Month Five...

Hey guys!

My sweet boy celebrates his half birthday today! That means it is time to fill you all in on what went down during his 5th month of life.

We have now added some solid foods to Alden's diet. I started noticing that he was just super interested in whatever anyone was eating and so I knew it was time. I have made the decision to make my own baby food. Yes buying food for him at the store would be SO much easier but have you guys tasted that stuff? I will never forget playing the "guess the baby food" game at my sister-in-law's baby shower a few years ago and gagging! Most of the fruits were OK, but the veggies and other types tasted NOTHING like they were supposed to. Ever since that day I knew I wasn't going to feed my children that stuff!
Yes it is time consuming but I will say that its probably a lot cheaper making it on my own, and it is much better for him! I sliced my finger open on the food processor blade the other day and so I've learned to be much more careful. (Don't worry.. I cut myself while washing the blade, not during the making of the baby food!) We have eaten sweet potatoes and green bean puree so far. He seems to be a bigger fan of the green beans. This morning I got some avocados and some pears so we are going to make two new foods try out!

Alden has also started sleeping pretty much through the night. He tends to wake up and stir a little bit. As soon as I give him his pacifier he is back to sleep. It has been so nice getting to have some extra sleep. My body however has not adjusted well. I got my first clogged milk duct and MAN was it painful! I was in total misery. Luckily I read a blog post from a woman who used to get them frequently and she went from it taking her 3 days to get the clog out to about 30 minutes! It took me longer than 30 minutes, but it lasted no more than 24 hours. Thank goodness because I would not have survived!

We took Alden swimming for the first time as well. I knew he was going to be fine with the water because he gets so excited when its bath time. I figured he would look at the pool and think it was a gigantic bath tub. He did indeed love the pool so I am excited to take him swimming now.

I think that is about it for this month.

Now onto the photos!

 Alden's first time trying sweet potatoes!

 Watching some maintenance men on the roof at mommy's work.

 Snuggle time with mommy and daddy.

Alden's first time in the pool!

Thank you guys for reading! 

Month Four...

Hey Guys!
I wanted to make this post last week, but things have been pretty crazy lately. Alden Just celebrated his 5th month on Earth, and so as always, I like to do a recap for the month prior. That way we have a whole month of memories to share.

Let's get started shall we?

The time is flying by so fast! It seems like as soon as I make one of these posts, he's already into the next month of life. Alden never ceases to amaze me these days. He's learned how to fake cough now so he's been doing that a lot. I mean A LOT. It's so freaking adorable though. What is even more adorable is the fact that he laughs about it! I'm telling you guys.. this kid is going to be voted class clown in his yearbook some day.

We now have a foot/hand/whatever the heck he can get in his mouth chewer. This boy tries to shove his whole hand in his mouth and then proceed to slobber all over the place. If I put a bib on him he just shoves that into his mouth as well, so we just let him be a slobber sack.

We generally place Alden in his swing when he is awake and we need to get things done. I started noticing though that he seemed to get frustrated because he can't move around or see things (by things I mean the dogs) as well. We went to the store and bought him an exersaucer. He LOVES it. It has made my life so much easier. Especially when Chris is not home and I need to cook or clean. He sits in it and plays and watches the dogs roam about. Saydee can also come up and give him kisses which is adores. He loves that dog and she loves him.

I've been slowly trying to transition Alden into sleeping in his crib. I always try and put him in there when he falls asleep during the day on the weekends. As long as he is happy, awake or not, I leave him in there. The second he starts crying and sounding stressed, not just fussy, I take him out. I have the mind set that if I can show him that his crib is a good thing, even if it takes a while to totally transition.. then it will be worth it. Call me crazy, but this is my parenting choice.

We also had our first ER trip. To make a long story short, My in-laws noticed a strange bump that appeared to be under the skin. I called his Dr. thinking they would just tell me to monitor it for a few days but they said he needed to go to Children's ASAP. I was so upset that here I was trying to brush it off as nothing when the Dr. said he needed to get looked at. Thankfully he was totally fine. It was just his head growing faster on one side and is a totally normal thing. The Doctors couldn't really even tell unless he was in the light a certain way, so its not like he was walking around looking lopsided. Still, I'm glad we spent the time there just to be on the safe side.

