Let them eat cake!

I have a huge long update to post for this week, but I'm still drowning in work and other stuff. Instead, I thought I'd post a picture of a cake I made for a friend. We are having a birthday party for her tonight (no babies or boys!) so it should be a lot of fun.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I just wanted to thank Kari for giving me this blog award! I have been asked to list 7 things I love, and 7 blogs I would like to pass the award to.

7 things I love...

1. Micah (of course!). He just fills my heart with joy - I never realized my own capacity for love before he came into my life.

2. My family and friends. I am so grateful every day that I have the support and love from my family (and friends) - it helps me believe I can do anything.

3. Chocolate. Who doesn't love chocolate? I think we could solve all the world's problems if everyone had an unlimited supply of chocolate.

4. Food. I enjoy eating good food, cooking, baking - you name it!

5. Work. I love my job. I have an interesting and challenging career, and I have the opportunity to help people - what more could I want?

6. SK. I love the boards at SK - they (and my online friends) helped me through some really challenging times.

7. Massages. Really any type of indulgent spa service. I love to be pampered and relaxed and feeling good.

I am passing this award to...

1. http://therandom-nessofitall.blogspot.com/

2. http://glitzedjewel.blogspot.com/

3. http://infertilityrocks.wordpress.com/

4. http://styleberryhome.com/

5. http://thebolingbunch.blogspot.com/

6. http://jessenamy2006.blogspot.com/

7. http://wifeyhubby3cats.blogspot.com/

7 month photos

Sorry it has taken so long - I finally found some time to scan Micah's 7 month photos.

Whirlwind - Standing, Crawling, Walking and Infections

Another crazy week - and very few posts. So much has been going on that I can barely keep up with it all! Perhaps the best thing to do is pick up where I left off - last Saturday. My intention was to scan and post Micah's 7 month photos (I will get to that shortly) and to post some adorable Micah video (also on deck).

Saturday was a fun day. I met a friend of mine for lunch at a new organic restaurant. The food was good and Micah had a wonderful time flirting with everyone there. We went to a pool party in the afternoon at our community pool. We invited a bunch of the babies and parents from our playgroup, and we had tons of fun! The babies swam, tugged at each other, shared food and showed off their talents. One of the babies can crawl and pull up to a stand, and she is putting the rest of our babies to shame with her precocious physicality. Actually, she was quite impressive at the pool - she was sitting in front of a pool chair, grabbed on with both hands, and did a massive pull-up to a stand. I swear I could see her back muscles flexing around her baby bikini! I had an image of one of those female bodybuilders flash through my head when I saw her pull-up!

Saturday night, we had our babysitter come back to take care of Micah while we went out to dinner with our friends. We decided on Chinese food, and it was delicious! I had forgotten about this particular restaurant, so it will now be added to our delivery list for future ordering. We initially planned on attending a movie, but bailed when we all realized how tired we were. Instead, we came back to the house and watched a movie on demand.

On Sunday, I went over to my parents' house to help my Dad set up his new computer - just the basics, like connecting the computer to the internet, transferring files from his old computer, making sure all the software and drivers he needed were installed. It was quite a job! I had a raging migraine that day, and Micah was being a bit of a grump, and I had a huge knot in my back - it was one of those days I should have just never gotten up!

Monday marked one week on South Beach diet. I am proud to say that I lost 5 lbs. I know that average and healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week, but I hate that weight loss is such a slow process. Somehow, it never seems like I will be able to realize my goal. I guess 5 lbs off is better than 5 lbs on, right? I spent all day working my tail off - we had our babysitter here for the day, so I was able to accomplish a fair amount of work. We spent some of the time showing off our standing skills to the babysitter. While we were showing off, we decided to get really crazy...and took a step while holding on to the couch one-handed! I was stunned - he isn't crawling, but he is already trying to cruise. I am SOOO not ready for any of this.



Our other big event of the day? Jumping. In the jumperoo, to be more precise. Micah has been in the jumperoo many times over the past few months, but jumping has not been his thing. Until Monday. He discovered the joys of jumping, and he has been a jumping maniac every time we put him in the jumperoo now.

Monday evening was mah jong - another fun evening! However, Monday night is where my week took a bit of a "left turn" shall we say. While I was there, I received a call from DH asking whether I had heard if my brother was okay. My brother had posted on Facebook that he was at a clinic for an infection. After checking in with him, we learned that he went to a clinic because of an infection in his arm, and he thought it was no big deal.

