While Mom's away....

Today, I helped out a friend of mine who owns a bridal salon. She asked me to wear a couple gowns in a "fashion show" for an event that her salon was sponsoring. In order for me to participate, I had to leave the house at 1 and not get home until 7 ish. I was a little panic-y this morning getting everything ready. I got Cal all dressed and ready to go. Eddie came in and decided that he should get to pick Cal's outfit for the day, since they were going to be together... this is what he picked:

When I came home from the day, Cal had on no pants, no hat, one sock, a flannel button down shirt and was sound asleep on his tummy on the couch :). I took pictures of that too (with a different camera), and will upload them to mobile me eventually.

UPDATE: here is the picture of Cal when I got home from being gone:

Here are some pictures from the bridal show:

Me and Tiffani in our 2nd dresses.

Me and my "bridesmaid", Tiffani!

Some of the models before the finishing touches.... they were BIG finishing touches. :)

It was tough leaving Cal all day, but I think it was good for me...and Eddie! Eddie did such a great job with him. I knew he would be fine, but I panicked when I got a call from him saying Cal wouldn't take the bottle...yikes! I was freaking out, but it turns out, Cal just needed to be rocked to sleep and he was fine. When he woke up, he took the bottle like a champ! Phew! All in all, it was a great day. Eddie got some "guy time" and I was able to have some ME time (and get my hair and make up done.... who doesn't love that???).

HOT DOG!!! Momma's happy!

I woke up yesterday morning exhausted. We are trying to cut out one of Cal's nighttime feedings, but this means that momma still gets up every time he cries to put the paci back in and to soothe him until he is asleep. It is trying, but I know it is worth it. I looked at Eddie yesterday morning and I said, "This has GOT to start getting easier, because I am getting so tired!" I as getting up at midnight, 3:00, and 6:00 to feed, and then when we cut out a feeding, I was up at midnight, and then at 3 until about 4:30 and then at 5:30 again (ACK!).

But guess what? Last night, I put Cal down at 11:15 and he slept until......4:15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOT DAMN!!!! Pardon my language, but I can't even tell you how rested I felt when I went into him at 4:15! I fed him, and put him back in the crib (on the tummy-yay!) and my boy slept until 6:15! I brought him in bed with us and fed him again and we both fell asleep until 8---

YEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!

Now let's see if it happens again...... please? please??? PLEASE?!?!?!?!?

JUST what I needed!

I have been stressing out about not having Cal on a schedule. He is 9 weeks old, not sleeping through the night, is unpredictable in his napping, and wants to eat all the time. Am I the world's worst mom??

Usually, when I talk to other moms about this, they suggest this book, or that philosophy...I always look into them, but really can't see me being THAT structured-- don't get me wrong: I want a schedule, but one where he can nap wherever we are, not in a pitch black nursery with whale songs playing (okay, that was an exaggeration....), but still, I want him to be able to be flexible enough to be able to nap anywhere, etc., and I just want to have some kind of predictability as to his eating.

Yesterday, I met a friend from college for lunch. Stephanie and I weren't in the same sorority at Elon, but we were in a bunch of education classes together and I always thought she was the sweetest girl. She has the most beautiful daughter who is 5 1/2 months and we had such a great lunch. Stephanie told me that her baby took until about 3 months to get into a real routine and she just kind of fell into it... no books about eat time/wake time/ play time....BLAH. Just let the kid be a kid and it will all happen.

Let me tell you: this was JUST what I needed! In hind sight, I think all of these other mothers that were telling me about the different philosophies were just making me feel less and less adequate as a mother. I know they weren't doing that on purpose, but when you talk to someone and they are *shocked* that you don't have your baby on a routine at 9 weeks, how are you supposed to feel?

So, Stephanie, if you are reading this: THANK YOU!!!! I loved having lunch with you and meeting your sweet little angel. I can't wait until we can do it again so you can make me feel a little more normal :).

Sigh....it's getting easier every single day...... :)

SPLISH SPLASH!

We have been giving Cal his bath on the counter of our bathroom, in his whale tub. After last night's bath, we will no longer be doing that. This went on for about 30 minutes, but we only grabbed the video camera for the last few minutes of it. It takes wayyyy too long to upload videos to the blog, but check it out on our mobileme site. You will see why he can't be on the counter any more! I am still cleaning up!

One month pictures!

