Thanksgiving in Review

Well, we had an awesome holiday. A packed holiday, but an awesome one. I gotta be honest, I am sorta sick today (had a cold that as of this morning has settled in my chest. Lovely) and not really into detailed blogging, so we are going to go with the old tried and true method of post-baby-pictures-and-hope-everyone-is-happy. Hope that works for you all! Oh...I should mention that I did a TERRIBLE job of photographing Henry's first Thanksgiving. I promise to do better at Christmas! Makes this post all the more enticing, right?? So here we go...
Here is the family at my parents house! Now I know you see this picture and you are like, "Well that's cute! She did a good job with pictures!" WRONG. Because...this is the only one from my parents. THE ONLY ONE. No picture with Nanny and Papaw, no picture with aunts and uncles, no pictures with the THREE great grandparents that were there. NOTHING. Just...us. Still, it came out cute.
So, then the next day....which was actually Thanksgiving day...Henry ate in his high chair for the very first time! I am just adding this to help distract from the lack of family pictures from my parents house. *SHAME*

After the high chair triumph, we went to Nick's dad's house for Thanksgiving. Here is the entire crew! (I only have this picture because someone else was on top of getting it together, then I tossed the picture taker my camera so I could get it too. I really am usually better about this picture taking business)

Granddaddy and Gram loving on their boy. Henry wants to know why I am distracting him from some grandparent love.

And NOW....we are in South Carolina! That's right. Friday we jumped in the car and drove to visit Nick's family. We went with Henry's Nana (not pictured) Aunt Candice (not pictured) and Uncle Chris (also not pictured). Oh...and Nick went (not pictured). But I did get in a photo. Funny how that happens.

Henry meeting cousin Caleb for the first time. So, if Caleb is Nick's cousin, is he Henry's great cousin? His second cousin? I can never remember how that goes.

And here is Henry with his Great Mawmaw! Yes, I took this picture when we were walking out the door Sunday morning because I was all like, "DAMN IT. I didn't even get him in a picture with MAWMAW! So I asked if she would mind, and she was like, "I am NOT taking a picture!" Which I could understand because it was early in the morning and she was in her bath robe and everything, but then I was like, "it's for HENRY" and she was like, "Oh, well then. Ok." Henry has magical powers over Mawmaw.

So, that is our holiday weekend in a nutshell. There was a huge rock slide on the interstate we take to South Carolina, so we went on this two hour detour. And...yeah, that sucked. And Henry was sick and I was sick, but we still had a great visit. We love sharing our sweet boy with all the family that loves him so. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Late Night Thoughts

We are doing Thanksgiving with my parents tomorrow. Nick and Henry are both sound asleep, and I am up cooking. Another thirty minutes before the last dish is out of the oven. I totally feel like my mom right now. Did your all's moms do that? Cook in the middle of the night once everyone was asleep? I guess that was the time my mom could find to get things done. Funny how I never gave it much thought until now. Anyway, while I wait for the corn pudding to come out of the oven, I thought I would do a post about what is on my mind....so...here we go.

• I think I put too much butter in the sweet potatoes. Is there such thing as too much butter? We will find out tomorrow.
• Henry is sick. Booooo. He isn't sick enough to need medicine or the doctor, just sick enough to have snot pouring out of his nose, constant coughing and sneezing, and basically to be mildly miserable. Happy Freakin' Holidays.
• We are heading to South Carolina on Friday, which I really and truly excited about...except....we will be with a sick baby. Happy Freakin' Holidays Deluxe Edition! Be jealous of Nana and Uncle Chris who will be in the car with us for the 7-8 hour trip. Please let him sleep, please let him sleep...
• Breast Feeding seems to be going a little better. Thank you all for your wonderful advice and support. I will definitely try some of your suggestions. I completely forgot about oats helping, so I will start having oatmeal again for breakfast. I plan to pick up the Mothers Milk Tea, I will try to pump more, but I already have been working on that...still, everything was a great help and your support is just awesome.
• On a lighter note, I am completely and utterly in love with show Glee. Like to the point that it is ridiculous. I actually created a Glee radio station on Pandora...and I am not going to lie. It is awesome.
• My Glee radio station plays a great deal of Broadway music, including the play Wicked. I am now also ridiculously in love with it, even though I have never seen it and don't really know what it is about.
• Also, this same station may or may not constantly play Disney music. The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast. I act all embarrassed and like, "Oh PANDORA?!?! WHY would you think I want to hear CARTOONS?" When it comes on at work, but then I secretly give it a thumbs up because I LOVE Disney music.
• So New Moon...yeah, I wasn't in love with it. And this is from a pretty huge fan of the books. I just don't think I like many movies that are based after my favorite books. I am that annoying person that is all like, "But the book is so much BETTER....." I did love Jacob. Man, they nailed him. The rest of it...just meh.

