Holidays and Resolutions... it's a new year!

A little late on this (please - don't be too surprised)...

This Christmas was surely an exciting one, as it was Captain Jack's first Christmas and we all got to meet cousin Henry! We did the 13 hour drive like we do every year, but since we had Jack with us, we chose to drive overnight so he could snooze and not cry the entire time. Best. Idea. Ever. He slept the entire time except once when we woke up to eat. Unfortunately, somewhere in Indiana, Marc got hit with the stomach flu, so I had to finish the entire drive. Once we got out of Chicago, we were driving in what seemed like an icy blizzard. Not the most fun part of the drive, especially with a hungry baby and a sick husband in the backseat.

Our first day there we had the entire family come by to meet the two boys. It was great, except the stomach flu hit me then. Our annual Christmas Eve photo shoot was quite fun this year, with the new additions!

The entire break was spent being quite lazy... we made a few trips though. We went up to Milwaukee to see Uncle Mike and into the city to see Nick and Jessica's new apartment. Unfortunately, the flu hit Mom and Dad too...

Jack got to meet Santa, too!! Since Jack loves to rub beards, Santa's must have really intrigued him...

The funniest part of the trip to me was that just a year before, true to Weldy tradition, all of us 'kids' were downstairs in the basement playing darts and pool and drinking copious amounts of heavy beers. This year consisted of baby bottles instead of beer bottles, pajamas instead of cute dresses and boots for Christmas Eve dinner, and "Grandma, can you watch the baby so we can nap?" instead of "I need to nap, I drank too much." from all of us. It's amazing what can change in a year. This Christmas was truly wonderful and special as we add to the family and make new memories. Next year will be even better as both of the boys will be just over 1 years old and then we will truly have a party!!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Jack and Pops have matching hats!

The boys with Katelin, Ronnie, Aunt Jenny, Jacob & Uncle John

These boys are slightly different sizes.

Uncle Mark and his boys!

We were all probably napping.

Jack loved Uncle Mike's house - "Judgement free, no pants zone"

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Love, Henry & Jack

Snuggles with doggy and Pops

How long do you think we can keep dressing them the same and exploiting them?

My most favorite picture of the cousins...

A nap was definitely in order for these two.

Now that we are almost done with the first month of 2014, it is fair to reassess one's New Year's resolutions. Mine? I had a few.
1) Get organized! I used to be a creepily too-organized teachery type, but a newborn will change that about you. Gotta get back to it.
2) De-clutter!!!!!
3) Most important... Go to work, teach, and go home. No more anxiety and stress over things I can't control at school. Bad news? Who cares. Keep teaching. More meetings? Whatever. Keep teaching. Anxiety attack due to a meeting just before classes begin? Pop a Xanax and keep going. It doesn't help anyone to be so out of control crazy over things I can't control. Not me, not my students, and not my family. We are in the business of teaching and learning, right?

Also, today is my birthday! Had a great birthday weekend. Thought I got over the plague, fell asleep at 9 on the couch on Friday, woke up in severe pain from an insane bout of sinusitis, got to the clinic early Saturday in hopes to feel better before birthday celebrations, lunch with the girlies at Vortex (OMG), then date night with Marc (Allie babysat!) at Fogo de Chao (OMG) and then off to Rose Bar to enjoy a Saturday night the way we did a year ago. The best part: I slept, uninterrupted, in the guest room, for 8 HOURS. Spent my actual birthday taking naps and shopping at Target with my little captain.

Speaking of a year ago, it was exactly one year ago today that we found out about Jack. Still, the best birthday gift ever. Can't believe that was a year ago... my, how life can change so quickly!!

Love,
Linds, Marc, Captain Jack & the doggies

Speaking

3 months - and on time!

FINALLY caught up! Writing this on Jack's actual 3 month birthday. I find this a huge success in my life.

January 2, 2014 (whoa.): JACK IS 3 MONTHS OLD!

December was a very interesting month for us...some challenges, lots of change, and a 12 hour car ride to Chicago. But first of all, those measurements are estimates (and probably poor ones) since we didn't have a 3 month doctors appointment. I'm fairly confident that his weight is pretty close to correct, but his length is more or less off. I know this for two reasons: a) this kid has some LONG limbs. His feet are huge and don't fit into jammies without his toes scrunching up and his sleeves look like three-quarter length sleeves. He's wearing 6 month clothes. b) Ever tried to measure a squirmy baby with a Snap On tape measure? 

At Jack's 2 month doctors appointment at the beginning of the month, we got some troubling news that Jack had a heart murmur. Instantly terrified, we saw a pediatric cardiologist the following Monday. Jack didn't have a care in the world. Mom had severe anxiety and Jack flirted with the nurses. The nurse said she had never seen a baby so happy to be attached to all those wires. He did much better than I did.

Hey girl... like what you see? I work out every morning in my activity gym. You should check it out sometime.

