Terrible soon-to-be auntie...

That I am. I've been meaning to post about my brother, Rob and his wife, Meg. They are expecting their first little one in February!! Yay! I'm totally excited! I'm going to be an aunt on MY side of the family, woot! It is a girl and her name is Avery. We are praying very hard for them as they are going through some tough news as Avery has heterotaxy. But she is being monitored very closely and regularly by specialists. We continue to pray that she grows and thrives. We look forward to having a new addition to the Norbryhn family!

I know, I know, I know...

the greater of the female population experiences morning sickness. I am not special. I know this. But I find myself frustrated and worn out. My first inkling that I was pregnant, was I was feeling sick. Just ill. Figured I should take a test, just to see. Came out positive. Well, at least I know why I feel so yucky. With Charley, I started getting the morning sickness at 8 weeks. Thought that it's probably the same with this one so I had to be at least 8 weeks. Made my appointment, had my ultrasound. Went a little like this...

"Oh, you are not even 6 weeks along."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, showing just over 5 weeks."

"I've been puking for 2 weeks...."

"Well, you are still very early."

Much to my dismay, I've had morning sickness since the day I CONCEIVED. I mean, seriously? With Charley, I was done with the sickness at 14 weeks. I'm scared with this one. What makes it worse is that I'm limited to what I can take because I'm still breastfeeding. I lost 5lbs in 2 weeks and really, I can't afford to be losing weight. I'll fall below the 100 mark if I lose anymore. This is all while taking Zofran. To top it all off, I only got a 9 day supply because I needed a prior authorization from my insurance which after 3 weeks I still hadn't gotten. I had one pill left and I was going to save it for when I absolutely needed it. I spent 3 days vomiting everything I ate until FINALLY, my doctor must've appealed the rejection because the PA was approved. I downed the last pill just so I could make it out of the house to get my prescription. MISERABLE. I was originally complaining about Zofran not really working. It took away some vomiting but I was still nauseous. But after 3 days of not having it at all...never again will I complain. I feel like a wuss, not being able to take this morning sickness. It really is thrilling at 5am while nursing my son in one arm and puking in a bowl in the other arm. I'll be very, very, very happy if this morning sickness ends...at all. I'd like to eat real food, other than rice, crackers, and toast. Ok, I am now finished complaining about my morning sickness.

So honey....

"I was trying to get a picture of Charley's smirk. I think I got it."

"Oh yeah? I want to see."

Hands camera over.

Yes, I know I'm not the most creative person on this planet (which I am totally okay with) but it's the only thing I could think of in a six hour time frame. Little Charley will be a big brother in July.

My Mini-rant

I know I have complained about it, over...and over...and over but stinking daycare. It's not that Charley doesn't enjoy the company of other infants in his age range, it's just that Mama doesn't like the fact he is in another's care. (That and it costs an arm and leg. What am I going to do with two children when the time comes?????) So I can see why working parents stop having children at 1 and 2. As much of a joy they are to have around, to watch grow, and bring us back to reality...how can anyone afford it? Now I'm just being bitter because I'm sure there are lots of families out there with both working parents, with daycare, and somehow making it work. Charley adjusted really well to being dropped off to strangers for 4 or 5 hours a day except the boy won't sleep when things are going on around him. So I pick him up, we go home, I put him to bed, and I won't see him until I wake him for dinner. We play for 45 minutes or so but then it's off to bed. I'm thankful for what little time I DO get to see him but seriously? I knew I'd have to adjust to this when they start going to school but he's 10 months old. Don't want to adjust. Denied. All I can say is boo.

Double boo.

He did get (the start) of his first double ear infection (he weighed a whopping 18lbs at that appointment). He recovered rather quickly and I'm just glad he lets us know when he's not feeling well. When I went to pick up his prescription, the pharmacist asked if I wanted to flavor the medication. I thought, "He's 10 months old, does he really notice these things?" I said no, paid, and went home. This kid thinks it's candy. Smells disgusting but he probably likes the fact he gets to suck on a syringe. I do miss him terribly during the day. I usually cannot leave fast enough to go pick him up. I'll tell you, I don't meander at work when the time comes to leave.

