Friday Favorites 3

Well, I'm in a bit of a hurry today... but I didn't want to forget about this weekly feature. I hope that you are all enjoying it as much as I am.

I thought that for the first time I'd mention a few of the baby items that I'm getting a lot of use out of right now... since we do mostly eating and sleeping... there might be a bit of theme for this one.

1. Dr. Brown's BPA Free Polypropylene Natural Flow Bottle Newborn Feeding Set - There are a lot of little pieces, but we really have noticed that it helps with James' gas issues. Once we changed his formula - we feel like he's doing a lot better.

2. Dr. Brown's Bottle Warmer - Oh my gosh... this is a gift from the heavens. The first week or so we were boiling a pot of water every time James wanted to eat - but this little contraption allows us to program in the exact time needed to warm bottles with the amount he's currently eating - pull the bottle out of the fridge, hit the button and in about 4 minutes... little man is eating. Genius!!

3. Dr. Brown's Standard Dishwashing Basket, Polypropylene - Another genius invention for these bottles... it is so much easier to load a couple of baskets into the dishwasher rather than wash them by hand. We make 8 bottles at a time and are able to keep him going. We have two of these baskets so that we can wash 6 bottles at a time. Works really well, as we have a few extras so that we always have a couple of clean ones for when it is time to make fresh bottles or pack in his diaper bag.

4. Dr. Brown's Formula Mixing Pitcher - This pitcher mixes the formula for us and allows us to measure out to make 8 bottles at a time. When he moves up to 8 ounce bottles - it'll only make three at a time, but it'll still be easier... since it is not recommended that you shake the bottles. It messes with the flow of the bottle and introduces the gas back into the baby's system.

5. Similac Sensitive Powder Formula - 23.2 oz. - James was a little too sensitive to tollerate the Similac Advance EarlyShield Powder Formula - 23.2 oz. so we switched him at his two week appointment. It might have been one of the best decisions we made. We've been pretty happy with it, and have taken to buying the formula at Sam's... which you get much bigger canisters of the powder for a better price.

6. Fisher-Price My Little Lamb Deluxe Infant Seat - White/Brown - a friend of ours delivered this to us shortly after James came home, and he loves it! It is so cute - it vibrates, sings and helps keep him happy during the day. We loved it so much that we ended up registering for Kolcraft Cuddle 'n Care Rocking Bassinet with Light Vibes Mobile - Creampuff and the Fisher Price My Little Lamb Cradle n Swing too!

That's the majority of what we're using right now other than TONS of diapers... this little guy has the bladder of a walnut. (and that might be generous!)

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend. If you don't mind saying a couple of prayers for us while you are praying - we'd really appreciate it:

* For the rest of James adoption process to go smoothly
* For our little peanut (the one growing in my tummy) to continue growing and getting strong
* For John's Aunt who has suffered several strokes this week, and is still unable to speak
* For a dear friend of mine's grandmother who is having stroke issues as well this week

Faint of Heart

Can I just tell you guys that having a newborn while being 13 weeks pregnant is NOT for the faint of heart? Seriously... it's HARD!

On Monday night - James decided that he didn't really want much to do with the glorious thing we all call sleep... so we all pretty much stayed up the whole night while he fussed and wouldn't sleep in his bassinet. Which then poor John had to go to work on Tuesday - so that meant he headed off to the office to be exhausted... while I stayed here to take care of a fussy baby.... while being exhausted!

For whatever various reasons, there wasn't much in the way of napping yesterday either - James would scream bloody murder if I put him in his bassinet - so it was either the bouncy seat or sleeping on me... neither of which led me toward dreamland.

By 5 o'clock when John got home... I was pretty close to the end of my rope - and my OB wanted me to start a second antibiotic for another bacterial infection... yes, I'm on two different antibiotics for things that I never even knew I had... so I don't deem them to be major problems at this point... but whatever.

So cue the tired husband walking in with dinner and new meds... of which these new meds are chewable! UGH! A chewable antibiotic... seriously?! Well, that literally put me over my rocker.

