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Sleep and Smiles

This has been a fabulous week.  Mason man has been sleeping like the little sweetie pie that he is.  It all started Saturday when he spent the night at Grandma Paulas..... he slept from 10-6!  I thought for sure Sunday night when I put him to bed he was going to do it again.....he didnt, but its okay.  Last night however he slept from 9-430.  That is pretttty darn good!  What a little stud.  Either way, we are making progress.  My little man is now 3 months old.  I can't believe how fast the time is flying by. 

Mason has really been full of smiles lately too.  When he smiles it seriously makes me almost melt.  He is so handsome.  He is especially smiley in the morning when he wakes up.  He just stretches and smiles and stretches and smiles.  Even when I load him up in the car and drive the 15 minutes to town and to granny's....he is still smiling when we get there!  Unfortunately though, his smiliest points are always in the morning.  Last night we got our 3 month pictures taken and he didnt have too many smiles to share with the camera.  I sort of think he already gets annoyed when he sees a camera.  boys!!

Yesterday I got an electric start put in my car.  I am soooo thankful for it, and what perfect timing because today is absolutely FREEZING! So glad I was able to put Mason in a warm car. 

Yesterday I also found out that one of the nurses I had while I was in the hospital had her baby at only 30 weeks.  He was born weighing 1 lb 10 oz's.  I dont know this person very well but I can't stop thinking about her and her little son.  Please pray for her. 

I am looking forward to the weekend- Mommy and Daddy are going on a date tonight, and tomorrow we are going to Iowa City on a bus trip.  Sunday Mason man will be sporting his Halloween costume and celebrating Aunt Katie's birthday!  Pics will follow.......  have a good weekend everyone!

Do I really have a premie baby?

So this has been a confusing week.  Monday night Mason went to bed as usual but then woke up at midnight and pretty much stayed awake the WHOLE night.  We ended up on the couch with me holding the pacifier in his mouth for him.  I did notice that he had "lost his voice"..... poor poor thing.  Tuesday I felt like I was a failure mother for the first time.  I feel like I've kept it together for 3 months straight- but this day I felt overly tired, frustrated, stressed and confused.  I feel like for the first time I had no idea what to do to 'relax' him.  Mason really is the perfect baby- he hardly ever cries (unless he is hungry), he never ever spits up (knock on wood) and he just seems happy.  So what the heck am I complaining about??? Thats why I'm feeling bad. 

After consulting with about five other mothers- some veterans and some newbies with July babies- I had decided to give Mason some rice cereal in his night time bottle to help him (or maybe help me) sleep better at night.  I was feeling desperate (and I still am in a way).  It seemed to be working....he eats it fine, digests it fine and he did sleep a little longer for a few nights.  But then a healthcare professional reminded me that I have a premie baby- and that maybe his little organs really aren't ready for that.  Afterall, rice cereal is not recommended until a baby is 4 months and can hold their head up on their own- which he is neither.  The doctor said that their little esophogus' are not fully formed and there can be 'cracks' in them and the rice can seep through them and cause problems.....ugh, that sounds scary and now I feel really bad.  Is it really worth all that?  Maybe not. 

To me though, Mason doesnt seem like a premie at all.  He was born at 35 weeks and 2 days.  So to some- he was only 5 days early of being full term- or a week and 5 days early- whichever way you look at it.  Then- he weighed 6 lbs 4 oz's..... most premies are much less than that.  They tell me that weight doesnt matter though..... hmm.  They also keep telling me I have to consider him his "adjusted age" which only makes him 7 weeks old instead of 12. Thats a very big difference......   to me, he is perfect.  He smiles, he looks at the fan and the lights and responds to my voice....  he coo's at me and he snuggles the best. 
Do I need to change my thinking?  I really dont know.  For now, I'm good.

