Getting out...

(It's not as easy as it used to be!)

When I was pregnant with #2, I was convinced I would never go anywhere by myself with both kids. While I haven't done much of it, there seems to be a common theme: Jack always needs his entire outfit changed just moments before we leave the house. We've been to church every Sunday since he was born, which is just me and the kids since Kraig is obviously there for both services. Multiple Sundays Jack has needed changed because he's pooped through his clothes. One Sunday there was projectile spit-up which actually came while I was getting him dressed and managed to get his, mine and Kate's clothes dirty. We were late that day. It never fails. Other than going to church, though, I haven't gone anywhere with both of them. I'm a little intimidated. I grocery shop on Kraig's day off so that I don't have to take one or both of them. It's been that way for a long time, but what if I did take them both? Where would the groceries go? Where would the kids go? I don't wanna know. It won't be long and I'll be forced to do it, but until then I'm pretending that it's not an option.

In other news, we've had several good, non-colicky nights in a row. Praise the Lord (and knock on wood?)! I'm very grateful for that. Kate's doing well, too. She went to bed last night and down for her nap tonight without a pacifier. No, I didn't take it away, we just couldn't find any last night. So, if/when they resurface, they're going in the trash. Next week we're going to start the big potty training push again. She's peed in the potty twice in the past week. Hopefully it'll go well!

Cloth diaper update

In the midst of the chaos before Jack was born (falling, car accident, etc) I switched Kate to disposable diapers. I was planning to when he was born so that I'd have a few weeks off laundry duty, but I needed to do it earlier. I wasn't up to doing laundry, that's for sure. I got some good sales and bought a couple boxes. At this point, I still have about a half of a box left, so I decided to put her back in cloth last week and use the leftover disposables for when we were out of the house. That plan failed. Kate's apparently grown in the last two months or so, and the cloth diapers no longer fit. She acted like it was hurting her thighs when I put one on her, so I readjusted it. She still wasn't very comfortable, but she stopped complaining. The next thing I know, however, is that she has very obviously peed through her diaper and her pants are soaking wet. They're definitely too small. Such a bummer! Since I already had a few dirty, I tried one on Jackson. They're obviously a little bulky on him, but they fit and did the job. He's still in disposables at this point, though, because I have more than a whole box of size ones left that aren't going to fit much longer. I had intended to use them for when we were out and about, but he's growing faster than I anticipated. Oh well!

So, that's the scoop. Not much happening!

I'm alive...really!

Jack will be seven weeks old on Monday. In some ways I can't believe it. Wasn't it just yesterday that we left the hospital? And in other ways, it feels like he's been with us forever. We've done a lot in the past six and a half weeks, though.

Jack got to meet his Aunt Karina. She came and spent a weekend. The following weekend, my best friend from college, Emily, came to visit. That was Labor Day weekend. Because of the extra holiday day off, we decided to head to Ohio last minute. We got up Monday morning, loaded up and left. It was a pretty decent trip, in spite of traveling with two kids. At that point, he was still eating quite slowly, so I ended up pumping in the van and then bottle feeding him when we stopped. He's done quite well at taking a bottle. The lactation consultant recommended introducing a bottle between weeks three and four so that he would be willing to take one without having nipple confusion. Thankfully, he's done great! We spent a nice few days with my family, just hanging out. It was very relaxing. I even got to sneak out for a late-night movie with my mom and sister. Jack, of course, tagged along, but it was a fun almost-girls night.

We got back from Ohio on Friday night and spent Saturday getting ready for Sunday. Sunday afternoon, Kraig's oldest sister called to see if there was anyway we could head to Pennsylvania to surprise his dad for his birthday. We didn't think so, but the way Kraig's day off fell, it worked out. We headed to PA on Thursday after work and came back home Saturday evening. It was a short trip, but he was genuinely surprised. Jack also got to meet his Uncle John and Aunt Shelley for the first time. And we made it in time to get Hank's Frozen Custard before they closed for the season!

This week, we've been home and it seems we may be dealing with colic. Ugh. The week prior to this, Jack was sleeping very well. The first stretch of sleep at night was lasting between 5 and almost 7 hours. Nothing to complain about. The last week, we've had more nights of screaming for a solid couple hours before he finally settles down to sleep. He's completely inconsolable. I'm hoping it's short lived, because I feel more tired now than I did when he was a week old.

All in all, though, he's a great baby. He's getting huge. We had his one month (five week) appointment last Monday. I was going to ask the doctor if she thought he was getting enough to eat, but then they weighed him. He weighed in at 11lbs 4oz. A solid four pounds from when we left the hospital. He was 24 inches long, a gain of 4 3/4 inches. Ridiculous! Obviously, the kid is eating well. I'm so pleased that we've made it this far exclusively breastfeeding. I was not so lucky with Kate, but he's a champ. Speaking of Jack, he's waking to eat!!

More updates eventually!