Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Jase's 11th Week

Weight: Right around 14 lbs now! I feel like I'm pretty strong, & I struggle to carry him in his carrier....that joker is heavy!
I'm the same weight, but my body is looking more and more "normal."

Health: After more research, I think the drool is the early stages of teething, although that doesn't necessarily mean he is cutting teeth yet.

Still a big, healthy, happy boy. We are blessed he has a great demeanor and rarely fusses or cries. Love his big, bright eyes & sweet facial expressions!!

Fingernails are growing like crazy, & blonde hair starting to come back in.

I'm pretty sure he was having a "wonder week" leap this week. Glad Larissa reminded me to download the app....makes total sense! The babies are learning so much & their brains are almost on overload taking in all of the new info and learning their new skills.
Look how long he is!!!
Sleep: Yikes!!! This week was ROUGH in the sleep department!! Jase started waking up about 30- 45 min into every nap (hello, 45 minute intruder) and it was BRUTAL. He can roll over really well so I had to do a "convertible swaddle," but he'd still cry every time I'd lay him down on his back. Pretty much the only way he would sleep was on my chest. We tried dropping the dream feed and only did it if he woke up for it, so he was waking up around 1:30- 2:30 night for a quick 5-10 min feed, and straight back down. Then he would wake up again around 5, which made our 7 am start time prettttty tough. I slept through my alarm several days & ended up starting around 8-9. GOT to be consistent with wake time, so that's my goal for this week. And I have to get in bed earlier myself. Midnight and later is just not cuttin' it...
 
 
Nursing: Getting faster. I typically nurse one side for about 15-20 minutes, and offer the other side. He likes to take breaks

What Jase is up to: We went on our first little trip to Amelia Island with our Advocare teams. We had a BLAST!!!! We LOVE our Advocare family, & it was SO NICE to get away and unplug from the phone and computer for a few days.
Jase was seriously an angel baby in the car...stayed right on his schedule and slept the majority of the way. I nursed in the car once, pumped a bottle on the way, AND fed him in Ruby Tuesday. Jonathan was SO embarrassed (so I probably won't do that much anymore), but I had a nursing cover on, so I was cool with it.
 
Check out lil man's moves!!
Fun at Amelia!
Peyton & I won the egg toss. DUH! We don't mess around.
Beautiful Madison!
First ride in the stroller like a big boy with no carseat!
He can "hold his own bottle." Ha!
We are working on a 3.5 hour schedule now, and shooting for 7, 10:30, 2:00, 5:30, & 8:30-9.  It's happened a couple times, but sometimes he still wakes up ready to eat at 3 hours. Plus, our times have been off a little because of our later wake time.

LOTS more talking & cooing & singing this week! He is just the sweetest, happiest baby!!! Everyone talks about what a good baby he is and how he's so content. And so strong. And so alert. Proud mama!!
Rolling over like a champ!
And myyyyy goooodness this little man LOOOOOOOVES his daddy!!!
 
Smiling for Daddy...
 Loves his Grammy too!!
   
PostPartum: Been making it back to the gym a couple times a week. It is tough to find time, but I'm doing it. I get why people say they don't have time -I don't have anyone to watch him during the day, so I can't go then.  And nighttime is when we work our Advo business and go to church on Wednesdays, so time is limited for sure there too. BUT, I make it work. It takes discipline, effort, and planning. I try to cook supper during the day so it's ready in the evenings and just has to be heated up...that helps.

My posture is TERRIBLE from always hunching over to look at him, talk to him, nurse, etc. Going to make a conscious effort to improve that.

