Two major changes

Yesterday was a big day in the NSC household. 

The fence surrounding the back of our property went up and construction should hopefully start on Monday (the general contractor is still waiting for a few permits from our city- hopefully they come through by the end of this week).

Good thing we are moving out on Saturday because we can't get into the back yard for Buster to go to the bathroom. We are also trying to figure out whether we can sneak the lawnmower back there to mow the lawn so that we don't have a jungle by the time we move back in three months!

The other major change is that last night was the last time I will ever nurse a kid. :-( Earlier this week I nursed Wes in the morning and when he pulled off, frustrated that there was no milk, I had to go make him a bottle so that he would stop crying. I realized at that point that I really didn't have enough milk to continue. So last night, I nursed Wes before giving him a little formula, knowing that this was it. 

It's making me emotional to write about it because it is my fault that we are stopping at this point. I should have been better about pumping while I was away from him in January and February (5 times a day was not enough). I should have pumped more while at work. I should have gotten a new pump after he was born instead of using the two that I used with Izzy because I think that they were starting to die. So many should haves, but it is time to move on. I will be gone on a one night trip away for work today so it's a good time to make a hard stop. I assume it will be easier this way than to wait until he is crying for a bottle in a few days.

Unlike last time, I don't think that I am going to have much trouble stopping. I haven't had aching breasts, hard breasts, and I haven't had to relieve myself. To me, that is a sure sign that my milk is drying up which is the polar opposite of last time. I think that if I use one bag of frozen milk every day we will make it to his 9 month birthday. I know at some point I will be proud of the fact that I was able to nurse my kids for 7.5 and 8.5 months, but I do think that it will take a while to get over just not being able to keep up my supply for Wes. I know that he will be fine in the end.....

Remodel details

This weekend is going to be a big weekend of packing up the house in preparation for our house renovation. Hopefully the kids do their part with a double nap both days this weekend so that CP and I can get a lot of packing done.

So why are we doing all of this packing and moving? Well, last summer we started this process by meeting with a contractor that our friends used. We met with an architect to discuss what we wanted to do to the house, we started to pick out bathroom tile, countertops, appliances, sinks, etc. We tried several different ways to get everything we wanted into the project but sadly, everything that we wanted was simply too expensive. 

Finally earlier this month we had something that we felt with comfortable budget-wise and met our needs for right now. Here is the plan:

Remodel the second floor bathroom 

This is our only full bathroom in the house. If you having been reading for a while, back when I was 36 weeks pregnant with Izzy, we decided to fix it up at least a little bit but removing the wallpaper (even the stuff on the back of the doors), removing the gross sliding glass doors on the tub, and painting. The bathroom is still a mess what with a BLACK bathtub that shows soapscum the first shower after I have cleaned, a vanity that is probably from the 70s, and tile that has seen better days. The contractor has sent over pictures and just looking at them gets me excited for a new bathroom. We still will only have one full bathroom for the entire family, but it will certainly be a lot nicer looking.

Remodel the first floor bathroom

This is just a half bath so it's not that big of a deal. We did already remodel it after moving into the house but it was an inexpensive fix so that we could use it for the past couple years. (For instance the flooring was a brown/yellow laminate and the subfloor was ruined because there was water damage. Too many overflowing toilets?? YUCK.) The walls are not even framed so we are keeping the new vanity, mirror, accessories, and toilet but actually framing the room and taking about a foot from the kitchen near the toilet to make the room slightly bigger.

Remodel and bump out the kitchen

This is one of the things I am most excited about. When CP and I remodeled the kitchen after first moving into the house, we did a lot of work ourselves and knew that it was temporary. We had new countertops and appliances put in (none of the appliances worked!) but spray painted the metal cabinets to save money. This time around we will expand the kitchen so that we have an eat-in island, CP will get a fancy Wolf stove (6 burner!), two sinks, room for a bigger fridge, more cabinets, etc. It's going to be awesome.

Demolish the current sunroom and add on a bigger family room

Note: the sunroom is no longer this blue color. When I was in the hospital giving birth to Izzy my dad decided to paint the room white (which was pretty awesome).

The sunroom was the first room that we fixed up after moving in the house because we knew that we would spend a lot of time in there. It had nasty carpet and wood paneling EVERYWHERE.  The room has been great but it is about 10 degrees cooler or hotter (depending on the season) than the dining room right next to it because it has no basement beneath it, no room overhead, and while it has insulation from when we put new siding on, it is not enough. The foundation is cracking so we are demolishing the entire room and building a newer, slightly bigger room.

Dig a new basement

We have a current unfinished basement that unfortunately has no ceilings (but lots of pipes, ducts, etc.) and is only 8 feet tall. We also have asbestos tile on the floor. We contemplated trying to drop the floor a foot, move duct works and pipes into the ceiling, but it would have been expensive and not worth it. Instead we are digging a new basement under the family room. We will have to use the stairs and walk through part of the old basement to get to the new part, but we are excited to have a play space for the kids and hopefully put a tv and treadmill in the new space as well.

