Photos of babies

Our very dear friends Kyle and Sarah are visiting Maine this week. We were so excited to meet little Katy in person. She's a talker and is so adorable. Katy and Timothy got to spend some time together yesterday.

Size-wise, Timothy is fatter, longer and has a bigger head. Katy out does him with her talking, ability to hold things and her neck muscles. She can really hold her head up. Poor Timothy has a hard time because his head is so big.


Here they are laughing and talking together. Katy did most of the talking...typical woman.


And here is Timothy this morning posing for his three month photo with Pooh.

One of those days

Today was one of those days...

Ryan threw up at lunch after choking on a bell pepper that he didn't bother chewing. Lucky for us, I always carry a change of clothes in the diaper bag. I didn't have clean shoes for him, though, and it bugged him for the rest of the afternoon (I had clean socks). Adam had the joy of cleaning him up in the men's bathroom.

Then, we went to visit my brother-in-law and my niece. While playing outside, barefoot, Ryan stepped in dog pooh. To top it off, we didn't know what he stepped in at frist and he touched it! He was trying to wipe it off his foot. Adam had the joy of cleaning that stinky mess up too.

And then... we're driving home, Timothy is sreaming (he always cries in the car, plus he had four shots yesterday) and Ryan starts saying, "It hurts. It hurts." I suppose he was meaning his stomach hurt because two seconds later he was throwing up all over the backseat. Sigh... We both had the joy of cleaning that up. Thank God for the throw up contingency kit in our trunk (Ryan's thrown up too many times for us not to have it there. It consists of a few large trash bags, extra diapers, fabric cleaner for the car and Febreeze).

While we're laughing at it now, it wasn't so funny earlier today. We're both beat and we're hoping there is no more throwing up this week.

Silly Ryan

Here are some random silly things Ryan has said or done in the past month.

• Yesterday, he ventured downstairs by himself while I was in the bathroom. When I went to find out what he was doing, he said his hair was wet from the rain. Now, it had been raining outside so I began trying to figure out where the water could be coming from. When I took a closer look at his hair I realized he'd put diaper rash cream in his hair and what he was trying to tell me was that he needed a bath.
• One evening when we were reading a book about dinosaurs, I pointed out that the dino had a tissue. I was about to tell Ryan he was using it to wipe away his tears when Ryan asks, "Sneeze?" Well that would be a logical explaination since we tell Ryan he has to wipe his nose with a tissue when he sneezes.
• Ryan has a potty that he sometimes uses. He agreed to put on big boy underpants the other day. Right after he went to the door and asked to go in the pool. We use a real swimsuit on him when he goes swimming, not the swim diapers. I guess he figured that the underpants were a smaller version of a swimsuit.
• Pee-doh is how Ryan pronounces Play-doh.
• If Ryan comes up to you and asks for a "new." He'd like his diaper to be changed. I suppose this is because both Adam and I always tell him he needs a new diaper when he needs to be changed.
• A half hour after putting Ryan to bed one evening, he came running into our room and said, "ta-da!" He wasn't so happy when we walked him back to his room and put him back to bed.
• Yesterday, I was sure Ryan put his plate from lunch next to the sink while I was feeding Tim. While helping him clean up his toys last night, I opened the seat of his Mater ride-on to discover he had put the plate and the last two bites of his sandwich inside.

One never knows what a two year old will do or say next.

A sixth sense?

Dear husband is convinced I have a sixth sense. He's sure of this because I can ruin a surprise like no other and I've been doing it for years. I just feel or know something and I ruin all his fun.

I'll give you a few examples. Once Adam and I took a trip up to Bangor to see some friends. On the drive I was getting hungry and mentioned that it would be wonderful to eat Quiznos. At the time, there were no Quiznos sub shops in Maine. I really missed our Friday Quiznos outing from our college days in Illinois and was just expressing my craving for the food. We get to Bangor and pull into this shopping centre and I scream, "Quiznos! Oh my gosh, did you see there's a Quiznos?"

Adam had only been planning this surprise for over a week and my one mention of it ruined it for him.

I've ruined surprises for massages, dates at a specific restaurant just by mentioning things just prior to the surprise. He's even convinced I knew about my baby shower, but I honestly had no clue. I also have this sense when I think someone may be pregnant. I'll say to Adam, "wouldn't it be nice if so and so would/could have a baby?" They call and tell us they are pregnant within a few days.

