Sickies, work worries, and Halloween cuteness!

Zaine has his first cold. It was inevitable, I know, but it's just so darn sad!

Last night he slept horribly (somewhat normal) and I had a hard time getting him back to sleep (abnormal) and we were up from about 12:30-3:30am. When he first woke up, he was SUPER stuffy. It seemed to just come out of the blue! The next morning our sitter let us know her kiddo was ill too. She took her son to the doctor today and they said it was just viral so it just has to run its course. We're suctioning, giving Zaine benadryll, and lots of love and cuddles for now. No fever, thank goodness!

Got some concerning news at work today. I don't want to share too much but let's just say the political climate has me somewhat concerned for my job past the 2012 year. There's so much uncertainty in the air and it's super stressful. This is not a good time to be working in social services and with a MS in Counseling...I'm just not sure what sort of employment I could find that's not in social services. Not that I want to leave my current job, because I don't, AT ALL, but should I no longer find myself employed in 2013, I am deeply concerned about finding a different job in my field. :-/

To end on a happier note. Here's our kiddos from this Halloween. Zaine was a tomato and Savannah was a cow girl. :)

Planning Vacations

Last night we went to Toy Story 3 on Ice. It was a combination of the Toy Story 3 storyline and flashbacks from the two previous storylines. It was cute and we had great seats! We were one row behind the VIP section.

Before the show, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy came out. It made me REALLY want to take the kids back to Disney World. (Oh who am I kidding, I want to go for me just as much for them. LoL). Even before the show, we've sorta made plans to go back. See, at 10 years old, kids are charged adult ticket prices and before 2, kids are free at Disney and they can also fly for free. So, the plan is to go back to Disney in April of 2013...right before Zaine turns 2 (so he's old enough to enjoy it even if he won't remember it!) and it will also be right before Savannah turns 10--we'll save a bunch of $$ that way!

In the meantime, we're planning on going to Buffalo, NY next spring/summer. My father moved back to Buffalo recently and I also have aunts and uncles and cousins there I'd like to visit. We'll likely cross into Canada and visit Niagara Falls. Yeah, you can visit from the US side but the Canada side has the better view. I've done both but El and the kids haven't and nor have they been to Canada. Just another little experience for them all. :)  Savannah, El, and I all already have passport cards (which are good for cruise travel and driving across borders) so we'd just need to get one for Zaine! Easy peasey. I sure hope airline prices come down a bit though--man! Expensive! Nothing's booked but I'm hoping we'll go right after Savannah gets out of school for the summer. Have to research some deals!

I love planning vacations--especially since we didn't get to take one this year!

4 month stats and the end of summer

Zaine is growing along quite nicely! At his 4 month well baby check he weighed in at 14lbs 13oz and was 25.5" long. He cried when he got his shots (who wouldn't?!) but by the time we made it out to the receptionist, he was smiling again.

One of his new favorite things to do is to grab my face and pull it down to his for smooches. Or to eat. Same difference in baby land. Can't get enough slobbery baby kisses! <3 He also laughs quite often and we recently bought him an exersaucer for him to play in. He's not quite sure about it yet, but I think it's growing on him.

Savannah started the 3rd grade in Argonia at the end of the summer. I can hardly believe she's growing up so quickly! We had such a great summer with her, hate that we're back to our school schedule but it can't be helped when she lives an hour away. Tomorrow when she's here we're headed to Toy Story 3 on Ice. Looking forward to it!

Over Labor Day weekend Elery and I took Zaine out to Kansas City to see my family. Savannah went to Wyoming with her Mom to see her step-father' family. Hopefully her trip went well, I know ours did! Zaine got lots of quality Nana time and Elery and I got to have a date day at Schlitterbahn's--one of the newer water parks in the area. They had a swim up bar in a "hot tub" area. It was amazing. We spent a lot of time there and probably too much money but it was SO lovely to have that time to be an adult with my hubby.

Off to watch some Trailer Park Boys with El!

birthday presents and looking toward Fall

Another year has come and gone and I'm another year older. 28, in case you were wondering. Getting awfully close to that big 3-0. For my birthday, my son slept through the night, my ILs got me a yoga outfit and a GC to Michaels, my Mom sent me some $$ so we can buy tickets to Schlitterbahn's when we go out to visit in September, and my husband bought me a Momma necklace. LOVE it!

Zaine is almost 4 months old--just another 2 days. He has his 4 month well baby visit next Friday and I'll update his stats then. He can roll from back to belly and belly to back. He can also grab his toes and loves sucking on his fingers. He laughs and smiles and coos all the time. Happy baby!

Savannah's been with us a bunch this summer. This is her last full week with us though--she starts back to school near the end of August. Hard to believe she'll be a 3rd grader this year!

I have a sitter lined up for the Fall when Zaine can no longer come to work with me. I'm glad we have someone we know and trust but I'll be sad to spend SO much time away from him during the week. I'm both not looking forward to Fall and looking forward to it. I love Fall weather, I love Halloween, Resonance is in the Fall, and I plan to have our family photos taken in the Fall once Zaine is 6 months old...so I'm trying to focus on those positives. It's just...hard. I know he'll be well taken care of but I'll miss him!

Working with Mommy

Summer is well under way!

Whose bright idea was it to do a sleeping arrangement transition when I had to work the next day? Oh yeah. It was mine. What on earth was I thinking?! Zaine has been successfully sleeping in his PnP bassinet for a few weeks now but it was a rough transition and he was up every 1.5-2 hours for about a week and a half. Thank God for Diet Pepsi!

Zaine is growing like a weed, inching ever closer to his 4 month birthday. My goodness how time flies. Zaine gets to come to work with me until he's 6 months and then it's off to the sitter he goes. I'm so thankful he'll be with someone we know and trust but I am not looking forward to that milestone at all. As exhausting as it is taking care of him full-time and working full-time, I enjoy the time we get together during the day.

Zaine's personality is starting to come out. Somehow, he's learned to be "bashful" and it is absolutely adorable! If I'm holding him and someone comes along and talks to him and smiles at him, he grins real big and then buries his face in my chest. Then he smiles at you again and repeat. He's also started to reach for things AND be successful the majority of the time. He can't hang on to things for very long but he sure does try to put everything in his mouth!

I'm so very lucky to be his Mommy. <3

Savannah is with us every other week during the summer. She gets to spend time with us as well as her cousins and Elery's parents. She also gets to bond a little more with her newest little brother. I have the SIMS 2 on my computer and Savannah's decided that is her new favorite game. I think she spends more time making families and building and decorating houses then she does actually playing the game though!

Elery has a new trick. He's taken up fire breathing! On one hand, I think it's pretty cool but on the other hand, I do love my husband so seeing him put something in his mouth that says, "Caution: Harmful or Fatal if Swallowed" scares the crap out of me.

No new tricks for me. I'm pretty boring. Work, baby, computer, family time. Oh and I started a new book. Exciting eh?

The time has come....

Zaine is getting too long for his infant bed that fits in our bed. I'm going to have to transition him to the pack&play bassinet. Going to give it a shot this evening! He naps great pretty much anywhere so hopefully this will be a smooth, painless transition. I just have to do some furniture re-arranging upstairs and figure out where I want everything! Eventually we will move him to his own room but not until his sleep is a little more consistent with the longer stretches!

2 month stats, Savannah, & Summer

Zaine did so well with his 2 month shots! I mean, he screamed of course, but he was screaming before they even stuck him so I think he was more offended that someone would dare to hold down his legs. At his 2 month well baby check Zaine was 12# and 22 1/4" long. Weight was in the 56th percentile and "height" in the 23rd percentile. Yep, he's a shorties. Raise your hand if you're surprised a child of mine and Elery's would be on the lower end of the height spectrum.

Last week, I returned back to work. As sad as I was that my maternity leave was ending (the longest time I've not worked since I was 15!!), I was at least very grateful that Zaine could come to work with me. Zaine's Nana (my Mom) bought us a little mini Pack&Play which fit very well into my office space. Zaine did very well all week with taking naps and being in a generally good mood. He'll come with me to work Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday but spend Thursdays with his Grandma (my MIL). He spent a half day with her this first Thursday since 1) he hadn't yet successfully accepted a bottle and 2) I wasn't yet prepared to spend 10 hours apart from him. Before Thursday, I'd maybe spent a TOTAL of 5 hours apart from him since he was conceived and then all of a sudden I was doubling it in on fell swoop! I was really anxious to be apart from him and felt sad when my MIL came and picked him up but I knew he was in good hands and that I just needed to get over the hump. As the hours wore on, I felt better and then my MIL texted me to let me know he'd accepted his first bottle and drank 3oz of milk I'd pumped. Success!