After an EKG, a physical exam and a serious ultrasound, it was determined that Jack had an innocent heart murmur. No holes, so special treatment needed. This was a huge relief to me, as I was majorly concerned to due a history of heart problems in my family.

With only 2 weeks left of maternity leave, my anxiety got worse and the best way to deal with that was by snuggling with this critter all day. So we did, and it was awesome. The dreadful first day back at work came all too quickly. I wasn't scared to get back to work, I was actually looking forward to seeing all my friends and feeling like a productive citizen who doesn't stay in their pajamas for 2 full days in a row (I'd call that a low point, but I had some even lower points in graduate school.) I was terrified of being away from Jack while he was at day care. The place we picked was great and I trusted that they would take great care of him. My irrational fear was probably something all Moms think: Is he going to love daycare and forget about me? I cried over this many times. Marc and my mom all told me it would be just fine, but I wanted to slap them both in the face and scream "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!? HE'S GOING TO HATE ME!"

He didn't hate me. In fact, I think he really loves it there. By the end of his first week, he happily went into his teachers arms and started flirting with her immediately (I'm going to have a Zack Morris in 14 years.) He made a friend who he spends tummy time with. He takes a few cat naps and reads books and the teachers just love him (who couldn't?) He sleeps so well at night after spending the day there. I think I actually like having 7:00-bedtime to myself to get stuff done. But I can't say my first week back at work was as good. But I'll address that in my New Year's resolution post.

After a week at work and a week at daycare, we needed a seriously vacation (working a full week after 3 months off was tough.) We took the very long drive to Chicago to spend Christmas with the Weldy's. We decided to drive overnight so that Jack would sleep the entire time. It was AWESOME. He woke up once to eat. We made better time driving with Jack than we did with Bowser! Marc and I just switched driving every few hours so the other person could sleep. Unfortunately, Marc picked up some sort of stomach flu that hit him somewhere in Indiana. I picked it up the next day. Then it spread to Grandma and Pops...

Anyway, Christmas was GREAT! I need an entire post to share the cutest pictures of the best friend cousins. On New Year's Eve, we decided it was time for Jack to start sleeping the whole night in his crib. It is night 5 and I am still sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of the nursery. It's been a little bit of a struggle, but that is due to Jack going through a growth spurt and needing to eat every two hours and a major spit up issue. But I feel good about tonight. Last night, he fell asleep on his side, and when I woke up to check on him, he was on his stomach. So that happened. Now every time I lay him down, he immediately rolls to his side and sticks his butt out.

This month was a little exhausting mentally, emotionally and now physically (thanks to crib training), but the smiles and coos and conversations Jack and I have are so worth it. He is such a happy baby, and I love spending every single minute of the day with him. Even after a night of no sleep, that smile and that low, soft voice is enough to get me through the day. Love love love him!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Jack's third month.

Insanely cute.

Always smiling!

Working out at the gym.

My favorite time of the day...

Sleepy Jack

Lazy Jack

BFF4L

Typical man... bored with the Bears game, a little snooze with his belly hanging out.

Hey handsome :)

Bowser loves Jack's stinky feet

Dad captured some hardcore snuggles.

Play time with my doggies!

GO NOLES!!!

 Love,
Lindsay, Marc, Jack, & the doggies

Baby Gap owns me (and other baby clothing woes)

My name is Lindsay and I am a baby clothes addict. They are all too cute. I can't handle it. I CANNOT walk into a store and not look at the baby clothes (Target is a repeat offender). 3 months in, I now understand that about 15% of the clothing items one owns for their little human get worn, while the other 85% fall under the "This was super cute when I bought it, but a) never had an occasion to wear it, b) it never fit right, c) it got stuck in the back of the closet/drawer and when I found it, it was too late, or d) my kid has too many damn clothes and when I'm working on 3 hours of sleep, I grab the closest thing (which happens to be wrinkled in the clean clothes hamper).

I have experienced a few issues in the clothing arena, and I am not sure if these issues are entirely normal.
1) Why do different brands fit differently? More importantly, why do same sizes of the same brand bought from different stores fit differently?
2) Jack is a strangely long child (not entirely sure if he is mine) and is going to be out of his 6 month jammies in about a week, but still can't fit into 3 month pants. It's a struggle that I dislike but will have to deal with. I like CONSISTENCY and having all clothes the same size. (I know what you're going to ask - and no, my closet is not consistent. I am annoyed with that too. Lay off me.)
3) WHY DO I CRY WHEN I PUT AWAY CLOTHES THAT ARE TOO SMALL? First, his newborn clothes were put into a storage box almost upon immediate arrival home. He never fit into them and never wore them. Did I cry? Yep. This past week, I went through and collected his 3 month too-tight jammies and onesies. Did I cry? Uncontrollably. "But this onesie with the aviators on it is the cutest onesie EVER. He wore it twice!!! I CAN'T PUT IT AWAY!!" Irrational.

But that's it! Motherhood is full of irrationality. I am an irrational human being. Let's discuss the Baby Gap case study.

