Mommy and Daddy time!

Some more pictures taken this past weekend...There are not many pictures of me and Cody it seems! But that will change hopefully soon

Cold & Yard Sale Season

Well it looks like we are not quite out of cold season yet. A few days ago I woke up with a scrathcy throat that has now turned into a really sore throat and ears! Also not to mention my child is having a rough day. He started getting a little on the snotty side the other day and now his nose is all stuffy. We started using the booger sucker which Cody does not love but it is the only way to make a baby feel better when they have a cold. Eating is rough for him today because he is having a hard time breathing not to mention the really bad butt rash he woke up with.
So today was the first saturday of the year that I got myself out of bed at 530am, fed Cody, and ventured out into the cold for some good yard saling! My sister and I found a ton of great stuff today including, legos and a lego table, clothes, car seat for Hailey, VHS Movies (yes thats right I still have a VHS player), and a turtle that holds more legos! It is great when yard sale season rolls around and you know you (or your sister) is crazy because they ripped out the yard sale postings from the new paper and knows excatly where to find all the good deals! Also not to mention leaving at 6am when yard sales do not really open until 7am. You have to get there before all the mennonites or you will miss out! Like the sweet pack n play that I was looking for ALL morning and was 2seconds too late and lost a good deal!
I am looking foward to the weather getting warmer for a few reasons, ONE: Little kids are not as snotty and germy in the summer/fall, TWO: MORE yard sales to hunt out when the weather is nicer, and THREE: Cook outs on weekends are the best!

1 month old

Well Cody is now over 1 month old! I can not believe it has been more then a month since the 18 hour labor that turned into a C-section. Cody is growing so much every day and is becoming more and more handsome! I think Justin and I are finally getting into the lifestyle of having a baby, the feedings have become easier, the changing has becoming a little easier and quicker, and bedtime seems to go smoothly. Cody is sleeping any where from 5-6 hours at night (minus the 4am wake up call for his pacifier) I love that he is starting to look around more and be able to enjoy his playmat. I am ready to go back to work, even though it is nice being home during the day. It just seems like I have been cut off from the world. Plus Cody likes going to Nanas during the day because she loves up on him. This weekend is going to be cold again which is no good...but we will be getting ready for yard sale season wooohooo!

Cody and Hailey

I must say we have the cutest kids in the world! Now all we need is a picture of addison, hailey and cody together in their outfits!

Making a schedule

Well its been a while since my last blog...sorry for those of you who like to keep updated. 3 weeks now since Cody has finally joined our family. It definitely has been a learning curve for me and Justin. Now that Justin is back to work I am home to try and get me and Cody on some sort of schedule. I mean that is what you are supposed to do right? From a huge load of baby laundry every other day to the changing diapers every 2seconds (so it seems) It doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of time for a set schedule. I love being a mom and watching Cody grow every day. The sleeping through the night is more sleep then most babies get from what I hear so I can complain there. He is not a super fussy baby (only when its time to eat, or when he has gas) He already has a cute personality that I cannot wait to watch him grow up into a handsome little boy!
Justin went back to work this week, which has been good for the both of us, but lonely at times during the day for me. Yesterday the dog decided to have an accident all over my dining room floor, which freaked me right out! So last night we went to Wise rented a steam cleaner and Justin cleaned the whole dining room in no time flat! Other then that nothing else too exciting, I will try and keep posting new pictures or Cody as he grows.

Stop and Smell the... well... baby poop.

Ok, so... by popular demand, I am taking another moment in time to brand my thoughts for the day into cyberspace. I never really saw this coming, and it really is developing slowly, however I may just make some sort of regular 'appearance' if you will on this blog. Who knows, I may just visit some others too, as if they were the daily news. Still no Twitter... just a blog or two.

As for my recent feelings regarding our new addition, allow me to refer to a short passage from a conversation I had with an acquaintance recently. I was asked, "how are you hanging in there?"

At that point, I could only reply with, "I'm exhausted."

The acknowledgment I got in return was, "Yeah... I bet you're still in that adjustment period."

In retrospect, I have come to the conclusion that the "adjustment period" quite likely began last week on February 24th at about 7:42AM, and it may very literally last through the rest of this century. What I am getting at is that round about last year this time, Amanda and I chose a walk on a much different trail than we had ever traveled before; a walk that comes complete with twists and turns, and the occasional poopy diaper (at which, by the way, I am pretty decent at changing). We've only been home from the hospital for about 2 or 3 days so far, and although in a perfect world I could report that everything as going just peachy... in all actuality, echos of this "adjustment period" bounce through my every task at hand. At times, it can become a bit frustrating. Lets be completely honest... no one enjoys a quad-nightly interruption in their sleep from a beckoning baby, or a poop rocket into a perfectly clean, just-changed diaper. No one can honestly say that they enjoy an interruption in their dinner to feed a baby or prepare for future feedings (pump). The Army teaches its soldiers to adapt to the contemporary operating environment utilizing lessons-learned from the battlefield to maintain themselves accordingly. Encompassing this mentality, and lessons-learned from the nursery, I know that with all the turmoil and craziness that is child-rearing, one needs to find an outlet or outlets to maintain their sanity.

In the past day or so I have learned to be one of the quickest diaper changers ever, paying little attention to the screaming child on the table in from of me because of an internet-based program recently introduced to me, Pandora.com. Listening to a station I love allows me to refocus all of my energy from the shrill cries and get the job done efficiently. Yet another outlet I have found is in my wife. I know she thinks the world of me right now, and she loves the support I have attempted, but, truth be told, I am no Super Man. I am not invincible, and I too, need my breaks from the action. Whenever I am on edge, she is very quick to help bring me back down to the speed of life, to make me stop and smell that baby poop. Below is just one example of her efforts... Officially, I must say though, in closing, that I am not here to judge her; you can draw your own conclusions. I am just presenting this for the viewing pleasure of the public. Until next time... Justin.