Movin on up...

I really am movin on up to the east side! No apartment though. My boss called me today and told me that if I want the appliance/electronics assistant store manager job at the North Kansas City Missouri store it's mine. It's not been made public yet (so if anyone from work is reading this don't make a peep yet!!!) but he said he's already made the deal with the district manager. Now I just need to meet with my new store manager and work out the details.

The good thing is that it's more money which means we should be able to hopefully afford day care for Brady rather than Jeremiah working all night and then having to stay up all day with him! We found a place we really like, but it's still about $50 a week more than we have so we're trying to rework our budget and cut as many corners as we can so we can do it - it's a Baptist church a just couple blocks from the new store.

I'm not sure yet what my days off or hours will be or anything like that. Hopefully the store manager will call me this week sometime so we can get together and work all that out.

The only bad thing is I'm going to miss all of my friends at my store. I don't know ANYONE at this new store which totally sucks. I have a really good support crew at my store who have helped me get where I am today - especially Jeanie B. who taught me everything I know about managing appliances and electronics, Tom who taught me how to relax, take a break and work a crossword puzzle, and Kevin who has just been really helpful in my current position. He works under me and he is a very hard worker. There's also about 10 to 15 people I just really enjoy being around. They make me laugh when I'm stressed out or pissed at my boss! I hope my new store has cool people in it!

My first real bath!!!

Ha ha, aren't I clever with the censored sign? He'll appreciate it when he's older that the whole universe didn't see his whole universe in the tub!!!

Well, Brady had his first real bath Monday night. Since his umbilical stump finally came off he can now be put in water. Before we had to sponge bathe him. He seemed to enjoy the sink bath more...I'm sure it was a little warmer for him. He didn't really splash around, he pretty much just sat in a dazed state like he was thinking, "Oooooo. This is nice. This seems familiar - like my swimming pool in mommy's belly."

The only bad thing about the sink bath is that he's really, really slippery and his butt kept sliding around everywhere! We're going to have to get one of those rubber mat thingies to sit down in there.

Who's bed is this anyway?

Amber likes to snuggle up to Brady when he's on our bed.

Who's bed is this anyway? I put Brady on our bed while I tried to get him to go to sleep tonight. He had a pretty rough day. He woke up at 6:30 a.m. after a pretty good night of sleep...his 3:30 a.m. feeding was quick and easy! He stayed up for a couple of hours until about 8 or 8:30 and then woke up to eat around 10:30 or 11. After that he was crazy all day. He was fussy and gassy and crabby and didn't want to sleep. He kept fighting sleep all day. He probably slept a total of maybe 2.5 hours between 11 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. He fell asleep in our bed with the puppies then but not for long. He woke up a few minutes later. So I swaddled him and rocked him in our rocking chair and finally got him down in his crib. Unfortunately I didn't get PJ's on him so he's in there in his onesie and his blanket. That's ok though. I expect he'll wake up and be hungry any minute (it's now a little after 10:30). Hopefully he'll sleep good tonight and be back to normal tomorrow!

Hangin at the Hittle's

We went to Aunt Stacey and Uncle Jeff's house Sunday to watch the Nascar race. Brady enjoyed their couch a little more than the race! Daddy tried to catch a few zzz's in between green flag laps - he got up at 5 p.m. Saturday, went to work at 10:30 p.m. and didn't get home until noon Sunday. He had a busy, chaotic night at work including a non-fatal drive-by shooting, a gas station clerk getting beat up and an old guy dying of natural causes. Par for the course for his first week back...he's still recovering from the craziness of it all!

Ups and downs

We went to the store at the hospital yesterday to pick up a car charger for my pump and they had a baby scale in there so we weighed Brady. He came in at 11 pounds! Whoa! We thought he was looking bigger! We measured him today with our yard stick and he was a whopping 23 inches long! He's almost two feet tall!

In the five-and-a-half weeks he's been here he's put on 2.5 pounds and grown 3 whole inches! I'd say he's probably eating pretty well.

