8 Months

I haven't done one of these posts in awhile and little man is growing and changing like woah. Time to document the latest!
At 8 Months his newest trick is waving! We had been waving at him constantly for about a week when he suddenly did it back! It was thrilling. (Spoken like a first time mama) And he did it several times later that day on separate occasions. Always with his left hand, and always freaking adorable. I totally cried the first time he did it and the second time he did it when I realized it wasn't random.

Jonas is eating more now during his breakfast and dinner solids. And when he is really enjoying something he slaps his left hand on the high chair tray anticipating (demanding?) the next bite! We also give him some puffs now to work on his pincher grab. And he is now getting lots of bites and tastes of whatever we are eating. Again, he hasn't met a food he doesn't like.

We definitely have a water baby on our hands. Our month of swim lessons went really well, Jonas loved being in the water with the other kids and didn't even cry or fuss when he would get dunked under water! He has since had fun with his buddies in the kiddie pool and at Jon's parents' pool, which is a big deal since both of those pools weren't heated like the one at the swim school.

He has just recently cut his 3rd tooth and the first one on top. So now he makes my skin crawl when he does his new trick of grinding his teeth together. Shudder! It isn't fully out but so far this tooth was so much easier than tooth #2.

Morning naps are still dependable and great, but afternoon naps are the new struggle. He just will not go down despite being very tired. It takes lots of patience to get through afternoons lately. And up until recently he never moved in his crib, always would stay on his back where we placed him. Now he flips over to his side or stomach and sleeps that way.

At 8 months this kid is just so much FUN! We get him laughing constantly and the sound of his laugh is one of my favorite sounds, ever. The other day I was holding him on my lap and he watched Pete jump onto the entertainment center and just started cracking up. It was hilarious how he found that funny?!?
He loves to stand but is still not super fond of being on his stomach which means there have been no hints to crawling anytime soon. He loves opening and closing drawers and the medicine cabinet, grabbing knobs, pulling towels off racks, pulling contents out of my dresser and playing with other adult and everyday things.
And he also just recently had his first cold and we used the Nose Frida for the first time. Despite a runny nose, some coughing and sneezing he was acting normal. And I can't believe it, but I am already thinking and planning for his first birthday. Which is around the corner, holy cow.

Post Postpartum

 

 {via}

There is so much information out there for the weeks directly following birth and after your 6 week check up, it's like the medical field dusts off their hands as if to say "Good work, you're back to normal!" Ha...haha. I'd like to talk a little bit about what they don't tell you and how long things can last! Because I am nearly 7.5 months out and there are still physical signs that I "just" had a baby.

 {via}

For starters, depending on how you birthed your baby, your healing could go well beyond 6 weeks. Sure your tear can heal, but it can also re-tear. That tear takes awhile to heal because they can't go putting stitches in you now, but they can cauterize it with silver. Yup, fun times.

The linea nigra. That awesome line that appears on your belly during pregnancy doesn't fade right away! And maybe its because I am breastfeeding still, but I can still see mine. It has faded quite a bit and thinned out, but it is still visible.

Hair. There is lots to be said about hair during and after pregnancy! Yes my hair was awesomesauce during pregnancy, just like all the books claimed. And the makeup of it changed a bit, I used to be so oily that I could not skip a day of shampoo ever. I was a serial 7-days a week shampoo-er but about halfway through my pregnancy I noticed that I didn't need to wash everyday! My hair wasn't as greasy, it was great! I also thought I wasn't going to have the major shedding that everyone describes but it happened to me too. About 3-4 months postpartum my hair was shedding like mad and my brushes were filling up so fast! Thankfully I never had any bald spots or clumps coming out in the shower. Skip to now, it is back to how it used to be, needing to be washed frequently and now I have a crown of disgusting baby hairs that are over 1 inch long. I haaaaaate them. And they are obviously my natural color of darker blonde that make my whole head look darker! This one bums me out the most.

But there are some pluses. Weight loss for one. I weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. This has got to be because of breastfeeding because I exercise maaaybe once a week and eat ice cream after dinner often. (Although my alcohol consumption has gone WAY DOWN.) And the weight fell off fast. I don't own a scale but at my 6 week check up I was 5 pounds away from my starting weight. This was a huge welcome surprise!

