One of our family traditions growing up has been getting breakfast in bed. We always got to pick out our breakfast the night before, and knew we'd get woken up to the whole family singing us "Happy Birthday" with a big tray of food. This was always especially fun because all my siblings had to sit around and watch us eat. My birthday was a bit different than my other siblings... you see, Meghan, my oldest sister, has a birthday just 5 days after mine. Though she was a few years older than me, we ALWAYS had combined birthday parties, and ALWAYS had the exact same gifts. It didn't bother me as much, since my birthday was first... but poor Meghan always knew what she'd be getting for her birthday 5 days early. This got me thinking... about my baby... (which I do quite frequently)... and his birthday. For those of you that have forgotten, Brady is just 9 short hours younger than his cousin, Jack. I am sure they will have many birthday parties together (because Brady will be so popular Jack will want to meet all his friends...)... but Brady will know his gifts before his actually birthday, because he will see what Jack opened. This was all fine and dandy when I was growing up because it was a surprise to ME... but not to Meghan. Do you see where my problem is here?? Brady is now Meghan and Jack is now me!!
Well... We have officially been in Texas for 2 weeks. These 2 weeks have been big ones for Brady. He has started eating Rice Cereal, AND he went swimming for the first time!
Our pediatrician actually told us we could give Brady the rice cereal after his 4 month appointment. We didn't start right away for two reasons: 1) We wanted to be settled & have some normalcy in our lives before we introduced something new to him, and 2) HE IS STILL A BABY! I have been having a hard time with it. He is still my baby & it means he is growing up if I were to give him rice cereal! But... I put my own emotions aside & we gave him his first rice cereal. He loved it! And if you want to see a video of his very first bite, watch below! :)
Brady's other first was swimming. Jack (his identical cousin) has been swimming for the past month or so, so we couldn't fall behind! One of my friends, Megan, gave Brady his first swim diapers & a "beach" outfit. Well... he broke them in this past week...
So, in case any of you may have forgotten... my baby was born bald... zero hair. Seriously... when a baby has less hair on his head than his face... he is definitly bald. Well... I KNEW any baby of mine would take awhile to get hair... since I did not have much (if any) as a baby... I just thought it would START to come by now.
Let's look back on birth... and notice his hair (or lack thereof)
So, I think we can all agree that he has absolutly no hair. Well now, let's look at his progress over the past 4 months....
There is no doubt that this is a stinkin' cute kid... but there is no doubt that there is not a single strand of hair on his head either....
This got me thinking, what my mom EXAGERRATING when she said I didn't get hair until I was 5? Let's look back on Browyn as a child.....
Pretty hairless here.... Though I must say I am a pretty cute kid as well!
My mom is an artist... and she had to put a HAT on me so that the pciture she drew of me was more interesting!! Still... No hair. Not quite sure how old I was in the picture... but old enough to have hair I am sure!!
So, the question is... WHEN will MY son get hair?!?
A year ago from today was a very special day. I was in Denver, Colorado to be with my best friend as she got married. Little did I know that I would remember that trip for more than just their nuptials.
You see, I was scheduled to fly back to Omaha that afternoon. Austin & I had been trying to get pregnant since January…. And I couldn’t wait… I HAD to take a pregnancy test. I was so used to them being negative that I was quite surprised when the stick immediately said that I was pregnant. I was thrilled. I had to tell someone… but of course not Austin… (I wanted to tell him in person!)… so I called my brother, Willy.
As soon as Laura awoke she came to my hotel room to see what I was doing, and casually asked if I was pregnant. She seemed quite surprised as well when all I could do was smile. If any of you have been trying to get pregnant… you can probably relate to this next one…. How to tell your partner. I had a new way of telling Austin for each month…. (Tell him on Father’s Day… his Birthday…. A Valentines Day present.. Etc, etc, etc)… Well… I had NO idea how to tell him when I was so far away.
So… Austin had been talking about how he really wanted a wolf shirt. Yep. I said it. A wolf shirt. I married a man that likes the wolf shirts. So… I got him one. He was soooo excited when I came home and got him this little doozy…. But then I gave him a onsie. It said “Dad’s the King, Mom’s the Queen, But I Rule!” -From Denver, Colorado. He looked at me, shocked, and said, “Does this mean what I think it means?!?” And the rest is history. We celebrated that night by drinking champagne & smoking "It's a boy" cigars.... okay, that's a lie. I don’t think we realized even then, that a year from then we would have the cutest little boy that could actually wear that onsie.
As some of you may remember... Austin has been in Texas for the past month taking a prep class for Law School. Brady & I have been in Omaha living with my brother & sister in law during that time... without Austin.
Austin was scheduled to get in Friday night and Brady & I were SO EXCITED! Then... we got a phone call that he wasn't going to get in until Saturday morning due to bad weather during his layover. Nothing is worse than waiting 4 weeks to see your husband & then be told it is going to be even longer... Well... it all turned out okay because he made it here safe... and I got to see him with Brady for the first time in 4 weeks!! Let me tell you... it was the most adorable thing I have ever experienced. They were both so happy to see each other!! Seriously, does it get more adorable than that?!?
There are many things that I expected of breastfeeding... and many things that I did NOT expect, that I have learned. For all you moms & moms to be, here are a few things I have learned about breastfeeding....
