Eye Candy By Kacie

we got stones pictures done on saturday (finally), and it was quite the experience. i had fed him about an hour before we left, but he decided that he was hungry about halfway through the shoot, and would not stop screaming until he got a bottle (i'm not a mean mom...i just try to hold him off for at least 4 hours between feedings because he's eating 6 oz), but once we got more food in him he was a gem. kacie did a fantastic job (thanks for being so patient with us kacie!). if you want a preview go to http://eyecandybykacie.blogspot.com. take a look at the cute pics she did of stone and all the other awesome stuff she does! i'll be sure to post a few when i get them. thanks again kacie!

back to work

well i'm back to work...and it's not easy being away from my little one. i thought that after 13 weeks i would be more than ready to come back. i knew that i would miss stone like crazy, but i wasn't prepared for the guilt that comes with going back to work. i've decided that it's kind of a "damned if you do damned if you don't" situation. i feel guilty for not spending every day with stone, but if i didn't come back to work i would feel guilty for not bringing in some money to help get into the new house and to help out with bills. i feel so good knowing that stone is with family every day and that i don't have to drop him at a day care, and i also feel good knowing that i have every evening and every weekend with him. i know that some of these feelings will pass, and i know that this is all just part of the choices that i've made...but i need to complain about it anyways...because it feels like my heart has been ripped in half. i'll get it put back together tho...stone will be fine, and im sure this will make him a very adaptable child..and it will make him close to other family members. i just need to toughen up...

too long

it's been too long since i posted last. there are things that i was going to post and now i have forgotten. having a baby has taken up a lot more time in the day than i ever thought it would. it's been frusterating and great at the same time. i'm trying to make each moment with stone last as long as possible not only because he is already growing up too fast, but because i will be going back to work soon and won't get to see him near as much as i wish i could. we were trying to work something out with my job that i wouldn't have to work all 5 days of the week, but it looks like i'm going to have to and to be honest, it breaks my heart. i really thought that i would want to go back to work after 12 weeks but the closer it gets the more i feel like i would rather stay home and talk baby talk all day. i realzie that i need to do what has to be done, and right now that means helping out to pay the bills and build our new home. we are so lucky to have family that is willing to help out with babysitting, because lets face it...everyones life is super hectic, and the fact that our families would be willing to set aside parts of their lives to help us is so nice.

anyways....our holidays were so nice. we spent christmas morning at my parents house and we got so spoiled! stone was the most spoiled of all...and my mom was so happy to have her first grandchild with her at christmas.we spent the rest of the day with joshs family. we had so much fun, and loved hanging out with family.

stone has been growing and changing like crazy. i took him to the doctor yesterday for his 2month (!) checkup and my baby weighs 12lbs. 11oz. and is 23 1/2in. long. he has his first shots, and it was so sad. he did really well though. he cried for a bit but the rest of the day he didn't seem to be hurting too much. he's still a super good baby, but we have had a tough week with sleeping for some reason. i think he's getting back on track though. he doesn't go down for naps well at all, so if any of you moms out there have some tips about that please let me know.

we are still planning on building a house it's just taking so much longer to get a construction loan than we thought...we've been getting frusterated with it, but we are hanging in there.

that's just a little rundown on our life for now. i'm sure there has been more but it's been so long since i posted last that i don't remember. i'll get better at updateing more (i know i've said that before), i just need to figure out how to get everything done with a baby.

so sick

saturday night everything was going normally until i started feeling a little weird. and then about 30 minuets later josh was feeling crappy as well...then it was all over. we both started throwing up and stuff was coming out the other end too (sorry about the grossness), in fact, we didn't know which end to stick in the toilet. it got to the point that anytime we moved we threw up, and we were so weak that at one point when we had to get up with stone i was too weak to change his diaper and josh knew that if he moved he would puke. so he got up to change him but couldn't make it long enough to get stones clothes all the way back on (poor stone was half in and half out of his jammies), he shoved the baby at me so i could feed him and josh ran into the bathroom. halfway through the feeding i had to set stone on the floor and go throw up too. it was so bad! so i called my mom at 5 a.m and asked her to come down. she did and it was such a great help. she stayed all day sunday and fed and changed stone, did my laundry, emptied my trash, and took care of josh and i. then that night my father-in-law came over to take the night shift. we woke up this morning feeling much better (not 100% but good enough to take care of the baby). it was the weirdest thing. i'm not sure what kind of flu or bug it was...but i hope we don't get it again and i REALLY hope that stone doesn't get sick. hope you all are feeling well!

nothing much to say

it's been forever since i updated last (i thought i would have more time to blog since i'm home all day with a baby, but it turns out i had more time when i was working...weird)...but i feel like i don't have much to say since all i do is feed, change, burp, and talk to my baby boy. i do feel like i have the sleeping thing figued out though! i appreciate all of your suggestions and i tried all of them...it just so happened that the suggestion that worked came from my mom (why do they always know everything?). he is sleeping really well now and goes to bed around 10 every night....yay! he's getting cuter by the minuet(see what i mean?), and i can't believe that it's already been 7 weeks! he's a happy baby for the most part and we love him so much! i have to go back to work in 5 weeks, and as much as i miss the people that i work with (love you darcie and lydia!), i really don't wanna leave stone. our house still hasn't started, something about our credit reports....so now we are thinking we might just find a newer home thats already finished and buy it...who knows. josh is off of work from now until the 4th of january and i'm so excited to have him home. i love being home with stone but it's gonna be so nice to have him home to help and to talk to. that's about all that we are up to. i hope everyone has a merry christmas and a happy new year! i'll be better at updateing...i promise.