And maybe the most awesome of all? No period...still. Which if you do the math means I haven't had one since December 2011. Yeaaaaah. That doesn't suck!

What am I missing? Anything you other new mamas want to add? I'm all ears!

3 Months

Month three has been busy! Lots of new changes and milestones happening over here.

Diapering: We started Jonas on cloth diapers! We use Fuzzi Bunz and things are going great. They seem so much more comfortable on him and we rarely have leaks, and of course, we are not sending a ton of diapers to a landfill. Win, win. We use Charlie's Soap or Rockin' Green for the detergent and I can't wait for warmer weather so I can line dry them outside.

Developmental Milestones: He went from holding things in the bath to overnight grabbing at things and clutching blankets up to his face. It's so cute. And my prediction is that he is a leftie. He just seems to use that hand much more than the right. So, hopefully he will play baseball. ;)

Christmas morning. Could not resist. Sorry Jonas. I am so not into the outfits like "baby's first (fill-in-the-holiday) but this is on borrow from a friend and it was just too cute not to.

Poor guy didn't get the memo that this was the "silly pose" photo.

Sleep: He has been such a solid nighttime sleeper, been sleeping through the night since 7/8 weeks so I was worried about moving him into the crib. I am happy to report it has gone well. The first night he woke up 3 times, the second night he woke up once and now he almost makes it through the night, with one wake up around 5am and then back to bed till 7am. Naps during the day, however, are another story...

What's New: My days are spent trying to come up with new ways to make him laugh (flipping my ponytail back and forth is a good one), spending time with my mom's group, and trying to cherish the little moments-like when he started smiling at me while nursing! And we just started baby sign language, only three signs for now. (Milk, More and All Done) I jot down things everywhere, notepads, in my phone, because new things are happening everyday! It's impossible to remember it all.

Catch-up, Photodump, Hi, remember me?

Well the colic hasn't broke, but we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. (As I write this, he is screaming his head off with Jon in the other room...) I had always wanted to take photos for our Christmas card this year but was worried about his colic and being able to get the shots we needed. Above is the money shot. That's what we paid for, basically. 7 weeks old and looking oh-so-cute. Because in between every decent shot he was screaming and we were bouncing him or blasting a radio or trying to show him toys in hopes of getting one or two good shots. It was a hectic and a kinda stressful afternoon, but I'm glad we did it.

Thanksgiving. Hey, at least his sweater is cute.

 We started him on probiotics (BioGaia) and I really have seen some improvements since day 3 of starting them. He is actually happy in the morning after he wakes up and we have been playing. I even heard his first laugh the other day! So much fun. And now he smiles all the time and we can get him to smile for us, before it was sort of random. Nothing better than seeing his smiling face.

As tempting as it was to get a cheap tree from Costco...babies first Christmas, blah blah blah. We bought an overpriced one from the tree farm. He slept the whole time in the Ergo. Family of 3, yo!

Holding his head up like a big boy. We are playing catch up on tummy time, since he wasn't a fan in the early months. He wasn't a fan of anything, actually. So in his few happy moments we weren't going to ruin it by putting him on his stomach. Trying to squeeze lots of TT in now.

We are loving baby clothes from American Apparel and Old Navy! Don't let his face fool you.

I miss this space. I miss all of you! I hope to not let so much time pass before another post. 

Living with a colicky baby (A blog break)

{a rare moment}

Before I had Jonas I think I thought "colic" simply meant a baby was gassy. I didn't know or pay much attention to the word. Colic can be defined as a condition of a healthy baby in which it shows periods of intense, unexplained fussing/crying lasting more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week for more than 3 weeks.

If Jonas is awake, he is crying. Not light fussing, but crying, screaming, scratching his face, throwing his head around, CRYING. And this has been the case since he was born. We didn't know it was colic right out the gate since he was so young it was hard to tell. Even though around 2 weeks old one day he cried violently for 13 hours straight (minus nursing). I didn't want to believe it, because there is no cure. I wanted to think it was something in my diet making my breast milk hard for him to digest or maybe acid reflux, but now at almost 7 weeks, its clear that this baby has colic. And it is not so clear how I have not yet jumped off a bridge. 

Thankfully the first two weeks are long gone and I no longer have to deal with my body healing from the physical stuff that happened during labor and the intense roller coaster of emotions that were dumped on me afterwards, because dealing with that and the colic? Well that was a pretty dark time. Now my body is healed and my head is clear and it still feels like the hardest thing I've ever dealt with. 

