4 Months

Poor third child. I did monthly updates of both of the other kids but he has yet to have one!
Leo turned 4 months old a few days ago. I hate to jinx myself but I think he might have FINALLY turned a corner with his sleeping habits. It has only been a few days but he has slept in his cradle, and even fallen asleep by himself in there! For naps and everything! It's SO nice to have him sleep upstairs instead of in the swing. I don't have to worry about the kids waking him up (as much). He still gets up usually about twice a night, and eats about 5 oz at a time. He is definitely growing and getting big. I just switched all his 0-3 month clothes out and he's now in 3-6.

He is really such a sweet baby. He hardly EVER cries, he is easy to please, fun to hang out with. Of course when he does cry, he is by far the loudest of the three. Ken and I took JUST HIM to mass on Sunday (we had a very bad experience taking the older two the week before, so we left them with Grandma.) I took him out of his carseat and everyone around us, front and back, were staring at him. He smiles so easily he attracted a ton of attention. I think it's the hair. Everyone just loved him.
He is doing great with his special needs bottle and he also likes his pacifier. He's my first kid to take one. He is not very good at keeping it in his mouth though. I hope he improves with that pretty soon. He really enjoys being carried in the Moby and the Ergo. Thank goodness for the carriers, as I have another little guy who started to enjoy walking "by self." So it's great to have free hands for that one!

Leo's brother and sister just love him. Madeleine especially is a huge help. She puts his paci in his mouth, talks to him, smiles at him, covers him up, puts his socks on and he adores her. Her favorite thing to do in the morning is lay in my bed with him while I'm getting ready. She usually covers them both up and holds his hand and just stares at him. I tell her that God answered her prayer for a baby and gave us Baby Leo.
I have been holding him pretty much since he was born! I was a little worried at first that since I couldn't nurse him, we wouldn't bond as well. That has not been the case at all. I love him SO much, and I am proud of myself that he has had nothing but breastmilk his whole life. I will admit, it is hard to pump every three hours and it's especially hard to get up (twice) at night. But I think of both the milk and the sacrifice as a gift to him. I'm taking it day by day and still have the goal of making it at least a year. I think I can do it!

Happy 4 months Leo Michael!

Embarassing my child

This post has self destructed, so as not to further embarrass the poor child. Sorry if you missed it! It was quite disgusting!

I'm sure my kids had NOTHING to do with this sign.

Right?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

On Sleep

Little Man has totally regressed over here. He eats SO much at night. Last night he ate 17 oz between midnight at 8 am. 3 full bottles plus a little extra. I spent the entire night laying next to him, either holding the bottle or the paci in his mouth just hoping for a little shut eye. Whenever he wakes up, I go pump and Ken feeds him his bottle. Ken tries to put him back to bed. He feeds him, then rocks him until he is FAST asleep. But about 5 minutes after he puts him down, he's squirming around, then is wide awake.

I'd think I'd be totally dragging since I really haven't had much more than a 3 hour stretch since he was born, and the past few nights I've probably gotten 3 hours total of non consecutive sleep. But I actually don't feel too bad. Maybe my body is used to it by now!

He's getting big, so I'm hoping he's just having a big growth spurt and will start sleeping longer at night. But, he's totally worth all the extra effort, pumping, feeding, waking up at night. I really don't mind it all too much. I love him so much.

I have had SO many people ask me if I'm DONE now that I have 3 kids. Seriously. Strangers ask me this just about every day. No way. I'm 31 years old. I'm just getting started ;)

My little "helper."

Helps me cook, clean, shop, teach etc. If I try to put him down, he's not so helpful. Love my little Buddy!!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Vying for the favorite

Madeleine: Aunt Christy has never met Baby Leo because when we were there for Thanksgiving, he was still in your tummy!

Me: Yep, do you remember how big Mommy's tummy was then?

Madeleine: Yes but now it's nice and flat like it was before!!

(I love that kid.)

Our weekend in pictures

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Quick takes

1. John Paul got really sick again yesterday with breathing issues. This happened last year and he ended up in the hospital. At least this time I knew it was getting bad and was able to get him into the doctor in time. He's on steroids, antibiotics (just in case it was triggered by an infection) and breathing treatments every 4 hours.

