connor @ 2 months

refusing to smile.

14.5 lbs.

starting to wear 6-12 month clothes

size 3 diapers

 

 

you love:  when we interact with you, laying on the ground and kicking around, and seeing the movements on TV.

 

you hate:  being laid down when you need something - and you always need something.

 

~~

 

Your smiles and coo's are a major source of my melting heart these days!  You just love being talked to, and you'll gladly (and easily) hand over a doozy of a smile.  I literally get tears in my eyes when you do this to me.  You've even shown us that you can "laugh" and it's so cute.  You get so excited!

 

You're much more predictable this month.  I know when you'll cry and I know when you'll remain calm.  I've got your cries down to a science - the hungry squawk, the tired screech and the dirty diaper GET THIS THING OFF OF ME cry.  Speaking of cries, that colic I thought you had?  It disappeared!  After talking with your doctor I decided to try a dairy decrease in my diet - no cereal, no glasses of milk, no cheese, yogurt or ice cream.  It took a solid two weeks to see the difference, but it worked.  You are sensitive to that milk protein, buddy!  I'll even notice that when I have something that has cheese in it (like broccoli cheddar soup) you will be very fussy the next day.  Bad Mommy!  I really have to watch it.  But most days, you are content and happy.  Thank heavens!

 

Your most favorite place to be is on my chest.  You love to be bounced and rocked and moved around.  You especially love it when I am having a conversation with someone.  It puts you right to sleep. 

 

During the day I still can't count on anything consistent with naps.  You like to snooze here and there, sometimes you'll give me a nice afternoon nap.  At night you're still pretty awesome, sleeping 8-5 and waking up at 12:30 and 4.  The only problem is that I am up for the day at 4.  Ouch!

 

After being completely annoyed by your brother last month, you've really started to enjoy him.  You'll sometimes settle down when he talks to you.  And boy does he love you - always giving you kisses and hugs.  We're like the three amigos.  Here we are wearing the scarves that Aunt Claud knitted for us. 

Kinda weird...Kinda cute.

 

xoxo and Happy Two Months.

 



you're a hoot

The past few months I've been recording conversations with my two year old in my notes app on my phone.  This kid literally makes me laugh out loud on a daily basis and I just have to get some of these remarks down on paper.  Er, blogger.

::He gets stuck in between the two couches (on purpose)::
Patrick:  I'm stuck!
Me:  What are we going to do?
Patrick:  Get the skid loader!!


::As we're driving by the train yard::
Patrick:  The train's not moving.
Me:  Nope, it must be waiting for cargo and the engineer will take it away.
Patrick:  I'll take it myself.


Patrick:  There's a river!  Let's cross it.  We'll need a boat.


::From the other room, I hear a BAM/BANG/CRASH::
Me:  Are you okay??
Patrick:  No, I'm great!


Me:  Please pick up those paper towels you got out.
Patrick:  No.
Me:  Okay, I guess we'll just have a big messy house.
Patrick:  No, a big messy castle.


::I trip on a toy combine in the kitchen while holding Connor::
Me:  You'd better move your combine, buddy.  I don't want to step on it again.
Patrick:  Go around it.


Me:  Remember when baby Connor was in my belly?  And it was really big?
Patrick:  Yeah!  And Dad is really GIIIANNNT.


::He comes walking into the bathroom wearing my slippers and then takes them off::
Me:  Aww did you have my big slippers on?
Patrick:  It was nothing, Mom.



You're hilarious, kiddo.  Thanks for giving us some laughter each day (in between the crying and screaming and getting hurt and not following rules). 

merry christmas

 

Merry Christmas, from mine to yours.

 

 

 

 

 

 



our christmas brunch

 What a fantastic time I had with my family!  They are so much fun.  When we get together its all about the drinks and movie quotes.  My husband and my sister's boyfriend can hardly get a word in with all of our loud talking and crazy laughter.  I've hosted the past couple of years and was a little reluctant this year because of the baby, but I went ahead with it anyways.  My plan of attack for cleaning was to start a few days prior to the party.  Day 1:  dust.  Day 2:  swiffer & bathroom.  Day 3:  kitchen floor, pick up toys, light candles and add finishing touches.  It worked like a charm!  My sister and mom are amazing and brought all the food - we had the perfect brunch menu:

• sausage & egg casserole.
• stuffed mushrooms.
• veggies & dip.
• shrimp w/ cocktail sauce.
• spicy meatballs.
• christmas cookies.

