Jenn and Jeff

Saturday night Travis and I went to my friend's wedding.  The ceremony and reception were held at her parents' house not to far from ours.  We got a sitter for Aiden and had five hours of adult time.  The wedding was beautiful and very personal.  I thought they did a great job.  The weather was perfect.  I was reminded of our wedding on private property.  Though it was insanely windy and no one could hear the pastor.  Ha.

We were sat at a table with some mutual friends from my work.  I also got to meet her boss, who is a big name at work.  That was interesting. 

The food was great - catered by Texas Roadhouse (where they met) and there were a thousand different cake balls to choose from.  I had the red velvet to reminisce about our wedding cake.  They had an open bar with various Anheuser-Busch products.  I believe Jenn's dad works there, so he had to represent.  We didn't stay late - left at 10 because I knew I wouldn't be able to stay awake much later than that. 

Again with the sideways photos.  I am sorry.  Some day I'll find time to do this on a different computer.  I forgot to bring my computer, so all the photos are from my phone.

The bride was BEAUTIFUL, though I am annoyed I didn't get any close shots.

Our table centerpiece.

The wedding colors were white and purple.  They had purple lights in the big white tent that made all my photos turn out with a purple tint. 

Cake balls, courtesy of the Matron of Honor

Groom's cake

Coozies came with the beers

36 weeks and still going strong



Overbooked

I most definitely did more than my prego body can handle this weekend.  I think part of the problem is I went into the weekend already tired.  Travis didn't come home Wednesday or Thursday night because he was hanging out with Alex.  Friday night, our friend David came over for dinner.  I called it a night at 11 pm because I was exhausted from taking care of Aiden all by my lonesome for several days.  Plus, my normal bedtime is 10.  I can't handle much past that.  Travis flopped into bed at 4 am.  He may have fallen asleep for a bit on the couch before that, but not for too long. 

I think waking up frequently in the middle of the night (to use the restroom, to figure out where Travis is, when Travis flops into bed, etc) is one reason I'm so exhausted.  Plus, then I have to get up early for work.  I was so grateful when Aiden slept in until 8:15 on Saturday.  That is unheard of, but I'm not complaining!

I made pancakes for everyone Saturday morning.  Stephanie stopped by to pick up David, so we got to catch up for a bit over coffee.  As soon as Aiden woke up from his nap, we drove up to the Ramby's for Blair's birthday party.  Aiden LOVED the Transformers theme and had a great time running around with all the kids.  It was surprisingly hot out, so all the kiddos had rosy cheeks.  There were lots of juice boxes being passed around.  David, Stephanie and the Yeager's were there, plus all of Chris and Alexa's other friends.  We stayed for cake, but had to leave before the presents were opened and the pinata was set up.

Aiden was so upset.  He REALLY did not want to leave.  But we had made prior arrangments to go into Houston for the night, so we needed to get Aiden back to the babysitter.  Our friend Shannon's daughter watched him for the night.  This is the first time we've ever paid a sitter to come to our house.  I was really nervous about how Aiden would react, but he seemed to do fine.  I turned on Spiderman 2 before the sitter arrived and ordered a pizza.  The pizza came right when we were leaving, so there were plenty of distractions for him.  I think the only hiccup of the night was when Aiden refused to brush his teeth.  But if that's the worst of it, then I'll take it!

For our child-free night out, we went to dinner and the Improv (a comedy club) with David, Stephanie and another of their couple-friends.  We ate Japanese food for dinner right next to the club, then walked over for the show.  The main show of the night?  Pauly Shore!  We had seats on the main floor, only two tables away from the stage.  The two comedians up before him were both really funny, one of which was Sandy Danto.  He did a great Chris Farley impression.  I always forget how much I love seeing stand up.  I told Travis a few months back that if we can work it out, I'd like to go see someone for my birthday. 

Anyway, Pauly Shore was pretty awesome.  I was nervous about how funny he would actually be, but it wasn't bad.  Although, afterward I felt really bad for him.  He made fun of himself a lot and we all just laughed at it.  Kind of sad, right?  There was a section of his skit that was all political.  I really wasn't into it.