Well, that's it for this post. Picture time!

 Alden looks SO thrilled to be getting mommy love. :)

 My little draft pick dreaming about sports.

 So fresh and so clean!

Being lazy in bed with my little man.

Thank you guys for reading! :)

5 Things I've Learned Since Becoming A Mom

Hey guys!

Mother's day is in just a few days so I thought I would a do a special post. I decided to post about things I've learned since becoming a mom. Obviously there are WAY more than 5 things I've learned, but since Alden will officially be 5 months old next week I thought I'd stick with that. Plus, I don't want to bore you with my ramblings! Let's get started shall we?

YOU WILL WORRY LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER WORRIED BEFORE

I'm not sure how many people know this about me, but I tend to be a worry wort. I'm a super paranoid person and if you combine that with a wild imagination you can think up some pretty awful situations. When I call or text someone and they do not answer or respond right away but they normally do, I panic. I immediately fear the worst and it SUCKS! It has only gotten worse since Alden has come into my life. I remember the first time I left Alden alone with Chris to go grocery shopping. I casually called him just to ask if I needed to buy more of an item and he didn't pick up. At first I let it go, but after about 5 minutes I went into a panic mode. I started chain calling and texting him. I was ready to leave my basket sitting there loaded full of food and rush home. Thankfully he answered and was just busy changing/feeding Alden.

It's not just about worrying about his well-being when he is not with me either. I often find myself hovering over him at night making sure he is breathing. Babies breathe so quietly its scary. I also panic when I'm driving and he is asleep and hasn't changed head positions in a while. I am always so tempted to pull over or to wake him up just to be sure he is OK. I knew I would worry about him, but I never imagined it would be THIS bad.

THREE [SPOILED] DOGS AND A BABY MAKES FOR CHAOS

I knew that life was going to be much different once Alden arrived. Our dogs were our babies and we treated them as such. Yes it was really annoying when someone would walk by and the dogs would have a freak out. Now when I finally get Alden to take a dang nap and one of the dogs so much as squeaks a toy I almost lose my mind! Saydee is such a great dog but when she wants something she starts this shrill bark that could make your ear drums explode.

When we first got home from the hospital and I was so overwhelmed by being a new mom, I found myself getting so frustrated with them. It wasn't their fault, they were just living their normal life, but it was very hard on me.

Now after 5 months We've adjusted nicely. There is still chaos daily though. I have to make sure none of them try and steal Alden's toys, or lick him on his face, or step on him (Sunny issue). It is generally total chaos with the dogs in the mix, but I still love them, and I wouldn't trade them for anything. I'm very excited for Alden to grow up with his puppies!

YOUR SLEEP ROUTINE CHANGES CONSTANTLY

 I've never been a nap person but I do love sleep. I truly learned to appreciate sleep during my pregnancy because good sleep doesn't happen often, so when it does it is SO very appreciated!

The first few days of Alden being born I slept for maybe an hour a day. I was so excited/scared to have him that I wanted to constantly be awake. Then by the time I got so tired I couldn't fight it anymore, He started waking up every 2 hours to eat. I was exhausted and I even tried to nap with no success. It just wasn't for me.

Then he finally started sleeping 3 hours in a row instead of 2. That one extra hour of sleep felt like 8 hours. I remember waking up so refreshed. Then he went back to every 2 hours.

Lately he has been on a 4-5 hour stretch.. however on the random nights when his schedule is off it makes me feel like I am DYING to have to wake up and feed him!

Just when my body accepts a certain amount of consecutive sleep hours, Alden decides to do something totally different!

YOU LOVE THEM SO MUCH IT FEELS LIKE YOUR HEART COULD EXPLODE

I absolutely love Chris. I love him so much more now because Alden is half him. With that being said, the love that I have for Alden makes my love for Chris look like the Christmas clearance section at Target when everything is 90% off (Empty). As women we get the first connection to our baby because we have to carry them inside of us. We have to go through all sorts of changes and pain just to get them into this world. Once they are here though, it is totally worth it. As if you don't love them enough at birth.. then they start smiling for things other than gas. Then they start laughing at the things that you do. I remember the first time Alden laughed it made my heart so happy. I love that little man so much that there aren't enough words in all the languages to describe it!

