Shots, Stats and Other Stuff

Round 2 of shots-done. He had to get 3 shots, and thankfully it went quickly. He fell asleep after the doctor did her exam while she was still talking to us. It broke my heart that my little man had to wake up to needles, but he was good to go. He screamed while the nurse poked him, but as soon as his daddy picked him up, he was fine! And, once again, we had a good experience afterward: no fever and lots of sleep! Which worked out well since I had some housework to get done!

Hampton's 4 month stats:

Weight- 14 lbs,13.5 oz; almost 50th%

Height- 25 1/4 in.; b/w 50 and 75th%

Head- 16 3/4 in.; b/w 50 and 75th%

Yep...he's growing like a weed! Dr. H says she thinks he's going to be long and lean. Well, looking at both of our families, I'd say there is no doubt! We were told that we could start cereal if we felt that Hampton was needing more to satisfy him, but she suggested waiting until 5 or 6 months, if we could. He seems perfectly happy with just breastmilk or formula right now, so I think we'll hold off for a bit. Why rush?

Hampton did get to try some water the other night. We were out to eat at PF Changs, and he was content in his carseat for a while but got bored. Mom took him out and was holding him and trying to keep him from fussing. I knew he wasn't hungry because I fed him right before we headed out, so I told her to just get a little bit of water in her straw and see if he'd drink it. He wasn't sure at first (probably because it was SO cold), but he drank it right up and wanted more. I wish I had a camera to catch the moment when he obviously got a little taste of her lemon. Oh my goodness--PRICELESS!!

Lots of fun things happening with the little man:

-He's gotten very good at holding his head up. Now, he is constantly looking in every direction to make sure he isn't missing anything!

-He's trying really hard to roll from back to tummy. He gets to his side and then gets stuck, though. I think it will be soon...

-He has such personality. He smiles at everyone and is quite the talker!

-Anything and everything goes in his mouth. Seriously. And the drooling. Wow! I can't imagine what it's going to be like when he starts teething!

-He has turned into quite the good little sleeper. He is sleeping about 8 or 9 hours at night, with 2 good naps and a few cat naps throughout the day. Though our schedule may not be the "norm" (bedtime between 10 and 11), it is working, and everyone is happy with it!

-Sitting and standing are very fun right now. He wants to practice as much as possible! I know he can't wait to do it on his own!

-Hampton really loves playing in his jumparoo and exersaucer. The activity mat is another favorite. He could take or leave the swing and bouncy seat. I usually put him in one of those and turn the tv on while taking a shower. It keeps him entertained for a few minutes, and that's all I need!

-It appears that he is over the worst of the colic. He still has tummy aches, but the meds really have helped. Thank goodness.

We're so in love with this little guy, and we're anxiously waiting to see what fun new things he'll do in this next month. :)

McFatty(azzz) Monday

Zaxby's+Moe's+chocolate cupcakes+Dairy Queen Blizzard cake+PF Changs+Pizza+more chocolate cupcakes and Dairy Queen Blizzard cake-time to exercise more than a couple times this week=MASSIVE "GET FIT" FAIL!

That's all i have to say about that! :/

4 Months!

My 3rd (and final) FET was one year ago, 1/23/09. We went in knowing that if it didn't work, we were done for at least a year or so until we paid our original baby loans off. It was scary, but we had faith that we were going to get what we had prayed for for so long. And here I sit, holding my 4 month old baby boy in my arms! I don't know how it gets better than this!

A sweet note my mom put on my facebook page: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding...Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart..."Prov. 3:5 and Psalm 37:4God is faithful...you trusted and He gave you and Jordan the desire of your hearts!! ...the desire of OUR hearts!!!

Sweet Laughter!

I could seriously watch this all day long. Lucky for me, I get to live with the star!

McFatty Mond...oh, um Tuesday

My days are off. Jordan worked yesterday, and I didn't. That's not the norm. I went through 75% of today thinking it was Monday!

I'm trying hard to get on a schedule with this whole exercising/care for a baby/care for husband/care for dogs/ care for house thing...you get the point... It's hard on days that I go into the office early. I get up, feed the baby, hop in the shower, get ready, and get out the door as quickly as possible. When I get home, I just want to sit down, hang out with my boys, and take a moment before starting dinner, feeding Hampton, and starting the bedtime routine. Not much room in there for exercising (because keep in mind that with exercise comes another shower). So, yeah, I'm working on it. But 3-4 days of exercise isn't too bad, right?

