Courthouse field trip!

Yesterday I packed up the boys and took them to the courthouse! I got a ticket back in December when we visited a state park.  I had an annual pass for national parks and thought state parks were included.  Turns out they aren't and I got a $99 ticket. Lame! So I fought it and said it was an honest mistake and we've since purchased a state park pass, it won't happen again... and oh, um could you please just waive this ticket please,  your honor? He reduced it to $70 which still sucked but was better than the full amount.  Thankfully, Max was very well behaved and quiet in the courtroom and Ben nursed happily in my Boba carrier. He fussed a few times and I just had to get him latched back on and he was content.  Never thought I'd breastfeed my baby while pleading my case to the judge, but hey, baby was hungry and by golly, baby was going to eat.  Happy Baby Happy Mommy...especially in a quiet courtroom.

Breastfeeding, sleeping and the pumpkin patch

It's been over a whole month since I last posted?  Oops! I'm going to try to get this posted before Max wakes up from his nap. We'll see how I do...

Max turned 4 months old on Monday! He had his 4 month check up today and weighed around 12.5 lbs (they weighed him in kilograms, so I don't know how much he weighed today, but yesterday he weighed 12.5 lbs) and he's 26 1/4 inches! He got his immunizations and he did much better than he did last time. Thankfully. I cried right along with him when he got his shots last time, but this time, he just did a little cry for a few seconds and then was a big boy about it. They did make him very sleep though and he's taken a few naps, which is very rare for him. 

The doctor said he's growing great and made the comment on how mature he looks for a baby his age. He said he looks like he could have a real conversation with Max. haha I've had a few other people tell me he looks mature or very much like a boy, whereas some babies apparently don't. Ha. IL've got a manly man of a baby boy, I suppose. 

So, onto breastfeeding. For whatever reason, my milk supply dropped significantly at the beginning of October. Like, I felt like I was drying up completely. Max was starving and I had to go through the 10 or so bags of frozen milk I had in the freezer to keep him happy, and even then, he was still hungry. I spent many evenings crying, right along with him because I was mad at my body for not making the milk that he so badly wanted and needed. I tried fenugreetk, two different kinds of mothers milk tea, lactation cookies, and Dairy Queen pills on Etsy. Nothing increased my milk enough to make my baby happy.

I still go to the breastfeeding class on post each week, and he pretty much stayed the same weight for the whole month of October, between 12.2 and 12.5 lbs. Last week, the doctor suggested I talk to a lactation consultant about why he wasn't gaining weight. So I did. My body just slowed down the milk making process for whatever reason and the LC gave me a prescription to Reglan which helps my body make more milk. There are side effects, as with any medicine, but I have yet to see them, thankfully. Severe facial twitches, depression and exhaustion are the main side effects. The facial twitches are permanent too, even after you stop taking the medication. But I really really really really want to only breastfeed him, so I'm taking the pills. Luckily, it's only a 13 day course of taking the medicine and after I'm done with the course, my milk supply should keep up. I started it last Wednesday and by Sunday, I saw an increase in my  milk. My boobs are getting full in about 2-3 hours, whereas before, it was a good 6-7 hours before they'd feel full. I'm so thankful for the lactation consultants and all of their knowledge and help that they've given me. Max was a great nurser from the beginning, and nursing was very easy for both of us. So it was a big surprise, and not a good one, when I started having these problems. Yesterday I went to the class to get him weighed and he weighed 12.5 lbs when we got to class, and then I fed him on both sides and the weighed him again. In 12 minutes of eating, he gained 5 oz! This was A LOT considering the last few times I weighed, fed and re-weighed him, it was 2 to 2.5 oz. He's eating so much better and getting a full little belly. And this means he's sleeping better too.

Since the day we brought him home from the hospital, he'd been sleeping in the basinette attached to the pack-n-play in our room. He outgrew that in early October (well, if we're being honest here, probably at the end of September, but he was just so cozy in it and slept well that I didn't want to transition him to a different bed! But when his little toes were poking over the edge, I knew I needed to change it up for his safety). So we removed the basinette and he slept in the pack-n-play in our room. He slept absolutely horribly. He'd wake up every hour to hour and a half and be wide awake. I know it takes a few weeks to adjust to a new sleeping environment so I was trying to be patient, but it was difficult because I was exhausted. On Halloween, I spent a good portion of the day thinking about if it'd be a good idea to just take the plunge and put him in his crib for the night. I didn't want him down the hall from me (he's so little!!) but I did think he'd sleep better. I talked to Seth about it that night and he, of course, was like, Lets do it!! It's easier for the guys, I think, to say lets do it to major changes like that. Anyways, we did it and Max slept WONDERFULLY!! He slept for about 4-5 hours, then I fed him and he slept for another 4-5 hours. Tonight will be one week since he's been sleeping in his crib! He's growing up! I do still bring him into our room and nurse him in bed though, then back to his crib he goes. This morning, he was in his crib babbling/talking for a good 30 minutes! It was sooo cute. I had time to shower, do my hair, get dinner in the crockpot and a few minutes at the computer. 

