366: January

Sleeping like a Baby

I woke up at 2:30am to go pee.  And I peeked at Lucas when I did.  This is what I saw.

He was sleeping on his side!

I've tried before to put him down to sleep on his side when he's been snotty and congested but he always just laid flat automatically.

One step closer to him rolling over on his own.

TGIGPS

Thank Goodness for GPS!

If I accomplished anything today it's that today I officially made it to and from work without using my GPS.  The first day of work this week of course I needed my directions.  Day 2 and 3 I gradually weaned away from it.  I had the GPS on but worked my way toward trying not to use it by having it on and running so I could take a quick peak as needed.  So today, Day 4, I didn't even turn it on!  And I didn't get lost.  Fortunately it's not too bad of a commute but I'm still learning the area.

Even though I have Verizon I don't bother using their Navigator.  I have a smartphone so of course I use Google Maps - it's FREE.  I use it just about every day either for directions or to search for places nearby.  Definitely 5 of 5 STARS in my book.  :)

Alphabet Scramble: N is for...

It's the first week of my Alphabet Scramble. 

Check back each week for a new letter!

 

 

 

This week's Alphabet Scramble is brought to you by the letter N!! 

Naps - Unfortunately I don't get enough naps right now, and going back to work I will get none whatsoever unless I choose to do so on my lunch hour.  But Lucas gets several during the day.  Lucky him!

Nightlight - And what better to go with naps than a brightly lit blue race car!?  We turn this on every night while he sleeps.  It's just too cute not to.

One of many firsts

Today was a day of firsts for myself and my sweet Lucas. 

It's been almost seven months since I left my last job due to relocation.  And now that Lucas is old enough I finally went back to work.  I found a great purchasing position with a pharmaceutical company except that it's a contract/temp position instead of permanent.  It's great pay and I have benefits through Hubby's company so that's not too important, but the stability of a permanent position would still be a plus.  My first day was today and it went well.  It was just orientation but I have learned so much more about the company and can see myself here if it works out.  And pharmaceuticals is brand new for me and I'm able to get the experience which is so desirable for the area.

Now Lucas had his first day at daycare.  He was the very first child there!  I left Lucas with one of the teachers and he's so used to being held by random people (family, not strangers!) that he didn't mind one bit with her holding him.  He just stared at me as I said good bye and went off to my new job.  When I went to pick him up he was wide awake and lounging in one of the bouncers at the daycare.  I knelt down in front of him and smiled.  He just looked at me like, "What?" 

"Don't you know me baby?!" 

"Did you forget about me already?!" 

Haha!  He did very well and took all his bottles they said.  He's such a good boy. 

Now I will leave you with a sweet picture of Lucas (or two)!

Welcome Bob!

Meet Bob.

He's a blankie.

Lucas loves to cuddle and slobber on him.

Yay Bob!

Thanks Grammy for our blankie(s).

License to Drive

Hubby is into cars. 

No, wait.  That's an understatement. 

Hubby is a race car driver. 

More specifically drag racing. 

He's even a champion some years.



This is Chrissy, Hubby's race car.



CPD Winner's Circle

So needless to say when we found out we were having a baby boy he and his family instantly began thinking about his racing future.  We've gotten so many outfits with cars on them; they even managed to find one with a "Christmas tree" on it...that's actually nonmenclature for the staging lights at a dragstrip.  I even found a nifty picture to show it!

Not only are my in-laws into racing but some of our college friends as well.  You see I met hubby in college thanks to some mutual friends.  One of which lived in my dorm down the hall and was also a groupie for our college Race Team.  (Ooh, if she reads this she will hurt me for calling her that!)  And Hubby was on the Race Team.

Many years later we are all still great friends and again, when we found out we were having a baby boy I just knew our friends would love the opportunity to get him racing-related stuff.  Of course, two our my girlfriends went so far as to host a baby shower for us!  And the theme was cars.  HOT WHEELS!  My Mom even had a friend who made us race car cupcakes.  :)



Now you know what I'm up against.  Needless to say I opted not to go all car-crazy in his nursery.  They are all just itching for the age when he's old enough to get his own junior dragster.  I say, let's not rush into things.  He's still my little boy.  And we have at least sixteen years before he'll even have his license to drive.

Alphabet Scramble

Maybe I should get Lucas his own set of the alphabet magnets.

I've decided to do my own version of an A to Z Challenge.  I will blog about one letter each week but I refuse to go in order.  I will be using this nifty Random Letter Generator to choose a letter for me each week. 

