Extra Long Post

...to make up for me not posting for a really long time. Except for the video, of course. I know people try to be honest and tell you having a newborn baby is hard and that you will be sleep deprived. However, I have learned there is no way anyone can actually help you see how it really is until you just experience it yourself. It is hard. It is exhausting. At one month now, I think we are finally starting to come out of the exhaustion and see what a "normal" baby life is like. I really wanted to do like Babywise, and put James in his crib to sleep without rocking him or nursing him to sleep. We've tried to do that, and for the most part, it's going great! It was hard at first, but it's getting easier. It's tough to listen to him cry. If he cries, I am counting down the 10 minutes to go in and talk to him!! For the most part though, we are really getting in a routine with him and that is good. I even took him to the mall in the stroller a couple days ago and walked around. I haven't been back to church yet. The pediatrician said I should wait two months to go to church with him since people will be in his face wanting to see him (and rightly so....is he cute or what???), but that it was fine to take him places like the store or restaurants. All in all, things are going well, I think. I have several observations about this first month to talk about....I'll just intersperse the pictures throughout - even though most of them have nothing to do with anything - they're just our sweet baby James.

First of all, what is the deal with the pee, poop, and spit up? People told me before I had a baby to make sure I had lots of onesies, they told me how many diapers I'd go through per day, and we talked about how many swaddle blankets I should have on hand. Well, my friends, I cannot believe how crazy it is. Average number of changes per day: 4. At night: 1 (we are down to one - whoo-hoo!). We've learned a lot about having a boy and how to handle "things" to help pee not get everywhere. At first when I changed him, I could not get it together about his peeing. He has gone in his face, in his ear, in my face, on the wall...etc. He has also pooped everywhere....even in my mouth one day when I was leaned over trying to make sure he was good and clean before putting on a new diaper. And...spit up. He usually just spits up once per feeding, but I still feel like my clothes are continually wet. Even though I have a burp cloth on my, he always chooses to put his head where the burp cloth isn't and then spits up. The laundry is unreal. Are all babies like this? I don't know, but ours definitely is. That man likes to change clothes. It reminds me of that Quick Change act on America's Got Talent from a couple of seasons ago (I hate that show, btw, but we watch it out of boredom sometimes). That's what I call James - Quick Change - because we have to change his clothes so much. Jeff and Olivia, from church, let us borrow some magic sheets though for James' bed. You put the sheets on like normal and then put this special sheet over the top and it snaps around the bars of the crib. Then, if he wets on them, you just unsnap and snap a new one on top of it - that way, in the middle of the night, you're not having to pull up the mattress and try to get the fitted sheet and pad off of it. Genius. Thank goodness for help from wise friends! And the changing table - why even put a cover on it? It has stains all over it - I've washed it, of course, but man, it's just over. At this point, I try to keep the cover on it so at least James is not lying on cold plastic, but then I keep a disposable pad over the cover at all times.

This cow outfit is so cute! It's one of my favorites because look at the bottom! There's a cow on it!! I love it when stuff is on the bottom of the outfits!

The breastfeeding is actually going really well. Let me just tell you, I love the pump. I love a project, you know, so I really want to fill up the freezer with milk. I don't really like the nursing stuff - you know the whole "you feel closer to your baby" jazz - well, I don't think I really feel like that. In fact, when I pump and give him a bottle, I feel like that's even easier because then I can just relax and enjoy watching him eat. BUT, I feel like nursing was the best decision for us, and I'm very thankful that so far, my body seems to be producing plenty of food for James. And, it's not been nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be - it's just time consuming and very demanding for me...but I do think in the end, I'll be really glad I did it. We have had what we think are some acid reflux issues - where he jerks his head back while nursing. We took him to the pediatrician last week and they gave him some acid reflux medicine and just said to try it - that it wouldn't hurt. It's really bitter though, so he makes such sad faces when we give it to him. Next time we have it filled, we'll know to ask for a flavoring to be added!

Below is a picture I took of James when I was going in to see why he was crying. He likes the pacifier, but he has trouble with it. He doesn't quite know how to control it yet...which is very frustrating for both of us. It really soothes him, but see how his hand is on his mouth - he likes to hold it on there and then, inevitably, he shoves it out - it's like to him he would like to have the pacifier and his fingers in his mouth at the same time. But, alas, this cannot happen.

So, when I go in to check on him (without the pacifier) because he's crying, I'll give him the pacifier, but then I'll stand there and try to help him put his arms to the sides of his head so that he won't knock it out - I'm really hoping he's going to get the hang of the paci!!

Here he is in his rocker. He's just starting to bat at the toys at the top.

And, here's a sweet picture from yesterday. He is really growing! I want to do a post telling about 1 month milestones...so I'll be reporting back soon (hopefully). His one month checkup with the pediatrician is tomorrow.

In other news, my incision is healing. Landon and I have left James twice - once to go out to lunch together at Cracker Barrel (of course) and once to drop in at a Sunday School party where Landon was baptizing a sweet lady in our church. It hasn't been terribly hard to leave him, but I am very thankful to get home! I am always so happy to go in and get him after naps or in the morning - I miss him when he sleeps (but am glad for a break, of course)....church is going well. We'll be glad when summer ends and all the people come back!! Alright - gotta go - he is crying now...time to eat...again....