Bright and early Tuesday morning, the babysitter arrived, along with a friend from playgroup and her daughter. My friend had an appointment, so she asked if she could share our babysitter for the morning. Micah and Emily were adorable playing together! They had such a good time, and I got several hours of work accomplished. While Emily and Micah were playing, I learned that my brother woke up and could not move his arm - the infection was worse. Stubborn idiot that he is, he refused to miss work and go to the hospital. We spent the entire day trying to convince him to seek help. In the afternoon, I went to my condo to finish emptying everything out while the babysitter watched Micah. We are hoping to have it fully emptied and cleaned and on the market by next month.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, it became clear that Micah is a crazy, clapping machine. He LOVES to clap. He claps when he is happy, he claps to hear the sound - he claps and claps and claps. Except when I turn on the video camera. I'm still working on clapping footage. He is so cute - he claps with his palms facing outwards, and he claps the palm of one hand on the back of the other hand. I still say that counts! In the meantime, here is some video of Micah (and the dog) playing together:



But wait, there's more! Micah waved at Emily on Tuesday morning while she was here. At least, I thought it was waving. He took his ENTIRE arm and waved it at her. He kept repeating it every time I said "wave, hello." He was very cute, but who knows if it was intended, right?

Tuesday night, my mom called, informing me that my brother was off to the hospital - and ANGRY about it. Apparently he was mad that we made him crazy so he was going to the hospital. It is a good thing we made him crazy - they admitted him to the hospital and put him on IV antibiotics. Turns out, he had septic bursitis and cellulitis, and it was a pretty nasty infection.

On Wednesday, Micah and I went to playgroup, and then I headed up to my brother in the hospital. I stayed with him for a few hours, then went to their house to babysit my nieces while my SIL went to the hospital. I played with them, made them dinner and put them to bed. It was a long day, but it was fun getting some quality time in with the girls. While I was up there, my mom and dad were watching Micah because DH had a work meeting. It was a big game of musical parenting/babysitting! The doctors were just confirming his diagnosis, and it appeared that the IV antibiotics were starting to work. Nevertheless, the orthopedic surgeon scheduled surgery to drain and clean the infection the following day, just in case things did not turn the corner.

Thursday morning started off with good news - luckily, the antibiotics worked, and we found out today that my brother is able to avoid surgery. My father was on his way up to help watch my nieces and bring them to the hospital to visit their Daddy, and then he was driving them back down here to spend a few nights with my parents. Micah and I spent our morning in music class again. Micah LOVES music class - he laughs, he smiles, and he seems to recognize the songs. He likes when he gets dipped, and he loves to play the instruments at the end. Much to my surprise, when he saw Emily in music class, he started waving again! He kept on waving when we sang a song about waving. In the afternoon, he waved when his good friend Micah (yes, another Micah) came over to play, too. Not only does he clap, he WAVES!! Even better? I captured it on video . . . sort of.





One more thing to mention - Micah crawled a bit in music class today, too. For the past few days, he has been leaning forward from a sit and trying to move, but he never quite gets anywhere or makes it onto all fours. Each time he tries, he seems to get a bit closer. This morning, he saw a blanket he wanted, he leaned forward, landed on hands and knees, took one crawl forward, grabbed the blanket and flopped on his belly and rolled over. I think I'm on the verge of having a heart attack! We've got clapping, waving, standing, a step and crawling all in one week?!? I'm not ready for him to be this mobile yet. He has repeated this almost crawl two other times today, so I'm now suspecting that "real" crawling is just around the corner. Perhaps I'll get lucky and it will take another month or two. It could happen!

We are now awaiting my brother's release from the hospital. Tomorrow is another busy day with work (I have to catch up on everything I did not accomplish Wednesday) and we are supposed to finish emptying my condo and moving some more things into storage. Will this process ever end? My nieces are here for the next two days, and on Sunday my cousin and her son are coming for a week-long visit. I'll try to stay on top of posting!

By the way - I should digress a second. I would like to take a moment to evangelize the values of the Flip camera - it is little pocket sized video camera that has a built-in USB port. We have been using it to record all those special moments in Micah's life. It is all digital, and it transfers to the hard drive in seconds - just plug into the USB drive and transfer. It simplifies sharing video of all those special moments.

Since I missed posting the video from the beach, I thought I'd tack it on here for good measure.