Hysterical tears... and a conversation something like this:

John: "Do you think I want you to chew them up because I'm a jerk?"
Kim: "You don't understand how hard it is to chew those up when it's hard enough to eat real food... that tastes good!"
John: "Something else is wrong... what is it?"
Kim: "I'm just exhausted..."
John: "What did you do while he was resting in his bouncy seat during the day?"
Kim: "I can't sleep while he's in that thing... what if he turns it over?"
John: "He can't turn that thing over..."
Kim: "What if Maggie gets hungry and eats him..." (What the heck?!)
John: "Lock her in the bathroom and get a nap."
Kim: "She's not going to eat him..." (Must have gotten some sense back)
John: "Take the bouncy seat and put it on the bed"
Kim: "You can't do that... it's not safe"
John: takes him and puts the bouncy on the bed... "Come here... it's fine..."
Kim: "Oh"
John: "Honey, if you need to go get a strap from the garage and strap the bouncy to the bed if it makes you more comfortable... you just have to figure it out so that you can do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself too."

Ya'll... I am telling you... it is hard!! H-A-R-D! I love this cute little guy so much... but sometimes I just plain loose my cool... which I think happens with most new mothers, but luckily they aren't dealing with the hormones of pregnancy. Granted they've got postpartum hormones... but I'm somehow thinking that those are better in line with dealing with your body in that stage of the game.

My body and my life are totally confused!!

I also have to say that not only is this baby "Peanut" (as we're calling her/him) one of God's true miracles... because honestly - how else can you explain 8 years of infertility to just go away in an instant and a natural pregnancy come into our lives? It also seems that God has taken my diabetes and made that a non-issue right now as well... my blood sugar levels are running in the 90's which is very normal. The only thing I worry about is my blood pressure which seemed high when we were at the doctor last week... but then again... as you can imagine doctors in that field truly cause some serious anxiety where I am concerned.

That's about where we are today - everyone is a little more rested today, but still recovering from yesterdays sleep deficits.

Alive?

Why do you ask? Oh because this little blog of mine isn't getting much attention... well... I have no excuse other than life is crazy.

We've had a very busy weekend with James...

Saturday we had John's immediate family over to celebrate his Mom's birthday - it wasn't too much work for us... we provided the cake, and they brought take out BBQ... so we just hung out, and everyone got a chance to hold James. It's funny how tired I get when we're not even doing anything major... maybe I'm just wimpy now?

James had a rough night on Saturday - so our plans to take him to church for the first time on Sunday were scrapped... John ended up going alone while the little guy and I rested.

Later in the afternoon, James got to meet his Aunt Cathi, Uncle Kevin, and cousins Megan and Brittany. Each one of them held him for a little bit, and got to experience some of his charm. He really is a sweet heart.

Today was fairly relaxing - I had to run some stuff over to my OB's office... which I found out that I now have to start a second antibiotic for another bacterial infection. Funny that I never would have known that either existed if it hadn't been for this baby.

John has to sadly go back to work tomorrow, but at least it is just for the day - he's working Tuesday and Thursday this week... so at least we get the better part of the week with him. Tomorrow will be a flurry of bottles and naps - but it's such a wonderful joy to see this sweet little guy growing and I swear that every time I look over to see John with him...I get a tear in my eye.

I hope all is going well with all my bloggy friends - and hopefully I'll find a minute or two to come back and write a Talk to Me Tuesday post for you tomorrow!!

Friday Favorites 2.0

Because I'm missing my ability to sit down and focus on anything for more than about 20 minutes... I thought I'd share one of my old favorite past times in Friday Favorites this week. I REALLY love reading magazines... and hopefully one of these days I'll pick back up with them again.

Here are some of my favorites for your potential reading pleasure:

1. Real Simple (1-year) - I love me some Real Simple magazine!! They've got great tips in there for simple living in general, but I absolutely love their recipes... they are typically fairly quick to throw together and have modest sized ingredient lists - which is nice. I've talked about this magazine before because I dearly love their paper artwork that they use to breakup the different sections of the magazine as well.

2. Food Network Magazine (1-year) - You'll quickly see that I have issues with obsessing over cooking and recipe magazines... but I can't help it. This one only comes out every other month, but the recipes and ideas are phenomenal. We happen to love watching Food Network at our house - so it's only natural that I get this magazine as well.

