William is a pretty happy baby...but not when he is going #2. He gets pretty mad at the world, and makes faces like this:
And, while I will spare you the dirty details, we took him to the pediatrician to see what we could do to make it a more enjoyable process for him.
We were told that our sweet William is allergic to the cows milk that I consume and that I need to stop eating and drinking the culprit. This was the equivalent of someone telling me that my life would soon be over. Okay, I admit, that was a bit dramatic but anyone who knows me knows how I like my food. So trust me, cutting dairy out of my diet is going to be PAINFUL.
Here are the top 10 reasons why:
10. Ice Cream
9. Bagels and Cream Cheese
8. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
7. Beach Hut Sandwiches
6. String Cheese
5. My daily cereal
4. Pizza
3. Butter on my bread
2. McDonald's Cheeseburgers
and the #1 reason is going to take a major sacrifice:
1. My daily iced cappuccino, EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA foam :(
After making that list, I actually have no clue what I am going to eat today. Any dairy free ideas?
Matt turned 30 last month. But as we were a wee bit busy (having a baby and all) I failed to plan an appropriate celebration. He got his party a month late, but it was worth the wait.
we made t-shirts with iron on transfers
The theme was "You Can't Dodge30" and the activity was a fierce game of trampoline dodgeball. Matt was the "last man standing" quite a few rounds. Hannah, on the other hand, was the first out every time--and failed to catch any balls. Mrs. Jesse, my high school P.E. teacher, would have been disappointed! Luckily, I can blame my poor dodgeball skills on the fact that I was only six weeks postpartum.
And for all of you wondering how my post-baby body felt.....I would be lying if I said that my stomach organs didn't feel a bit discombobulated and I didn't tinkle a little on the big bounces :)
It just keeps getting better! Liam is now smiling and giggle-cooing and making happy faces all the time. Sometimes I don't take my eyes off him for a whole hour. I love seeing our baby boy so happy.
I love being home with my sweet William on maternity leave. I am so lucky that I get to take a couple months off to bond with my babe. When we are not bonding (aka, when he is sleeping), I do one of the following things:
watch him sleep (this is what I do more often than not)
shower/brush teeth/possibly brush hair
clean my house/laundry
pump
google things like "infant is stuffy", "infant puffy eyes", "infant sleep schedule", "when do babies eyes change colors", "is green poop ok?"
eat and drink gallons of water
drool over magazines and dream
What do I dream about? I dream about building my dream home. Here are the dream home requirements: must be on at least five acres, must be large enough for at least three kids, must have large kitchen, must have swimming pool, must have porch with view, must have lots of trees and space for kids to run.
Here are two pictures that I "dream" the exterior of my dream house will look like:
My post-baby wardrobe reminds me of this clip from the movie "Nacho Libre." With one exception: I wear my stretchy pants in my room...and EVERYWHERE else. In fact, stretchy pants are the only pants I wear lately.
I prefer to call them yoga pants (it sounds much classier, even if I haven't done a lick of yoga since birthing my weight-inducing-nugget) and I have a pair for every day of the week. I am literally on a seven day rotation of stretchy yoga pants.
So, for those of you readers who are pregnant and have been told that all you have to do is "breastfeed and the pounds will come off"--Don't believe it. Instead, invest in stretchy pants.
Here are my recommendations in order of my favorites:
Monday - Lululemon Gather and Crow Crop
These pants were a push present from my sister, Katie. Isn't she so sweet! Instead of jewelry, she bought me workout pants. It's like saying: "Congrats on the new baby....NOW get rid of that flab, stat!"
These pants are soft and flattering, but most importantly--Reversible. This means that they are my Monday pants and Friday pants. And no, that is not my belly in the picture below. If it were, I would not be wearing stretchy yoga pants everyday.
Wednesday - Zella Live In Capris
It is Wednesday; so therefore I am wearing these now. I like how these are tailored. They do a good job at taking the focus off the muffin top and toward my knees, which; amazingly enough, did not retain any pregnancy weight. They also have a hidden pocket in the waistband, perfect for storing pacifiers. Oh boy, I just now realized that these are reversible too...I am thrilled. Less laundry.
Thursday - Hard Tail Bootcut Roll Over
These pants are tried and true. They have been with me for about eight years. They are no longer black and have multiple holes near the heel but are as soft as suede, cashmere and velvet put together.
Friday - Re-wear Monday's Lulu's reversed
Saturday - Avani Tie-Hem Cropped Yoga Leggings
I don't hate them, but I don't love them. They were a Nordstrom Rack find for $20. Can't beat that.
Sunday - Nike Dri-Fit Cropped
These are more "jogging" than "yoga" pants. And I do as much jogging as I do yoga :) Nevertheless, they are stretchy.