Weird nights, Pumpkin Patch, and the fryer

Yesterday Michael and I took Mason to Maquoketa's version of a pumpkin patch.  Honestly though, I'm glad I didnt really waste our money going to the Pride of the Wapsi one- b/c Mason was NOT in the mood! haha.  We woke him up- and it was right before his lunch time.  Those things along with the very bright sunshine did not make for a very photogenic almost 3 month old!  But, I tried anyway.  We picked a pumpkin for Mommy, Daddy and Mason and took them home, where I tried yet, again, to get some pictures with pumpkins.  Maybe next year!
We also had some very strange sleeping patterns this weekend.  Saturday night Mason chose to wake up at midnight where he ate only 1 oz!  I wonder if he wasn't really hungry- but maybe had a bad dream or something?  Or maybe I'm the one that over reacted! hmm....me? never!  He also woke up at 4 a.m. and was ready to party.....but, I was able to put him down in his crib- wide awake- where he very nicely fell back asleep for Mommy.  He then slept til 8 a.m. which was soooo fabulous!
After we woke up, Daddy decided he needed to play flag football.  It was fun to go watch!  Those boys get sooooo tired! haha.  And Lorin and I sat there....."pretending" to pay attention like we always do :) 
At night Michael FINALLY got out the fryer that we got for our wedding.  He has been wanting to do this forever.  We had a contest to see who could make better chicken.  Mine would have won- minus the appearance.  I'll def. win next time!  After he cooked fried food for an hour I felt like I was gonna have a heart attack......but I ate it anyway and watched a pretty funny movie with Will and Lorin!
It was a good weekend!

Spain Family watching the Hawks!

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Let's go Hawks!

I love my pants that Tiffy got me that I am finally big enough to wear!


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Worky workerten

Not much to say- can't wait til tomorrow to spend some time with this handsome little dude. Successfully completed my first two days back to work. Today I moved offices which was quite the task. Hopefully Monday I can take the time to actually go through some boxes and files and see what's really important- sure. Tonight I had a Scentsy party in Cedar Rapids and got to see one of my favs- friend of the bride, cousin of the groom- Linzy. They had delicious chocolate chip cookies, so that combo alone made the night worth the trip. Kristy and Shelby accompanied me as well- which means there is never a dull moment between Shelby's storytelling and Kristy's extra napkins.
I am learning quickly what it feels like to be a working Mom. I left the house at 7 this morning and got home at 9 tonight. Ugh. I def over booked myself the next week or so and I've already learned a good lesson- that I'm gonna have to say no once in a while or learn to stretch my projects out a little more....but, its a good challenge and I like to be tested. I really wanna go to Des Moines tomorrow to see Brenna but that will be a real project- we'll see! Stay tuned!

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Back to Work and Go Shelby!

so, today is over and done.  I'm officially back to work.  On one hand- ugggggh.  and on the other- it was nice.  It was a good first day.  Mason woke up at 3 a.m. ate very nicely and went right back to sleep.  It was Mama that couldnt go back to sleep though- too much on my mind.  Alarm went off at 5:15 and I was able to get ready for my day without a worry since Mason was still snoozing away.  Grandma Paula arrived at 6:30 and Mason man woke up with smiles.  Its so nice when he wakes up not starving!  I said my goodbyes and was out the door.  My first two hours flew by- mostly deleting emails and cleaning off my desk.  Then I went to the book fair and bought Mason a book!  Then Tracy and I went to Davenport for a Corporate recognition event.  I wasn't sure what to expect since I didnt have much to do with the event but was happy when they put me right to work! One part of the presentation had a video called "Abigails Story" (its going to be on http://www.genesishealth.com/).  It was about a couple who had their baby at 30 weeks and she spent time in the NICU- it was interesting to hear their story about how they had no time to react and the shock and crazy day they had when they had to do an emergency c-section.  Luckily for me, the video had some technical problems and they had to stop it...b/c the tears were about to come. By the time we got back to DeWitt it was pretty much time to head off to Aunt Shelbys Conference Cross Country meet!  She did sooo awesome!  Improved her time by over a minute from September 25th when she ran there and she was the 2nd Saber to finish! She also secured her varsity spot for districts next week- where they have a small chance at qualifying for state.  They have a very small chance behind Assumption, Wahlert and Mt. Vernon-Lisbon who are all ranked but if they can improve their time a little more- ya never know.  Anyway, I'm super proud of her for not giving up this season (not that I ever thought she would).  She started the season slow- running on JV, finishing 8th for the Sabers and has kept working hard at practice!  I have a feeling she works way harder than I ever did.  Shes awesome. Looking forward to districts next week (at Anamosa again!) and hopefully the Saber girls can pull off a little upset and we can head to Fort Dodge!

