LIfe...Happens

Yeah sorry about that, I can't believe it's been since the end of July since I've done a blog post. Having a kid really cuts into my blogging time!

Summer was super busy at work, I have to say it's been one of the busier summers we've had in awhile. Now that its our off season, we are getting ready to move into our new facilities. It will be so nice to have a brand new facility to work in. I am looking forward for that upgrade. It is long overdue.

August was quite busy, most notable, we were able to take a family vacation to Bar Harbor! Now Ben and I have been visiting Bar Harbor ever since we've been dating, but we had to take the last 2 years off (wedding one year and baby last year!) so we were more than thrilled to be resuming our usual trip. The last time we were there, Ben proposed to me at sunrise on top of Cadillac Mountain. This year we took our son to the top! My how quickly life changes.

September seemed to fly by, we celebrated Brenden's first birthday! I can't believe that it's been a year! Having a baby really does change your life, in more ways than I can describe, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. He brings such joy to my life, that I didn't even know was possible.

First born

First fair (1 year old)

September we also restarted another tradition, going to the fair! We didn't make it to any fairs last year due to having a newborn and adjusting to that new life. So it was nice to get to go this year, we hit up Deerfield Fair and Fryeburg Fair this year. Mister Mans loved them both.

Now here we are mid way through October and fall is in full swing. When I am not at work, I spend my days with Mister Mans and getting to enjoy watching him explore and discover this new world. We have some baby play groups that we go to, which is great. A) it gets us out of the house and B) allows Brenden to get socialized with other babies. He knows how to wave (hello and goodbye) he claps and he dances... we are currently working on being gentle, since Brenden loves to slap other babies and gouge their eyeballs out. He's a strong crawler, but he is cruising along furniture/walking toy, so I have no doubt that he'll be walking any day now. Then the fun really begins for mommy...

He is such a great baby, I don't know if I want any more! We have been so blessed with him and he has been easy to us. But then again, I think a brother or sister will be good for him (and us), eventually... not rushing down that train just yet.

We have now been in our house over 6 months. We had a housewarming party in July, it was so good to see so many of our friends and family and to share our house with them. I can certainly see many more parties there. It's a great house and although we are still unpacking boxes, I very much feel at home there.

As far as my healthy living goes... well I went to a zumba class on August 1st and dislocated my knee cap. Man did that suck. I was on crutches for a hot minute, since crutches with a crawling baby do NOT work. And I was in a knee brace for 6 weeks. Even today, I am still in physical therapy trying to work on getting my knee back.

I know that my weight is largely to blame for my knee problems. And I am trying desperately to avoid surgery. I have cancelled my membership at planet fitness, it just isn't the right fit for me anymore. I am shopping around for a new gym. Right now the top contender is the YMCA, its a 30 minute drive each way, but it has child care and a pool. I can do water aerobics to help rehab my knee. They also do swim lessons for baby. which would be nice since that is something we really wanted to do for Brenden. Right now, the biggest hang up is the travel time. But I need to make it a priority for me.

Brenden's first birthday also marked a goal for me, 1 year of pumping. I made my ultimate goal! Now that I am weaning off the pump, I can start restricting my calories a little and not worry so much about eating enough to make milk. 

So where am I at? Well I am in the ball park of where I was before, 334. The knee injury really set me back. But now that I am going down a good path I need to get back into a routine, especially before winter/snow hits and I really want to hibernate! 

So that's about it for now. hopefully it won't be another 3 months before I get to update again, but who knows, life is never dull with a baby.

Back in the saddle again

In order to achieve my goal, I obviously need to do something.

I have been trying to figure out what would work for me. Do I try CrossFit? Do I try a gym that has a daycare facility, I've done classes before (zumba) that I've enjoyed, but then again I've been a member at Planet Fitness and enjoy that as well. I've run/walked a 5K, and in doing so I've determined that I am not a runner.

So when trying to get refocused, is it a good time to change and add something new? Or should I stick with what I know?