Okay, back to the kitchen. Gotta get this cooking finished so I can eventually get into bed. Not sure how mom did this every holiday...

Feeding Guilt

I am having some guilt issues when it comes to feeding Henry. Number one on this guilt list is my reduction in breast milk. Actually, I am not even sure it is a reduction as much as it is just simply not enough for him. I look at him, and he is healthy and thriving. He is small for his age, but that has always been. He has grown right along side the 5% weight category. Never dropping below, never having a "failure to thrive" issue. His doctor doesn't seem worried. She says it takes a while for my body to catch up, that this is normal at six months. Still. It is so hard to look at him once he is done nursing, done after only five or ten minutes, and I know he wants more. I know he is OK, but not really full. To see his face ask, "so...that's all you got??".

I called my doctor and they put me on some medicine to help. It will be the third time I am on it. I guess this is an issue I have been having for a long time now, which I just didn't talk about. I have cute caffeine 100%. I am drinking as much water as I can during the day. I am trying. Still, I feel guilty. I feel disappointed in my body. I had a ton of milk before I went back to work, and I know that was only seven weeks in, but my supply has never been the same since. So, I blame work. I blame my body. I blame my infertility. I blame my thyroid. All reasons to explain why I see the look on his face that asks for more food.

I have thought about supplementing. But...I don't want to. I feel like it will be the beginning of the end of breast feeding. Then I have a new wave of guilt because I truly don't know if I don't want to stop breast feeding for him or for me. I love it. I love the time together, I love providing for him. I just love it. And I know that it is best for him, but is it still the best for him if I am not making enough milk? Am I actually not making enough milk? He seems healthy and happy...he sleeps through the night. Maybe it is enough, but it seems as if it is just enough. Nothing more. Nothing extra. Just enough.

So, we are coming to the end of the rope. Taking one last ditch effort to get my supply up before we truly discuss other options. This last time I called the doctor to ask once again for the medicine, they happily called it in. I talked with the nurse about my reluctance to supplement, but my concerns about my supply. She reassured me that it is FINE to be on the medicine again. That some women with Thyroid issues require it all the time. That if I don't want to supplement, they will find a way to get my milk supply up. She seemed so sure. I so hope she is right.

Six Month Pictures (Finally)

So, here they are. I am sure they are not that impressive seeing as how I have been talking about them as if they are the holy grail of pictures for the past week. In reality, the entire picture taking deal was a little annoying because the place was CRAZY busy due to everyone wanting holiday pictures and what not. Usually they work with us forever, let me change his clothes as much as I want, and basically will happily shoot pictures of him for hours. This time it was much more along the lines of "click, click, done" . Still, I totally love them.

Precious six month old boy.

A six month old boy who can totally sit up by himself and didn't even need that bobby behind him "just in case". Of course, I was shocked by this. His stamina for sitting up at the picture place was incredible. At home he lasts maybe a minute.

He wishes he was on the move!

Then...well...we sorta joined the group of crazies who wanted the holiday pictures taken. But seriously, how sweet are these?!?!

One of my favorite pictures ever. Really wish there wasn't a Christmas tree in it so I could have it out all year long.

Tummy time under the tree

And finally, one last shot of the family. We actually bought the other one, but I thought this came out cute too. And that's it. Was it worth the hype? Probably not.