The first two are recipes that I absolutely have to share!

Sausage + Egg Casserole

 

Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.  Spread 3 cups of frozen hashbrowns on the bottom, then add salt & pepper.  Layer 1 lb. browned sausage (or any other meat you want to use).  Layer 1/2 cup each of green or red pepper and onion.  Layer 12 oz. shredded cheddar cheese.  Mix 12 eggs with 2 cups of milk and pour over all layers.  Bake @ 350 for 50 minutes.  (Can be made up the night before but doesn't have to be.)

 

Stuffed Mushrooms

 

1 lb. bacon

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 pound cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

5 lbs. white mushrooms

 

 

Let cream cheese soften a bit.  Fry up bacon and crumble.  Blend cream cheese and cheddar cheese together - add bacon bits to mixture.  Clean mushrooms and cut out stems.  Fill the mushrooms and place on a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake @ 350 for 40 minutes.

 

++

 

Along with the incredible food (and much more important), the drinks were out of this world.  My dad bartended and that man can whip up an amazing bloody mary.  We use Mr. T's bloody mary mix, a splash of V8, some woosteshire sauce (must be Lee & Perrin's) and ground pepper.  Garnish with an olive, a lime wedge and a stalk of celery.  Perfection!  As for the mimosas, we ended up buying a pre-made bottle that was the best $14 we ever spent.  Seriously, best drink I've ever tasted.  If you live near a Meijer they have it there - I've not seen it anywhere else at this point.

A fun morning with a fun family.  Love you guys to the moon and back!

 



surviving maternity leave

Yes, we're in survival mode around here.  I've got two weeks, four days and 15 hours until I go back to work.  The emotional roller coaster that is called Maternity Leave has gotten the best of me and I think I'm ready to take the exit.  A wave of exhaustion has taken over my mind, body and soul and it can no longer be beared!  However, like all moms who make their way back into the work system, I am conflicted.  Taking my precious babes to someone else all day?  And paying them? 

Come on, look at that face. 

Even though my stressed-out brain is showing signs of cell deterioration, how am I going to say goodbye?  Waaa.  We'll discuss that later.  I still have several days of insanity to make it through. 

So how have I survived?  What has gotten me to this point?  Surely something has kept me alive these past seven weeks??  Something besides Liam Hemsworth's beautiful face on the big screen??

I have to attribute my livelyhood to God, of course.  I swear He gives me babies to bring me closer to Him.  I have never prayed more in my life.

"God, please let him go back to sleep."

"God, please, I am begging you, let him sleep longer than 6 minutes."

"God, please let the sun shine tomorrow."

"God, please bring me my mother today so I can have some help."

"God, please telepathically remind her to get me a decaf peppermint mocha from Panera on her way."

++

I've found that having a "Goal of the Day" really helps me have a purpose in life other than making sure my children are happy.  Something that gives me motivation, like going through Patrick's clothes and boxing them up or addressing Christmas cards.  I happened to accomplish both of those this morning already - BAM.  Now back in the early weeks of maternity leave, my goals were much smaller, like 1.) Drink water or 2.) Open eyes.

Another motivator to deck the halls here at the Rowland house was this super ornament.  You all know I cherish these ornaments I've gotten every year since I can remember.  It was so special to add a 4th little moose this year.

We also got to add a 4th stocking this year!  There's no fireplace in our house so I made Jeff hang a shelf from Target in the dining room.  And to add some life, I bought a real pine wreath and hung it right on the mirror. 

Along with decorating, we've been dancing.  Sometimes these kids get so loud with cries and whines and yelling that I just have to play some music.  It's unbelievable how quickly everyone settles down.  Our current playlist includes my fave new band Straight No Chaser (you must listen to their Christmas music album!) and my fave new song Say Something by A Great Big World.  The one that really gets Connor to sleep is when we jam to Drunk Last Night by the Eli Young Band.  Ironic.