EPing journey / lip tied

Brenden is 10 months old now (holy cow) and I am nearing the end of my EPing journey. When Ben and I made the decision to EP, my long term goal was one year. One year of EPing with a freezer stash to get us thru cold and flu season. But when you are a stressed out and over tired new mom, one year seems like forever, so I went with mini-goals, and focused on 3 months at a time, When I made it 3 months, we tried for 6 and then for 9 and so on.

When Brenden was born, we had troubles breastfeeding. He had a difficult latch and also was very impatient with things, he would get frustrated when the milk wouldn't come quick enough. We had several meetings with the lactation people at the hospital, who said that he may have a tongue tie, so we went to our primary care doctor who referred us to an ENT doctor. He examined Brenden and said there was nothing structurally wrong with his mouth. I even had my chiropractor examine him since he shared his wife's struggles with breastfeeding. But after nothing, we went back to our primary care and she did a neuro evaluation, but again, he passed. Every test and doctor said there was nothing wrong with him.

In talking with the lactation people, they wanted us to go to Boston to get a second opinion, she really felt that he was tongue tied, and that it was presenting weird. But with the new mom over tiredness, and having already spent the first 2 weeks of his life in doctor's offices, I just couldn't anymore. So after talking over with Ben, we decided to EP.

Fast forward 10 months, we went back to the same ENT doctor for a chronic ear infection and while at the appointment, I had him check Brenden's lip for possibly being lip tied. And sure enough he agreed with me that he had one. Due to his age and how thick the tie was, in order for the doctor to correct it, Brenden would have to be put under. He suggested seeing a pediatric dentist in Massachusetts, who uses a laser to correct lip ties.

That is where Dr. Kaplan and Kid Care Dental comes in. I called an got an appointment that week. His office is nearly a 2 hour ride one way for me, but it was worth it. Dr. Kaplan has a great office, the staff are super friendly, and made this momma feel at ease. Dr. Kaplan took one look at Brenden's mouth and said, yes, he's got a significant lip tie, oh and he's got a posterior tongue tie as well. Separate, both can inhibit successful breastfeeding, but together can make it very difficult.

Dr. Kaplan said there wasn't a need to correct the tongue tie, but the lip tie was worth correcting, and best yet, he could do it right in the office, right now. Which is great, as it would save us from another trip down there. So after a quick chat with Ben about things, we opted to go ahead with the procedure.

I will say that the site looks nasty, I can't wait for it to heal over, and Brenden is not a fan of the post op care. We have to stretch out top lip as to prevent the site from adhering and having to go through this all over again. But I can already see improvement in his top lip, it doesn't seem as tight as it once was and when he takes his bottles, he's got a perfect seal.

I don't have any grand visions of getting Brenden to nurse, although it would be nice, he's 10 months old, he knows where to get his milk from, and it's not from my boob.

Dr. Kaplan did say that it was a shame that we didn't see him sooner, that if it had been caught sooner, that Brenden may have been able to be breastfed.

I was mad at first, here we tried to do everything right, and we saw plenty of doctors and we were told that everything looked normal. It was only after I thought I found something and asked did it get noticed. But then I reflected that no matter what we accomplished what we wanted, to give Brenden breastmilk - it may not have been the method we wanted, but the end result was achieved. In addition to deciding to EP, I've learned a lot more about pumping/breastfeeding/etc, which has enabled me to help others. But most of all, I've been able to donate my oversupply to several other babies. I've made friendships over EPing. We've fought thru clogs and MOTN pump sessions while everyone else is sleeping and more.

I will just chalk this up to knowledge and learning. Because when baby #2 comes in a few years, if there are any problems, I am going to keep after them.

I will post the before and after picture here for those who want to see it. It's a little graphic, but I think it serves a purpose. Brenden's lip tie was pretty "meaty" The doctor likened it to a sort of cleft palate, just with normal skin appearance on the outside. He also pointed out that it was mostly baby fat that he removed. His tie went from the roof of the lip and almost connected to the roof of his mouth. The gap in his teeth should close, but will most certainly be closed when his permanent teeth come in.

Goals... I got them

Before snow flies I would like to be below 300 so I can go for a beach ride with my favorite people and horses!

When I weighed myself this morning, I am 331.....

Let's make this happen

Boom!

We have a crawler!

