Time

You know when I was younger I would judge the passing of time by how close it was until a break from school, as soon as you started school you automatically start counting the days until your first day off!  Usually wasn't too long before Labor Day or at least thanksgiving because it was a FOUR day weekend!  But there wasn't something to tell me how fast time was going by, and really when I was young it took FOREVER for summer break to come again...am I right?

Now that I have Carter time has seriously gone so fast!  I KNOW I KNOW EVERYONE complains how fast time goes by once they have a kid really is true!  Ask anyone with a kid!  One of the first things you'll hear is "Enjoy it!  It goes faster then you know!" I could not even begin to tell you how fast these last 8 months have flown by!  Literally!  Like what?!  8 months!  ;( I mean I'm not complaining carter is so much fun!  He's crawling!  Laughing!  Getting into EVERYTHING!  And so alert and so much fun!  But as I sit here typing this I can't help but be sad thinking that I will NEVER in my whole life or his life be able to hold that little tiny baby again!  

I was at my grandmas house today & I was watching Carter in his walker and I said "man, I can't believe how fast 8 months has gone by" and she said "I know." Then I asked her "can you still picture my dad like that?  A little baby?  Can you believe that was almost 50 years ago?" Her & my eyes welted up thinking about it and then I said "I can't even imagine when Carter's a grandpa." Both of us in tears, and I totally didnt mean to make us cry but just as I am sitting typing with tears in my eyes I can't help but get sentimental thinking about time.  And just how fast it goes by.  I mean one day!  WAY WAY WAYYYYY down the road I will be a Great Grandma and I'm going to still be complaining about how fast time is flying by.

And I will be constantly reminding myself to enjoy my time!  Enjoy every moment I have on this earth because time is too precious to waste!

OMG!! Baby Carter is 8 months old!

Again, so late!  I know I'm so behind it's ridiculous, how do all these bloggers keep up with their blog and their kids?  My kid keeps me super busy!  BUT Carter is well on his way to 9 months I can't believe how fast it's gone!

Weight:  Last time I weighed him he was about 17 lbs, I really have no idea how people keep up with it all the time.

Height:  I think I measured him that he was about 26" I think shoot I'm terrible at keeping track of these things, I can never remember.

Clothing Size:  In clothes that actually run true to size like Carter's & Osh Kosh he's in 9 months.  Everywhere else, like gap, old navy he's in 6-12 in tops and 3-6 in bottoms :)  He's a skinny little guy :D

Diaper Size:  Still size 3's :)

Feeding:  He eats 2 mostly 3 meals a day now plus lots of puff snacks and fruit, and still BF every couple of hours.  He's a chubby baby in a skinny baby's body

Sleep:  same, great some nights awful other nights.

Milestones:  This month was a HUGE one, Carter's two bottom teeth popped out AND he officially started crawling and not just scooting!

Adventures:  No idea this was months ago :(

Parenthood

In these short (feels like a worldwind) six months my life literally has CHANGED a million and ONE ways!  I didn't think that my life would be as different as it is.  I thought obviously were gonna be staying home more now, and won't be going to the movies for a while. Obvious things.  BUT never in my life would I imagine having an entire different outlook on life like I do.  There is NOT one day that goes by that I don't think about the world as a whole and ask myself daily what kind of world did I bring my child into?  Actually I also ask myself every single day ummm how do those 16 year olds do this?  Seriously?  It's tough & nerve racking you're constantly asking yourself is this the way I'm supposed to do things?  Because I don't know the RIGHT way just know the way I think is best right?

My best friend from college sent me this article today and it seriously hit so close to home.  I like I'm sure most parents get frustrated that I can't clean the house, or I can finish doing anything before carter wakes up from his nap, because really as soon as he falls asleep I have a MILLION and one things that need to be done and guess what gets done?  One thing.  I eat lunch. Hahaha but you know what?!  I really wouldn't change it.  The article literally took the words out of my brain and put them onto paper.  In the moments I start to feel overwhelmed I look at my baby and I can't believe that he's mine.  He smiles and the dishes, the laundry it all doesn't matter because right now all I care about is him.