2. My mom is out of town so I called one of my favorite neighbors and asked if I could leave M and L with her while I took JP to the doc. I was SO glad I did since we ended up waiting over an hour for the doctor in the tiny waiting room. It was kind of nice to be able to give him some one on one attention. He was totally charming the nurses and they gave him a popsicle and extra books while we waited. I've never left the kids with anyone but my mom so I was pretty proud of myself ;)

3. An old friend wrote me a very encouraging message, saying she had exclusively pumped for her daughter for a year. She gave me hope that I can do it too!

4. Leo is eating SO MUCH I can barely keep up. I started taking fenugreek and blessed thistle this week and today finally I have extra without having to borrow from tomorrow's supply. Whew!!

5. I love the newborn phase but I also really love where he is now. He is sturdier, easy to carry around, loves being "worn" in the ergo or Moby, and is starting to coo and smile ALL the time.

6. Madeleine and John Paul were making silly noises the other day and Leo laughed out loud! They rushed over to him and made him laugh again and again. It was SO awesome. Baby's first laugh is a sound straight from heaven, and it's even better when all the siblings are laughing together.

7. We celebrated the Feast of the Annuniciation today with coloring pages and the Bible story. Hopefully some of it sunk in!

Have a great weekend!

I held out as long as I could.

His hair is amazing!
Don't worry, I took it right out ;)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Growth spurt

He eats SO much it's unbelievable. His favorite times to eat are 1am and 4am. He's pretty darn cute though.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Funniest. Kid. Ever.

Mommy I'm pumping milk!!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Feast of St Joseph

St Joseph inspires Christian men to be the best men/husbands/fathers they can be.

Do you have an example of true manliness remimiscent of St Joseph you've seen in the past week? This could be in Your families, TV, anywhere.

Mine is this: Ken gets up every single time Leo wakes up at night to give him his bottle so I can go downstairs and pump. I could not do this without him.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Quick Takes

1. I got a new laptop! Unfortunately, it was right at the beginning of Lent, and I gave up getting on the computer and phone when the kids are awake. This has been great for me and the kids but bad for the blog ;) So this is only about the third time I've been on it. It's great though! We also got a wireless printer so I've been able to print out coloring pages for the kids really easily. St Joseph tomorrow!

2. Ken and I were just watching Brian Regan stand up and I was laughing so hard I kept waking Leo up.

3. Yesterday the kids and I went downtown to the St. Patrick's Day parade. We had a great time and the kids got plenty of candy. Unfortunately Leo also got a little sunburn. I felt terrible and called the doc today. They said to put aloe on it and it was nothing to worry about. Poor Baby. We also had corned beef and cabbage and rye bread and cinnamon rolls last night. Yum!

4. I tried a new chart system for Madeleine this week. We are really working on obedience. She hasn't been doing well at all. Either she will keep doing whatever I tell her to stop, or just ignores me when I tell her to do something - or whines about it. So we talked about how important it is to obey - all the way, right away, the happy way. This week, every time I asked her to do something and she said "Yes Mommy I'd be happy to!" and actually did it, she got to put a mark on her chart. At the end of the week I will give her a penny for every mark. She did amazing this week. She was so helpful and cheerful! I hope this lasts and it's definitely worth every penny :) I still have to do her 4 year old post!

5. John Paul is THE funniest kid I've ever met in my life. He makes me laugh out loud every day. He is so expressive and his vocabulary and verbal skills are absolutely amazing. Today we had a water softener guy here and he was cracking up at him, and said he was like an adult in a tiny little body. The ladies in the nursery at church (during mom's group they stay in there) love him and every week they tell me how amazed they are at how well he talks. He is so expressive and dramatic, does different voices, memorizes books and "reads" them, and has very intense emotions. He comes up and hugs me multiple times a day. Love that boy.

6. Leo is growing like a weed. He is definitely in 3-6 month clothes now. He is very long and getting much sturdier. We had a week or two when he was waking up 2-3 times a night and eating 4-5 oz each time. I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with him but so far I have! So glad I'm doing ok on pumping and he's thriving. I definitely cannot have dairy though. I cheated last weekend and totally regretted it. The past two nights he's only woken up once. That is so much better.

