Giordano's, Shots and Peppermint Mocha Creamer...

Well, Caleb and I define the word "lame". We didn't feel like going out last night so we ended up ordering in. We ordered Giordano's and watched Jeopardy. Remember folks, we've only been married 4 years, it's not like this is our 42nd wedding anniversary or something. We're just boring like that. I can't even say Nathan is much of an excuse because he does so well when we go out it's not like he would have been a burden to take with us!

We did get a lovely gift card for the Olive Garden from Caleb's parents so we will be going out eventually (maybe tonight if the rain lets up a bit) but for now we're a very boring married couple who don't even go out on their anniversary. Sometimes I wish we didn't enjoy staying home so much! We are major homebodies.

Today was Nathan's two month wellness visit. The pediatrician said he looked wonderful and she didn't ask me about sleeping arrangements this time even though now I can actually say that he's in his crib! You'd be amazed at the difference in exhaustion when it comes to crib vs. co-sleeping though. Until he sleeps through the night I might have to co-sleep still during the week. Just getting out of bed at 3/4am makes me SOOO much more tired than waking up to roll over and nurse him. I'm kinda surprised by it actually.

Wednesday night we accidentally co-slept again (first time in over a week) because Caleb and I both fell asleep before I put him down. I woke up at 2:30 and just decided to stay there since he was going to wake up in an hour or so to eat anyway. Last night though he was back in his crib...AND he slept until 5am. A nice 5 hour stretch! I know better than to get my hopes up though. The first night we got him into his crib he slept 6 hours, the next night 5 and then after than he was back to waking for his 3am feeding.

I'm just thankful it really wasn't that hard to get him into his crib like the doctor said it would be. Sure, back at one month I had a hard time and gave up but I look back now and just think he wasn't at all ready. Especially since he has had no problem sleeping by himself in the crib at two months.

Wow, that was a bit of a tangent. I meant to talk about his two month vaccinations! Anyway, Nathan got his shots today and I thought he was supposed to get 4 shots (DTap, HIB, Polio/Pneumococcal and HepB), but they apparently have combined some of them and he was only going to get 3. He actually ended up only getting 2 because the doctor wanted to wait on his third HepB vaccine since he has already had two of them (first at a day old, then a month old). He also got an oral vaccine for Rotavirus.

My little bean did so well! I was a bit worried yesterday and this morning. I've heard bad things about these vaccines but they went just fine and he only cried a little bit. I even nursed him right after, put him in his sling and did some grocery shopping! Brave little man!

Which leads into my final part of my title list: Peppermint Mocha Creamer. It is FINALLY available ... YUM!! Now I don't have to spend $$ at Starbucks this winter. I can make my own =) Love it!

Sorry this was such a long post! I guess I was just in the mood to write. I need to direct that into my essay for grad. school. I've seriously had 5 months to write this essay to get into the School Library program and I haven't done it. I need to write it this weekend before I start work again! Procrastination anyone?

Have a great weekend! btw -- ksteve.scentsy.com (I have a baby to diaper....) ;-)

4 years....

Happy Four Year Anniversary To My Wonderful Husband!!

It amazes me that it's already been four years, how time flies. 

I love you.

Last Chance!

Last week to get the October warmer of the month for 10% off!

 

Next month's burner is a Holly Leaf design for the Holidays, very cute!

Remember, all warmers are wick-free...meaning no candles! Great for classrooms and dorms!!!... Wax also doesn't get hot enough to burn so it's safe for kids and pets!

Warmers = $30! GREAT GIFTS!!

KSTEVE.SCENTSY.COM

Picture Post

Nathan is two months old today! Amazing how fast it went. I go back to work a week from tomorrow. Not really looking forward to that, but at least he'll be home with Caleb and I don't have to go through the emotional turmoil that is daycare. Still don't want to leave him all day though!

Here are some recent pictures:

He did it!!!

Nathan officially slept in his crib without waking for SIX hours last night!! He is a totally different baby than last month when we tried after our pediatrician told me to move him.

He's become much more comfortable in his crib, during the day he'll lay in there while I'm doing laundry and watch his mobile. It's adorable because he gets so excited when he sees it but actually starts giggling when I turn it on.

Anyway, I decided to try again last night after having him nap in there during the day yesterday and it worked! Six straight hours and he slept through his 4am feeding!

Hope we're able to keep it up!

Ah, The First Cold...

Yes, sadly my little bean is suffering from his first cold. What a happy milestone. I have one too and we "think" we may have gotten it from Caleb's dad when his family was in town last week. We all thought he was just suffering from allergies but now I'm not so sure. Although it could be that this cold is from another source entirely since they were here from Wednesday to Saturday and Nathan and I started feeling sick on Sunday and Nathan did have some congestion even before then. Anyone know what the incubation time is for a common cold? Could we get it that fast or does it take a week?