That's the ups of this week. The down is that I have developed the beginnings of mastitis...a breastfeeding infection. Pretty much you feel like you have the flu with it - muscle aches and pains, fever, chills, and just plain soreness and exhaustion. I first felt the symptoms on Sunday night, but Monday I felt better so I thought it must have just been a passing bug or something. Then Monday night I felt worse again and had a fever again so I called my doctor and she sent out an antibiotic. Since I'm allergic to penicillan and erythrimyacin, the two main drugs they use to treat it they had to give me some other drug which apparently gives a lot of people stomach problems. The pharmacist was like, "This might give you pretty bad diareah, and if it doesn't go away after you finish this medicine then you have to go back to your doctor and get a prescription to fix that!" Nice. I started taking it this morning and so far so good. Let's hope it doesn't affect me negatively since I already have enough trouble with my tummy.

We don't know how I got the mastitis. Usually it comes from trying to wean too quickly or abruptly stopping breastfeeding, neither of which I have done. I've been feeding Brady regularly and pumping on a regular schedule so we have no clue. Hopefully once it goes away it doesn't come back though. The good news about all of it is that it doesn't affect Brady one way or another - so that's positive.

Milestones - turning over

Brady rolled over from his belly to his back tonight for the first time on his own! I got down on the floor with him and spread out his blankie. Then I put him down for some tummy time. I had the laptop sitting on a pillow on the couch and thought I better move it before it fell off and so I turned to move it to the couch. When I turned back Brady was laying on his back staring up at me! Jeremiah was in the other room - so really neither of us saw him do it, but I know he did because he didn't start that way! We tried for an hour to get him to do it again...had the video camera ready and everything. Of course he didn't do it! We'll try again tomorrow!

Growing up

Our little boy is growing up so fast!!!

Last night Brady spent the night in his crib in his own room for the first time! He had been sleeping in his cradle (and sometimes his bouncey seat) in our room since he came home. We decided before it's time for me to go back to work we might as well get him used to his room. Plus we really want to get him on a good schedule and that makes it easier...if I need to stay up doing something after his bed time I can because I won't be keeping him awake in our room.

So I put him in there when he fell asleep around 9:45 p.m. He stirred a little at 10:15 and then again at 10:45. Since he was set to eat 11 I went ahead, got him up, fed him and put him back. He grumbled for a while and then fell asleep. Holly, Amber and I climbed into my bed and we were out by 11:45! I woke up at 2:30 and started to panic for a quick second thinking "What if he woke up and I didn't hear him." I checked the monitor to see if it was still on. It was. I rolled back over and woke again at 3:30 when he woke up and started grumbling and eventually crying to be fed. He ate and then it was back to bed until 6:30! All in all, not a bad night. It's a good schedule for him. The night before last he ate at 11, 3:30 and 6:30 too, so it seems it might work for him. It works for me too because I can get him up after the 6:30 feeding and get him dressed and ready for the day. That helps because when I go back to work that will be the time we're getting ready to switch from my watch to Jeremiah's since he gets home from work around 7:30.

I can sleep anywhere

Brady says, "I'm not picky. Give me somewhere comfy and I'll fall right to sleep...unless of course it is night time. Then I'll have to think about it for a while first!" He fell asleep in his swing during dinner the other night and didn't care one bit that I turned it off halfway through!

Brady fell asleep while I was feeding him so I just moved him and the boppy off my lap and onto the couch. He stayed like that for almost an hour before he started to get squirmy and I thought he might roll over onto his face so I had to move him!

Special Police - Baby Patrol

Brady didn't want Daddy to go back to work.

We found the perfect bib for Brady - it's a police one with a walkie talkie patch and a badge that says "Special Police - Baby Patrol"

It's Off!

Finally! It's off!!!

Yep, Brady finally let go of his silly little umbilical cord stump tonight. Some experts say it should take 7 to 10 days to fall off, others say it takes 2 to 4 weeks. Brady's lasted 4 weeks, 6 days and 22 hours! What a nut.

