Alex's first camping trip

This past weekend we took Alex on his first camping trip.  I was a little nervous, because last weekend, we went to DC for the day and the car ride didn't go so well.  But, this trip went suprisingly well.

We took him wheeling this weekend.  It was so exciting for him that he slept through all of the rides. It was the first time he got to sit in the seat facing front.









The craziest part of the weekend was when Matt, Stacy, Andrew, Alex, and myself went looking for the mud hole.  Up to this point we had done some pretty technical trails and had some fairly tense moments when we thought the truck might not get to keep going.  But we had successfully done two day rides and one night ride.   Then we went looking for the mud hole.

We found a water hole, not the mud hole Matt was looking for, but it was fun.  Matt was driving and we being a wussy about going through the water.  We finally talked him into going through the puddle.  I wanted him to go one way, he decided to go the opposite.

It took a few minutes to get wenched out and then about another 30 minutes to get the car dried out.  We were very lucky and the car is fine.  Very muddy, but still working.

Catching Up...

Okay, so it turns out that I am not very good at this blogging thing.  I am going to try harder to at least get something down once a week.  But for now, I should catch up on what has happened.

Alex is now 8 months old, he eats tons of food, is crawling all over the place, and babbles like crazy.  He is a very vocal little man and very cute.  He loves pretty much everything including his mommy and daddy.
Here is Alex right after he was born. He spent a week in the NICU, but I have already written about that.

I can't believe Alex was ever this small.  He was 2 weeks old.

This was one of my favorite outfits.  He used to cut himself with his nails, so we put these cute little gloves on him.

Here he is starting to sit up in his bumbo.  The bumbo is the best invention in the world.  He loved to sit in this thing.  I believe he was 2 months old in this one.

Alex's halloween costume.  He was a monkey. 

Alex loves to go on his walks with Daddy.  Most of the time he falls asleep.  This trip was in December, we had just gotten him a snow suit and hat.  I love this hat.

Alex is a very busy boy.  He can sit up by himself and climb out of the bumbo, so it is now only used with the try to feed him when we go out.  He can crawl from room to room and now is even standing up holding on to objects.

When we started bathing Alex, he was on this contraption that looked kind of like a bed in the tube.  The he graduated into the kitchen sink once he could sit up, and now he plays in tub.  He loves bubbles and bath toys.  He doesn't seem to mind water over his head and now our bathtub looks like it belongs to a child.  It is very odd for me to have my life and bathroom turned upside down.

Family Pictures

Well, it took three weeks to coordinate, but we finally got everyone together to take family pictures. This is something my family hasn't done in a very long time. And now I remember why. After much debate and rescheduling, we settled on Sunday at 3pm. Everyone would meet at my parents house and we would take the pictures in front of the wood pile. It would look rustic, but not like a back drop.



Now, what to wear. My mom had bought my nephews matching sweaters to wear for their annual pictures at Sears, so we went with a color palate that would match that. Everyone was told to wear blue jeans and either a red, black, or white shirt. The black was for me, being only 3 1/2 months post baby, I need it to cover the jiggly parts.

Finally, it is time. Everyone has arrived, the Redskins are winning, time to get the pictures before the skins loose and ruin the moods of my brothers. We start out inside and take some pictures in front of the bay window. My mom has dragged out this horrible picture we took in the 90s and now we are trying to recreate it. It is a shame my younger brother weighs about 150 pounds more now than when we originally took it.



Next, we move on to our outdoor shots.  This actually goes remarkable well.  We took a variety of shots that included the whole family, each individual family, grandparents and grandkids, ect.  Emily was kind enough to take the picture for us and I don't think I can ever thank her enough.

 Alex did very well during the photo shoot, but by the end, he was unamused and wanted a nap.  I am happy to say that we not only got some great shots, but actually had enough to make books for my parents and siblings that included pictures of Alex and the family from 2009.  They made for great Christmas presents.

Circumcision

Wow, what a highly debated topic this is.  I had no idea that it would be so controversial for Matt and I to decide not to circumcise our child.  Everyone has an opinion and is more than happy to share it.

I left this decision up to Matt.  My only conditions were:
1. If we decided to have this done, it be done in a urologist office, not the hospital.
2. He was going to have to take him to have it done, I would not.

I prefered to not have our child cut, but felt like that was a decision that his father should make.  Matt did a ton a research, polled all of our friends, and finally decided not to do it.  This made me very happy. 

Breastfeeding

I never thought of myself as the kind of mom who would breast feed my child.  I alway found it to be a little creepy.  However, after attending my natural childbirth class and being around a bunch of people who planned on breastfeeding, I felt like I should at least give it a try.

From the begining, it was a challange.  Alex was in the NICU for a week being bottle feed, he had a tounge tie, that made it difficult for him to latch, and he just didn't seem interested. 

I pumped every two hours the first week he was in the NICU.  It took about 4 days for my milk to come in and once it did, boy did I know it.  We tried to get him to latch on towards to end of his stay in the NICU, however he would just get so upset, his breathing would get elevated again, and it was a little bit of a disaster.  Finally, the lactation consultants gave me this nipple shield that basically turned my boob into a bottle.  He took immediately to that and I thought we had solved our problem.

About a month into feeding him, I had noticed that my supply had gone down substancially, and I could not figure out why.  I told Matt about my concerns and he didn't think it was a problem. Well, one day I went out to the lactation center to get e new bra and found out that I was suppose to be pumping evertime I used the shield.  I had not know that and it caused my supply to dwindle.  Apparently, if you use the shield, there is not the direct stimulation needed to keep your supply going.  I immediately started pumping after each feeding and also drinking mother's milk, a tea that helps to promote milk production.

I continued to breastfeed Alex for another month.  The week right before I started back to work, I moved him over to only bottle feeding.  He still got breast milk, since I was pumping, just from a bottle.  I was much happier with this arrangement.  I had been so fustrated with the whole process, and I liked being able to see exactly what he was taking in at each feeding.

The kid on the block

Well, having a new baby is definately a challange.  Matt and I are very thankful that Alex is such a easy going and well behaved baby.  It doesn't change the fact that having a newborn is exhausting.  When Alex came home, he would wake up once a night to eat and that was great.  However, you are still only getting 3-4 hours of sleep at a time.  The first couple of nights, we were okay.  We even thought, "This isn't so bad."  But after about two weeks of never getting more than four hours of sleep at a time, we are now offically exhausted.

Doctors, Doctors, and more Doctors

We brought Alex home on a Monday, then had to take him to the Pediatrician on that Tuesday to be weighed in and have his vitals checked.  That appointment wasn't too bad, lots of questions to answer and some poking and prodding at the little man.

I also had to take him to and ENT to have his tongue tie corrected.  This was probably worse for me than for Alex.  I took my mom with me, and boy am I glad I did.  We got to the doctors office and the nurse was kind enough to let me nurse him before they started messing with him.  Then I had to hold him in my lap while they numbed and snipped the tissue that was attaching the tip of his tounge to his month.  Alex screamed and I cried while to procedure was happening.  It took no time really, and once it was over, Alex was fine.  I think I may be traumatized forever now though.  It is the worse thing to have to haold your baby while he screams and know there is nothing you can do.

He has now been to the pediatricians office about 10 times.  Most of the appointments were for well baby visits, but at least three have been because of his breathing.  He now has a nebulizer and is on singular once a day.  He is a very congested baby, and sometimes at night, he sound absolutely horrible.  His doctors say he will be that way for the duration of winter, but then it should get better.