IT IS THE BEST/WORST/MOST AMAZING/MOST STRESSFUL JOB YOU WILL EVER HAVE

The first time I was totally alone with Alden after we had come home from the hospital, I remember bawling my eyes out. I know my hormones were insane at the time but I was so completely terrified to be on my own with him. Then he ate and fell asleep on my chest and all was right with the world. When he started cluster feeding and I would go almost an entire day without eating I would sit there and think.. how am I going to do this everyday?

When I've had a long horrible day at work, the only thing I want to do is get home as quick as possible. Then I find myself sitting in traffic, with a baby screaming in the backseat and I get so stressed out. When I end up pulling over to feed/change/hold him and he smiles as soon as he sees me.. It makes everything OK.

I know that some days are going to be easy, and other days are going to be so hard.  I also know that it won't just stop as he gets older. There will always be bad moments, but I have hope that the good will always outweigh the bad!

These are just a few of the things that I have learned along my mommy journey. I am so grateful that I get to be Alden's mom. I will never be able to thank God enough for blessing me and entrusting me with his precious little life. Just in the first 5 months of him being born, I have cried, I have sobbed, I have been frustrated, I have been stressed. But it is 100% worth it because for all the times I have felt any of the previously listed things, I have felt joy, peace, happiness and love so much more!
Alden already has such an amazing personality. I love getting to watch him grow and learn new things. Being a mom is by far the GREATEST thing I will ever do in my life.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Thanks for reading!!!

Our First Photoshoot

Hey guys!

So I decided to post the photos from our photo shoot on here. I know most of you probably saw them on Facebook already but I still would like them to be in the blog too.

We decided to go get our pictures taken at the Dallas Arboretum. It is GORGEOUS which is why I wanted to take them there!

Just a fun background on our outfits: So I decided that I wanted to wear the blue/turquoise dress because it was long, bright and it hid my gross legs! The plan was for Chris to wear a navy polo, and Alden would wear a turquoise one. This way it would tie all the colors together, but that Alden would be the most vibrant and therefore shine through lame old mom and dad!
I looked online and found that at Kohls, they had the color polo I wanted and had it in store. We show up there Friday night and NOTHING. I walked that department at least 5 times and couldn't find anything. I then decided that having both Chris and Alden wear navy wouldn't be the worst thing. Go figure the very few solid navy tops I could find were not in his size.
We then decided to cruise across to Target (where we had already been looking for shoes) because I knew they would at least have plain old packs of onesies. I ran inside and AGAIN they didn't have his size. I ended up settling on this outfit that came with a faded navy polo. I was pretty disappointed but at that point, I had no choice. It was almost 9pm, Chris and I were starving and it was time to get home and get Alden to sleep.
Saturday morning I decided to run to Walmart just to see if they had some shoes that Alden could wear. Guess what I spotted... A TURQUOISE BABY POLO! So.. Walmart saved the day! I ended up not having to settle and we all got to dress the way I had planned.

We used Captured Memories by Vanessa Roman. You can check out her Facebook page HERE.
I am all about supporting my fellow classmates when I can. You can tell she has a passion for this. She has GREAT prices and her photos turn out amazing. If you are looking to get photos taken REACH OUT TO HER PEOPLE!

With all that being said...ENJOY!

Month Three...

Hey guys!

Welcome back to my mommy blog. It's time to re-cap Alden's 3rd month on this Earth. As you can see in his 3 month photo, his crazy little personality is starting to show. This boy is CRAZY! He is going to be a class clown some day.

We have discovered that he LOVES basketball! He will sit on his daddy's lap and watch an entire game with him. Could this be foreshadowing of his future? Perhaps... but only time will tell. I honestly think it is because of the bright colors and the constant movement, but hey I can dream right?

In last month's update I talked about how Alden had found his voice. Well now he squeals. It is super adorable and he does it when he gets excited. For those of you who who watch the videos I post of him on Facebook A.K.A "Chattin' with Alden" you have probably heard his squeals.

I was also able to transition him from sleeping in bed with me to sleeping in his rock n play. Generally around 5 in the morning he will wake up and start talking. As soon as I place him in my bed, he snuggles up to me and crashes out. I really do miss having him in my bed, but I do NOT miss sweating all night from my little heater. Still it is nice to have that short time in the morning to snuggle before the day begins.

