Weekend Recap

This was the best weekend I have had in a long time!  We made the trip down to College Station to spend time with fantastic friends.  Luke did pretty well on the trip down...

All smiles

We got to my friend's farm just in time to feed the little guy, have our own dinner and let the kids hang out for a few minutes before putting Luke to bed.  Except he didn't really sleep.  SO...actually Friday was a little rough.  Thankfully Hayley (my friend that we stayed with) has three girls so they're used to crazy but we definitely bring our own breed of crazy when we travel!  Her whole family made us feel so welcome and loved and it was great to catch up and laugh about old memories...even if Luke was squawking in the pack 'n play most of the night! 

Saturday, we got up early and did Luke's 1 year pictures around their land.  Hayley's girls were big helpers and Hayley had all these great ideas.  The pictures turned out UH_MAY_ZING and I'm so happy with them!  I'll post the rest after his birthday party but here's one of the out takes (still need to process these to get the scratches off his face):



Ooooookay... And because I'm excited and terrible at surprises here's a good one too...

Obviously I'm biased but I think he makes that wagon look GOOOOOOOD!  And honestly, those aren't even the best.  You'll die.  Or at least I do.  So, check back next week for the really good ones!

Saturday afternoon really warmed my heart.  Not only did I get to spend time with friends that I love and miss but to see all our kids playing together (or at least next to each other!) was so much fun!  There were six kids total and I think everyone had fun.  There really is something so amazing about seeing your kids playing with your dear friends kids.  Maybe it's because we were basically "kids" when we all became friends (sorta...okay we were 19 but we were definitely young and stupid so whatever). Kelsey and I both really enjoyed the weekend and it's made me miss our friends even more!!!  Here's a couple pictures to record the chaos:

Sammie and the dog and the stuffed animals all "attacking" Kelsey and Luke.   

Getting all the toys out.  Espeically the little tiny pieces for Luke to put in his mouth ;)

This picture actually shows a lot.  Luke played with a LOT of pink with all these girls.  And Kelsey is in the background making frosting from scratch (don't ask!)...and Taylor, the oldest of the kids, was a pseudo-babysitter.  That's Patrick and Whitney there on the couch and Annabelle, our nine year old lab mutt was the best farm doggie we could have asked for!

I absolutely, positively love when my friends love on Luke.  And in just the short time that we were in College Station, I learned a lot about being a better mommy.  I really hope the lesson sticks and I can loosen up a little bit and not stress so much.  That's Hayley just doing what she does best... mommying and multi-tasking...

Headed out to the pool!

It felt a lot better in the shade for the little ones.  The splash pad was a big hit!  (oh, and by the way, how cute is little Jack???  He's just over two months and already hanging with the big kids.  He's a trooper!)

 

Shortly after this pic, Kelsey lost his wedding ring and I lost one of my favorite shoes.  Luke was wiped out and went to bed without a fight.  The dads threw the football while us mamas had some cold drinks and the older kids ran around playing. It was exactly how I always thought having a family would be!  

Oh....And Kelsey found his wedding ring (in the trash) and I found my shoe (in the bottom of my suitcase, oops).  

And speaking of mamas, check out this pregnant pig.  She's so pregnant her back feet would lift off the ground and she'd get "high centered".  POOR MAMA!



So...that was our weekend in general - I loved seeing my friends.  I can't tell you girls how good it was for my soul --- and my family -- to spend that time with you and your families.  It's so nice when the husbands get along, the wives get along and now the kids.  Not too many friendships work that well... I needed that!  And seriously... let's do it again soon!

Closing Down the Dairy Farm

I know I've been a bad blogger, but I seem to be going through a bit of a funk.  Here's the background... most of you probably know that I've been exclusively pumping since Luke was born.  I have named my pump (Patsy the Pumper).  I have pumped in the car (moving down the highway, in parking garages, you name it), in airport restroom stalls, empty conference rooms, dressing rooms, the hair salon, ranch houses (on a fun weekend trip), warehouses (on a not-so-fun work trip).... the list goes on and on.  Needless to say, it has not been an ideal nursing situation but one that I felt -- along with his pediatrician-- gave Luke the best shot at catching up nutritionally.   I mean...remember this little man?