While we were away on vacation (down to North Carolina) Mister Man finally got coordinated and started crawling! He'd been "assuming the position" for a solid 6 weeks before, and would do a step or two, but finally got everything coordinated and took off.

And he hasn't stopped since.

With his new found freedom he likes to wander around the house, if we leave the room, he tries to follow us.

On top of that we've discovered that he likes strings, tags, hair, shoelaces, anything that he can pull. Shoelaces being the big thing. Whenever he can, he makes a bee line for our shoes.

I love getting to watch him discover new things and pick them up to analyze them. He's such a great baby.

Yesterday we had a hearing test for him. Mister Man has been having chronic ear infections and we finally got an appointment to see an ear, nose and throat doctor. Actually it's the same doctor who evaluated him for the possibility of being tongue tied. The audiologist who performed the test said everything looked good that his hearing was great. So now we wait till next week to see the doctor about what he thinks. But I am already preparing myself for tubes.

Mister Man is also cutting his top 2 teeth. They are huge! Especially when compared to his 2 bottom teeth, no wonder the have been bothering him.

He also got to meet some more of his extended family, as my family was up for their annual trip to Bow Lake. His third cousins loved getting to play with him and show him around. I am hoping to continue to make that a tradition. Of course I didn't take any pictures... lame. What kind of mom and blogger am I?

But I did manage to take a video of him crawling. For all your viewing pleasure.



This video was taken at Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh, NC. We had a great time there.

Ben's First Father's Day

June also means that Ben got to celebrate his first father's day. I had to work the previous day, so I got home that morning.

I left the day to Ben to decide what he wanted to do. And what did he opt to spend his special day? He wanted to go to the movies alone.

To be honest, I was a little shocked, a day meant to celebrate being a father and he wanted to be alone (at least a few hours alone). To go see the new Fast and Furious.

But it's what he wanted, so I agreed (I was going to say, I let him do it... but I didn't let him do anything.)

But I did ask him to bring me back a movie popcorn, I haven't had one of those in forever!

So off he went for the early matinee. Then on his way home he stopped at the grocery store, picked up some steaks for dinner and then watched the NASCAR race and kept Little man entertained while I took a nap (again remember I worked the previous day).

It actually turned out to be quite the nice day, although we were caught up in the Little man, I never got a chance to actually call MY dad and wish him a happy Father's Day. I feel like a total piece of crap :-(

Oh and what did Brenden get him for Father's day? Well we decided back in May, that we would do a joint gift (Mother's and Father's day) and we bought a patio set for our deck. So excited about getting to use that hopefully this summer!

But now I really want to go to the movies alone... or maybe a movie date.

So over another month goes by...

Man, if I had any readership left, I am sure they've left me by now! I can't believe I've been so horrible about updating my blog!

We are solidly in June now, the start of summer! Little man turns 9 months on Friday! We are also leaving for North Carolina that night. We are heading down to visit Uncle Nick and Aunt Lindsay for a week. This will be little man's longest journey (car ride), to say I am a little nervous would be an understatement. Little man doesn't do car rides well, certainly not long car rides. We are hopefully leaving in the early evening. We are hoping that if we can trade off driving and sleeping, that little man will sleep thru the night like he usually does, and we can get a fair amount of miles in. Hopefully we'll be in North Carolina either mid afternoon or early evening Saturday. But we also know that anything can happen, and that he sets our schedule.

June is also my birth month. I'll be 31... wow... that's crazy. So much of my life has changed in the last 10 years. I wouldn't change anything. I love my life.

We also set the date for our housewarming party. We bought the house in March, we figured that July would be good for a party ;-) hopefully the weather is good so we can BBQ and entertain outside!

And also coming up is Little Man's first birthday. Ben and I have been talking about some themes and what we want to do for his birthday.

Setting the date for the housewarming will hopefully light the fire under our butts to get some more stuff squared away and some more unpacking done. I'd really like to try and see if we can get the pool opened up and see if it's usable. I really hope it does, I think it'll be great to have.

We have a lot of my extended family we'll be seeing this summer. And at the end of the summer, we'll be returning to Bar Harbor (better known as Bah Habah, to the locals) to visit with Ben's extended family. We haven't been the Bar Harbor in 2 years (between wedding and baby) so I am super excited about going back there!