And after looking at all of my yoga pants, I have had two epiphanies: 1) I should go to yoga soon 2) I need to add color to my boring-black stretchy pant rotation.
Hmm... which epiphany to conquer first?
....Regardless the color: If they stretch, I'll buy.
Since William's birth five weeks ago, we have taken 2,000 pictures--no joke. And when I say "we," I mean ME!! I swear, my baby is going to think that his mommy is a Nikon D90. The camera is in his face more than I am.
I am sure that we will love having so many pictures to remember these moments; my only complaint is that I take ALL the pictures. This means that I have plenty of snapshots of William playing, smiling, cuddling with Daddy and being held by relatives, but only a handful of me and William.
I give Matt a hard time about it constantly. "Why don't you take pictures of us?" "I won't have any pictures of me and my son." "He is going to think that he was raised by a single father." ....you get the point.
Fortunately, Matt is getting a little better about remembering to take pictures. UNFORTUNATELY, the last two pictures he took have been of Liam and I sleeping. Apparently, these are the moments that Matt wants to remember.
Matt took this picture one morning before he left for work. William and I are taking a morning catnap (after a long night) and though it is not the most flattering, it makes my heart happy. I am a typical firstborn/rule follower and I went into this baby thing with a lot of rules for William:
- No rocking to sleep
- No sleeping while feeding
- No sleeping in bed with mom and dad....
Notorious rule-follower, no longer. I break the rules...just not everyday.
It's worth it to wake up to my baby by my side.
Here we are: breaking the rules again this morning
Notice our arms in the first shot, and our mouths (wide open) in the the second shot. We are totally "twin sleepers."
To those of you who bought Liam clothes... THANK YOU
To those of you who were savvy enough to pick out seasonly appropriate outfits (ie. a 6 month sweater as Liam will be 6 months in January)... I APPRECIATE THE THOUGHTFULNESS
To those of you me who washed all his clothes prior to birth... IT SEEMED LIKE THE RIGHT THING TO DO
To the little chunk--you know who you are--who decides to fit into "3-6 month" outfits on your 1 month birthday... YOU ARE GROWING UP TOO FAST (and none of your cute sweaters will fit you in the winter!)
From the moment he popped out, everyone who looks at Liam says: "Wow, he looks just like Matt!" And I am okay with that. After all, I am extremely in love with Matt and think he is super hot...of course I would be happy with a "mini-Matt."
HOWEVER, maybe they were all wrong. What they haven't seen is this picture of me at four weeks that my mom gave me this past weekend. If you see what I see, then you must agree that what we have on our hands is a "mini-Hannah."
Hannah at 4 weeks
Liam at 4 weeks
And, for those of you who want to compare Liam to Matt:
So far, this is my favorite picture of my little guy. It was shot on an I Phone, so not the best quality, but there is just something special about it. I think it is his eyes--so wide and alert!
I have been playing around with a new program on my Mac (courtesy of Nicole and Katie) that allows me to add custom developments. Let me know which one you like the best.
Nicole stayed with us from Friday until Tuesday morning, so Liam got to spend quality time with her. Nicole is always such a big help and so selfless with her time. She did not disappoint this weekend.
Nicole, thank you for:
- Helping me set up for the dedication "after party" until midnight on Friday
- Changing countless diapers
- Doing laundry while I slept
- Letting me take my first nap since week one (and dealing with a fussy Liam)
- Making Liam laugh
- Changing more diapers
- Organizing all of Liam's clothes
- Washing lots of dishes
- Keeping Liam company on the drive to Reno
- Lugging Liam, the Bob and many bags around to the mall, Michael's, Peets, Whole Foods and Sam's Club--we were quite the shoppers!!
Liam loves cuddling and playing with his aunt Nicole.
Liam's first ride in his G-daddy's Z. Cruising the strip, picking up chicks:)
This past weekend was packed! In addition to the dedication (as you can see below), it was also Liam's first road trip to Reno. He was so excited to join both sets of grandparents, his great-uncle Paul and great-aunt Penne and his Uncle Joel and Aunt Nicole for a day of muscle cars and his first night away from home.
He was WAY off his schedule, but still did very well. It's pretty easy to have a good day when you have twelve people loving, kissing, squeezing and entertaining you all day :)
The engine rumble put him into a deep sleep.
The story of how my dad has owned the same car three times--its a good one.
My sister Katie designed and wrote the poster.
Meeting his great-uncle Paul. Liam's shirt has a Z-28 on it and say's "Bring the Noise"
As a keepsake for all who attended William's dedication, I put together these prayer cards for them to keep in their Bibles. It gives specific verses and things to pray over William's life--from his choice to follow Christ to his choice in a future spouse. I pray that those who came to his dedication will uphold their promise to pray for, support and set examples for William growing up.
For a closer look at what the cards have written on them, see below.
