month 6

well we just arrived in denver! it feels really good to be back! of course this time in MN is really nice weather wise so we sorta wish we could have stayed to enjoy one last late MN spring before we left. the trip out was fairly uneventful. i flew with riley while JD drove with his best friend and the dogs in my car. it was fabulous to have everything packed and moved for us – it was so easy –  i highly recommend it!

little riley-bear is 6 months old and is stuck on his mommy! of course i love that!  well, most of the time.  it can be a bit tiring as every mom knows.  you don’t get much of a break during this stage which is tough at times but i wouldn’t trade it for anything.  the other big thing that riley is doing is “talking”.  a lot.  he’s a babbler and it is seriously fun to listen to him, especially when he’s in the car.  he still, of course, faces backwards in his carseat but we have a mirror and i love to hear him.  i talk back to him and he does sorta respond.  this might be one of my favorite things so far in my journey of parenthood.  we’re settling in denver, enjoying being back and seeing all of our friends and family.  riley is spending loads of time with cousin caleb and it’s so heartwarming to see them play together every thursday, all day!  riley still doesn’t crawl, he just sits and the action happens around him.  caleb is on the move everywhere so it’s an interesting combination.  caleb LOVES to hug and get totally up in riley’s face – not too much sense of personal space these days, but riley is very very tolerant with him.  riley is a little love, he’s a got a little ‘tude (doesn’t surprise me…), and i love him to the moon and back!!

month 5

Riley’s 5th month has been really fun!  He’s had some cool milestones this month that have been very exciting!  He’s started to sit on his own for much longer periods of time, he reached up for me (on Mother’s Day!) and of course he continues to smile/laugh and he’s giggling more and more.  He’s still growing like an absolute weed and we can’t believe how big he is!  He’s far surpassed his oldest cousin, Caleb, in weight for sure and he is right on his tail for height as well.

He entertains himself very well (amazing!  It’s so nice to be able to get some things accomplished!)  He travels well, is very very good when we go out to eat (always charming everyone at surrounding tables) and sometimes I actually forget he’s there because he plays so well alone!  (Horrible I know!!)  I am still adjusting to working with a baby but winding down now anyway for the year.  I am fine when I drop him off at daycare because I am glad to have the time to get tons of errands and tasks done quickly but I immediately want to see him again once I’ve driven away.  I can’t wait to pick him up at the end of the day!  I do often wonder though, and many moms are like this, if I am a better mom because I work and have some time away.  I still think it’s the weirdest thing to drop off my child with someone else for 7 plus hours of the day because I hardly have much time with him when I come home.  I have heard many moms say though that they need the adult interaction and personal time that work provides them and that makes them a better mom.  The jury is still out for me.  I think that even if you crave and need that time (everyone needs some amount of that) it is still best, if possible, for mom’s to be with their kids as much as possible.  It just makes sense.  At least to me it does but that’s simply my opinion of course.

Riley is still an amazing sleeper!  Ten to eleven hours a night and we continue to be SO thankful!!  Everyday I look at Riley and am more and more excited that he’s our son.  We can’t wait to see his personality emerge more as time goes by.  At the same time we are trying our hardest to enjoy him at this stage because we already feel it going by much too quickly!!

We are pretty sure we have Super Baby as a son….he seems to be pretty strong.  He was recently sitting in a high chair at Nonna and Poppa’s house with a huge toy on the tray.  It slipped off and he caught it by the bottom piece of wood and held on for quite awhile!  Pretty crazy we thought – can you say reflexes?  :)  Of course every parent thinks their kid is the best at everything….I know, but we are all pretty amazed!

He is a super eater too – he eats loads of variety and we love it!  I started out making his food but with the move there is just to much happening so I buy the organic baby food in the squeeze containers.  They have fabulous variety and are the convenient!  He’s doin broccoli, spinach, rhutabagas, carrots, peas, pears, purple carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, banana, strawberries, apple, blueberries, butternut squash, etc.  I could go on.  We hope he continues to enjoy this much variety!  He’s not a huge fan of the cereal though but I suppose I can’t complain.  (I think he’s pretty healthy anyway!)  :)

With our move to Denver fast approaching we are excited to begin a new chapter and be near our sisters and their boys but we are also sad to be leaving out MN family and friends.  I am looking forward to spending much more time outside and getting Riley in to swimming lessons and taking Sadie and Fenway to the dog park more often, etc.  We’re still amazed at how this move came to be, how quickly our house sold (who sells a house in 6 days??) and how smoothly things are just coming together.  Riley has been a trooper for all of it and we are really counting our many blessings.