ICLW

Sorry for the late post - this is ICLW - IComLeaveWe - the International Comment Leaving Week. You can find out more information about ICLW here.

For those of you who are new to my blog, welcome! I have PCOS and my husband has MFI. We were married in 2006, and shortly thereafter started to TTC. I sought help early because I knew I had PCOS, but we were shocked in September 2007 to learn that we were dealing with MFI. We tried Clomid, IUI, injectibles - and after many failed cycles and visits to the vampire and the magic wand (my nickname for my transvaginal ultrasound and bloodwork visits), we embarked on an IVF journey. It was quite a roller coaster ride, but it ended with a big, beautiful BFP, and in December our first son, Micah, was born. Feel free to read more about our TTC journey.

I have to say, I always wish I had started blogging earlier in my TTC journey. I had some wonderfully sarcastic and bitter rants on my SK board where I regularly post that probably would have made for great blog material. My blog currently is focused on parenting after experiencing infertility, but my husband and I are in the process of starting to ttc#2. I am sure that my fears and disappointments about the journey to ttc #2 will also populate this blog, and I expect there will be many more failed cycles to lament.

All I can say is IF is hard, but I think I am truly aware of how lucky I am to have our son because of everything we went through. I guess IF shapes us into who we are, for better or for worse.

Thank you for stopping by!

Sitting is for babies

The last few days, Micah has decided that he doesn't need to sit anymore - he'd prefer to STAND. Today, he figured out how to stand without mommy holding on to him. He still requires a spotter because he does not yet realize that if he lets go, he'll fall over, but I think he'll master the art of sitting back down again pretty soon.



While we are at it, here are a few of the photos from our last day at the beach:

Everything goes in the mouth

Lately, everything goes in Micah's mouth . . . remote controls, Daddy's glasses, the dog's foot, towels, the rubber duckie - whatever he can get in his cute little hands. Ironically, the one thing I cannot get him to stick in his mouth and enjoy . . . solid foods in the mesh teether! I bought this great little mesh contraption that is designed to safely allow babies to experience bigger chunks of solid food. We've tried watermelon and blueberries so far, and Micah goes BALLISTIC if that mesh bag gets anywhere near his mouth. His playgroup friends all love it, and I know Micah likes to eat watermelon and blueberries pureed, so I guess it must be a texture thing. I'm not sure if it is the bag or the food that he isn't liking, but I'm going to keep working on it.

Recently, Micah has started drinking water out of a sippy cup. He is getting pretty good, as long as we use the Born Free sippy cup and he is leaning back. Unfortunately, he does not understand that pool water is not good for him. Since he discovered he can drink water, all he wants to do at the pool is drink the water. I think he might have had a gallon the last time we were there. Perhaps the beach is better - I think sand is healthier than pool water, right?

Speaking of everything going in the mouth, I started South Beach diet on Monday. This week has been rough - I've been dying to eat all kinds of carbs and junk since they are now off limits. I feel like Micah - every bit of food I spot I just want to put in my mouth. The good news is that I'm behaving and I do think I'm already seeing results. I keep asking DH if I'm thin now - he thinks that is a trick question.

Prunes are not our friend

Months ago, when we began to feed Micah fruits and veggies, DH picked up a container of prunes. Prunes (or plums, depending on the marketing) are one of the basic stage 1 baby foods that most babies can (and should) try. As everyone is aware, prunes are well-known for their laxative qualities. As Micah is a regular pooping machine, I have maintained a healthy fear of prunes this past few months . . . until yesterday. On Monday, Micah did not poop the entire day (unusual, since my little pooping machine usually poops at least 2-3 times each day). When he woke up on Tuesday, he still had not pooped. We were due to start a new fruit or vegetable, so I decided to try the prunes.

I decided to proceed with caution. I think the rule of thumb with prunes is "a little bit goes a long way." I normally give him about 2 ounces of fruit with his oatmeal, and we often mix fruits for breakfast, so I usually give him about 1 ounce of a new fruit to test the waters. Because it was prunes, I decided to only give Micah 1/2 ounce of prunes, and I mixed them with 1 1/2 ounces of apples (which are known to cause constipation). My hope was the two fruits together would result in "zero impact." All went well yesterday. Micah pooped 2 times, and much to my surprise and amazement, it was pretty mild.

