Weekly Wrap Up

Phew! This week has been exhausting. Hell, the past few have been exhausting. George is on a rotation that requires him to sleep at the hospital every 4th night (not nearly as bad as Q3 Call). This means that I am on my own the nights he is on call and depending on the amount of sleep he gets on said shift (Range of 0-4 hours), he is so exhausted the next night that he isn't much help on post-call nights either. I don't blame him, I could NEVER work for that long of a consecutive period and I would be a holy terror if I had to. But I digress. So when George is on these rotations, a lot of the "managing the household" duties falls on me. This means running errands during pretty much every lunch break (cleaners, grocery, dog food, gift for upcoming birthday or party, gas etc). After work, once I pick Mark up from daycare,  he nurses as soon as we get home. I then I try to fit in a walk or exercise of some sort and come home to fix us both dinner. Dinner is followed by bathtime, cuddle time, story time, and prayers. Then I tuck my sweet angel in at 8. That leaves about an hour of time per day of "me" time before bed. After I put Mark to bed I am picking up the mess that has accumulated, making bottles, prepping food for dinner the next day, making Mark's babyfood etc. I love that hour for me, but I am often torn between laying on the couch to watch some DVR with George, updating this blog, or just going to bed early. Usually, an hour of mindless tv watching wins. I can't do the latter yet because I wake Mark at 10pm to eat one more time before I go to bed. I know this will shock a lot of people that I still wake him but I really really really love his 7 am wake time and I dont want to mess with it. And although he is doing much better with solids (more on that later), he still is getting most of his nutrition from milk and so I am not ready to stop. Besides, it is my favorite nursing, he is so peaceful and still which is a rarity these days. and I will miss it when I stop.

Before you think I am complaining, let me clarify that I feel incredibly blessed every day. Not every moment... sometimes I feel stressed... but more often than not, I know just how blessed my life is and am infinitely aware of the joy Mark brings to both of us. And though it is exhausting, I would not trade one second and I would not give any less of my time than I do. If I could, I would give more. I only wish there were more moments. I also know how incredibly lucky I am that I get about 7-8 hours of uniterrupted sleep per night and have been  since Mark was 11 weeks old. As I am constantly reminded, I most likely will not receive this gift with my next child. Mark is such a happy baby, always armed with a smile for everyone (particularly the ladies) and a hug for his momma.

As the title suggests, here are some musings of what we are currently experiencing (in no particular order):

1. We have a CRAWLER!! It started on Wednesday morning and though it was a little slow going for the first 24 hours, he is full-blown crawling now and loving every second. ::::Please ignore the excited parents voices, the dog panting in the background (we had just returned from our afternoon walk) and the messy room (this is what I "clean" after baby goes to bed):::

He also really really wants to walk but that requires assistance and my back is not a fan. Maybe I'll have to invest in this...

2. He is eating so much better. He eats 3 meals a day and one snack. He is still only eating about 8 oz of food per day and some puffs but he is showing more interest. This week we added mangos, apricots, green beans, yogurt and chicken to his diet. He loved everything except for the chicken. Of course if I mix it with fruit, he likes it but I think it is the texture. Sound familiar to anyone familiar with my eating habits??? He is particularly fond of his banana pancakes (whole grain mix, breastmilk, and mashed banana) and at daycare they say they cannot feed him fast enough. Mimi, get ready when he comes to spend the weekend with you in a few weeks- he'll be expecting some of your finest banana pancakes.  He is exactly the same with yogurt. He starts waving his hand at me and grunting if I dont feed him in a constant shoveling motion.

This would make my son very happy, if it were loaded with yogurt

3. I entered Mark into the Gap Baby Contest. Dont judge. I just think he is the cutest baby ever and the $1000 gap gift card sounds pretty good. Not to worry, I am not a pageant mom and this will be the extent of it. Or will it. bahahaha

4. After almost 9 months, I am back in my PRE-preggo skinny jeans!!! Insert happy dance here. I have been doing weight watchers and trying to be more active. That and the calories burned from breastfeeding is what has done it. This breastfeeding is an awesome diet plan. Maybe I'lll just do it forever and donate the milk??? There's a thought!

5. Mark had his first French Quarter Fest Experience. He was so good, never really fussing and just taking it all in. Nursing was interesting because it was warm and he does not understand why we need to be covered. Oh well, he got a little and then he wanted to get back to the party. We even took him to el gato negro and although I'm pretty sure he ate his weight in yogurt melts, we were able to have a couple drinks, appetizers and dinner with Mimi. Good memories.

6. I have discovered that Mark now has a special smile for me and a different but still special one for George. He gives them to noone else except mommy and daddy respectively. It makes my heart swell so much it might burst to see how his face lights up when George rolls over in the morning while Mark is nursing and he pops off to smile at daddy. I get a little misty sometimes when he gives me an entirely different, but just as wonderful smile. Being a mommy is hardwork but I am rewarded tenfold through moments like these.

So there it is, our past week in highlights. There have been plenty other wonderful moments, but I could go on for days and who would want to read that? ha. Even though our life is often fast-paced and busy, I would not trade it for anything. Mark brings so much joy to our lives and makes us better because of it. Thank you son for being you, for being wonderful and for being the highlight of my life. I love you more than words can describe.