23 Weeks!

Yesterday's photo session did not go very well.  I had a hard time getting Kolton to look at the camera.  Usually he is quite the ham.  Well, when I went to pick him up I discovered why.  Poop everywhere!  Hey, what would a mommy blog be without a little poop discussion every once in a while.  Baby poop is devilishly tricky.  It shoots out the side for no reason at all.  You think there is going to be a load in there but no, sometimes even just a little decides it has no room for containment.  I know I'm stooping kind of low discussing this but this week I have had to change my clothes at least once a day, EVERY DAY!  Mike pointed out that I should be putting pants on him instead of these short outfits because it allows for the escape out the leg.  But it's summer....and shorts are so cute:-)

We had a big day out.  It was absolutely gorgeous outside; not a cloud in the sky.  First we met friends out for lunch at the Wine Market my absolute favorite Baltimore restaurant.  It is just down the street from my house with plenty of parking at outdoor seating.  We had a great lunch just lounging outside.  Then we went to the pool at our gym.  I didn't take Kolton into the water because I'm not quite sure about the rules regarding babies.  However, there were babies younger than Kolton at both places.  I'm always surprised by younger babies.  I think it's because I feel like time has stood still and I am a new mom yet.  But seeing a younger baby reminds me of all we've been through and everything we've figured out a long the way.  It's crazy to think I might actually have useful advice on motherhood!  Me, and experienced Mom?  OMG, that rocks my world!

Comfort Zone

I know I have a lot to catch up on.  Let me start out by saying the wedding of Meghan Fannin and Greg Vogt was simply fantastic!  I am so happy for them.  If you've never been to the Peabody Library you absolutely have to go.  It was breathtaking!  And I love the fact that wearing a bridesmaid dress gives you license to act like a dancing fool:-)

Kolton got his first cold, and it was completely my fault!  Earlier last week I had dinner plans and my friend's boyfriend, Alec, agreed to babysit.  Mostly because I told him he wouldn't have to do anything but hang out at my house.  Usually I put Kolton to bed at 7 and then that's it.  So when Alec informed me that he had a cold I thought it would be no big deal since they wouldn't have any contact.  Well wouldn't you know it was the one day things fell out of step.  For some reason Kolton fell asleep at 6:00 or so as he was taking his last bottle before he finished it.  So one hour into dinner Alec called to say the little guy was up and crying.  Although Alec said he could handle it I headed back to the house. It was slightly hilarious to discover them both on the couch with Kolton drenched from half the bottle leaking on him.  I use the Avent bottles which have a small ring that goes into the bottle first to prevent too much air consumption.  I'm well aware that baby stuff can be quite confusing.  After all that was me less than 6 months ago! Well whatever he managed to get down worked because he went right back to sleep.  But the damage was done and Kolton came down with a runny nose a couple days later.  Now both Mike and I have it.  It's a little miserable taking care of a baby when you don't feel so good yourself.  I am so glad that we're not sharing the germs of a daycare center!

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about my comfort zone and how I'll be leaving it soon.  I'm wondering if it's not so much the four walls but the collection of the things in my home that I love so much.  Will I be able to recreate this awesome feeling of home someplace new?  Speaking of which, I know I said I was taking a break but we may have found our house this weekend!  More details on that soon.  Mike is out of his comfort zone too working for a new company in a new territory and selling new products.  It's no wonder we're both slightly tense these days.

Do you ever wonder why you find certain things comforting?  Take that ugly quilt in the picture.  It's Mike's and I know someone made it with a lot of love.  But the thing is not pretty.  However, I love it and have been sleeping with it lately while Mike's gone.  My mom's tuna casserole, clean bathrooms, and freshly washed sheets are other things I find comfort in.  I wonder what things Kolton will find comforting?  Unless something drastic happens it will never be home cooking that's for sure!

22 Weeks!

I made the mistake of feeding him right before this picture was taken.  His shirt is just drenched in spit up!  Oh well, that's life with a baby:-)

Kolton's big developments this week are the voice thing and sleeping on his side.  He even moves from side to side through out the night so hopefully his head will round out a little.  I've decided to stop swaddling him because I fear he will flip over but be too restricted to flip back.  There I go with that fear factor again.  Tummy time is still not his favorite thing in the world but he is able to hold his head up for a longer period of time.  Plus he looks so stinkin cute!

I'm giving myself a little time out from worrying about finding a place to live in Richmond.  I'm in a wedding this weekend and I want to be free to have fun and celebrate without the weight of this move bearing down on my shoulders!

The Voice

Kolton spent the day working his pipes.  Maybe some day he will be on The Voice...love that show!

So I ultimately decided not to drive to Richmond.  I tossed and turned all night thinking about getting down there and seeing a place listed on Craig's List by myself with my infant son.  Then having to stay in a hotel by myself as well.  It just didn't sit well with me.  Some of my mommy friends have been discussing their change in attitude since becoming mothers.  I know I have become way more paranoid!  My mind sometimes goes to dark places it probably shouldn't.  I think it's a protective instinct that I've never experienced before.  Basically thinking about situations and worse possible scenarios so that I can protect my offspring.  