I was the DD and we rolled in right at 1:30 am.  I was about to PASS OUT.  The sitter gave us a quick recap of the night and then was off.  Of course, I couldn't just go flop into bed like Travis did.  I was starving by this point.  And since I wasn't drunk and able to ignore the hunger pangs, I reheated some of the leftover pizza.  Yummo.

Sunday morning I got up with Aiden at 7.  He was really tired, so he stayed inside and watched TV.  I went outside to alternate laundry and yard work.  Aiden was out of clean underwear and I had some seeds I wanted to plant ASAP.  Travis slept in until 11 and I left at noon for a baby shower in Houston (my friend from college is due three weeks after me).  I left a honey-do list for Travis and couldn't believe it when I got home and he had knocked everything off the list.  On top of that, my friend from work stopped by to pick up our old computer desk, which means we now have room to put together the wardrobe from IKEA. 

I'm hoping to muster up enough energy to help Travis set it up tonight.  I can't wait until that thing is ready to go because then I will be able to set up Mila in the house.  I feel SO under prepared for this child, it's ridiculous.  I have 8 weeks left until she is due and we haven't done a single thing to get ready for her.  It's a complete 180 from last time. 

I'm thinking I might splurge on a cup of coffee around 3 to give me the energy to keep going tonight.  I'm still trying to think of something easy for dinner so I spend less time cooking and more time putting together furniture...

A Weekend Away From Home

This past weekend we babysat Blair and Skylar.  Alexa was out of town for a funeral and Chris got called out on a last-minute flight (he's a pilot).  We went up Saturday afternoon, stayed the night, then spent Sunday there.  Thankfully, all the kids went down for bedtime easily Saturday night.  Aiden was a little scared sleeping in the guest bedroom by himself, so Travis and I laid with him for about 15 minutes.  After that, he basically kicked us out of the bed.  He has never been able to sleep in the same bed with us.  Once he was comfortable in that dark room, he was done with us.  Travis and I left and he must have fallen asleep nicely on his own.

Aiden woke up at 1:30 in the morning thinking it was time to get up.  I got him to go back to bed and he didn't get up again until 6.  That's still earlier than I would like.  He's gotten in the habit of waking up before the sun is up.  It's terribly annoying.  We let him lay in bed with us until 6:45 when the Ramby's woke up.

We went downstairs and ate breakfast.  Afterwards, Blair pointed out that the hamster was missing from her cage.  GREAT.  Our friends ask us for a favor and we lose their pet.  Alexa has told me about the hamster's escapades in the past, so I knew the best way to catch her: set the cage on the ground and let her come home when she's ready.  Unfortunately, the hamster wouldn't come out while the kids were running around.  We had no idea where she was at.

That morning we walked to the playground near their house.  We weren't there for very long before we realized we needed to get back home for Skylar's nap time.  The boys went down right before Skylar woke up, so we got a good taste of what life with two kids is like.  HA.

We had made previous plans for Aiden to go hang out with Ariel and Robert that afternoon.  It was the first time they had offered to take him out somewhere.  They babysit him from time to time, but it's always at their house.  They didn't decided what they were going to do until they were picking him up.  Since they were running late, they decided to take him to Chuck E Cheese where they could play AND get dinner.  It was his first time there and I think he had a great time.  They said he was really skittish about partaking in the fun at first, but after a while he warmed up to the idea.

They sent tons of photos and videos.  Alexa is talking about having Blair's birthday party there this year.  If that's the case, it will be so much fun to be the ones to take Aiden next time.  We have seen several commercials for Chuck E Cheese since then and Aiden recognizes it.  He still plays with the toy frogs and Chuck E Cheese whistle he bought with his winning tickets and he put a bunch of Chuck stickers on his potty.  I'm so glad he got to spend the evening with his Auntie Ariel and Uncle Robert.

I cleaned the house while Aiden was away. Travis stayed with the Ramby kids until Chris got home around 10:30 that night.  We got lucky and the hamster was found asleep in her bed soon after the kids went down for the night.  The full schedule doesn't stop there, but I'll save the rest for later.  For now, I'm off to bed (I actually wrote this post last night)...  Zzzzzzz....