Good news: I tried my goal jeans on and they buttoned! Bad news: The muffin top that resulted from said buttoning! :/

More good news: The scale says I lost a pound. More bad news: The Wii says I gained one. Le sigh...

Do I have to to wake up?!

You have GOT to be kidding me!

Having a baby is expensive. Having no insurance coverage for IF treatments, needing to do multiple IVFs, having a baby and the baby needing to go to the NICU is downright ridiculous. (On that same note--I don't know how people do it when their babies have to be in the NICU for extended periods of time. Bless them!). I have no idea how we do it, but we have been able to make all the payments for all the "baby bills" thus far, even when we were going through such a rough time with Jordan being jobless. I almost messed up that great payment record by making such a small mistake. Which brings me to my story...

Shortly after having the baby, we received a hospital bill in the mail. We clearly could not pay the whole thing right now, so I called to set up a payment plan. I sent out my first payment and waited for the next to come in. At the end of December, we received another bill in the mail, for the same amount as the first. It was not reflecting that I had sent in any payment. Not good. So, I call the hospital to straighten things out. Welllll....turns out we have 2 bills at the hospital: 1 for the room, birth, normal having a baby stuff and 1 for the NICU doctor. This bill was for the NICU doctor, and had nothing to do with the other. They just happened to be the exact same amount. Okay. I take care of that, and we now have payment plans set up for each bill. But, I still haven't received a bill for the other payment due. Within the next day or so, I got a late notice from the hospital. A late notice?!? What in the world? I sent the check in on time! Come to find out, I had written down the wrong amount and paid $55 instead of $55.55. Yep, the hospital sent me a late notice for 55 cents!! The cost to get the stupid notice to me was more than what was owed. What a joke!! But of course, this meant that my account was being flagged as late and no further bills were being sent out until they received the current amount due. No way was I writing a check for $.55, though, so, once again, I made a call to the people up at the hospital, explained what had happened, and put a check in the mail for this month's payment PLUS that dang $.55! Needless to say, I won't be making that mistake again!

Exercise+Breastfeeding=HUNGER!! (McFatty Monday)

I'm so hungry. All the time. I can't seem to get enough! Breastfeeding alone was bad enough, but add daily exercise on top of it, and I'm an eating machine.

But I'm down a pound. So...I'll stick with it!

(Obviously, I haven't given up breastfeeding yet. My doctor suggested that I try to make it through flu/RSV season for Hampton's benefit, and I agree completely. The added bonus of it helping me lose weight is certainly motivation in itself to keep it up a little while longer.)

P.S. Jilian Michaels doesn't mess around. 5 days of the 30-day Shred, and I can't imagine when my sorry self will be able to move up to level 2--yikes!

New Tricks & New Toys

[In Hampton's words. Typed by mommy :)]

I have been learning and doing lots of fun new things recently:

Mommy let me try some apple juice and apple-prune juice, and they are both so yummy! My little tummy has been hurting me a lot, but the juice helps. Here I am "holding" my own bottle of juice.

I am getting really good at rolling from my stomach to my back. Mommy and Daddy were very excited to see me do this trick. I can't figure out why. I don't like to put on a show, so I usually do it when I wake up in my crib. I hate being on my back, so I scream for someone to come get me as soon as I've rolled over! Mommy keeps saying she needs to get it on camera. I guess I'll have to do it for her soon during my tummy time.

Daddy put together a fun new toy for me-my jumparoo, and even though I really don't know what I'm supposed to do in it, I'm content to sit and bounce for a little while. My legs aren't long enough to reach the ground yet, so I have a shoebox that I use to bounce on. Pretty clever, guys!

I used to REALLY hate having my diaper changed, but now I don't mind so much. I like to take the time to smile and talk to whoever is changing me. It's not so bad. I try to help out by bringing my knees and feet up. Mommy thinks it's so funny, but daddy seems to get a little annoyed. I like to play with him by lifting my legs up and then straightening them out real fast, just to see how good he is at getting a diaper on me, and I have to admit--he's not bad!

I spend some time every morning on my activity mat, and it is such fun! I like to swat at all the fun animals, and when I get a good grip, I like to put them in my mouth! Yummy!

And mommy's favorite new thing is me laughing. A couple of times now I have just gotten so excited and given a real good belly laugh. Mommy said that she needs to get that on camera, too!


That's all I can remember right now. I'm sure mommy will think of even more stuff and will have videos to share soon!