So it's amazing I made it through the very beginning.

Other than the obvious little things like its hard to find time in the day to shower, go to the bathroom or make myself something to eat, its extremely isolating. I feel trapped in my house. I did join a mom's group and have gone a few times and I know they don't mind him screaming, but I do. Its exhausting enough dealing with him at home (with all my "tricks" nearby) but in a park with a bunch of people I've just met? A little more challenging. 

On the rare occasion he takes a long day time nap, I usually nap too. Or eat my one meal of the day before Jon can come home and relieve me. I am not about to go hit the social scene when I am so exhausted. There isn't energy left for me. And speaking of that, he is only eating breast milk, so I am solely up with him around the clock feeding him in the middle of the night and every other time. Jon would love to help with feedings but I honestly have no time to pump. And when I do have a free 30 minutes? It's usually not at the top of my list. 

Which I guess is my own fault. 

Where is this post going? I don't know. I just wanted to explain my absence a bit. Basically, for the past 7 weeks I've had a baby screaming his ass off in my face whenever his big blue eyes are open.

I hope to be back sooner than later.

What a difference

{excuse the messy room}

Here I am on September 25th, my due date, before heading to the gym for a long walk to hopefully induce labor. My water broke early the next morning at 2:20AM on September 26th and Jonas was born at 2:11AM on September 27th.

I remember feeling excited and hopeful. And now I look at this picture and I think, "silly girl, you have no idea what you got yourself into!"  Being pregnant sure was the easy part. Jonas is almost 3 weeks old and I will say that the last two weeks have held some of my toughest moments ever. But it's true, every day it gets a little bit better.

Hi there.

{8 day old baby Jonas}

I kind of don't know where to begin or how to write this post or what to even write about. They say there is no bigger transition in life than going from non-parent to parent and I would have to agree. I have free moments every now and again to blog but I am really stumped as what to write about! At this point talking about hot nail polish colors for fall makes me laugh. I will use the ever forgiving bullet point method to jot down some things on my mind.

-I think I plan on writing Jonas' birth story at some point...not sure

-It's funny how in any given room of our house there is either a breast pad, burp cloth or swaddle blanket

-Pete is dying for attention

-I have given Jonas ten thousand kisses

-He surpassed his birth weight in 5 days, most babies take 7-10 days. 

-My milk came in within 48 hours, most women it takes 3-5 days.

-It makes me feel proud that he is living only on the milk that I am providing him but it is the most exhausting thing ever. We both fall asleep during feedings. 

-Jon has been with us in the hospital or at home since his birth and he goes back to work on Monday. That's when the real test begins. ;)

-Having an iphone has been the best thing ever for those late night feedings

-Go Giants! ;)

Nice try, Skipolini's

I am sorry to inform you that the Prego Pizza did not work for me. But it was tasty dinner that I didn't have to cook, which was awesome. Even though my due date* is tomorrow, I am beginning to feel permanently pregnant!

*My original due date is October 4th and I am starting to think that's the real deal.

Lately

What I wore to a rehearsal dinner last week. Nothing like a maxi dress to cover this bump-and a 6 year old dress to boot! During this pregnancy so many people have expressed how sorry they are that I am so pregnant during the summer, but I actually prefer it! I don't want anything touching my belly or (entire bloated body!) so being able to live in maxi dresses, skirts and tanks and flip flops has been awesome. I can't imagine if I had to wear winter attire (or find it and pay for it!).

The bassinet. Where baby will sleep for the first few months, placed right next to my side of the bed for easy feedings during the nights. This is the same bassinet Jon and his siblings slept in! Of course I had to buy a new organic mattress and fitted sheet. ;)

A softie basket filled with teethers! I put together another cute basket full of breast feeding essentials to keep at easy reach of the glider in the nursery. Speaking of, I think I will photograph it this weekend and finally share it next week! It isn't totally done, but who knows if it ever will be?

Since our cloth diapers were pretty expensive (thank you Mom!!) I want to make sure we don't accidentally ruin them in the wash. I figured in the beginning we are going to be pretty deliriously sleep deprived, so I printed out the directions and hung them in our garage above the washer and dryer. 

I have also been packing the hospital bag and stocking the freezer with food. I really hope baby comes earlier rather than later, I am pretty sick of being pregnant. After my last day of work on Friday we are going out to Indian food and I am getting the spiciest thing on the menu.

Full Term

We are now throwing around the delicious phrase "full term" around here. Exciting stuff! I can't believe most of my pregnancy is behind me. This post will be a 36-37 week one as once I have photographed myself and the bump another week seems to pass before I can post it. Well, let's just get this out of the way so your mouths can drop and you can recover and move on.

That's a whole lotta baby!

Some thoughts at 37 weeks:

-The baby has definitely dropped. The lower pressure I have suddenly encountered is not letting up and it happened at the same time I noticed the bump appearing more sloped and lower than normal. My tops even fit differently. He is getting into position, which makes me happy. 

-Sleeping sucks. I actually dread when it's time for bed because it feels like work! I basically need to switch from side to side all night long and whenever I randomly wake up on my back I feel guilty. And simply "flipping" from one side to the other is very difficult and sort of painful. 

-My exercise ball is my best friend. The position most people watch TV in while on the couch is pretty bad for promoting baby to stay in the right position and it doesn't help with circulation so I try to sit on the exercise ball when we are zoning out.

-Still not one stretch mark. Hopefully we make it all the way through without any. 

-Last doctor's appointment did not show any dilatation but cervix softening. I'll take it!

-Got some nursing bras. I got way bummed out afterwards for some reason. Those things are not cute, even if you make them in black or animal print. It probably didn't help that I got them after we went suit shopping for Jon. Sharp + Sexy Suits to Nursing Bras, yay!

-Still no Braxton Hicks contractions. 

My current routine includes my prenatals, extra DHA, vitamin D and Calcium chews. I take the calcium chew at night because it absorbs best on its own (or with vitamin D) but also because it is supposed to help with late night leg cramps. I will continue on all of these while breastfeeding. 

Here are some new things I recently picked up. I have read on a couple blogs that oil of evening primrose and raspberry leaf tea are great things to take to begin toning your uterus and preparing the cervix for delivery. The Fenugreek is to help with milk production, so I will toss this in my hospital bag. I hear it makes your pee and sweat smell like maple syrup!

-Also, not related to pregnancy but I feel this reminder is needed right about now.

since we can't just call him "baby"

That's right, we are naming him Jonas! We are in love with this name and our little boy who we already have been referring to as Jonas. His middle name is Pieter, after my grandpa. Pieter is the Dutch spelling of Peter and is pronounced the same way. Pieter is also my brother's middle name. So while his last name represents Jon's family, his middle name represents mine. That was important to me. Hopefully you love his name just as much as we do.

20 Weeks

Just playing catch up, here I am at 20 weeks. The halfway mark! I had to laugh out loud when I saw this picture because of how huge the bump appears, I promise you it doesn't look like that in real life. As comfortable as those maxi dresses are, they don't do much for making you feel little. I am most definitely in the "golden" part of my pregnancy as things are pretty smooth for me. Other than feeling tired, having back pain and a couple other mild symptoms, I feel great. Also, I love being able to refer to the baby as "he" or "him". And after only knowing we are expecting a lil man for a week now, the baby shopping has begun! I must say, shopping for boys is much more of a challenge as the hunt for really cute boy clothes does not come as easy as shopping for the girls. But I am up for it and have already went a little nuts. But that's for another post. ;)

Outnumbered

We are having a BOY! 

And this information totally took both Jon and I by surprise! I guess we had convinced ourselves the baby was a girl even more than we thought. But as I always wanted the first born to be a boy, I am so happy!

{Dressed in a blue blazer and tank from GAP for baby boy}

Who is this little baby?

Tomorrow* we will hopefully find out if this baby is a boy or a girl! That is so exciting in itself, but I am also thrilled because this ultrasound is going to be 45 minutes long! Just seeing the baby for that long is like winning the lottery. Apparently it isn't just to let Jon and I bask in the view of our little one but to count all the fingers and toes, measure everything and other important baby business. Also, this comes at the perfect time because baby has been SO active the last few days! I am now feeling movement constantly, so hopefully baby is ready to put on a show tomorrow.