++

It got above 40° today so obviously we made our way outdoors.  We also went for a road trip to put the baby to sleep pass by the tractor dealer so Patrick could admire all the equipment.  We stopped at McDonald's for hashbrowns and a coffee for Daddy. 

These are the days, people.  These are the days.  I hope I can look back on them and appreciate something about them, because right now it's so hard.  And so stressful.  And so full of diapers and poop and burping.

finding our tree

If you remember last year's fiasco at the Christmas tree farm, then you know how excited I was for this year's almost certain catastrophe.  It actually didn't go too bad other than Patrick whining the whole time, Jeff giving me "the look" because we had to stop at McDonald's for two sausage burritos on the way, and us encountering below freezing temperatures.  Oh yeah, I forgot the screaming infant in the back seat.

 This is where I begged my son for a kiss and he told me no.

 This is where I tried to get a picture of Jeff's classic beer-in-hand-on-a-Sunday-morning-but-it's-okay-because-we're-tree-shopping.  It ended up just being a really nice butt shot.

 This is where I caught Patrick's pouty lip that he's gotten down to a T in the last couple weeks.

Aaaaand this is where he climbed on the merchandise.

 

 

I didn't even get a picture of our tree - it's defintely the best one we've had in a several years of some doozies.  I got the lights put on while Connor looked on in amazement.  I'll work on the ornaments tomorrow when I have some free time. (HA!)  But really, I hate decorating the Christmas tree.  Not only do I get sick of getting pricked by the needles but I just plain suck at it.  My talents stopped before they hit trimming the tree.

 

By the way, we finally got our Christmas card photo taken, and there was actually a good one in the bunch!  Our first attempt (that probably would've been perfection) got blown due to a certain Mom not having the SD card in her camera.  This was of course not shocking in the least so I didn't even get upset about it (even though it took a solid three hours to prepare myself and my family for the set-up).  This is the backdrop we used this year - I slammed a nail into the barn door and hung a wreath I don't use on my house.  It actually turned out pretty dreamy, did it not? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



acceptance

With big life changes comes a lot of acceptance. 

I must accept that...

1//  Connor is a bit of a crier.  Well, a lot of a crier.  He is very needy and it's difficult to get him content.  He likes to be held, moved around, and fed.  It's very hard to do all of those things when there is another child in the house to take care of.  Although it is getting easier everyday to read his cries and know exactly what he wants.  Two thumbs up for that!

2//  Patrick watches TV several hours a day.  This is not something I like to admit, but I have to accept that it is temporary and he enjoys it for now.  It keeps him entertained/occupied while I attend to aforementioned holding, moving, and feeding of his brother.  The major downside of this is that I go to bed with the theme songs in my head.  Bubble, bubble, bubble...bubble, bubble guppies.

3//  Along with TV, Patrick also snacks all day long.  His favorite line is "I want something else."  I've been getting creative with snacks - most of the time they're healthy but those fruit snacks come in handy when I'm desperate.  Which is at least three times a day week.

4//  My house won't be perfect for while.  This is probably the one that bothers me the most.  I love love love keeping a clean, beautiful home for my family - it's something I take a lot of pride in.  Unfortunately it is now full of toys and wrappers and DVD cases and car seats.  Dirty house, happy kids right?  I'm not so sure, but it's definitely what I'm going for.

5//  I can't do it alone.  Yesterday was a breaking point for me - I called my Mom screaming/crying "I told you I couldn't do it alone and you said you'd be here and I've been up since 3:30 AM and YOU'RE NOT HERE.  Connor won't go to sleep and Patrick is going to fall down the stairs and I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE."  For real though, it's impossible to do it alone.  Patrick has to be taken care of and it just can't be done without another person.  So...thank you Mom.  Thank you so much.

