I'm All Shook UP!

I survived my first earthquake. I have always said that I wanted to experience one. Boy was I stupid. I never want to feel one again! It is the most un-nerving thing to feel the ground shaking from underneath you and hearing everything in your house rock and roll, and then thinking that the house is going to fall on you. Yeah, don't want to go thru that again. The after shocks still make me tense up.

It seriously sounding like a train going by at first, and since we live across the street from train tracks I didn't think anything of it. Until I started to get jolted off the couch, that is when it dawned on me what the crap was going on, and then the screaming began. I was talking to Matt on the phone when it hit, and poor Matt heard me scream and heard the rumbling and then the line went dead. The dog ran upstairs, taking his usual post under the bed and I ran outside with Mason in my arms. My neighbor was outside too and I asked him what the heck just happened.

Anyhew! Now everyone knows where I live since Louisa is such a small little town, we are all over national news now. So this is the largest quake recorded in VA and it happened 9 miles from my home. Seriously?!? Now! It was a 5.8 magnitude and they say that the strength of the shaking was equal to a 7.0 magnitude because it was not very deep. Also the earthquakes out here are totally different than what is in CA too. Per the news people. So yeah, I am done with earthquakes. No more, please. Now, time to turn my attention to the hurricane that is coming this way this weekend. Any other natural disasters to come my way after that... please no more.

Super Baby!

I have a super strong baby! Maybe he is the next Superman, who knows?!? So at 32 days old today he rolled over for the first time. I got him to sleep and put him in his crib so I could pop in the shower for a bit. During the shower he started crying and when I got out and checked on him he had flipped from his tummy to his back. I didn't think that that was supposed to happen until he was at least 2-3 months old. That just means that I can not leave him alone at all. Now if only we could get his tummy issues under control!

Here is the pix I took of him after he flipped. As you can tell he still was not in a happy mood until I picked him up, but I had to take a pix of it!

1 Month Old

Mason is 1 month old today! The past month has FLOWN by. I can't believe that it has already been a month. I am so thankful for all the help that I had over the past month! Thank you so much Mom, Dad and Kathrine for coming all the way out here and helping me out. I am so thankful of the things that I learned from all of you!

Mason has changed so much in the last month. He started out very small and loved to sleep and eat and poo, and not too much crying. Now, well things have changed in that department. He still loves to eat but the sleeping and the pooing thing, not so much it seems. Sleeping, he will only fall asleep when being held by someone, and that someone must me either walking around or rocking. He also at night will only fall asleep on my chest and refuses to sleep in the bassinet. He is a very tactile baby, which is to be expected since his parents are very tactile.

The poo dept. Well, apparently he doesn't like the feeling of it and holds it in which causes pain which causes crying. Mostly a bloody murder, end of the world, red faced crying fit. Hence the walking around and the rocking to help sooth the screaming child. Oh, and a finger in the mouth. He still won't take a pacifier.

Talked to the doc and they said everything is fine, he is just learning how his new little body works and it is just more uncomfortable than he is wanting. He is very particular with certain things. Such as the water temp in the bath, the amount of blankets or warmth covering him. He doesn't like the baby wipes, that is for sure. Anyhew the Doc said that he is perfect and perfectly normal. He now weighs 9 lbs 3 ounces and is 20 3/4 inches long. He is getting bigger and heavier. He is also making cute little cooing sounds and practicing his smiles. I hope this next month he figures out to smile, so I can have evidence that he has my joker smile. He is also very focused when looking around and can hold his head up like a champ!

I enjoy dressing him in his outfits and trying to take pix of him for his daddy! We talk to Matt everyday right now seeing how he is still in the states. Mason gets to hear his voice everyday via phone and I look forward to Skpying with Matt when he arrives in Iraq. Matt is doing well just doing a lot of training and a lot of military things he hasn't had to do in a while. He is also in charge of a bunch of soldiers with his job and is enjoying being in charge and using his knowledge he obtained while on his previous deployments. I am so proud of him and wish he was here with us but he is doing great work where he is and is rocking at it! I LOVE YOU HUN!!! Anyhew here are a couple of pix of cute little Mason at 1 month old. Enjoy!