My sixth sense came in handy this week. I need to give you some background information first for this story to be clear. When we put all of our belongings into storage the storage company gave us this horrible payment booklet with a little sticker on the front that stated our due date was X day of each month. I hate these booklets. I really stink using the pages in them. I do well for the first few months and then I just forget them.

Well, I missed a payment one month and got the late notice in the mail a month later. Adam and I discussed the issue and decided it would work best if they just charged our credit card each month and then I'd pay that bill. In addition, we'd be earning dollars at a local store we love.

Other than that one charge each month, we generally do not use our credit card and if we do it's rare.

So when I get a bill last month that has a charge on it for {horrible store that will not be named} I called the credit card company to dispute it. When I talked to the first lady I asked if the car could be frozen or the number changed to avoid future charges since someone obviously had our number. We did all the steps and I was satisfied.

So my sixth sense worked yesterday. I just had this feeling I should check out our card online. There was another large charge from {horrible store that will not be named} on our supposedly non-existent card.

I called the credit card company. The first lady I spoke to told me there was no way to stop future charges like this (uh, yeah, I'm not buying that) and after we argued for a while, I hung up unsatisfied. I called Adam and expressed my frustration to him and got some advice for the next phone call.

I called the company again and this time asked for someone in the fraud department. We sorted out the issue. The card is no longer usable and since we've had bad customer service with the credit card company, we've closed the account (we know it's not the best credit move, but we're just super frustrated with them).

I'd also like to mention that {store that will not be named} has a phone number, which when you dial it, it rings, and rings, and rings. No one ever answers. Also, when I Googled {store that will not be named} I discovered other people had similar charges from them.

I'm glad my sixth sense came in handy before more charges were made.

Day at the pool

I have been longing for a day in the sun. On Wednesday, we spent the entire afternoon at the pool. It was wonderful. I had been longing to feel the sun on my skin (I am a lover of the sun, but refuse to fake-bake and know that some day I will have lots of wrinkles) and to swim. I enjoyed both yesterday.

Ryan in the kiddie pool...

Timothy was visited by Miss Madison who was adorable in her swimsuit and hat.

Ryan making his way into the big pool.

With daddy on his "boat."

Ryan had such a good time he didn't want to leave. Boy did he sleep well last night. Too bad every day can't be a pool day.

The boys

Tim is two months old today. Here is his second photo with Pooh. Timothy can now roll to his sides. He's a very happy baby. He makes a scream that sounds like a little girl and also a noise that sounds like he's saying, "hi." Ryan is finally warming up to him and helped give Tim a bath this week. He also tries to give Tim his pacifier, but Tim never takes it. Ryan also insists that Tim always have his frog rattle with him like Ryan always his his bear, Paws, with him.

This is a photo of Ryan with Pooh at two months. Ryan has less hair than Tim. Notice I managed to get them both to sit on Pooh's leg. I didn't realize this until this morning when making this post.

Finally, here is Ryan. He's so much like his dad. We've entred the stage of where will we find Ryan tonight? (Adam was often found under the bed, in the closet, in a different room, as a child.) At least Ryan's night time wanderings are currently limited to his own room.

We've also entered the afraid of noises in the dark stage. Last night I heard Ryan crying, so I get up to see what's going on and he's sitting up pointing to his ear saying, "heard, noise." I told him everything was fine, tucked him in and went back to my bed. Seconds later he was screaming so Adam went to check and he was still afraid of this unknown sound. I'm beginning to miss the days when nothing scared this kid. Recently he has also shown a fear of heights... like changing tables in store restrooms. Sigh.

Today also marks my final Friday with the boys before returning to my part-time job at WM. I suppose I've been gone long enough, but I do enjoy these days with the guys. Here's hoping for good weather so we can go swimming today.

Blueberries

The other day, Adam's mom noticed blueberries on the path we walk each evening. Tonight we took a cup with us and let Ryan pick them. We came home, washed them and he shared a few, but he's almost done eating the entire cup. He's already told us "morrow more berries."

Ryan has always liked blueberries. I use frozen blueberries when I make muffins and he usually eats them right out of the bag. What a yummy cold treat.

