Spilled Milk

They say, "don't cry over spilled milk" but yesterday that was hard to remember!


That's about 5 ounces of breastmilk - all over the floor. I was bagging up what I had expressed at work that day and wasn't paying close enough attention to what I was doing and the bag just tipped right over. I just stood there - mad. Amelia was next to me, "helping", and when the mess was made she knew just what to do. She ran to the rag drawer, grabbed one and got busy.


Her efforts made me smile and I really was thankful she knows what to do when a mess is made! Together we picked up the mess and by the end I realized I couldn't be upset. Why? There was nothing I could do about it at that point. It had happened and that was that. Once again, a simple gesture from a small girl helped me relax.

I think the hardest part of it all was just breastmilk being wasted. I have to spend my breaks at work pumping, skip chatting time with co-workers and then attempt to eat my lunch in the five or ten minutes I have left after pumping. It's just not fun! Some days I just sit there and think, "I could quit nursing him and then I could actually rest on my break and not inhale my food" etc. In the end, I remember that I had said I'd nurse him as long as he showed interest and I plan to stick to that - as hard as it may be sometimes.

Nursing and pumping is going very well. We got to the point where our freezer looked like this:


So we went out and got ourselves a small chest freezer.


We now store all milk in there along with a few other items. Since the above photo was taken the freezer has been filled a bit more... We are still trying to work out a good system for rotating milk and what additional items we would like to store in there. For now we are just thankful to have the extra freezer space!

Joe has been doing pretty well switching from breast to bottle!


(first bottle, December 6, 2011)

I still nurse him when I am home. Very rarely will he get a bottle when I am around because in order to keep this up we need to nurse! Sometimes I would love for him to just have a bottle - it is much quicker and it would allow me to get more done most days!

I will stick to what I told the doctor from the start, "I will do it as long as he wants to." It's not really about what I want. Breastfeeding him is better for him, better for me and better for the wallet! Three great reasons to keep going even when I don't want to!

Choo Choo!

Last weekend we took Amelia to the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum and she had a blast! She loved watching the "choo choos" go 'round and 'round and 'round!

The Hazards of Having a Big Sister

Amelia is already teaching her little brother to accesorize...




I had turned around for one second and when I looked back she was placing one of her flower headbands on his little head! She was actually gentle as well, which shocked me! She is rough and tough little girl most of the time!

Joe's New Bed

Joe is still not a fan of his crib :( We have broke him of the swing at night - now he uses his car seat!


The swing was not an ideal situation to us and neither is this. We'd love for the guy to realize his bed isn't that bad! We are pretty sure the main issue with the bed is that it requires him to be flat on his back. He doesn't seem to like that at all. He is a snuggler and loves to be curled up - preferably in someone's arms. The carseat and the swing both curl up his body just a bit and that is why we think he likes them so much!

On a funny note, the other night Amelia and I were watching Dora. She told me, "nigh nigh" so I asked her if she was tired. She wandered off and when I went to find her a few minutes later this is what I found:


It seems that she thinks the carseat is in fact a true bed! A bed for people of all sizes!

Then and Now: Bumbo

Amelia (left) and Joe (right) at almost three months old.

There are many similarities but also some distinct differences! Their eyes are what stand out to me as very different. No one can compete with Amelia's big and bright blue eyes!

Just Pictures

Christmas Day

Christmas morning Joe was the first to rise! Amelia eventually made her way upstairs to find that Santa had come! Santa used light-bulb wrapping paper this year and Amelia was so excited about it that she could hardly unwrap anything.


Amelia was excited about the wagon Santa brought her and Joe!


Mid-morning we got ready and went to Jason's sister's house for Christmas with his family. We had breakfast/brunch this year and it was really good!

Amelia and Joe dressed up for Christmas Day:


Even Cashew was fancied up!


Family photo:


Truthfully, I am glad Christmas is over and the new year is here! We, once again, let the stress of the holidays get to us. It probably didn't help that I went back to work (in a retail setting) just two weeks before Christmas! That's a hard time to get back into the swing of things.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve day I worked my usual 8 hour shift. My day surprised me - it was pretty fun! I spent a lot of time in the electronics and entertainment department trying to put movies away but ended up helping guests all day! I was pleased that the ones who I had interactions with seemed to be in a good mood. I was even thanked by a few for working which I appreciated.

We stopped by a gathering of Jason's family briefly and then spent the night at my parent's house. Kim made stuffed peppers for dinner and we did presents around the tree. Amelia couldn't even get through present opening before she needed something opened so she could play with it:


Joe on his first Christmas Eve:


Family photo by the tree:

Girl's Night

Last Friday night was a little girl's night out at Acapulco! Marie was in town for the holidays and it worked out that several of us could meet for dinner. We were surprised at how empty the restaurant was. They are notorious for slow service (but the cheese dip is awesome and worth it!) so I was a little worried about it being Friday night and the day before Christmas weekend. I figure everyone would be eating out since they'd be cooking all weekend! This was not the case - we walked right in and sat down.

Amelia stayed home with her daddy for the evening. She's not that into mexican food and I also knew Joe would keep me busy enough while trying to visit and eat! He did pretty well though. He slept part of the time even!


I wish we could all get together like this a little more often - it was a good time!

2 Months

Last week Joe was two months old!


We had his check-up and he is looking great. He was 26 inches long (100th percentile) and 14 pounds 5 ounces (90th percentile). We have a fast growing, big baby boy!


We started having some sleeping issues. Joe doesn't like his crib most nights and spends the night in his swing in our room:


It is not an ideal situation or one that we are entirely happy with but it's what we have to do to get any rest. Since I started back at work last week and have been averaging around 3 hours of sleep on work nights (I get up at 3 a.m.) the swing has been a lifesaver. We keep hoping one night he'll realize his crib is comfy but so far it hasn't happened :(

These first two months have flown by - he'll be one before we know it!