On Sunday, Savannah plays her last softball game and so, for the rest of the summer, she will spend alternating weeks at our house and her mother's house. So excited! It will be so nice having her with us and knowing she's safe and cared for and it'll be great for her to get to know her newest brother a little better and become more familiar with him. She'll be with a sitter Monday-Wednesday (where her cousins will also be), with MIL on Thursdays (with her cousins and her brother), and with Zaine and I on Fridays. I know she's really looking forward to it which warms my heart. She's really become such a Daddy's girl in the last year. It's super sweet. <3

Elery and I both have birthdays coming up. Elery will be 27 in July and I'll be 28 in August. Eek! I am growing ever closer to the big 3-0. I always thought I'd be finished having children by the time I was 30 but I'll probably be 30 before we even think about adding another. Now that I'm getting closer to 30, I rather appreciate the fact that I look much younger. In fact, as we were walking into Walmart tonight (with Zaine strapped to me in my Beco carrier even!) the Walmart greeter greeted us with "Hey Kids!" I'll take it. :)

getting into the swing of things

Two months later and I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of this Mommy business. I've been Savannah's step-mom for 5 years now but it is just so different taking care of an infant! Of course, next week I go back to work and I'll have to learn an all new routine!

Zaine has been giving me consistent 5 hour stretches when I first lay him down at night. !! Sometimes, I get the benefit of those full 5 hour stretches and go to sleep when he does and other times, I stay up. Every night it's an internal battle. Go to bed and get 5 hours in a row of uninterrupted sleep OR have me time/time with my husband. Occasionally me/husband time has to win, you know? Right now we're going back to sleep in the mornings until 9am or so (today we got up for the day when Zaine woke me up cooing--cutest thing ever!) but it'll be more likely 5-6am when I have to get ready for work. You might want to buy stock in diet pepsi. I'm about to contribute greatly to their financial success!

Tomorrow Zaine goes to his pediatrician for his 2 month well-baby check and his 2 month shots. Can I talk about how much I'm dreading those shots? I keep flashing back to his circumcision and it makes me sad all over again. (Please don't take this as an invitation to tell me your thoughts on circumcision. I've already made my decision--obviously). Anyway, he really handled the procedure pretty well but he did cry a little and so did Momma. If he cries tomorrow from his shots, well, I might as well bring along the tissues for the both of us.

Well, little man just woke up so I better unswaddle him and give him some cuddles!

So...we had a baby!

The title says it all! We had a baby...and as of today, he's 2 months old!

Zaine Elery Shively was born on April 14th, 2011 at 10:54pm weighing 7lbs8oz and measuring 19.5". Today he's around 12lbs and 22". They grow quick, don't they?

I was fortunate enough to be able to take 9 weeks of maternity leave to spend at home to get into the swing of this Mommy business and get to know my little man. The first month was rough! Nursing was excruciating, he slept like crap, and my hormones were all over the place. Eventually his latch got better, he was put on medicine for reflux and I eliminated dairy from my diet which has helped him sleep better, and my hormones leveled out. Now I'm at the end of my maternity leave and really not wanting to return. I never wanted to be a homemaker before but my how things change when you have a little one! Unfortunately, that's not a feasible option for us so I'll be back at work come Monday morning. Thankfully though, I do love my job and I will get to bring Zaine to work with me until he's 6 months old. Right now the plan is for him to come Monday-Wednesday and stay with my MIL (mother-in-law) on Thursdays. Of course, this is all contingent on Zaine eventually accepting a bottle. We've tried 3 different bottles and he hates them all.

The other kidlet in the Shively family, Miss Savannah, had a birthday in May and turned 8 years old. A few weeks later, she finished the 2nd grade. We went all out for her birthday this year and built her a playhouse for her present and rented a bounce house for her party and invited our friends' kids that she's friendly with, as well as family. She had a blast! Currently she's spending her summer playing catcher on her town's softball team but when her season ends next week, she's going to spend alternate weeks at home with us until school starts back. It will be so nice to have our little family of 4 together more frequently and for her brother to become more familiar with her.