What a tease.

So I mentioned last time that Patrick was sleeping for most of the night for about a month now. Well, I guess I just had to jinx myself!! The last three nights have been rough. He got up several times Saturday night for Matt. Then he was up at 1:30am Sunday night and when I brought him to bed with me, he wanted to eat about once an hour. Then last night, he was up at 10:30 and again, wanted to eat every hour or so. Maybe it's a growth spurt...I think they have one around 4 months. I'm sure he'll start sleeping better soon...he's proven to me that it can be done!
I have to work the next couple of nights then it's off to Cary for a long weekend to celebrate my dad's 50th!!! I'm really excited, although slightly scared. This is my first time travelling with both kids by myself (Matt's on call Friday). I think Jack is going to spend the day, Friday, with Matt's parents, so I'm sure he'll have a great time.
Yesterday we went to a cookout at one of the other resident's house. They have a baby that was born just 2 days before Patrick. Olly was also an early bird (about 4 weeks before his due date) but he's doing great and so cute!! The two bald little Cabbage Patch kids just stared at each other and drooled. Jack had a great time playing with their little girl, Lily, age 3 1/2.

Why requiring a license to procreate is more important than one to drive...

CASE AND POINT!! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24594248&GT1=43001

Probably happens more often than imaginable here in rural SC.

Don't say the word...

"TACKLE" around Jack. Or else this is what will happen: Don't worry...they were just horsin' around:And of course, Patrick can't do cute things like tackle yet, but he looks very angelic in photos: Everybody has been doing great lately. I haven't updated about Patrick's sleeping habits in a while. We're still working on the napping thing. He will rest for maybe 45mins-1.5hrs in the moring in his crib for a nap, but otherwise just sleeps in the car or in my arms for his other naps. Which is really strange because he loves his crib at night. Both boys go to bed between 7pm-8pm and of course Jack sleeps until morning. For about 3 weeks now, Patrick has been getting up ONCE between 4am-5am! I can't believe how lucky I am!! At that point I change his diaper, and he gives me the silliest little smiles through the glow of his night light, and then I bring him to bed with me to eat and sleep until Jack gets up around 7:30 or 8am. So, his nighttime behavior completely makes up for his lack of sleep during the day.

I have the next week off from work, but I'm on call Monday night. There are only two nurses scheduled after 11pm so I'll probably have to work from 11-7. No biggie. It's amazing how you get used to being up all night that it hardly phases you anymore. I mean, I have to sleep after work, but usually only 4-5hrs and I'm good.

Matt's on call tonight...only two more after tonight for this hard rotation (he's up all night), and then he begins his last month of commuting to Anderson. Starting July, he'll be working at the same hospital that I do and will have home-call ONLY!!!

Upgrade!

So I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my digital camera. Mine was about 6 years old and although I was still impressed by the pics it took, I have developed a pretty serious hobby of taking pics and wanted some new technology. So I've gone from 3.2 megapixels to 8.4. I love my new camera, but it's going to take a while to learn how to use all of the features. Here are a couple of pics of the kids from my new camera:

Not that either of them could take a bad picture, but I thought that the quality of these was pretty good.

Here's Jack swinging on the big boy swing in the backyard the other day - he's such a goof:

This was taken with my old camera...I think you can tell a difference.

Last night I got called into work from 7pm-1am to work in the nursery. We had 7 babies...TWO sets of twins, which is just crazy for our tiny little community hospital. I had a good time...a break from the norm...plus time-and-a-half call pay, woohoo!!!
In response to my last post...I apologize again for the negativity...but the van and the computer are now running smoothly, in case you were wondering!

Work, work, work...

So Matt and I have seen each other a total of probably 5 minutes in the last couple of weeks (of course I'm exaggerating, but it seems like it.) Matt's back in Anderson and taking call every 4th night. He's got some very sick patients on his service right now, so he's definitely not getting any sleep when he's on call. Otherwise, he's at home helping me with the house and the boys. He gets no break - so I give him my props.

I'm also working up a storm. I am working 2 nights/week and taking call for work up to 3 times a week. (We have a nurse out on leave for the last half of her pregancy, so we have to be on call in case we are busy.) I love being at work...the people I work with are awesome and so much fun! Unfortunately, I have been branded with the Labor and Delivery "black cloud" as of late. I have only been back in L&D twice since coming back from maternity leave and the first night, there were only 2 of us OB nurses on the floor and I delivered a baby without a Dr - thankfully the baby was okay even though it was a little early. The 2nd time, which was last week, a woman came in at 1am abrupted (bleeding) and we had to do a stat c-section. The baby had a rough go at it - he was only about 35 weeks and had a hard time transitioning. Luckily his shell-shock wore off after a couple of hours so we didn't have to transfer him to Greenville.