Catching Up

Wow. I think this may actually be the longest I have ever been away from my blog... Sorry guys. Life really is crazy around here. Today is the last day of an eleven day stretch at work. My lab partner is on vacation and we are just hellishly busy. I haven't forgotten old bio girl, I just honestly haven't had time. I don't think I have even sat down at my computer since last Monday. It has all just been work-work-work, Henry-Henry-Henry.

The saddest part is, I have lots to talk about. Like the fact that Henry seems to HATE FOOD. Oh yes. He loved his rice cereal so much that I never saw this as a possibility. But the sweet potatoes....oh lord. I have never seen a child hate something so much in his life. EVER. He clamps his mouth shut, he shakes his head violently, he screams, he cries. IT. IS. AWFUL. Worse yet, he now doesn't trust us with his cereal. You know...because it might be poison sweet potatoes. The fits...oh lord the fits. Looks like the entire food thing might be a little bit of a struggle. For now we have hidden all sweet potatoes, and are going to give some sweet peas a try this weekend.

Also, I am having breast feeding issues. Bad timing what with him boycotting anything on a spoon. This deserves an entire anxiety ridden post of it's own, but basically my supply is dropping. It is a big issue, and I really don't know what to do about it. For now I called the doctor and they called in some medicine. They told me this happens to some moms with Thyroid issues. A fact I really wish tehy told me SIX MONTH AGO. This has been an issue for several months and it would have been nice to know there was an underlying medical cause and that I wasn't just failing at breast feeding...

In other non-baby news, I am going to see New Moon tonight! So excited! (no transition to this thought...just wanted to get it out there...)

Oh yeah, and the baby was sick from his shots this week. A fever and what not. Nothing big, just enough to keep him up all night. Fun times when Mama is working an 11 day stretch, very long hours, and has an audit of the lab the next morning.

Oh...and the six month pictures! I haven't forgotten those either. Oh man, you all will want to see these. But...I am out of time. This is already WAY longer than I expected. For now, here is one family shot...
Pretty cute, right? Okay, I really gotta run. Just wanted to get a couple of these random updates posted. Clearly I shouldn't take five days off of blogging again. it leads to this garbled mess of a post. Oh well. Welcome to my brain. I will post the rest of the pictures sometimes this weekend. I promise! And maybe a New Moon review...and maybe a little more about the breast feeding...and...well...maybe I shouldn't make too many promises. I do have a DVR that is now 98% full. It will also require some attention.

Six Month Stats

No time for a real post. I am working today, and just came home to take Henry to his six month check-up. Things are a little crazy at my work right now, but soon I will post his six month professional pictures. They came out so great!

Anyway, here are his stats from his appointment today...

Height : 25 1/2 inches (25%...he is catching up)

Weight: 13lbs 12.5 oz (5%...still a skinny guy!)

Head: 17 1/4 inches (perfectly normal at 50%)

We also got his flu shots (Mercury free) so we were pretty happy about that. of course, that meant five shots. He was pitiful, but at least it is done.

Six Months

Dear Henry,

You are undoubtedly the sweetest baby I have ever known. Each month that passes shows us more and more of your easy going spirit. You rarely cry, and when you do it is always for a reason. You go to bed easy, wake up easy, and are easy all day long. You are so content to be held, but also so happy to spend endless amounts of time using one of your many toys. Your office is a favorite. It is so funny to watch you "work". You just squeal with excitement as you play. You have mastered the ability to move around the entire office, taking full advantage of all the exciting toys.
This past month you had your very first Halloween. Mama wanted you to go as a nice little woodland creature like an owl, but Papa knew what he wanted you to be...he had his heart set on you being Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek. It turns out that your Papa was right, it was the perfect costume for you! We spent Halloween with Wesley, and you all had so much fun. I know Wes can't wait for you to be big enough to run around and play with him!
You are growing so fast, sweet Henry. You can now roll over from your back to your belly, but you don't do it often. You do love to sit up on your own, and don't seem to mind at all when you fall over! When you lay on your stomach you try so hard to hard to crawl. With a little help from Mama or Papa you are able to scooch along. I know you will be able to crawl on your own soon, and it just amazes me.
You study everything around you. You now have the ability to truly use your hands, and you are taking full advantage of them! You love to pull out your passie and look at it, tasting all sides to see which is best. Actually, you like to taste EVERYTHING! Anything your little hands can get a hold of goes straight to your mouth. You love looking at the world around you. The animals in your nursery are very exciting. I find you in the morning, awake in your crib, with your hand on the deer on your bumper pad. You move over just to be close to him. The same deer is next to your changing table, and I love to see you turn to watch him, always placing a hand on his back. You are so amazing to watch, as you learn and remember. As you try to work out how this world works.
I cannot believe it has been six months since I had you. Half a year since you came and made our family whole. I cannot imagine my life without you in it. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have such an amazing son. A sweet, loving and precious six month old boy. My boy. My sweet Henry. I love you so.

