Pictures and potty time

Aaron's pictures are available to view at www.cheriesphotography.com. Click order online and scroll to my name.

We've had some excitement at our house. Alex is well on his way to being potty trained. I had no intentions of working with him on this because he did not exhibit the "signs" of being ready. While at my parents he started asking to go on the potty. He's continued ever since. We are going on little over a week of only night time diapers. I had gotten Pull-Ups but abandoned that idea and decided to go cold turkey. The first day of doing so was a bit of a struggle but after a couple of times of having wet pants he cooperated. He need some help with pooping, so last night I got him a poop book. He had me read it several times this morning and tonight he felt comfortable enough to go on the potty! He's even told me he needed pee in public ( I put him in a Pull -Up then just in case). I'm so excited about this milestone!

smiles, belly laughs, b-days and beer!

That's just some of what we have been up to in 2010!

Today is my last day of being toddler free. Alex took his first vacation away from us starting on Friday afternoon. It's been kind of strange not having him around. It's been quiet and almost boring. I'm glad though that he can be away from us and not get upset about it. Of course, what could be better than hanging out with grandparents!?

Paul held his annual stout party this past Saturday which was the reason Alex wasn't around. He would have LOVED the people, but I figured bedtime and trying to get things ready while he was around might be a problem. The party mostly consisted of fellow brewers. Thankfully there were a few women.

Paul "celebrated" his 31st b-day on the 8th. It was very uneventful. My present didn't turn out and the dessert he picked wasn't made because I didn't have all the ingredients. He had to shovel when he got home, so Alex and I had to eat without him. His request for his birthday meal was, in his words, "a big, nasty omelet." I kind of felt bad for him, but he didn't seem to really care. I did finally make his peanut butter bars this week.

Aaron has turned in to quite a little Buddha baby. We've been surprised by him. We figured we were doomed after Alex being such an easy baby. Some how we managed an even better tempered baby! I have no idea how that worked. I'm a little leery because Alex was a very good baby, but he is a very stubborn and on the go toddler. I think we pay in toddler hood. I'm hoping this trend doesn't continue or else our excellent baby will be even more work than Alex as a toddler. YIKES! :)

Aaron has found his voice and has been giving us huge belly laughs. He is so smiley....except for yesterday during his first photo session. He was too focused on what was going on. He did manage to make a huge poopy diaper about 10 minutes in. UGH...I used every wipe I had and hoped he was finally done. He isn't a napper. He's more of 30 minutes of napping here and there. I'm not quite used to that. Thankfully the lack of napping doesn't make him fussy. It will be interesting to see if he is an anti napper as he gets older.

When Aaron's pictures are up, I will put the link to them on here.

End of a decade

I entered the new decade and millennium in an ambulance ride along. It was very uneventful night in emergency services! Although that night was low key, the years to follow have been anything but. I thought I'd list my most memorable events over the last ten years. They are joyful, terrifying and heartbreaking. ( Not in chronological order)

1) Our marriage in 2002
2)Our honeymoon to England
3) Sept. 11
4)The death of baby Hope Toomey
5) Surviving a pulmonary embolism
6) Diagnosis of Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome
7) 3 miscarriages
8) The birth of Alex and Aaron
9)My crazy/scary pregnancy with Alex
10) Diagnosis of Cyclic Neutropenia
11)The ends and beginnings of many friendships
12) Our many vacations
13) The flood of 2009
14)The adoption and loss of several pets
15) Our first house

Tonight we aren't doing anything special to ring in the new year. I think we will watch a movie or play chess. We are having a fun kid friendly meal of pigs in a blanket and mac and cheese. Alex isn't a fan of mac and cheese, so I'll be making an adult version. I suspect the pigs in a blanket should be a big hit.

So, goodbye to a decade and 2009. May goodness and humanity find some way to prevail in this ever crazy and changing world!

'tis the season

I got a nice surprise on Thursday....Paul doesn't go back to work until after the first of the year!!! I knew he had the week after Christmas off, but I didn't realize he had this week off, too. It's kind of been a tradition that he takes off all the Fridays in Dec (this used to be a bigger deal when he didn't normally get off at 12 on Fridays) and the week after Christmas. It's always a lot of fun. Sometimes we rent movies or work on house projects. This year possibilities are endless. I could read my magazines that have piled up since Oct. 28th, crochet, embroider, organize my recipes...the list goes on and on.

We kicked off the "vacation" by taking Alex to McDonald's for lunch on Friday. This might not seem like much to most people but that was only the 2nd Happy Meal he has ever had. Plus we let him play in the playland * and the world collectively cringes*....I know...we are askin' for sick child.