7. My kids are obsessed with Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Pigs and especially the Big Bad wolf. A friend of mine made 3 pigs and a BBwolf hand puppets for JP for his birthday. They turned out amazing and I can't wait to give them to him!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Girls are trouble, John Paul

While flirting with an older girl in the pew behind us tonight at church, He slammed His forehead into the side Of the pew and got a huge purple goose egg. Nice.

In other church news, we started reading and explaining the Gospel to Madeleine before we go. Then I'm able to point out to her When the priest is reading the same Scripture we've already talked about. She's asking questions and paying more attention. Oh and in case you're wondering, there's an app for that!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Quick Takes

1. I'm not sure I'll make it to 7 but you never know.

2. I read part of The Baby Whisperer today in Barnes and Nobles. She recommends an Eat, Play, Sleep routine. I've never tried this before but I might with Leo. She also said parents feed their babies too often and not enough, and it's better if they eat more every 3-4 hours. I'm totally not a "schedule" parent but I tried this today anyway. I fed him a 5 oz bottle, then he was awake, then he took a good nap, he woke up hungry and we started over. He was happy all day. Hm... this Baby Whisperer lady might be onto something.

3. I love the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I have a bowl of Brioche dough in the fridge and I'm making something delicious tomorrow for breakfast.

4. We played outside at a playground today for the first time this season. The kids loved it even though it was a little cold and windy. Then they went right to sleep. Ahhhh I love wearing them out outside.

5. Yeah.... not gonna make it to seven.

6. Oh, I'm not a fan of Daylight Savings time. I wish we could go back to NOT changing our clocks, like the way we grew up around here in Indiana.

7. I made it! Going to bed now!

Story of my life.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Little Red

All the hours and effort I put into this cape were totally worth it! She loves it and I love this picture.

I have to say, I'm so glad she's into real books and stories and fairy tales, as opposed to the princesses and Disney movies. She's actually never seen a Disney movie. She has her shows she likes but truly enjoys reading books and she's amazing at reading.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

3 months

I love this Baby.
Picture by Julie
Thank You Julie! I will post more tomorrow.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Cake!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Last day of 3

I decided to give her the Little Red cape this morning for an early present. She. LOVED. it. She wore it all day and cried her eyes out when I made her take it off for her nap. It came out so cute!


We went to the mall for lunch to meet Julie and went to a candy store to get the candy needed to decorate her bike cake (which I haven't done yet.) We actually had to go to 3 different stores to find all the kinds of candy I needed.

I tried to take her picture and she decided to pretend to sleep, complete with snoring.
I caught her in mid "bothering her brother" mode. She does this a lot. Of course, all she has to do is barely touch him and he SCREAMS. This cracks her up.

My beautiful birthday girl.

Madeleine's birthday

is coming up on Saturday. Every year I decide to make her something at the last minute. This year it was a little red riding hood cape. She loves Red Riding hood and asked for a cape. I got this book from Barnes and Nobles this past weekend, and bought fabric and ribbon and a button. I spent the last 3 naptimes sewing this thing and finished it today. I really do not like sewing. I don't like tracing, cutting, ironing, pinning. But I love the finished product. I LOVE it. I can't wait to see her face when I give it to her. I will definitely post pictures. Now I need to figure out how to make a Big Bad Wolf for John Paul - although that may be way over my level of expertise.

We are getting her a bike for her birthday. I decided on this one because it got the best reviews on Amazon. We've totally slacked off in this department. She's never had a bike or even a trike. I know she'll love it.


I have a few ideas for a cake - I hope it comes out well! I gotta get that done tomorrow. I'm going to try to find all the candy to make this one.


I just hope I can make her day special for her! She definitely deserves it ;)

Who wants sushi?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

More on feeding Leo

Are you guys getting tired of hearing about this yet?

He's doing so well with his Special Needs feeder, gaining weight, eating well and going through a growth spurt right now apparently. I'm definitely keeping up with pumping and produce more every day than he eats, so I have quite the supply in the freezer. So that is all going well. I gave up dairy to try to help his fussiness. It seemed to help, he started sleeping better during the day and night and was more alert, happy and calm when he was awake. I cheated a few times this past weekend and TOTALLY regretted it - he was so fussy. So I won't be doing that again.