The other reason I decided not to go is Kolton is still waking up crying hysterically.  I miss the nights we put him down at 7pm and didn't hear a peep until 6am.  I'm not quite sure what is wrong.  I really try not to pick him up because I feel like it just opens a flood gate.  However, when the kid cries that hard I can't help myself.  He is instantly comforted and stops, falling back asleep within seconds.  So, I figure he can't be hungry and if he was in any teething pain wouldn't he continue to cry?  The good news is the number of times he has gotten up has reduced to only once last night.

On a random note I recently read a post on BabyCenter about C section scars and the feelings women have about their own.  I honestly haven't given mine much thought.  But it is kind of crazy to have a forever physical reminder of the events of the day Kolton was born.  And it's still a little itchy and numb which is slightly weird!

Richmond Recap

 Hi!  Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  We went to Richmond for the weekend to start the home search.  Mike's parents flew in from Minneapolis to help us with Kolton.  Thank God they did because we ended up on a whirl wind 8 hour tour on Saturday that we couldn't have done if we had to attend to the baby.

The weekend was frustrating to say the least.  Oy, we just could not find anything we liked.  We are the first to admit that we are extremely spoiled.  We built our town house new in 2007 with all of the space and features that we wanted.  We've become accustomed to a certain standard of living.   Now to back track and look at rental is such a harsh slap of reality.  We found a couple of places that would work space wise but neither were in communities that we liked.  The one community that we felt the most comfortable in didn't have the space that we need.  Ideally we would like a 3BR + den:  1 BR for us, one for Kolton, Mike's office, then a guest room.  It just does not exist in apartment world.  So now we are looking at private single family or town home rentals.  Basically, someone just like us who bought their home at the wrong time and can't sell.

The other thing we are struggling with is the realization that the suburbs are probably a better fit for us than the city.  Don't get me wrong the Short Pump area is very, very, nice but wholly suburbia!  I actually broke out in a fit of giggles.  But the fact remains that even though we love our urban lifestyle I find myself having to drive 20 minutes to Target a couple of times a week.  It will be nice to have all of that stuff within a few miles.  It also sounds like the Richmond neighborhoods attract a lot of college kids (VCU is there) that ultimately move out shortly after school.  So while we could probably make it work if we really wanted to; I'm not sure how many young families live there.

Kolton was a diabolical disaster!  I made the mistake of not bringing our pack n play because the hotel could provide one.  Well the thing was a piece of sh*t!  He cried through out the night, both nights.  Then he repeated the same pattern last night even though we were home.  I hope and pray that things return to normal tonight.  He is starting to roll a lot at night and sleep on his side.

I feel bad that Father's Day was a little uneventful.  Although I think it was nice for Mike to be with both Kolton and his dad that day.  We all went out for breakfast before we hit the road leaving Mike behind in Richmond.  We maybe should have stayed the extra night but I'm so glad Mike was able to get some sleep before his first meeting today.

I know I'm playing with fire but I'm going to drive down to Richmond again tomorrow night to check out a couple of houses.  Mike is busy with work and not in the area and I don't want to miss out on something that might really work for us.  Kolton did really well on both the drive down and the drive back so fingers crossed he can do it again.  Although I'll probably be spending the night; I'm definitely bringing our pack n play.

21 Weeks!

We had Kolton's surgery follow up appointment this morning.  The surgeon examined him for approx 30 seconds and everything looks good!  But let me just tell you how much work had to go into getting those 30 seconds.  I ended up having to wake the little man from a nap.  Load him into his carrier.  Take him and Sophie out for a walk with the stroller so Sophie could do her business.  Take carrier out of the stroller and into the car then load stroller into the trunk.  Drive to the appt (thankfully that took less than 15 min).  Find parking, unload the stroller out of the trunk, take carrier out of the car and into the stroller.  Walk two blocks to the appointment.  Check in and confirm info.  Get called in.  Unload Kolton and get him undressed.  See doctor for 30 seconds.  Then do everything in reverse!  Jeez!  I know it's just a lot of loading and unloading but he is getting HEAVY!  Oh and Pratt St was a disaster coming back home and Kolton  was wailing the entire time because he was hungry.  I'm so lucky that the kid doesn't cry like that too often:-)

3rd Time's the Charm

I'm learning when it comes to babies if at first you don't succeed try, try, again.  It takes Kolton roughly 3 times to get used to a new activity.  Take the Baby Bjorn for example.  This week I put him forward facing for the first time.  He cried for a little while, settled down a bit, then got fussy again.  The second walk went a little better but we still didn't make it out very long before we had to come back.  Today, he chilled for the entire circuit I usually take Sophie on.  Not a peep from him.  Even when our neighbor greeted us.  This week he has also been experiencing the stranger danger feeling.  Tonight I tried feeding him rice cereal for the first time in 2 months.  I experimented with it before we had him sleeping through the night.  He actually did much better then than he did tonight.  He ended up sucking on his fingers as a way to remedy the confusion over swallowing without a nipple in his mouth.  But I have high hopes that 3 days from now he'll get it figured out.