly how I feel because "what would people think??"  Well this blog has been a place where I have really been able to be myself and say my thoughts and feelings about life, my family,  and my children.  So today I think it is time for me to get REAL !!

15 weeks ago today I dropped Reece off at school and Graham who was only six weeks old, and headed off to college, having no idea how difficult the journey would be. Not to mention having to actually put intellectual thoughts together off of maybe 6 hours of interrupted sleep. Many people had asked me if I was planning to take a semester off with having a new baby and honestly I never thought of it.  I have waited this long to go back to college, I certainly didn't want to waste anymore time, so how hard can 17 credit hours be with two kids one being a newborn?  And in hindsight I am so glad I pushed through, but HOLY COW!    I have missed so much of Reece's schooling, Graham is growing and changing, and find myself completely consumed in my own studies unable to take the time to even have Reece read me a book.  A parent asked me if I saw the note about designing a yearbook cover, honestly I haven't opened Reece's school bag in three days, not to mention getting home before he is even in bed.  About four weeks ago I remember calling my dad crying asking (well not really just needing to vent) if this is all really worth it?  I could go back to my part time job where I had time to do things like workout, plan dinner, and sit down with Reece to make fun crafts.  He assured me that "Lindsay, this is temporary, you will be done before you know it, and really what you are instilling in Reece(and Graham) about the importance of education will have far bigger rewards then being able to help out as a room mom in his classroom this year!" We spoke about goals and how much  more rewarding they are when we have to work hard to fulfill them.."Lindsay you have never chosen the easy path in life, yet it certainly has been worth it!!"  While I certainly know he is right, I struggle with not being able to do it all. 

Did I forget mention that Christmas is 12 days away.  I finally made the time to get the tree decorated two days ago, even putting a small tree in Reece's room, and our village put up (well most of it).  Reece came home from school the other day so excited to see the house decorated.  It made it all worth it!!  And so while I haven't even begun my Christmas shopping I know that after my last final today, it will be time to get out and find the perfect presents.

Yet what I have learned through all of it is that I really do treasure the moments when I have a half an hour before dark on a warm December day where Reece and I can play football, or when I lay on the floor next to Graham and laugh and coo at each other for 15 minutes straight.  My house certainly is not clean, my pants are still to tight on me, the boys are not always bathed, I holler at Gregg way to much out of my own frustration, there is laundry needing to be folded on almost every available chair in the house, yet I am really proud of my family and what we have accomplished these past 4 in a half months because of our commitment to following through and working hard.  I hope that the next two in a half weeks can be filled with lots of elf pictures and Christmas festivities with the boys being perfectly behaved (yeah right!), however quite honestly I will have no problem sharing it because I have waited a long time to be able to really enjoy it!!

But in the meantime I have one last final in two hours so I better stop procrastinating and get back to studying while Graham is sleeping!!

For Her....

With Christmas around the corner, here are a few of my wish list items....

For Her.... by lindsay-matthews featuring forever 21

Travel jacket / J.Crew j crew / UGG Australia arch shoes / Asics athletic running shoes / ALDO / BP. infinity loop scarve / Forever 21 / Sephora Collection / philosophy

19 weeks old

Well it has been a busy and eventful week in half around here...

Health:

As you can see by the rolls Graham is accumulating, he is a growing boy.  I am not exactly sure on his weight as he doesn't go back to the doctor until Dec. 7.  However as we do with each appointment, we have a family contest as who is closest to G's weight.  I am guessing 14 pounds 7 ounces.  Reece said 15 pounds and Gregg hasn't voted yet!

Sleep:

Well I was going to say that Graham is doing awesome with his naps and is only waking up once a night usually between 4 and 5 am, knowing that as I wrote it I would jinx ourselves.  Sure enough he is laying in his bed right now exhausted but fighting going to sleep, so sure enough I am not sure.   I seems to be exhibiting some signs of teething but I am so hesitant to think that.  Starting around this age Reece was doing many of the same traits, hands in his mouth, sometimes stuffy, drooling, and crabby crabby at bed time.  The pediatrician assured us it was teething and YEP Reece didn't cut his first tooth until he was a year old!  So while I know all kids are different and maybe Graham will teeth earlier, I am not buying it until I see a tooth!  So for now I think he may just be going through a little something in regards to going to sleep, lucky it as not yet interfered with his nighttime sleep! (fingers crossed)

We are sporting our Christmas clothes now that it is December!

Diet:

We are still all breast milk.  When he takes a bottle it is usually 5 ounces I have pumped.  I try to pump at least once a day but I am not getting enough for one bottle at each pump so we have had to go to our reserves a few times.  I am hoping over Christmas to be able to get back in a better pumping schedule and build my supply back up.  I was also trying to slowly introduce some dairy back into my diet, which I had only had a little cheese sprinkled on top of a meal.  After about a week I noticed Graham was really starting to struggle so I am back to 100% dairy free.  I realized that the more I tried to dabble in a little bit here and there the more I craved dairy.  When I cut it out completely I am fine!

Likes:

Graham has changed so much in the past week or so.  He is so much more alert and social.  He wants to be looking out and checking out the world.  He loves to play and hold onto toys.  He will notice us across the room and laugh or smile.  He loves to kick his legs when he is happy or excited.  And while he still can be very serious, he is such a happy baby.  He wants to put everything in his mouth, including seeing how far he can get his fists in there!  

Milestones:

Graham met Santa for the first time!  Sure enough he sleep through most of it.  He did decide to wake up for just a few minutes in order for us get a few pictures of just him and Santa.  (I will be doing a holiday happenings post later this week now that we are in Christmas countdown mode)  Early Friday morning my best friend, Brittany, had her baby we have been patiently waiting for.  Malone Charlotte was born at 1:21 am weighing 8 pounds 13 ounces.  Of course Graham could not wait to meet her!  It will be so amazing to have the kids be so close in age growing up.  I'm sure these two will be having a lot of fun together for a long time!!