Before Jack was born, I went to Baby Gap and got him some disgustingly cute things. Like, little gnome onesie and striped socks cute. Can't handle it. Anyway, I bought them in a mix of 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, etc. I love these clothes. They fit Jack's awkwardly long body perfectly. Baby Gap is not the cheapest baby clothing option. And cheap is good when you're dealing with a baby who might as well have a hole in his mouth with the amount of leaking that he does. He goes through three outfits a day. In that case, cheap = good. But I need Baby Gap. Because of the little gnomes and gentleman onesies.
When deciding what to do for a holiday photo, I decided Jack needed to wear red. He looks great in red. And he has 3 red shirts. Easy enough. But no. I had to buy a NEW red and white striped long sleeved onesie with matching socks online from Baby Gap and have it rush delivered to get here in time. It got here the day of the photos, and he looked super adorable. Why did I need another red shirt? I don't have an answer to this. His feet outgrew those socks in a week. I can't control my emotions when it comes to really ridiculously cute baby clothes.

But that's just it - as a Mom, is this just the beginning of not being able to control my emotions? I'm going to assume that the answer to that question is yes, and prepare myself to be irrational for the rest of my life. Before I became a Mom, I admit to thinking EVERYTHING my Mom did or said was irrational and I used to get on her case about it all the time. But now I get that being a mother does something to you... it causes you to be flighty and all over the place and slightly insane. I can only hope to be as insane as my Mom is/was (she still warns me that my piece of meat is too big). If there is any correlation to insanity and being a good Mom, my Mom has got to be the craziest one out there.

With that being said, the more irrational and insane, the better Mom you are. Which is my excuse as to why I am going to go buy this absurdly cute but unnecessary shirt from Baby Gap.

 

Love, 

Lindsay

2 months old (and again, belated...)

Just like last time, I am posting about Jack's second month one day before he is 3 months old. Will I ever catch up? (The answer is no; I will never catch up.) I'll make this brief in hopes of the possibility of catching up.

December 2, 2013: JACK IS 2 MONTHS OLD!

My little Jackster grew SO much this month - not only physically, but developmentally. First of all, he is in the 77th percentile for height. Seriously? Is this child even mine?

We used these few weeks to finally establish a routine and figure out how to get things done, because frankly, nothing was getting done around the house. Everyone says certain things about this time period to try and make you feel better, but honestly, I have some choice words for everyone who tells me the following things:
"Sleep when the baby sleeps!" ... sure, if I want to feed my child with a red solo cup while I wear a paper towel loin cloth around the house because my clothes have spit up all over them and are rotting in the hamper. F you. I need to clean dishes and clean clothes. OH. And eat lunch.
"Don't worry about house work, use this time to get to know your baby." ...again, F you. Things need to get done. We can get to know each other just fine as I wear him on my chest and vacuum. He actually likes that quite a bit!

We had a few more visitors this month. Marc had to go on his first business trip to San Fransisco since Jack was born, and I didn't feel like I could handle an entire week by myself, so Grannci came up. We had such a fun time! We played, took walks in the park, and Mom got to nap. It was glorious. We even came up with a genius idea for a children's book. (Seriously, now that I read one every night, I could come up with gold compared to some of these. "Daddy loves me. Daddy plays with me. Daddy hugs me. Daddy feeds me." And this person is making money off of this? I need a new job if that is the case.)
During this week is when Jack cracked his first intentional smile. I first saw it when I pfft'ed at him and he gave me a slightly crooked smile... then, after waking up from a nap in his crib, I walked into his room and as soon as he saw me he gave me a huge untoothy smile. It was the GREATEST feeling in the world!

We celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one day since we wouldn't see Grannci over the holidays. In a total of 3 hours, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, gathered the family for some really quality and humorous holiday photos, and we opened gifts!

 

This is the best we could get - there was no getting Bowser's beard to cooperate.

That weekend, Mike and Betsy came to visit for a night and brought Jack lots of gifts and snuggles. Then, it was time to show our true colors: the Florida vs. Florida State game. We all knew who was going to win, but all attending Gator fans tried to talk big. Jack had a wardrobe lineup appropriate for each stage of the game.

Stage 1: Pre-game (show love for both sides)

Stage 2: Game time (show love for the obvious winner)

Stage 3: Post-game (get nasty towards to the loser in typical FSU fashion)

But, the most exciting news of the month... cousin Henry was born on November 25! He came a little early, but was very healthy and Auntie Jess and Uncle Jello were doing great. Needless to say, we had a very fun month. I started getting nervous as my maternity leave was quickly coming to an end... so I really soaked up every minute at home.

That wasn't too brief. My bad. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Jack's second month.

 

Great place to nap.

Hey ladies, welcome to my crib.

A boy and his dog.

This is just too cute for words.

Story time!

My men!

The many faces of Jack B.

My love.

Love, 

Lindsay, Marc, Jack & the doggies