Mason isn't too sad for Mommy to go to work :)

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My doggy from Avery!

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Happy Mason man!

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My Mason bracelet

I got myself a "back to work" gift.  A new charm that reminds me of Mason!

Avery Grace < 3

Avery Grace Schauf just sent Mason his first Build A Bear and it said:
Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
My Diaper is clean
Yours Smells like Poo! 

HOW SWEET!!!!

My sorta sappy post- reflections

So today I went to the new restaurant in Maquoketa to pick up a gift certificate for my Mom and at the last minute decided to eat there....by myself.  I hadn't eaten lunch yet and Mason was sleeping so I thought I'd give it a try.  It was delicious by the way :)  There were two groups of old ladies sitting there playing cards....for one second I was so jealous of them.  I dont wanna be old yet (even though I feel like I am some days already) but I thought how nice to not have to go to work and just decide it'd be fun to play cards with your friends on a Tuesday afternoon.  I guess thats why its called retirement- hopefully I get to see that some day.  so, next I stared out the window- and it was actually beautiful.  All the leaves have changed colors and the sun was so bright and Mason was sitting next to me snoozing away- smiling and happy having sweet baby dreams. Then came the sad wedding type music.... and suddenly I began reflecting on the past 11 weeks.  I actually had tears in my eyes thinking about how much fun I have had becoming a Mom.  I am so lucky to have been able to stay home and watch him grow from a little 6 lb'er to a big 12 lb 2  1/2 month old boy.  I started thinking back to July 26th and what a crazy whirlwind day that was (I think I'll post about that day later).  Then I remember coming home without a baby....and recovering from a c-section.  I feel like I can recall so vividly what I felt like...and remember thinking I felt better when I really didnt.  I can remember the day when I was like- NOW, I'm better.  After the first 5 weeks or so I'd say I felt like I had it together- a 'TA DA' moment when I felt like I would succeed at being a Mom. I'm so lucky and thankful for my wonderful family who have been soooo helpful.  They got us groceries, made us dinner, cleaned our house, let Michael and I have a little fun together- so many things.  I really have the best family in the whole world.  The last 6 weeks Mason and I have been able to spend so much quality time together and do a lot of shopping!! I can't believe my time being home has come to an end so quickly.  In a way I'm ready to return to work.  I know I'll be more organized and get my priorities straight.  I'm looking forward to seeing my fun co-workers everyday again and socializing with adults.  But, I am going to miss my little man so much.  I am so thankful he will be in good hands every day and for that reason I feel like it is easier for me to go.  I just hope I dont miss out on too much everyday. 
Overall the last 12 weeks have changed my life.  Not only for the obvious reasons, but so many more.  I think the biggest thing I've come to understand is that God doesnt give you more than you can handle. 

My new blog!

Well, I've always wanted to do one of these things.  I dont know if I really have anything that anyone really wants to know THAT bad- but, I enjoy writing so this might be my chance.  I'm hoping someday it might be fun to look back at.  I told Tracy (Paarmann- my co-worker) that while I was home on maternity leave I was going to write a biography.....but, I never got that done.  After I got married I said I was gonna write a book too- and well, none of these things have happened so maybe this will have to be my second option. 

Thats all for now really.  More once I figure this thing out :)