I thought I had more to talk about but apparently I don't. So I'm going to go make more fake hash browns fried in loads of butter and lots of salt because I know it is BAD for me (and it's not like we don't have real potatoes, we do, but I'm just too tired and lazy to peel and grate them...).

End rant

Visit from Papa

We were blessed with a visit from Papa. He flew out for 4 days to hang with his grandson...oh and a little bit of us (his son and favorite daughter-in-law). We had a grand time although way too short as it always is. I took 2 days off work and now I'm spoiled with spending time with my family. Papa spoiled Charley with attention.

Sigh.

We absolutely love seeing family and spending time with them. It is hard being so far away and only seeing everyone once or twice a year. After having Charley, it makes it all that much more difficult especially when you see other couples and their extended families hanging together. Perhaps in the future, ah-hem, NEAR future we can look at moving closer to the west coast. For now, we will relish in the memories of being with family. We do hope that Papa has a safe and quick trip home. We are SO glad you came and spent time with us.

Halloween

I realize it has been a week since Halloween. We didn't really do much but we did dress Bugaboo up as Tigger and did a tiny bit of trick or treating at the mall. He didn't mind the costume as I thought he was going to. I wanted to take him to the pumpkin patch but those plans fell through which I suppose is okay being as it he is only 9.5 months old. I'm sure he wouldn't remember it but now I have no pictures of him next to pumpkins...oh well. Bad parents.

Happenings

For not posting in some time...there really isn't much going on. :) Which perhaps is a good thing. Charley had his 9 month checkup and he's smack dab in the 25th percentile still. He's got 4 teeth, 2 more breaking through. He GRINDS his darned teeth and that drives me UP the WALL. He continuously clicks his tongue after eating and nursing. He's more comfortable standing up now. He is crawling up the stairs like a champ but wants to go down them head first. I've shown him several other acceptable ways but none of which he has grasped. He loves the bath and trying to breath under water. And now for some pictures.

Whatever food this was, he didn't like it. But he certainly will smile for the camera!

Learning to walk. A little tricky especially when you get stuck on a toy and continue to push the stupid thing until you fall head over heels on top of it. Just tonight he was standing up to this walker and fell backwards jamming his bottom teeth into his top gums. Being the awesomely observant mother that I am, didn't notice the blood dribbling out of his mouth until I decided to play with some of the buttons with him. I freaked. But apparently he didn't notice.

Our snake friend. He lives in a hole beside the concrete slab by the front door.

8 months old.

Charley is usually a pretty clean eater. It only gets messy when he doesn't like the food. Case in point, peas. Every time I'd scoop some up and go to give him some, he would cry and then eat what was on the spoon. I'd get some more, he'd cry and then eat what was on the spoon. Now I thought he was enjoying it because he was eating it. But apparently his crying was his indication of his dislike of said peas AND the mess. More got on the surroundings than in his mouth.

AND loving the watermelon. Good boy.

Better video of the crawler...

*sigh*

*sigh*

And...he's off!!!

So first things first...Bugaboo is crawling. I received the following video on my phone TODAY. *sniff sniff*

Secondly, baby kitty has a new home. Yay! Very glad we didn't have to give her to a rescue place. Raisin is back to her abnormally lovable self.

Story time (second hand)...

Ryan was waiting for Bugaboo to awaken in the morning. He was hearing him really close to the monitor. He was making a whole bunch of noise. Ryan walked into the room to get him. Charley had gotten ahold of the monitor and had gotten the cord wrapped around his body SEVERAL times. He had one arm free. I mean, seriously??? We JUST moved it away from him in fear that he would get to it. Now it's sitting on the opposite side of the room. Let's just hope he doesn't figure out how to get out of his crib and crawl to it.

*dramatic pause*

In other news...there is none...oh, child LOVES butternut squash. This weekend we are going to experience some oatmeal, banana, and blueberries. Fun times. Still making my own baby food and loving it. He gives open mouth kisses, stands up holding onto the side of the crib, STILL biting me *ouch*...aaaannnddd laughs like a pterodactyl (<- yeah, I just had my engineering dude friend spell this for me off the top of his head...can I get another "SERIOUSLY???"). We are avoiding having to spend the money on an infant car seat. Eeeck, hate spending that kind of money but oh well, not like we have much of a choice. He's still like 18lbs so we have a tiny bit to go.

