Milestones: 7 Months Old

This little man is growing way too fast! His personality is coming out so strongly now and to our dismay, he is a little stubborn thing just like his parents :(.

At 7 Months:

-He now has two bottom teeth!

-He got his last set of shots for a while at 6 1/2 months. He only cried for a minute at the doctor's office but then had a breakdown that basically lasted all night once we got home.

-LOVES to roll around and army crawl. He still won't crawl normally and hasn't figured out how to pull himself up on things yet (yay!). Part of that is probably due to being spoiled. He knows that if he just lays there and cries, someone will come pick him up and take him wherever he wants to go! It is so hard to change his diaper and get him dressed nowadays because he won't sit still long enough to let you do it. This is especially difficult when you are trying to change his poopy diaper and he tries to roll over in the middle of it! We don't even use the changing table anymore because it is so dangerous. You never know when he is going to flip over and he does it so fast!

-He had his first play date with Emmett (10mos) down the street. His mom is my friend/visiting teacher and both are a lot of fun to hang out with! I had to leave for a couple hours for a job interview and I was sooooo worried about how he would handle being in a new house with new people but he actually did great and was all smiles when I came to pick him up! He lives a pretty sheltered life and the only people he is exposed to are family so at first he was super jumpy and would cry whenever Emmett screamed or made loud noises but after a while he got used to it and had a lot of fun :).

-Drum roll please!!! Austin now eats baby food! He still makes the funny faces and acts like he doesn't like it, but he opens his mouth and swallows it! I am so relieved because I was seriously starting to think I would be breast feeding this kid until he's 8 years old with how stubborn he was being about it! Note: he still won't eat the rice cereal though. It must be the texture.

Trying to get the Playstation. He is fascinated with anything he sees us using.

Daddy's boy

Having a little talk with Mom about having to get his shots today.

Loves to swing at the park!

Playing at the park with Grandma P. and Aunt Briana. He had a blast!

Austin's "tired eyes"

We can't get enough of that smile!

hanging out with Mom and Aunt Sadie.

Valentines Day 2014

Our Valentines Day was wonderful! Josh had to work, so I spent the morning with Austin and then my parents came over that afternoon to babysit and I headed off to get a massage! Josh spoiled me rotten this year. Along with the massage, he also bought me a massive box full of all sorts of European chocolate and a Keurig machine to make teas and hot cocoa :). Quickest way to my heart!

 

So happy!

After my relaxing massage, I headed over to the Mandalay Bay to check into the hotel. I was wanting so badly to get there early so I could take a bubble bath in the huge marble tub, but the stupid lady wouldn't let me check in without Josh since he was the one who booked everything so I had to sit in the casino for a while waiting for Josh to get off work.... grrrr. Of course that was the day he got asked to stay late and I ended up people watching for about 3 hours, but who's counting?

 

Once Josh showed up things went back to being perfect again. We walked around the casino checking out the different restaurants and finally settled on the buffet. It was perfect because I got my all you can eat sushi bar and Josh got his all you can eat meat and salmon bar. It was so nice and relaxing eating and talking about life without a little one demanding our attention. Don't worry Austin, I still missed you a lot and had to keep diverting my thoughts away from wondering what you were doing constantly.

Love birds wandering around the casino.

Josh and the cool statue of Lenin

 

 

The next day I woke up early (Austin has trained my brain to not believe in sleep anymore) and took my long awaited bubble bath! There was a TV in the bathroom so I watched the news while I soaked in the bubbles. Then Josh woke up and we decided to walk around the pools before check-out. Like a genius I had forgotten my swimsuit so we didn't get to jump in the hot tub like we had planned :(. We got Starbucks for breakfast and walked around the grounds for a couple hours. It was so beautiful and the weather was perfect!

The perfect morning!

Morning walk around the grounds.

Watching the swans swim around.

Sadly, next came check-out and I had to head to work while Josh headed home to tend the Bubba man. We had the perfect get-away but were also super excited to see our baby! My Step-Dad decided to put the child proof locks on our kitchen cabinets for us while we were gone, which was a wonderful surprise to come home to! Thanks Mom and Nate for making this all possible! We love you!

My Early Birthday Surprise!!!

I'm shocked.    I'm in awe.    I'm excited beyond imagine!!!

 

Yup, that's why I married him! He's always surprising me and affirming that I truly married Prince Charming :).

 

I worked (and by worked, I mean worked my butt off doing overtime) clear up to the day before I went into the hospital to have Austin, and then after 8 short weeks of maternity leave, it was back to the grind for me!

 

It has killed me having to leave my baby. Although he is a handful at times, I crave his sweet smile and it makes my heart leap whenever I hear him giggle.

 

I have wanted so badly to be a stay at home Mom. I can't imagine anything better than getting to see my baby every day while taking care of my home and husband. It's so hard when you are exhausted from work and all you want to do is crawl into a hole and sleep. Don't get me wrong, I love nursing and I have enjoyed my job. But I haven't felt that fulfilling feeling that I am where I need to be at this point in life.

 

However, we live in a modern world where most women are the bread winners and the home and family have been put on the back burner. With both parents working, who has the time to focus on important things like family dinners and the emotional development of our children? Perhaps that's why we have so many crazy/disturbed people running around shooting children. It's so sad. Note: I am not judging those who have no choice but to work in order to provide for their families. I was raised by a single Mom so I understand that world. Please don't be offended if that is your situation. As for my situation, we have forgotten what's important and our priorities were perhaps focused on all the wrong things. Josh and I have talked about this for a while now and it always comes down to: are we willing to give up the wonderful life that having lots of money provides? For a while we both decided, No. Money is nice.... okay, let's get serious.... money is great! I have LOVED all my shopping sprees, Starbucks Lattes, eating out at restaurants, investing in the stock market, and paying off our second car because we are both weirdo's and absolutely hate debt.