3. Taste of Home - This magazine is pretty close to how real people cook - the recipes are just homey and simple. I love when this magazine shows up at our house!! I've found recently that they have a large binder style cookbook that I'd love to get for my birthday. The Taste of Home Cookbook: Cooks Who Care Edition

4. Everyday With Rachael Ray - I got this one for Christmas this year, and I'm still trying to decide how much I love it... the good thing is that it does have some really great stuff that is not cooking related, so I'll likely give it another chance. I chose this one as an alternative to my old Redbook (1-year) subscription... and because I refuse to buy anything with Oprah's name on it. (if any of you are fans of Oprah, I'll spare you from telling you what I really think about her...)

5. Self (1-year) - I've been reading this one for a couple of years, and I like it - but I don't know how applicable it is to my life anymore... so I'll probably let the subscription go when it runs out. It is a great general health magazine with wonderful ideas on exercise, health, skin care, and healthy recipes.

6. Cooking Light (1-year) - I know, I know... I got this one a year or so ago when I was really focused on starting to cook lighter... but have found the magazine to be less on the recipes than I'd like. They do have beautiful images, and lots of recipe makeovers - so it is good if you want a more upscale type of foodie magazine.

Those are the magazines currently coming into our house on a regular basis... but I need some suggestions on a new magazine or two to replace some of the ones that I'm not renewing... something that would be applicable to kids and parenting... any good ones out there that you'd recommend?

Answers

Hey guys!! I am getting around to answering your questions now... I wanted to do it earlier, but well... I fell asleep this afternoon, and when it comes down to sleeping or blogging these days - I'm just gonna choose sleep.

Before we jump off into the answers to your burning questions... have you had a chance to go look at James' preview photos from his photo shoot on Monday? Go look... I'll wait....



You're back? Great!

Sooooo... lets see what you're dying to know...

Katy asked:

Where did you get your maternity clothes from? There's hardly anything in San Angelo so I'll have to do online shopping and have everything hemmed.

I got my maternity clothes from Motherhood Maternity - they have the best selection of plus sized maternity clothes that I can find. I was considering ordering it online as well - because I'm lazy, but I'm really glad that I went to the store and tried them on first. They convinced me to buy a size smaller than I would have chosen for myself because of the super stretchy nature of the pants. The jury is still out on the comfort level, but that could be that they don't fit quite right yet - since my belly hasn't really changed much. It is just hard as a rock in some places and is uncomfortable in my regular pants. 

I looked into stores in your area, but there aren't any - looks like the closest ones are Midland and Abilene.

Denee' asked:

Are you planning on returning to work since you are going to have 2 babies so close together, or do you get to be a SAHM?




The current plan is that I will return to work in June. We are still looking at our options and finances, it would be absolutely wonderful if I could figure out something that I could do from home around the babies' schedule and make a little extra money for our family. I don't know what that would be yet - but if you guys have any ideas please send them my way. I've got great experience with database management, fundraising, general office management, grant writing, writing of any kind really... and a HUGE desire to be at home with by babies rather than leaving them with someone else. HELP blog friends...

How are you feeling now since your pregnancy has come further along? Still having the yuckiness?

Still having a good amount of the nausea - it happens now mostly later in the evenings so that is a blessing because when John is working at least he makes it home before it really kicks in. The doctor did give me some Zofran which helps - so I'm grateful for that. Other than that - there are some general issues with sore body parts (trying to spare the male readers...aka my Dad) and general exhaustion... which could have as much to do with the pregnancy as it could be having a newborn in the house. 

From everything I've read so far - some of the nausea and exhaustion should start going away this week or in the next couple of weeks and the best part of the pregnancy begins... the second trimester is supposed to be the part where you feel the best. Bring than on!! I'd like to enjoy the time with my baby while I'm home. 

Heather asked:

How does your weight-loss surgery affect your pregnancy, if any? Do you have to be extra careful to only eat healthy stuff?  

If I were closer to the actual surgery it might have a bigger impact on the pregnancy, but now I can eat whatever I want and eat normal sized portions. I mainly have to modify the prenatal vitamins to chewable (which are DISGUSTING!!) because that is the best way for me to absorb the most nutrients for the baby. 

I do have to be careful with my diet and things but that is more because of my diabetes history and high blood pressure. The beautiful thing though is that my cravings so far have been mainly for healthy items... mainly fruit and vegetables... like yesterday - I made the boys get out and go to Olive Garden for lunch because Mama needed to down almost the whole bowl of salad! I am grateful that my cravings have shifted - because if I ventured to guess about any for the first three months - I'd say sugar was the main component. If only it would shift slightly now more into a protein/vegetable phase we'd be doing really well!

