Say What?!

I have come to find that I'm not the best dinner companion.  You know when you go out with friends or other adults and talk about current events and other popular topics.....I may have forgotten how to do that.  I currently stay home all day with the little guy so my day revolves around feedings, diaper changes, and naps.  If you want to discuss making baby food or how rice cereal dries like cement then I am your girl.  If you want to talk about the Oscars last night or the current political race I am going to look like an idiot.  I didn't even stay up to watch the Oscars.  I get up before the sun everyday now, I would rather have an extra hour of sleep then see the latest styles.  I have some funny stories that everyone can relate to about staying home and being a mom, but nobody really wants to hear about how much Zach is eating now and that I stuck my finger in poop....on accident....but still, I don't even want to talk to me.  

But being a mom is currently my full time job and I love it.  You tend to talk about a job you love, so I go on and on about schedules and rolling over.  And I really want to know how other people handle this job.  If there was a conference I would go....but there will never be because if moms went without the kids everyone would just sleep in and probably say screw it, and relax by the pool with a drink....I digress.

I am taking a pottery class so I remember how to talk to other adults.  I'm working on that balance of finding some time for myself to have hobbies.  And I will start working at the greenhouse full time again next week.  So instead of babies I can discuss farming and tomato plants.  I'm just a wealth of exciting conversation.

So if you talk to me and think to yourself, 'man, what has happened to her, she used to have thoughtful conversations', give me a little time.....you may be the only other adult I have talked to that day and I just need a few minutes to get back in the swing of things and pretend that I know what is going on in the world today.

Mouse naps

Why yes I realize most people call them cat naps, but these are shorter then cat naps so I renamed them mouse naps.  Zach is an amazing night sleeper.  He has been sleeping through the night for months.  We are very thankful for this do not get me wrong, but the kid hates to sleep during the day.  I wouldn't worry too much about it since he sleeps all night, but by night time comes he is a terror.  He is over tired and will either fall asleep during the first ounce of his last bottle or just scream.  We have a schedule and have tried various things, but it is just time for me to come to terms with the fact that 45 minutes is the general nap length in this house.  Zach is just a nosey guy, but as long as he keeps sleeping all night I can live with mouse naps.

If you have any suggestions on how to get a nosey baby to actually nap that would be great.

You should also know that after talking with my mom it has been determined that I totally deserve this.

So sleepy, but so darn cute....

 

Lent

So lent is upon us again.  I realized yesterday that I didn't really know much about lent or why you give up stuff.  I realized this trying to explain it to my 6 year old niece....needless to say we both left the conversation confused (I was confused, she thought I was an idiot).  After spending some time with my friend google I realized not all religions give up something for 40 days and it means different things to different people....profound, I know.

For our mini family of 3 (well 2 1/2...Zach can't crawl let alone discuss theology) we decided it means taking the time to reflect and make religion a more prominent part of our life.  So instead of giving up something we're going to make more of a commitment to attend church regularly and pray.  I felt that giving up sweets or pop did not make me reflect on my faith, it just made me cranky and then binge on pop and sweets once Easter was here.  Maybe I don't have the dedication and attention to know what it truly means to sacrifice something...probably....and I commend those who do, but it is not this girl.

I usually don't write about me and Matt and never about religion, but I guess I found it as another way to reflect on my faith and try to stay true to our lent commitments.  I try not to talk about religion; I'm not ashamed of mine but it just seems like people like to fight about it.  I am not saying my way is better, it is just what we choose.  I happily support your beliefs and realize all avenues have pros and cons.....so lets just accept each other and make things easy :)

Weird....a post not about Zach....I don't know if I like this....

5 Months!

5 Months Old!

- Height and weight I'm not sure of since we don't have a doctors appointment until his 6 month check up.

- Still in size 2 diapers.  We finally had to buy diapers.  Yes, at almost 5 months old we bought our first pack of diapers....thank you again everyone!

- Still in size 3-6 month clothes.

- Sleeping all night still, thank god.  We have a good schedule down now and don't usually have any trouble putting him to bed.  Now naps during the day are a whole different beast, he hates them.

- We switched formula yet again.  We switched to Similac Soy based instead of Similac sensitive.  We were having a lot of gas/tummy issues again so we tried it and have already seen a difference.

- Zach is taking about 28oz per day now.  He take 4 bottles a day, each are 7oz.

- Rice cereal is a big hit!  He started it this month and loves it.  He gets it twice a day.

- We started veggies....just a taste with his cereal.  We're slowly introducing new textures and tastes so hopefully it goes well at 6 months when food actually needs to become a nutritional staple in his diet.

- We get a lot more giggling then we did before.  He loves Matt's beard.  Matt will hold Zach and Zach will contently snuggle up and pet the beard.  If the beard rubs on Zach's face he goes wild with giggles.

- We are currently wild for singing.  He likes any singing at anytime.  It will usually calm him down.

- He rolls from his tummy to his back and is close to rolling the other way.  He does hate tummy time so I am skeptical he will ever willingly roll onto his tummy or crawl.  I'm trying to not freak out about it and enjoy these last few immobile weeks.

