Picking up right where we left off.

I read through the blog entries that I did in 2009 and I realized that I am picking off almost exactly where I left off. The last entry, Evelyn was 8 months old and had just gotten her first tooth. Well, Oliver is almost 8 months old and he just got his first tooth as well. Her first tooth was a top, middle one. Oliver's is in the top but its not a middle one, its on the side! Its really cute. The matching tooth on the other side is just about to pop through as well.

Today it was very nice out. I'm not sure how warm it got but I think it was in the 60's which is crazy for February. It was such a reprieve from the blistery cold winter we had this year. We went for a walk and Evelyn splashed in the puddles the whole way. She was soaked from the knees down by the time we got back but she had a blast and it was so nice to get out of the house and get fresh air that I did not care one bit. Besides, it was bath time so she might as well get good and dirty anyway.

I got a new camera a few days ago. Its a Canon Rebel XS. My goal is to take a picture everyday so that I can learn how to use it so I plan on posting a picture here everyday. (Unless we are out of town, of course)

Long time, no see!

I kind of forgot about this blog! A lot has changed since the last time I wrote. Evelyn is now 2.5 and a big sister. Oliver was born on July 3, 2010 and is now 7.5 months old. We live in upstate New York and own our own house! We enjoy being close to family again (well 5 hours away, anyway) and are enjoy having seasons again. We are looking forward to spring as it has been a long winter cooped up in the house with two kiddos.

We have a tooth!

In celebration of Earth day and her 8 month birthday, Evelyn decided to get her first tooth in! It pretty much came out of nowhere too. Her bottom teeth have been sitting there for what seems like forever and still haven't come through. 2 days ago, I noticed her top gums looked swollen and then this morning I was feeling around and there it was! Its her top right tooth and its so sweet! She didn't seem bothered by it either when it was coming through. (yay!) I really hoped that she would have waited for daddy to come home so he could see her with a gummy smile one last time. The top left tooth looks like it is also about to break through also!

getting back to running.

Today for the first time since Evelyn was born, I went running! I haven't done much since high school, but I used to be an avid runner. I'm not claiming I was any good, but I could run for miles and miles. We have had a jogging stroller but for a while, we couldn't figure out how to lock the front wheel! Well today I figured it out! (woohoo!) I'm starting out slow because I don't want my crazy shin splints to act up. Today I made a game out of it. I walked until I reached the first street sign, and then I jogged to the next street sign. I then alternated jogging/walking at each street sign I got to. That way I'm not pushing myself too hard. I'm hoping to run at least 3 days a week. Hopefully I can keep this up and work towards a goal of running a road race.

I never thought the day would come...

When I could say Evelyn has been sleeping through the night for over a week! I really never thought it would happen. And its not just 8 hours straight, its 11-12 hours straight! She goes down at 6pm and doesn't wake up until after 5am. I feel so well rested, it is really amazing. I am finally starting to feel human again. I'm sure when teething strikes, we'll have a couple more sleepless nights but I know that she can do it now!

We're still working on naps. She'll go down quite easily but only stay asleep for 30-45min. I'm hopeful though! I'm pretty sure its environmental issues that are waking her up during her naps. We are the first house you see when you come into our neighborhood so everyone drives past our house. There are a lot of loud cars that drive by. Apparently everyone is 17 and needs their car to sound like a race car or they need their music to shake the pictures on the wall of everyone's house they drive by. Usually she'll be sleeping great and someone will drive by or the trash truck will come or the guy with the weed wacker is out in front of our house. I wish I could put some ear plugs in her ears for her naps! Wouldn't that be wonderful!?

little did I know...

So I was thinking today about how I pictured what life would be like with a baby before I was pregnant versus how life really is.

Heres the idealized version-

I would have a perfect, uneventful pregnancy. No morning sickness, gain little weight and feel great the entire time. I would work out and be in great shape by delivery day. I would go into labor, naturally of course, a few days before my due date and after a short labor, give birth without drugs- no sweat.
Breastfeeding would be a breeze. I mean it must be because thats how I want it to be. The baby would never cry because I would anticipate its needs before it even knew what it wanted. The baby would sleep through the night in no time, without crying, and I would love being a mother because I would be so well rested and egar to start everyday. We would go on walks and I'd be back to my old body in no time flat.
The baby would get on its own nap schedule. It would never need to cry it out because I would always be there and if the baby never feels alone then it would be comfortable to go to sleep all on its own. I would feel comfortable leaving the baby in its own room because I have a monitor and of course you can hear the baby breathing over the monitor, right?
When we start solids, the baby would love everything and open its mouth in anticipation of the next bite. I, of course, will never raise a pick eater.
We would have no plastic toys that play loud annoying music. The baby will love toys even though they don't sing to it.
I will love being a mother every second of everyday.


Here is the real version-

My pregnancy was pretty easy. I didn't gain a lot of weight. It was pretty much uneventful... well if you don't count the couple of UTI's, passing out in the post office and the bad ultrasound that stressed me out every day for four weeks until we got a level II done. Morning sickness lasted until around 12 weeks. All I ate was pasta and I couldn't drink out of a cup- I had to drink from a straw for months because the motion of tipping my head back made me want to puke. Working out was a joke because honestly I had no energy. I did go into labor naturally... well if you count taking castor oil as natural... but I didn't have to medically be induced so thats great! I was 6 days late. The longest 6 days of my entire life. I cried everyday. Hard labor didn't last too long. I screemed for an epidural but little did I know, I was already 10cm by the time they put it in. It never worked. Evelyn was born naturally* (with an astrik).
Breastfeeding wasn't too hard. I didn't have much support from the hospital because no one really knew what they were doing. My nipples hurt for weeks and I had a clogged duct about once a month and mastitis once as well.
Evelyn cried. Almost every night for a few hours. Nothing we could do helped. She slept for two hour stretches and I was tired. I was not egar to start everyday. Since I was the one with the boobies, I was the one who woke time after time after time. She didn't start sleeping through the night until 7.5 months when I had to let her cry it out. Naps are still a joke. Although I lost all the baby weight right away, my body took until 7 months to be close to normal. It will never be the same.
Evelyn loved solids at first. Now she only wants apples or pears. And thats all I give her because I don't know what else to do. Do I try to feed her veggies even though I know she wont eat? Or do I just feed her what she likes because I know she'll eat. I feed her what she wants. I'm raising a picky kid.
Her toys play music. Its loud, its annoying and they are plastic and she loves them.
I do love being a mother. But not every second of every day. Somedays I want to go back to when I could do want I wanted. If I wanted a nap I could. If Owen and I wanted a date night, we could and if wanted to go surfing then we went.

I wouldn't give her up for the world though. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. She has taught me patience, to go with the flow, to love someone else more than I love myself. Everything may not always go to plan but whatever works!