Jenn asked:

If baby #2 is a girl, will you consider naming her Bailey or is that name out of the question because of the failed placement?

I think I've got a different perspective on that now. Maybe this baby is God giving us our Bailey just in a different way... where the middle name isn't someone else's choice. I don't know maybe it's just him giving me the perfect baby to be given that name - the baby girl I've dreamed of all these years. 

Don't read into that and think that I am any less thrilled with James - because believe me - he's perfect! I just wonder if after everything we went through - and then our final decision to just give it all over to God... might have warranted a miracle that we never expected possible.

What was the most memorable response you got after announcing that you were expecting?

 

On of John's college friends - because he is a character to begin with... but he said "Wow, parenthood has hit ya'll with a vengence!"

 

There were a couple of other unexpected reactions, but overall - most folks just laughed and said Congratulations!  

Has the reality of pregnancy set in yet? How? 

 

Oh, I don't know - in some ways yes... in others no... it gets pretty real when you see the baby on the screen and hear a heartbeat. But in terms of feeling anything - I just generally feel cruddy... but with something that feels like a melon in my gut causing some discomfort when I sit or lay down wrong. I can only imagine that some of those things will only get worse over the next 6 months... but it's all worth it in the end. 

Do you feel a close maternal bond with James yet?

 

Again, in some ways. When he snuggles up and just looks at you - you can't help but fall in love all over again... but at other times I just feel like I'm babysitting or in some sort of alternative reality. Sort of like I need to constantly pinch myself... on both accounts - having a baby and being pregnant. I mean honestly! I would have laughed at any of you if you would have predicted this a month or two ago! 

 

Do you worry at all that you might be closer to baby #2 since it's your biological child? 

 

Not at all, I think that we've got several good examples of how that works in our families... John's family is that way - where he's adopted but his sister is biological, and there aren't 4 people that are more bonded together regardless of how they came into the family. Same thing with my Dad and adopted siblings... I don't think there is any difference in the way we are all loved... is their childhood different than ours were - sure... but that comes with being at a different place in his life and career than he was when we were little. 

 

So, no - I don't worry about that at all... we've got a LOT of love to give and it doesn't matter to me where the babies came from... they both grew in my heart every bit as much as baby #2 is growing in my tummy. I've loved them for many years without knowing them or how we'd find them.  

 

Are you going to convert another room of your house into a nursery or use James' nursery and move him to another room? Because I have a feeling if this baby is a girl, you're gonna want to go pink crazy!! :)

 

Oh, I think since they will be so close in age - regardless of gender... we'll use the nursery we have for both babies. We will likely have to get another crib, but I don't want to spread them out like that while they are infants. If we have a boy and a girl... as they get older and move into "big girl/big boy" rooms... then we'll do something different for each. 

 

Christi asked: 

 

Are you planning on finding out the sex or do you want to be surprised?

Oh girl... are you kidding? I'm finding out the moment that we can! I need to know if I should be packing things to be reused in 6 months or if I need to be buying a thing or two in pink to get ready for a girl. We also need to know if it's a boy because we have no names picked out for another boy.

What was most surprising about the change of bringing home a new baby (i.e. how they sleep, how little you sleep, how little they are)?

I think the biggest surprise is the amount of work involved for something that sleeps 80-90% of the day. The bottle washing, laundry, and time spent feeding/burping was a little shocking. By the time you do that and try to sleep when he's sleeping... you're pretty much out of time. 

 

The size of him is a little shocking at times too - he's so much smaller than any of the other babies I've been around... he's two weeks old and his newborn clothes are still a little big on him. But he sure is CUTE! 

Were you planning on growing your family larger (adopting another at a later time) or did you feel "done" - not that it really matters because God had other plans ;-)  

I think we'd like to have one more (I'd go for two... but John says one) so we'll just see how that happens over the next few years. I don't know how it would happen for us this time around... we'll just see what God has in store for us and follow his plan. 

That's all I've got - great questions!! We'll try again next week... so you can start posting or sending me questions as you think of them.  