Second terrifying story...first hand...

Cracker barrel, love the place, hate the high chairs and ONLY because Charley fell out. I'm still shaky from the experience. Worst Mother of the Year Award? Close. Too close. He reached for something, fell to the ground. Fortunately, Tim's big, fat foot caught his head. He cried for about 3 seconds probably because he saw the look of HORROR in my face. Was hoping he wasn't dying. Went straight back to jumping in my lap. Baby fine, Mama not.

Ugh. Awful.

So we went to Hooters for dinner and to watch a game. Ryan HAD to get a picture of Charley with some of the girls. You see in the picture above there are only 4 girls. There originally was 5 girls but Charley couldn't keep his eyes off one of the girls. So she stood by Ryan so he could snap a picture. Notice he's not staring at the camera. He's not hungry either because he just had dinner.

Recent Developments

Charley is getting so big. So sad. He can push himself into the sitting up position from his belly/crawling position. Yay! So now we find him sitting in his crib waiting to be picked up. He is eating a whole lot and moving a whole lot. This week we are trying brown rice and chicken. I think he may be getting used to the not-so-smooth texture still. But he's still ALL ABOUT PEACHES.

He got his first haircut...complements of his father and his beard trimmer.

No comment

Regardless, he looks more like a boy. Story leading up to the beard trimmer...Ryan and Charley were at the post office. A lady behind him was admiring our adorable baby boy. She made the comment "Oh, what an adorable little girl..."

Ah-hem

Ryan, upon hearing the comment, refused to acknowledge whatever small talk that was attempted. Please note, Charley was dressed all in blue. His car seat is brown and orange. Nothing about his attire is GIRLY. Now, my son has a buzz cut...at 8 months old.

Maybe, just maybe, we won't be hearing any "cute little girl" comments anymore. :)

A boy and his kitten

Charley is sitting on his own much more steadier lately. He crawls...ISH...meaning if there's something in front of him he wants, he will get on all fours and move. Kind of crawling, right? He loves to play in the bath and several times he's attempted to breathe under water... (he's trying to suck on the plug in the bath). His hair is filling in and he's eating three meals a day. This boy loves to suck on watermelon. We try to do walks after dinner since it has been cooling off a bit lately. We walk to Dublin Park around 2 of the soccer fields and then head home. Charley takes in the sights...whilst in deep thought. It's amazing what a little fresh air can do for a person.

I've applied for this Electrical Engineering job within Boeing. I'm not too sure if it is what I am looking for. Still delving into that a bit. Regardless, the interview is good practice. :S As much as I DREAD talking to people I DO NOT know. One of these days it will get easier. Or will it? I've been told I'm management material (on several occasions)...HAH. Requirements: communicate...stop there, nothankyou.

Some friends of ours found this kitten. She was hiding under a palate of flagstone. (Friend's husband works as a firefighter but also in landscaping on his days off) Couldn't be more than 5 weeks old. We spent 2 or 3 days trying to get this kitten to eat...anything. We bought that kitten replacement milk, she hardly drank any; we mixed water with cat food, she wouldn't eat it. We knew she was starving. She was skin and bones on top of it. Tim spent a good half hour cleaning her and picking fleas out of her coat. We took her up to Challenger's House up in Toney, for some drugs. While up there, the lady popped open a can of soft food...and I've never seen a cat eat so fast in my entire life. Dur on our part. This kitten can get out of anything. Seriously should have named her Houdini. She climbs baby gates, cardboard, crates, anything that happens to be between her and us. I think we've pretty much given up on trying to keep her confined. We've named her Hardee. Love bug, she is. Raisin is slowly getting used to her. As in, she no longer growls or hisses at her. As I type this, she is sleeping across my thigh. We were going to keep her until we found a home for her. I don't see this happening in the near future though I may be okay with this. She lets Charley manhandle her. No joke. Charley picked her up and sucked on her head. She was okay with this. Whoda thunk it?