1.) It HURTS. I mean, HURTS. They told me in my breastfeeding class that it hurt, but that it would only last about 5 days. Even on my "breastfeeding log" that the hospital gave me, one of the goals was "Pain-free by day 3!". Are you KIDDING ME?? I remember after a week & calling my friend Sherry (who's baby is just 3 months older than Brady) and asking her how long it was going to hurt.... she told me a good 3-4 weeks. 3-4 WEEKS?!?!? Seriously? I am not talking about a little bit of pain here people, I am talking about toe-curling, tears in the eyes PAIN. It was awful!! I have honestly learned 1st hand why so many people try to breast-feed & then switch to formula. It is awful. Fortunately, I do not have this problem anymore. However, I just visited my friend (Echo) and her baby that turns a week a Friday & she was dealing with this awful bit of breastfeeding. All what I could do was thank God that I was past that point. But... for all you expectant moms... don't let them fool you... it is PAINFUL... but it DOES get much, MUCH better. :)
2.) When I first started breast-feeding I felt weird. Really weird. Even though people talk about how great breastfeeding is and how it is the "most natural thing a mother can do" and all that other blah blah blah stuff.... I could not help but feel like Brady and I should be in a zoo somewhere. Seriously.... I felt like a gorilla & her baby just sitting there hanging out. Weird. Weird. Weird.
3.) It takes a SERIOUS commitment. When Brady was first born he was eating every 2-3 hours. I am a very active person... and HATE just sitting around.... so it really put a stopper on my daily routine. I would (and still do) plan all activities around Brady's eating schedule. In the beginning it was even tougher because I didn't know Brady as well, and could not predict when he would need to eat. By the time I fed him, changed him, and left the house I would only have about 45 minutes before I needed to be home to feed him again. It took a lot of getting used to before I could plan my day... and realize I was not going shopping without knowing EXACTLY what I wanted......
4.) Beer. Wine. Any sort of alcoholic beverage. One per night with breast-feeding. Luckily, I am not a huge drinker anymore(thank God again that my college days are over), so this hasn't been a huge thing to get used to. However, sometimes it is nice to sit & have a couple drinks with friends... now I milk my "one" glass for so long that it is not just room-temp, but WARM before I am done with it.
5.) Pumping. Pumping is the weirdest & strangest thing I have ever done. I really feel like I am a dairy cow connected to one of those milk machines. I started pumping at 2 weeks. My little sister had been pumping before me so I was asking my mother how she did it right after I had "connected myself up" for the 1st time. I remember my mom saying, "Well I think she does it just like that but she doesn't sit there and stare at herself the whole time!" haha! I guess I was just so fascinated by what my body was actually producing!! Once again, thought I belonged in a zoo.
6.) I was convinced that at 3 months I would stop breastfeeding & do exclusive pumped milk. Brady is now 3 1/2 months and I cannot imagine stopping anytime soon. He just is so little still... and still doesn't have teeth... which really do scare me quite a bit.
7.) At 4 weeks we gave Brady his first bottle. You would think by reading #1-6 I would be THRILLED that I could FINALLY start giving him a bottle. I could FINALLY sleep through the night and Austin could give the bottles! Well... that kinda happened. I was so happy that we finally had other options than just me... and then immediately felt guilty for thinking that. I was so happy that Austin got to have that bonding time with Brady, but then felt awful that I wasn't having that bonding time with Brady. It was such a time of mixed emotions.... and I am sure they will resurface once I do stop breastfeeding.
8.) Speaking of bottles.... Brady will not take a bottle from me. Yep, that's right. There has been less than a handful of times that Brady has taken a bottle from me. Usually he completely refuses it, and just stays really upset with me until I give him the tit.
9.) Luckily.... I have been blessed with a baby that sleeps through the night... Unfortunately... my boobs do not know how to quit producing during the wee hours of the night. Do you have any IDEA what this means?!? My BABY doesn't wake me up... MY BOOBS do!! This is NUTS to me... I have to wake up in the early morning hours to pump.... while my baby SLEEPs. (Usually for another 4-5 hours!)
10.) When I was pregnant, there were many foods that I could not eat because they gave me SUCH bad heartburn... I was SO EXCITED to pop this kid out & never have to think twice about devouring a huge plate of chips and salsa again! But... I quickly learned that Brady does not like Salsa, red pasta/pizza sauce, carbonation, or anything spicy. Sigh.
So... now that I am typing this all out it makes it sound like I really hate breastfeeding... that is not it at all. I love the time I have with Brady... and it can get me out of just about any awkward situation I could be in ("Oh, sorry... gotta go, Brady's hungry").... but there are some major adjustments that nobody warned me about... I have been blessed with the gift to breastfeed, and I am very thankful about that... because I know there are some people out there that really want to but cannot for one reason or another.... I know I am blessed but I want to also tell the other side to it all that most people don't tell you about.
Besides the time I have with Brady when I am nursing... my favorite thing about it is sending my little sister pictures of Brady eating.... it is awesome to freak her out. :)
There is no doubt that this is a stinkin' cute kid... but there is no doubt that there is not a single strand of hair on his head either....
Pretty hairless here.... Though I must say I am a pretty cute kid as well!
Still... No hair. Not quite sure how old I was in the picture... but old enough to have hair I am sure!!
