Wordless Wednesday

Florida, here we come!

Dinner at Panera in MD with my friend, Joanne, before we left for Florida the next morning.

Part of the beach outside our resort

Flying on Southwest to Florida while Nadia was still able to fly for free

Ian sleeping on Grandma's lap while we flew to Florida.

Paul entertaining Nadia while waiting for dinner at an outdoor restaurant in Stuart on Saturday night.

Ian sleeping while we waited for our food that night.

Ian really enjoys playing with toys now!

Sand creation built by Paul and my Dad. Aunt Janet brought the buckets of water.

View from the balcony of our 8th floor 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite of the beach (facing south).

This balcony shot is facing north. The man in the orange t-shirt in the ocean is Paul.

They noticed I was taking pictures on the balcony and started waving!

Bathing Beauties

Daddy is Coming!

We haven't seen Paul since Sunday morning. We miss him! Well I can't speak for Ian, but I know Nadia and I have missed him. He's supposed to arrive here around 5pm as we're meeting a former roomate of mine (from when I lived in Annapolis) for dinner at Panera. I have particularly missed Paul during the night as I've been a "single parent" the past 4 nights. That's one perk of bottle feeding Ian more is that Paul can help more with the night time feedings. At about 12:30am on Tuesday morning both kids were crying. I really was wishing Paul was around as I tried to nurse Ian and console Nadia. The ribbon around her dog's neck (stuffed animal) had gotten stuck on a finger. OUCH! I cut the ribbon off so that won't happen again! Ian hasn't been sleeping well. For example, last night I put him down at 8:20 and he woke up at 10:30, 2:30, 5:10, and 7:20. Nadia woke up at 6:20 so his sleeping in unntil 7:20 didn't help me out at all. Every time I experience a few days without Paul my awe of single parents increases. I'm very grateful I have a hubby who can help me take care of our two kiddos!!!

Five Months Old!

Here are some ways Ian has changed over the last month:

1. He gained more weight in the last 3 weeks than he did in the previous 4+ months of his life! My guess is that he now weighs over 13lbs. I won't be able to weigh him until we get back to PA. Using the scale has gone from a sad, nerve wracking experience to one that is exciting. :-)

2. He now nurses without a shield and also drinks FAR more formula than he did the first 4 months. So far he still really enjoys nursing. In fact just this morning he gave me a HUGE smile when he saw I was about to nurse him. What a relief! I hope this continues for many more months. To illustrate the difference in how much formula he is now consuming, the first few months we threw away a small can even though it wasn't empty because it had been open for a month. That size can now only lasts 3 days. In a couple of weeks I'm going to have to start buying formula. I'm grateful that we had enough free samples to carry us thus far. I plan to start him on solid foods in the next couple of weeks.

3. He spits up even more than he used to. I am doing more laundry these days!!! I carry around a cloth diaper (which I use as a burp cloth) all the time. Ian grabs on to them now. I think it might become his security blanket since he's so used to being on one All The Time. Unique security blanket, eh? :-)

4. He laughs a lot more! It is very easy to get him to laugh - he'll even laugh just because I'm laughing!
5. He loves taking a bubble bath with his sister, which is a big change as he used to HATE his baths.

6. Sleeping at night has been worse this month compared to last month, but he's doing better with his naps. Hopefully next month I can say that he's doing better sleeping at night. :-)

7. He doesn't like his pacifier any more. He sometimes sucks the back of his hand. If he stays with that habit, it should be easier to break than thumb sucking.

8. This isn't something new, but I keep forgetting to mention what a grabber he has been since birth. When I'm holding him (he's facing my chest), he grabs onto something with both hands - my hair, shirt, etc. He has quite a grip! Even when I am changing his clothes he'll hold on tightly to his own sleeve which made it a challenge to take it off. Nadia didn't do this.

9. He's gotten better and holding up his head while sitting and also while on his belly. Tummy time is going better particularly if it's not a situation where he's just lying on his belly on the floor

10. He is doing a great job of tracking with his eyes and continues to love looking at lights, ceiling fans, etc.

11. He's just started to enjoy holding a toy - that is until he accidently hits himself in the head with it. OOPS!

P.S. It helps to remember that if he came on his EDD, he'd only be 3 months old right now.

Happy Mother's Day!

This Mother's Day I am thankful for:

1. My mother

2. My mother-in-law

3. My sweet little girl, who made me feel like a mom for the first time -  I became a Mom in 2005, but since that child was never in my arms, I didn't really feel like a mom on Mother's Day until I was in my 3rd trimester with Nadia in 2008. I love her hugs, kisses, smiles, laughter, etc. What a delight!

4. My sweet little boy - Nadia was such a miracle (after ttc for 6 years) that while I was pregnant with her I assumed she would most likely be my only child. I am very grateful the Lord blessed us with a second child. I love his smiles, laughter, and cooing. Such a sweetheart!

5. Digital cameras that allow me to take 50 zillion pictures and be very selective about which I pay to actually get prints of.

6. Portable dvd players that make a 3.5 hour car ride oh so much more managable with a toddler.

7. Nadia's attention span for tv/dvd's - even though my goal had been for her to watch ZERO tv before she turned 3 years old, it has been a blessing that she can sit and watch Curious George or VeggieTales for extended periods of time upon occasion.

8. That the sleep deprivation stage of parenting doesn't last forever. There will be bad nights now and then when a child is sick or teething, but it doesn't stay a daily occurence for tooo many months. I am reminding myself of this since I only got 3 hours of sleep last night. Ian slept for a little less than 6 hours, but I am having a harder and harder time falling asleep after I feed him during the night. I really, really need for him to start sleeping through the night in the near future.

9. For my husband - I can't imagine being a single parent.

10. For the Lord who helped me through all the Mother's Days that were such a struggle emotionally while I waited and waited and waited to get married and then waited and waited and waited to become a mom. I have to admit my first reaction to Mother's Day is still to feel empathy for those who long to be moms but aren't (yet anyhow).

A Most Wonderful and Exhausting Day

Between the hours of 3am and the present (11:45pm), I slept about 90 minutes total. In the last hour I've changed two poopy diapers and one spit-up drenched outfit. These are some of the not so glamorous, exhausting aspects of motherhood. Yet today was in my opinion a very excellent day as I got to experience what I had been looking forward to for many years - seeing the look of delight on my child's face as she rode rides at an amusement park. I took more pictures than I've ever taken in one day before (over 140). Here's just a few of them. Enjoy!