I went to change him before his 5:30 p.m. feeding and thought I'd give it another cleaning with the rubbing alcohol. I pulled it up a little to get underneath it really good and it was really goobery. Next thing I knew I was holding it in my hand.

Jeremiah doesn't even know yet because he's still sleeping. He had to go back to work Tuesday night. :( It's going to take a few days before he gets back into his sleep routine. For now Brady and I will just hang out and let Daddy sleep as much as he needs to.

Fishin' for Father's Day

We headed out to Perry Lake the day before Father's Day to celebrate with the family. We had a big group: Don & Joyce, Robin, Shirley & Gerald, Stacey & Jeff, me, Jeremiah, Brady, Lisa and Brian! It was a hot day, but we lucked out and got a pavilion to sit under that had a nice breeze flowing through. We sat around and talked, played cards and ate some really good barbeque. Jeremiah, Brian, Don and Gerald went fishing, but came back to report that "There just aren't any fish in this lake." Lisa, Brian and Jeremiah played in the water with the skis and tube too!

Jeremiah prepared to take his mom and grandpa for a trip around the lake...Robin's back there saying, "Are you sure there's lifevests on this thing??" Just kidding. They did hit some pretty rough water though on the side of the lake by the dam.

Joyce and her babies!

Jeremiah and Gerald smoked some welcome Brady cigars to celebrate the day!

All smiles

We've been telling everyone that Brady has been smiling a lot more these days, but we haven't been able to capture it on film until now! Here he is enjoying tummy time.

Celebrate good times

Jeremiah and his grandfather toasted Brady with thier half-yard of beer at the Yard House - a new restaurant by our house that has more than 130 beers on tap! We celebrated Brady's birth, father's day and just being able to get together for some good times!

Celebration

This is the life: kicked back in the recliner catchin some Zzz's while Grandpa watches the history channel!

Nothin like a good swing

Brady is starting to figure out that his swing is a fun place to be. He's decided that it's still not as great at his vibrating boucey seat, but it's a close second!

Chillin on my blankie

Brady likes to spend time laying on his blankie with his Whinnie the Pooh mirror and his singing puppy dog Dot. This day he was wearing crazy plaid shorts! He's getting ready for his PGA career!

First father's day

Brady got Daddy a card and a KU ceramic candle warmer for Father's Day! Now Daddy can burn black and gold Mizzou colored candles in it when Aunt Stacey and Aunt Jenn come to visit just to drive them crazy with his love of KU!

Spikey

Daddy combed Brady's hair into a mowhawk during bathtime!

Practice makes perfect

Our friend Jen is pregnant and the other day she and her daughter Kyleigh came over to bring Brady a blanket Jen made for him. Brady liked being held by Kyleigh. He thinks she's going to make a really good big sister!

Grandmas are Great

Grandmas have just the right touch!!!

Family photos

Brady loves his greatgrandparents

Brady had tons of fun with his Grandma Robin during her visit! He loved sleeping in her arms!

Four generations!

Grandma Robin and her boys!

Milestones - One-month old

Brady turned one-month old this past weekend. Can you believe it's gone that fast already? Geez, before we know it he'll be walking and talking and driving!!!! (His hot wheel monster truck anyway, right?) For now he's still our little guy who likes to smile at us and make us laugh. He's still holding on to his silly umbilical cord stump too. We're not really sure why. It looks like it's about to go any day, yet it's looked that way for weeks now. We called the doctor yesterday just to make sure it was ok for it not to have fallen off yet and they said most fall off before now, but sometimes they're just stubborn. Now we have to treat it with the alcohol three or four times a day instead of just two. It's pretty cruddy looking and I'm ready for it to be gone. It will make bath time a lot easier. Plus, he's got some fun two-piece outfits I want him to wear, but I don't want the waistband rubbing on the stump so for now it's still onesie land for him. I put him in a onesie and some shorts yesterday for dinner and when we got home we noticed his stump had bled a little and goobered up the inside of his onesie. Yuck.

