Magic and Mayhem

Last week went by really fast. It was a little hectic, but thankfully not as crazy as the week before. Thanks, in huge part, to the wonderful help of my Mom. Not only did she take wonderful care of Dylan while I was working, but she made sure Mike was taking it easy post surgery and even helped with household chores. I don't know how I'll ever be able to express how thankful I am to have had her here. I had been running on fumes for a while and without her help, I would have never made it through the week. Thanks Mom! I love you!

With Mike recuperating and Mom's visit, folks wanted to come over and visit. Last weekend, Mike's sister and his niece came over to check on him. Though, his niece Emily's main motivation in seeing us is Dylan. She just loves this little guy and is really great with him. While I ran out of the house to get a haircut, everyone else stayed at the house to hang out. Dylan had a great time reading and playing with his cousin.

Dylan and Emily

Mike's mother also came over one afternoon. She said it was to check up on Mike and see my Mom but, like Emily, I think Dylan's a big motivating factor in her visits as well! Liza, our neighbor from Dallas that now lives here came over to visit with my Mom. She, too, also loves Dylan and he's a draw for her. What can I say, my little boy is pretty mesmerizing to the ladies!

Like I said, my Mom did a great job taking care of Dylan. Even though I know she missed my Dad, I think she truly enjoyed this one on one time with her grandson. For the most part, the week was without incident. The couple of times that Dylan did get upset, she was fabulous in helping his needs get met and getting calmed down. Mimaw and Dylan had a fantastic time together and I know they're going to miss each other a lot.

Mimaw Feeding Dylan

Dylan Enjoying His New Swivel Chair

Mimaw Gives Dylan His First Mohawk

Smooches!

Now, the main reason it was so easy for my Mom to get here on short notice was because she'd already had a trip planned up here. She and my Aunt Pam were scheduled to arrive on Thursday. Mom just changed her arrival date for almost a week early and my Aunt Pam stayed with her original travel plans. My Aunt Pam is possibly the biggest Harry Potter fan and wanted to come see the special exhibit running at the Museum of Science. My Mom, of course, would not let her travel here to see us without tagging along. So, the trip was planned.

Since the peak of the mayhem had passed, we continued as scheduled. On Friday, all of us, Mike included, went to the MOS for the fun. We all really had a great time! Pam, though extremely well versed in all things Harry Potter, learned some new facts through the exhibit. Dylan, Mike and I enjoyed seeing all the costumes and props. Mom enjoyed the exhibit and getting to spend time with all of us. On Friday's in January, the IMAX theater there also had free shows so we took advantage and went to see The Greatest Places. Dylan was absolutely mesmerized by the dome screen for about 5 minutes before he got very tired. I only missed a short bit of the film while I stepped out to spare those around of his tired whines. Though not a full length feature, I suppose it was technically his first movie experience so I think he did a great job.

Mom and Aunt Pam in Gryffindor Colors

Pam, Mom, Dylan and I Enjoying the Sunset at the MOS

After seeing the Harry Potter Exhibit and the movie, Mike was tuckered out and Dylan was done with the museum so we all headed home.

While at the museum, we got some HUGE news! My brother Jamie and his wife Sarah welcomed the new addition to their quickly growing family. Jacob Landry was born in Tulsa, OK. Their daughter, Payton, is not yet 3 months old so those two will definitely have their hands really full! Congratulation to them! Hopefully all the legalities of the adoption go smoothly and they can return home soon.

The rest of the weekend was spent pretty leisurely. Mom and Pam helped me run some errands and work on some projects at the house. Mike rested up and had energy to help us make some nice dinners to have together.

Dylan and His Great Aunt Pam

It was a really great visit and, as always, went by way too fast. I dropped the ladies off at the airport this morning. I really hated to see them go. I'm going to miss having these strong women in my life around to keep me company.

Our Last Morning Together (And My New Mantle Decor)

Tomorrow, Dylan will go back to daycare. He'll hopefully only be there a couple of days this week. Mike has his follow up appointment on Tuesday, will likely get the okay to pick up the baby (he has been doing so a little bit in the last couple of days but very carefully and minimally) and will be cleared for Dad duties.