Stress, stress, and more stress. I have found myself venting, so for that I must apologize. But it feels darn good, so I'm going to keep going!!! Some of you may have known that I traded in my CR-V about 2 1/2 weeks ago to get a *gasp* Odyssey (minivan). As much as I hated to get rid of my car, the Odyssey is about as cool as it gets for a minivan, plus I got a great deal on my trade-in. It's been awesome until this Saturday afternoon - now it won't crank. So I've gone around and around with the dealership folks to get it fixed (it's amazing how once they have your $$, they are way less willing to help you!!) Anyways, that won't get fixed until Monday. Not to mention that the garbage disposal bit the dust earlier this week and Matt just called me at work to tell me that the computer was on the fritz.

Okay, now to the wonderful part of my life, my boys!!

This is the two of them lovin' it up on the couch this morning:

And Patrick just loungin':

Jack's 2nd Birthday - a blog a month in the making!

I have completely broke my promise of posting at least once a week, but I left my camera charger in Greenville when we had Jack's birthday party and couldn't bear to post w/out any pictures - I just got it back today and it's back to the grindstone!!

Jack's birthday party was in Raleigh at Matt's grandparent's house on April 19 hosted by the Higgins. Complete with Elmo theme, it was a party indeed. I was so happy to get to see some of our family that we haven't seen in a while. I even got to visit with my Great-Grandma Wilson. It was very neat that her and Patrick were born 99 years and 1 day apart. How incredible!!! With that said, here is the "Grandmas" picture that was taken (all of Jack and Patrick's grandmas, great-grandmas, and great-great grandma in one pic!):

We had pizza, fruit salad, and goldfish - and don't forget Elmo cake! This is the one that I decorated as Jack's smash cake. I was pretty proud considering how non-artistic I am. Jennifer created a huge masterpiece that is a bigger version of this one:

Jack got a TON of presents...in fact, we had to rearrange the entire house when we got home just to arrange them all in an orderly fashion. Here he is sitting at his new table and chairs with cousin Andrew:

Eerily enough...here's what the 2 looked like about a year ago when they got together:

They have grown so much!!

And opening the greatest present of all (problem was, after opening this one, he wasn't really interested in the others!):

He really loved this little wagon that came with a sock monkey in it - at home he enjoys carting around his juice and blankie and whatever else he feels like in it:

A picture of Patrick and Mommy - please just look at Patrick!!!:

A picture of Mommy and Jack on his actual birthday after opening a big box of presents from the Higgins:

He loves his new ECU football, but it seems that the balloons are the biggest hit!All in all, it was a great party...everyone had a blast...I think that Jack may have been a little overwhelmed by all the people and presents but he still had fun!

Back to the daily grind...

So last Thursday I finally went back to work. I am not really scheduled until this Friday, but they called and asked if I could come in, and looking to get out of the house for some non-household duty work, I volunteered. I only worked from 7p-3a and it was great - we were pretty slow so it was a nice way to ease back in. Patrick did pretty well for Matt, taking a bottle of breastmilk every few hours and sleeping about as much as he has been (2-3 hour stretches, with some "awake" time in between).

It seems like ever since then, this kid has been eating nonstop. Must be a growth spurt, but I can't keep up. I haven't even been able to pump any more to store because he's drinking it all!! His 2-month appt isn't until next week but he's weighing in at about 12lbs here at home. Perhaps he's trying to bulk up to become a football legend as his shirt might suggest (Cheryl at work made it for him, so cute!):

Jack has been enjoying the beautiful weather playing outside, swinging, exploring the yard, and playing the "fill-pour" game in the corn box (that's where you fill something up like a cup and pour it into the dump truck and then dump it out and do it all over again - sounds complicated, I know, but it's very important business for a toddler):

We had something very interesting happen on Saturday. We were eating dinner and Matt was standing at the kitchen sink washing some dishes when he heard "snap, crackle, pop, rustle" and saw out the window a HUGE tree in our backyard falling down. It wasn't raining or windy, apparently it was just that tree's time to go. This thing was enormous and thankfully it went in the opposite direction of the house and fence, and into the woods taking several smaller trees down with it. By the looks of the stump, it was pretty dead and rotted:

Why I love where we live...