P.S.  We miss the pups – they’ve been gone almost a month and we are looking forward to having them home – boy was it the best idea to have them gone for showings though!!  :)

just can’t sit still!

so as of tuesday night it is official that we are moving back to denver! JD will be leaving his position as central region recruiter for chipotle and will now be the national recruiting consultant at chipotle’s main office in downtown denver! this whole process has been quite the ride already and we’re betting it’s going to get even more crazy here pretty soon! it’s a long story that’s taken place in a short amount of time really (if you’d like to hear the details you’ll have to call me) and we are thrilled, overwhelmed, excited to be heading back to denver and sad to be leaving minneapolis all at once. when i stop to think about how we are giving up a lot to leave i know that we are gaining so much at the same time. this was something i realized from the start of this process but have just now been realizing how lucky we are to able to have such amazing opportunities in both places. how fortunate we are to be able to not have to be forced out of a place we love like so many people in the world these days, but to be leaving for an advancement in career opportunities, to have a place to “land” once we get there and to feel like this is where we are supposed to be?! i am hoping to continue to work for johnson & wales on campus somewhere and we plan to move into the condo for short time while our house in minnie is on the market. (hence all the remodeling…it’s all comin’ together for ya now isn’t it?)

as we think about leaving the great state of minnesota (and it’s sad sometimes…everyday we think of one other thing we’ll miss once we’re gone like the state fair, menard’s which is our favorite hardware store, certain restaurants, etc) here are a few fun facts about the place we’ve called home for just over 4 years now!

MN ranks 21st in population (my home state of CA ranking first of course!) there are about 5.2 million people in MN which is 445 for every lake if you were wondering! interestingly enough, the great state of CO is the next largest state and said to surpass MN in the next 10 years!

We are the 17th most liberal state in the nation ranking just above AZ…who are the bookends? RI is most and WY is the least liberal state in the US.

MN comes in at 22 in terms of gun ownership…while we’re not TX we pack more heat than most. luckily, we’re pretty non-violent – or just poor shots!

Proudly, we are 1st in voter turnout! i think that’s pretty great personally. we may end up in deadlock, but at least we vote!

6% or MN is liquid so to speak so of course we are #1 in water which means that we’re #1 in boat ownership too.

1st in tornadoes stinks but you can just call us the new tornado alley! since 1950 this state suffered about 26 a year, but in the last decade we’ve averaged 40 and last year alone MN was smacked with well over 100! YIKES!

This might not be good for our family but MN is 2nd in childcare costs next to MA. (this is calculated by the percentage of income that goes toward childcare costs)

2nd in longevity and HI has the longest-lived folks in the country

we rank 1st in autism…no one knows why but we have the highest prevalence of any other state. hmmmm….

we’re 50th in instances of diabetes (CO being the least since they’re the least obese state) strangely though, CO is no longer the healthiest state, just the least obese.

1st in BIG BUSINESS! the twin cities is home to 21 fortune 500′s which is the country’s highest concentration per capita!

we’re artsy too! ranking 2nd, the money we put toward plays, sculptures and paintings is second only to NY.

our states ACT scores are first! followed by iowa and wisconsin…we are ready for college but paying for it is another thing all together! we rank 4th in broke students! college grads in MN leave school with an average of $25,558 in debt!

minneapolis is the gayest city nation according to stats that are based on dating profiles, gay elected officials, lesbian bars, gay-friendly congregations, and gay-friendly businesses.

having babies out of wedlock doesn’t happen all that much here. sharing the high rankings with mormon states like utah and idaho we have the 6th lowest percentage of of unmarried moms. also, the 7th lowest percentage of teen moms.