suggestions?

ok...so i have to start off by saying that stone is a FANTASTIC baby, but getting him to go to sleep at night sometimes proves to be just a little challenging (which i know is normal). he sleeps a lot during the day and then wants to be up at night. we have gotten better at keeping him up more during the day now...and so he falls asleep in my arms around 11...but as soon as i put him down he's awake again. i don't mind just letting him hang out in his crib alone and letting him falls asleep that way, he sleeps better and longer in the night if he is swaddled...but he HATES that. so i guess what i'm asking is..does anyone have any bed time suggestions? what worked for all of you pro mommies out there?

we found them!!!

thanks to the ad that my mother-in-law put in the paper, we found our dogs! a guy called josh this afternoon and told him that he was reading an ad in the paper and he saw our dogs running through his yard. jojsh went in that direction and found them! we are so glad that they are home. we miss alex a lot, but finding the other two eases the pain a little bit. thank you to all of our amazing friends and family who helped look for ace and wolfie, to those who called, texted, and worried. we love you all!

our hearts are breaking

it's been a rough 24 hours at our house (aside from the fact that stone has slept through the night twice now!)...last night two of our dogs got loose and ran away and we still can't find them. and now, tonight we are having our other dog, alex, put down. he's been sick for a while (tumor growing in his nose and a heart problem), but the last few weeks have been really bad for him and we don't feel like it's fair to make him suffer. he's been joshs best friend since josh was 15. they have been through everything together...and he's the first dog that i ever loved. so in a matter of two days it lookk like we will have lost all three of our dogs. we are still holding out hope that we will find ace and wolfie (is anyone sees two black mini schnauzers running loose please call me!), but i'm not very optomistic. ace was a gift to me from my mother in law... and he was a mamas boy. he was so sweet and loving. wolfie was ace's son and was super fun and hyper. all three of our dogs are so sweet and we love them so much! this is the thing i hate about having pets....the pain you have to go through when they aren't around anymore...sometimes i wonder if it's worth it. please keep us in your thoughts for a few days...it's gonna be a rough little while.

Thanksgiving

i don't have much to update, but i do feel like i have a lot to be thankful for this year. the most obvious and most important of course is my husband (who gets up with the baby on the nights that he doesn't have to work and does a fantastic job), and my baby boy(who is now almost 4 weeks old!). i'm so thankful that he is healthy and growing...so many things can go wrong during pregnancy and birth, but he is perfect! i'm thankful that i'm not pregnant anymore (no offence to those who are). i'm thankful for my family and the wonderful friends in my life who have been here to help with the baby and who have just dropped by to visit...it means so much. i'm thankful for this country and our freedoms. i'm thankful that josh and i both have jobs, and that we are fortunate enough to have the funds to build a new home. there is so much more that i have to be thankful for, but those are the ones that are at the top of my list today.

update

ok...so it's been just over two weeks since i posted last and a lot has happened. we have moved, settled into our rental house, had a baby, closed on our old home, been slightly sleep deprived, i turned 25, and we are getting used to being parents. i'll start at the beginning...

friday october 30th was the day that we decided to get moved out of our home. we recruited both of our families. the men moved all of the furniture, i packed things into boxes, my mother-in-law packed up the kitchen, and my mother was at the rental cleaning and unpacking. we got everything moved that afternoon and the rest of the day (and into the night) was spent unpacking and getting the nusery and everything else in living condition. that was the first night we spent in the rental home. the 31st was spent trying to get settled and getting ready to have a baby. that night we had my family come over for a halloween party.

sunday, november 1st we checked into the hospital at 6am and had our baby boy by 3:23pm that afternoon (for the full story go here). stone was perfectly healthy, but we were kept in the hospital until the 3rd because i had tested posotive for group b strep (staying an extra night sucked big time).

since then we have had lots and lots of visitors. i turned 25 on november 5th,stone and i on my birthday

and we closed on our old house on friday the 13th. i think we are getting the hang of being parents...the sleepless nights are hard on me and josh hates going to work and being away from us all day long, but other than those two things we have been loving this new adventure and we are coping well. i love the little sounds that stone makes in his sleep (he giggled in his sleep last night!), and his facial expressions just melt my heart. its amazing how much love i have for this litte man. it's been so fun to see josh interact with stone...he has been a fantastic daddy and is so sweet with our little boy.

so that's been our last few weeks. it's been crazy but i'm glad that everything happened the way that they did. and now we are just waiting on our new house. they still haven't started anything because the loan company is always wanting new things before they will ok the construction loan. it's frusterating but we are in a nice home for now and i'm spending all of my time caring for stone, so i'm not even really thinking about the new house, but i am thinking about how excited i am to see new moon! haha! i'm going on saturday morning. josh is watching the baby, and i'm having a girls morning. can't wait!

i'll be better at blogging now that i have a few things figured out. it feels great to be back into the blogging wold..i've missed you all!