There is no day that I could be more thankful for the husband and his hardwork that allows me to be home with Carter all day every single day.  Although MOST days I'm overwhelmed with housework that NEEDS to be done.  I know that these last few months that I have been able to stay home with Carter are ones that I will ALWAYS treasure and for that I am beyond grateful, to the husband, to god for giving me these amazing blessings.  Couldn't be MORE grateful :)

OMG!! Baby Carter is 1/2 a year old!!

YES!!  I know I'm wayyyy late,  Carter will already be 7 months a week from yesterday! BUT here it is anyway :)

Weight: still 15 lbs but we go to the doctor this week, to get an actual measurement considering I just stand on the scale and then pick him up and stand on it again to measure his weight :)  doubt it exact.

Height:  I think he's about 25 inches we shall see very soon.

Clothing Size:  He's all over the place, in pajamas and stuff he's in 6, 6-12 or even 12m, in clothes he can still fit some 3-6 and 12m shirts, either he's a weird size OR all these clothing companies need to get their ish together and get the sizing right.

Diaper Size:  still in 3's and doesn't seem like he's going to be out of them for a while.

Feeding:  This month he started eating REAL food, well baby food!  I think we were more excited then him, actually I'm positive we were, at first he was confused but NOW he LOVES it!  Cries for more, it's so cute!  He's still BF too, which is great!  Can't believe how fast he's growing seriously!

Sleep:  Ummm that depends on the night, some nights he sleeps GREAT!  only waking up once at like 6 am to eat, some nights not so much.  so we'll say it's inconsistent.

Milestones:  He started scooting along this month.  He can ALMOST crawl!  He gets up on all fours and bounces and he'll move his hands forward and feet forward just can't figure out how to move them all at the same time.  I think it's just gonna be a couple more weeks and he'll have it down.  He also started sitting up pretty steady this month.  I love that we can sit him places now.  I feel like he's grown so much this month, it's amazing because I remember asking people like when do babies crawl?  when do babies start eating?  When do they sit up good?  and it was always 6 months and now that we're here it's crazy that he is reaching all these milestones at once!  He also babbles a lot now, he says Mommmmmmmmm and i love it!  (guess we still can't call it his first word?  but it's the only "word" he says)  ;)

Adventures:  We had his baptism.  He celebrated his first Easter.  We definitely did MORE but I can't remember it all :)

Mommy & Daddy could NOT get through this month without:  Our sweet baby boy.  I don't know how it's at all possible, but I swear we fall MORE and MORE in love with this little boy every single day!  He's amazing.  We also couldn't have gotten through the last month without our A&A swaddlers STILL yes he lovesssss to be swaddled, our chuppies, our spoons :) bibs, high chair OH and sophie!

Breast Feeding

this is a post that i've been meaning to write forever.  BUT now that Carter is (almost) 6 months old I finally have time to write it.

When I first decided to BF it was because I had read that BF helped GREATLY with a babies immune system.  I knew that Carter would be pretty tiny when winter came around so I wanted to do anything in my power to make sure he didn't catch anything.  I mean that AND I didn't want to have to BUY formula.

Pretty much NO one in my family had ever breast fed for longer then a month or two, even going back to my gma.  SO I really didn't have anyone to ask for advice.  When I started I had said that I wanted to Exclusively pump (kinda) one of my cousins was doing this and it seemed so easy!  I mean you just give the baby a bottle :)  (oh how wrong I was).  Soooooo when Carter was born and he didn't latch I thought No Big Deal, he'll learn eventually right?

Wellllll, that was until we were in the hospital and the only time that Carter would latch was when a nurse or LC would help us.  other then that he would just scream and scream and scream.  When we got out of the hospital all he did was scream his head off when I tried to get him to eat, put this on top of he fact that we had company that HAD to see us as soon as we got home from the hospital, (to say I was stressed was an understatement).  I just could not understand why he would not latch on.  He would latch and then unlatch and then be done with it, so naturally I started thinking he was getting enough right? I mean he doesn't want it.  Oh AND Carter would sleep for hours and hours and I would try to get him to wake up and he wouldn't, doctor said take his clothes off pamper off everything and there was my baby soundly sleeping.  I figured we were going back to the doctors in a couple of days so we would be fine.  ON top of that my milk hadn't come in yet.  SO we go back to the doctor when Carter was 3 days old AND they weigh him and he was down to 7 lbs 1 oz...down from 7 lbs 11 oz from birth!  I was devastated I knew for sure now that I was starving him :(  Never in my life did I feel so helpless.