that’s enough useless, however interesting, trivia about the great state of MN. there are pros and cons to all places and we’re just very fortunate to have been able to grow up in some of the best and continue to live and raise our family in the some of the best. at least we think so anyway

month 4

riley is four months old and funner than ever!  he has big smiles for us all the time and is just a generally happy happy baby!  we feel so fortunate to have him!  he’s been busy doing quite a bit of growing since his two month appointment and now weighs in at 17.12 pounds and is a lengthy boy, almost 26 inches tall!  it’s absolutely amazing how fast babies grow and i am continually trying to make snapshots in my brain so i can remember the time we get to spend with him at each stage.  the other day riley and i were bouncing on our bed (he laughs so loud when you lay him down and bounce the mattress underneath him!)    i looked at him and just flashed forward to him being older and graduating or getting married (it sounds silly i know) but i really wanted to remember that moment and i truly hope i do! 

like i said, he is laughing out loud and has been for awhile now.  he really entertains himself in his exersaucer, reaching out for his toys and talking to himself and his newest thing that he continues to do more of, and we LOVE it, is bable to us and to himself!  i just put a mirror in my car so he can see himself and i can see him and the very first ride we took in the car he talked and talked and talked!  it’s so cute!  so, if you ever call my cell and i answer while in the car you can be sure you’ll hear him goin on about somethin in the backseat!

month 3

I can hardly believe that Riley is 3 months old already!  I didn’t get around to blogging at 2 months because we just had too much going on so I’ll have a lot to recall for this month I guess.  He is getting to be more and more fun every day!  He honestly seems to be the happiest baby ever!  He’s been smiling consistently since about 2 months especially in reaction to us which is so much fun and I think that’s a little early for that.  Our doctor says she’s observed him doing a handful of things that usually start to happen around 4 months but we recognize that she might say that to a lot of her patients. 

 He’s a tank these days – growing every day.  I noticed last night that he looks SO long!  We measured him and he is 24 inches – he grew an inch in one month.  Doesn’t seem like a lot but for a little dude it must be.  He truly doesn’t fuss unless he needs something, he’s been sleeping through the night (up to 9 hours some nights) since January 15^th and he is beginning to cuddle when I hold him and I am eating it up!  There is NOTHING better than a snuggle from Riley bear! 

I went back to work on February 13^th and as much as I hate to be away from him all day it is going well.  After the first few days of being back I was thinking how abnormal it all seems to have to work and have someone else take care of my child.  Don’t get me wrong, we are super fortunate to have a fantastic daycare provider, but isn’t it strange that moms can’t always be with their babies?  Think about it…there are 24 hours in a day (and Riley sleep for almost half of them) he’s with Emily for about 6-7 hours a day (thankfully sometimes less when one of us works from the home office) and then what’s left?  6-7 hours to spend with him!  Weird!  He was with me 24/7 for none whole months and now he spends more time away from me then he does with me!  Life is just unfair that way I think!  L  Boo is what I say to that!  Momma are supposed to be with their sons all day long.  I wish!  Again, I know that I am so fortunate to have a job that allows a little flexibility in scheduling, time off, etc and our daycare is amazing but in a perfect world is all I’m sayin’! 

 In January I started having some pretty severe joint pain that was unexplainable.  It started in my shoulders and then went to my neck, knees, ankles, and feet with the occasional issues in my hips and elbows.  Sounds fun, huh?  There was a point when I was unable to walk down the stairs or even pick up Riley from his crib.  JD had to bring Riley to me in bed to feed and it was absolutely horrific!  My in-laws helped out a ton with things around the house and Riley-care, etc.  Long story short, it is early stage RA and it sucks BIG TIME!  I am still hoping and praying that it just goes away…that it’s a flare-up that I won’t have again until I’m 90 years old!  We’ll have to wait and see.  I hate being on medication but it’s essential for me at this point so that I can do every day things, like take care of Riley and work.  Stay tuned – I have a feeling this saga will be continued in the future.

I will try to post some current pics of Riley bear…I do most of that on Facebook and I think most of the blog readers are on there anyhow.      

Until then – here’s the BIGGEST, most important thing I’ve learned on my journey of being Riley’s mommy:  “Above all, trust your own intuition. No book or friend’s advice can replace the wisdom and insights you develop as you bond with your unique baby.” 