Feeling emboldened by our raging foray into the land of prunes, this morning I decided to just give him the rest of the prunes in the container - about 1 1/2 ounces. He ate them up, and I topped him off with a bit of a pear-apple-mango mixture. He took a nice long morning nap, and off we went to playgroup. While there, I heard a loud scream, and when I went to Micah, I realized he had pooped. It was *just* barely a SUB - something I haven't seen in almost 2 months. I cleaned him up, wiped down the clothing, and we went back to playing.

After playgroup, he napped on the way home. I sent him upstairs with DH who had Micah playing in the hop and pop. All of the sudden, I hear a loud shout "It's a SUB, it's a SERIOUS SUB!!" I run upstairs to help, and Micah is COVERED in poop - it is just dripping down his legs. We cover up the changing table with cloth diapers and DH starts to clean him up and change his diaper. We quickly realize that a bath is necessary. While DH is bathing Micah, I went in to the bedroom to survey the damage to the hop and pop. Amazingly, there is no poop on the seat of the hop and pop. Upon closer inspection, I realize there is a puddle of poop on the base of the hop and pop, nearly 1 inch thick. There is also a puddle of poop on the carpet. I spent the next 20 minutes cleaning up the poop. Ick! I don't think we'll play with prunes again - I've learned my lesson.

Yesterday (Micah's 7 month birthday) was a very good day. We woke up in the morning, nursed, ate breakfast, took a nap, nursed again, went for a walk and played on the swing at the park with all the kids at camp, came back home, ate again, went to meet our friends at the pool, swam, nursed, chewed on a teething biscuit, napped, came home, played for a few hours, took a bath, nursed, had dinner, nursed and went to bed. Okay, maybe that doesn't sound so exciting to you, but it was Micah's first day eating three meals (and he ate EVERYTHING), he loved the attention he got from the camp children at the park while he was swinging, and he had a lot of fun hanging out with his friends at the baby pool. What better way can a 7 month old celebrate?

7 months

I'm amazed that today Micah is 7 months old. Where has the time gone? I've always heard that time passes in the blink of an eye, but I did not truly understand that until I had Micah.

Micah really is growing by leaps and bounds. I think he is just over 16 lbs now. I cannot believe how well he is sitting and moving around - I fear crawling and cruising are just around the corner. My poor puppy - when he discovers how to crawl, I think he will spend all day long chasing her.

We just added in a third meal of solid foods each day. Micah loves to eat - he has been eating peas, carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes, avocado, green beans, corn, squash, eggplant, apples, peaches, nectarines, pears, pineapple, strawberry, blueberry, banana, mango, and raspberry. We are about to start broccoli and prunes next (I've been terrified of the prunes - he is already a pooping machine!!). I made another round of baby food Sunday night, and did not burn anything!! Yes, that is actually a major accomplishment. This time, I made broccoli and sweet potatoes. I also have green beans and carrots, and I think we might be due for another batch of applesauce.

I think Micah has started clapping! It started at the beach - he would regularly bang 2 buckets together. On Sunday, he actually clapped his hands when he was excited. I'm not yet sure if he understands that he is clapping, but he is in the process of mastering this skill. I also learned that he recognizes us. If you say to him "where is mommy?" or "where is daddy?" he turns to the appropriate person and looks and smiles. He also recognizes the dog by name, too.

We are taking Micah for his 7 month photos on Friday - we will post the pictures as soon as we can! I will try and post some additional video later this week - we have some really cute shots of Micah at the beach (mostly eating sand).

Please join me in wishing Micah a very happy 7 month birthday!

Back to Reality

Sorry I've been so quiet lately - with the trip and catching up on work, it has been a crazy few weeks. We are back and settled in at home. Our trip back from Emerald Isle was not as easy as our trip down. First, Micah had fallen and bumped his head on our spa day, so our last night at the beach, we did not sleep well. I was worried about Micah, so I was continually going in and poking him all night to make sure he was okay. We both finally drifted off to sleep . . . until about 6:30 am. My father started loading up the car for them to leave, and Micah heard everything and woke up, so our day started a bit early. My parents left around 8:00 am, and Micah and I were exhausted and we crawled back into bed with DH and we all napped together for a few hours.

