Not Quite Back to Normal

So I realize that when you have a baby, there are certain things that happen to your body that you have no control over. Dr. B told me that with my hard delivery and the aftermath, that it could take up to a year for me to feel "normal" again! I have to say that I was a little scared when she said that, but I'm beginning to wonder if it might be true. Things are definitely better, but still not quite back to normal:) I mean it has been almost 7 months....wow, there was a time when I thought that I wouldn't be able to say that I had a 7 month old baby!

One other thing that has taken its time in returning is full bladder control....yeah, kind of embarrassing at times but what can you do about it! I mean I did my kegel exercises daily while I was pregnant and even continue to do them now, but things just aren't back yet:) It's not like I go around peeing myself all the time, although there was a time shortly after delivery that I wondered if I would be! I seem to have issues when I am working out, especially doing anything with jumping! Last night Tony and I headed downstairs for a workout after he got home and our routine last night included jumping rope and doing box jumps (jumping up onto a higher surface). Lets just say that after we were done, I needed to change:( Very sad and embarrassing for me, but luckily Tony doesn't say anything--probably wouldn't even know if I didn't tell him--but all I do is laugh about it as it is happening. One positive thing is that I now do not have to get up in the middle of the night to pee anymore--which is wonderful! With all the meds I was on for IVF and then the pregnancy itself, I had been getting up at least 1 time a night for what seemed like forever. Well now I am proud to say for the last couple of months I can sleep the whole night, and then I am amazed at how much it can hold when there isn't an 8 1/2 pound baby sitting on top of it:)

I know "normal" is a relative term and I definitely feel good about myself and how I have recovered. Plus I wouldn't take anything back because now I have my perfect little boy:)

Tooth #2

Owen popped through his second tooth today! He now has 2 shiny ones on the bottom. We know it wasn't there yesterday because several people checked, but low and behold it is there today:)

10 Years Ago....

10 years ago today I married the man of my dreams! It is hard to believe that we have been married that long....where has the time gone. We have been through so much together....several moves, college graduations, job changes, building 2 houses, and one of the hardest journeys of our lives! Now, when all is said and done--I wouldn't do it any other way.

I love you more now today than I did 10 years ago when I said "I do." And now that we have finally achieved our greatest dream of becoming a family, I can only imagine how much more I will love you in 10 more years. You are my best friend.

Happy 1st Father's Day--Warrior Daddy!

Tony got to celebrate his first Father's Day on Sunday. Very excited to get to share this day with him. Owen put a cherry on top of the day by waving for the first time at his daddy! We have tried to capture it on video, but every time the camera comes out, he decides he doesn't want to do it anymore!! Owen decided that we should buy daddy a new trimmer--he was tired of hearing him complain about doing yard work, so he thought he would make it a little easier on him:)


Now to the Warrior part.....On Saturday Tony, I, and a couple of friends traveled to Joliet for him to compete in "Warrior Dash." It is a 5K race with several obstacles along the way--including jumping over cars, cargo nets, jumping over fire, and crawling through mud under barbed wire! When he signed up for this months ago, I couldn't even imagine doing it with him, but I have to admit it looked like a lot of fun and I was a little sad that I didn't do it with him. I got to be the official photographer and cheerleader though....and I'm going to do it next year:) His goal was to finish it in under 40 minutes.....well he did that in amazing fashion! He finished in 28 minutes and 11 seconds! Congratulations Warrior Daddy!

Warrior Daddy covered in mud after his race!

Hardest thing.....so far

So I just officially let my baby cry himself to sleep.....and it was the hardest thing I've ever done! He hasn't been the best napper, but he usually falls asleep when I nurse him (I know--can't believe I'm still doing it with how everything started!!) or when he gets a bottle. Lately though, he has been fighting his sleepy times. Usually he nurses for a few good minutes and is almost asleep and then starts "bucking around" and then refuses to latch back on.....and I'm not shoving my boob in there with his new tooth!! I usually try to hold him and rock him or walk him around after that, but it was a no go. So today I just decided to lay him down in bed, he was obviously tired, turned on the music and walked out. He didn't start crying until the music turned off--it is one of those ones attached to the crib so it only plays for a certain amount of time and then turns off. I decided I would wait 10 minutes and then go check on him....it was a long 10 minutes, but when I looked in his room he was up on his side just about asleep, although he was still crying. So I stood and watched him with my heart breaking each time he would start crying again. I finally decided to walk away and give him a few more minutes and if he wasn't asleep I would go and rescue him. Needless to say when I went to check on him again, he was asleep. He had rolled over onto his belly and was resting peacefully...I leaned down and gave him a few kisses and told him I was sorry:( Hopefully he forgives me when he wakes up!

6 Month Stats & Pictures

Our little boy is getting SO big and it is happening way too fast! Thought I would take a few mins to post his stats from his 6-month appointment along with a few of the photos we had taken. There were lots of very cute ones and we had a hard time choosing!

Six Month Stats: Height-27 inches (75%)
Weight-16lbs 8 ozs(25%-50%)
Head-44 cms (50%-75%)

Of course we had to do the Cubs!!

We love the look on his face! He has really been into baseballs lately:)

Pretty soon he'll be as big as the bear!!

This is Daddy's favorite! He was so ready to be done with pictures:)

Our first official family photo!

Hockey!

Yea for the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks!!

Owen and Daddy watching game 6.

Owen didn't make it through the whole game, but Daddy, Jeni and I did! Very exciting to see them win in overtime!--of course after we realized that the puck actually went in--where's the puck, where's the puck?!?! We all did the silent cheer because there were 3 little ones sleeping in the house--it had to be a pretty funny sight to see--3 adults jumping up and down yelling silent cheers:) Now, if only the cubs could get their butts in gear....

1st Tooth!

So everyday we check Owen's gums several times to see if anything has decided to pop through...well yesterday at bath time I realized that I hadn't checked all day....and low and behold there was something there! He wouldn't let me see and I wasn't going to wrestle him while in the bathtub--safety first! So when we finished I got him out and ran him in his towel to see Daddy--who was in the other shower:) Tony felt it too, but we couldn't get a good look at it. So I took him back and finished getting him ready for bed. When he was all done, I got him into position and finally was able to get a peek at it...bottom right, with the one on the left just about through. Tony took a turn and saw it as well....we haven't done the spoon test yet, but it is there:)

Promise to upload some pics soon. We are off to our first baseball game tonight and I have lots of pics from when our visitors were here!

6 Month Update

Wow--has it really been almost 3 weeks since my last post?? Where has the time gone! We've been really busy it seems lately--that is the story of my life! Let's see....I finished up work at the end of the month, which can be really busy time. I have about 3 weeks off and then will start Extended School Year....it is only 1/2 days, four days a week....but I am one of the on-site supervisors so it can be a little stressful at times, especially since this year we have over 110 students! I had a birthday, and we celebrated Memorial Day. This past week I have been getting my house ready for some guests who should be arriving tomorrow....Gramma even kept Owen for a day so I could do some deep cleaning:)

As for Owen.....cause I know that is what you really want to hear about:) Let's see, he is eating several veggies, didn't really like green beans, but likes squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin. We still have peas to try....we'll see how those go:) He has also tried bananas and applesauce, which he likes:) I need to find some time to make him some more fruits....hmm, time....:) He is chewing on everything, but still no teeth have popped through as of yet. We check several times each day, but still just all gums. We have had some fussy days because of it and Tylenol has been our friend! He now has to wear size 3 diapers to bed....it only took us 3 days of waking up wet to figure out that is what we needed to do. We are trying to use up the rest of his size 2's during the day--of course we had just bought a new big box of them! He is also now rolling over to his tummy from his back, although he hasn't figured out that it can take him other places yet, so we are happy about that! He is also sitting up really well unassisted. He does well and even reaches for things and then is able to right himself.....then he kind of forgets and leans too far to one side and topples over. He is also moving all the time--when you are holding him he is constantly kicking his feet and moving his hands--loves to get those stuck in mommy's hair!!

It is hard to believe that he is six months old....where has the time gone. He amazes us everyday.....makes going through what we did to get him totally worth it! I will post some pictures soon....promise!