2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,800 times in 2010. That’s about 16 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 78 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 113 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 56mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was March 17th with 151 views. The most popular post that day was results day.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were chaseandowen.blogspot.com, mail.yahoo.com, facebook.com, nordlunds.wordpress.com, and blogger.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for ultrasound, rachelandjd, belly mapping, ultrasound 3 weeks, and week 7 pregnancy.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

results day March 2010
18 comments

2

first ultrasound April 2010
8 comments

3

orientations, psych appts, injections training… January 2010
20 comments

4

a long road… January 2010
10 comments

5

please pray! March 2010
6 comments

1 month old

The last month has been a whirlwind!  The first, I’d say 2 weeks for full of horrible bliss.  I was pretty much a hormonal mess, sobbing all the time, and on edge about everything.  I think I said this in my last post that it was all just a bit too overwhelming for me.  Things are settling down now and we are getting the hang of things a little more every day. 

Riley still is on the small side and he continues his weekly doctors appointments to be weighed and checked on.  This week at his appointment he weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces which was a big victory for us.  He did however have one of his crying episodes while we were there which was good, really, because our nurse practitioner was able to observe him.  She said that he should be happy and that there must be something else going on.  We had decided to explore the idea of him having reflux if he had another bad night like he did earlier this month.  He did have another horrible night earlier in the week so she gave us some things to try.  He continues to see a chiropractor as well and we are hoping that he grows out of the problems soon.  His most difficult time of day is in the evening but more often than not he does pretty darn well at night.     

We are still getting to know Riley and how he ticks and even when it’s hard, we love being parents.  JD impresses me everyday with his involvement!  Truly he is a seriously hands on dad and it’s really fun to see how much he loves to spend time with “wittle man” as he calls him. 

I have learned a lot in the past month, some things of course are obvious but there some things that friends have shared with me, our pediatrician has shared with me, and some are revelations that I have made over the past month.  I’ll share them below…Enjoy!

1.  You have to find your “new normal” after welcoming your first child.

2.  Those tough moments…you just get through them.

3.  You’ll always love your kids but you won’t necessarily like them.

4.  I can do more things with one hand then I ever could as a nanny.

5.  I can function on less sleep than I ever imagined I possible (function being the operative word…survive is more like it!)

6.  No matter how tired and stressed out I am, when I am rocking my son to sleep after listening to him cry and fuss and not want to go down and he smiles up at me in the dark of his nursery I remember how worth it he really is. 

7.  No one can prepare you for post pregnancy hormones!

8.  Lullabies need to be played louder than the crying to be effective!

9.  There is something so refreshing about the newness of a baby.

10.  There is absolutely nothing better than the smell of a newborn and the smile they give you in the morning when you lift them out of their crib – no matter how long the night has been! 

11.  You can’t spoil or hold a newborn too much!

12.  My newest accessory is a notepad and pencil…it needs to be attached to me at all times if I want to remember anything at all!!  J   

13.  They say you go through loads of diapers but no one could have told us it would be this many – our son goes through about 4 – 5 an hour!

14.  Never startle a nursing baby – OUCH!

15.  I can pick up more things with my feet while holding Riley than I ever imagined!

16.  I still need MY mommy more than I thought! 

17.  Every morning is a new day and you get to press the reset button!

18.  Every time you figure “things” out – something will happen to throw a change at you!  ie:  a cold, a growth spurt, etc.

19.  He was worth every single injection, medication, and medical procedure we went through in the past two and a half years to get him!!

happy to be one month old!

Finally an update!

I am finally getting to the blog to share the arrival of Riley James on Tuesday, November 30th at 7:57pm.  He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces and was 20 inches long.  I was one week overdue and had a biophysical exam the day before to check his stats (all was great) but we decided he needed a jumpstart b/c there was NO progression from me at all.  (My doc would have let me go another whole week but with my family history of long, slow and non-progressive labor we opted to get things moving with cervical ripening) 

 

