Reality

We dropped Gigi off at the airport at 6 pm and that means reality is setting in.  Our help for the last two weeks is gone!  We were so fortunate to have her here and I'm certain my speedy recovery from the c-section can be attributed to her.  Her primary responsibility was taking care of Calleigh and Aubree and I think it went very well.  Of course, we got some of her great meals too.  I remember when I had Calleigh that Gigi was on night duty (because Calleigh was such a pill) but thankfully I didn't have to use her in this capacity this time.  While she was here, the three of us got hooked on watching the show "House Hunters" on HDTV.   The premise is that a person or family is looking for a new home and they tour three different options.  The three of us would watch and then make a guess as to which one they would choose.  It's a friendly competition although Duncan seems to take it very seriously since he's winning.  At any rate, we'll miss the fun we had with that, Mom!

Things are rolling right along.  Brady is now 13 days old and doing very well.  I've moved into the downstairs as far as sleeping and Brady spends his nights in either the Rock 'N Sleeper or the swing.  Knock on wood...he's been so good at night as far as not crying or anything.  Most of the time he goes right back to sleep after eating.  The only time we have a little problem is usually around the 5 am-ish feeding.  Sometimes it's a little hard for him to go back to sleep.  He doesn't cry though.  He just makes little grunts.  But if I bring him on the couch with me, it usually does the trick.  Occasionally during the night he'll go four hours between eating but typically it's around three hours.  The main problem I find with him, and this happens often with newborns, is they can't seem to stay awake for very long so it's usually a challenge to keep him from falling asleep before getting in a good meal.  When your eyes can barely stay open yourself, it's so tempting to just give in after 10 or 15 minutes and put him back to bed but when he's awake two hours later wanting to eat again, you're like "Doggone it.  Why didn't I force him awake last time??"

The main differences I've noticed so far with Brady being different from the girls is, obviously, his anatomy and then the amount of spit up he does.  Duncan has already been peed on a couple of times and it also went into Brady's own face.  I was feeling smug that I hadn't gotten anything but my time was up yesterday when it sprayed all over the place.  We'll just have to get used to that.  The spit up is annoying.  Calleigh and Aubree spit up maybe seven times between the two of them.  Brady spits up seven times a day, at least.  I have to carry the burp cloth around everywhere.  Then, last night, just after we turned in for the night, he threw up all over himself, his swaddle, and the couch.  I know it was throw up because he spits up so much and this was WAY more than a spit up.  So that was fun cleaning up in the dark.  He was fine the rest of the night though.  He ate normally and didn't throw up again so I'm not sure what it was all about.

Because of these aforementioned items, we thought it was high time he had his first bath and so that it what we did tonight.  He didn't mind getting the spray on him but the shampoo and body wash he could have done without.  The girls were very intrigued by this whole process so we had to find a seat for them up on the counter so they could have front row seats to all that went on.  We're almost at two weeks and they're still all into "Baby Brother."  I say it that way because honestly, he gets called that way more than his actual name.  I'm going to blame Duncan on this one.  Since it took so long for him to come up with a name, we called him Baby Brother all that time and it's clearly stuck with them.  It's kind of cute now but somehow I don't think he'll want to be called that when he's two...or ten.

My recovery has been really great.  I stopped taking any kind of medication whatsoever last Monday so I was only on pain meds for five days.  I know that's definitely better than the last two times.  I went to the doctor yesterday and he said my incision looks very good.  He said I was free to start exercising as far as walking but I can't do any weights or anything until he checks me out at six weeks.  I'm anxious to get the exercise started so I can get all this extra weight off.  My final weight gain was 36 pounds.  So far, I've lost about 20 of it.

The nursing part is going well for the most part.  I had a few days of some soreness but after applying some Lansinoh cream, I think I've gotten past it.  I was so tempted to get the guards but I really didn't want to go there.  Have you ever heard about how a mother can hear a baby cry and they have the sensation of needing to feed their baby?  Well, I had one of those weirdo things happen to me.  It was just about time to feed Brady and I was in the kitchen.  We have this toy on our fridge that makes animal noises.  Well, I opened the fridge and as I do so, the toy makes this baby lamb sound that's a cross between a Baaa and a cry.  Wouldn't you know but I had a milk letdown and started leaking??  So obviously, there is a connection.  But who would think it would work with a lamb cry too!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Calleigh had VBS at the Markham Woods Church last week.  Each morning, my mom and Aubree would drop her off at nine, they would go to something fun together, and then go back and pick Calleigh up at noon.  It was really strange to have her off by herself.  We've been away from her a few times like when we were on our cruise or if she went somewhere with my aunt and uncle or whatever.  But this was the first time she was at something like this by herself.  I found myself wishing I could be a fly on the wall so I could see what all she was doing.  I really felt like I missed out!  Fortunately they did have a closing program on Friday night so we could at least see all the kids she was with and see video footage of the week.  They did two songs with all the kids (150) and then a song with just the four- and five- year olds.  All the songs had hand motions and she knew them all.  But what was even more intriguing was that Aubree knew them all too and was singing and performing from her seat.  It seems that when they would pick Calleigh up each day, Aubree would see them doing the songs before they left and she learned them.  It was pretty cute watching her.  Ron, Elaine, and Aunt Wanda came to the program so we had a little crew there.  I say "we" because yes, Brady made his public debut.  Duncan carried him around on his arm and he proved to be the ultimate chick magnet.

First day of VBS

Aubree posing in front of the VBS sign.  The theme was Panda Bears, officially called  "Pandamania."

Up on stage for one of the musical numbers.

This is Ping, the mascot.  Aubree was scared of her most of the whole week and called her a "monster."  We decided that it probably is the freakiest looking Panda we've ever seen.

Sabbath afternoon, my mom left with the girls to go to the MacDougall's in Bradenton.  They stayed over there on Saturday night and then went out on Bob and Karen's boat in the gulf on Sunday.  They had a really awesome time on the boat and the girls loved it!  Meanwhile, back at home, it was weird being home without them.  We spent our "free" night at Babies R Us getting a boy swaddle for Brady...we only had a pinkish one and I swear, I kept wanting to call him "she" every time I looked and saw him in that.  Sunday we didn't have to get up early and get to First Watch.  But then I had someone contact me about purchasing our baby girl crib bedding that I had posted on Craig's List so we ended up meeting them at 10.  From there, we tried to hit up a few different breakfast joints but ultimately ended up at First Watch.  We had to wait awhile because of Father's Day but it was nice having a leisurely breakfast.

Reading a story with Karen.  That's Karen's granddaughter Kenzie.  Apparently she got the shaft as far as seating.

Excited about their boat adventure.

We went over to Ron and Elaine's for a Father's Day meal but on the way, we stopped to do our dumpster dive.  Devastating news!  Because it's at a school and school is now out, the parking lot for the school is closed off.  So, that appears to be putting our dumpster dives on a hiatus for the summer unless I find another one.  I only hope that whoever was dumping all those great inserts into it will resume once the school year starts again.

Alrighty, I think I'm going to end here.  I'm going to try and get back to my regular twice a week postings assuming all goes well.  I'm curious as to what tomorrow will bring.  Will I venture out for my first adventure with three kids?  Since we need some groceries, I would say the chances are pretty good.

A few more random pictures...

Gigi took them to Target one day to get their birthday present from her and Papa.  I'm sure you can guess what they picked!  

Watching the national anthem for the Bruins Stanley Cup game.  I remembered exactly why I enjoyed hockey so much.  The Stanley Cup was awesome to watch and I'm not just saying that because the Bruins won!

We went to Jeremiah's on Gigi's last night.