Ahhhh I love the smell in my house after I make applesauce. It's my favorite thing to make, so easy, so tasty and smells sooo good. Raelee was being punky today and wouldn't even taste it(thankfully her moody days are rare), but Fenway and I ate it up. And then split a sweet potato. We're having a very chill day. Still in our jammies after noon. Just relaxing, playing with toys, reading books, playing school. It's been nice.
Since its been crazy in the baby factory the past couple weeks and I've been working some overtime(which I normally never do, but gotta make that moola while I have the chance) , combined with the stomach bug I had on my days off, I feel like I have not seen the kids at all since the beginning of July. So today we woke up early and went to the Jr. museum. It's actually now called the Tallahassee museum, but I still call it by it's old name. That's how you know I'm a true Tallahasseeian;) We had fun just doing half of the museum today. We saw the farm animals, spent some time at the playground and went in some of the buildings. Then the Florida heat hit and we headed home for lunch. Now for naptime...
Ugh, turns out that my brother didn't have food poisoning, it was a virus. Now it's my turn, as well as some other family members. It's been horrible. Hopefully brad and the littles won't get it next. Thank goodness for ginger ale, saltines, and soup.
Our fourth of July was pretty low key this year. I worked the two nights prior, and it was busy busy in the baby delivery business, so I was pretty tired by the morning of the fourth. I slept till about 2pm, then got up to get me and the littles ready for the evening. We ate dinner at my parents, my sil and niece came and my grandparents. My poor younger brother had food poisioning but was starting to feel better. Then we all rushed out the door to catch the bus to ride into the park for the fireworks show. We met brad's parents, brother, and my sister, bil and other niece in the park. And brad's mom's cousin and her daughter came too. We didn't know they were in town so that was a nice surprise.
I stayed on the blanket at our set up spot, but brad and his dad took raelee down to the festivities and she got to ride a pony. Also my bil, Michael, was awesome and waited in the super long line and bought me a funnel cake. Soooooo yummy! The fireworks were fun to watch. I forgot to inform brad and his fam that my family always jumps in the bus line halfway through the show, so that we can get on the first bus out. I think they thought, at least I know brad does, that we're a bit crazy for doing that lol. My poor brother started vomiting again while we were waiting game for the bus. In fact, he's still sick as I type this.
The weather was the best I ever remember it being for the 4th here in Florida. I wasn't even hot. The kids did good during the fireworks. Raelee of course loved them, makenna not so much even with earplugs, lillian seemed to like them but was a bit concerned and then fell asleep, and fenway just stared and stared. My kids slept great by the time we got home, so that was nice. It's always so great to be able to reflect on our freedoms and the so many blessings we have living here in America. I love my country!
Fenway had his 9 month appointment today. He's 22.22 lbs. Healthy little boy:) he's on the verge of walking. He can climb stairs like a pro. W found this out by him climbing all the way upstairs without our knowledge, the baby gate has now been reinstalled. Brad has him transitioned to the crib AND on a bedtime routine. I guess that's a plus to working night shift, I got to miss all the crying it out nights.
Raelee is still her sweet, stubborn, sassy self. She's a great big sister. Her quote of the month is "but I don't LOVE that!" in regards to bedtime, naps, food, clothes, etc. She just ended a 3+week reign of only wearing dresses. She absolutely refused to wear anything else. She's really into her hair lately and wants me to braid it all different ways. Since she sits still now, I'm all for it. It's been fun trying out new styles and learning new braids.
Brad and I are still trying to figure out this night shift thing. I love it, but we both feel like we can't catch up on life, it's very stressful. We don't really feel like we have any down time, cause we're always trying to catch up from the nights I'm working. When I am off, we just want to spend it together with the kids, so our social life is pretty nonexistent right now. And that's okay.
Fenway starts daycare tomorrow. He'll be going twice a week with Raelee so that I can actually sleep after work. Tomorrow though is a trial day, so I didn't work tonight which means I'll have the day kid free (that has NEVER happened) so I have some fun craft projects planned for the day. And a nap. And maybe a haircut:)
I've started so many post since my last, but haven't been able/felt like posting them. The words never felt quite right. So I'll just start with this...My older brother Jared unexpectedly and tragically died on November 16th, 2013 at 31 years of age. He left behind a wonderful wife, 3 month old daughter, and the rest of his family and friends. We're all going through our days, moving on, but it's extremely hard. Some days are up and some are down. I don't think it's something that can be explained until you've been through it...Life and memories have been categorized as pre Nov 16th and post Nov 16th. I feel like I'm two different shelleys, the before and the after...
So breastfeeding. With Raelee, it was easy breezy once my milk came in. Never had latching issues or sore nipples, or all the things that make breast feeding so hard. I never had an abundance of milk, so that was a bit stressful. You can be sure I was super paranoid to never, ever spill any. Raelee nursed until 15 months, never receiving any formula supplements. I am extremely proud of this due to working full time as a nurse doing 12 hour shifts. It is not easy to find time to pump to keep the supply up, but I made it. And loved it. It was soooo easy to go anywhere with her, and never have to worry about bottles and formula, etc. So I expected breastfeeding to be easy breezy this go round too. Guess again. The first day was great. Fenway latched and fed a ton in the first 12 hours. Then around 2am, he totally forgot what he was doing and starting biting and tongue thrusting. I did not let him nurse that way, but with all the off and on, I still ended up with sore, blistered nipples. Fun! By the next day, he was latching correctly again. Super weird. My milk came in on day 3. I was really happy, because it didn't hurt like it did with Raelee. Fenway was back to his birth weight by day 5. By then end of week two, things were not going so well. Fenway was still latching great, but my milk came in again(?) and hurt like the dickens, still does with let down. It feels like knives going from my armpits out my nipples. This happened for a week when my milk came in with Raelee and is still happening with Fen. There was waaayyy to much milk for Fen to handle, he would choke and scream, milk spraying everywhere. Once I pumped after feeding him and pumped 9 oz's...after he'd ate! A few times he went on nursing strike. I couldn't get him to latch no matter what. He'd scream bloody murder for hours every night, he was super gassy and fussy. It was a very stressful time. After a few weeks of block feeding, and letting the milk spray out before latching him, and not drinking any caffeine or consuming dairy products, and trying not to pump unless I was dying, we have our sweet baby back. I finally feel like I can nurse him if I'm out and about, even though he is a noisy eater. AND I went shopping for a dress for church, since I am very far away from my normal clothes and I found a super cute dress, on sale, that zips down the front. The front people! I was so excited when it fit. It made nursing at church so much easier. I've always found church the hardest place to nurse due to the fact that most dresses are not breast feeding friendly. So finding a front zipping one was a big deal to me :) Fenway will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. It's been a very stressful and tiring 6 weeks, but I feel that we're normalizing out now. I'm not as fatigued. I hoping once I'm off the Lovenox, I'll be up for more strenuous workouts.Tonight is the last Lovenox shot I have to take( insert happy dance). When all the bruising on my stomach goes away(along with the fat please!) I'll be ecstatic.
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