So with the last post I reported that Little man had his first ear infection (and a double one at that!) Well he got the all clear from the doc that the infection had passed and was good for about a week before the next ear infection came on. We are just about done with the antibiotic and the doc today said the ears look good. But it looks like if this continues, little man is going to be getting some tubes. bummer... I never really had issues with ear infections, but Ben did as well as my brother. And I guess there is a heredity factor. Sigh, Little man is still a trooper and just rolls with the punches. He really is a great baby and I am so lucky he's been good. He still has his fussy moments, but all in all, I am super blessed.

On the weight front, I'm stagnate. I haven't done anything. I am 5 pounds above my pre-preggo weight. Not really using it as an excuse, but with the pumping schedule I am keeping, I just can't find the time to get to the gym. I am hoping that after I am done pumping I can utilize that time that I spent pumping, to get to the gym (and still manage to get a solid amount of sleep/rest). I am by no means slacking off, I still stay quite active with Little man and we do get out for the occasional walk, but I know that I can be doing more.

So that's about it, I hope to be updating more frequently! 

Another milestone

And one that I am not excited about. Little man was diagnosed with his first ear infection. Not to be outdone, he made it a double ear infection. He made it over 7 months and in fact he's still taking it in stride.

I am glad that Ben and I listened to our parenting instincts and took him to the doctor today. I figured the worst they could say was that we were first time parents and we overreacted. But as it turns out, we were right.

We caught it early, so the doctor seems to think that it'll clear up easily, but would like to see him back in two weeks, just to make sure it did clear out. He still wants to play and he's still being a great baby.

National Public Saftey Telecommunications Week

Today is the last day of National Public Safety Telecommunications week. I had originally wanted to post about this on Monday...

Marathon Monday.

But something caught me off guard, being that I work as an emergency dispatcher, I follow many feeds online for Police/Fire/EMS and when I saw a post come through about a bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, I thought, no way... that can't be true!

The last time I felt that way, was September 11th.

And just like then, this too would turn out to be no joke.

Thursday and Friday I was attending classes at the NH Fire Academy. As I was getting ready Friday morning, I had the news on to hear about the shootout and the officials placing Watertown, MA and surrounding communities on lock down. Driving up to the Fire Academy, there were signs on the highway, saying to avoid Boston area, check media.

All through the class, I kept my phone on and checked periodically at breaks for updates, hoping that they would find the suspect and this chapter would be over. But they wouldn't find the suspect until Friday evening, Ben and I were glued to the news broadcast. I was hoping that no other lives would be lost to this tragedy.

Well the subject has been apprehended, and I think Boston and most of New England breathed a sigh of relief. I had several friends in the lockdown area (as well as several who participated in the Boston Marathon) and I was so thankful that none of my friends were impacted (at least physically).

On top of all this, a fertilizer plant in West, Texas caught fire and exploded, decimating neighborhoods, and killing several people, mostly first responders.

A week were we are supposed to acknowledge dispatchers/call takers/telecommunicators for all the hard work they do, is marred by several tragedies.

I don't do this job for the recognition, I do this job, because I wanted to help people. This profession is not for all, it takes someone with the right mix.

I am thankful for the first responders who worked quickly to identify and apprehend the suspects. I can only imagine how stressful and tense those situations must have been. I mourn for the loss of the innocents, and the MIT police officer. May they rest in peace knowing that the first responders worked diligently to get the job done.

We are Boston Strong.

I would also like to take a moment to say thank you to my dispatcher friends for the jobs that you do. It's not easy work, you don't get paid nearly enough for the amount of stuff (crap) you have to deal with, but you do make a difference, and know that no matter what, you are the calm voice in the dark.

6 month update

I've been such a neglectful blogger. But with all the changes in my life, mostly baby and house, something had to give, and it seems like this blog was it. I am hoping that I can started updating on a more regular basis, than say once in 5 months!

Brenden is doing super, at his 6 month well baby check-up, he weighed in at 18 pounds 5 ounces (he was 8 pounds 12 ounces at birth). And continues to meet all of his milestones.