XOXO,
Mama

Bloopers

I was working on Henry's six month letter tonight, which of course requires some picture taking. I take dozens of pictures of this boy at a time, just for the hopes of getting one good shot. I think he might had inherited his Mama's ability to look the fool on camera, but I will let you all be the judge...

"I will keep my eyes open, I will keep my eyes OPEN!"...damn it

"I'm totally cool to drive guys...I have only had like three...okay maybe five beers. But I SWEAR I am good..."

"Oh man, that owl looks DELISHIOUS!"

"WOOOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHAAAAA"

"NOM NOM NOM"

"I'm done woman! No more pictures!"

Lesson Learned

So Monday Henry took part in an infant memory project at UK. I have no idea why I signed up for this...it sounded interesting back when I got the letter when I was on maternity leave..."Henry participating in research!!", "Our little science subject!!", "UK KNOWS he is a genius already!!" or something like that. So, I called and said we would happily participate. Well, our time came this past Monday and I must admit I was not so thrilled about the entire process once I realized I had to actually drive the baby to campus and sit through some random study where Henry watches TV. Still, he got a cute bib, I got to hold him and watch his adorable face on camera, he totally seemed like a genius baby, so all in all it wasn't too bad.

All that is not the point of the post. That is just explaining WHY I was on campus. I don't go to campus much anymore. I almost never try to find a parking spot on campus...so I had forgotten a very valuable life lesson I used to know well. The lesson? Don't ever. EVER. leave your car in a spot that says "this spot for graduate candidates only...monitored". Don't do it. Not even if you were driving by your husbands work and thought, "Oh man, I bet his co-workers would LOVE to see the baby! I will just dart on in for a second" not if you think, "these two spots are ALWAYS empty, there is no way they will check them in the ten minutes I will be inside..." because the sad truth is, they will check. Someone will be watching that spot, and they will call the tow truck. And you will look out the window to see your adorable trailblazer (with the car-seat in it) being towed away!

So, Nick took off running. He caught the guy. He explained that he worked here, that it is his wife, his new baby! "You can't take a car from a BABY!!" and I was like, "But the CAR-SEAT!! You can't tow my car with my car-seat in it!!" And the tow truck driver was all like, "well...once it's on the truck..." As if it was physically IMPOSSIBLE for him to give us the truck back. As if there was some golden rule that said it was FORBIDDEN to take a car down once it has been lifted into the tow position. And we begged and we pleaded, but they said no. The car was theirs.

So...anyway, we had to pay $111 to get our car back. Yes. ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN DOLLARS. And Nick had to ride with the tow truck driver to the other side of campus to pay the fine, then drive it all the way back to his work where I was waiting with Henry. I sat there with the baby, because you know, they had the car-seat! Seems dangerous to steal a baby's car-seat...that's all I'm saying. So, I really hope Henry enjoyed his little visit to see his Papa at UK. We wont be going back until he is an actual student with his very own parking pass.

