Sleeping in his swing

I would pay a gazillion dollars for a swing, if that's how much they cost. It's the only time during the day that I can get anything done (by "get anything done" I mean important stuff, like facebooking or updating this blog....kidding). I'm sure other moms out there know that the time in the swing is precious and you don't even realize how fast that time goes. I wash some bottles, throw in a load of laundry, clean a toilet or something and before you know it, an hour has gone by and you still have a million things you could do, but then he's awake again :) Ahh, the joys of balancing a newborn and trying to keep the rest of your life in working order. I can't imagine what it will be like when I have other kids (in the way future) and then it will be even more work. I suppose that's when I will really just have to let things go and not care about everything being clean and in order all the time. That may be hard!

Anyways, I'm looking forward to spending the next couple days with my mom and ryder---joe is up in Canada fishing so my mom is coming down to help out here and there. How great is that!?

I'm also looking forward to Memorial weekend at the Haskins cabin up in Park Rapids. Hopefully the weather is nice, and the sleep is good!!

TGIF

Today I took Ryder to the mall for the first time. Man alive, I didn't realize how hard it is to drag along the little man with me. He did really well for the most part. I tried on dresses (wedding season has arrived!) for some weddings coming up...he was awake the whole time. I kept asking him his opinion on the dresses, but he ended up crying after 4 dresses---so we left the store :) Maybe he was just telling me that none of the dresses looked good. I think it's hard to look good in dresses when you have sock lines and are ghostly white from the MN winters. I ended up having to take over one of those sweet nursing rooms by the bathrooms at Ridgedale mall. It worked out decently actually--it had a rocking chair, table, and changing station with sink by it. So that added an extra 45 min to our shopping trip. Like I said, it's a LOT of work bringing a baby to the mall! We then went and got Ryder his Baptismal outfit. It's a little five piece tuxedo! so cute :) His Baptism is June 6th, which is kinda early to have it, since he will only be 2 months old, but there are very few open weekends left this summer, and I didn't want to be back at work and trying to plan it and everything.


Anyways, we're doing some landscaping tomorrow--nothing big, just mulching and a few plants/flowers. Sunday is the series finale of LOST! I'm so excited--Logan and Amy and coming over and so is our friend Katy and her BF Dave.

Have a good weekend everyone!

My 6 week drs appt

Today I had my 6 week doctor's appt. (yay, I lost a few more lbs!! did I mention I love breast feeding for that very reason?!)

anyways, she removed my one last stitch that wouldnt dissolve on its own and she said "everything looks like it's back in its place". apparently that means I'm good to go. Other things I asked/got answered:

1. yes, I will shed clumps of hair out like crazy for awhile while my hormones stabalize. (My hair is ALREADY fine/thin, so if I'm bald next time I see you, you know why....please refrain from commenting on my cul-da-sac hair line!)

2. someday soon I will stop waking up having hot flashes and being drenched in sweat once my progesterone levels stabalize. Now I know how all you post menopausal/currently menopausal women feel!

3. the dark line down the center of my belly from my big preggo belly will eventually "flake" off after about three months apparently. gross. and that also means probably no swimsuit for me this summer.

4. the numbness that I have across the top 1" border of my incision will MAYBE come back some day. and if it does, it won't be for a long long time. whatever that means.

5. any other pregnancy I have will end in a scheduled c-section. at least I will know the exact due date-and even potentially pick the date.

other than that, she said ryder looked good and that his head is still big in proportion to his body (hence why he didnt want to come out the regular way). lady, quit talking about my baby like that!! I think he's perfect ;)

He's famous!

Ryder is (sorta, but not really) famous! He's on the internet from our photographer. Here's the link, and just scroll down the page just a little and there is our family and pics of ryder.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpaulacharchenko.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fbaby-ryder-minneapolis-newborn.html&h=db5c5

A nanny for a day (and night!)

Since Joe is out of town for work this week, my mom came over yesterday evening to help. Originally the plan was that she was going to stay till his midnight feeding while I slept after the 9pm/10pm feeding. Ryder had different plans (maybe he just wanted to hang out with gma sharol??). He ended up sleeping till 140am by the time my mom woke me up to pump. So obviously I wasn't going to make my mom drive the 45 min home at twenty to two in the morning, but she insisted on just staying downstairs with him in between feedings so that I could get some sleep. After a (very) short period of debate, I agreed! So she would wake me up to pump here and there during the night, but she would feed ryder his bottle and do the burping, changing, and trying to get him to fall back asleep. I would pump and then go back to bed :) Probably the best sleep I had gotten since before ryder came! I feel so spoiled (wait, no...blessed) that I have the best mom and mother-in-law ever!!!! Not only was Grandma sharol down last night, but Grandma Amy came down in the morning yesterday too and watched Ryder all morning while I was gone at a funeral--she even did some cleaning while I was gone (as usual, of course!). You know, I kinda felt like a rich celebrity who has a bunch of nannies helping out 24/7..... except I don't believe in scientology, don't do pilates, I eat like a trucker and I havent done a stint in rehab. But other than that....