While it's hard to be so far away from family, it makes it somewhat more palatable to live in such a beautiful area. Friday, Matt took the day off and we took the boys out to the Chau Ram County Park that's less than 20 minutes from our house. It is a great place along the Chauga river with waterfalls, hiking trails, and even a small playground. It was a beautiful day, in the 70's. Jack had a blast going down the big slide ALL BY HIMSELF...man is he getting brave.

After playing for awhile, we loaded up the kids into the backpack (Jack) and the Snugli (Patrick) and did a little bit of hiking. Jack just loved the big waterfall, and kept pointing and rambling on about it...

Patrick loves walking around with mommy in the Snugli lately...
It was so much fun (and not to mention the most exercise that I've gotten in a while!) I can't wait to go back. I think that when we get some pictures made in a month or so, that we'll do it there.
When we got home, daddy took care of the boys outside so that I could continue with our yard work. I can't wait to get it done so that we can enjoy our yard. It's rainy this weekend, so Matt's working Sat and Sun nights. I hate that he's going to miss the Elite 8 games, but that's what TIVO is for! I was actually on call this morning for work from 7-1, but it's now 11:30 so it doesn't look like they'll need me. I'm going to go do some housework while "wearing" the baby in the Snugli. He's been so good lately, smiling and interacting and even going about 3 hours between feedings, so I'm beginning to feel a little less tied down and able to do more with Jack and around the house.
Next most exciting thing on the agenda, my first day back at work is April 11 and Jack's b-day bash on the 19th - I can't wait!

Rabbit Day...

Sorry this blog is a week in the making just about. It seems like ever since we got back from Raleigh on Monday, it has just been crazy hectic. Anyways, Easter Sunday was great! We got to spend time with so much of our family and the boys were angels. Jack had so much fun seeing Granny Betty for lunch and then over to Dennis and Judy's for the massive Easter egg hunt that had several HUNDRED eggs to be found. Jack was the first to go and had a such a good time running around grabbing eggs and throwing them in his basket. He just ran around squealing and giggling while Matt, Jennifer and I chased him with his easter basket and cameras, respectively.

Dennis and Judy also enjoyed holding Patrick some, even though he was somewhat of a fussy-butt at times...

And Patrick felt the need to show off what a chub-a-lub he has become with a nakey picture...

How better to say Happy Birthday than with a corn box...

Jack was surprised this morning when he came into the living room and saw his birthday present out on the deck...a "crabbie" sandbox filled with 100lbs of whole kernel corn. Granted, his birthday is not until April 11, but since the weather is improving we wanted to go ahead and get it for him so that he could enjoy it for more of the season. He seems to like it...we've already had lessons in "don't throw the corn," and "keep the corn INSIDE the box."
I'll get some pictures later - it's still chilly this morning and I'm sure we'll be out there a lot this afternoon after his nap when it's nice and warm. My babysitter is coming over this afternoon since Matt is working a 3-midnight shift so that I can continue the "spring cleaning" that I started on Wednesday. I got the upstairs knocked out, but the downstairs needs major work.
In other news, we'll be heading out of town tomorrow to NC to see the fam for Easter - can't wait!!!

As promised...

Jack was caught mid-kiss...
One proud papa...
Patrick perfecting his smile for daddy...
Daddy and Jack using Patrick for dress-up...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I promise to post the boys in their St. Patty's outfits later on today, but both are sleeping at the time and photo ops are no good reason to wake them.

I'm sure that you all are wondering how my afternoon went yesterday since it was forcast to be such a lovely day - well, as planned we spent the whole afternoon outside. I even got some of our shrubs and trees trimmed. I need to finish that up today and then I have to start clearing the yard of leaves and branches, cut the grass and maybe even plant some new things if I'm feelin froggy!

Jack had such a good time yesterday climbing onto and off of our old picnic table on the deck - we've let him eat lunch and dinner out there lately when it's nice. Yesterday's adventure was drinking out of my sport water bottle full of flavored water - I think he thought he was doing something he wasn't supposed to, so he kept doing it...

And feeling so very proud...

Harley couldn't miss a photo op (Sandy was MIA, probably running around the woods with the neighbor dogs)...Someone needs a haircut!!

Oh so sweet...

I just snapped this picture of Patrick snoozing away...I could watch him for hours..

What a big boy...despite reflux issues...

