Nipple Confusion, What?

Who ever said my child would have nipple confusion is nuts.
This kid knows the real thing from the not so real thing.

HE HATES THE BOTTLE. From me, from Philip, from Softa, from Nana, from Nanny Debby.
Gags, Cries, Pushes it away, Freaks out.

I have tried several brands.
Gags, Cries, Pushses it away, Freaks out.

I guess I should take it as a compliment that I am not only needed but wanted.
He would rather starve than drink from a bottle these days.
Although if you saw him you woulld think, "he could stand to starve a little".
Kid is a house.

Photos from the beach to follow, but I had to get this off my chest.

ps. I have been trying to bottle feed him since the day we got back from the hospital. I'm not guilty.

Dipping toes & Eating wind

Asher loves the beach.

We are thrilled.

Today he dipped his toes in the ocean for the very first time and attempted to eat the wind.

He loved the breeze and took it all in...

His hat was too big and it kept flying away.

As did the umbrella (which was borrowed from the parents) and ultimately broke.

Today was a PERFECT beginning to our PERFECT vacation...

More beach adventures to come!

Off to the beach...

We are off to the beach...and he is happy as a peach!

We can't wait!

Check me out

What is sweet Asher up to at 12 weeks old...?

Asher loves to play with his gund puppy rattle. It makes him giggle non stop...

he loves to pose for mommy....

and get wrapped up in soft blankets...

this makes him laugh...and mommy and daddy laugh too

and sometimes makes him sleepy too...

more puppy play time, he can even hold the puppy in his hands...

...then its time for a bath, which happens to be his all time favorite...

He loves to get wrapped up in a towel after his bath...

...once he is clean is ready for a few more posed photos...

...or shaking the booty and rolls, which are both oh so cute...

...then his least favorite, getting undressed and into his jammies...

...get it off before I get annoyed mom...

and of course there is time for lots of laughs, love and kisses EVERYDAY!

12 weeks have come and gone much too fast.

Our little newborn is not so little and he is exploring new things each and everyday.

Must have.

Coupon Organizer...

or at least the tabs that you can tuck coupons into with a binder purchased from Walmart.

This can't wait till Hanukkah.

Must have.

I look like a coupon lunatic trying to shuffle them all at the store and it stresses me out.

Must have.

Grab on to this!

In the spirit of loving our little one...and my return to work tomorrow.

Enjoy this video of Asher before bath time!

He was in quite a talkative mood and we even got a tiny smile out of him.

Right after the video ended he looked right at the camera and smiled...of course not on film.

As you notice he is now grabbing on to things and pulling them towards him!

He has quite a grip.

Tomorrow he is 3 months old....slow down little one, slow down!

Struggling...

September first feels like dooms day in my head.

I have attempted to avoid and at the same time visualize this day millions of times over and over in my head. While pregnant I used to think about this day so much it gave me anxiety.

When I was in the hospital September first seemed really really far away...yet so soon.

This days is...

The day I return to work full time. Twelve weeks came and went. Fast. Way too fast.

I spent 2 months recovering from my delivery and all of the infections that followed it, thanks to a few "medical accidents".

Only a few weeks ago did I start to feel better and was truly able to enjoy my time off with Asher without any distractions medically.

But as of September first it will all be in the past.

I never thought I would be the type that wanted to be a full time mom.

I have been known to prove myself wrong many times and this is one of those times.

When I think about what this all means to me and how I got to where I am now I am baffled.

Staying at home full time as a mom is not an option...financially...at this point in our lives.

Do I regret some decisions we made before getting pregnant to put us in this position? Possibly...

But this is the life we live. Still a great life indeed.

Aside from all of my whining about going back to work I must confess that I have the second best arrangement for my little love. Since I am obviously not going to be a full time mom and full time daycare before the age of one was not an option we were willing to entertain, I tried to figure out a way that my little love bug could have nothing but the second best option.

Both of our mom's arranged their work schedules so that they could care for Asher for one full day each week. (I hope I can do this for my children one day!) Asher LOVES both Softa and Nana so I am thrilled that he will be with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will be able to visit Asher during lunch since our moms both live under 3 miles from our house (which is where I work).