We were going to show Adam these blueberries when he got home, but I think Ryan will have them all eaten by then.

La Grenouille

Here is a photo of Timothy with his frog rattle and frog onesie.

Photos of the family

Just a few photos from this weekend.

Not Timothy's big smile, but still a smile.


Just seconds before I caught daddy giving Timothy a kiss (I do have a photo of that, but this was cute too).


Ryan at his cousin Madison's birthday party playing with her new toy.

The good the bad and the ugly

I stole this post idea from someone else's blog. This is all the time I feel I have to blog today.

The good: Ryan went pee-pee on the potty today... three times. My parents got him a potty as a gift and at first he rejected it, then hid his artwork in it and then decided to "wet" in it.

The bad: Ryan has a rash again. He had a fever for three days and then the rash showed up. They said it's viral and we'll wait to see if it clears up by Friday, which is when Timothy sees the doc for a check up.

The ugly: I have mastitis again. Talk about disappointment and pain. I wept about this today. I don't think any mother thinks they'll get mastitis once, let alone twice. I think we all hope breastfeeding will feel wonderful and be wonderful and for some it is, but I have, unfortunately, not had that experience.

Mommy's milk

Warning: Contains information about boobs.

I've been pumping milk for almost six weeks now. It's not easy, but I knew that already. The LC at the hospital said I should keep having Timothy latch on and sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't. Then this weekend something bad happened. At first I thought it was thrush and then things got better. Anyway the pain made me want to give up pumping. Adam was behind me 100 percent. His thoughts were that a happy mommy = a happy baby.

Well, I felt guilty for giving up pumping at the almost four month mark with Ryan so you'd better believe I was feeling guilty about giving up pumping at the almost six week mark with Timothy. I kept pumping, but it was SO PAINFUL. At one point we had to give formula because I'd frozen all my reserve from the day before and Timothy had to eat.

He refused. The look on his face said it all. This stuff is yucky and I don't want it. (Note: I am in no way bashing women who feed their children formula. I fed Ryan formula for nine months. I'm a firm believer in whatever works for you.)

So I HAD to keep pumping. At one point we thought he'd drank an ounce of formula only to discover he'd used the bottle as a pacifier and hadn't drank anything at all. Not long after he was awake and REALLY hungry. Sigh.

I was doing lots of reading. Either I kept pumping, figured out breastfeeding fast or... I didn't know. There's a forum for exclusively pumping (Eping) moms. I was one of those so I read and read until I found a few things that might have been helpful. I also went to a website for breastfeeding moms and discovered women managed to put baby back to breast up until the fourth month post partum. Maybe I could do this afterall. I really, really wanted to breastfeed Timothy and while I wasn't disappointed with Eping, something was going really wrong.

This morning when Timothy started rooting, to breast he went. He's fed there all day and it's going amazingly well.

Why would anyone post about this? You're kidding right? I am doing the happy dance. I have been doing the happy dance all day.

Let me clue you into the world of an Eping mom.

• Baby is hungry so you feed baby bottle and burp baby, change his diaper, too. (With Timothy that takes about a half hour. Ryan could drink a bottle in 10 minutes.)
• You pump for 10 minutes (which a lot of Eping moms will say is not enough time, but it was for Ryan and it was for Timothy too.)
• You put liquid gold into bottle for next feeding.
• Wash pump parts.
• By the time you're done that's at least 40 minutes and your two year old may or may not be happy, depending on the time of day.

You do this every time baby is hungry or you won't have a milk supply to speak of anytime soon. This includes the middle of the night, though I have been known to fall asleep and wake up to find I've missed a pumping session and am still holding a bottle that I was supposed to have fed Timothy who is next to me in bed.

If you want to go out anywhere as an Eping mom you have to take the pump with you. For us that required an extra diaper bag filled with hooter hider apron thingy, pump, extra bottles, batteries for pump and pump wipes. In addition, you have to know where you are going to pump while you're out... the car, family restroom or even the hallway to the women's bathroom at LL Bean.

So I am doing the happy dance and I'm praying that Timothy will continue nurse well (I can't imagine why he wouldn't since this is the drink he prefers). We're just going to keep working at it because this is so much easier.