By the time we got up and going, it was late. We started to get ready to go to the beach, and on the way there, we learned my parents had stopped at a hospital because my father wasn't feeling well. We only stayed at the beach for an hour, and then we headed back to start packing up. It took us a long time to pack up the car, and we finally got out the door and tried putting Micah to sleep in the car. Unfortunately, Micah was not interested in going to sleep. He cried most of the first 1 1/2 hours home. We had to pull over several times to try and calm him, and I quickly realized that he stopped crying every time we stopped - not because he was hungry, but because he wanted to play. After that, we just worked on singing him to sleep. He finally went out, but he was quite restless the entire trip home. Along the way, we got word that my father had been released from the hospital and was feeling better. We also ran into some bad weather on the trip back, so the driving was a bit tense.

About 1 hour from home, we stopped to refuel. Unfortunately, Micah woke up when we closed the car doors, and he decided to scream the rest of the way home. When we finally made it back (at 2:00 am), he wanted to stay up and play while we unloaded the car. I eventually nursed him back to sleep, and he woke up again at 7:00 am. It was a long night, and he was pretty crabby all day Thursday, but he recovered quickly.

Thursday was our first music class! In between episodes of crabbiness, Micah had a really good time. He smiled at the singing, and he squealed with pleasure at being danced around, and he loved banging (and chewing) the instruments. The only problem was that Micah was in a "hold me mommy" mood, and any time I put him down (even for a second) he started to cry. After music class, Micah finally took a nice long nap, and seemed much better when he woke up.

This weekend, DH & I took Micah to the pool on Saturday during the day, and we went out to a concert on Saturday night. We spent most of Sunday being lazy and recuperating. Today is back to the daily grind.

A week at the beach

Our week at the beach has been fantastic - such a relief to get away and enjoy a bit. We had a long drive in the car, so we decided to try leaving at night so that Micah would sleep through the entire trip. Surprisingly, we managed to get ourselves together and out the door on time, and Micah cooperated by falling asleep in his carseat and sleeping the entire trip! The weather was horrible and it took us forever to get going, but we made it to the beach safe and sound. Micah transferred easily into the pack 'n play, and DH and I settled in and went to sleep.

The house we are staying in is nice - nothing fabulous, but clean, in a good location, and nice. Micah woke up around 7 on Thursday morning. I nursed Micah, and DH was wonderful and took care of Micah while I went back to sleep for another hour. I took over in time to put Micah down for his nap, and when he woke up again, I nursed him and fed him his breakfast. While I was taking care of Micah, DH took the time to go exploring. He likes to scope out the neighborhood - he found the grocery stores, and he went in search of a pool we could use later in the week.

After lunch, we headed off to the beach. Poor DH - he was loaded down like a pack mule! We used the bike trailer I bought DH for Father's Day as our stroller, and it was really an asset this trip. The big wheels handled the sandy beach quite well, and we strapped Micah in along with the beach bag, blankets and towels. Unfortunately, we did not think to bring enough beach toys, a sun umbrella, or beach chairs on our first trip. It took us a few days to finally get it all down to a science and remember everything we needed.

As an aside, I'm amazed by how much more complicated it is to travel with a baby. We just have so much more STUFF we need to bring. We had toys (we brought the jumper, an activity table, the gumball machine, a few animal chimes, the giraffe, the winkle, the stacking rings, and the nesting pails for the beach), a travel high chair/booster seat, towels, baby food, bottles, pumping stuff, baby bowls and spoons, diapers, wipes, swim diapers, music, a pack n play, a bottle brush, a cooler, the sun tent, the baby float, puffs, rice cereal, oatmeal, sippy cups, a diaper bag, music, hats, bathing suits, suntan lotion, shampoo, lotion, baby monitor, lovey blanket, cloth diapers, and strollers. Not to mention our regular beach stuff and our own clothing. AND we brought the dog, so we had all of her stuff, too.

Once we finally got everything together and made it out the door, we decided to stop at the pizza place and grab lunch. We walked by one of the pools we were considering trying out on our way to the beach. It took us a while, but we made it to the beach around 2:00 or so. Micah had a great time - he had such a big smile on his face. He loved the ocean, and he loved the sand and water. We purchased a sun tent for Micah - it kind of looks like a mini camping tent, and it has SPF in the fabric to protect him from the sun. We tried to keep him in there most of the time, and he seemed to really like it. The sides are mesh, so he had a nice breeze flowing through the tent. We also took him down to the water and found a spot right at the edge where the waves were lapping the sand. I sat him up on the sand (how much do I LOVE this sitting thing!?!). About every 8th or 10th wave came out and touched us. Micah watched the waves, screeched with joy, and dug his hands in the sand. I picked him up and held him upside down over some of the waves a bit further in so he could stick his hands in the water. While he was sitting, he did keep trying to eat the sand. I'm not sure I understand the fascination there. I mean, I understand sticking the handful of sand in the mouth the first time, but seriously, how many times does it take before one realizes that a mouthful of sand is just icky!?!