So Patrick went to the MD on Thursday for his 1-month check-up and weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 13.5oz and 23.5 inches. I can't believe how big he's gotten in just 5 weeks - he was 7lbs 3.5 oz and 20 inches at birth. I especially can't believe how well he's growing since he has pretty bad reflux and seems to spit up everything he eats. The MD wants to avoid any meds for his reflux since he is growing so well and he honestly doesn't think that they really work - Matt agrees. And I hate to medicate him just because it's such a pain in the butt to change his outfit (or mine) 3 times a day and always smell like spit-up (like a TRUE BLUE mommy!!). Hopefully it will get better soon. Of course this morning it was like a geyser - he had the hiccups and with every hiccup, "Here comes some more!!"

Jack is, I believe, starting his TERRIBLE TWO's early. He is just being so ornary and acting so frustrated with everything. Nothing goes his way. He is being great with Patrick, loving on him and kissing him, but every little thing is just a huge upset to him - which he shows by squealing and the top of his lungs and whining incessantly. I hope it'll pass soon. He has spent a lot of time in TIME OUT (which involves simply 2 mins in his crib with the door shut to let him (and me) get a grip). He seems to respond pretty well to it and behaves for a little while afterwards.

The end of last week was absolutely beautiful weather-wise. We spent a lot of time outdoors, which he (and I) love. I cleared the deck of all remaining leaves and branches and then we took Jack's high chair outside to give it a good wash-down (it was nasty!)...

I can't wait to see everyone next weekend for Easter. I'm sure that Jack is going to LOVE the Easter Egg Hunt at Dennis and Judy's. Plus, we get to see Granny and Amber/Ronnie/Kids for Sunday lunch before that. I hope the weather's nice. Speaking of, I am going to go straighten up the house some so that we can go outside when Jack gets up from his nap. The forcast is calling for a high of 70 with plentiful sunshine in seneca, sc which makes me a happy girl!!!

My baby can sleep by himself...

So, I decided to kick myself in the butt last night and attempt the unthinkable. I moved Patrick's bassinet from beside my bed and into his nursery (his crib won't be here until next week). I was determined that he needs to sleep by himself. I am not against co-sleeping - it has it's advantages. But it just wasn't working for us. I was uncomfortable in my own bed and Matt and I both awoke to his every little grunt and groan. Not to mention the fact that he thought it was kosher to nurse ALL NIGHT LONG, leaving me to wake up and get him latched back on at every wimper.
Believe it or not, the night actually went quite well. He ate between 9 and 9:30 and then we started the marathon of laying him down to sleep. It took about 3 tries and several passy retrivals before he finally got himself to sleep (without "crying it out") around 10:40. I layed down and got 30 minutes of very peaceful sleep until he awoke and was ready to eat again. After eating, he layed back down and went right to sleep all by himself, much to my surprise! He slept from about 11:30 to 1:30. Then, he was wide awake from then until a little after 3 - he ate a couple times and spent a little quality time with daddy at this point ; ) Then he went back to sleep until about 5:30 and ate and went right back down. Then up for good at 8:30 along with his big brother. So, all in all, he is averaging night wakings about every 2-3 hours which is wonderful considering I wasn't sure that he would even sleep by himself and before I was averaging 30 minutes - 1 hour of sleep at a time. It should get even better over the next few weeks as he learns to cope with sleeping without mommy.
So far, I am scheduled to go back to work the week of April 6. Which is a couple more weeks than I had planned. I just talked to my manager and she's going to see about getting me too pick up some call days or something in the next two weeks. I'm thankful that I will be free for Easter to see family. I need to get the boys some cute Easter outfits (matching of course - Matt hates that!!).
The boys have been so great this morning. Jack has been playing well with minimal whining so far and Patrick has eaten, slept well, and even played some on his own. Jack and I set up his play gym in Jack's room this morning and got out some of Jack's old baby toys:

And what a good listener Jack was being. When I said, "Help mommy clean up baby's toys," here is what happened:

Much to my amazement, he actually listened and didn't turn around when he was done and dump them all out again!!
I'm going to try to go and catch a nap while both boys are doing the same. Then later, I might try to set up the digital picture frame that Matt got me for my birthday! It's so neat! Matt's working a double shift today so I'm on my own until tomorrow, so I need to get some extra rest today.