The other day I tried a regular bottle nipple with him, thinking for sure he would be able to do it. But he could NOT do it! I was totally shocked. I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was. He couldn't get anything out of the bottle. I put his regular nipple on that bottle and he sucked it right down. I guess it's just weird to me because he LOOKS totally normal. I forget he has a big issue. Sure it's fixable but it won't be fixed for over a year. I'm nervous about his surgery and recovery on one hand, but on the other I can't wait for it to be over.

As much as I miss being to breastfeed him, there are definite advantages to him taking a bottle. Madeleine sometimes feeds him for me especially if we are trying to get out the door. I put him in his carseat and she loves holding the bottle in his mouth. Ken can feed him in the middle of the night while I pump. If he wakes up twice, Ken finishes feeding him and gets him to bed once, and I take over after pumping the second time. It's really nice to be able to go straight back to bed after pumping the first time! I was able to take the two big kids to the dentist and leave Leo with mom, without worrying he'd be hungry. I'm finally really getting used to pumping as part of my day, and I'm comfortable taking the hand pump if I'm going to be away from home for more than 3 hours. I have pumped in numerous places - maybe embarrassed my mom a little at the Children's museum ;) I've gotten through 11 weeks of exclusive pumping and I know I can make it at least a year. There are definite issues I never thought about as well. For one thing I am never sure how much to give him. Sometimes he eats 4-5 oz and sometimes he eats 2 1/2. And sometimes he just wants a LITTLE bit. I don't want to waste any so I usually end up refilling his bottles several times a day. Also I am really not sure if I'm going to be able to use my freezer supply, since it's only good for 3 months. I'm afraid to give it up in case he needs it, but I am also running out of room.

OH, and I don't know if it's all the pumping or the dairy-free diet, but I now weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with Madeleine. Hopefully I can lose at least another 15-20. I'm feeling good!

Cootie

Madeleine and John Paul LOVE playing their Cootie game. And It's so fun to play a family game after supper! Today I had put it up on the hutch and Madeleine thought she could stand on a chair and get it. Ken's briefcase was on the closest chair.

M: Daddy, could you please move your purse off the chair?

(I about died laughing!)

Ok time for American idol. And Fr. Dan gave me some Irish cream for Leo's baptism. Is he not the coolest priest EVER??? Then Ken bought me some butterscotch schnapps so...
Ill see y'all later ;)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Buddy trying out the miracle blanket

We had a fabulous weekend and I'd like to blog about it. Unfortunately I'm holding the baby who does not sleep. Ever. Unless I'm holding him and rocking. So I am exhausted and Going to bed!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

2 month stats

10 lbs 8 oz, 23 inches
Happy Valentine's Day!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Leo's first Sacrament

Hallelujah!!!

Fr. Dan has baptized all of my children. And we lived at the Newman Center together in college ;) (Separate houses, but we all still called each other "roommates.")

Leo Michael, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Godparents Dominic and Jenny.

Fr. Dan and my sweet Leo Michael

It was such a beautiful day. Leo slept through the entire baptism. We celebrated with family and friends.

"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

"Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, ‘Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God’" (Luke 18:15–16).

Baptism preview

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Hits the nail on the head

Thanks for the bib Hannah and Sew!!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

Surprise!

Leo and I had a great weekend! We had the opportunity to fly down to North Carolina to go to Dorothy's baby shower and surprise her, then we crashed at her house til last night ;) Other than the craziness we experienced traveling there and back, we had a fantastic time.