Anyway, we seem to be feeling a bit better. It's so sad to see a little baby sick, you just wish you could teach him how to blow his nose! The drainage is causing him to have a little cough too... he's so pitiful! The worst part though is that it is creating a bunch of gas in his belly. I assume it has to do with the fact that he's breathing through his mouth while he's eating (or attempting to) and sucking in air, but man, his gas has been WAY worse these last few days. Luckily the Mylicon actually seems to be helping. When he was younger it didn't seem to do much.

All I can really do for him is attempt to suction it out with the bulb syringe (this only half works) and try to keep him a little upright at night. I've also been monitoring him daily for a fever which has luckily not been a problem. Just hope we are actually getting better and he doesn't get any worse. I'd hate to have to deal with an ear infection this early on.

In other developmental news, we've started putting Nathan in his Bumbo chair that his Aunt Heather gave him. He really likes the new point of view he gets when he's in it but although he's holding his head up very very well, he does get tired after a while, so he's not hanging out in it constantly quite yet. He looks pretty funny in it though. Here's a picture:

Also, he is in love with his mobile. He'll actually lay in there for a long time staring at his friends. He talks to them and when I wind it up he gets really excited. It's the cutest thing!

So, lets see....he smiled for the first time around 5 weeks and was really smiling a lot and laughing by 6 weeks. He's been holding his head up since day 2 or so (I promise...the nurse made a huge deal out of it in the hospital) and now at 8 weeks we have his first cold. Next we'll see how long it'll be before he rolls over. According to his ped. he can do it at anytime!

Stupid Halloween

GRRRRR... I'm so upset about Nathan's Halloween costume. I bought him this adorable little pumpkin costume right after he was born and it's too small! I bought a 0-3mo size because he will be 2months at Halloween. Ha! That was before I knew my child was a hoss who grows like a weed. The kid is 14lbs and he'll be 8 weeks tomorrow!

Anyway, I should have bought size 3-6mo and now there is nothing I can do about it. Target doesn't have the costume in stock anymore and we can't afford to buy another one right now. So frustrating! We do have this cute little pumpkin onesie that Caleb's mom got him that I was going to put him in w/ some Halloween socks my mom got him, but we don't have any black pants and I can't put him in just a onesie in Chicago. GRRRRR...

So, my next option is his snow suit which is a blue suit w/ bear ears on the hood. I guess I'll put him in that with a little black make-up on this nose. Great, every time we look back at pictures he's going to ask what the heck he was. A stupid blue bear...

Ugh, can you tell I'm upset? I REALLY wanted to do well with my child's first holiday and I feel like I've failed already. I realize he wont remember it, but that's not really my concern...the pictures are the concern. I wanted to make sure he had cute Halloween pictures that he could always look back on. Every child needs to be a pumpkin at least once too.....not some random bear.

So mad at myself. 

So, I've decided to start selling Scentsy for a little extra money now that we have a little one. They are these fabulous tart warmers that smell amazing. My mother-in-law gave me one for my birthday this year and I fell in love with them.
They really don't cost all that much and would make great gifts this Christmas.

Check out all of the neat Scentsy warmers on my site: ksteve.scentsy.com

If you're interested in purchasing anything or in selling it yourself let me know! Also, to all my Canadian friends, Scentsy just came to Canada this fall ... meaning you can now sell it too! Just ask me how

Pack&Play

So despite my insistence that I've given up on getting Nathan in his crib or pack&play, I haven't really.

Last night we attempted the pack&play again. This time it went "ok"... he slept about half the night in it, on and off. Caleb put him in the p&p around 2am after Nathan and I both fell asleep after his 1am feeding. Then he woke up around 3 to eat again and as much as I meant to put him right back in the p&p afterward, we fell asleep until 4:15ish. Of course when I tried to move him back to the p&p he woke up and started his gas grunting and then made a huge messy diaper.

So, by the time I got that all sorted out it was 5am and so I put him down again and GUESS WHAT!?! He actually fell asleep on his own! First time (at night) that he's ever done this! Progress, progress!

Maybe we're getting there.

SNOW!?

I'm am in shock over the weather this week. I still can't believe how cold it has gotten and how early the snow has come, Cheyenne has 8 inches before Halloween!? Geez.

Not that an October snow in Wyoming and Colorado is rare, but that much and being that cold...I'm really worried about this winter. I hate long winters. Chicago usually doesn't get snow until late November but once it snows it's on the ground until March -- I hate that. Colorado might snow in Sept and May but at least it melts and there isn't the same snow on the ground all winter. Piling up, getting nasty gray and slushy. Causing the streets to fill with drifts...ugh. I hate it.

