Doing my best

It's much harder for me to blog these days, for several reasons. First, my arms are almost always filled with Bean. The best I can usually arrange is one free arm, meaning it would take me about two days for a short hunt-and-peck-with-one-hand post. Second, seeing as I'm home a lot these days with a baby who doesn't even know he has hands yet, there's not too much to write about. Do you really want to hear that we bought Huggies instead of Pampers because we had a coupon, but we are switching back to Pampers when they are gone because we like them much better? I doubt it. Finally, my ability to form sentences has been severely hampered by motherhood. I have fortunately regained the memory and focus that pregnancy stole, but I traded those for linguistic handicaps. You'll hear a lot of this around our house: "Honey, would you mind handing me a... ummm... a... one of those prongy things that you use to eat with?" Followed by DH laughing while he hands me a fork. Nevertheless, I will attempt to post tonight, and I'll gratuitously throw in some Bean pics at the end to make it worth your while to hang in there with me.

Last Sunday we had the first non-family visitor since Bean was born. DH invited over a coworker and his dog, Joey, to watch the Wings game. We invited his wife as well, but she decided to stayed home. The coworker said that he wants a baby now, but his wife isn't ready. (Smart girl, take your time. This is serious business!) The coworker enjoyed holding Bean and offered to babysit next time we want to go out. DH enthusiastically agreed, but then warned him that it would work against his effort to convince his wife it's baby time. DOH! We were so close... thanks DH. *sigh* Anyway, Evey and Joey had a great time playing together during the hockey game. She shared all her toys and was very sad when he left. This is her looking out the window after them, hoping they'd come back:

But she was soon back to jumping and barking at us to play with her:

My first 25 pounds of baby weight came off super fast. I was psyched and feeling great! But then I hit a serious plateau, and especially with summer around the corner, I'm no longer a happy camper. In an effort to lose a few quick pounds, I got my hair chopped off at a fancy salon at the mall. It's super short now, and I love how much easier it is to wash, dry, and style. (Considering I only get about 90 seconds cumulative per week to accomplish all three.) I left behind two pounds of hair on the salon floor under my chair. Unfortunately, I gained it right back several hours later when I ate the entire box of Godiva chocolate that DH and Bean bought for me while I was getting my hair cut. Damn.

I only have one week of maternity leave left. Boo hoo. Hooray! Boo hoo. Hooray! That about sums it up. Sometimes it breaks my heart to think of Bean in group care. (We tried to arrange a situation with DH's coworker's 20-year-old daughter to be at the house with Bean while I'm working in the den, but it didn't pan out.) Even though he'll be at one of the best day cares we could find in the area, I think he's just too young and tiny to have to miss his mommy. But then, when Bean is screaming and he won't let me put him down and I haven't brushed my teeth in three days, I long for the few hours a week I'll have when I am once again "Professional C" instead of "Mommy C." With no friends or family nearby to help out, it's been quite stressful for me being home alone with the little guy while DH works long hours. We'll see how this part-time schedule goes... if I suffer panic attacks without Beanster around, then I'll trade in my business cards for a housecoat. I can always cancel my beloved Netflix or push Avon products on my friends and family. Consider yourself warned.

The house hunt has been sputtering along and stalled out this weekend. We didn't make an offer on the ginormous but hideous house I mentioned a couple of posts ago, partly due to our realtor being MIA for a week. But it ended up selling in auction for way more than we would have paid anyway. While our realtor is a very nice person, we are dissatisfied with her levels of responsiveness and professionalism. We aren't under contract with her, so we may have to shop around for a different one. In the meantime, we are trying to enjoy the few perks of renting, like not cutting the lawn and still being able to face the neighbors. Howdy, folks. If you had a Neighborhood Watch program, maybe I'd still have my GPS!

I took Bean to the pediatrician, and she suspects that the poor guy has reflux. We started him on baby prevacid, and we can't exactly tell if it's helping. Sometimes he fussy for hours, dealing with painful reflux or gas or something. Hopefully he'll grow out of whatever it is! As far as sleeping goes, I'm still not doing much of it. Part of that is his unpredictable nighttime waking schedule. Last night he slept for nearly 5 hours, then another 3 after eating. Awesome! But the night before he wanted to eat every 1.5 - 2 hours! Could be a growth spurt, not sure. During the day, he won't sleep for more than 5 minutes unless he's cradled in my arms. It's incredibly sweet to cuddle with him, but after I've watched my Netflix movie and 20 home decorating shows, it gets a bit tiring. In order to address both the fussiness and the sleeplessness, we've purchased an Amby Baby hammock. They are obscenely expensive, so I found one on craigslist for about half the price. DH picked it up tonight, so after we wash it, we'll see if it lives up to it's promises. Wish us luck -- and vote in the poll on when you think I will finally get to sleep through the night. Please, a ray of hope...

And as promised, the gratuitous Bean pictures. Although we have our challenges, it's been so much fun watching him grow. He holds his head up pretty well now and smiles a lot at mommy and daddy. (Not at the dog yet, but hopefully soon.) Photo shoots are always enjoyable:

Gotta cover his little head when we go outside:

My little family resting on the couch:

And last but not least, one of DH's favorites: