Big Weekend!

How Roan is Doing...

Ready for Lucy Cambern's 1st birthday party!

He went to his first birthday party...meaning the first birthday party he's been invited to. Lucy Cambern turned 1. The decorations were just awesome. It seriously looked like something you'd see in a magazine. I forgot to put Roan in his Halloween costume, though. I'm taking him to the parade at Sycamore, so I'll be sure to get pictures then.

He still sleeps wonderfully at night & is cooing and squealing all the time. He'll be up in his crib, talking away, and we'll be downstairs listening on the monitor (not that we can't hear without it haha) and we'll just laugh and marvel at the adorable sounds coming from him.

We're realizing that we are blessed with an easy baby. He will seriously be content on his play mat if all his needs are met. He'll just lay there, batting at the toys. He sleeps well, he's not colic-y. I'm sure we'll have our moments/phases with him (we are dreading teething). And I'm sure this means baby #2 is going to be a big challenge; hopefully this metaphorical lightening will strike twice.

How Mom is Doing...

I feel like I'm getting sick. It started with a sore throat. Plus, my nose/sinuses felt weird. It felt like I had a bloody nose, but nothing was coming out.  I've got a cup of Gypsy Cold Care tea brewing. We'll see if it helps. 

I've started to think about making a c-section support website. Mainly for moms who didn't plan on or want a c-section, but for whatever reason, ended up getting one. I have found little support out there for c-section moms...other than birth boards, which provides great "I've been there" or "Me too" kind of support. It's seriously a hard thing to go through for a lot of women. My struggle now is realizing I will likely never experience a vaginal delivery. A VBAC would be super dangerous for me, given my medical history, so I personally do not feel comfortable risking uterine rupture. My OB told me a VBAC would be possible, but the anesthesiologists were already super concerned with my first c-section, let alone adding the risks of a VBAC. 

If anyone knows of resources/support for c-section moms, leave me a comment. I want to stockpile a list for the blog/site. 

How Dad is Doing...

Note Roan's sausage legs!

Sean had the last 4ish (maybe more? ) days off work because of all that we had going on. Always nice to be together :). 

We're pretty sure we've become that couple that talks about their kid aaaall the time. Talking to friends anymore just winds up being us talking about Roan. So, we're sorry if we've been boring anyone or have made anyone feel left out. He just dominates sooo much of our life, it's only natural. Plus, I'm not working right now, so there goes that. We really try to talk about other things, too! I know I put a lot of pictures and videos on Facebook, but we have family that lives far away, so it's mostly for them. If that annoys anyone, too, Facebook has this great feature where you can "hide" people (wink, wink). I won't know about it & I won't be offended. I have no shame in uploading tons of pictures of my son. Just felt like putting that out there :)

What A Wonderful Weekend

This weekend was busy & jam-packed, but oh-so-wonderful! To start, our friends Melissa & Chris got hitched Friday...so Sean and I had a nice night out while his sister, brother-in-law, and our nephew watched Roan until my parents got into town.

Saturday we had nothing planned, so my mom & dad told us to go to a movie...we gladly did! We saw 50/50 (which we both really enjoyed). Not to mention, my mom cooked & took me shopping while they were here, on top of doing the night shifts with Roan! So blessed!

Sunday was D-Day...Roan was dedicated. Really, it was basically us publicly saying we're going to do our best to raise Roan in a way that pleases God. My grandma Dorothy, aunt Dawn, and sis-in-law Jessie came up from Indiana...as did grandma Berta & Tom. I hadn't seen grandma D and aunt Dawn in a long time, so it was really, really good to see them. Lots of other family in town came, too. We went to the Cracker Barrel afterwards and I didn't want to leave! I wanted to go to someone's house & spend more time together. But Roan was really sleepy...he slept for a little bit in the nursery during church & a few minutes at the restaurant, but definitely not his usual.

Speaking of Roan & sleep...he is doing awesome! He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:15ish and doesn't wake up till somewhere around 5 or 6am, then back to sleep for another 2ish hours. So I'm glad my mom didn't have to get up every 3 hours like before. This also means that Sean & I are consistently sleeping in the same bed again!

Here are some pics from this weekend...

Grandpa Dean is silly.

Asleep at the Cracker Barrel :)

Roan loves his grandpa!

Special time with great-grandma Berta

Great-grandma Dorothy snuggles!

It might not look like it here, but he really got snuggly with his great aunt Dawn for a little bit there.

3 Stinkin' Months Old!

Roan is 3 months old!! Hard to believe!

How Roan is Doing...

I was trying to burp him...he was too tired.

Still working on getting him to sleep in his crib. He does pretty good at night, which is good. He goes to bed between 7:30-8pm and does a 6-8 hr stretch at first, then he gets up every 3ish hours (give or take) after that to eat. The good thing is he goes right back to sleep after those feedings. Actually most of the time his eyes are closed while he's eating. We don't turn on any lights & do very little talking to him while he's eating. Sometimes I'll kiss his forehead or tell him I love him, but very quietly. Sleeping in his crib during the day is still a challenge. I bought room-darkening blinds so hopefully that will help. The longest stretch he'll do is 30 minutes...though he did do 2 hours one day. That was a fluke, I think.

I caught his first laugh on video! I was talking to Sean about how I feel greedy...it used to be that I just wanted him to smile. Then I was ok with that for a while, but then it was "I want him to laugh!" Now it's "I want him to laugh more!" I know one day I'm really gonna miss him being this small, so I'm trying to enjoy the "now"...which is why I extended my maternity leave.

How Mom is Doing...

Yeaaaah...a bit silly :)

Not much has changed, really. Just trying to lose baby weight, haha. Sweets are my weakness & I've cheated a few times. Though, I am still proud of myself because I only had like 2 spoon-fulls of ice cream on separate occasions...as opposed to a whole bowl. 

I really need to start working out. I keep saying "when Roan's sleep schedule is more predictable"...but really, I could just take him down in the basement with me. Excuses, really, is what it is. Sean and I have taken a few walks with Roan & Rosie...but I need to be doing stuff more consistently. My cousin Chelsea is getting married next Spring and I'm in the wedding so I gotta get in shape before then! Which, I just gotta say I'm so excited to visit Marquette again! The UP is truly fantastical. God did a great job on that one. I just wish it wasn't so far away. 

Oh, and I made my first Etsy sale! I'm working on making more stuff to put up, but again, it's hard with Roan. If his naps during the day were more like 1 or 2 hours, that would help so much!

How Dad is Doing...

Work is still kinda slow. He was able to re-do our bedroom a little. We moved the bed, took down the ugly blinds & put up curtains, and got new bedding. 

We've got a lot of weddings to go to this month! Chris & Melissa are getting married this Friday. His friend, Porter (Jessica), is getting married on the 29th in Ohio! So we'll be down there for the weekend. Keeton and Brittany are getting married on the 23rd and Sean is playing guitar during the ceremony (I will be giving the wedding party cues for when they go down the aisle :)). Porter's wedding will be fun because it's been a long time since we've been to Ohio. Sean did an internship there, which is how he knows her. We'll be staying with his "second mom", Pam, when we're there. It'll be their first time meeting Roan...and our first long trip in the car with him! Fingers crossed that goes well, haha. I'm trying not to think about that part.

We both got our pertussis vaccine. It's combined with a tetanus shot, so our arms were seriously sore for 2 days after. Mine still hurts, actually, but I think it's from sleeping on my shoulder weird (due to the sore arm thing). 

If It Aint Broke...

How Roan is Doing...

We decided it was time for Roan to start sleeping in his crib. Thankfully, this has been relatively easy at night...at least the first two nights (this is night 3 and he's been asleep up there for about 1 hour so far). The first night he went almost 12 hours (he had a bottle after about 9.5 hours that night, but then went right back to bed). The second night he did a 6ish hour stretch, then up every 3 hours. We'll see how tonight goes.

Unfortunately, it's been a different story during the day. He just loves to sleep on our laps, in his Boppy with us right by him, or in his Rock 'N Play. I've wondered many times "Why are we doing this? Why are we disrupting a 'good' thing? Do we enjoy inflicting pain and chaos on ourselves?" But ultimately, Sean and I really just need our time together again. We need to be sleeping in the same bed (last night was the first night in about 6 months!!) We need time together so we can have a strong marriage, and therefore be better parents for Roan.

Our goal for week 1 is to get him to sleep in his crib for really any length of time...day and night. Then our goal will be to get a 6 hr stretch at night...though if that is happening now, then we'll say an 8 hour stretch is the goal...or whatever the time frame may be. 

It has not been easy. I love snuggling with him! I know the day is coming when he won't want to be held and I'm dreading it. 

In other news...Roan is being dedicated on Oct. 16th. I'm excited because my family from Indiana are coming up. Dedications at our church are different than child baptisms or christenings. It's really more for us as parents...to have the prayer and support of the church, etc. We believe that Roan should be baptized when he makes that choice. But we still wanna say that he's God's kid first and we're trusting God to help us raise him and all that jazz. 

How Mom is Doing...

The tattoo addiction has taken hold! I got the tattoo on my right foot touched up and added "2 Cor. 12:9"  which is "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." I think eventually I want a white ink tattoo on my wrist. A friend recently got one and I saw her picture on Facebook and it only made me want one more haha. I think I want to get something in Arabic though. Something that can be covered with a watch or bracelet if I need to...although white ink is barely noticeable on pasty white skin like mine (which is kind of why I like it). 