So yeah, a lot of stuff getting done to the house in a short three months. We had hoped to add a fourth bedroom upstairs, a master bath, and a small washer/dryer upstairs, but the cost was getting out of hand. In the end, we decided that we would put a sleeper couch in either the basement or the new family room and that for now, we would deal with everyone sharing the bathroom upstairs. Maybe when the kids get out of daycare and we feel like we have won the lottery we can start to save up for the rest of the job???? We'll see.

Getting emotional

I am starting to get emotional and I think that I know what is going on in my body. My body is starting to shut down production of milk and it is going to make me hormonal for a while (at least if it is anything like my experience with Izzy).

When I look back on this blog, around 7 months with Izzy I was pumping close to 20oz A DAY. Half a month later she went on her nursing strike. The last time I pumped (a little over a week ago so right around Wes' 8 month birthday) I only got 2 oz in about 20 minutes of pumping. Wes shows no signs of wanting to stop nursing but yet I feel as if my supply is barely hanging on by a thread. It's really not fair and I can't help but feel guilty that my trips away in January and February where I had to pump instead of nurse killed my supply. Dropping pumps during the work day certainly hasn't helped...but it has made me much happier.

While I am really sad about the fact that my supply is drying up, I am unwilling to pump- something that if I started to do again religiously I probably could increase my supply at least a little bit. Sometimes being a working mom is so hard. If I could just nurse all day then I'm sure that I would have a much better supply and I could feed Wes a smaller amount of formula than what he is currently drinking. I would have no problems doing that. But pumping? I think that I hate pumping even more this time around than I did last time.

Once again, I should try to think of the benefits to not nursing anymore. I get a few minutes in the morning back. I can put Izzy to bed more often instead of Wes every night. I have an overnight work trip at the very end of this month where I won't have to worry about pumping. I can get off the crappy minipill that makes me bleed for 2-3 weeks a month and go on a pill where I would only get my period four times a year. 

When my supply does go, I'm sure that I will shed more than one tear. I have about 20 bags of breastmilk in the freezer so Wes will continue to get milk for a little over half a month. That will have to be enough. I made it further than I did with Izzy and although I am not ready to stop (ONCE AGAIN), I will eventually be okay.

Wes turns eight months!

Eight months

Height: ?

Weight: I think that my scale was off when I weighed myself, then picked Wes up to weigh him with me. It said 21.5 pounds, but that is 1.5 pounds lighter than last month which doesn't seem possible. He certainly kept eating through his bout with RSV and is eating more solids these days...army crawling couldn't be dropping that many pounds. Hmmm.
Diapers: Size 3 during the day, Size 4 nighttime diaper

Milestones: This month Wes started to army crawl! He is determined to move and is getting pretty good at it. Already he is holding himself up on his arms and knees for longer periods of time so he will probably crawl shortly as soon as he gets comfortable with that motion. Wes is pretty much a rockstar when sitting by himself. Once in a while he still falls down but is sitting up straighter and for longer periods of time. This month we took the sling out of his bathtub because he is way too tall for it anyway. We also switched Wes to a convertible car seat because he was just too darn heavy to car around in an infant seat!!
Something new this month is banging two objects together to make a sound. He thinks this is fascinating.

It's funny to compare Wes to Izzy when she was 8 months old (yes I know I am a horrible mother comparing my children!)- Wes couldn't stand like she does in her 8 month picture but she wasn't moving around on the floor like he has been.

Language: Wesley knows his name and responds to the milk, more, and all done signs. I'm fairly certain that he is making the "milk" sign these days. Just Tuesday night he was making the milk sign and said "mamamamamama" which I sadly know is not him saying "mama" but trying to say "milk" because Izzy did the same thing until we realized what she was saying. Doesn't matter- I'll take it!

Sleep: Wes has now hit rockstar sleeper status as he sleeps like a rock all night long. Seriously- no peeps from this guy! He is generally asleep by 8 and will sleep until 7. He is not a fan when I have to wake him up for daycare! Naps tend to be longer when he is at home on the weekends (probably because there is less noise) and he still is napping about three times a day.

Clothes: Halfway through the month I moved Wesley to 12 month clothing. He could still pretty fit into some of the 9 month stuff but because of our move in less than a month I thought it would be easier to get rid of the 9 month stuff beforehand. The crazy thing is that it is not like he is swimming in the 12 mo stuff!!

Yep. I'm adorable!

