Two Weeks as a Family

Today marks two weeks that we've been a family of four.  We've successfully made it another week!  Whooohooo!  

Let me just start this by saying, we have NEVER spent so much time within the walls of our home.  And speaking of our home.  Dear Lord, it. is. a. mess!  Just today I sat down on the floor and sat right on a very hard yellow ball.  Not only did it HURT like heck it actually pinched some sort of nerve in my booty!  I mean, I was actually in tears.  Then I looked around my house.  And I thought some sort of explosion, a seriously large bomb has gone off inside my house.  A bomb containing baby toys, baby clothes, baby bottles, baby teething products...(need I go on?) and thought, what the heck has happened to my very clean and organized home?!?  Sigh....  I did really good the first couple of days.  Picked up all of the stuff every time Maddyx took a nap.  Swept, vacuumed...What happened?  Well, Maddyx's naps have gotten progressively shorter.  Sometimes we only get 15-20 minutes.  Then it's a decision.  Do I take a shower or do I clean up?  I think I should  take a shower.  And there you have it.

How is Maddyx doing?  I (we) think Maddyx is doing really, really well.  We try to do one outing a day.  Whether it be a walk to the park, a trip to Target, and we even hit Fashion Valley mall on Sunday.  He typically lasts about 2 hours (max) before he starts arching his back and letting us know he's done sitting.  We can easily subdue his frustration for at least another 30-45 mins with snacks.  This is so awesome!  This kid looooves to eat!  As soon as he starts getting fussy we start throwing the snacks his way.  And voila, he's a happy baby again.  This allows you a chance to speed up your shopping and start making your way towards the exit and the final destination, home.  Both Kasey and I have been able to run out (on our own) while the other stays home with Maddyx.  No problems.  Well, I've only done it once.  And it was a big and very exciting trip to Babies R Us and the grocery store (I know you're all reading this and are so jealous).  It was actually the first time I had driven my car since before we left for Korea.  Yes, really.  And I felt like a new women!  If I had a convertible I would have thrown the top down and let the wind blow through my hair while blasting my favorite (non toddler) tunes.  I did everything, just without the convertible.  It was so great.

What is Maddyx eating?  EVERYTHING!  I mean, seriously, everything.  It's become a little game for me.  Each day I think to myself, what can I give Maddyx that he'd possibly turn away?  Hmmm....how about chunk light tuna?  Nope, loved it.  What about stir fry veggies?  Loved that too.  String cheese, yep, liked that.  Rice, beans, hamburger, turkey, pasta, salmon, crab, mahi mahi - liked them all.  And he loooooves water.  That's all he drinks outside of his formula.  Haven't had to give him a lick of juice.  Such a good eater.  I mean he is 29lbs, did I ever doubt that he was?

Sleeping.  Here's where we're at with sleep.  As I said earlier about the naps, well, they're TOO SHORT!  C'mon Maddyx, Mommy has got to get some stuff done during the day!  Like for one, call people back.  I apologize to all of you whom I owe phone calls to.  You know who you are.  We do two naps a day.  One around 11am and the second around 3:30.  This can change day to day.  Just depends on what sort of mood Maddyx is in.  No matter what, I stick to the routine.  No matter how much he fights it, we just stick to the routine.  It may mean it takes us over an hour to get him down for 15 minutes, but we still do it.  And yes, this is so very hard.  Then there's our bedtime routine.  We do the same exact routine every night.  After dinner we take a bath, then we hang in the nursery to do some quiet-time play.  Pull books out, etc.  Then we grab the Pororo pillow, the bottle and the three books we've (really me) chosen for the night.  And I always end with the same one...I really think this helps.  We sit in the rocker, read each book and once we're done we get up and turn out the light.  For the next 15-45 mins I rock him and pray that it will only take 15 mins, versus the 45mins.  Most times he will fall asleep and then I transfer him to bed.  Sometimes he wakes and decides it's play time.  Really?  I just invested all of that time getting you to fall asleep just for you to wake up full of energy.  Double sigh...  Once he's down, which is around 8pm, he sleeps until 4:30 a.m.  And then like clockwork he wakes.  As of today, we've started giving him a bottle at 4:30 a.m. and bringing him to bed with us.  He'll then sleep until 7:00-7:30.  This will work.  And for the record, Kasey and I take turns every night on the night duty shift.  Not that the other can actually sleep while the crying baby squeals one room down, and it echos very loudly through the baby monitor, but at least you don't have to get out of bed. =)

I am realizing that this post has gotten really, REALLY long and this is probably super boring to those reading, so I will stop here.  I have so much more to share, but I will keep you in suspense and share it in another post.  LOL.

I'll leave you with a few cute pictures of the three boys in my house.

Oh, and I have to include these to show you the not-so-happy side of Maddyx.  I think this was after he woke up from a nap.  Let's just say he is really grouchy when he wakes up.

And here's how I turned that frown upside down...

Surprise, we're now happy again.  I'm telling you, the food works!