A Day with Auntie Ariel

This past Thursday Aiden's sitter called to let us know that her youngest daughter had the flu. I didn't want to risk Aiden getting sick, so I made an emergency request with my sister Ariel. She has never babysat a baby before. I was a little nervous about the whole thing, but Ariel was super excited about spending the day with her nephew. She asked that I call her on my way there to make sure she was awake before I arrived.

I stopped by the sitter's first to grab the diaper bag that I leave there all week to bring it to Ariel's. On the way there, I called Ariel, but she didn't answer. Big surprise. I sent her a text message and continued my trek across town. When I got to her house, no one answered the door. I knocked again and waited a few minutes before using my key to let myself in. I set Aiden and all his gear down in the living room before going to knock on her bedroom door. Five minutes later she's rushing to the door asking if I called her. Ha! That girl sleeps like a ROCK.

I took a few moments to give Ariel the run down on baby basics (diapering, how to make bottles, etc.) before rushing off to work. I was SO NERVOUS all day. I ran around like a madman trying to finish my work so I could step out a few minutes early to relieve Ariel of her sitter duties. I wasn't worried that Ariel would hurt Aiden. It was more that I was worried he would start crying and she wouldn't know how to console him.

When I walked in the door to her house I realized I had no reason for my fears. Aiden was laying on the couch having a good ole time. Granted, he was supposed to be in the middle of a nap at that point, but at least he was happy. Ariel forgot about giving him his pacifier at nap time to help him go to sleep. Next time she'll remember though.

One time, in the foggy first weeks after Aiden was born, Ariel went with me on a trip to Target. I wanted to get out of the house and was finally allowed to drive. I was nervous about the whole thing, so I asked her to help me out. When we got in the car, Aiden immediately started crying. That's when I realized that it was feeding time. I was hoping he would make it until we got to the store, but didn't want to risk an entire car ride with a baby screaming in the back seat. I asked Ariel if she would sit back there with him and feed him his bottle - we could burp him when we got to the store in 10 minutes.

Unfortunately, the trip ended up having a crying baby the whole time anyhow. I was super stressed but convinced myself that I could make it all the way to the store before I got in back to help Ariel out. I didn't know what was wrong with him though. Was he mad someone besides Mommy was feeding him? Did he not like being fed without being held? It wasn't until I hopped in the back seat with Auntie Ariel in the Target parking lot that I realized Ariel didn't quite know what she was doing. Turns out, she was worried about him choking on the nipple if she put it all the way in his mouth. Instead, the poor boy had to suffer for 10 minutes with a bottle just out of his reach. Makes me sad just thinking about it three months later!

Ever since then, Ariel has prided herself with her knowledge on how to bottle feed a baby. She's a pro. She even knows to burp him every now and again. Which is good because I forgot to remind her of that when I dropped Aiden off last Friday.

In the end, everything was fine. Ariel even said that she was bummed I got there early because she didn't get to spend enough time with little Aiden. I hung out at her house for a couple hours before heading home so she could fit in some more baby time. Ariel told me that she would do it again in a heartbeat. That makes me feel so much better about the possibility of such a thing happening again. Although we won't run into this exact situation again since Aiden will be starting at the daycare next week. If one teacher gets sick at his school, there should always be a back up. Phew!

Rough Week

I don't know if it's because of the transition to day time with the sitter, or because he has not pooped all week, but Aiden has been a cranky monster for the past two nights. He is fine when Travis picks him up after work and he's fine for about 20 minutes when he gets home. But after that, he just cries and cries and cries. It's not until I get home and comfort him that he calms down. I don't know if he it's just that he misses me or if I know what to do to settle him down. I do know one thing - Daddy is a cranky monster too, by the time I get home.

I'm hoping tonight goes a little smoother. Oh and I plan to call the doctor to see how long it is safe for a baby to go without having a bowel movement. He hasn't had one since Monday!!

I think this is the first week in, oh I don't know, 6 weeks, since I've been able to appreciate the phrase "TGIF" again. For the past month and a half, every day has been the same for me. I couldn't have told you the difference between a Tuesday and a Friday. Half the time I only recognized the day because my dad sent me a text saying TGIF. Or Alexa clarified things when I thought it was Friday for an entire Thursday. Starting this week, I appreciate Fridays so much more. It means two full consecutive days with my son are just around the corner!