Eating: Wes nurses morning and night, and eats 3 5.5oz bottles at daycare. By the end of his 7th month I stopped pumping at work so it is basically all formula at daycare. We also bring breakfast and lunch into daycare every day and then he has dinner at home every night. He LOVES pureed butternut squash, carrots, banana, avocado, broccoli, apples, pears, mangoes, sweet potatoes, and peas. He has also tried strawberries, eggs, and hamburger meat. I have yet to find something that he doesn't like (seriously). If you take too long between spoonfuls he lets us know with sounds of displeasure!

I'm big enough and can hold myself up enough to be in a high chair!

Teeth: Just his two bottom teeth. He is a lot slower to get in his teeth than Izzy was.

Likes: Watching Izzy and Buster, grabbing Buster's fur, nursing, drooling, putting his hand or toys in his mouth, kicking in the bath, pulling mommy's hair and daddy's beard, spending time in the exersaucer, peek-a-boo

Fascinated with Buster.....

Also fascinated with Izzy and finds her hilarious!

Illness: Wes and I headed to the ER for his bout with RSV this month. Poor buddy sounds so much better and less crunchy than just a few weeks ago.

Jump! Jump!

Misc: Wes continues to be a happy baby. I love to pick him up from school and lift him above me in my arms, then drop him down to give him a kiss on his cheek over and over. He loves this and starts to hysterically giggle every time I do it. He also loves when I give him raspberries on his stomach.

Wes had a bunch of firsts this month. First time on the swings....

I'm swinging!

First time in the bike trailer (which I used as a stroller so that I could walk Buster at the same time).....

And first time sledding! Izzy agreed to hold him and although they took a hilarious fall where Wes fell face first into the snow thanks to Izzy, he survived and enjoyed his next ride on the sled.

Buster turns 6

Buster

On Sunday, Buster turned 6 years old. Life these days is a lot different for Buster than when he joined our family back in 2011. I mean, he certainly looks a lot different...

Buster's first day home with us

Back then we were living in CT and his best pal was Koda. He followed her everywhere.

Buster helped to fill a hole in our family at a time where we were not able to get pregnant.

Only a little over a year later, we had moved to IL.

Koda unfortunately passed away only a year and a half later and Buster took it hard. Between Koda's passing and Izzy's arrival life turned upside down for him. Wes' arrival has been even harder because I have even less time for him.

Wes going in for the grab. We are still working on "gentle" and probably will be for a while

Thankfully he has taken to Wes about as well as he took to Izzy. He knows when to move away, but does like to give kisses to the kids when he can.

These days he is hobbling a bit more on his partially torn hind leg ACLs and I'm worried about how the three month move to the rental place is going to affect him. But he still loves attention, eating snow, walks, going up to Michigan, and people that he knows and trusts. He is still my buddy and an important part of our family. 

Happy birthday Buster!

Microblog Mondays: We have a crawler!

In the midst of a crazy weekend Wes started army crawling this weekend!

It's crazy. At the same time he is pushing up to his knees and staying there for a while instead of dropping back down like he was doing just a few days ago. I think that he will be crawling for real shortly.

I'm so proud of myself!

CP gets back Saturday night from China. I think until then I am going to have to be on my toes the rest of the week with our newly mobile infant!


Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Microblog Mondays: Sometimes, all you can do is laugh

This morning, as I was trying to get the kids into the car and to daycare so that I could make my train on time, all I could do was laugh. Wes was crying in his car seat, possibly because I wasn't paying attention to him and instead trying to wrangle Izzy. Izzy was crying because she is three and I couldn't find her Frozen hat (it was in her cubby at daycare). I was tired because I tried to go to bed earlier than usual but I still didn't get into bed until 10. So with the tandem crying, I just started to laugh, thinking "it's only day three." It wasn't the best of reactions because the laughing made Izzy cry even harder. :-/

This is after a loooooong weekend where CP left for China Saturday morning, the kids didn't nap well, and there was only one of me and two of them. I shuffled the kids to Izzy's soccer class (where half the time she pouted on the sidelines) and to Izzy's swim class. I viewed two houses that we are looking to rent on April 1st while our house gets renovated. Turns out it is really hard to find a house to rent that is not too expensive, allows dogs, and will allow for a short term (3 month) lease. It looks like the Sunday house is going to work out which is good because the Saturday house was only looking for someone to rent for two months (so that they could get a year long tenant during "prime renting season" on June 1st)...which means we would have had to move to corporate housing for a month (expensive/not great for Buster).

What else is going on? My problem employee has been out sick for two weeks so I'm doing a lot of her job. After the kids go to bed every night I have to continue to pack up various rooms in the house. We are doing our best to finalize the contract with our general contractor. You get the gist- things are busy so CP up and leaving for two weeks is NOT ideal.

Now would be a great time to use one of the four spa gift certificates I got for my birthday back in December...but I don't have time to go! *sigh*

12 more days. I may have to laugh a lot....and I may need a lot of caffeine...but I can do it.


Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.