- Grabbing and chewing everything....I mean everything....hair, toys, glasses, faces.  He likes to grab things and put it in his mouth.  Sometimes it works the other way and out of no where you get a gross drool hand across your face which is a special treat.

- He passes toys from one hand to another.

- Loves his toes.  He grabs them and tries to eat them on a regular basis.

- Likes books.  I can now recite the Brown Bear book from memory....I choose to believe this is more impressive then lame.

- Such a little personality coming out.

Getting so big so fast!  Already so ornery.

And he currently loves JJ.....JJ tries at all costs to avoid Zach....I will update you on this saga once Zach is crawling because it will get interesting

Love is in the air

First comes love....engaged on Navy Pier in Chicago, May 2006

Then comes marriage......married in Willoughby, May 2008

Then comes a baby in the baby carriage....welcome Zach McClure, September 2011

A belated Valentine's Day to my wonderful husband.  We met in college and knew there was something special about one another.  Sometimes I still can't believe I get to live this life with my best friend.

p.s. I can't believe my hair is the same length in all of these pictures, I get it cut different every time I go and it is usually much shorter....weird

p.p.s. I didn't realize how much we have aged until comparing current pictures to engagement pictures...whoa

Rice Cereal

Zach loves the rice cereal...he gets upset because we can't shovel it in fast enough.

What...I love rice cereal...no biggie...

I would let him play with the spoon when we were done, but he almost poked his own eye out so we had to stop that.

I want more cereal!

Loves rice cereal....hates peas.  He had one bite of peas and immediately puked.  I feel you pain buddy, peas are the grossest of all the vegetables.

Fact or myth part 2

"They could still go out if they wanted to, just get a babysitter it is not that hard."

I will admit this is some fact and some myth.

Myth: babysitters for tiny babies are not plentiful.  There are not many applicants rushing to my door to change the atomic poo diapers and get a handle on the faucet of drool that is my son.  And I might add, there are not many qualified babysitters.  Qualified is technically in the eye of the beholder and since I'm bat shit crazy this leaves few options (we'll revisit my crazy in the fact section).  This leaves my family in the area whom I trust completely.  I realize I'm very fortunate to have a lot of family within miles of my house, but sometimes they are busy or just tired of seeing us (just kidding mom, I know you can't get enough of Zach....enough of me and Matt yes, Zach no).  And you don't want to take advantage of your babysitters, especially the free family kind.  I want to stay in their good graces so no, I don't ask them to babysit every Saturday night because that is just rude and they might sign me up for AA or have an intervention or something.

Fact: I am crazy.  I probably could get a babysitter more then I do and go out more, true.  We have a lot of friends who are willing, but with their own families and commitments I don't want to put more on their plate.  My family would watch Zach more, but again, I'm crazy.  They have their own lives and already watch him a lot.  And you know what, sometimes I just don't want to go out.  Life is different and 8 times out of 10 I would rather hang out with the family at home and end the night with a glass of wine and a redbox movie with my husband.  So yes, I probably could get a babysitter more but I like being at home and I'm too crazy to find a babysitter outside of my family.

And then sometimes there is mom guilt where I would like to go out but feel like a bad mom leaving my man to cut loose....I'm working on it, it's a whole different discussion.

So the short answer is I'm crazy and probably could get a sitter more often, but sometimes there are just no options available.

The Good B....Baptism

Zach was baptized on January 22nd....yes I realize this is way late, but lets be honest, did you really think I would start posting about things on time now?  Zach may be 2 before I post his 1st birthday pics at this rate....I digress...

Zach was baptized at St. Al's in Bowling Green.  It was him and another little girl that were baptized in the afternoon after mass.  And in case you were wondering, yes the babies were the same age but Zach did look like he could eat the other little girl.  The doctor keeps saying we don't have a hefty baby, but I'm not so sure.  The baptism was very nice and very special to us, especially since we got to share the day with some of our family.  Zach made sure things didn't get too serious by pooping right in the middle of the ceremony.  I couldn't even make this stuff up if I tried.  The only point in the ceremony when things get quiet Zach rips a giant fart and I feel something hit my arm.  I immediately start giggling like a school girl and hope nothing escaped onto his pristine white outfit.

We made sure to time things so Zach was hungry and tired by the time the baptism was over so that was also fun for everyone.  We had lunch at a local place where Zach had another loud poop when we were praying before eating lunch.  Prayer makes Zach have to go apparently.

How does everything turn into a poo post......oh how life has changed.....

Me trying not to laugh after the "incident"

And I would like to point out that these pictures are awesome (and these are only a few of many).....thank you Tracy!  

Melon head

We went to the doctor on Monday for a follow up from the croup incident and Zach's 4 month check up.  Everything looked good and he is growing into his head.  It's not the watermelon type proportions it measured in at 2 months.

- Head size is in the 75th percentile (down from the 90+ percentile)
- He weighs 14lb 5oz and in the 35th percentile (down from 50%)
- Height is 25" and in the 50th percentile (same)

Everything looks normal and good.

We also tried rice cereal for the first time last night and chubbers loved it!  He did a great job actually swallowing it and seemed to really like it.  We get to start some fruits and vegetables at 5 months.