6//  Sleep is a priority.  I have found that I need a solid 5 1/2 hours of sleep to function through the next day, so when both babes are in bed at 8 pm I am unable hang out with my hubby and laugh at the crude jokes on Anchorman.  I have to leave him to his ESPN (I bet he hates that) and march off to hit the hay.  Great news though:  my mom forces us to do a lot of date nights/quick trips out together.  Who am I kidding?  She doesn't need to force us to "go have a beer."  She rocks.

7//  My body is different.  Holy hips!  I hate you!  I've never had much of a rear end/hips and I liked it that way.  Hello, pregnancy #2.  It's also taken me much longer to get back to my typical pant size this time around.  No more cheesecake and cookies and cereal for this mama.  My new diet is to:  eat what I would normally eat, but consume half the carbs and double up on veggies.  I cannot stand depriving myself of anything so instead of two pieces of toast, I'll just eat one.  I can do that.

8//  Life has changed again.  For someone (and her husband) who likes a routine and easygoing, smooth days, this can be hard to accept.  God wouldn't have chosen these two perfect boys for me if he didn't think I could raise them right and love them dearly.  So here we are, turning another corner in our lives.  And just like every other time a big change has come along, we adjust what we need to, hold onto eachother and to God, and LIVE IT!

connor at 1 month

 

11.5 lbs.

3-6 month clothes

size 2 diapers

 

You're a big one, buddy!

 

You love:  eating, being spoken to, eating, snuggling, eating, fresh air, eating and being held.

 

You hate:  being alone, traveling, shopping and a dirty diaper.

 

~~

 

You're starting to smile!  It's so beautiful.  You're making some goo goo sounds and it makes you really proud when you get it just right.  You also love looking at toys that hang, which is why you like to chill on your changing table once in a while.

 

You're a little pisser.  You've got an opinion and aren't afraid to show it.  We're actually pretty hesitant (and nervous) to accept that you're a colicky baby.  You just sca-ream when I put you down, and most anytime when you're awake.  Poor guy!  Poor Mommy.

 

You sleep from 8-5, waking twice to eat.  Once from 11-12 and again from 2-3, and that's on a good night.  Your naps during the day aren't consistent at all, but I can usually rely on at least a good two hour nap sometime in the afternoon and you take a few other short ones throughout the day.

 

You get a bath every night at 6:30 and you love it.  Sometimes we drain the water when it gets cool and fill it up with new warm water so we can enjoy it a little longer.  This month I'm going to start reading to you after your bath while your brother and Daddy take their showers.  It will be our quiet time.  (At least that's what we're shooting for.)

 

At the end of the day, when you're snoozing soundly, I thank God he has given you to me.  I am so lucky to be your Mom.  xoxo & Happy One Month.

 

 

this is how we do

 

 

By far the best parts of these long weeks of maternity leave are when we can get outdoors.  Connor has really been throwing us for a loop (see:  next post...) and it seems that breathing in the country air puts that little feller right to sleep, so of course we head out whenever we can.  The thermometer read 38° this afternoon but it felt like 50° - it was glorious.  We said hi to the cows, I straightened some of my wreaths on the windows, we checked the mail and we threw walnuts. 

Patrick suddenly stopped playing, put his hand up to his ear and said Mommy, you hear something?  I said Yes, I think you hear the trucks on the highway.  He said No, it's the leaves.  (They were rustling).  That kid makes my day. 

movie review: catching fire

All I can say is:  WOW!  This movie was incredible.  Literally, ten times better than the first.  I actually saw it twice in the theater and I'd really like to see it a third time.  I mean, I have to make sure I see the parts I missed while I was out peeing.

There is nothing like seeing a movie like this on the big screen - it just makes it that more awesome.  The costumes and clothes were amazing!  I even loved this plain jumpsuit that Katniss wore at the reaping.

The Victory Tour was surprisingly touching and very creatively directed.  In the book it was boring and dull.  When Peeta and Katniss visited District 11 and spoke to Rue's family I bawled like a baby.

The wedding dress was obviously phenomenal.  I especially loved when Effie told Katniss she would've made the most beautiful bride.  Actually, Elizabeth Bank's acting was superb throughout the entire movie.

The tribute parade was so much more vivid and dramatic this time around.  And Katniss?  Gosh, she looked like Cleopatra.  So beautiful.