Trip #8

The last week and a half has been mostly a blur. What I do clearly remember, though, is every trip we've made to the hospital. Today, we'll rack up that score to 8. The first 6 were for Mike (1 - Dr.'s appointment, 2 - MRI, 3 - ER to be admitted to hospital, 4 - to visit him pre-op, 5 - to visit him post op, 6 to pick him up....he'll have another trip next week for his follow up). The last 2 are for Dylan.

Saturday night we noticed a little problem with Dylan so Sunday morning I called, made an appointment and went in. While there, they noticed a different problem and we're going in for a follow up today. Neither is serious but the trips to the doctor and pharmacy for him are just a bonus to the craziness of the last week. As both of the issues are "private matters" I'll not go into details here. I would guess, as he gets older, he'll appreciate me not telling the world about issues with things covered by his diaper.

As I'm not thrilled with all the trips to the hospital, I am happy to report that everyone is doing well. My Mom arrived safely Friday night and has been a great help. Instead of feeling like I'm sinking lower and lower into the abyss, I now feel like I'm treading water.....still below the surface, but at least I'm not sinking further. She had her first day yesterday with the responsibility of primary care giver for Dylan. Since I arrived to a happy "Mimaw" and baby, she passed with flying colors.


Mike is doing so well it's ridiculous. I have to keep reminding him to slow down and rest. With the way he's getting around, cooking dinners (!) and helping to keep the house picked up, you'd never know the boy had surgery just a few days ago. We hope that he'll be cleared after his appointment next week to pick Dylan up from the crib, which will be the big hurdle to pass before he's able to be solo Dad again. Oh yeah, and it will also be great when he's pain free enough to be off narcotics and can drive.


So that's our update. It's still a crazy, chaotic and tiring life for me this week, but I'm in a heck of a lot better position than I was a week ago! Thanks again for all of you that have been calling, emailing and visiting us with your support. You've helped me keep my sanity.

Under the Big Tent

This week has been nothing short of nutty and I don't have the time just yet to give all the nitty gritty details. However, here's a quick run down of what's been happening.

1) Mike had surgery yesterday. Long story short, after an MRI (Monday night) and trying to figure out how to give him back to the hospital for an office visit, we took him the ER (Tuesday night), had him admitted to the hospital to get him pain relief, and had surgery yesterday (Wednesday) after talking to the surgeon that morning. The good news is that everything went well and he's coming home later this morning
2) With Mike out of commission I needed child care. On Monday I signed up with the daycare down the street from my work and Dylan's been there yesterday and today. That's been rough on a lot of levels for both of us. Again, no time for details here.

Wow, breaking it down to 2 points just doesn't do justice to how completely insane and hard this week has been. I've been holding it together for my boys and running all over the place (literally...I've been like Forest Gump running everywhere I go). Oh yeah, did I mention I've been working as well as shuttling the boys to and from child care, hospitals, etc.?

I've tried to keep a good attitude and not stress out too much but the events have definitely taken a toll. My mom is going to come this weekend (just decided this morning) and will be here next week to help out. I think the relief of having Mike make it through surgery well and knowing that the cavalry is arriving soon gave me a little window for a bit of a break down. One rude comment from a coworker this morning broke me and the tears have been flowing freely since. Sometimes you just need a release, ya know? I'm good, though....really I am.

Thank you to all of my friends, family, and neighbors for all the help and support over the last week. It's been appreciated more than you know it (and more than I've had time to acknowledge). Love you all!

Spoiled to Super

This was my first full week of work. Everything went very smoothly....until Friday. Then, chaos hit.

Mike's been having some troubles with his back again. For those of you that don't know, he's already had 2 surgeries to alleviate nerve pain associated with a herniated disc. He's seen signs of that returning for a while and has been vigilant about doing his exercises and stretches recommended by physical therapy. Over the last few weeks, he's additionally been trying out acupuncture. It's pretty much the only thing he hadn't tried previous to his surgeries. This week things seemed to be getting worse but he was still able to function pretty well. All of that changed on Friday.

Friday morning Mike was in intense pain and pretty much immobile. Definitely not able to care for a 6 month old baby. So, it was a crazy scramble that morning to find child care. Ironically, it was the first day since going back to work that Dylan slept until my preferred 7:30 instead of getting up at, what I consider to be a ridiculous hour, 6 am. Time was limited.

