Before I Was A Mom

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
And before I was a Grandma, I didn't know that all those "Mom"
feelings
more than doubled when you see that l ittle bundle being held by "your baby"...

Author Unknown

Weight Check Time...Again

Well, he's only gained 8 oz. in the past 6 weeks. Now, an average 7 month old should gain 1-2 oz. weekly, so 8 oz. doesn't sound too bad. But, since Riley is still below the 5th percentile, we are really hoping for closer to a 3-4 oz. gain per week. Therefore, 8 oz. in 6 weeks falls very short. The doctor looked him over and she says he is staying on his own curve, which is good, he's hitting all the developmental milestones, which is good, so she's not 'concerned', but she does want us to continue pumping high calorie cereal and formula into him and we have another weight check appointment in 4 weeks. He also got his 1st part of his flu shot today. It wasn't so bad, not nearly like his normal vaccines (of course, this was just one shot and he normally gets 4 during vaccine time!).
I think he's going great! Yes, he is skinny, but he's happy, wiggly, meeting his milestones, and he looks healthy, that's what's important!

Song in my head: "My Hump" by Black Eyed Peas

The Doctor is OUT!

Chris has been sick for 5 days (started Thursday morning; stomach bug), my mother/boss was sick last week (sinus infection), and Riley started getting a little cold on Friday (runny nose, cough, congestion)...so I was Dr. Wife/Daughter/Mommy!!! What a tiring job that is! It was really rough taking care of Riley all by myself, since Chris had a fever, keeping him away from Chris, while still taking care of Chris (getting his medicine, checking his temperature, etc.). My mom got better over the weekend and, the sweetheart she is, she made us lunch/dinner yesterday...chicken & speghetti, blueberry muffins and peach pie!!! It was so delicious! And so nice that I didn't have cook! :) Chris is still feeling puny, but he's back at work and his fever has been gone for over a day now, Riley still has a runny nose & congestion, but he's not acting like he feels sick (just a little teething pain, his first tooth just popped through Saturday!), however, I have had a bit of a sinus situation today, but nothing a little medicine can't keep under control.
So, that was my week and weekend, busy, tiring, full of sick puppies!!! We missed our nieces' birthday party in Oklahoma, I am so sad about that, as we was there for BOTH of Brooke's 1st birthdays as well as her second, so I can't believe we missed her 3rd and Becca's FIRST! We're hoping to be able to go up and visit as soon as possible, and I am anxiously awaiting pictures from the party! It just makes me want to cry that we missed it, I still can't believe it!
Good news: Danny & Stephanie are back from their honeymoon, I missed them terribly!
I'm ready to start this week and hope it's a better one!

Song in my head: "Comin' To Your City" by Big & Rich

Finger Foods

Riley has been eating finger foods for about a month and a half now (since his Aunt Melissa gave him his first Cheerio Labor Day weekend). He's so cute! He'll pick it up and put it to his mouth, but when he pulls his hand away, it's still there! He looks at it like, 'Hey, what are you still doing there, you're supposed to be in my mouth!' I guess his hands are just sticky so all the foods (Cheerios, Gerber Puffs, Wagon Wheels) get stuck on his hands. I can't wait until he gets a little better at it, as this sitting down for 30 minutes to feed him MESSY baby food three times a day is getting a little tiring. :) Any suggestions from the mothers out there? If not, I guess it's a phase I will continue to enjoy, while looking forward to the next one.

Song in my head: 'Redneck Yacht Club' by Craig Morgan

My Best Friend's Wedding

Saturday October 15, 2005 my brother and my best friend tied the knot!!! It was a beautiful ceremony and a fabulous reception. I am so happy for them! I was privelaged to be the Matron of Honor in the ceremony, which was very special to me. I just couldn't be happier for the two of them, they love each other so much, they deserve so much in their lives, including each other. Like I said to Stephanie in my speech at the wedding: "Best Friends or not, My brother deserves the best, and you have found that in each other. Congratulations and I love you both!"
They are now at Lake Tahoe on their honeymoon, having a blast no doubt! I miss them already!

Riley did AMAZING at the wedding! His Godfather, Jason, held him during the ceremony (since Chris and I were both in it, and my parents had roles as well) and they did great together! At the reception it was a family effort, with my mom, my grandparents, my daddy, Chris and myself all switching off! Riley slept for a lot of the reception, and was a happy little party baby the rest of the time!

I can't wait for Steph to get her pictures back! The day went by so fast (and it started at 7am for me!), I am looking forward to re-living it through photos!

Congratulations, again, Danny & Stephanie!