But hands down, my most favorite part of the whole film was when Katniss' wedding dress morphed into the Mockingjay dress.  The music, the perspective, it was all so moving.  I cried again.

 

Another actor that caught my attention was Jena Malone who played Johanna Mason.  She was perfect for the part.  Her confidence is baffling!  And I don't know why but I really love her voice.

My sister and I kept saying Where the heck do we know her from?  And finally I said to her Pride and Prejudice!!  She was just a girl in that movie.

This movie quickly jumped to my Top Five Movies Of All Time list.  LOVED IT!

mushy holiday commericials

Have you noticed?  This year's holiday commercials are all about pulling at your heart strings - they're so beautiful it almost makes me want to shop at Famous Footwear.  Almost.

 

I mean, talk about a bawl fest!

 

And just to give your eyes and ears a feast, if you haven't seen this Volvo commericial you're missing out.  It's probably the most incredible commericial ever made.

 



 

last week's shenanigans & postpartum raves

Gosh, I've got so much I want to write about, but it turns out that keeping two children alive each day keeps me rather busy!  Jeff just left to take Patrick to the sitter and Connor fell asleep on his lounger while I grabbed a quick shower.  Maybe it was my beautiful rendition of Crown Him With Many Crowns that serenaded him into a slumber.  Anyways, his cat nap is allowing me to type as fast as I can to get some of this down in a post!

So things got really, really hectic around here last week.  I was truly on the verge of a complete freak-out. 

Patrick was yelling all morning, climbing on the counter and helping himself to the snacks in the cupboard.  I found him multiple times snuck into a corner sucking on Connor's pacifier or snarfing down the entire dish of dark chocolate mint m & m's.  He's also been really great testing his limits and pushing me to a nervous breakdown by:  pulling my folded towels onto the ground, coloring on my area rug in the family room and turning the TV off when I finally get a glimpse of Love It or List It.  He's also been super sweet and super funny but we'll save that for another time.

Connor on the other hand has been...well, a newborn.  He loves to be held and sometimes I can only get him to sleep by walking around with him in the carrier.  I change his diaper at least 12 times a day and change his clothes half of that from spit up or pee or who knows what.  What is with the spit up?  I thought breastfed babies were supposed to be perfect - no reflux, no constipation, no issues.  I was going to entitle this post "101 Reasons Why Breastfeeding Sucks."  Because it does, it really does.  Once again though, it's amazing in a lot of ways.  Seems as though my days are pretty bittersweet, wouldn't ya say?

Anyways, I wanted to rave about some of the postpartum items I'm digging right now, some of them have saved our lives.  Number one on the list has been our Boppy Lounger.  Connor's not always hip on laying there but when he wants to stretch out it's perfect.  We've also switched him to the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper which has been awesome.  We don't have a crib yet for him so this works perfect for the time being.  I moved it across our room so I can't hear all his grunts and snores (he's such a guy) - it was keeping me awake.  Other items:  the Earth Mama Angel Baby nipple butter was good, definitely better than Lanolin.  I only used it in the hospital and now and again after a shower because I just haven't had cracking issues.  I'm still looking for a nursing bra that doesn't make my boobs look deformed, but if you want one that supports like no other it's this Medela one that I ordered through the Gap.  One more item I'm loving right now:  Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry.  I just don't have time to style my hair so I run this through my hair and put it in a Mom bun and all is good in the world.

Can you believe it's Thanksgiving week?  I'm so excited - we're having it at my sister's house this year with just my immediate family.  No drama, no ugly looks.  Just fun.  And my grandma's chocolate pie.

the first snow

What a surprise to wake up to snow yesterday morning!  I was so excited for Patrick to wake up so I could show it to him.  All morning he exclaimed Look at the snow!  It's so preeeeeetty.  He took his stool to almost every window in the house, stood up on it and looked out to get different views of it.

When my mom came over that afternoon we were able to get outside and play in it for a little while.  He loooooved the snow.  He kept stomping around yelling I love my new boots!  They're awesome!  For once I was stocked and ready to go with winter gear.  I picked up the boots from Old Navy last week during their gigantic sale and the coat came in the mail from babyGap just a few days ago so it worked out perfectly.