I had an appointment right after with the LC and she was trying to get him to latch and then she asked me a question, to be honest she could have asked me what Carter's name was but I broke down crying.  I just told her everything and that I felt like I was starving my baby, what made me feel worse was that there were other moms in there and they seemed to be BF just fine, milk was spilling all over them and their babies.  She explained to me that some peoples milk takes longer to come in and that I was doing everything right, BUT we would have to supplement with formula until my breastmilk came in because Carter was hungry and he wasn't able to suck hard enough to pull the colostrum (spelling, I have no idea) out and make my milk come in BUT she told me NOT to feed him MORE then ONE oz.  Seemed like such a little bit BUT she explained that if I fed him the whole two ounces that the bottle was, there was no way that my milk supply would catch up to his needs from formula..she also told me to get a pump and start pumping every single two hours until my milk came in and to go back and see her in 2 days.

well thankfully we ONLY had to supplement Carter that one day, and my milk came in that next morning thankfully.  I tried to get Carter to latch and NOTHING.  I kept pumping AND two days later I was still pumping and he would still not latch.  That was until we went to the LC again, and low and behold Carter could latch on!  0.0  sure he could latch when we were in company of a professional!  I was ecstatic!  Couldn't believe he FINALLY latched (I know that I said only 3 days) but when you are pumping every two hours and ON top of those 15 minutes at a pump you then have to feed the baby a bottle it's hard!  So I felt good, HOOORAY Carter was ready to BF normal.  Got home and NOTHING!  Still wouldn't latch -.- trickster!!!

Kept pumping and feeding for about a week or two and then I made another appt with the LC and when I got there I explained my problem, and then she gave me a MAGICALLY tool!!!  A nipple shield!  I swear if it wasn't for that thing I would NEVER have been able to get Carter to latch I'm positive of that!  but with that little thing attached he would latch perfect!  NEVER have I ever felt so accomplished in my life!!  we used the shield for about 3 weeks and then one day I forgot it and tried without it and Carter was perfectly fine latching without it.  It was amazing!

AND now ALMOST 6 months later Carter is still completely EBF :)

Soooo any of you ladies BF or planning on BF it is hard man it is true probably one of the most frustrating things you will ever do in your entire life (in the beginning) BUT after those first 6-8 weeks it is the MOST amazing thing EVER!

this tiny squishy baby <3

OMG!! Baby Carter is FIVE months old!!

Weight:

Height:

Clothing Size:  he is MOSTLY in 3-6 month clothes, he can still fit into his 3 month onesies, and they fit PERFECT I'm thinking that within the next couple of weeks they won't fit anymore, but right now his 6 month ones just fit so big.  AND all of his t-shirts, like the stretchy material ones are 6 months, idk he just doesn't fit into the smaller ones.  AND his shoes he's in size 2 still, but I always buy at least size 3 or even 4 because I get so nervous that he'll just grow overnight and then he won't get to wear them at all.

Diaper Size:  welllllll he SHOULD be in size 2 still, because that is what fits him BUT I order his diapers on amazon and since we order by the hundreds, I was so worried that he'd outgrow his size 2 diapers before we got to use them all, so I ordered size 3...now I'm thinking I messed up and should have just stuck with the 2's because the 3's don't fit his waist at all....what to do what to do...still haven't figured it out...BUT he'll probably just be in size 3 FOREVER since we put him in them so early.

Feeding:  He is still EBF BUT at six months we are going to start giving him food....is it bad that I seriously CAN NOT wait!!  I can't wait to see how he reacts to food...and to not be the only one to feed him....soooo by next month update he should have already tasted his first food, and I'll be SURE to post lots and lots of pictures :)  (i'm sure you would love that right?)