Q&A Wednesday

It's Q&A Wednesday - so I'd like to open this blog up to see what you guys want to know... is there a burning question you have for me right now? Things are nuts... and I've been fairly lacking on finding time to blog right now - so in order to be as efficient as possible... ask away!! I'll get some answers up by tomorrow night.

Today has been another busy day:

• We took the little buddy boy back for his third hearing test. He didn't pass on one side in the hospital because of fluid remaining in his ears from being a c-section baby... but today he passed with flying colors. 
• We went for his first trip to a restaurant - I know silly... but it can be stressful worrying about if you can get a meal in before he wakes up and needs something. We had a lovely little lunch at Olive Garden... because this Mama has been craving all things fruit and veggie lately... so I needed some good salad. 
• While the boys sat in the car - I ran in and bought the first of my maternity wardrobe. My pants especially aren't fitting right anymore... ok - the fit alright, but they are uncomfortable on the belly... so I went ahead and got some jeans, a pair of shorts, two tops, and a dress. (Cause I figure it's not cool to show up to your baby shower in sweat pants!) 

• Other than that - a bazillion phone calls to the OB's office - and we'll call it a day. Apparently I have some sort of bacterial infection so I need to take some antibiotics, they forgot to give me supplies and instructions for a test that the lab needs to run, my prenatal vitamins that are chewable were discontinued so I had to get them to call in something else, and finally - rescheduling my appointment for Friday because they wanted me to come in earlier. 

The rescheduled appointment means that I'll miss James' second trip to the pediatrician, but it's probably for the best because I'd like to strangle that lady. I think we'll be making an appointment to meet with a new doctor that happens to be the sister in law of a good friend of mine. 

So alright, now it's up to you... what do you want to know about this crazy, beautiful, exhausting life of mine?

The Excitement Continues...

Things here at the old casa just keep getting wackier and wackier these days. Let me start from the beginning...

Roughly 7 weeks or so ago - I started feeling ill, A. LOT. Nausea took over my life, but as that has happened so many times over the last 10 years or so... I tend not to think anything of it for at least a month. It just is a common occurrence... so I just kept on trucking with life as best I could.

Honestly, my first thoughts were... I'm stressed... we've had a failed placement, John's illnesses, the stress of the new potential placement, and then the wild ride of actually adopting and bringing James home... so to think that it was stress... really wasn't a far stretch since all of that has happened since mid-February!

The thought started crossing my mind a little while before we got James that there might possibly be more to the symptoms than were typically usual for me... but I wanted to wait until we got to a certain point with that before really jumping off into that possibility. So, the night that we brought James home... I noticed that I was having to use the ladies room more often than normal... and that I wouldn't be able to wait until morning to take the test.

So, at 3 o'clock in the morning just after putting James down from a feeding... I took my test. Imagine my shock when the thing immediately came up positive! GAH! I walked back into our bedroom and gently asked John if he was awake... he of course was, and I told him "we're pregnant" to which he replied "are you freaking serious?" then we both laughed.

I called my doctor's office the next morning and made an appointment to get things confirmed before we really started getting used to the idea. Our appointment was today... and not only are we pregnant... but we're not just a little bit pregnant... we're almost through the first trimester! Baby H will be here on October 29th!

I've got some pretty risky health issues to overcome with this little baby, but according to the ultrasound and heart beat today - the baby is perfect. We will be watching my diet pretty closely and I've been strictly told to exercise 30 minutes a day... to which I have the pregnancy police living with me... so I'm sure I'll be holding to it as much as possible. (Love you honey!)
 
Said pregnancy police is currently trying to figure out exactly when the baby should come early so that it works around the Texas A&M football schedule. You gotta have priorities, right?! HAHAHA! He's only teasing... hopefully!

So, there you have it folks... how many of you have taken your 11 day old son to the appointment where you find out that in 6 months he'll be a big brother?! WHOA!

Saturday Silliness 5

These are just too darn cute and/or funny... I love them all, and it's a great way for me to just laugh sometimes. I think I laugh even harder now because I'm sleepy... but I still think they are hysterical. This Mommy is headed out of the house for the first time since Tuesday - gotta run get a couple things at the grocery store while my men bond a little while. John is going to a Men's Ministry event for our church this evening being held at his parent's house...so my friend Danielle is coming to watch a movie with James and I.