I've decided to start making and selling crochet items on Etsy. My shop is allaboutthestitches.etsy.com. I'm slowly making and adding things...some things I made for myself or for Roan and don't want to sell the actual one pictured, but I can duplicate them. If I don't end up selling anything, oh well. I've just had people ask me to make them things, so I thought "Why not?". 

How Dad is Doing...

Work has started to slow quite a bit. He worked like 1.5 days last week. He has more work Monday and Tuesday this week, but so far nothing the rest of the week. It's good for family time, but not for the bank account. I must admit, I do love him being home...but at the end of the day, we need to eat. The timing was really good, though, for crib-training Roan.

Other than that, though, he mostly just watches football haha. Though we have been able to catch up on our shows (Dexter, Modern Family, Community, and others). 

2 Month Update: Pokes & Photos

A lot has happened with the White family! First, I want to share a few of my faves from our first family photo shoot (with Michael D Lilly Photo). Being a photographer myself, it's somewhat of a struggle to find a photographer that I like and trust...thankfully, we have great friends at church who just so happen to be photographers, too (Lenon James Photography did some maternity photos for us at the tail end of my pregnancy). So, here are a few of my favorites:

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming:

How Roan is Doing...

Roan is doing well! He had his 2-month check up on the 20th. He measured 12lbs 12oz, putting him in the 50th - 75th percentile for weight...23.5 inches long, putting him in the 50th for height...his head was 42cm, putting him in the 75th-90th percentile for that! We thought those were kinda big ranges to give, but regardless, it means he's got a big head! Though not too big...nothing to be concerned about or anything.

He was so brave getting his shots! He did cry, obviously, but honestly, he's cried harder when he's hungry! I held him for a minute or so after the shots and laid him down to put his pants on...he stopped crying by then. He slept, but was awake for his 3pm feeding, right on time.

He's developed a natural schedule. He eats at 3am, 6am, noon, 3pm, 6pm, and 9pm...generally. He'll sleep after his 8:30/9pm feeding until his 3am feeding. Most of the time. Haha. The problem is Sean and I's sleep cycles are off, so we're not tired until 1:30/2am, unless we didn't get much sleep & didn't nap during the day.

He's discovered his fists, as you can see in the photo. He'll spit his paci out, look at his fist, then jam it in his mouth! We don't want him to suck his thumb because we've heard it's easier to get them off a paci than the thumb (cause you can't take their thumb away), but we might have a thumb sucker whether we like it or not!

How Mom is Doing...

Still tired! As I said, I can't even get tired till 1:30/2am. I have got to fix that...somehow. My tattoo needs to be touched up, but I want to add a verse reference to the tattoo on my right foot (Psalm 30:11 "You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy"). So I have to call and make sure that's ok, what it'll cost, etc.

I've started to crochet a little again...when Roan naps. I've thought about maybe trying to sell some stuff...baby hats, bottle cozies, booties, etc. But I do custom pieces, too, so if you or anyone you know wants something done, let me know! I'm not an expert by any means, but if I can find a pattern, I can pretty much get it done.

How Dad is Doing...

Dad's still working, working, working. Though, again, nothing like turnover. So we're glad for that...as nice as the income is during those weeks, it's much nicer having him home more.

He had his 10 year high school reunion. It was fun, but his friends (the SFK) still hang out all the time, so it was just like a SFK get-together...which is totally fine cause those are always fun. He did talk to some people he hadn't seen since high school, though. In his words, from Facebook:

" Only about 90ish/385ish in our graduating class were there. It was mostly just hanging out with SFK plus getting to talk with some people I was friends with in Jr. High/HS that I hadn't seen since then. Social networking has removed the necessity for reunions and the economy has destroyed the practicality for people who live more than 30 minutes away. It was still pretty fun though because Mikenna and I got to have a night out without Roan :)"

It was harder for me to be away from Roan, I think...just cause, ya know, it's different for moms. Not that he didn't miss him. I had to resist the urge to call Sean's dad every 10 minutes!

That pretty much sums it up, I guess!

2 Months Old!

How Roan is Doing...

My big guy is 2 months old! It's crazy to me how much he's grown. He's still tiny (most of his newborn clothes still fit!), but to me he's big because I still am expecting to wake up in the morning to this 8lb just-born-baby. He's probably closer to 12lbs (he'll be weighed at his next appointment on the 20th...I have no idea how much he weighs). 

He's holding his head up pretty well now. Still a little wobbly. If he's laying on his Boppy and wants to be held, he'll lift his head & upper part of his torso up to try and get up! He's gonna be a mover, I just know it. He's gonna wear me out! But it'll help lose the rest of this baby weight, I hope! I really won't be surprised if he starts crawling early. I can just tell he wants to go, go, go! 