I took Cal for his one month pictures with Tamara Lackey, our wedding photographer. She is SO talented and we are HUGE fans of hers. She was kind enough to waive the sitting fee since we are repeat clients. On our wedding day, she had a way of capturing our emotions the whole day, and I think she did a great job of doing that again with Cal.

I thought it was only going to be pictures of Cal, but she had me get in some of them (actually, a lot of them!). I am so in love with the pictures and couldn't be happier with how they turned out!

Enjoy!

http://www.tamaralackey.com/CalWilliamsonOctober2009/

Sad Anniversary

This past Saturday, the 14th, marked the one year anniversary of my miscarriage. I can't believe I am writing about it in such a public way, but I am not embarrassed about it, and I find when I talk about to people, there is someone else that has either experienced it themselves, or knows someone that has gone through it.

Last year, I found out I was pregnant on a Sunday, and I was beyond excited. It was still early, but we were super thrilled. We told our families and a lot of our close friends. That Friday I woke up to go to work, and I got my period :(. I was devastated. I had to go into work and try to hide my tears the whole day. I got into the doctor's office where they checked me and said it appeared to be a miscarriage, but wanted to do blood tests to confirm.

I was going to NYC with my mom for our annual "girl's trip" that afternoon, so while I was in the airport about to board my plane, the doctor called to confirm what I already knew.

It was SUCH a sad day, but I think that by going through it, it made me appreciate my pregnancy with Cal.

Looking back, I am able to see that it was God's way of taking care of an unhealthy baby, but at the time, it was difficult not to blame myself and think about everything I ate or drank to see if it was something I did.... well, it wasn't.

Sometimes you have to go through hard times like that in order to appreciate the true blessings that you are given. I sooooo appreciate my sweet little blessing.

For those of you that read this, if you have a miscarriage, know that you are not alone! It happens to a LOT of people! It is God's way of taking care of things and having you appreciate the blessings He gives you.

xxxxxooooo

8 week check up

How is it possible that Cal is 2 months old already? I swear, I was JUST pregnant!

We had his 8 week check up Wednesday night. I love love love our pediatrician as she is very laid back and never criticizes what I do or how I do it (ex. sleeping on his belly, etc...).

Here are his stats:

23 1/2 inches long (we don't think this was correct; the doc thinks it's too hard to get an accurate measurement on this for a while)

12 lbs, 15 ounces (!!!!)

41.5 head circumference.

He is in the 75-90% in weight

He is in the 75% in height

His head circumference is in the 90th percentile!!! No wonder he wouldn't deliver normally!

I talked to the doctor about his sleeping "issues." She feels there is no reason a baby of this size is not sleeping for 8 hour stretches....!!! So, we are working on stretching out even more! She suggested we move him into his room, where I can't hear his every move/grunt, and let him sleep on his tummy in there.

Speaking on sleeping on his tummy, after my last post about sleeping face down, my friend Alyssa sent me a link to a sensor pad that you can put under the crib mattress that senses baby's movements. My mom has been beyond worried about Cal sleeping on his stomach, so she ran out and bought one of those pads! I have been using it with Cal in the bassinet and it works! A little light flashes as it senses his heart beat, and if ever it doesn't sense movement for 20 seconds, an alarm sounds. I picked him up last night to feed him and forgot to turn it off and sure enough, the alarm went off!

Today, I am going to move the pad into the nursery and tonight is going to be a big night with Cal sleeping in his crib.... The doc feels that sometimes he wakes up at night to just rearrange himself, but I hear him moving and grunting, so I just grab him and feed him. She thinks he might be able to just fall back asleep if we give him the chance.... we will see tonight!

Finally, he got some shots yesterday and he was not very happy about it. He screamed soooo loudly and his face turned bright red. It just about broke my heart. I picked him up as soon as the nurse was done and within 5 minutes, he was sound asleep in my arms. I just wanted to squeeze him to make the pain stop. Sweet little thing...

That's all for now!

Grandma's new wheels

My parents live in Chapel Hill, right down the road. For Mother's Day last year, my brother and I gave my mom a double jogging stroller so that she could walk her boys (and other grandkids!). I went over there this week with Cal and she was keeping Jackson for the morning. We loaded up the boys and took the for a walk.