After a lot of stress and patience we found a fantastic nanny, Debby (well she starts Monday, but we know she will be fantastic). She will watch Asher in our home on Monday, Wednesday and Friday which will allow me to still breast feed him at lunch. Debby is a wife, mother of two daughters (who also both nanny) and a grandmother of 3. Her younger daughter just had a baby boy 2 weeks after me! Debby lives 10 minutes away over the border in South Carolina.

Asher will be in the best hands. We are blessed.

As I watch myself type and hear myself gripe as I am still torn with leaving my son in someone else's care for those 7 hours each day (probably less because he sleeps so much!) I continue to tell myself it is going to be OK. So many other mom's do it too and their children turn out OK. But it is still unsettling to say the least.

Although I do not cry when I leave him (yes, he goes to his Nana and Softa's A LOT already!) I am struggling with the idea of not being with him to comfort him when he cries or when he wakes up in the morning from his mid morning nap to see that big smile on his face or to watch him discover new things in life.

I will be OK. He will be great. Pray for us (me, cough cough!) come September first.

Love the Struggling soon to be Successful Mommy

Ten Things You May Not Know About Me

Ten things you may not know about me!

1. I am dyslexic.
2. I obsess over locked doors at night and typically check them at least twice before going upstairs (when home alone at night I even lock our actual garage, garage door)
3. I regret not going back to school to get my BSN (Bachelors of Nursing) when I seriously looked into it 2 times after I graduated from college!
4. Sometimes I wish we would downsize our house and mortgage
5. I used to do Tae Kwon Do in middle school and qualified for the Jr Olympics
6. I do not drink carbonated drinks...NEVER EVER.
7. I hate my hairy arms and always have...
8. I have lived in Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and North Carolina
9. I wore a women's size 10 shoe when I was 10 years old!
10. I never met either of my grandmother's (they both passed away before I was born)

Your turn!! Comment or blog about something I might not know about YOU!

All boys!

This past fall we found out that between us and Philip's two cousins (Emily and Stephanie) we were all having BOYS within TWO MONTHS of each other!!

Zachary was born 1 week before Asher and Benjamin was born 2 months after Asher!

We made a trip down to Atlanta to attend Benjamin's Bris and to celebrate with his daddy (Billy) who recently converted to Judaism! Benjamin was only 8 days old so we didn't get many photos with him but we had a great time checking out Zachary, meeting our relatives and cousins and napping with Zachary!

Emily, Billy and the Moile who performed the Bris and delivered Benjamin

All of the cousins, the babies and their Grandma/Great Grandma Pearl!

Asher's Great Grandma Pearl

Zachary and his Great Aunt Janice

M&M's celebrating Billy's Conversion!

Cookies with Benjamin's Initials and 

the beautiful spread in honor of Benjamin's Baby Naming and Bris

 Mommy and Daddy playing with me...

 Of course Mommy always wants a serious pose

Finally just me and mommy

 And of course Great Aunt Janice...

after all that the Boys were tuckered out!

What a great visit with all of our cousins!

We must do it again very very soon...before the little guys turn into big guys!

p.s. after 5 boys between Philip and I and our cousins my cousin Robin is finally adding a girl to our extended family due in January!!!

Good Morning!

We have developed quite a morning routine...

It begins with this...

BIG BIG SMILES which is exactly how any parent wants to start their day. With Asher we get them EVERYDAY! He has managed to kick one leg out of the miracle blanket which might be a sign that his swaddling days are slowly coming to an end.

We are still getting the hang of the video camera thing so its kind of dark...(plus his nursery is dark to keep the heat out because gosh darnit its ridiculously hot here).

After big smiles in the crib we move to the changing station to unwrap our burrito (aka Asher)

He loves it when his arms are "released" from his miracle blanket. You can see him stretching towards the end as he stares at daddy recording his every move.

We think this is ridiculously cute...you judge for yourself!

More videos to come...