~2 hours after he was born~

~This is the face that goes with his famous cry!!!~

~We are not amused face.~

Mason's First Day of Church

Today was our first time to church since Mason was born. We made it thru sacrament without any crying/screaming. He was actually a very calm and content baby! Aunt Lynda sent Mason a couple of cute outfits and we used one of them as his church outfit that really swallowed him up but he will grow into it as it should fit him thru 3 months. Mason is quite scrawny so we will see how things fit him. He has great piano hands though and I look forward to teaching him how to play.

Mason will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. We made it thru the first month! There have been a couple of scary moments here but I am learning and it is a good thing that babies "bounce" well, not that I dropped him or anything but implying that they are more sturdy than they seem. I will continue to mess up and learn more things but that is what it is to be a new mom.

Growing Baby Boy

Mason has chunked out quite a bit. We find out on Tuesday at his 1 month check up...(HELLO, 1 MONTH OLD)...how much he is weighing but our money is on over 9 lbs. He is not so little anymore. He is still in newborn diapers and some of the newborn size clothing. He is becoming so much more active and alert now. He likes to look over my shoulder and look around, or watch the ceiling fan or just look everywhere. He also stays more focused on me and will actually watch me while someone is holding him for me.

Yesterday we made it out of the house to go to the Branch Social. We lasted for about an hour and a half before we had to go, due to a feeding, but he was the hit of the party. I had a couple hold him, as they are in the beginning of the adoption process trying to get a little boy. They enjoyed holding him, even the father, at least until Mason started to cry. All the little kids enjoyed seeing him too and waking him up to hold his hand. If was very cute!

Auntie Kathrine is leaving on Wednesday and I will be on my own, well I have people coming to check on me after she leaves to make sure I am still alive. Mason has his good times and his crying times! Trying to figure out how to console him is the hard part. He won't take a binki, which I don't really want him on a binki but he just won't take it. I tried the binki when he was screaming his head off and when he was calm. He just won't take it. I have tried 3 different kinds and he just spits them out. He loves my pinky or my thumb though so something does work. This morning I was making breakfast and just let him cry it out and when I checked on him he was sweating from head to toe! Poor guy got a little too worked up. Once I picked him up he was out in less than a minute and slept for 3 hours, until I woke him up for a mandatory feeding.

Archer seems to be adjusting, not sure if he knows what to make of Mason. He doesn't understand why Mason gets to go everywhere with me and Archer doesn't. Archer has tried to jump in the car when I was packing Mace up. Poor dog, but he is doing well and I think he just misses all the attention that I gave him. He won't come near me when Mason is nursing or rarely comes over when I am just holding Mace. I try to give Archer as much love as possible when I am not holding Mason and I do call Archer over when I am holding Mason or nursing to get him used to it, but it is a slow process.

Matt is doing well as well. He is still in the states and will be leaving soon for Iraq. He is doing lots of training right now, and we don't get much time to talk. Only about 10 minutes on the phone in the morning. Which sucks, because I got about an hour to talk to him every time he has been in Afghanistan. I am not used to the lack of talking to him, or he calls and Mason is crying or I am half asleep from a nap because of the lack of sleep the night prior. Needless to say, I miss my husband and talking to him and wish he were here. But he is not and we are working thru it.

Anyhew here are some pix of our growing little boy! Not a newborn anymore!

I'm Not A Bad Mommy!!!

Then why do I always feel like it??? The saying, "Why wake a sleeping baby" keeps coming in my head every 3 hours when it is feeding time. I feel awful waking our little guy up when he is sleeping just so soundly/soundlessly. It is a nice break from his "pissed off cry" that he likes to do when he is gassy or just plain irritable. Poor kid just looks so confused and frustrated and upset when I wake him up and I feel like the worst mother in the world to make him cry for no reason. Now don't think I am sitting her crying my eyes out cause I feel awful. I actually laugh my head off listening to his cute little cry because it is such a "cry wolf" cry just to get someone's attention and to let you know he is not pleased with you. I just don't like waking him up to eat, but he has to eat and I need him to eat so it is really a mute point.