The plan was for us to get up at 3:30am on Saturday, get a 6 am flight to DC, then an 8:45 flight to RDU, then D's sister was going to pick us up and get to the shower at 11, and it started at 12. Perfect plan. Unfortunately, that did not happen. We got on the 6am flight, then it started snowing. They had to de-ice the plane, which took 30 minutes. Then we got out on the runway, waited too long to take off, and they had to bring the plane back to the gate to get de-iced again. By 7am they made us get off the plane and switch to another one. Oh also, apparently if you try to take breastmilk through security, they think you're a terrorist. They did so much testing on it I thought it probably wasn't safe to give him, so I really didn't give him any of the milk I brought. So we got on the other plane, they had to de-ice it as well. We were two hours late taking off and missed our connecting flight in DC. They also took us to the wrong terminal, so I had to go OUT of security and back in, where they did more tests on the milk and extra patdowns for me. I also was wearing Leo in the Moby wrap which was under a sweater. They made me take him out, then said I had to take off the sweater and wrap and put it through the machine. I had already put the carseat and stroller through the machine, so I asked a security lady to hold Leo while I stripped down. She wouldn't. And NO ONE offered to help me at all. It was quite interesting trying to hold Leo with one hand, take off my sweater and untie my wrap to go through security. We got on an 11am flight and I had not pumped since 3:30am. It was PAINFUL. So I got out the hooter hider and the hand pump, while holding Leo, and this old guy in front of me turned around and started this long small-talk conversation. I learned that I can't really small talk, hold Leo, keep the hooter hider in the right place and pump at the same time. I hope the guy didn't think I was too rude. I tried my best! He had no clue what I was doing. Also, Leo decided to fill his diaper at this time and the flight attendants would not let me get up. So he got changed on the seat next to me. P picked us up and we got to the shower right as it was ending. But it WAS fun to surprise Dorothy ;) And I had a GREAT time hanging out with her and Lucy for two days. She looks beautiful at 36 weeks pregnant and Lucy is such a sweet, fun little girl. She got all kinds of attention wherever we went because she is so cute and smiley. Love her! Plus I had such a great time hanging out with Dorothy. It was definitely like a vacation with only one kid! Plus the weather was amazing! We got to hang out outside which was wonderful after our recent weather. Thanks for everything D! ;)


Leo was the perfect little traveling companion. He could not have been ANY better. Love him!


The flight home was a direct flight last night. It was supposed to leave at 5:30 and get to Indy at 7:15. Oh how perfect. I got Leo on the plane in his carseat, he was fast asleep. I had gotten a chicken wrap and a drink and was all settled in to eat it. Ken was planning on picking me up with the kids. That was too good to be true. There was a mechanical problem with the plane and they made us get off with all our stuff. They had already taken my stroller so there was no way I could go anywhere with the carseat and 3 bags. We sat at the gate for 2 hours while they worked on the plane. I needed to pump so at one point I had to carry everything to a bathroom to do that. We finally got back on the plane and arrived home at 9:30. My goodness! I was so happy to see the kids! Apparently they really missed me. Mom said when John Paul saw a snowman he said, "He's crying." Mom asked why the snowman was crying and he said, "He can't find his mommy." How sad!
Also today Leo is 2 months old. Already! How did that happen? He's so happy and smiles at everyone. He wakes up either once or twice a night. Not too bad! I'm also pretty proud of myself that I've pumped exclusively for two months. It's been hard, but I'm getting into the groove now. My goal is to pump until he turns one, then I'll see how we are doing. If I can keep going until his surgery I will. If not, I'll give myself permission to stop after his first birthday. He is happy and healthy and thriving! He looks so much healthier than he did the first month.

Twinkle twinkle

Sick sick sick

My big kids have been sick for a few weeks - runny noses, coughs, fevers. I took them to the doctor on Friday and he said they need mama love, chicken soup, tylenol and motrin, and their immune systems would work. But it's been pretty miserable around here. I had the doctor look in Leo's ears and the poor baby has a double ear infection :( I hate hate hate giving my 7 week old antibiotics. We are going back later this week to make sure he's all clear. I really hope this doesn't keep happening. I would have never known he was even sick except for one bad night he had, up about every hour. Otherwise he's been wonderful.

I felt so bad for Madeleine on Friday when we went to the doctor. I had told her we were going to the doctor and he'd help her feel better. When it was time to leave she started crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "But I don't feel better yet!" Poor thing!

They've been playing "Dr. J" with their doctor kit ever since! Actually today was the first time Madeleine got off the couch all weekend. She has been miserable. I hope the worst is over and now they are recovering. She seems so skinny, I think she's lost weight. I tried to give her some extra protein today - I made pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes with extra eggs and protein powder this morning. They were delicious!!

