Baptism

Ryder's Baptism was yesterday...he's now a pure and sin free as he'll ever be ;) Now, of course, being a planner as I am---I worked it out perfectly with his feedings and sleep time that he would be able to make it through the 1030 Mass and then the Baptism afterwards without needing to eat (and therefore, without being fussy). So Ryder sleeps like an angel through the whole Mass...BUT, by whole Mass I mean the whole entire hour and 20 minutes the Mass was!!! Of course the day we pick for the Baptism happens to be the same day that a long winded guest priest comes to talk about his missionary work and blah blah blah blah blah for an extra 20 minutes (am I going to H-E-double hockey sticks for saying that?) Anyways, so that throws off the schedule. THEN the Deacon who was doing the Baptism after Mass---which he did an awesome job, I reallylike him, but he likes to hear himself talk (also, going to H-E-double hockey sticks) and yapped for a good 15-20 minutes about random things before even starting the Baptism. At this point, Ryder was awake for the whole time the Deacon was talked and was happy as a clam, but I knew the crying would come soon because we were almost 3.5 hours from the last time he ate and he would be starving. So not long after we got to the Baptismal font did he start to fuss. I tried slyly putting his hands in his mouth to entertain him, but it only worked for about a minute or two before he started fussing. So my mom handed me the back up plan bottle that we SHOULDNT HAVE HAD TO USE...and we fed him during his Baptism. We would just take it out of his mouth briefly so they could put oil on his head etc. Oh, and he also filled his pants and was a stinky boy too!! :) So anyways, I guess the best laid plans rarely work when it comes to babies. But seriously, I was so annoyed with that priest (again, H-E-double hockey sticks) because Ryder would have been perfectly content if that extra 20 minutes wouldn't have been added on and the other 15 minutes of the Deacon talked....oh well. Other than that, he was as cute as can be in his little tux (i'll post pictures later) and the day ended up being nice after a brief rain, and the food and company was great! We all had a good time :)

On to the next topic I often blab about: sleep.

I thought his sleep was going to be horrendous last night because he was so over stimulated during the day from being passed around to all the family members and his sleep was so interrupted. Especially because right after people left, he was really fussy for awhile before I got him to sleep. I just let him bomb out for 2 1/2 hours even though he had gone a long time without eating then. But once he woke up, he ate, then slept another 2 plus hours. I think that really helped him recover from his lack of sleep earlier in the day because we fed him at 1030. had him sleeping by 1115 and we were sleeping by 1130. I was having these weird dreams about trying to pump, but I couldnt get to my pump and I woke up at 330 and Ryder was STILL sleeping. So I went downstairs and pumped (after I checked to make sure he was still breathing) and finally Ryder woke up at 4am to feed. which means he went 5 1/2 hours between feedings last night. After quickly feeding him a bottle, he was back sleeping by 4:45 and slept till 8am. So lets just say...YAY! I know it won't be like that from now on; I'm sure he was so tired from the busy day. Anyways, like I said, I will post pictures of the tux later.

A better night :)

So last night, we put ryder in his crib again. As usual, he slept great after his 11pm feeding and slept soundly till 245. After that feeding is when things usually get bad and I'm up till dawn because I can't sleep through the noises he makes and him being awake on and off. Well last night, I left his bedroom door open and ours and I shut off the monitor. That way I just heard him when he grunted really loudly or when he cried. I actually got an extra 1.5 hours of sleep that I normally dont get at that time interval. THEN, after his 545 feeding, I put him in his little travel swing we keep in our room and by a little after 7am he fell back asleep, which then I fell back asleep and we didnt get up till 9am!!!! I am telling you it is unbelievable the difference a little sleep will do for a girl. I can tell I'm more upbeat and happy and energetic today--good for both mommy and ryder...and daddy too!! I think i'll continue the whole disregarding the monitor and instead do the "old fashion" method of just keeping the doors open :)

The next two days are just us getting ready for Ryder's Baptism that is on Sunday. I'll post pictures later! Have a good weekend.

I love the 2/3am feeding...not.

I can't complain about sleeping at night compared to a month ago. Ryder used to eat at 10, 12, 2, 4, 6.....yes, yes he did. But I still have trouble thinking this is "good"-our nights now. He is in a schedule of eating sometime between 1030 and 11pm. then he falls asleep almost right after and I am sleeping usually by 12am. He sleeps really soundly until usually between 2 and 3. After that feeding/changing/burping session I lay him down to go back to sleep but he lays awake making little cooing noises or grunting for about an hour. Then, when he does happen to fall asleep sometime usually by 4, then he sleeps restless sleep for 20 min intervals at a time and then wakes up and grunts more again. We do this till about 5 or 6 am. then after he eats again, he usually bombs out for another two hours of sleep (give or take) around 7 or 8 am. So I'm really frustrated because by 7 or 8 I am up for the day and can't fall back asleep nine times out of ten for whatever reason. It's like my body knows that it's daytime or something. So like I said, I'm really frustrated because I have no idea how to flip flop the middle of the night awakeness for that 7/8am longer nap. I would LOVE if he went back to sleep at 4am for another two hours (or more, but I'll take what I can get right now). And of course, I can't sleep through him cooing/grunting etc, so I'm up through the whole thing..yay! Last night I tried him in his crib again to see if I would like that better, but I still can hear everything through his monitor. I wish I could just throw the monitor out the window. But that would be a bad thing for a mom to do I suppose.

Anyways, I've kind told myself that I have to wait until cereal or other solids are introduced into his diet in order to make progress towards sleeping more during the night. I have gotten a few books recently and I"m going to do a little research on "how to get your baby to sleep through the night". I'll keep you updated. Keep your fingers crossed and pray for us before you drift off to your 8 hours of sleep at night. ;)

Memorial weekend

I hope everyone had a good weekend and enjoyed the awesome weather! We were up at the Haskins' cabin in Park Rapids, MN. We had a good time, and once again, it was nice to have the extra help from Grandma and Grandpa. It was so nice to be able to bring Ryder upstairs and hand him off at 5am so Joe and I could go back to sleep for a few hours! Check out the sweet plaid shorts. (don't look at the scary cabin-clad, disheveled mom holding him though, please)

Kit ran into a stick running in the woods and suffered a giant puncture wound. She wouldn't stop licking it, so she had to wear Amy's tshirt all weekend :)

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 ;)