Due to supply issues (and running out of our frozen stash from when I was making milk like crazy), we've had to start supplementing with formula. It's hard knowing my body is no longer keeping up with his demand, but I can't let it ruin me. Ultimately, he's still being fed, and I'm still pumping to give him as much milk from me as possible...and I'm going to try to keep that up for as long as I can, too. I got the Earth's Best Organic Soy Based formula. I feel better about giving him that verses other brands. It's definitely pricey, but it's worth the peace of mind to me.

Here's a few more shots from his 2-month photo shoot:

How Mom is Doing...

He was watching the football game...just like his daddy.

My mom and grandma came to visit on Roan's 2 month birthday and we went shopping. So very therapeutic and definitely needed. I need clothes that fit, but also to just be able to take my time looking at clothes and trying them on instead of rushing in and out of stores so we could make it home in time for the next feeding was awesome! My mom bought me some cute stuff at TJMaxx and I treated myself to a super cute dress (that was cheaper than I thought!) and boots that I absolutely LOVE. They're similar to boots a friend of mine has that I have coveted for months, so when I saw these boots, I about jumped out of my skin with excitement! And they were on sale, too! Here's what they look like: 

I could easily develop a boot fetish, so I have to be careful. I already have an issue with purses...I don't need something else haha.

I'm also excited about a dress I got...and I'm thinkin' it'll look really cute with the boots! I think I just need to bite the bullet and try not to think about what size I am right now and just buy clothes. I just need some to hold me over. It was just really, really, really nice to get clothes that I feel cute in...I'm so grateful to my momma for treating me to that (thanks, mom!)

So, a slightly materialistic update from me...but really, I'm ok with the fact that getting some cute stuff made me feel better. My post-baby body has sent my self-esteem down the toilet, so I needed a little pick-me-up.

How Dad is Doing...

Sean went away for the weekend to go camping with the SFK guys. They go every year. He always comes home with ridiculous stories, which I enjoy. Though, I must say that I've gotta get a group of girls to go somewhere for a weekend so I can be the one getting away for a while, haha. He really needed and deserved it, though. Still, it was so nice when he came home today! They stopped at Uncle John's Cider Mill on their way up north and he bought me a bottle of raspberry wine...mmmmm.

Curiosity, Tattoos, and Football

8 week update!

How Roan is Doing...

Roan is growing up so fast! It feels like he went from sleeping all the time to being more alert, curious, and interactive (yeah, the pic is of him sleeping, I know). He's started to notice (and love) his toys...especially on his activity mat. He's smiling a ton (as long as he's not gassy, has a clean diaper, and has been fed and burped haha). I was playfully bouncing him and making silly noises and he got a huge smile on his face! He smiled at my friend's mom the instant she started talking to him, too. I loved the sleepy, itty-bitty stage, but this is fun, too.

It just kinda hit me one day how big he is now. People comment on how little he is, but to me, he seems huge!  I mean, yeah, compared to an older baby he's gonna seem small...but to me, comparing how big he is now to how little he was at birth...it really blows my mind!

How Mom is Doing...

I got a tattoo! I'd been wanting something on my left foot...I have one that's a similar shape on my right foot and the asymmetry of not having a tattoo on the left foot bothered me. I just never knew what I wanted until Roan was born.

For those that don't know, Sean came up with the name Roan while driving on some highway (this was before I was even pregnant, before we were even married if I remember right). He saw an exit sign for a Roanoke Road...I think that's how it was spelled (correct me if I'm wrong, hun). Also, there is a Rowan tree...and Rowan also means "Little red one" in Gaelic. Fitting with his red hair, no?

So, the tattoo represents the leaf and berries of the Rowan tree and 7-10-11, naturally, is his birth date. I absolutely love the tattoo! I'll definitely be going to Curtis at The Gallery for my next tattoo(s)...which might be when baby #2 is born. I've thought about adding a Bible verse reference to the tat on my right foot. The tattoo has meaning for me, but people never ask about that...they just think "Oh, lily of the valley and a dragonfly. Pretty."

How Dad is Doing...

Dad had Labor Day off work. We didn't do anything, but it's still just nice to be together. He's going to be camping this coming weekend...something I personally am not looking forward to, haha. That's just a long time to go alone with the baby. I mean, I know I'll be ok...I'll survive. I mean, that's basically how turnover was. I just never like it when he's gone anyway...even before the Baby Days. 

Football season is starting soon...which means lots of ESPN. Not Mom's favorite time of year, but it makes Dad happy. He's in 4 Fantasy Football leagues. Haha. As long as we can fit some family time in there, too, I'm good. Just be prepared to give Roan his bottle or rock him in your lap during the games, hun!