Baby Gear: Water Babies sunblock, Baby Hymns cd (he LOVES it!), Medela hand pump for the car, disposable changing pads, bouncie seat, play mat

Thoughts: Being a mommy is HARD work. There are so many unknowns, and babies are always changing. As soon as you have them "figured out," they go through another change- a growth spurt, wonder week, schedule change, new milestone, etc. I am learning to trust my mommy gut more...because nobody knows Baby Jase better than ME. I am also learning to embrace the fact that this is not an "easy job." I will never 'master' mommyhood and can only do my very best to prayerfully raise him the best way possible. It's definitely helpful talking to other mommy friends and get advice- I'm super thankful for a strong network of moms!! But still,  I was thinking back to his first few weeks, and how incredibly HARD it was. I was wondering if I painted a realistic enough picture during the first few weeks on the blog, because I tend to be overly optimistic and choose to focus on the positive (which I happen to think is a good quality- it definitely makes me a happier, more pleasant person).
But ya know what? No matter how challenging this is and will always be, I have NEVER experienced anything more rewarding. EVER. I LOVE his sweet smiles, his cooing, and him singing with me about Jesus. I LOVE watching him with Jonathan and how Jon just goes straight daddy mode any time he is around Jase. (There is something REALLY HOT about watching your hubby be so in love with a baby & being such a JAM UP father.) I LOVE knowing I am teaching him about the Lord & raising a little man. I LOVE watching him grow & learn. I feel SO BEYOND blessed knowing God CHOSE me to be this precious little fella's mommy.

12 comments:

Christy said...

Parker was an early droller and didn't cut his first tooth until 3 weeks before he turned 1. Hopefully Jase will have a better week in the sleep department!

Anonymous said...

Nursing will get easier in public as time goes on. The more comfortable you get, the more comfortable everyone around you will be. My husband was self conscious about it a little with our first but now with our second it's no big deal to nurse anywhere. A nursing baby is quieter than a crying baby. :)

Emily said...

I loved this post! I could hear your voice when reading it :) I love that last picture of him too! And DANG that child has LONG LEGS!!!!! Do you or Jon have super long legs? I will have to look next time I see yall haha. Glad your first little vaca went so well and how fun that so much family got to be there too!

Speaking of babies always changing...that little head rest thing in his car seat may be ready to go! I remember I had it in Kye's seat FOREVER and never realized it was for newborns only and was supposed to come out at like 11 lbs or something! You may wanna check haha Even still I forget about stuff like that! I have to keep reminding myself to check their car seats and all to make sure they are still the right sizes for them! You're right, it NEVER stops changing!!!!

Unknown said...

Precious!

Pamela said...

Love his lil hat :) So handsome!

Unknown said...

He is so handsome and SO long, wow! This is random, but you know how you mentioned how heavy those carseats are? I was watching something on quints and the Dad muscled 3 of those bad boys at once and I was super impressed. Those things are H.E.A.V.Y. Love watching him grow!

Mama’s Minute said...

Yay! Jase you are a rock star! We love you so much! Vann will be here soon and you can teach him a thing or two, smart boy!

So proud of you Danielle!

Love you guys!

Robyn said...

I feel like I can totally relate to you on the sleeping issues. While we were VERY intentional with every choice we made with Coop (regarding sleep) from the moment we came home from the hospital, he did NOT sleep through the night by the time he "should" have been. And boy did we do EVERYTHING! It took forever (like 6 months), but eventually he did get it and is now a rockstar in the sleep department. Just hang in there, you are doing a GREAT job!

Anonymous said...

Love your sweet pictures....From a Mommy of 3 the very best advice I can give you (that my pediatrician gave me) ease up on the schedule, they will put themselves on a schedule. Once I did that my life got much better:)

Anonymous said...

I got a treadmill, free weights , and stability ball. Got workouts from pinterest and other sources. I never had to worry about leaving my baby boy and saves money on gas, and gym memberships! Plus... As he has gotten older, he loves to workout WITH me! It is showing him a healthy lifestyle !!! Just some food for thought ;-)

Unknown said...
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Anonymous said...

My husband used to get embarrassed about nursing in public too. There is absolutely nothing wrong with nursing in public! Your son needs to eat when he is hungry. Once my husband realized a quiet nursing baby is so much better than a crying hungry baby, nursing in public became no big deal. No one has said anything negative about me nursing, only compliments, which helped him become more comfortable too. Stay calm and latch on! You're doing a great job mama!