For now he's still putting up a fight when it comes to bedtime. He's been spending some nights sleeping in his bouncey chair in our room because he just won't let himself go to sleep in his cradle. He falls asleep in our arms, but the second you put him down he startles himself awake and then can't get back to sleep. I read in a book, however, that a lot of babies have trouble getting to sleep because the startle reflex keeps waking them up. It suggested swadling them really tight like we did in the hospital so they can't startle themselves awake. I tried it last night after an hour of trying everything else after his 4:30 a.m. feeding and he moaned and groaned for a minute while I was swadling him, but then the second I put him in his crib he was out. It was awesome. I'm going to keep that trick in mind for the future!

Milestones - laughing

Well, Brady had his first good chuckle this morning! After his 4 a.m. feeding I was waiting to see if he was going to stay asleep on the boppy before I tried to move him back to his cradle. His eyes were closed but he kept squirming a little and giving me really big smiles. All of a sudden he got the biggest smile ever on his face an he giggled! I had my hand on his belly and it bounced up and down four or five times as he chuckled to himself. I said, "Jeremiah, Jeremiah, wake up, Brady just laughed!" I guess in all the excitement I woke Brady up too and he decided to stay awake until 7 a.m.! I think secretly he was laughing because he knew he was tricking me into thinking he was actually going to go back to sleep! Ha ha mommy, joke's on you!

The past two nights we've been doing better at getting him to go to sleep at a reasonable time, but now he wants to wake up at 4 a.m., eat and then play until 7. At least this way I get a little bit of sleep before he wants to play. And the first night I cleaned his whole room and organized his drawers. Eventually he'll figure out that nighttime lasts a lot longer than 4 to 6 hours. I just hope it's before I go back to work!!!

What a guy!

Thank goodness for Greatgrandpas...they fit just right!

Meeting Greatgrandparents Laird

Waiting for Greatgrandma and Greatgrandpa to deplane

Hello Greatgrandma Shirley!

Greatgrandpa checking out the sign on the stroller...Greatgrandma checking out the cutest baby in the world!

Shopping is hard work

We went shopping at the new shopping center by the racetrack the other night. Believe it or not Brady was actually awake for part of the time, but by the time we were done he had shopped till he dropped and couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to pose with the ginormous turtle!

Daddy's hat

Daddy's hat is just a little too big...but it does the trick - the only thing Brady's hunting are some ZZZZZ's!

Grandma and Grandpa

Watchin some TV with Grandpa Rustin

Grandpa, Grandma and baby Brady!

Three weeks old!

Brady turned 3 weeks old Thursday - can you believe it??

I read in a magazine about one lady who took her child's picture with the same stuffed animal every so often so you could really see how big they were getting and I decided that was a pretty good idea! So here is Brady with Mr. Monkey. I bet it won't be too long before Brady looks like a giant next to Mr. Monkey!

My buddy Amber

We call Amber "Nurse Amber" because she always wants to take care of Brady! Whenever she comes inside from the backyard the first thing she does is look for Brady. She loves when he lays on a blanket on the floor because she can sniff him and lay by him! Sometimes when we change his diaper Amber will come into his room with us and lay on his rug until we're done - she wants to make sure we do it right!

Sleeping in the boucey

It's too bad Brady's cradle and crib don't vibrate. Then we wouldn't have any trouble getting him to sleep at night! He loves napping in his chair during the day. The other day he finally discovered that there is a mirror ball that spins at the top of the chair. He spent a few minutes grinning at himself and slobbering all over the place!

Meeting Grandpa

Brady finally got to meet his Grandpa Rustin...although the suspense was drawn out a little bit longer than expected. The plane landed and we got Brady out of his seat and ready to meet him...people came off the plane in droves. Then they trickled off...but no Rustin! Just when we started to get out the cell phone to call him and see if he missed the plane he appeared!