After a few hours at the beach, we came home, showered, changed and tried running to the grocery store before meltdown. Unfortunately, we *just* missed getting all of our shopping done by 7:00 pm, and Micah was not happy towards the end of our trip. I had to run with a screaming baby out to the car and sit and nurse him. By the time we got him home, he was over-tired, and let's just say bedtime was not a fun experience. I finally got Micah to fall asleep around 8:45, and he was out for the night.

On Friday, my parents joined us mid-day. Micah woke up at his usual time, we played, he napped with his Daddy, then he ate his breakfast, and we waited for my parents. Once they arrived, we headed off to the beach while they unpacked and got lunch. We did not make it there until almost 2:00 pm again (far cry from the time I like to be on the beach when I vacationed pre-baby), so we only stayed for a few hours. Micah was just adorable! He kept screeching with joy at the beach. He smiled when he saw the waves, and he had a great time rolling around in his sun tent. He napped on the beach, and I nursed him, and it was another wonderful and relaxing day. Friday night, DH decided to cook dinner - he made fajitas, and they were delicious! We spent the evening relaxing and hanging out. Micah spent some time rolling all over the floor (and getting stuck under furniture) before he went to bed.







On Saturday (4th of July) my mom, dad, Micah and I went to the shops for a few hours in the morning. Behind the stores, there was a small lake with turtles (probably snapping turtles). We had so much fun watching them swim and eat! After lunch, we went back to the beach with my parents. Another relaxing day. DH and I took a long walk together down the beach, Micah napped, and we stayed on the beach until almost 6:00 pm. We headed home, got Micah bathed and ready for bed, and DH grilled in honor of the 4th of July. We were able to watch fireworks from our deck, and we watched A Capitol Fourth on tv. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.





On Sunday, we woke up and decided to take the boardwalk to the Sound.


We had a lovely walk, but when we came back, we realized we had locked ourselves out. DH and my father were working on breaking into the house when the cleaning crew showed up! Luckily, they showed us where the spare key was, and we were able to get back inside. Good thing they showed up on the wrong day! After spending the afternoon at the beach, we decided to attempt dinner out with Micah. We went to a local restaurant, and my little guy was great. My biggest complaint for the day? Andy Roddick. For you tennis fans out there, I was DEVASTATED when Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in the finals at Wimbledon. The match was so exciting, and Roddick just made 1 poorly timed error (well, 4, if you count those 4 set points he blew in the 2nd set) and it was all over. Such a disappointing end to a fabulous match!

While I was putting Micah to bed Sunday nigt, DH and my dad decided to run out to the grocery store and then to the ice cream store. Long story short, my dad tripped on the way inside with the ice cream. He has a bad back and made a HORRIBLE noise - we were sure he'd fallen down a flight of stairs and seriously re-injured his back. While he had a nasty cut on his arm, a few bruises (including a bruised ego) he was just fine. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the ice cream! Yup, it spilled ALL over the carpet. And the walls. Needless to say, the ice cream was chocolate, and the carpet is beige. Yes, it was quite a mess. After making sure my dad was okay and securing the area from the dog, my mom and I set about the task of cleaning up. We started with water and did our best to minimize the stains. We then headed out to the store and bought some Resolve (and some bandaids for my dad). We soaked the area and scrubbed some more. The mess was better, but we were still concerned about the stains on the floor.

On Monday morning, I decided it was time to take the dog to the beach - her first trip! She has been spending most mornings basking in the sun on the deck, but I've always wanted to bring her to the ocean. I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. When she was a puppy, she had such an energy - she loved to pounce, and she loved the waves at the local lake where I would take her wading. I thought she would be chasing waves and going crazy in the sand - all full of life. We arrived at the beach, and she looked around. She seemed to like the sand, and smiled at the ocean. She was curious about the waves. . . . until they got her wet. Then she looked at me sideways as if to say "okay, mom, I've seen the ocean - can I PLEASE eat my breakfast now?