Sleep:  hmmmm well for the MOST part his sleep is good, BUT my poor little dude is teething because he'll randomly wake up at night screaming his head off!    If we stick some orajel in his mouth his is instantly fine, and goes right back to sleep...my poor baby :(  I hope those teeth pop out SOON!

Milestones:  He can sit up for a couple of seconds now, maybe 30 and then he'll throw himself over to the side.  he also can get around anywhere on our floor, he'll figure a way to get there by turning and spinning and rolling, it's so funny!  He knows his  name now and will turn when someone calls him :)  he gets distracted when eating, so if someone's talking he'll turn his head like they're talking to him (funny but kinda annoying when I'm trying to feed him discreetly).  he laughs at all kinds of stuff now, makes things so much funnier then they are because he's busting up laughing.

Adventures:  this month carter helped his dad celebrate his bday :)

Mommy & Daddy could NOT get through this month without:  Baby Carter, we seriously can't get enough of his bald head.  Oh and our swaddle blankets (still) all of our cute clothes AND The Black Keys!  Carter loves loves loves them :D

I know that I have heard people say over and over again, BUT it truly does get better & better every single day!  Right now he learns so much!!!  He can copy lots of things we do.  and he pays so much attention to us!  I never in a million years thought that motherhood would be THIS amazing!  He really brings so much joy to us, and I can't believe that he's been here for ALMOST 1/2 year!!!

my little bald headed baby is getting more hair, and it's even more funny that it grows funny so it looks like he constantly has bed head :)  I PROMISE I brushed it before these pics!

is march really 1/2 way over already?

I KNOW that everyone told me that once I had Carter time would ZOOOM by and boy oh boy were they completely  RIGHT!! I mean I have NEVER EVER had an ALMOST five month period go as fast as it has FLOWN by right now.  LITERALLY!  I'm still in disbelief!

I just looked at my sad lonely blog and saw that the last day that I wrote was when Carter turned 4 months old and low and behold he's ALMOST 5 months (next week).  I miss you blog.  I miss writing.  Even if it was about ABSOLUTELY NOTHING at all.

It's Okay Thursdays!

Friday letters?  

LOVE

and I greatly want to tell you all about the baby products that I'm currently OBSESSED with.  I mean there are lots and THOSE were (I mean ARE) my FAVORITE posts to read!  I love seeing all the cool stuff out there, because MOST times I have no idea, what to get for Carter and either buy something OR read or saw somewhere something cool.

Like, for instance, has anyone heard of Mini & Maximus?  I hadn't!  and I'm currently OBSESSED with 

I mean is this shirt NOT the cutest thing ummm EVER?  It reminds me of the husband!  Maybe it's the beard?  Or the glasses?  IDK but it does and I WANT IT!  BUT @ a cool $24 plus shipping, I'm NOT positive baby Carter is going to be rocking it, ummm any time soon.

Is it me, or do all moms have a million and Ummm 1 things to do on their to do list and DAILY get done about ummm 1.  leaving the million for tomorrow.  Ya, me either.

I want a NEW blog layout desperately, I want something so simple and clean...but don't have the time to do it, and I don't really have the funds to pay a million and one dollars for a new layout either, for this hobby of mine.  Who wants to make my blog completely white for me?

P.S. I wish I wouldn't have wanted to want to change childrens lives when I was young and decided to do something cool in college instead like graphic design...it's so much cooler, and when I'm using AI I feel like a badass!  I LOVE THAT program so much!

This weekend is St. Patricks day!!  Hip Hip Hooray!  Maybe, I'll actually drink a green beer this year!  Last year we went to a bar (because I was like ummm 6 weeks pregnant) and I was tricking everyone into making it seem like I was drinking because I carried around green dye and was dying my water :)  I can't help it I LOVE green colored anything for St. Patty's Day it's just SO MUCH FUN!!  And every single year for St Pats day the husband and I dye our drinks.  I mean it's just more fun to drink a beer if it's green!

P.S. can I give Carter a bottle on Sunday and dye it green because it would be funny?  Probably wouldn't be good to give a 5 month old food coloring ha?  Something to ask Mr. Google.

I love Kohls.  that is all, it's literally my favorite store.