Now, for a few pictures. We went to the pumpkin patch a few weekends ago and did the corn maze, pumpkin slinging and picked out our pumpkins. Max slept through the whole corn maze (this was the first time he was in his big boy stroller and he seemed to enjoy it based on how much he slept in it).

testing it out at home...patrick approves of the stroller too

rainbow when we got to the pumpkin patch!

sleeeeepy! 

unhappy i woke him up

very unhappy

hey ladies

hard life of a baby

I feel like this post was all over the place, and I'm not going to re-read it and re-write it before I publish it! Max is waking up now...good timing...and we're going to take a little walk to the mail box and then we'll play and wait patiently for daddy to get home from work :)

Meet Woodhouse

We got a new dog last weekend. I should say Seth got a new dog last weekend. I wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of a new dog, because I'm the one home all day taking care of Patrick as is, and soon a little baby, but Seth has been wanting a big dog to run with since we moved to Washington. I kept telling him no because we lived in the townhome, didn't have a backyard and I was not going to be responsible for walking a small dog, a big dog and loading up an infant multiple times a day to go for potty breaks (likely in the rain). I was perfectly content with it being me, Patrick and soon to be baby. It was quiet, we cuddled a lot, everything was going fine and dandy and Patrick is well behaved.


Enter Easter weekend when we go visit my aunt and gramma. They had found a stray puppy a few weeks prior. My aunt had contacted the animal shelters around her to see if anyone reported a missing dog. No one had. He's pretty young, probably 4-5 months, looks to be a mix of Australian Shepherd and Collie, very clumsy, still has baby teeth and is potty trained. Seth fell in love with him immediately and spent most of the day playing with him. He even named him Woodhouse shortly (we call him Woody for short) after meeting him when he wasn't even "our" dog yet. My aunt knew Seth wanted him badly. The Friday after Easter, we drove to my aunt's house and oh hi, we have a new dog. YAYYYYY.


Today, all I've done is listened to the dogs bark (3 solid hours this morning), shut the office door to tune them out, but it's not nearly enough. I give them treats to reward them for being quiet, and then they resume barking. The neighbors are installing a fence today so there is a lot of extra, new noises and that's what's causing all this commotion with them. They get along well about 85% of the time, but Woody knows Patrick HATES his ears nipped at, so that's the first place he goes and it gets Patrick riled up. Then Patrick gets all feisty and snarls and chases after him, but Woody likes it. Deep down Patrick loves it too, and he loves a playmate, but frequently I hear a little yelp from Patrick and have to tell them to calm down. Then they don't. And I get frustrated. Woody gets running so fast in the house, they chase each other up the stairs, down the stairs, around the table, in circles in the living room, in and out of the office into the hallway, up on the couch...I'm just waiting for Woody to fly through the living room window (he runs so fast he can't stop in time so he jumps on top of the couch which is right in front of the window) or for something to crash and break to the floor.


I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the quiet days of Patrick napping and quietly playing with his toys all by himself and being all cute and quiet and calm.They don't share toys too well right now so toys are off limits and I'm slowly incorporating them back. (I gave them one over the weekend and Woody broke it within seconds).


I hope this dog turns out to be good for our family. I have no idea what he's like with kids, but I hope he is good with them, especially infants. We definitely have to work on his rambunctiousness, because he certainly can't be running around the house like he currently does when a baby is playing on the floor. He seems like he'll be protective, but I don't want him to be too protective that no one can get near us or the baby without him getting angry. He is definitely Seth's dog (he usually pees an excited pee when Seth gets home from work), but he doesn't leave my side throughout the day. He lays right by my computer chair, if I go to the bathroom, him and Patrick follow me and watch me pee and when I shower, he's on the bathroom floor. 


There is so much testosterone running through our house these days, Lord help me.

 (don't let these pictures of them being calm fool you. they are very rambunctious together)

Saving Money

I attempted to cut Seth’s hair last night. You know, just give it a little trim so he didn’t have to pay $15 to get a haircut. He figured we could save $30/month if I learn to cut his hair. Apparently once upon a time, I made a comment about how it can’t be that hard to cut his hair and he asked if I wanted to go to the PX to get some clippers with him. We stood in the aisle and debated over different clippers and then settled on a set.

Do you KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO DO A FADE TO ARMY STANDARDS?! It’s stupid hard. Seth started this venture out with hair. Now he’s bald. Honestly. That’s how hard it is. I’m not even kidding. He was getting annoyed with me (because helllllo, I’ve never actually GIVEN a haircut according to Army regulations, but it looked easy enough when I’d go to the barber shop with him), and I was getting annoyed with him because he was getting annoyed with me. Then he gave me the Army regulation number that is for the haircut. I practiced fades on his hair for what seemed like eternity (in one evening, mind you) so I can eventually learn it. After practicing (and messing up) fade after fade after fade, he told me to just shave it all off.

But lucky for me, he said we can give it another try this weekend! YAY!!!! Please note my sarcasm. And lucky for him, the evening ended in me in tears because I failed him and his hair cutting needs when he started citing the Army regulations for haircuts. All in an attempt to save a little money.

For the record, he looks much better with hair. This hair. The hair that was all over the bathroom floor. And now in the trash can. Mixed with tears and pride. I'm not a barber. Nor a hair stylist.