Wednesday, March 25, 2009

"Splish Splash! I was takin' a bath!"

Here are some cute videos of Brock from his bath tonight. I kid you not, when I say that he is like this EVERY time he gets a bath. He LOVES bath time :-)
Here's another one! Don't mind our nasty bathtub. Our bathroom is on our project hit-list for next year. This year is new windows!! Coming April 25th! I'll have to get some before & after pictures before we get started :-)

...and we're back to the swaddle...

Oh my goodness... the last few nights have been a little rough. Brock hasn't gotten any better with sleeping without the swaddle, so last night I decided to try the swaddle again, but to let him sleep with one arm out and the other tucked in. He slept way better than he has since I decided to cut it out cold-turkey. I guess we'll just have to slowly transition him out of it.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Success!!

Brock actually slept MOST of the night last night without being swaddled!!! I didn't sleep very well because I was nervous about him sleeping on his belly. He woke up once to flip over, and then again to eat. I am so glad that it went well.

Here's to hoping we make it through night #2 without the swaddle!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

1st night without swaddling!

Wish us luck!!! Last night, Mr. Brock decided that after five months of being swaddled to bed, he would somehow manage to roll over in his sleep (while still in his swaddle) and sleep on his belly. Well, weirdly enough, Winston (our 150lb dog) managed to get out of his kennel and push open Brock's bedroom door. So I wake up and put Winston back in his kennel, go to bed and turn on the video monitor to check on Brock - sound asleep, still on his back. Not even 10 minutes later, Brock is awake, crying. I go to his room (in the dark) and try to put his pacifier in his mouth... except his mouth wasn't where it should have been! Instead it was the back of his head!!! So, needless to say I couldn't sleep the rest of the night, for fear that he would do it again! I put him to bed almost 30 minutes ago, and he's sleeping soundly on his back with no swaddle and no blanket! We're going to quit cold-turkey! So please, wish us luck tonight! He's a really fidgety sleeper, so I'm hoping his jerking around won't wake him up a million times tonight.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Growing so fast!

Slow down buddy!! I think Brock will be crawling soon! I got a funny picture of him with his little butt in the air the other day. He's pretty close to sitting up by himself too! Here he is with a little help from my boppy. Oh! And he was having a bad hair day the other day too!!



Just a few days shy of 5 months!


My friend Kathryn had her little boy early this morning! I can't wait to see him. So Kat, just wanted to congratulate you and Chris on welcoming baby Dean Harley to the world! We can't wait to see him!!!! Glad you guys are doing well!

Monday, March 9, 2009

The stresses of a working mom

This is a major vent, so forgive me. Let me start by saying that I thought this whole working-mom thing was going to be a breeze! I am VERY fortunate to have a flexible job that allows me to have a home office, where I start and end each day. I am blessed that I can have Brock home with me on my "office days," and even on my "road days" he's with Spike's sister while I'm away. I've been working since Brock was 6 weeks...this week he'll be 5 months and this transition hasn't gotten any easier for me. In the beginning, I thought everything would be fine and I would be able to handle it. Well, last week and so far this week (yes I know its only Monday) proved me wrong. I had a breakdown last Thursday. Brock was fussy because he was constipated, I was swamped with work of my own, plus I agreed to helping one of my co-workers with some of her work. Every time I tried to put Brock down for a nap, he'd have a meltdown. Eventually my work stress and his fussiness caught up with me, and there I sat, with Brock in my arms wailing, sitting in the rocking chair in his room, bawling my eyes out. It was ridiculous. I'm not totally sure I've recovered from that. I had to work the entire weekend to try to make my hours. Even today, I'm not sure that's going to happen. My job is getting pretty hard with the MI unemployment rate being so high. Its hard to find jobs for people who have work restrictions due to work-related injuries. Today I had to force myself to stop working at 5:30pm. My mind was exhausted. To top that off, my house is ridiculously messy. I don't think I've vacuumed in almost a week... I can see dust bunnies in the corners of the living room (hard woood floors, there are dirty dishes all on my counter tops... and Spike's been doing his best to get us caught up on our laundry). I just feel like this whole juggling act is beyond me! I really might have to consider hiring someone to help me clean the house once a month. I miss being able to spend time with Brock. By the time I'm done working or picking Brock up from his aunt's house, he's ready to eat one more time and go to bed. I cried the other night because I was on the road all day for work and he went to bed a 1/2 hour after we got home :-( I hope this gets easier. I hope Spike and I can find a way to keep up with the housework. And I really hope that my work doesn't take over my nights and weekends.

Everything is moving along in Brock's world! He's going to be crawling around in NO TIME! I'll have to post a video of him from this morning. I was cracking up! He can get up on his knees already! Once he builds his upper body strength, its only a matter of time before he takes off! Yikes!!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Play date!

So yesterday morning, Brock & I visited a friend of mine that I haven't seen in YEARS! We were best friends in high school and unfortunately did not stay in touch after we graduated. We occasionally touched base with each other throughout the last 10 years, but we both have recently married our high school sweethearts and have more recently welcomed our first baby into our lives. So we FINALLY met up yesterday so we could meet each others baby's. Her daughter, Mya is going on 8 months, and Brock is 4 1/2 months. It was so nice to see my friend, her husband, and their daughter! I just hope this is the beginning of a re-kindled friendship! Here are a few pictures of the kids playing!






Awwwww!!!

You're never too old...

... to enjoy Disney on Ice! My mom took my sisters, myself, and all of our kids to see Disney on Ice last night! It was soooo fun! Our seats were like 3 rows from the ice! The kids had so much fun! I couldn't believe that Brock actually stayed awake the entire time!!!
Brock enjoying the show!

My niece Lenna enjoying the show!

My nephew Brendan clapping along to "Life is a Highway" from Cars!




I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN!!!

My mom with all of her grandsons

My mom with all of her granddaughters