It's amazing to see how much changes in such a little amount of time. First it was this:

And now it's this:

I love chubby baby legs!

He's really developing his own personality and it's funny to be with him. I love that I have a job that enables me to spend most of my time with him - oh but how I miss him when I do have to work.

Brenden started solids about a month ago, he seems to really be enjoying trying new foods. Pretty much the only things he really is fussy about is food and napping. I guess he really is my kid then!

On Monday, I discovered that he is cutting his first tooth! Poor little man, he was in so much pain with it. It's hard to hear that painful cry of your baby. 

My little guy has a sensitive side, he sympathetic cries. Which I discovered while we were attending a mommy group, and there were other little babies there that were fussy, he was playing with his toys, heard the other babies crying and immediately started crying too. It was hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing. He also cried, when I injured myself, and I was crying/yelling out in pain.... again it made me laugh.

Brenden has been sleeping thru the night since about 2.5 months... (knocking on every wood source I can find!) with only a few nights since that he wakes up. Mostly it's due to an environment change, like when we moved into the new house, or some other big change (cutting teeth).

He is really a great baby.

At his 6 month well baby check, the doctor asked me how long I planned to continue pumping, she was thrilled that I made it 6 months. I said that I have good days and bad (when it comes to pumping) but that ideally my goal is to pump for a year and have enough frozen to get him through cold/flu season next year. But that I make mini-goals of 3 months at a time.

Although exclusively pumping is working for us, it's not for everyone, it's a lot of hard work and dedication. I wouldn't be able to do as much as I've done if it wasn't for my husband's love and support. He's been amazing through all of this. But I know it was important for both of us, that our baby have breast milk.

I had a full supply of milk come in, so much that we had to go out and buy a deep freezer at Thanksgiving time. Sadly a local mother passed away in December, she had twin boys who were born a week after Brenden and the twins were not doing well on formula. So her family put out a call for donor milk, by some reason, I found out about this and was able to donate milk to the twins. It came at a perfect time, because my freezer was full and I had no clue what I was going to do with all of the milk. I have since donated to the boys one other time, easily totaling over 2000 ounces of milk to them. I am extremely happy that I was able to do this especially given the fact that Brenden never took to nursing.

I've also become a resource for other moms, both in person and online for mom's who are looking for information about exclusively pumping. I am so grateful to the moms who helped me, it's nice to be able to share information and give back to others.

Also, several of my friends are now pregnant. So it looks like Brenden is going to always have some friends to play with (and LOTS of potential girlfriends!)

My life seems perfect right now. I am so content.

Oh I have a blog?

A while back my brother mentioned that I hadn't blogged in quite a while... I didn't even realize till just now it had been since OCTOBER! Seesh... it's overused, but where does the time go?

Oh that's right, I have a 6 month old, and a new house.

You heard that right my bloggy friends, not only did we just have a baby, we decided that buying our first home was a good idea as well! In all honesty, we would have liked to have purchased our house before Brenden was born, but it just wasn't in the cards, we are so thankful that we waited, as the house we did purchase is just perfect for us and our family!

Of course me being the super awesome person (blogger) that I am, I do not have a single picture of my house. (fail!) What is nice is that it's located only 12 minutes from my old apartment - which made moving SO easy.

We moved St. Patrick's Day weekend, and we are still trying to unpack and get settled.

We've found that everything is twice as difficult with a baby. It seems as though once you get into a good groove the baby knows it. I swear, he's out to get us!

Ben and I couldn't be more happier with our house, we are closer to my work, closer to daycare, closer to my friends. It's a win/win for everyone! We've been told that we live in a really nice neighborhood, which after walking around, I would tend to agree! And we've seen many little ones around.

The space! I love how much space we have! Although in a few years I am sure I will be complaining that it's not enough. But we went from a 2 bedroom apartment to a 3 bedroom oversized ranch. It has a beautiful deck off the back of the house, overlooking the river, we have a neat little fire pit and what I envision will be a great evening hang out spot (fire pit with some Adirondack chairs) down by the river.

It's a house that needs a little work, but it's work that we can do while we live there, which is what we wanted.

Hopefully once we get a little bit more settled we'll be able to have some sort of open house where our friends can come and see our new place.