Tidbits, part 2...

It's rare when they do this at the same time... and its never when I'm able to do the same.


Callen loves the bath!  At least so far...


My husband was able revive the yard after the crazy winter we had.  This lily sprung up and is gorgeous!

Morning TV is Interesting...

Preston spent the nite with Grandma Darlene so this morning I actually got to watch stuff on TV that WASN'T a cartoon.  Since I don't do that much, wasn't sure what to watch, so I flipped around and caught several rather amusing things...
 
- When I first turned on the TV, Regis & Kelly was on... only Anderson Cooper was filling in for Regis.  Kate Gosseling and her dancer guy partner were dancing... if you can call it that.  Mostly they were walking, pausing and posing... no wonder she got booted from Dancing With The Stars.  Then they had the winner of Project Runway on (which caused me confusion because I thought that was a modeling contest, but apparently is a fashion designer show? I had no idea!).  This guy, SethAllen, totally brought home a serious point - musicians and scenesters, listen up! Think about whether or not you wanna be trying to pull this look off at 38.


Doesn't always work.  Just saying.

 
- Jillian Michaels caught a case of the giggles talking about her new book and recipes.  Blame it on Al Roker.  But seriously... when I think of Jillian Michaels, I always picture her screaming at people, being mean and hard...

.... but seeing her giggling uncontrollably about food was pretty funny.  Al told her that her oatmeal recipe would be good cold and she said "yuck"... then she realized it and said "I just said 'yuck' about my own recipe!  I am not gonna sell a single book!"  After that all bets were off, she couldn't help herself.

- I finally saw Kathy Lee and Hoda on Today.  I've never seen the actual thing, just the SNL skit (see below).  But ya know what?  The SNL skit is DEAD ON... I couldn't tell the difference.  They really are that bad... talking over each other, making fun of each other and things that you wouldn't think they should, just all kinds of craziness and chaos.

Tidbits, part 1...

Since it's really hard to sit and compose an actual full-on blog these days (you should read the ones I write in my head!), I figured this might be the next best thing...

- My kid is ridiculously cute.  Wait... my KIDSSSS are ridiculously cute.  It's a good thing too, otherwise I'm not so sure all the trouble would be worth it.  Callen is constantly fussy if you're not feeding him.  Even holding him isn't enough sometimes, he just likes to cry... and always wants to eat.  But, man, he has beautiful eyes and an adorable smile... and he's starting to "talk" to us - a sweet little "aww" sound.  Definitely getting to be more interactive, and not even six weeks old yet!  Preston is testing boundaries, talking back, being defiant... you name it.  All he wants to do is play on PBSKids.org.  He's already mastered the internet pretty much, can work that website like you wouldn't believe.  I was watching him play on it the other day, a whiz with the mouse and knows what to click on and what to do... 4-yr-old genius!  He seems so big and grown up now, compared to Callen.  He's definitely a little man, so intelligent and sweet (yes, he has sweet moments despite the other stuff), can't believe how fast he's growing up!

- Being a stay-at-home-mom has been awesome.  It's weird not having to rush off to work, and not having that excuse for not cleaning/cooking/etc.  However, I still have a newborn so I have that excuse working for me... for now.  We've been attending story-times as two different Barnes & Nobles over the past few weeks.  A great way to get out of the house, not spend money and do something fun.  It's still hard to get out of the house for very long at a time because Callen eats so often, but I'm getting better at nursing discretely in public. 

- Speaking of nursing... those of you that have written/talked to me about the trouble I was having... thanks so much for the encouragement, suggestions and support.  I greatly appreciate it.  It's better.  I used the Gentian Violet for about a week and the redness and  most of the soreness has passed, but I still have pretty deep cracks I'd like to heal up.  I'm still using the shields, as they have helped the most to make nursing easier on Callen and me.  I just hope that when I stop using them, he doesn't freak out 'cause he's gotten use to them... and that the cracks don't open right back up.  I'm sure it'll be ok, but I'm still using them for a while longer till the cracks are better.

- I feel bad for all the women I've completely scared off of pregnancy/babies.  Haha.  I have complained so much during my pregnancy and then after the baby was born that I'm pretty sure there are a few of my friends that are terrified of having kids in the future.  I apologize for that.  I promise you, despite how difficult it is... kids are completely worth it.  And it's definitely NOT all bad.  There are far more good moments than bad.  I SWEAR!

And with that, my few moments of being able to use two hands is over.  I have so much more to say, but it'll have to wait till the next time I get three extra minutes. 

One Month Down...

Callen is a month old!  Whoa, how does that happen?!?!  I've been meaning to blog about him for weeks now, but alas... there's just no time (or energy) left over for such things.  He's sleeping now and Preston is building a fort outta the couch cushions... so maybe I have a few minutes.  We'll see.