Song in my head: "Hillbillies" by Hot Apple Pie (it's playing from my cd right now!)

Breastfeeding Battles & Haircut Horrors

Let's remember that Riley refuses to take a bottle 99.9% of the time, which means my breast is his other mode of nourishment. Well, he's now at this stage where he CANNOT sit still long enough to nurse! He wiggles, he pops on and off, turning his head to look at people, animals, tv, the couch cushion, it doesn't matter, he just can't stand to be still, facing my breasts for 20 minutes! So the only time I can have a nice, relaxing nursing session is when he is sleepy, but then he nurses himself to sleep and doesn't eat for more than 10 minutes or so (which is not good since he is underweight and it is a constant struggle to get him to eat as much as possible). It's a cute stage with him being so curious and inquisitive, but my nipples are getting sore from this on - off business! I was hoping to wean him around 9-10 months (he'll be 7 months this week), but since he refuses to take a bottle I'm not sure how successful I will be, but if this continues (which I have a feeling it will), I think I'll become more and more motivated!

Riley got his first haircut yesterday. Mommy & Daddy decided to make the moment special and memorable and do it ourselves...what a mess! Let's just bypass the fact that it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a 7 month infant to sit still enough for a REAL haircut, we expected that and did what we had to do. So we finish giving him his haircut, with scissors, and it looks so cute. We've cut short bangs so they are no longer hanging in his eyes, trimmed over his ears so those little hairs will no longer tickle him, and trimmed up the back of the neck so it's straight and clean. Then we lay him down for a diaper change and I realize that the top still looks like a comb over, it's just all one length and there is no depth or layering to it all. So I suggest we trim it up a bit, make it look 'cleaner'. Chris then has a better idea: How about we use the trimmer with the longest guard? So I pull the guard through Riley's hair and it doesn't look like it will make it any shorter than the bangs & sides already are. So back into the kitchen/barbershop, Riley on my lap, and Chris starts 'trimming'. As the 'trimmer' comes over the top of Riley's head and I see the 'path' it leaves behind I start to cry. Seriously, it's on videotape. This guard is not leaving the hair ANYWHERE NEAR as long as it seemed it would! Our precious little boy who once had a beautiful, full head of dark brown hair, ever since the day he was born, now has a shaven head of blonde. Now, normally this wouldn't be so bad, I mean, he still has more hair than most babies his age...but it's not him. The first thing people always said when they met him was "Look at all that hair!"; I would run my fingers through it all day long, sweeping it out of his eys, using it to put him to sleep, or frazzling it up just for fun; he has always had a head full of hair and now, when I look at him, I think 'who is this baby?', I mean, he looks SO DIFFERENT! It's such a strange feeling! Honestly, it's cute, that's not the problem, he just doesn't look like himself, the self I've been gazing at for almost 7 months. It's going to take some getting used to, but in the meantime, I will continue to pray that his hair grows at phenomenal speeds.

Changes

The past two days have been, for lack of better words, strange. Riley has always given me problems taking a nap, but yesterday, he slept for almost 3 hours during the day. And once he woke up he was very calm and content, I don't think he cried at all yesterday now that I think of it. Today, same thing, he has been very calm, keeping himself entertained or just observing what's going on around him, he went down for his nap no problem (not even nursing himself to sleep) and has already been asleep for more than an hour. He doesn't seem to feel bad or anything? Maybe it's short term, maybe he's just 'changing' as babies often do. Either way, as long as he's happy, which he seems to be, I'll enjoy every minute of it!

Song in my head: "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" by Joe Nichols

Milestones

Riley is 6 and a half months old, so we're going to see how he is chalking up, developmentally, with my book 'What To Expect The First Year'. The things Riley is able to do will be in red.

By seven months, your baby...should be able to:
*feed self a cracker
*razz (make a wet razzing sound)
*coo or babble when happy
*smile often when interacting with you

...will probably be able to:
* sit without support
*bear some weight on legs when held upright
*object if you try to take a toy away
*work to get a toy that's out of reach
*look for dropped object
*rake with fingers an object and pick it up in fist
*turn in the direction of a voice
*babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da
*play peekaboo

...may poosibly be able to:
*creep or crawl (creeping a TINY bit)
*pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other
*stand holding on to someone or something

...may even be able to:
*pull up to standing position from sitting
*get into sitting position from stomach
*play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye
*pick up tiny objects with any part of thumb & finger
*walk holding on to furniture (cruise)
*say 'mama' or 'dada' indiscriminately

Yay! It looks like our little man is doing pretty good!

Song in my head: "Redneck Yacht Club" by Craig Morgan