After only a few phone calls, luck seemed to be on my side and I had a solution for the day. Our neighbors could take him in the morning, I would come home for a hour to take him during lunch then a family friend could come until I got home from work that evening. Dylan was well taken care of for the day.

So, after a hectic and tiring first full week of working full time, I now found myself caring solo for an infant for the weekend and trying to take care of Mike. My Mother liked to say I was a spoiled Mom with my 6 months off and husband also home to help. Well, I went from spoiled mom to Super Mom pretty darned quickly!

Luckily, I have the sweetest baby in the world who is making this as easy as possible for me. I've been able to handle caring for him solo fairly well. I know, I know, doesn't sound so hard, right? Well, for the most part no, it's not difficult to have him all day. However, there are always those couple of hours at the end of the day where you're tired, he needs constant entertainment and you have no one to leverage you or hand him off to....those are tough to get through.

Not only is Dylan taken care of, I've been throwing some food and water Mike's direction on occasion, got several loads of laundry done (even folded and put away), went for a long walk with Dylan during which time I called his family to give an update, and went grocery shopping. The house, while not close to clean, is not a complete disaster and I'm managing to stay in a pretty positive mood. I even ate 3 meals, even though dinner was after Dylan was put to bed. Not bad for day 1!

Luckily, I have Monday off for the holiday. We're going to try and get Mike in to his back specialist then and get an MRI. I'm not sure how quickly these things are going to happen, but hopefully for Mike's sake, sooner rather than later. He's a pretty miserable guy.

As for what we're doing for child care next week, that's yet to be determined. Thus far, I've only been able to find help for Friday morning. So, if any one's free and wants to come babysit, let me know!

TJ's

Dylan has been super excited to see me when I get home from work at night. He and I have a good time playing until he goes to bed. Sometimes too much fun. When this boy is really tired, he often gets what Mike refers to as the TJ's....tired jollies. Here's a fantastic example of that from last night.

I swear, I could listen to that laugh all day! I love it!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back to Work I Go

Yesterday was my first day back at work. After 10 years with the company, I had been suffering from burnout and was hoping my 6 months maternity leave would cure me of that. Unfortunately, as of Wednesday, I was still dreading going back to work. Mostly because I didn't want to leave my baby but also because I didn't feel like the burnout was gone and I wasn't looking forward to doing the job again.

But, back to work I had to go so I did. And you know what? It wasn't so bad! I actually enjoyed the job part a lot more than I thought I would! I somehow actually remembered what my job was and have been working, over the last two days, to dust off the cobwebs. Not that I wished ill on the company during my absence, but it was somehow refreshing to know that the folks covering for me weren't able to keep things at the level I had kept them while I was gone.

So, day one, Thursday, was a good ease into the new schedule for both Mike and I. Mike had an appointment that day (acupuncture for his back...that's a blog posting in itself) so he dropped off Dylan with me so that we could go for a walk. So, not only could I see Dylan during the day for a bit, Mike had a bit of a break. When I got home after work, Dylan was ridiculously excited to see me. So nice!

Today, Mike was completely solo with Dylan and I had an entire day without him. Luckily we have our IPhones and can snap and shoot pictures and video easily. I think I'll only be able to survive away from Dylan long periods with lots of updates and pictures. When we got up this morning, I took a picture of Dylan to have at work with me.

Good Morning!

Later in the day, Mike sent me this picture of Dylan trying sweet potatoes for the first time.

Give Me Some More!

We all survived our first couple of days of this big adjustment very well. Next week is a new week and I'm sure will have new challenges, but it's great to have the first couple of days under our belts and have some experience to give us confidence that this family arrangement is going to work out just fine!

Happy Half Year Birthday!

Today Dylan hits the big 6 months mark. What a wonderful little guy, full of personality. It's amazing to me that half a year has passed since the big day that he entered the world. Dylan's accomplished so much in such a little time.

6 Months Old!

Oliver and Luci now provide lots of entertainment for him. He loves to stare at them when they enter the room and has really enjoyed watching Luci play. In fact, yesterday was the first time Dylan laughed at something other than our antics. He was sitting in my lap watching Luci as she played with a toy I was swinging around and he started giggling. It was too cute! Today, Mike plopped Oliver in the crib with Dylan during our 6 month old photo shoot. Dylan was in awe!