I went in on Monday evening for cervical ripening but they used a med that is not super aggressive b/c they couldn’t get a baseling heartrate on the baby (bummer b/c his HR was always very stable the whole pregnancy) but they needed to be sure.  So the next morning there had been NO change at all and I had a VERY VERY posterior cervix.  We started the more aggressive medicine and I started to labor (BACK LABOR – YAY!) all day on Tuesday.  By 6:30pm I was dilated to only 1 and barely thinned so we opted for a c-section.  Again, mostly b/c of my anatomy and my family history or long drawn out labor that I made this choice.  My doctor was super fabulous in letting me choose the course of action we wanted to take because he knew my stance on wanting a more natural birth so he really really let me call the shots.  They also had to do a last miute ultrasound b/c after my last cervical check they were concerned that the baby had flipped overnight since my ultrasound on Monday and that obviously would change things up a bit for us.  He wasn’t breech but was still occiput posterier and his cord was around his neck.  All very do-able naturally but in our minds JD and I just didn’t want to spend hours laboring, as we assumed we very well could do, and then head to the OR anyway.  That was when we made the call to do a c-section.  So, I walked to the ER and hopped up on the table for my spinal and they struggled for 30 minutes (poked me 11 times) to get it in my back.  Apparently my vertabrae are very close together and this same thing happened to my mom when I was born!!  Ain’t genetics great?  Anyway, all are healthy and everything was fine and we are over the moon for our son. 

 

Breastfeeding has had it’s ups and downs…he’s a chomper but I’ve seen the lactation consultant multiple times, had a visit from a homecare nurse, and he’s already visited his peds doc 3 times for weight checks!  (we were discharged one day early but only b/c we promised to supplement his feedings with formula which I did in the form of an SNS feeding which meant he didn’t have to use a bottle but breastfeed (and stimulate my milk production) while also getting formula from a tube attached to my breast.  That lasted for only 2 days and he is now exclusively breastfeeding. 

 

I am struggling a little with all the hormones – crying a lot as it’s hard for me when Riley is upset and so we are watching me very closely for PPD.  It’s still early yet after his birth but we want to stay on top of it.  My mom is here for 5 weeks which is great to have another set of hands etc.  I think because we waited so long to get pregnant and struggled with the fertility issues I am overwhelmed by the gravity that we are finally parents.  Also since I spent 12 years taking care of other people children as a full time nanny I put pressure on myself to have it all together and know how everything works….but it’s just different when it’s your own child!  I adored being pregnant and maybe am mourning the ”loss” of not being pregnant anymore…it’s all the fun without the responsibility afterall!  :)  With JD’s travel I look forward to future with some anxiety but I know that things will get easier! 

I will try to update things a little more often and post some pics too!! 

 

week…41

Yep, I am officially one week overdue!  At the biophysical exam this morning baby had to pass with 8 points and he scored a perfect 8!  YAY!  They checked his measurements 3 times to take an average and he measures about 8 pounds 4 ounces!  His head circumference is measuring 39 weeks and he was very active when we needed him to be.  So, after being checked, and seeing no progress, we decided to keep tonights appointment and head to the hospital to get things moving.  My doctor’s recommendation was to do it this way as he will gain roughly a half pound over the next week we want to move along.  I am happy with our decision, it’s not as I had hoped (not planned because I KNOW better than that, but not as I had hoped it would play out, however;  I think it’s the right one for us (as much as I would love to wait and “go naturally” over the next week) my body is simply not cooperating and so this will be my birth story and I am fine with that.  

Work has been completely stressful today and my BP was even elevated slightly when I went in this morning.  A few things fell apart with my coverage schedule (not anyone’s fault by any means – the girl who is supposed to cover my leave had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix!)  I feel her pain because I’ve been there before (not ruptured but according to my doc too close for comfort.  In an event, I am working feverishly to get things (back) in order before my leave officially begins tomorrow. 

I lost a pound over Thanksgiving (who woulda thought) but I’m sure it was water weight and I need to go and reorganize my hospital bag.  It’s a little surreal and I am wondering what JD is thinking today…he’s REALLY busy with some huge things at work so I know he is stressed out right now…not at all what I had pictured in my mind as both our states of mind when it was time to meet our son, but I know everything happens for a reason and once things get rolling we won’t be focused on this or that but just of meeting our baby and both of us being healthy.   

I am looking forward to introducing our little dude to all of you as soon as he arrives – hopefully in person when we are out and about in January on his first “tour of the states!”    Thanks for reading and make sure to check back for pics in the next 24-48 hours, especially if you’re not in Facebook where I am SURE his daddy will post almost immediately!

until there is more to tell…

Prayer for my labor still to come:
“Lord, your love for us is like that of a mother
and you know the hard joy of giving birth.
Hold the hand of your servant now, keep me safe;
put your own spirit into my very breathing
…and into the nostrils of the new baby
whom we await with awe and hope.”

My friend posted this just before she welcomed her second beautiful daughter a few months ago and I loved it!!