Newborn pics

If you're not on facebook, here is a link to check out Ryder's newborn pictures:

http://paulacharchenko.zenfolio.com/p536047315

then the password to get into the site is our last name: haskins

Here are just a couple of my favorites! (so hard to pick)

5 weeks

This week ryder turns five weeks old! Time flies when you're having fun...or when all the days blur together because you're tired. haha. kidding. Two days ago, I tried to put ryder in one of his newborn sized onsies...he was too long to fit in it anymore!! he still fits in the tshirts that snap at the crotch, but not the onsies with the little footies. he's getting so big. it's funny because I DO notice that he changes and is getting bigger, but not like other people who go a whole week without seeing him. For instance, Auntie Amy Grace came over last night to say hi quickly and she said she couldnt believe how much he had changed in a week. She thought Ryder was looking more like me. Uncle logan couldnt tell. I still can't either--i'm sure it will change all the time until he gets older.

At last!

It must be third times the charm because after TWO incredibly UNFUN nights with Ryder, last night was fantastic (relative to the situation, of course). Joe stayed up with Ryder till 1am while I went to sleep at 1030 and I slept until he came upstairs. Does anyone else realize that that means I got a straight 2 1/2 hours of sleep?!? woohoooooo!!! and then after that, ryder slept till 330, then again till 645. so, it was a pretty decent night of sleep! Let's cross our fingers for tonight again.

we also got our new couch delivered yesterday. we finally can seat more than 4 people in our living room! haha. yay! Happy mother's day to all the mommas out there ;)

what a fun night...oh wait

I knew I was screwed last night when Ryder was out cold for most of the evening. you know it's going to be bad when you can barely wake him up to eat and then he falls asleep again right away all evening. Joe and I have been trying this new tactic where joe stays up till 12-1am with ryder and does that feeding and I go to bed after his 9-10 feeding. that saves me so much because before I was staying awake too long after his 9/10 feeding and then by the time i was ready to go to bed, ryder was waking up less than an hour later. so this tactic seems to help me a TON. apparently though, with all of his sleeping in the evening, after his 330 feeding, ryder decided he wanted to stay awake and grunt/work a poop out and fuss till--oh, I dont know...we finally got out of bed at 8am. he never slept more than 20 minutes at a time. bah! dang babies and their randomness. It's a dang good thing he's so cute, otherwise he would be in trouble ;) so like I said, it's a good thing I slept for two hours before joe brought him upstairs at 1 last night, otherwise I would be dead.

Ryder's newborn pictures are in, look for postings with them later. Here's a cute one of him smiling that my mom caught! it's adorable and joe and I have noticed over the last two days that ryder seems to be smiling at us (not gas smiling, but actual smiling) when he's really awake and alert. so that's so exciting!!

Mom's birthday

I have discovered that when you have a 3 1/2 week old when your birthday roles around, it really doesnt get that exciting...you're kinda put on the back burner. Not that I care at all, it's just funny how fast things change when you have a kid :) Like every other year, you anticipate your birthday, go through with making all these plans, and you get all excited. I'm pretty sure as of two weeks ago when my mom mentioned my birthday, I had forgotten that it was even coming up so soon! I'm also not saying that I had a BAD birthday though, so dont get me wrong here. Friday, some of my girlfriends surprised me with a nice dinner and then came back to our house to have cake. It was really nice, especially considering I wouldn't have gotten together with my friends on my own otherwise for the bday. Then last night, Joe and I went out and had a really good time at dinner and then went shopping (at Best Buy, not real shopping...) while my parents watched Ryder, which was nice for both of us.

I was kinda nervous last night before we went to bed because Ryder seriously had been sleeping almost ALL day long without any long periods of time awake. I was so sure that he would be up all night long but the birthday fairy must have cast a spell on him and I only fed him at midnight, 330 and 7!! so that was great. Now if only the birthday fairy would come every night.....

oh, and I can't believe ryder will be one month old this wednesday. I have mixed emotions: a) excitement that we're getting closer to "better" times (i.e. sleep) and he's getting older and more alert and interactive, which is so fun to watch him grow BUT b) kinda sad because he's getting so big and I will miss his teeny tiny curled up body. I'm weird, I know.