7 months and some other things...

Bugaboo is 7 months old. He hasn't started crawling yet, still rolling. He does get up on all fours and rocks back and forth and launches himself toward whatever it is he may be trying to get at.

He doesn't really like winter squash (he looks like he ate a Warhead) though he will finish what we give him. He's partial on avocado, likes yellow squash and is not too sure about peaches yet.

I'm really enjoying the whole making your own baby food thing. It's easy and I can mix what I want. I am going to try to make my own cereal, not sure how that's going to come out but why not try...

I freeze the baby food in an ice cube tray and then dump them in a bag. It's actually working out quite well. He's so happy...even when Mama makes him eat avocado...

A week ago we found 2 teeth on him much to our surprise. I was waiting for fussiness and midnight awakenings but neither appeared and by no means am I complaining about it. He was just drooling a little more than usual and I thought I should check and BAM! there they were. He's bit me twice, the little bugger, and drew a little blood. He did it a third time tonight so I smacked him on the head...he just looked confused. Still getting them darned clogged ducts. I used to get so worked up about them and so frustrated. I'm over it now. Not really but it sounds nice.

Last Thursday, we noticed Bugaboo touching his left ear. We didn't know if it was coincidence or ear infection. Friday morning while I was nursing him, he was kind of fussing a little while laying on that one side and did another brush of that ear. So we made an appointment with his doctor because I didn't want him to have to suffer if it were an ear infection. Went to the doctor's, there was no ear infection. Thinking it might be the teething. I am very thankful it wasn't an ear infection.

I am VERY glad this past week is over. We had an internal ISO audit. I don't like to be audited, I don't mind being the auditor, but the auditee? Yeah, not so much. It was slightly stressful. I also presented to our VP of Supplier Quality on top of the week long audit. If you know me, you know I DESPISE talking in front of people. As much as my college education attempted to prepare me, it has not gotten any easier. I have a B.S/B.A in Electrical Engineering, that means that not only can I THINK and BE an engineer but I'm suppose to have some sort of writing/presenting skills. I refuse to acknowledge what little writing/presenting skills I may have. The one reason I went technical was so I wouldn't have to speak to people. That's all I do. Regardless, I am thankful I am employed.

And doubly thankful for this overly smiley, hammy, happy little man. *sigh*

6 month stats...

He is 15 lbs, 9.5 oz and is 25 inches long. We're chugging along! :) Rice cereal starts next week!!! He's been chomping, mimicking our chewing. He's very interested in what we are eating. Yay! Some pictures...

6 months :)

My little baby is getting big...*sigh* but we are so blessed with such a happy baby boy. His mode of transportation is rolling everywhere. Scary. I figured he'd be crawling before I'd have to worry about him getting into everything. That's what I get...

Chewing on his towel.

Rolling over on the changing table. :S

Squirming around on daddy's lap.

Oh yes, he got caught...and he knew it.

Future drum player perhaps???

So we've been trying out these Gdiaper cloth diapers. You can use disposable inserts (which are biodegradable and can be composted/flushed/or thrown away) or cloth inserts. We have been using the disposable inserts just to try them out. Ryan is not too fond of them but he's willing to use them. We are alternating between disposable diapers and the Gdiapers. We have been trying out the cloth inserts and I really like them. Although, apparently there is a technique that I have yet to catch on to. He only pees through his diaper when I put them on. Ryan is a pro. More practice for me! Anyways, we will be alternating between the three and just trying to use less of the disposable diapers.

5 months and some pics

Second pool attempt went MUCH smoother. It probably helped that the pool was slightly warmer. :)




So he's five months now...my, how time flies. He's growing so fast and changing everyday. He's rolling over and sitting up for 30 seconds at a time. He moves like a caterpillar and he sleeps on his stomach. He talks and talks. He usually lays in bed for a couple of hours in the morning talking to himself before we come get him. 99.8% of the time he's happy! Loves to entertain himself but also loves it when we play with him. Loves bathtime and being naked. :)