After I returned from walking the dog (and bathed her), I soaked the carpet with Resolve AGAIN and scrubbed some more. We felt the stains were better, but we were still concerned. We figured a little time and soaking would do the carpet some good, so we sprayed it again and let it sit. The weather was lousy on Monday, so we headed out to a local town and hit the shops. We ate ice cream and fudge, bought a few things, and just had a pleasant afternoon. We went out for a buffet dinner, and we made it home just in time to put Micah to bed. On the way home, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up more Resolve - yes, we used an ENTIRE bottle trying to clean the carpet. After a bit more spraying and scrubbing, we started to feel better about the condition of the carpet.

Today was Spa Day! We headed out to a local spa and scheduled facials, massages, and a nice lunch. Micah spent the day hanging out by the pool, and enjoyed his first day at the spa. We are all thoroughly relaxed and refreshed. Unfortunately, this is the end of our vacation. We stayed in and ate leftovers for dinner, and we are starting the process of packing up to leave. My parents will leave first thing in the morning, and we will be spending the day on the beach and then packing up to leave when it is time to put Micah to bed. We are hoping the weather will be better on the trip home and Micah will sleep through the ride back.


All-in-all, it was a wonderful, relaxing and pleasant week. I am so thankful my parents could join us and help out with Micah. I think it was a great way for him to spend time with his grandparents, and it was a great getaway for all of us.

Breastfeeding

After all this time, I'm still breastfeeding Micah. As you know, I actually have not loved breastfeeding, but I continued to do it because I thought it was good for Micah and I was worried about my allergy to the infant formula. When I initially began breastfeeding, I hoped to make it to 3 months, and then if all went well, I would continue to 6 months (if it was convenient). I never really expected to make it this far, and I have to admit that I always thought women who breastfed beyond 6 months were crazy. So, why am I still breastfeeding? I have no idea.

Maybe it is because weaning Micah means he is officially a "big boy" and I'm not ready for that. Maybe it is because I fought so hard for this and Micah is doing so well that I am afraid to rock the boat by introducing formula. Maybe it is because I am afraid he will develop my allergy. Or maybe I'm just not ready to let go. I wish I knew, because I really, truly am sick of all the stuff that comes with breastfeeding - pumping, being tied down, worrying about supply, and frankly the responsibility.

I keep saying "next week" I am going to switch to exclusively bottle-feeding him breast milk during the day, and when my milk supply drops, I'll start replacing with formula and I'll cease pumping. My biggest challenge? I hate pumping, so I don't feel like bottle feeding him and pumping when breast feeding is easier. I could start skipping a session and just give him formula, but I think I'm afraid if I skip a feeding time for a few days, my supply will completely dry up overnight. Part of me keeps waiting for a sign - the doctor to tell me he isn't gaining weight fast enough, or for my supply to suddenly disappear or for Micah to refuse to nurse, but that hasn't happened. So I keep going along and nursing him. Maybe when he is at 7 months, I'll switch to bottle feeding him the frozen stash of breastmilk I have, and when that runs out, I'll start giving him formula? We shall see.

Right now, things are going well. It seems that Micah has dropped from 6 nursing sessions to only 5 most days. Each time I think I've had enough, he makes it easier for me! We'll see how much longer I hang in there.

A Post About Me

I spend a lot of time posting about Micah because, frankly, that is why most of you come to read the blog! But today I am making this post all about me. I am thinking of discussing different topics in just a random order, so forgive all the non sequiturs.

Mah Jong. I have recently turned into one of those little old suburban Jewish moms - I started to play Mah Jong. Some of you may have no clue what these two things have to do with each other, but for my Jewish readers, you know that the majority of suburban (and even urban) Jewish mothers and ESPECIALLY grandmothers seem to play mah jong. It is based on a Chinese game that is a lot like Rummy. When I was a child, my mom and her friends used to play mah jong every week. I remember many nights when the ladies would gather around the kitchen talking, laughing, eating (a few of them smoking) and playing all night long. Well, it was probably only until 11 or 12, but at the time it seemed like "all night" because I had to go to bed while they played. In my teen years and even in my 20s, I had no interest in learning how to play. In fact, I'm certain I mocked my mother (and my grandmother) for being "old ladies" because they enjoyed mah jong. I kept thinking of it as a "Jewish mother" or "Jewish grandmother" game. I have no idea when my mockery gave way to interest. Over the past few months, I notice more and more on Facebook that my friends (both single and married) set their status to inform everyone that they are off to play mah jong. Maybe that is what piqued my interest. All I know is that a few weeks ago, when one of the women in my playgroup mentioned something about starting a game, I was excited to learn. For our first weeks, we have been rotating houses and taking advantage of our mah jong playing mothers to teach us how to play. Monday night was my mom's turn. I think we are getting better, and perhaps soon, we'll be all set to play on our own!