Date Night

Although we are so thankful for Jordan's job, retail work comes with crappy hours. He works until (atleast) 9 every Friday and Saturday, so hanging out with my husband on weekend nights is pretty much not happening. Thursday nights however, he is done at 6, and therefore have been officially named "date night" at our house! We're going to try and do something-whether we go out or stay in-once a week. It's pretty convenient that both sets of grandparents live within 5 miles of us, so it's quick and easy to drop off the little monkey and get a few hours of "us" time in!

Last night was our first date night! We went to Chili's to eat. I had been given a free meal the last time we ate there b/c they messed up my order (I mean, we're still on a budget here!). Well, as luck would have it, the server dropped my meal on the floor as she was placing Jordan's meal on the table, and we got it for free! Ha! It was pretty entertaining and gave us quite the laugh! And now we still have a voucher for a free entree!! After dinner, we ran by Target and picked up a few things (We may have been babyless for the night, but we still needed baby things), grabbed a coffee, and headed back to Jordan's parents to pick up Hampton. Not the most eventful night ever but a nice night out without having to worry if the baby was going hang in there with us!

Um, I don't really do resolutions:McFatty Monday

I'm not one to set resolutions for myself at the beginning of each new year. What's the point, really? The majority of people don't stick with them, and I have no problem being in that category! BUT I did give myself until the end of the year to just do whatever when it came to eating/weight loss/getting back in shape. That being said, the time has come to put up the ice cream, break out more fruits and veggies, suck it up and become good friends with Jillian Michaels (and the dreaded 30 day shred). I'm joining in with some other ladies and hopping on board The Heir to Blair's "Mcfatty Monday." Wish me luck!

Here's what I'm working with (don't laugh):

I'm not going to set a specific weight goal for myself. Honestly, I could care less how much I weigh. I'm setting a goal to get back in my favorite jeans-a pair of True Religion jeans that are so wonderful and collecting dust in the back of my closet. I feel lucky that I really don't look too terrible for being 3 months post partum (What's more annoying, someone saying "I'm so fat" when they're really not or someone bragging about how they look 3 months after having a baby? Cause seriously, I want to hurt myself for writing that last sentence... haha!). Anywho, I do have some work to do. The baby weight is practically gone. The fertility drugs, pity eating, & I know I'll be pregnant this month so I won't worry about it weight is the problem. So, my goal is to drop a few pounds and tone up! And don't worry...you'll get a pic of me when I can squeeze my tight butt back into those jeans! ;)

Happy New Year!

So, 2009 sure did fly by for this gal. I can't believe that 2010 is already here. I'm excited about it, though! 2009 was a life changing year-obviously for the better-and I am so excited to see what the next years have in store. God has taken me by the shoulders and pointed me in some different directions this past year, and I can only hope that I have heard correctly!

Here's a little run down of 2009:

January:

-Still no job for Jordan

-FET #3. Our final shot. There would be no more money for a while.

-I saw this:-My niece was born!

February:
-We got to see our miracle for the first time. And hear our "monkey's" heartbeat.
March:
-Jordan's 27th b-day
-Released from RE
-My first belly pic:

April:
-2nd tri!
-Received our first baby gifts: May:
-We found out it's a BOY!
-Started on nursery. Bedding ordered!
-Half way to meeting our monkey:

June:

-Celebrated our 4th anniversary! -Nursery furniture came in

July:
-Started putting the nursery together-paint, furniture, bedding. Still in disbelief that there was a nursery in MY house!!
-Reached double digits in my countdown to baby and the 3rd tri
-I was definitely growing and so was the little man:

August:
-3d u/s. Blown away by how accurate these images were! -Started BPP and NSTs
-Baby shower time
September:
-Quit job and decided to start my own business
-Trip to the beach for Labor Day
-Last belly pic -Hampton arrived!! I am a mommy!

October:
-My 26th b-day
-Baby's first Halloween. Sweet pea!
-Not too much happened this month. Just sat around loving on Hampton :)

November:
-Started getting out some. Our favorite get-away: Target!
-6 week post partum check-up. All was healing well.
-Hampton started laying down and taking short naps on his own. Great news!
-First shots
-Baby's first Thanksgiving
-After many "trial-and-error" jobs since around March, Jordan has returned to work as Sales Manager at AF

December:
-Hampton moved to his own room. We've had some rough nights, but he's getting better and sleeping 5-7 hours pretty consistently.
-Baby's 1st Christmas

Thank you to my friends and readers for a year of encouragement, support and prayers. Wishing a happy and healthy 2010 to each of you!