Every fall I feel like I didn't take the full advantage of summer. Didn't do enough outside, etc. I did do a lot in June this year, but once my family left I hardly did anything. Stayed inside most of the summer. BORING. Oh well, next year Nathan will be big enough to really enjoy being outside...maybe we'll do more.

Well, off to enjoy another quiet day w/ Caleb and Nathan. I need to finish some laundry and get the house cleaned up a bit though since Caleb's family is coming in this week. I've only vacuumed once since Nathan was born. Ewww...

one year later...

One year ago today I found out our first baby had died. I had some spotting and went in for an ultrasound after work. Caleb couldn't be there since it was such short notice. So, I sat by myself hoping and hoping that I was just one of those women who spot during their pregnancies. I knew deep down I wasn't that lucky.

It still was a bit of a shock though when the ultrasound technician said "I'm sorry but there is no heartbeat". I remember going into the bathroom and just sitting there staring at the floor thinking it can't be real, it can't be real. I'm still pregnant, it's still okay. I remember talking to the doctor on the phone to discuss options before I left the hospital, not really wanting to think about it. I remember walking back to my car fighting off the tears and sitting in the driver's seat, calling Caleb to tell him. I remember thinking I shouldn't be driving home in this state ... I'm still curious how I managed to get home.

I remember laying in bed, sobbing while Caleb laid with me. I remember seeing my husband cry. I remember him telling me we could try again. I remember being thankful for that. I remember we ordered our favorite take-out for dinner and I remember being relieved that I didn't have work the next day due to Yom Kippur.

I didn't really think I could cry about this anymore but now that I sit here, forcing myself to remember the details of that day, I am a bit teary eyed. Just remembering the feeling of it all makes me sad again. But, Nathan just started crying and that reminds me what a difference a year makes and how something wonderful can come out of something so sad. Without my miscarriage, Nathan would not be here. Without my miscarriage I would still be under the false impression that it is a rare occurrence. I would still be ignorant enough to think it couldn't happen to me. Without my miscarriage I would not be who I am today.

I don't want to forget my first baby, even though many people do not understand the need to dwell on early loss. Many people do not think of it as a baby. Now I doubt I'll tell Nathan he had a big brother or sister, but one day I will tell my children I had a miscarriage. I want people to know so others don't go through the same feelings of inadequacy that I did. Miscarriage makes you feel that way, like you're broken. A freak of nature. You can't carry a baby, you're messed up. I don't honestly know if me telling those not related to me will help them, I heard miscarriage stories of people I knew but wasn't related to and it really didn't help much. They weren't of the same biological make-up as me, that didn't give me hope that I was capable of carrying a baby.

What helped was the knowledge that my grandmother had a miscarriage before her three children. No one had ever told me this. It wasn't until the days after my miscarriage that I found out. I wish I'd known before ... maybe I wouldn't have felt the way I did for even a few days ... although maybe I would have. Who knows.

Anyway, this post is a lot longer than I had anticipated. I just wanted to mark the date, to remember what I'd been through and how far I've come. So in remembrance:

Baby Stevenson

August 2008 - October 2008

Not Me! Monday!

- I definitely did NOT get in a fight with my husband this weekend over whether or not the GPS was taking us on the most ideal route home.
- I NEVER bring coffee into church, despite the fact that others in our church do. I'm much more respectful than that.
- Also, I in NO WAY spilled said coffee in the middle of the service, proving exactly why you should never bring your coffee into church with you.
- I have DEFINITELY cleaned my house more than once since my six week old was born. I am a clean freak you know.
- And I most certainly did NOT cut up diapers that are too small into nursing pads since I ran out, that would be cheap and silly (or frugal and ingenious...you pick)

Target and the Olympic Bid

A little disappointed that Chicago lost the Olympics in the first round ... I really thought we'd get it or at least only lose to Rio, not Tokyo AND Madrid!

Sad, oh well... now there wont be a ton more construction and it's not like we'll be in Chicago in 2016 anyway.

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Not much else going on here today. Just hanging out at home as usual. I need to go to Target soon but probably wont be going today. Maybe after church on Sunday. We got a lot more clothing at the shower our church threw for us. A lot of it was great winter stuff (we didn't get ANY winter clothing at our other shower) that will be a huge blessing here in Chicago but we also got a lot of bibs which we don't really need anymore of and some great gift cards ... all Target, so I'm going to head there and get some more bottle nipples, a humidifier and more of all of those things I need every day (diapers, wipes, nursing pads, pacifiers, etc).