My sweet little booger man is now starting to get distracted when he eats. Thankfully he can latch and unlatch himself now, so he will unlatch and look at something, then a few minutes later latch right back on. Sometimes he will unlatch and just stare up at me and smile like "wow.. you are my mommy? I get to keep you forever?" It is SUPER adorable.

We celebrated Alden's first Easter this month too! He got to go to church and get gawked over. He fell asleep during Sunday school, woke up and ate during worship service and then fell right back to sleep! He was very well behaved. 

Alden also got to go to the zoo for the first time AND sit in his stroller without being in the car seat. He was pretty alert at first. Then he got fussy because he was wet. Once I changed him and put him back in his car seat, he was OUT! He at least got to see the giraffes before passing out! Thank goodness.

I guess I'll end this post now. We took family pictures last weekend so as soon as I get those I'll be making a special post. :)

Just like always... its picture time!

 Alden rocking his T-Rex fossil shirt

 I love this picture because Alden looks like a little baby thug

 First zoo trip! Looking snazzy in his shades

 This kid is too fly for you

First Easter! Alden is rocking his Noah's Ark outfit from his great Meemaw

That's it for this post!

As always... thanks for reading!

Organized Exhaustion: A Day In The Life Of A Full Time Working Mommy

Hey guys!

I've been posting monthly updates of Alden. I feel like I need to give you guys additional content in between those posts. There will be times when I am too busy and cannot, but today, I've got some time. :)

I'd like to post today about my daily schedule/routine/life. Things definitely change when you become a parent and there is really no way to get around that. There is also no way to prepare for it either.

I kept saying that the lack of sleep I was getting during pregnancy was preparing me for being up at night with a baby. BOY WAS I WRONG!!! Still to this day after having a baby for 3 months I feel absolutely run down and exhausted!

I'm just going to post a timeline below of how my day pans out (most days).

3:00 AM: Alden wakes up for his middle of the night snack.

4:30 AM: This is usually around the time when Alden decides he needs some mama snuggle time and gets fussy. He's not hungry, he just needs mama! (oh and FYI he is now sleeping in his rock n play next to the bed instead of co-sleeping!) What baby wants... baby gets!

5:30 AM: Alarm one goes off and is immediately turned off. :)

5:50 AM: Alarm two goes off and is also immediately turned off!

6:10 AM: This is generally when I roll over, see what time it is and fly out of bed like a mad woman! My intentions are really to get up at 5:50.. but hey, I'm human.. I enjoy sleeping.

6:11 AM: This is when I change Alden's diaper and clothes, and TRY to make his curly hair not look like such a mess!

6:15 AM: I bring Alden back into my room, sit down in bed and feed him his "breakfast"

6:45 AM: Alden is generally done eating by this point, so I throw a jacket on him and buckle him into his car seat while Chris gathers up everything a baby needs to survive the day! I then tell Alden goodbye and kiss him about a thousand times and then daddy and baby are out the door!

6:50 AM: I hop in and try to take a quick shower, but the water always feels so nice!

7:00 AM: This is when I start doing my hair. So I know I have short hair and this doesn't seem like it should take long, but I have thick annoying hair that never wants to do what I want it to do and therefore it takes longer than one might think.

7:30 AM: Make-up time!

7:40 AM: Breakfast and packing up my things for the day.

7:55 AM: This is when I let the dogs out and then spend the time in silence getting dressed. If you didn't know... I have some LOUD dogs.

8:05 AM: This is my biggest battle of the day (no lie). Sunny and Sizzles are always waiting at the door for me to let them in. Saydee however is a big brat. This dog will stand in the middle of the yard and stare at you. You can call her 700,000 times to come get her treat and she just stands there like a statue. Eventually I end up walking away and waiting on her to make her way onto the porch so I can drag her inside! If I could leave her out I would but she HATES my next door neighbors dogs and so they are constantly fighting if they are out.

8:15 AM: I am out the door and on my way to work.

8:55 AM: I park in the parking garage and start my trek to the office.

9:05 AM: Finally my work day begins!

11:00 AM: Starbucks/ Stupid Good run! I NEED MY COFFEE!

