I should have known...

I should have known something was off when my chip dip tasted like mint on Tuesday night. Seriously, I had Nick taste it to see if it had gone bad - he told me I was crazy.

And my gums bled like crazy when I flossed that night.

I knew that my period was due this past weekend, and that we were having a big party. So, being the poas'er that I am, I decided to give it a try on Wednesday morning. And the internet cheapie was positive. And I was in shock.

We stopped preventing back in May ... and since nothing had happened all summer, I was really doubting that we'd be able to get pregnant on our own! I still can't believe it :)

So, I've had 2 blood tests done, because I was worried about my progesterone levels.

My hcg levels are rising quickly - but I don't know when I ovulated so I can't say exactly how far along I am or should be?

Thursday - hcg levels = 121
Saturday - hcg levels = 390

That gives a doubling time of only 1.2 days. (they want your levels to double every 48 hours)

My OB wants my prog. level to be 20, and it was 19.4, so I get to take supplements for that again (I did with Henry too).

She wanted me to get a third test, which I did this morning, so we'll see what the results of that are. It makes me nervous that she's nervous enough for a third test ... but I'm trying to just relax!!

We are so excited that Maybe Baby #2 is coming this June!!

10 Months Old

Henry's is 10 month's old today!

Since going back to work, I've been a bad blogger mommy ... things are just so crazy, and this is with me teaching part-time! I cannot imagine full time - but kudos to you mother's who make it work! I know it's necessary for providing for your families, and I just feel so blessed that we can make this work financially so I can have mornings with Henry.

This week at daycare - Henry started reaching for the ground, and crawling away from me. I think this is better than when he would cry when I left him there -- but it still makes me cry :(

I'll post a more detailed update soon - but for now, enjoy this pic of little man with his new tooth!


"Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the LORD. As you now, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the LORD finally brought about. The LORD is full of compassion and mercy. " James 5:10-11

9 Months Old

I cannot believe it has been 9 months since this little boy entered the world!!

Here are his nine month stats:

Height = 30.5 inches = 96th percentile
Weight = 20 lbs 14 oz = 56th percentile
Head = 18 inches = 62nd percentile

Bottles: The last two weeks or so, Henry hasn't been interested in his daytime bottles. He may eat 2-4oz from them, but that's about it. So at lunch time, I began just giving him formula in a sippy cup instead of bottle beforehand. This makes him more likely to eat his 3:30 bottle. But, it still just depends on the day.

I got the go ahead from our pediatrician today to start him on milk - which I'm very excited about! We'll start w/ sippy cup of it at lunch, and see where it takes us!


Solids: Mr. Independent has decided in the last couple of days that he no longer will eat baby food, especially if someone else near by has "big people" food. Soo ... I'm still trying to sneak it in b/c it's easier to give him fruit and veggies that way -- but he's getting way more of our food too. Our doctor has said Henry can have anything, even peanut butter, so that's helpful in trying to decide meal plans!

Waketime Length: Same, usually 2 1/2 hours - sometimes longer

Naps: Henry has pretty much dropped the 3rd evening nap -- unless his afternoon nap is too short.

Nighttime sleep: Great - averaging 7:45pm until 7am.

Milestones: Henry is starting to wave at people. He wouldn't do it for Grammy last night, or friends this morning - but he was more than happy to wave at all the strangers in the doctor's office waiting room! He can pull to standing, and walk around furniture. He's also able to walk while pushing a toy! He's going to be walking before Halloween I'm pretty sure! Still waiting on those teeth ...

Daycare: Within two days last week, Nick and I both got full time jobs! Which is an amazing blessing, but I am having a hard time wrapping my head around me being gone from Henry all day. To ease the transition, he's already gone to daycare for 2 full days last week, and will do 3 full days this week. Then we have 5 beautiful days together before we're back to work officially. We are blessed to have a wonderful daycare option - I love love love our lady and know that Henry is well taken care of and loved. But - I still cry every time I leave him there :( It will get better, and we all will be fine.

But who wouldn't have a hard time leaving this handsome man?!?

Let it be known...

That on this day, a Tuesday, Henry had potentially the worst day of his life.

He woke up with a plugged nose and a fever.

The runny nose continued, which made him angry every time his mom wiped it for him.

He bumped his head about 5 times, twice resulting in goose eggs.

And now he has what looks like a weird bug bite on his eye.

He's a trooper though -- a little clingy, and unwilling to give up his binkie (which I think he's calling "bob" but am not certain) -- he still had had plenty of smiles and kisses for us.

Trying to escape his 37 week picture - it may look like he was laughing, but he was screaming!

And then it's August...

Hey - remember us? Long time no write ... I know, I'm a slacker!

Let's see what's going on in Henry's world:

Bottles: We still give Henry 4 60z bottles a day ... he takes most of the morning and bedtime bottles, but often only takes half of the midday bottles. Some days are better than others. He also still doesn't like to take bottles from other people. Now that he's going to daycare once a week (update on that below) - hopefully he'll get over this weird little issue.


Solids: Little piggy likes to eat. I can't eat anything in front of him without him screaming for me to share. But - he also now tries to share his food with me - so that's cute! I'm hoping to soon be done with the jarred babyfood and be giving him all table food - he does a great job mashing and chewing with his gums, even though he still doesn't have teeth!