I've already started on my list to come up with some word ideas.  Some of them I have more than one word so there will just be extras those weeks.  :)  And since my world revolves around Lucas you can bet that most or all of the words will be Lucas or otherwise baby related.

But if you have any word suggestions just let me know and I just might add that to my topics.  :)

You'll have to stay tuned to see what the first letter will be!

I don't need sleep

It looks like we've started our three month growth spurt a little early.  Lucas just would not sleep for very long last night.  He probably only slept for about four hours when he started to stir just before 2am I think it was.  I laid him on my chest for a bit and he seemed to rest great there.  So I move him back to his bed and lay him down but NO, MAMA, I DON'T WANT TO LAY DOWN HERE! 

I just couldn't bring myself to get up just yet to feed him.  He didn't seem hungry, just that he wanted to sleep with Mama.  He usually stirs some time between 3-4am when I feed him then.  But eventually 2:45am rolled around and I gave up.  Fed him and put him back down about 3:30am.  He finally went back to sleep, but only until about 5:30am.  Well guess what DAD, you always get the 6am feeding so it's your turn!

By 6:30am I am yet again roused from my sleep with Lucas stirring.  Hubby had already fed and changed him and supposedly he fell asleep so was put back to bed.  Well he didn't sleep long at all then.  So I turned on his little night light/music turtle and he fought sleep but eventually got a little bit more.

I think about every 15 minutes he woke me up...

Until finally it was 8am and I couldn't take it anymore.  We got up and went into the living room.  Time to get the tv turned on and play.

Fed him again around 9am, this time he had a little extra and took it all.  My growing boy...  It is now almost 10am and he is finally dozing.  Let's see how long this nap lasts.

Zzzz...

366: Week 2+

Upsized

Well, we've finally got a few leaks in our Size 1 diapers to warrant moving on up to Size 2.  Lucas, you are getting so big!

Unfortunately, we had just purchased a case of the Size 1 diapers the other week thinking he would at least get to the end of the month with them.  So now I'm left with 120 diapers left over.  But I am able to gift them to a recent new mom who will definitely put them to some good use!

Fortunately, I was given a small pack of Size 2 diapers so I've got a good start to change him over. Those things are so much bigger than the Size 1's though.  We're going to have to fold them over at the top I bet.

Newborn - Size 1 - Size 2

(Huggies Little Snugglers)



One other good thing is that now we can get our diapers by the case at Costco and save a few more bucks.  The smallest they sell are the Size 2, exception being a bundle pack of Newborns, Size 1 and wipes that they sell every so often.

Let's see how long he'll stay in the 2's.  They really do grow up so fast!

Maternity Leave Coming to an End

Looks like I'll be going back to work.  That deserves both a :) and a :( .

I've accepted a contract Buyer position for six months at a Biotech company in the area.  It's a really great opportunity.  Not only will I get MONEY, but I'll gain some experience in the pharmaceutical industry.  I have none whatsoever and I'd say at least 50% of the industry here is pharmaceutical.  So I'll be able to open a lot more doors after this position ends.  I sure hope so anyway.

So that's the :)...

The :( is the fact that, obviously, I'll be going back to work.  Rather, I will not be spending my entire day with Lucas.  Although, I will have more "freedom" and get to have more adult socialization, he'll be dropped off with strangers to take care of him.  Daycare. 

We visited a really nice place yesterday that Hubby and I both really liked.  And fortunately they have an opening for him.  Another place I had called that we were going to look at had a waiting list.  So again, fortunately we found a spot for him.  Speaking of the daycare, he'll be in the infant class with majority girls!  Out of ten, he will be one of only three boys.  I sure hope he doesn't get himself a girlfriend too soon.

I hope to have one more week with him before both of us go off to a new adventure.  He'll be twelve weeks old by that time.

Stinky Stinky Stinky

Today I caught myself singing the "Stinky Stinky Stinky" song from the Hefty commercial when I carried Lucas to the changing table.  He had definitely done a Stinky.  I wonder if any other new moms have done the same.

It's quite catchy, isn't it?

366: Week 1

Mama Knows Best

I'm a first time Mom and I was very hesitant if I'd be good at it.  It's nervewracking to know you're responsible for someone so dependant and small.  I'm still learning as I go.

There are times when I feel like SuperMom though!  When Hubby gets home in the evenings from work it's his time with Lucas to spend.  So after dinner I might go off for some quiet time in the bedroom and read a book or watch tv or get that badly needed shower that I never got around to.