Scrapbook

I went scrapbooking yesterday and started (watched Boo start) Henry's baby photo album. (when I say "scrapbooking" I mean I bought a photo album and we slid the pictures in...I am not one for cutting and backing and making things adorable. I love those scrapbooks...I just don't have time for them.) This book is suppose to be for his entire first year, but it is half full and we made it to four weeks. With pictures like this, how can I weed any out?? I wasn't even sure I wanted to mess with a scrapbook...feeling the blog did a pretty great job of documenting the sweet boy. But, now that I have the book and the pictures are in it, all in the right order, all grouped together in logical patterns...well, I sorta love it. I might even eventually start decorating the pages and using colored paper and...well...becimg a scrapbooker. Oh how these children change us.
Beyond that we are having a pretty laid back weekend. We are working on the addition, watching the Bengals play and enjoying the beautiful day. Life is pretty great.

**these are two new pictures from my phone. He really is the sweetest boy in the entire world

**also, Nick decided he wants a shirt that says "Nick" on it for Christmas. He might be mocking me, but I will be getting him one. Maybe Red and Green...and I will get Henry one to match. And make them wear them. Teach him to make fun of the baby's clothes!

Natural

After much debate (mainly with myself...nobody else seemed to care or find it an interesting point of discussion) I have decided to take my hair back to it's natural color. All in all a big deal seeing as how it hasn't been this color in about ten years. I am sorta undecided on it, but I think it is growing on me...

Hello, Old Friend

You know that old saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder"? Well, that is so true. I have tested it. With my absence from dairy. It has been a very long four months, and I tell you, it has been difficult. I have had actual dreams of ice cream and cookies and milk. Oh yes I have. Our big splurge on our anniversary was a dinner full of sweet dairy. Oh my. It was...like heaven. The butter on the bread. The spinach artichoke dip. Oh sweet lord, the baked potato with butter and sour cream. HEAVEN.But that was a special treat. A night that I decided to indulge in dairy and then pump and dump my milk so as to not upset the boy. Some breast feeding moms pump and dump for a good night of drinking, but not me. I go wild with s steak covered in a cream sauce and a bowl of ice cream for desert. Much better than any amount of alcohol.

The problem was, once I had dairy again, I sorta remembered how much I loved it. And how much I missed it. And...and...how GOOD it is. So, we decided it was time to test the waters once more. Not going crazy. Lord knows I can't actually have a glass of milk or anything, but I thought he might be ready...dare I say it...for a little cheese on my chili. So, I tried it. Any you all, it was good. So so good. It tasted like chili is suppose to taste! And then I nursed him...and I crossed my fingers. And then...nothing. No spit-up. No upset stomach. No NOTHING! Normal happy smiling Henry!!

So then, last night I put sour cream on my jambalaya. He seemed good last night, so I had it again for lunch today. Nick and I had big plans for a PIZZA for dinner when the bubble burst. He had spit up a ton since lunch. Not an upset stomach, but lots and lots of spit-up. It was too much dairy. Sour cream was putting him over the edge. We have to slow down. For now, just a little sprinkle of cheese. But I will take it. It's better than nothing. So, welcome back dairy. I have missed you so. We must take it slow, but I know we will be inseparable again soon.

Trick or Treat!

Yes, we are totally those parents that took a six month old trick or treating. Yes, it was sorta obvious that people were really just giving Mama and Papa some candy. SHAME. But we had a great reason! This Halloween actually doubled as my perfect godson's birthday party. It was a costume filled, pumpkin painting extravaganza! Of course, we didn't actually let Henry paint...because it seemed obvious that the only place the paint would go was directly into his mouth. My boy, the genius. Here's Henry and Wesley playing with a Transformer. Clearly Henry needs to take some lessons from Wes on how to look incredibly adorable in a picture...

Oh no, wait. Henry has it down too. He just likes to be the lone subject of his pictures.

Henry says, "I don't know about this you all...do they give milk as treats??"

Officially a trick or treating pro! (For the record this was one of the two houses that Henry trick or treated at...just so you don't think I went all candy crazy. We do have limits.)

mama and her boy on his very first Halloween

Without a doubt, the cutest Dragon and Jean Luc Picard EVER!