Timothy

I still haven't taken many great photos of Timothy. I'm hoping to do better. I've taken a bunch, but they aren't the best quality photos. So here are two of my favs. I love how he sticks out his tongue at us. I asked him tonight if Ryan taught him that and he made a little laughing sound and smiled at me. I have yet to capture that smile!

They came, they saw, they went

The parents were here to see us for two weeks and they're already gone. I was really glad for the help with night time feedings for Timothy and for help during the day with a Ryan who is always on the move.

We did lots for Ryan while my parents were here.

We went to the children's museum in Portland where Ryan loved this water activity. He left with rather wet clothing.

We went to the zoo and Ryan was thrilled to see all the animals again. He enjoyed feeding ducks and chasing a turtle.

Ryan went swimming in the hotel pool with a swimsuit on (this was a challenge since he was convinced the pool was the same as a bath).

True to my Bahamian roots, we did lots of shopping and of course visited L.L. Bean.

My favorite part of this trip was discovering a Jamaican take-out place in York. I can't wait to go back to have more food which reminds me of home.

I also noticed my parents took all the photos of Timothy and I have none to post. I'll work on that this week!

Alphabet soup

Adam scored above average on his National Contact Lense Exam (NCLE)! We joked that if he actually got this certification that Adam Alphabet Soup woud be his official title (the real one is Adam ABOC, CPOC, NCLC... see what we mean?). I am really proud of him. He worked hard for all of these certifications, but the NCLE was probably the hardest of the three and possibly the reason he left it for last.

In other news... mastitis is better. Ryan is better! The family is here and we're having lots of fun.

An embarrassing moment for this mother: In Olive Garden when I ask Ryan what his belly button was called he grabbed his crotch and said, just loud enough for everyone to hear, "penis."

Timothy is growing. I will post photos at some point.

Mastitis...

is a pain in the boob... literally. I really hoped that what I felt yesterday wasn't mastitis. I felt awful. I wondered if i had the flu. I knew better, though, I was almost certain I had mastitis. I had a clogged duct with Ryan and this was worse. Since my parents are here, I got to rest the entire day -- yay!

We went to the doctor today. She confirmed that I have mastitis. I wish it weren't so. But, at least my parents are here and can help out when I just need to rest.

Now there are two of us on antibiotics trying to feel normal again.

Scarlet

Miss Scarlet in the billiard room with the wrench. Well, that's one possiblitiy. However, it's Ryan in the doctor's office with scarlet fever. Sigh. I'm still not sure how this happened, but it has happened. On Sunday night Adam noticed a rash on Ryan while giving him a bath. We thought maybe it was from sunblock and an afternoon spent in the sun. The next day I noticed the rash, but thought the same thing as Adam. But on Monday evening the rash looked like it could be measles, but Ryan had no fever. We decided we'd see if the doctor could see him at the same time as Tim's first well baby check up. And so it was decided yesterday afternoon that little man has scarlet fever and should take some antibiotics to get rid of it. The doc thinks Tim should be okay, but if he gets a fever, we're to bring him in right away.

So it was Timothy's well baby check up yesterday and he is a nice even 9 lbs now. Like Ryan, Timothy will have to go for blood work on his thyroid. I'm waiting to do that with my parents who will be here next week. I did Ryan's first blood test on my own and it was the worst idea a lady who has just had a baby could have. After they poked him for almost two hours before finally drawing the blood, I was a mess. We won't risk that this time. My parents went with me for Ryan's second blood work event and it went so much better. Basically, the doc just wants to make sure the meds I was taking during pregnancy (which were completly safe -- and if i hadn't taken them there is a chance I could have miscarried or had Timothy even earlier than I did) didn't do anything to Timothy's thyroid.

So far the early weeks of having a new baby are going better this time around. I, of course, have my meltdowns, but overall I'm feeling much better since delivering Timothy than I did when I delivered Ryan. My nights have been a bit difficult this week since Adam is working really long days because it's inventory tomorrow. He gets up at 5:30 and comes home at 9. He's exhausted and I can't even wake him up in the middle of the night so I've been doing feedings etc alone. I'm exhausted by the end of the day and can't wait for bedtime, which seems to be coming later and later. I'm looking forward to naptime today that won't be ruined by a trip to the doctor (Ry napped in the car yesterday and that meant I got no sleep).