I want to say this whole time I haven't really had a strong feeling like it was one of the other, but I have had two dreams where I gave birth to girls and I think I have had the 'girl' idea dance around in my head more often than if I had a boy. Deep down, I know I want a first born son and a little girl later on.  But part of me is so impatient that I want my baby girl now! I can't wait! So, truly, I am going to be over the moon with either result.

I think everyone that has given a guess has said girl except for Jon's dad, who thinks there is a little guy in there. Maybe he knows something the rest of us don't? So what do you think, any guesses?

*I will post the reveal on Monday as we would like a chance to see friends and family in person or call them before blasting it on the Internet.

Happy Friday!

{Kari Herer via Oh Joy!}

This week has been eventful but good. I think we are finally out of the gloomy days and onto the sunny days from here on out. We took care of a couple of big house projects to get ready for baby. I won't bore you with the details, but it felt good to cross some stuff off our list.

Some other thoughts this week:

-Can't wait to make this hummus chickpea salad with all our leftover cilantro. Have you read Umami Girl's blog? If not, you must, beautiful food photography and healthy eating.

-Email from my mom that made me smile: "I am happy and excited every day because you are having a baby :)"

-And on the flip side, someone telling me yesterday that I'm "so big"  and "the baby is so big" for only being 4 months. Ugh. Seriously. It is never okay to comment on a woman's body, got that?

-Getting excited for my lunch and shopping date with Jackie this weekend!

-Deciding on a vacation for June. Austin is it! We will def make it to DC another time.

-I think I felt the baby for the first time last night. They say if it's your first it is hard to distinguish the baby moving and your body doing its thing but I felt something a bit different. Hooray!

Happy weekend everyone!

What's cooking

We are so excited!

Some things I liked this week

{lemonade}

This quote from the founder of Trader Joe's in this month's Sunset magazine.

"TJ's was conceived for people who were over educated and underpaid, so they could have a certain richness on the table they otherwise could not-like brie, olive oil, French mustard, wild rice, and wine."

-Joe Coulombe

 

Our wedding invitations came in! After hemming and hawing over what to do, having saved about a bazillion inspiration photos of beautiful letter pressed wedding suites, I just couldn't pull the (gold dusted and diamond encrusted) trigger. I got them from Minted instead but totally LOVE them!

This outfit from Karla. Is she killing it or what?
One of the fashion bloggers that actually brings really unique looks. Love her.

My new J.Crew bikini top. Masala Chai. Yum. No matching bottoms for me.
I did also get a nice lil one piece.

Bike Weather

 {taken Superbowl Sunday. Superbowl treats were in that backpack there}

Happy Friday! I hope you are getting awesome bike weather in your neck of the woods, like we are.

Welcome February...

{Valentine's mosaic I put together a couple years ago}

....and I'm beyond sick right now. Crap.

A Proposal in Chicago

 {Our view}

On the first day of fall Jon and I were walking to grab some deep dish pizza in the city of Chicago when Jon suggests we walk by Lake Michigan first. Only a few blocks from our hotel and with the weather being warm and not fall-like at all, I was game. We walk, and walk, and walk out on a pier, until Jon thinks we have hit the right spot. (Later I find out, he was just trying to find the most private spot away from people.) I know everyone loves a good surprise, but I knew he was going to pop the question in Chicago. I thought when we were on that pier he might do it, but after sitting, looking at the skyline and talking for awhile, Jon mentions we go to dinner. I agree, stand up, get my things and when I turn around, he is on one knee.

{Where Jon kneeled and asked me to marry him}

The next lil bit I'd like to keep between just him and I. But it was special and sweet and perfect. And the ring. Oh, ladies, the ring. I may or may not have uttered a profanity when I saw it. (Sorry to say)

{Engaged!}

Then we sat right back down on the pier and talked for another half an hour. Tears were involved. And then we continued on to dinner, as planned. We didn't call anyone (or tweet) until after dinner, so it was nice just knowing that for a couple hours, we were the only people that knew. I will say that one of my favorite parts of the night was infact calling all our family and best friends. It's not everyday that you converse with every single one (minus R&E!!) of your loved ones in a happy giddy fit!

 

 {He did good}

 {Not even our waitress knew}

Even though it was highly anticipated and at times I wasn't the most patient, after 4 years, 3 months and 17 days of calling Jon my boyfriend, the timing was perfect.

 {Jon calling family, me having a crazed photoshoot}