Oliver Looking For the Exit

Eating has been a big milestone for Dylan. Now he's not just practicing with food he's eating solids (if you can call the mush that) on a regular basis. He's tried tons of fruits and vegetables and has enjoyed them all. The only foods he hasn't really dug was the bland rice cereal (though we'll try again with fruit added) and the mush meats (turkey and chicken). Though, to be fair, the meats smelled just like cat food and I can't say that I would have eaten it either. His favorites thus far, that he just can't seem to get enough of, are tomatoes and carrots. Here he is modeling the carrots he had with dinner tonight.

He really is becoming a true outdoors man. If he gets really upset and nothing else calms him, a trip outside, no matter how cold the weather, soothes him. This last month he took a couple of snowshoeing trips. One I blogged about previously and another just this Monday after we got 10-12 inches of snow over the weekend. Mike, Dylan and I drove just a couple of miles down to the Stoney Brook Reservation and had a little hike. I thought he was asleep from the get go because he was looking at my feet the whole time. He just enjoyed watching the snowshoes blaze the trail.

Of course, we always layer him up really well so he's quite comfortable in the cold. So comfortable that he had a little snooze during our snowshoe outing.

Now that he faces forward in the carrier, he gets to see the world a little better. A real man on the go, he enjoys being popped in it at night and just walking around the house with us. Our newest fun family nighttime is playing the Wii. He makes the balancing games a little more challenging for us but he just loves playing the active video games with us.

It's amazing how quickly babies go from "nowhere close to being able" to "mastery" so quickly. Today, Dylan actually had a big day with sitting up. During my StrollerFit class this morning, he was doing crunches so much in his car seat (which I attach to the stroller and gives him an almost laying down position) to see what was going on that I took him out and plopped him upright in his stroller. He loved it!

He liked sitting up SO much that he decided that he would sit up during his bath tonight too!

Naked Baby Alert!

What a big month ending with a big day! Today also marks the last day of my maternity leave. So, Mike, Dylan and I will all have another big adjustment to make in the next couple of days. Wish us luck! I will miss seeing this adorable little face all day long.

Resolve to Resolve

Well, here it is....a new year, a new decade and a new family dynamic. In reflecting on the last year, a whole lot has changed. At this time last year, we were just sharing our news of pregnancy with folks and getting used the idea ourselves. Now, we have a 6 month baby boy and couldn't imagine our lives any other way.

At this time of the year, most folks slow down, reflect and refocus. They refocus by setting goals for the new year. I've never been great at setting new year's resolutions. I think it's partly due to not realizing I should do so until the day's upon me and I have a hard time coming up with anything interesting (much like I do with gifts for special occasions). Mostly though, I think it's due to my personality. I'm not the type to wait for a certain point in time to start something new when I think I need to do so...I generally just start right then!

So, even though these aren't resolutions I made at the beginning of the year, they're things that have come about in the last 6 months or so that I'll share with you now.

1) Floss teeth more regularly. Random, I know, and a little embarrassing to admit. Though dental health is very important to me, I've just been horrible at flossing on a daily basis. After my last dental appointment in early December, I promised myself to make this a priority in my morning routine. I haven't been perfect at getting it done every day, but thus far, I've been doing a pretty good job keeping this promise to myself.

2) Lose the baby weight in 9 months. When I was pregnant, I wanted to beat the adage "9 months on, 9 months off" and lose it in 6 months. However, I didn't start losing a pound until Dylan was almost 3 months old. At that point, I figured that 9 months was more realistic and I'd shoot for then. While I have made progress, I'm not sure I'm going to hit the 9 month mark either. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to do everything I can to make that goal but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't. If I haven't gotten back down in a year, well, that's another story.

3) Live in the moment. Before July 6th I was absolutely horrible at this. I was an on the go, headed to the next stop kind of person. I rarely was fully able to enjoy a moment because I was constantly thinking about what I "needed" to get done next or what was coming up on my schedule. When Dylan was born though, I have really slowed down and tried to soak in each moment. These 6 months I've had off work to spend with him and Mike have been a wonderful gift and I've really done my best to relish every second. So, without the hustle and bustle of everyday life getting in the way, I've made great progress with this. It will be interesting to see if I'm still able to "slow down" on the same level once I get back to my hectic job.

Those are the things I'm currently working on to improve myself. Have you stopped to refocus your life for the new year? If so, feel share your goals with me in the comments section.