Waketime Length: Usually 2 1/2 hours - sometimes longer

Naps: Henry takes a morning and afternoon nap, each about an hour and a half long. He still takes a cat nap in the evening, but I have a feeling we're about done with this - since the last two were only 20 minutes long, and he skipped it all together the day before those.

Nighttime sleep: Still good here - sleeping from about 8:30 until 7:00 - he sometimes wakes between 6-7am, but talks in his crib until I get him up.

Milestones: Henry is a speedy crawler! He loves to play chase around our ottaman. He can pull himself up to standing - but doesn't really walk along the furniture yet. He says "mama", "dada" and "baba" fairly consistently and in appropriate situations, so I think those are for sure his first words. He often also sounds like he's trying to say "down" and "up" - but I can't be sure yet. And then there's lots of random sounds all day long ... one of his favorites right now is "bob".

We've done tons of fun summer things, like swim class @ the YMCA, zoo trips, hanging in our kiddie pool.

Daycare: Since our job outlooks for the fall are still up in the air - we've started to send Henry to daycare one morning a week until we know more about the situation. This hopefully will give both daycare and Henry a chance to become aquainted before getting thrown into it full swing in the fall!

So - that's about it on the Henry front.

As for our family life - we're in job limbo right now. I don't remember if I posted about it - but in the spring both Nick and I were laid off from our teaching jobs. Since then, I've been called back to a .4 position, which does not make me eligible for health insurance. I had requested to be part time in the spring as well.

Now as school is getting closer, and still no word from Nick's school district - we decided I needed to resubmit my request and change it to full time - because we really need health insurance and the money! I'm going to be so bummed if both Nick and I end up getting called back to full time - but hopefully it will only be for a year. I keep telling myself it's best for my family, even if it doesn't seem best for me right now!

Now for more important questions ... like the big 1 year birthday party coming up in 3 1/2 months!! The big debate is: Big Party w/ Family and Friends? Or just Family? Thoughts?!?

Last week, 36 Weeks, The only way we could keep him still was with a toy!

Hot Hot Heat!

Lots has happened for Henry in the last 2 weeks!


He can now crawl - and is getting into everything. Just today alone he discovered cords, and was searching for every plug in the house! Sooo that's fun for me :)

He's loving the swimming and water that he gets now that it's mega hot out.

He also loves having his daddy home for the summer! I'm sure he'll be equally as happy if Daddy doesn't get called back in the fall, then it'll be daddy daycare everyday.

Still no signs of teeth - I used to say he was holding them in because I always thought of teething as a good time to quit breastfeeding. Obviously I quit earlier, and he's still not pushing any through!

I suppose that's it on us for now - I'm too lazy to do a full update.

If you have time and extra prayers - please pray for my online friend who gave birth to her tiny baby this week at only 27 gestational weeks (click the "Bennett" button to the right to read her amazing story - but I warn you of beautiful yet heart wrenching pictures of the tiny baby)

30 Weeks and Overdue Updates

Hi Bloggy friends! Long time no update eh? Sorry!!



Nursing: Here's a big change - we're all done with nursing! Due to the list of cons getting longer and longer - I decided that I was ready to move on. I was going back and forth for a while, and battling the guilt of quitting breastfeeding - but finally just made the decision. I do not regret it at all! The process went much quicker than I thought it would - I tried to keep the night and morning feedings for a while. But, we discovered after I had a night out that Henry sleeps through the night after getting a bottle - but not after breastfeeding. Yeah - not going to keep that up! Then once I dropped the night feeding - he wasn't happy at the morning one. So our weaning process took a total of almost 2 weeks.

Bottles: So now Henry gets 4 bottles a day. He takes 6 oz in the morning and at bedtime great - the daytime bottles are a challenge. He'll eat anywhere from 3 - 5 oz. I worry when he doesn't take enough - but he has no problem letting me know he's done by pushing the bottle away and spitting it out.


Solids: Henry's eating more and more table food now. He loves getting tastes of what we're eating. His schedule for his jarred food is the same as before. He now gets puffs or yogurt melts after each meal. He chews like a champ - I tried to give him a teether cookie to suck on, and he just took a big bite of it, so we had to nix those already!

Waketime Length: Still 2 hours, sometimes 2 1/2 depending on what we're doing.

Naps: This is some of the best news. Henry has overcome the 45 minute intruder. Finally! He now takes a morning and afternoon naps, usually 1 1/2 hours long, and then a cat nap of about 45 minutes around 5pm.

Nighttime sleep: Also good news. Henry sleeps through the night again - and is now going down to sleep around 8pm. He was trying to wake up at 6am on our vacation - but since being home he's slept until 7 everyday.

Milestones: Big things here as well! Henry can now sit up by himself for extended periods of time, and has even pushed himself into a sitting position a few times. He pushes up onto all fours and rocks back and forth, then launches himself into a face plant forward. He's taken a few true crawling movements - but now that he has figured out army crawling - he just likes to do that. I'm wondering if teeth our in our future soon - he's going through random cranky fits and objecting to his solid meals. We shall see!

We also went on our annual vacation to Munising. Nick and I go every year after school gets out - and this year dragged along my parents for babysitting purposes! Henry was so awesome on the 6 hour car ride. He took his naps - was a little fussy inbetween - but nothing near what we thought it would be. He adjusted well to the vacation home were were staying in - but was Crank the last couple of days - I think he was ready to come home!

Well - this is probably the most positive post I've ever made ... that probably the next one will be full of confusion and frustrations again!

A few pictures from Lake Superior