It warms my heart to think of how close these little guys are going to be. Jackson will be 2 in January. Cal is going to look up to Jackson and I know they are going to be great friends. Chris and Elizabeth (my brother and sis-in-law) are having a little girl in March.... she just might be the most watched over little girl in the world with big brother Jackson and cousin Cal!

Carolina Game

This past Saturday, Eddie was out of town and I had Cal to myself and my parents had extra tickets to the UNC/Dook game. I REALLY wanted to go to the game. Before Cal, we went to a ton of games and tailgated and I always loved going. I have really missed the games this year, although I wouldn't trade my time with Cal for anything :).

My parents knew I was itching to go, so I dressed Cal in his finest Carolina Blue and we headed to the game! I was nervous about feeding/changing him at the stadium, but it all worked out okay. I pumped a bottle before we went, and I fed him in the parking lot before we went to the stadium. We changed him at the car too, and didn't have to change him again once we got into Kenan.

I loaded Cal into the Baby Bjorn and we headed in! He was GREAT! He slept in the Bjorn for the majority of the 1st half and everyone around us was commenting on how sweet he was and what a good baby he was. I was soooo thankful that he was a good baby! I was nervous because it wouldn't be fun to have an unhappy baby at a football game.

The temps were dropping as the sun set so we left at the half so that Cal wouldn't get cold. He was such a trooper and by then he was awake. I felt good with him in the carrier so that the germs around us couldn't get him very easily, and I didn't really want to take him out.

I took a few pictures, but he is so bundled that you can't even see him! It wa a great excuse to bounce up and down as the band played (I always want to, but can't do it and not look like a total goob, but with a baby, no one questioned me!).

Can't wait for next season to take him back!

Goooooo Heels!!!

Tuckered out!

All of this talk about Cal not sleeping on his back, and what does he do??

SIGH!

Tummy Time

We are working on some tummy time so that Cal can build up his neck muscles so that I don't have to worry about him sleeping on his tummy every night. Here are some pictures of him doing his tummy time on his Boppy pillow:

Halloween

Me and Eddie with our little PUP

We had such a fun time for Halloween! Mr. Cal was dressed up as a dog....it cracked me up! I tried the outfit on him at home first and I thought it was too cute. Hank was sniffing him and poking him thinking it was a stuffed animal for him. I took some pictures because there was no telling if he would cooperate later on in the night.

We took Cal over to our friend's house to go "trick-or-treating" with them. We ended up having a good group of people in a really fun neighborhood. The dads packed a cooler and the moms pushed strollers and tended to the kids.

Me and Katie with Miller and Cal (the dog pound)

It was SUPER hot here Halloween night so Cal stripped down out of his costume and sported a plain white onesie for the night. He started to get fussy as we were leaving Katie and Chapman's house so I took him out of the costume and carried him in my arms. He was so content and happy that I just carried him around for about an hour. He was sound asleep with his arm dangling down. I was sweating like crazy, but it was really fun.

We can hardly wait until next year's Halloween when he will be walking (maybe??). Having a baby makes this holiday so much for enjoyable. I wonder what he'll be next year.....

Sleep Wars

Oh, it's been a looooong time since my last post. I have been meaning to write, but never actually get around to it. I have been updating our MobileMe website often, so you can go there to see pictures.

I wrote before about working on getting Cal to sleep better. I talked with a lot of moms about what they did to get their kids down.

We tried mixing some rice cereal with some breast milk to give him in a bottle after his last meal of the day (I feed him until he's full and then give him a bottle mixed with the goods). The first night I tried it, he ate some of it, pulled away and then fell asleep. He woke up a few hours later ready to chomp down again.

We tried doing a routine and getting him to sleep in his crib (as opposed to my bed). It took 3 hours to get him calm, and by the time he was falling asleep, he was hungry again and ready to eat.

SO, I fed him the other night in my bed and then put him on my chest to burp him. He fell sound asleep on my chest (which I love, by the way), and I didn't want to wake him because he was so content, so I placed him in the bassinet next to my bed on his stomach. I know he is not supposed to be on his belly until he is old enough to roll over, etc.... but the kid sleep like a rock! He was out! He slept for 4 hours and then woke up to feed.

I am nervous with him on his stomach, but he loves it and that is the only way he'll sleep now. I am keeping him next to the bed so I can hear him. We have been feeding him at 12, 3, and 6....I am hoping to take out the 3:00 feeding. Hopefully that will be a post that will come soon!!!