Without going into medical-ese here on the blog, Luke was on special fortifiers until he was nine months old.  It added extra calories and nutrients that most babies get in the third trimester that Luke missed out on and helped to pack on the pounds as well as boost his overall health.  But it meant a LOT of pumping.  I literally pumped every three hours for exactly fifteen minutes.  I had timers set and would drop what I was doing, thus all the random pump places.  Even during the night until Luke was 6 months old.  We added it up and at 11 months, I had spent around fifteen straight days pumping!!! 

The good news is my body seems to be made for milking--- I swear I must have been a wet nurse in some "previous life"!  We finally bought a standing commercial-grade freezer for the garage so we could stock pile and have a plan for my work trips.  And stock pile we did.  We packed so much frozen milk into the freezer that we couldn't even fit a frozen pizza out there.  Only one problem... Luke wouldn't drink the thawed milk.  But we continued to stock up... you know, just in case.  At nine months, when we were given the green light to take him off fortifier, I was thrilled.  In fact, I had the pediatrician give me formula that day.  We tried it.  And Luke puked.  Not just spit up, but his reflux-y, Emily Rose resembling all out vomit.  And that is soooooo not my favorite thing.  So we backed off.  Tried it a week and a half later.  Same thing.  And so on and so on.  SO, I continued to pump.  And we started to mix half thawed from the freezer and half freshly pumped.  And it was pretty much working.  So I continued to pump but cut back on how many times a day.
NOW, as we near the one year milestone and I know the time that I can give him the one thing that nobody else can is coming to an end.  And it's scary. 

So on top of being all conflicted about the pumping, milk, formula, whole milk scenario, THIS hair-brained mama accidentally didn't close the freezer door all the way.  On a day when it was at least 100 billion degrees.  And it melted.  Not a little.  Not just a few bags.  ALL OF IT.  Completely thawed and wasted.

And I know it's probably more than a little crazy that it upset me.  Especially since little man wouldn't even take it unless it was mixed with fresh.  But I seriously was sick to my stomach throwing it all out.  And our freezer went from 100% completely stocked, stacked to the brim with momma's milk....with no more room for anything else...To this....

Fast forward a week.  I notice the ice cream in the kitchen freezer was a bit soft.  We call out a repair man and it takes a few days to get an appointment.  At that point, the temperature has risen to the point where we had to throw out all the freshly pumped milk.  AND since I've cut back on pumping, holy moly has my whole "wet nurse" status changed. 

So, I've been a bit of a stress ball but trying to work through it all.  I'm now driving milk from work to the house on my lunch break and remembering all those trips to the hospital with milk in the beginning.  Ironic as his first birthday is just over two weeks away!
So, come on first birthday!  And pray my little guy likes this version just as well



Any input on when and how to switch to whole milk?  I'm thinking we will skip the formula step since he's so close to his first Bday and start doing one bottle a day of Horizon's Organic Whole Milk to bridge the gap.  Is this a bad idea?  Any mommas have advice on the whole situation?  (Can you believe he's going to be ONE!?!?!?)

Oh yeah, so on top of the multiple "milk crises" at our house, we are in full on party planning mode.  I can't wait to celebrate Luke's first year --- but more importantly--- to see what's to come for his future.   Besides, who doesn't like to throw a party?  Especially for a handsome fella like this?

Aaaaahhh!

Well, we've been super busy so I'm trying to keep this 'ol blog going...so excuse all the videos.  But this one.  I.  LOVE.  Are these boys not just awesome?!?!?

The fact that I overheard daddy saying "buddy, you're my best friend" when he was getting him in his PJs after this just makes my heart skip a beat.  I'm a lucky mama!

Now, off to enjoy the weekend! 

Lt. Dan!!!

I'm pretty proud of my lil guy for not only pulling up to standing but cruising around on the furniture.  However, I've showed the video off and the consensus is that he looks like Lt. Dan trying to get back to his wheelchair without support (Forest Gump). 

POOOOOOR LIL GUY, Mama loves you and thinks  you walk with swagger!