 

Nevertheless, money doesn't buy happiness.

 

No amount of cute clothes can make up for the fact that I miss my baby. Not even owning the titles to ten cars could take away the feeling that I'm not giving my husband enough.

 

It has been a struggle.

 

And then Prince Charming gave me the surprise of a lifetime! He told me to turn in my two weeks notice because his birthday present to me this year is to quit my job and be a stay at home mom!

 

 

Oh how I love that man!

 

It has been stressful figuring out private insurance and planning out a budget for this new life we are about to embark on, but we couldn't be happier! I am so excited to finally be the wife and mother I haven't had the time or energy to be! 14 is my lucky number, and so far in 2014, I'm feeling like the luckiest girl in the world :).

 

A Little Love Story for Valentines Day

I had my first experience of actually breaking down into tears at work last week. I am a very emotional person and the nursing field gives you plenty of moments that require emotional breakdowns, but you have to hold it in and keep it together. I mean, if the nurse is crying, then we are all in trouble! Call it a moment of weakness.... and it is probably one of those "you just had to be there" kind of stories. But I'll share anyways and you be the judge.

I was in the ICU, dialyzing a 75 year old man who to my knowledge was doing pretty good! He was awake, alert, and oriented. His vital signs were stable without the help of a Levophed IV drip. And within minutes of me walking into his room, he was my little buddy and we were chatting away about my baby, his "babies," my husband's job, his retirement life, his previous career, and how we both live in the same community in Henderson! It was a pretty good Saturday morning, besides the fact that he wanted breakfast and I wouldn't let him have any until his treatment was over (I promise there were medical reasons for it and I'm not just a mean, food depriving tyrant).

Then his son walked in. This was an anxious, constantly moving with nervous energy, gives you the creeps kind of guy. He introduced himself, contaminated my sterile field with his Starbucks Latte, and then proceeded to tell his father that it is time to die. No, I wish I were joking.

I watched with horror as I listened to the son communicate to his father that he will never get better, he will never make it home to his wife, and he will never get a chance to once again drive his electric scooter to the casino and play his favorite penny slot machine. I could see my buddy's face go from one of happy peace, to that of sudden confusion and sadness. He kept asking his son why he wouldn't be able to get better and what would happen if he just decided to die? I was at a loss and couldn't believe what I was witnessing. I was about to stand up and tell the son that dying isn't that easy. It's not like you just suddenly say, "I'm going to die today," and get on with it! I was also going to educate him on his father's progress and current status when in walked his family doctor and the rest of the family.

I could tell this was all planned out just by the lines the doctor was feeding his patient and suddenly the thought occurred to me that this man must have a lot of money. Why else would all these people be trying to talk him into dying??? Later my suspicions were confirmed when I reported all of this to the primary nurse. "OH  YEAH, HE'S LOADED!" she told me.

Okay, here's the part where I couldn't hold it in any longer. Throughout this whole terrible charade, his wife stood in the background with her head down, gripping her cane so tightly her hand was turning white. Then, upon her son's command, she slowly walked up to the side of the bed and grabbed her sweetheart's hand. She gently stroked his hand and wiped away his tears, and then told him that she can't stand to see him like this and that he is not the kind of man to just lie in a hospital bed.

"We don't know with assurance if you will ever get to come home, sweetheart. There are many horrible ways to die and I don't want to see you get to that point. What could be better than quietly, and peacefully falling asleep and not waking up?" she said.

 

"Loving you" he replied.

 

That's it, I was done for. The flood gates had opened. I tried my best not to show it by staring out the window and trying not to sniffle, which turned out to be futile when he then continued with, "I don't want to be a burden to anyone, so if you want me to, honey, I will stop trying to get better."

 

I could see the love in his eyes as he sincerely offered to end his life if it would make his soul-mate happy. It seriously felt like I was on stage with Romeo and Juliet.

 

My thoughts turned to my own soul-mate and I suddenly understood the insanity of the situation. Would I want to watch the love of my life suffer in a hospital bed for months? No, the thought of it kills me. Would I end my own life if it meant bettering the life of the man of my dreams? Yes, without a second thought. 

 

I was grateful to be a witness to this bittersweet moment because it once again helped me remember what is important in life.    LOVE.

 

When the family left and the treatment had ended, I went to my friend's bedside and proceeded to pull his needles and check his vital signs. While I was doing that, I talked to him about what had just happened and added my own two cents to the situation. I told him he had options and to not feel pressured into doing something he doesn't want to do. I told him about Home Health and Hospice Care and the positive attributes that both could bring to his situation. I couldn't leave without knowing that he had been appropriately educated.

 

Are you crying yet? Or are you thinking "Umm, okay, that was a stupid story." Maybe becoming a Mom has made me too soft.... I don't know. But I am happy to report that I stopped by my friend's bedside on Monday and he was still alive and kicking! So maybe something I said stuck with him? I would like to think so :).

 

Happy Valentines Day everyone! May you love as passionately as you are capable, and be loved as powerfully as you deserve.

My two loves with their giant pink Valentines cookies. Since Austin is too young to eat his, we all benefit from this tradition!