Ken and I got to go on a date last night. My mom babysat M and JP and we took Leo. We haven't been on a date in a long time and it was really fun! Unfortunately we had to cut it short and come home because the roads were a sheet of ice.

Seriously the weather needs to clear up and the kids need to get better because I NEED TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

Leo Burrito

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

The Good News

Is that I'm not going into early menopause at the age of 31. The unfortunate news is that my body pretty much thinks I am. My doctor said today that estrogen is really high during pregnancy, then drops when the baby is born, and stays low when breastfeeding. So basically I'm having estrogen withdrawal symptoms and I'm experiencing "mini menopause," possibly up to a few months. It makes sense since I feel exactly like I did on Lupron. Totally not looking forward to real menopause. But I'm glad it's just something I have to wait out. She did check my thyroid levels too but she didn't think anything would be off. She also said I need to make sure I'm drinking a ton of water. And she respects my wishes and never tells me I need to be on birth control, which I love. (Unlike some other doctors in that office, which I won't go to again unless it's an emergency.)

It was kind of sad - I love my ob and I see her a lot for 9 months, and now I don't get to see her for a year. I love the nurses there too. They all took care of Leo while I was in with Dr. P, and RAVED over him. He was good too!

Everyone in my house is still sick! Well, except Leo, thank God. And Ken feels better. But the kids and I have awful colds and coughs so we haven't been doing much.

And Leo has been eating constantly. I'm always surprised at the end of the day when I have milk left over. I have not had to dip into the freezer supply at ALL, and I add more at least every other day.

Ok I have to admit I LOVE American Idol. Probably because I wish I could sing ;) Last week there was a girl who really impressed me, not only because of her voice, but because of her message. Please check her out!

Vermin.

Yes that's right.

Today we ate lunch at grandma's house. As I was loading everyone into the house afterwards, I thought maybe the cat was acting more weird than usual. Leo was quiet in his carseat so I left him in it (in the house) and got the big kids to bed. When I came down I saw the cat was playing with a MOUSE! In my house!! Batting it around, toying with it, carrying it around in her mouth. Well I freaked out and did what any normal person would do...called Ken at work and told him to come home and take care of it. He refused to drive 40 minutes round trip in the middle of the day, mean old Ken.

So I tried to open the front door and shoo them both out. Wasn't working. Then I noticed her GO UPSTAIRS. With the Mouse. Where my BED IS.

I followed them up. She took the mouse into my bathroom into the TUB. Then she laid her fat little smug self down and just watched the poor mouse struggle to get out. I ran into Leo's room, grabbed a gift bag, and decided to try to catch it in that. Stupid mouse kept running UNDER the cat! I finally caught it, held the bag shut and at arms length as I ran down the stairs, opened the front door, and threw it out. As soon as it hit the porch, it started running back towards the door!! I panicked and smacked it with the bag. It flew through the air, making a perfect flying mouse print in the snow. The cat ran outside after it. I'm not sure what happened after that but she came in later looking very pleased with herself.
Seriously, there better NOT be any more, because I cannot handle rodents in my house!!!

And a quick question. Have any of you had Night sweats and excessive thirst almost 7 weeks after having a baby? I mean sweating like I have to change my shirt in the Night. Am I menopausal or what?? It's awful. I'm going for my ob follow up on Thursday so I'll ask her, Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6

In Memory

Yesterday was the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I was thinking about the 50 million babies who have lost their lives to abortion, and their mothers. In particular, I was thinking about babies like this one, these, and this one. (I disagree with the methods of commenting on that last one, but I can see why people would be angry.)

This issue has become near and dear to my heart in the past 6 1/2 weeks. It just makes me physically sick that people would consider a cleft lip and/or palate a reason to end a life. What is next?

As much as it saddens me what these mothers are doing, my heart goes out to them. They are rejecting a wonderful gift from God. They are missing out on an incredible blessing.

In the past 6 1/2 weeks, my sweet Leo has already changed our lives for the better. He has made all of us in our family more patient and loving. He has shown my children that God does great things for us. I have met some wonderful people who have been such a blessing to my life because of him. I have become closer to God. I have prayed and thanked God for him every minute of every day.