Auntie Kathrine is in town this week until mid next week and it is so nice that she is here visiting. This is the first time she has been out to our house and it is so nice to have her here. We have lots of appointments while she is here so that they are all taken care of before I am left on my own, all alone! Yesterday she watched him for an hour and a half while I got my teeth cleaned and then got my first cavity filled as an adult. The last filling was when I had baby teeth.

That is about all here! Hope everyone is doing well. We really are doing well. The real test will begin next week when it is just me, the kid and the dog.

2.5 Weeks

I had fun with my new toy the other day and took some super cute pix of the little man! It took quite a few pix to get some really good pix, but I guess that is how taking pix work!

I think Mason is going through a growth spurt, because he is wanting to eat a lot more often than usual, especially at night for the past 2 nights. I was enjoying 4 hours stints of sleeping and for the past 2 nights I have been getting about an hour at a time. ARGH!!!! It is amazing that I can still function on lack of sleep. As you can tell Mason has gained quite a bit of weight! He is getting more pudgy and filled out. I am missing the small little Mason that I had a week ago!

Enjoy the pix of Mason!

2 Weeks Postpartum

Mason is now 2 weeks old! CRAZY! He is such a wonderful baby. He makes me laugh especially when he is doing his, "pissed-off" cry because it is just so funny sounding. At least I can laugh at the little things! He is already chunking up and I think he is getting close to 8 lbs by now. He is a hearty eater, when he decides to latch on, and loves to sleep! He has been giving me 4-5 hours of sleep in a row at nights! I wake up at 2am for a feeding and then he is out until 7:30ish. He enjoys sleeping on the Sheep Skin blanket my parents got for him and he loves to snuggle! He also likes his car seat and falls asleep and stays asleep in the car seat! This is such a blessing as we live 40 minutes to anywhere. Hopefully it stays like this!

This week is what I am calling my transition week. Figuring out how to do normal everyday things, while still having a backup person here to help in case I need it. I did get a shower this morning with him sleeping in his crib instead of Grandma holding him for me, and he is still asleep in his crib hence this post I am able to put up. Also the pix at the bottom is me 2 weeks after baby. My mom and I think I look about 23 weeks pregnant. I am down 25 lbs already which is great. Hoping that it continues to fall off, but I know that it will not come off as quickly. I am planning on going back to the gym in Sept and really working on getting my body back to how it was. I want to be at my pre-pregnancy weight by Feb when I see Matt for his 2 weeks R&R and my ultimate goal is to be at my personal weight goal by Mason's first birthday! I can do this!

Daddy is getting pix of him everyday so that he can see how much our little guy has changed since birth. Mason still looks like his daddy, but has my hot headed temper. My mother finds it quite amusing that he has such a temper. Even the nurse mentioned his temper just after we got him circumcised. Matt gets to hear his temper too on most nights when he calls, but when I put Matt on speaker phone Mason just conks out and sleeps. He loves to hear daddy's voice. Matt made recordings of stories before he left so we have 54 different chapters for Mason to hear with his daddy reading to him.

Things are going great. I am almost full healed from labor and I am really feeling well. I am trying not to overdo it each day. If we go out for Doc appointments the next day we take it easy. I am however, booking appointments such as to see the dentist or other follow up appointments for me, while someone is here to watch him for me at the office so that it is taken care of for the next 6 months.

That is about all going on here! We are just taking it nice and slow and trying to figure each other out! I am so thankful for Mason being here and being so HEALTHY!!! Thank you, everyone for your love and support!

~2 Weeks ago, morning of the birth~

~Today~

~Mason got this toy for Archer and Archer loves it! Protective much???~