Speaking of sickness, Alex never misses an opportunity to work his mojo on the ladies. Paul took him to get his H1N1 shot on Thursday night. I guess he really hammed it up. He didn't cry but announced, "I did it!" and continued to wave at the people and tell them he did it. :)

Here are some pics that I promised:

Festivities and Smiles

Wow, almost a month since my last post! Guess I better put down the bon-bon bucket and do something productive! :)

Where to start....well, Dec 6th was Aaron's baptism. It was a fun weekend. Grandpa Bede and Grandma Rose made the trip down and this was their first time meeting Aaron. Of course, Alex was psyched! Rose and I were in the kitchen most of Saturday trying to prepare for the next day, so Paul and Grandpa spent most of the time entertaining Alex. I wasn't planning an all afternoon/evening cook fest, but I had a little trouble with the cake. In fact, lately I seem to be having lots of trouble with many things. I feel like Aaron gets the short end of the stick...but I guess it's not on the things that really matter. For instance, Alex's cake was cut in the shape of a cross and decorated, and well,....take a peek ...I'm almost too embarrassed to post this. I had some issues with frosting the first cake, so I decided to let Alex take over. At 9:00 pm the last thing I wanted to do was go all out on cake decorating.

On Thursday night we went to Santa's Village. As we got to Santa my battery died in my camera, and I didn't have the back up battery! Ugh. So, one terrible picture of Alex with Santa later and NO picture of Aaron with Santa and we were on our way.

Friday we ventured out around Perham, MN to cut down our Christmas tree. This has been an annual event for 4 years now. I thought we'd try a different sort of tree...it looked full and beautiful. However, it hurts like you know what!!!! I refused to help with the lights last night because I kept getting poked . After a couple of pokes, I was having trouble controlling my mouth... I thought it was best I just took pictures. :) Alex had fun wandering through the trees. It took quite a while with him. He stopped to carry "trees" (branches) and then when he saw just a stump from an already chopped down tree he would bend over and yell "Tree fall over...are you alright tree?? Are you alright???" Then he started waving and saying "Hi Alex" to his shadow. It took me a little bit to figure out what in the world he was doing. I'm glad I bundled us both up because we would have been popsicles at the rate we were going.

Sunday was an exciting day. Aaron gave us his first non-gassy smiles. He's is such a little chunk. Alex has picked up on this and calls him our chunky baby....I prefer chunky monkey. :) He's in that old man looking stage....you know, where they lose their hair. I loved his dark hair, so I hope it comes back in just as dark. Alex and I made gingerbread cut outs. His favorite part was decorating

I seem to be bit behind with Christmas. We are still pulling out decorations. I have a few more gifts to get and my big holiday baking plans are extremely minimal this year. I figure I have a good excuse. Next year should be less hectic!

I'll try to post more pics soon.

I surrender...kind of

to you, Member's Mark formula maker! After a long weekend of recording all sorts of information, the lactation consultant told me I was a low milk producer. My only option was taking a pill that can cause a disorder that may or may not be reversible....as if I don't have enough medical problems. :) She then told me she was sure I did everything I could to make it work but some milk was better than nothing....and good luck. I'm all for breastfeeding and lactation consultants can be very helpful; however, they need to learn how to encourage and be supportive of mothers that really want to nurse but aren't able. There is a lot of guilt and failure a mother feels when her body doesn't do what it's meant to do. They tend to make formula feeding seem like the greatest of all evils. The consultant pretty much brushed me off after deciding that I probably wouldn't breastfeed exclusively.

I decided I would continue to nurse with what I have and always follow with formula. I assume my supply will continue as long as it is being used. I guess it's the best of both worlds??!! I was very happy to put away the pump. It is nice to be able to split the feedings with Paul at night. I actually get several hours of sleep! I can tell that Aaron is gaining his weight back. I'm excited to see what he weighs tomorrow.

This week has gone okay. Last night we got one of the best gifts. My cousin-in-law brought over a complete meal for us. We had pizza burgers (enough for two meals at least), pasta salad, fruit salad, dessert, and zucchini bread for breakfast this a.m. It was so nice to not have to worry about a meals for a while. Alex must be feeling a little attention deprived. At night he asks me to hold him a lot and wants to be carried. I'm not supposed to lift, but I carry him every once in a while. As for the holding, I really enjoy that part. It won't be too long until he won't want Mom. :)

Frustration

We had Aaron's two week doctor appt on Friday. Everything went well except he has not gained weight since we left the hospital. He is still 5 1/2 pounds. I knew he still looked small, but I didn't realize he wasn't growing. I've had to start supplementing him in addition to breastfeeding. I was really disappointed about having to do this because babies can become lazy and prefer the instant gratification of a bottle. The plan is to get a little fat on Aaron and then take away the supplementing and let him just nurse. I'm not too sure that's going to be the outcome. I've been in contact with the lactation specialist. Hopefully she can help me through this. I have a routine that I have to follow, and I've also started drinking raspberry leaf tea to boost my supply! Alex was a mostly a formula baby, and he's a pretty smart little cookie which helps ease my mind.

Tomorrow will be the first big test of my sanity. I will have no help this week! YIKES!!! I wouldn't be too worried if Alex hadn't come down with something. He's been running a temp of 102. This afternoon and evening have been terrible.

As far as Alex's interaction with Aaron....well, so far so good! There are times I can tell Alex feels a little left out....mostly when I'm nursing. He tries to be a very helpful big brother. I hope things continue to go well.