Diet. I am so frustrated with myself about my weight. I put on a lot of weight trying to get pregnant, and I thought that because I did not gain weight during the pregnancy, I would be skinny in no time once I gave birth. Wrong! I've been breastfeeding, and while it has not been a source of huge weight loss for me, my biggest fear is that it is the only thing keeping me from gaining massive amounts of weight. I am slowly coming to the end of breastfeeding (I'll save that discussion for another post), and I really need to get my diet back under control so I do not put any weight on when I wean him. Frankly, I need to do more than just avoid gaining weight when I wean Micah - I really need to commit to South Beach again and lose weight. I've been avoiding it for quite a while - I always have an excuse: breastfeeding makes me hungry, I'm going on vacation so I am waiting until I get back, etc., etc. I really do need to just commit to losing weight and taking care of myself. I wish it wasn't so hard!

Exercise. I have been terrible about exercising lately, but I am trying to get back into it. I have gone to the pool to swim my laps a few times in the past few weeks, and I have been desperately trying to attend my yoga class (the one I had to drop when I was put on bedrest). It turns out, failure to exercise for long periods of time results in poor physical shape. Who would have thought? Part of my effort to lose some weight is to get back into good physical shape. I'm working on committing to that process.

Finding me. I really need to continue working on finding me again. Life has gotten easier now that Micah is getting older and we have a daycare solution. I am building time to work into my schedule, and I am slowly building time for a social life into my schedule, too. Now, if I can figure out how to work in the diet and exercise, too, I'd really be on top of things! DH and I have been going out on "date night" on Thursdays. I have been meeting my friends weekly to play mah jong, and I try to take some time out for a walk with a friend or a dinner out once each week. I'm thinking of starting a wine club for my friends - just a fun evening once a month. I really think that I'm on my way to having that perfect balance I am seeking!

TTC. DH and I are talking about ttc again. Part of me is ready right now - I feel like we shouldn't waste time because we had so many challenges and we are not exactly getting any younger, and I definitely want a second baby. At the same time, I am enjoying this time with Micah, and I am not quite ready to deal with another new infant. I'm just now finding that balance, and I fear throwing a new baby wrench into that just yet. We also have to move into a bigger house (or build an addition on this one) to have room for a second baby, so I'm a bit fearful of getting pregnant because we are not quite ready for the added pressure of figuring out our living situation so quickly. Perhaps by the end of the summer, we'll start getting careless, and maybe this Fall we'll ttc naturally (highly unlikely to result in a BFP for us). I think maybe in December or January we will try IUI, but I doubt we'll do another IVF until next August. I guess, realistically, that means I have another year to go before we'll have any real shot of being pregnant again - and I think that might just be perfect.

Off to the beach!

Last-minute, DH found a great deal on a condo in Emerald Isle, NC, so we are off for the next week! We will be working and beaching and enjoying ourselves. We decided to leave at night so that Micah can hopefully sleep the entire way there. My parents will be joining us in a few days, and we are hoping for a wonderful vacation! I'll do my best to keep blogging while we are out of town - we'll be driving back next Wednesday, July 8th (just in time to start our music class with the nasty lady - I have a sneaking suspicion asking her for a makeup class would not have gone well).

Video Wednesday

I thought it was time for more Micah video! Hope you enjoy. Just press the triangle on the lower left corner to play.

Nipples

I decided to write a post about nipples. Crazy, right? It is amazing how different my nipples are post-baby. Aside from the fact I've had a nearly constant yeast infection on my nipples since Micah was born, breastfeeding (and perhaps just pregnancy) may have changed my nipples forever. This is not meant as a complaint - it will probably make breastfeeding easier next time around. Before babies, my nipples were rarely . . . shall we say "at attention." I did not have flat nipples, but I also did not have the kind of nipples that were visible unless I was cold (or otherwise getting goosebumps). The instant I got pregnant, my nipples were hard - always out there. It makes disguising them under clothing more . . . challenging. Since breastfeeding, that is even more pronounced. I am not sure if this is a permanent change, or something that will revert once I cease breastfeeding. I think this is another one of those things they do not share with you about pregnancy and motherhood.