Who knows what God has in store for him, and our family because he is here? We have always had a heart for adoption, perhaps we will adopt a baby with a cleft someday. I know God wanted him here and and I know that he will do his part to change the world. He has already blessed our family and friends. He has already brought us closer to God. He makes me want to fight for unborn babies even more.

Leo, if you are reading this someday, we love you and we thank God every day that he gave you to us! You are precious to God and to everyone who meets you!

Everyone is sick

Luckily we have a doctor in the house.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Stuck inside

Homemade play dough, puzzles, books and just being cute! John Paul seems better today. He's had Gatorade and toast and so far so good! And Leo slept from 9-4!!!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

Someone please bring me an iced soy chai

I've been puked on at least 4 times today and I'm totally regretting giving Bud chocolate milk for breakfast.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5

What, is 3 the new 10?

I went three places today. The library, Chick fil A, and the mall (and had an iced soy chai at Borders - YUM!) At all three places people asked me incredulously, "Are they all yours??" and I also heard several times, "Boy, you sure have your hands full." I guess I never thought of 3 kids as a big family, although maybe three kids aged 3 and under looks like a lot. Also I probably look pretty funny with the way I have to cart them all around. The first two places I put Leo's carseat in the stroller, held John Paul on my hip and let Madeleine walk. At the mall I put the two big kids in the double stroller and Leo in the Moby.

Yes, they are all mine, and I am thrilled about that! And yes my hands are full, but not as full as I'd like ;) They make me die to my own desires (and sometimes needs) on a daily basis, and that is a good thing! I truly believe that being a mother is making me a better person. I would not trade them for anything in the world.

In other news, I must be a little on the sleep deprived side these days. Last night I came down for the second time to pump, around 4:30. I set my stopwatch app on my phone, hooked up the pump and relaxed in my chair. The next thing I knew, Ken was holding Leo right in front of me saying, "What is taking so long?" I looked at my phone.... 68 minutes. Best sleep I got all night!

Surgery update

Ken and I and Leo met with his plastic surgeon yesterday. That sounds weird to say, my newborn baby needs a plastic surgeon. Hm... I wonder if he'll do a two for one - cleft repair for Leo and tummy tuck for me?

Anyway, the waiting room was super nice, which is good because we'll probably be spending a lot of time there over the next 18 years. There was a family with a little boy who had a cleft lip and palate. He had had his lip repair quite a while ago but his palate repair was 7 days earlier. He was 16 months old and looked just fantastic! He was playing and walking around. I talked to his mom a little, and she said that the past week had been pretty miserable for everyone, and that day was the first day he'd been back to his old self. Wow, only 7 days! That's certainly doable.

First of all they weighed Leo and took pictures of him. Last Wednesday he was 8 lbs 13 oz and yesterday he was 9 lbs 10 oz! I couldn't believe that weight gain. Then we met with the surgeon. He showed us some pictures of a cleft like Leo's and explained a little about how they would do the surgery. He said that Dr. J, Leo's pediatrician, would keep a close watch on his ears, and instructed us to take him to the doctor if he has a high fever, so he could check his ears. I asked if he could fly on a plane, and he said "Absolutely." He also said when we start solid food with him, just do what we did with the other two kids, and he shouldn't have a problem. He said he thought he'd do his surgery around 15 months. I was pretty happy about that because he had said 18 months before. Both my kids have talked in complete sentences by 18 months, so I think the earlier the better. He said there is a slight possibility he'd need another surgery if his speech is affected, but that wouldn't be until he was 4-6 and after speech therapy. We are going back in 6 months for a check up. I'm just happy he's doing so well now.

I had a nice surprise today at Mom's group. I left the two big kids in the nursery during the meeting. When I went in afterwards to get them, one of the babysitters pulled me aside and said, "That Madeleine is something else!" (That scared me for a minute, I won't lie.) I asked her, "Good or bad?" She said, "Good!" and then proceeded to positively RAVE about her. She said she had such a great imagination and she could tell she was so creative. She said she was so cute and she reminded her of Shirley Temple, and was very helpful with her brother. Then the other babysitter came over and said that she must be really fun to hang out with. I was Thrilled! She heard most of this conversation but I made sure to tell her how proud I was that she was so good!

What do you get when you cross a little old man with a baby monkey?

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.5