In other news... Adam and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this past Sunday. We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Steakhouse. The food was great, the service lousy, but we were glad to have some time without the kids. Then we took a walk on the beach. Below are two of the photos from our walk.

Zoo Photos

Here are some photos from our trip to the zoo on Thursday.

This was a family of ducks we discovered. The ducklings were very friendly... mostly they wanted us to feed them.

Adam and Ryan look at the ducks.

There's an enclosed area where you can walk with the deer. I went in first and then Adam and Ryan had their turn. It was rather weird to be so close to a deer.

Some of the deer walk right up to you and look for food in your hands.

Here are the prairie dogs. They were really cute.

This is my favorite photo of the many we took at the zoo.

Post Script

The above title will deal with the first part of this post. We watched the movie P.S. I love you this week. I give it two thumbs up, five stars, and believe it belongs in our collection. However, if you plan to rent it, you may want to keep a box of tissues with you while you watch. The movie was a great reminder that time is precious with the ones you love.

In other news... Timothy is growing. We have days where he feeds great and days where we keep reminding ourselves that he was early and this feeding thing is harder for him than other newborns. He still sleeps A LOT, but with a near term baby, that's to be expected. He has more periods where he opens his eyes and takes in what he can, but it's different for him than it was for Ryan. We still try latching on, but we're pretty sure we're just going to pump ye olde breastmilk and give Timothy a bottle. I feel no guilt this time around. I felt horrible that it didn't work out for Ryan to breastfeed. I beat myself up about it, but this time I know that whether I pump for three months like I did for Ryan or if I make it through a whole year, I'm doing my best.

Ryan has been a great big brother and loves to help out. He thinks he should get milk everytime Timothy does. He loves kissing his brother and touching his hair. He's been very gentle so far.

I'm feeling much better emotionally and physically this go around with pregnancy. I think emotionally it's been a huge boost to have Adam at home. He's had to go into work each week for a few hours, but those times away have given me a chance for a trial run with two kids. We've managed to play outside without him and haven't had any major problems. We haven't, however, managed to put Ryan down successfully for a nap when he's been gone. That will take some more work.

Physically, my stitches have healed wonderfully. I know they won't be fully healed for a few more weeks, but in comparison to last time, I'm feeling a million times better. My last stitches were awful and it took well beyond the six week mark to feel somewhat normal again. I think we were in the six month region when I felt like myself again. That in and of itself makes this time easier on my emotions. Plus there haven't been any horrible blood tests for Timothy yet. We're hoping we can skip them, but I'm sure we'll still have to do some sort of check on his thyroid since I was taking medicine for mine during the entire pregnancy.

Next week Adam goes back to work and I have a week with the kids on my own before my parents arrive on the 14th. Anyone in Maine who wants to hang out is more than welcome. I have a few plans for my sanity, but I welcome visitors, too.

We've managed to do some fun things as a family also. Today we are supposed to go to York Wild Animal Kingdom, but it's been overcast and while they aren't calling for rain I'd hate to get there and not see all of the animals.

More photos

The two boys getting to know one another. Ryan is slowly warming up to the idea that he's the big brother.

Eyes open!

For Ryan's first year I documented his growth with a huge Pooh Bear. It's currently in storage, but we have this little one so I took a quick photo anyway.

Silly husband

Adam woke up this morning upset that I hadn't gotten him up last night to help with Timothy. I told him he'd fed Timothy while I pumped (Timothy simply sleeps when put to breast and the lactation consultant suggested we keep trying, but pump and give a bottle to supplement during the night... while we're still trying, we've decided this way worked for Ryan and can work for Timothy too.). He even burped the little man, but remembers nothing.

When I asked him to help out Adam was sound asleep. He sat up, took Tim and the bottle and seemed to be gettting ready to feed him. When I looked over to see how things were going he was just holding the bottle and I had to say, "You might try putting that in his mouth so he can stop sucking his fingers and actually eat." And he did what I had suggested.

Still husband remembers none of this today. Silly man!

Best of all... Timothy has been sleeping three hours between feedings at night... so much better than Ryan ever did. I was up every hour and a half with Ry at this point. I'm really thankful for the rest. Ryan wants to play all day and when he naps I just want to be with my husband who so deserves this time off so actually getting some sleep at night and waking feeling rested, is so very nice.