Oh and my name is Jade and I'm a little tiny bit addicted to shopping on IG.  first step to admitting you have a problem is to admit it.  I know.  I'm addicted.

Please, tell me this is not the most random post ever?  No, okay cool.

March 13th, 2012

so last year on this exact day I wrote this post.  Well at the time I was just a few weeks pregnant, hadn't told ANYONE yet!

And in the beginning of my pregnancy I was (might be TMI) but spotting, I thought at first I was having a miscarriage.  It was terrifying.  Literally.  I prayed every single day that god would not take away the gift that he had given us, and that me and the husband wanted so desperately.

the gift that I had prayed for every single week in church.  I longed to have a baby.  longed to be a mother, and every day that I was having problems I was so scared that it would be taken away from me in an instant.

while I was at work I started spotting more then normal, and had a meltdown.  so i had to tell my NEW boss (I literally found out I was pregnant ONE day after I started my job) that I thought I was having a miscarriage, and didn't have insurance.  It was literally the worst day of my life, I was so scared.  Shaking I headed to a woman's clinic and they told me that there was nothing they could do because being that early in your pregnancy you can't do anything...if you are going to have a miscarriage, there is nothing we can do about it.  (never felt so helpless in my life) but they told me to come back in two weeks to meet with a real doctor and to go to the hospital if the spotting got worse and was gushing.

I went to check out prenatal pills in tow, and they said okay, your appt is in two weeks on March 13th :)  Right away I got a good feeling, because I knew that, that was my gpa's bday and he would be watching out for us that day!

I still had spotting but, I continued to pray that god keep this child inside me safe.  Besides during my grandpa's time in the hospital, I don't think that I have EVER prayed so much in my whole life.

March 13th came, and I went to my appt. they had told me it would just be a routine exam and it was at 2 pm, so I didn't bring the husband with me, but when I go there the doctor, (I guess he could feel my nervousness) said, well if you want, you can come to my office later today and get an ultrasound to see what's actually going on with the baby, if we see a heartbeat then you're good, if not well we'll talk about that if we need to.  then he said, only if you want.

I didn't even have to think about it.  I immediately told him YES!  And scheduled an appt with him.  I left the doctors and went back to work.  I think my appt was like 2 hours later, and literally the entire two hours I looked at the clock waiting for it to be time, so I could see my peanut.

It was finally time to go and I went to the doctor and he did an ultrasound.  I don't think i've ever had as sweaty palms as I did that day.  I laid there thinking the worst but praying for the best, praying to my gpa to watch over us.

and the doctor said..."okay there it is.  you're about nine/ten weeks pregnant" huh?  really?  I looked at the screen (because I had been to scared to look before) and there was the BLOB.  He said theres the heartbeat and I could see the tiniest itiest bitiest flicker, and he said "let me see hold on" and he started playing my babies heartbeat!!!  He said "okay everything sounds really good. take care of yourself and if you have any severe bleeding head to emergency" he handed me a picture.

So, when I wrote the entire post about my gpas bday one year ago today, it was because I KNEW that day that my gpa was watching over me and carter that day.  It was as if he was saying, don't worry mija I got this, I'm not going to let anything happen to this baby.  I can't even begin to explain the sense of calmness that I felt that day, because it was incredible.  When I got in the elevator that day and was telling the husband all about the baby my eyes would not stop crying, I was so happy.  I remember distinctly telling him over and over again we don't have to worry anymore babe, my grandpa is going to take care of our baby.

we don't need to worry anymore.
it was amazing.
and now a year later, my eyes still tear up thinking about that day.

I was so happy, and looking at Carter sleep and think that a year ago I was worried for him, and a year ago today I was actually able to see his tiny little heart beat and today I get to hear him laugh, and see him roll all over our floor.

and today, on my grandpa's birthday i could not be more happy.

today on his birthday I could not be more grateful that i have an angel watching over carter in heaven.

Reveille Reveille Grandpa!
well all miss you every single day!

Thank you for continuing to watch over us!  We love you!

OMG!! Baby Carter is FOUR months old!!