11:30 AM: Pump time! This is also when I sit around watching Youtube videos for 20 minutes.

2:00 PM: Lunch and pump time! I've been watching Friends during this time too so that's fun!

4:45 PM: Wrapping up my work day and heading to the car!

5:10 PM: I arrive at the pick up spot and get my sweet baby boy! Then we spend an hour driving in traffic and I PRAYYYY that Alden either a) Falls asleep or b) is totally chill and fine with the long ride.

6:00 PM: Yay we are home! now its time to cook, clean, feed Alden, feed the dogs, do that load of laundry I kept putting off...

7:00 PM: Time to eat and watch our shows if we have any that night.

8:00 PM: Bath time for Alden(if it's bath night)

9:00 PM: Time to feed Alden and put him to bed!

9:30 PM: Wash my face, brush my teeth, pick out Alden's outfit for the next day.

10:00 PM: Time for mommy to go to sleep!

So that is my schedule give or take. I genuinely thought my body would adjust at some point but it doesn't. Plus it doesn't help that once my body finally gets somewhat adjusted to Alden's sleep pattern he switches things up on me.

As exhausted as I am from waking up in the middle of the night to feed Alden, I refuse to give up breastfeeding :) It's free and I don't even have to get out of bed or prepare anything for him to eat.

One day, years from now I'm going to look back and miss these moments, so I try to just push through the exhaustion and keep on going!

A mommy's work is NEVER done and honestly... I'm OK with that!

Thanks for reading guys!

My next post will be about my relationship with my handsome husband!

Month Two...

Hello to my awesome readers!

So today Alden is 12 weeks old and officially 3 months on Monday! The time is flying like you wouldn't believe. So much has changed since my last post and I've fallen even MORE in love with Alden since then as well!

For starters, he now smiles for things OTHER than gas. When he sees people he knows he will smile at them. It is such an incredible feeling to have your baby see you after being at work all day and smile at you.

I've been able to watch him go from making little cooing sounds, to learning that his voice has different tones. He's recently started shouting now so he will randomly just let out a big AHHHHHHHHHHH! Its so adorable!

We finally got to lose the mittens a few weeks ago too! I tried it right around a month and half and within 24 hours he made a huge scratch on his cheek so the hands got covered back up. I tried it again one day and he has done great! Let me just say though that baby nails grow at some sort of supersonic warp speed! I can cut them super short and file them down, then the next day they feel like little talons again!

I'm back at work now and it has been tough. I seriously feel like I drop him off with my mother in law and when I get him back he has grown! It's insane how fast they grow. Before I know it we will be celebrating his first birthday!

The only other thing that has really changed is that I've had to start supplementing with formula. I never ever EVER wanted to give him formula but when I went back to work and started pumping my body just wasn't producing enough. During feedings we do just fine. His pediatrician said that pumping just doesn't have the same result as when a baby is feeding. I was really hard on myself about this because boobs are meant to be a buffet for babies. I didn't realize that pumping doesn't do justice like Alden does! The important thing is that he is still getting breast fed EVERY DAY and on the weekends ALL DAY! I am proud of myself for not giving up thus far even though my plans have had to be adjusted.

One thing that has helped me get through this problem is being a part of some breast feeding pages. I see women everyday posting about having the SAME issue as me, or worse and it lets me know that all we can do as breastfeeding mamas is try our best! If you are a mama who can go a year (or more) breastfeeding without forumla then GO YOU! If you have start supplementing formula when you are away from your baby like me, that's OK too. Lastly if for some reason you just don't produce enough milk or even choose not to breast feed that is OK! It is YOUR choice and you should never let anyone other than yourself and your baby's needs weigh in on your decision!

 I will say that being able to breastfeed is something we as women should be INCREDIBLY proud of! It is not easy and it is painful at first. If you see a mama breastfeeding you should give her a dang high five because it's tough! Just remember that there are women out there who's supply dries up for whatever reason and they might be struggling or feeling like a failure like I was. We as women and mommys need to step up and encourage one another rather than try to one up the lady next to us!

Well anyways.. I guess I am done with this post. Now its picture time!!!

 Me and my sweet Family! :)

 Just hanging with mama!

 My first Valentine's Day!

Bundled up for this winter weather!

Thanks for reading you guys! :)