Occasionally there's a slight yell coming from Hubby requesting my presence.  Especially when there is a massive poopy diaper that he thinks he can't handle.  (Apparently it requires four hands instead of two.)

There was this one time where Lucas just wouldn't stop crying and Hubby is pacing the room with him or rocking him on the couch.  What is he doing wrong??  So there was one time that I just took Lucas out of Hubby's arms and placed him into his hammock and just walked away.  Guess what?  He shut up!  And Hubby looks incredously at me, "How'd you do that?" "Mama knows best!" I say.  Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "How'd I do that?!"

Or another time where again Hubby couldn't get him settled.  Lucas was just crying and crying and nothing he did would help.  "Just put him down on his back," I say.  Yep, that was the problem.  He was gassy and needed to stretch out, not be bunched up in your arms.  Sometimes you just gotta put him down.

But I can always just take the credit that I know what I'm doing because MAMA KNOWS BEST!

A House to Make a Home

HGTV!!! I find myself watching it ALL the time now.  Both Hubby and I are fascinated with all the shows, and there is a variety these days.  We love to watch all the homes getting beautified with either a $1,000 makeover or a $40,000 renovation.  That's how bad we want to get our own house again.  So this channel tends to be on all day long on our tv.  So much so that after three hours of inactivity we get the message that the Dish receiver wants to turn itself off.

Our first home purchase was an old farmhouse when we lived in Wisconsin.  It was a bit of a fixer-upper and we had every intention of doing just that.  But other than a little bit of paint and a small section of peel-and-stick flooring we never did anything we had planned on.  Little did I know Hubby was NOT the fixer-upper-type.  Now me on the other hand, I've never done any reno projects but it's kinda in my blood.  My Grandfather built his own home in New Jersey and my Dad is in contracting.  So I have an itching to get down and dirty, tear down some walls, and do some redecorating. 

Here are some photos of the farmhouse.  It was nearly one acre and had a huge commercial garage in the back of the property.  That was the selling point since we needed a home for Hubby's drag car that was not surrounded by neighbors who might complain about the noise.

But now we are back in North Carolina and finally trying to get settled in our new area.  We really want to invest in a home but I need to get back out in the workforce first, for two reasons.  First, because we need the money, of course.  And second, depending on where I land a job will determine what area we look at planting our roots.  We'd like to find a neighborhood in between both workplaces.  (I've always been on the bad end of the deal having to commute the furthest to work.)

Of course, Hubby would like to once again have a large lot of land with a big garage for his drag car.  And I'm not against that, but I would like to be in a neighborhood as well now that we have little Luke.  I want him to be able to play around with lots of other little kids and not be in the middle of no where.

And as far as looking into fixer-uppers again, "Forget about it"!  I won't make that mistake again now that I know Hubby isn't up for the challenge.  Unless, we have money set aside to contract the work out.  (Oh Daaaad...)

So move-in-ready it is.  Do you think when the time comes we could be on House Hunters or My First Place?  (They don't have to know it would really be our second.)

366 Preview

I will be doing the popular "365 Day Photo Challenge" that so many others are doing, except that this is a Leap Year so really it's 366 days.  I've decided to use Shuttercal.com to make it an actual daily photo calendar.  And I can't commit to actually having all my photos posted each day so I will put up my updated calendar as I go.  So my committment would be to have each month's calendar posted monthly, but I may have it up as often as weekly as a snapshot.

Of course I take tons of pictures of Lucas either on my phone or with our new camera so you better believe that most of the 366 pictures will be of him.  But I may throw in a few others here and there.

So here is a preview of what's to come - the last three days (first three days of the year!).

Two Months!

I turned Two Months old on 12/30/2011.  And because it was during the holidays I didn't get my two month checkup until today.  But let me tell you how big I'm getting!I am now just shy of twelve pounds at 11lb 15.5oz!!  I gained over two pounds this past month. 

And my head circumference is now 39cm, up from 37cm.  Now the biggest increase was my length at 24in up from 22 3/4in just one month ago.  I'm TWO FEET long!  That's actually 90 percentile, while my other measurements were average.  I am gonna be tall like my uncles!

Another milestone is that at only 2 months I can already hold my head up really well.

It's a New Year

Okay, so I didn't finish the 12 Days of Christmas Challenge.  I was way too busy doing some traveling.  I thought about going back and finishing them up but I must admit how lazy I am.  But I am proud of the few days that I did complete.

Here are some photos to round up our Holidays at my parents.  :)

And New Year's Eve at my sister-in-law's.

Now let's get 2012 started.