The snow has pretty well melted now but it still got me just a little bit excited for Christmas.  I've been thinking about how I want to decorate the outside of our house this year and I just want to go nuts.  Patrick's at the age where he is awstruck about everything - he would absolutely love to see lights everywhere.  I think the kicker would be some icicles along the entire rooftop, but our house is waaaay in the air.  I begged Jeffrey to let me rent a crane to put them up - he said yes, as long as it's free.  What are the chances of me getting a crane for free?  Waaaaa.

If I can't do the icicles then I am dead set on getting some sort of obnoxious Mr. & Mrs. Claus to put out in the front yard.  Or maybe a huge blow-up Charlie Brown.  Kidding about the blow-up.  I hate those things.  Actually they're not too bad at night, but during the day you look like you've got 14 random parachutes strewn across your landscaping.  Speaking of Christmas lights, it looks like this weekend there is going to be a warm-up in Ohio so you'd better get hanging!

the rhythm of things

Here we are, two weeks into it!  I feel like I should get a reward at the end of each day - something extravagant like diamond earrings or a John Deere gator.  My cousin (who has one little boy) called and asked "Is it crazy?  Like, can you do it?"  And I answered with a mighty "Yes!"

Of course it can be done, because it has to be done.  I have no other choice - I have two children that need fed, bathed, tucked into bed, played with and kissed on.  It's the greatest gift God could have given me.  There are a few hundred moments during the day when I don't see it as a gift, when all I can think about is how tired I am or how sick I am of whipping out my boobs, but the end of the day when they're both sound asleep in their beds and I have Jeff by my side, that's when it feels like a gift.

I'm thankful that we were all able to get outside the other night, even if just for a few minutes.  It wasn't windy, the sun was out and the temperature was mild enough for my wee one to sit snuggly in the carrier.  If I'm being honest, besides the sleep deprivation, not being able to go outside and play with Patrick has been the hardest part of having a new baby.  We love being outside and would spend an upwards of three hours outside on a given day, rain or shine.  Obviously a fragile little one can't bear the elements like my tank of a two-year-old, so it's been put on hold until he gets a little bigger.

For the most part, Connor has been such a wonderful baby.  Up until yesterday he had been sleeping most of the day, breaking to eat of course, and sleeping almost four hour stretches at night.  (A good swaddle is the difference between a half hour and three hours for this kid).  I've also been able to nap most days since both Patrick and Connor have been going down for naps at noon.  I seriously owe every minute of sleep to the Fisher Price Rock n' Play Sleeper - greatest invention ever.  (Although we'll only keep him in there a couple more weeks).

One huge accomplishment is that I broke my breastfeeding record!  A whole 13 days with Patrick has been trumped.  Even though I never considered nursing Patrick "hard," it's really been a breeze with Connor.  I let him nurse to contentment on one side and then offer the other (which he typically takes).  The pain and soreness from the first week has worn off, as well as any engorgement.  Unfortunately they're still the size of watermelons which makes for my new love on non-maternity clothes not so fun.  Connor hit the first growth spurt in the last 12 hours and he's been eating every hour and a half (OMG).  Because of a couple bouts of gas/tummy aches/digestive issues, I'm really having to watch what I eat.  As of now I am avoiding all chocolate (and anything else with caffeine) and peanut butter, although I doubt that has anything to do with the issue.  I'm just going with my gut on these things.  No pun intended.

I'm thinking of busting out the pump this week to start storing milk for when I go on a hot date to the local tavern with my hubs back to work.  I despise pumping - it's so unnatural and I feel like an alien with those shields on.  Patrick is going to be like Mom, catch the next rocket to Venus.  But when it comes down to it, I absolutely have to see Catching Fire on the 22nd (no ifs, ands or buts) and therefore have twelve days to make sure I have milk stored and that Connor can take a bottle.

So there you have it.  My maternity leave in a nutshell.  Nursing every two hours, playing "Dump the Load of Corn" with Patrick and looking forward to that beautiful glass of wine at the end of each day.