Weekend in Greenville

So we went to Greenville on Thursday and stayed through yesterday to see the Higgins, since they had yet to meet their new grandson. The car trip went pretty well - the baby slept the whole way except when he woke up to eat and Jack watched Elmo, Wiggles, Barney and snacked in the car. Being in Greenville was weird - so many memories of when Matt and I first met and started our lives and family together has made me feel a bit nostalgic lately - and has made me realize how fast time flies. It's hard to believe that Matt and I have been together for almost 6 years now. Now we are married and have 2 kids - CRAZY. Okay, enough of the reminiscing.

The weekend was fun, but I wish that I had felt better. This cold that I've had for 2 weeks now is now manifesting itself as a sinus infection and Patrick is still stuffy making him work really hard to eat and rest. So, neither of us slept very well all weekend and were a little cranky. Jack even started exhibiting some jealousy mostly when Matt was holding the baby - Jack would start whining and reaching for Matt to hold hime. I was like "Where is this coming from?" He's been so great so far.

Judy and Dennis and Clay came over Saturday night to eat dinner and meet Patrick. Everyone seemed to enjoy him and he seemed to enjoy everyone - he about broke his neck trying to look at whoever was holding/talking to him - it was so cute!

Jack had a good time too, he got lots of Easter presents. He especially loved the bubbles (it came with a cool container that was no-spill which is PERFECT for Jack!!) Both boys got some matching outfits too - I can't wait until it's warm enough to wear them. Jack did go ahead and wear his elephant overalls - they were just too cute that I had to see them on.
I got some great stuff too for my birthday, which is today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me! Not really that special-feeling, just another Monday which isn't so bad. Matt's present to me (which I proposed) is once the baby is out of our bed and sleeping better, he will take care of both boys for one full night and let me sleep in the next morning. All I want for my birthday is one full night's rest, uninterrupted. Otherwise, the boys and I are just hanging out today, we'll go outside later and finish cleaning up the mess that the raccoons made of our trash out in the yard while we were gone.

Enjoy some of the pictures that I took this weekend. I'm off to do another load of laundry and straighten up the house some - not too much though. I go back to work probably next week so I'm trying to spend as much time with the family before that.

The day after another rough night...

A little groggy this morning - pretty much the same that I've been every morning for the last month. With that said, I feel the need to appreciate and celebrate Patrick's 1st month of life as of tomorrow. He is getting so big. This picture is of him in his bouncy seat a few nights ago. (Also note the picture below that of Jack at about the same age.) He is already holding his head up pretty well and has been for several weeks. He's started "cooing" and "talking" a bit too - I describe this as any sound he makes that's not crying. To explain the "rough night" part of this message - Patrick is sick with stuffy nose and cough, the same mess that Jack and I are recovering from. Anyways, the poor baby is having a really hard time sleeping and nursing since he has to work so hard to breathe through the boogies. I spent all night irrigating his nose with saline and bulb-suctioning out lots of little critters just so that I could feed him. Which means another night of him snoozing in bed with me, as much as I am committed to getting him to sleep in his bassinet. We'll try again tonight and see if he does any better. The longest he's ever slept without me being in close proximity is 2 hours. Of course, he does well with his naps during the day and will sleep for hours in his pack-n-play downstairs - go figure!

As for the other little one - Jack is feeling much better, but going through a little bit of toddler anorexia - I guess eating is just not really a priority for him. He usually eats one big meal a day and then snacks and drinks juice and milk all day. I suppose that's normal for his age. We're getting all geared up for his birthday party in April that the Higgins are hosting in Raleigh - from what I hear, it's going to be Elmopalooza! We're all excited. Every day he's talking more and more. The most discernable thing he's said lately is "Night, mama." when he goes to bed. Melts my heart!! He says "Bye bye, go, thank you, shoes, juice, yummy, here ya go." And of course tons of jibber-jabbering that isn't the least bit understandable. Of course he understands just about everything you say to him. The picture of him is when he and daddy were wrestling on the guest bed the other night.

As for the family, we are all looking forward to going the Greenville to stay with Matt's family for the weekend. They haven't even seen Patrick yet, so it'll be great because Jack loves being there too. I have to stop by the hospital and see some of the girls that I used to work with that I haven't seen since last May! Matt has his last call night on Wednesday for the next 2 months!!! We are so excited to have him around a little more. His ED rotation starts after that and he only has to work 13 9-hour shifts in the month to fill his requirement. Ok, so I promise every post won't be as long-winded, just wanted to catch everyone up on the current happenings. Have a great day!