It has been a blessed... and very rough month, I have to admit.  Getting used to life with a newborn and a 4-yr-old has been harder than I imagined it would be.  It's been four years since Preston was an infant and since he's now so independent, I guess I forgot how needy the little ones are. 

Breastfeeding has been the biggest issue so far.  About two weeks in, I got a clogged duct which rapidly turned into an infection (like pretty much instantly).  I was just sitting on the couch with the kids, watching cartoons, when I suddenly realized I was shivering and could not get warm.  I got into bed, covered up with several blankets and a heating pad... still couldn't stop shivering uncontrollably.  It was crazy.  I had clogged ducts with Preston, but it never happened like that and it was scary.  I got over that with help of frequent nursing (through the pain) and antibiotics.  But as soon as that was better, I was in severe pain every time Callen nursed... I had developed huge, deep cracks that caused excruciating pain if I even moved wrong.  Callen wasn't latching on properly and I hadn't really been paying attention to it.  He would also constantly get his hands in the way, try to shove his fist in his mouth along with me... and anytime he accidentally touched my breast I had to keep from screaming, it hurt so bad.  Needless to say, nursing sessions were spent in tears (his and mine), we would both get so frustrated (and I was in so much pain).  I kept thinking it would get better if I could just adjust his latch... but even after I paid careful attention to that and got him on right, it still hurt and wasn't healing.  Finally called my doctor and she suggested Gentian Violet and nipple shields.  So, I've been doing that since last Thursday and things have improved on the pain front.  However, that's caused it's own troubles... I guess the nipple shield makes it slightly more difficult for Callen to nurse, so he gets tired quicker and doesn't nurse as long... which means he wants to nurse again soon after.  So I feel like I'm nursing just constantly... but at least it doesn't hurt as badly.  He's also had really bad gas trouble the past few days - either from the gentian violet (?) or because he gets more air from the shields... he's been really fussy and does not like to be put down at all.  Constant feeding and holding has been the recipe of the past several days.  But hopefully my cracks will be healed soon and we can get back to normal nursing!

Other than that, we're doing well.  He's becoming a lot more alert and can follow things with his eyes/head.  If I put him down in his crib for a few minutes, he'll have scooted himself pretty much to the other end.  If put on his tummy, he'll roll over... and he's getting good control of his head.  He obviously doesn't sleep through the nite yet, but at least after nursing he usually goes right back to sleep, so it's not so bad.  I'm extremely glad he doesn't want to stay up and party during the nite, 'cause I sure don't!  I can't really tell if he's gotten much bigger, still seems super tiny! 

Preston is good with Callen.  Sometimes he gets frustrated/annoyed when Callen is fussy/crying.  But for the most part, he talks very sweetly to him and wants to help soothe him when he's upset.  He likes to sing to him too.  We've been having some pretty seriously attitude problems with Preston lately though.  He is having trouble obeying us and tends to be straight up defiant at times.  Patience tends to run pretty thin on my part, especially when I'm faced with a double whammy of both kids freaking out at the same time.  But we're working on it.  I've tried to make sure to get out of the house a few times a week at least, give Preston something to do.  We went to Barnes & Noble's story-time last week and he enjoyed that... both kids were great for that outing!  We've gone to the park or played in the backyard in the nice weather when we can.  Sometimes we don't get off the couch till it's late enough to wake up Daddy - we watch a lot of cartoons, heh.  The grandparents have both taken Preston for me a few times over the past few weeks (so thankful for them!).  We're trying to find our groove, but some days I'm just toooo exhausted or lacking patience to do much of anything.

I attempted church three Sundays ago... Callen slept the entire time, but Preston had a major melt-down, refused to go to his class or go into "big" church with me... just cried and threw a tantrum because he wanted to go home.  We tried to hang out in the Quiet Room till he got over it, only he never did so we had to go home.  Then last Sunday we made it to Easter Sunday service... Michael, Jill and Steve all came.  Preston was great 'cause he knew he would get to hunt for eggs afterwards and Callen slept through the service.  After church we went to brunch, so that was nice.  Michael was miserable 'cause he got up early and just didn't feel good, but I'm thankful he attempted to spend the time with us.  Last nite we were up too much and so going to church this morning was just pretty much out of the question.  We also missed our small group meeting this week 'cause both kids were taking turns having melt-downs.  I guess that's just the way it goes.  Hehe.  I have to admit, being away from work has actually been really nice.  Even though it's been crazy, I could totally get used to this Stay-At-Home-Mom stuff!

Being a family of four is certainly taking some getting used to... but we're hanging in there so far.

Some pix...
 
Trip to the park (naptime).

Attempting a group photo.


Visiting Mema (right at this moment, Callen had a major toot! Haha)


Naptime with Daddy.

 
Easter baskets.

 
Cute booty!