Weight: just weighed him and he's 14.6 :O can't believe how big he's getting!  that's ALMOST double what he was born at!  #pleasestopgrowingsofast

Height:  I think he's probably about 25 inches, last time I checked he was 2 feet :)

Clothing Size:  He can still fit his 3 month clothes (barely) and he's MOSTLY in 3-6 BUT anything six 6 months is still ridiculously big!  Except t-shirts, and pajamas those he has to have in size 6 months, I'm thinking it's because of the material?  I don't know but I can't believe he can even fit into six month clothes at all!

Diaper Size:  Still size 2, but since I order his diapers on amazon I ordered size 3 next, so we'll see how that goes.

Feeding:  He's still exclusively BF, we're waiting until he gets closer to 6 months to start any solids, EVEN if everyone in my family thinks it's time for him to eat CAKE   >.<  anyone else have this problem??

Sleep:  Hmmm I can't really say, he's steady because one week he'll sleep 6 hours straight then then wake up to eat and go back to sleep for another 6 hours, BUT other times he's up every two hours, SO all I can say is I am either used to waking up like this or it's getting better, because I hardly ever feel tired in the mornings.

Milestones:
-This month he started smiling at people that you know, I can't help but smile when he start smiling & kicking your feet because he see me or his dad it's the BEST.
-He LAUGHS so much now, especially when you tickle him, HILARIOUS!
-Starts kicking in the bath
-Is slowly BUT surely learning how to use his jumper.
(actually he shuffles, I MUST get it on video asap)
-He learned how to whine, is that a milestone?
-He learned how to roll on his side and will eventually turn himself completely around!! :-O
-He also learned how to roll kinda he'll get over BUT gets stuck AND he can roll from his stomach to his back ONLY the first time you put him down after that he won't do it again...weird? Ya I thought so too.
-OH and he LOVES to play indian :) (is that what it's called?  when you pat their mouth and they make noise?  that's probably not the politically correct word at all BUT I am part indian soooo i can say that right?)
-Oh and he learned how to YELL!!!  I love it!!!  SO funny!
-OMG I totally ALMOST forgot!!!  He learned to say MOM!!!!!  NO joke, he says it...I'm sure he doesn't know he's calling me...BUT he does say MOM ;)  does that count as his first word?  or he has to associate it with something for it to be a word, and not just a sound?  Whateva...his FIRST sound is MOM :)  LOVE LOVE LOVE!  CLEARLY he loves me the MOST :D

(Man we learned lots this month ha?)

Adventures:
-Went to a Toms Sale GOT 7 pairs of brand new Toms!
-Took Valentine's Day pictures!
-Celebrated Valentines Day
-Took our FIRST family pictures ;) (pictures coming soon)

Mommy & Daddy could NOT get through this month without:
-Carter!!  Literally he's the highlight of our lives, I can't believe how much I Love this kid.
-his jumper, he loves that thing!!
-his chuppies (he's obsessed)
-STILL lovin our Aden + Anais swaddlers
-OUR phones, so we can take LOTS and LOTS of pictures and videos of our cute little boy!  :)

Now, please Carter STOP GROWING SO FAST!!  These last FOUR months have FLOWN by, I feel like I'm going to wake up and my sweet little boy is going to be 18!  -.-  Slow down time!!!  You're giving me whiplash!

Happy 4 Months baby :)

New me??

Okay...so for a while I'd been dyingggggg to grow my hair out & I looooved it!!! But you know when you're just sick of looking at the same thing ALL the time?! Well I was sick of my hair it was just boring -.- I got bored, so I tried bangs because I loooved having my hair long and then they grew out and I got bored again...I wanted something new!

Sooooo I decided a while ago I would dye it or cut it something anything to get me out of this funk! I mean my hair was sooo long now that I didn't even like wearing it down because it was just getting in the way...and it was so hard to put into a bun OR even just tie up real quick at home! #soannoying

Sooooo this weekend I finally made the very rash decision to just go for it and do something brand new!!! I called my hair stylist friend and decided to get a cut and color! And there you have it!

BRAND NEW ME!

I mean...

BRAND NEW HAIR! :)

P.S. Don't mind my ridiculous bathroom pic...I mean YES the toilet seat is up...(the husband doesn't always put it down -.-)