My blessing is a curse

So, for those of you who were envious that Vince was sleeping 11 hrs straight at such a young age let me tell you that those long stretches of sleep without nursing has caused me to get mastitis so you can now no longer be jealous.

I've had a few rough days and nights this last week. The pain started early last Saturday morning. On Monday I was feeling a lot better and thought it was gone, but yesterday and today I have continued to have hot, fiery sensations all throughout the whole left side of my body (mostly my arm and armpit; currently under my ribcage headed towards my knee) at random moments which are painful and uncomfortable. Funny that one of the solutions to recovery is rest! So, while Vince continues to slumber peacefully for 11 hrs straight I have to get up 1-2 times a night to pump b/c it's too painful. I would rather get up to feed a hungry baby than to have to pump! So, needless to say I'm getting less sleep than before. What a catch 22! Gratefully it actually isn't painful to nurse. It's just the hot, fiery sensations that kill when I'm trying to sleep and 2 ibuprofens aren't helping much.

Azure has had some bad days herself. We started putting underwear on her to sleep. She had a 50% success rate on the 4 nights she tried. However, whenever I'd wake her up before going to bed myself to take her to the bathroom she refused. She is so grumpy if you wake her up! I picked her up and put her on the toilet and after sitting there for a few seconds she would get so mad and say that she didn't have to go. So, we put diapers back on her and will try again in a few weeks when she will actually go when I wake her up to.

I looked at old posts here on the blog today with her to show her pictures when she was a baby. She was so cute! And she didn't give me attitude! I pray to have more patience with her. It is hard. I am enjoying Vince being a smiley, happy, baby before his defiant stage starts.

The 4 of us

Father and son

The first thing I thought when I saw this picture is: "He looks like a little football player." Don't you think? I love football. I wouldn't mind him playing. And he looks so Italian in this pic which I love!
I would have cried with joy to see these pictures 10 yrs ago. There were many times I thought I would never be married or have children. I love these 3 more than I can explain. I have felt so complete as a woman and as a mother after having Vince. Our existences have been intertwined since the beginning of time. Isn't that amazing?

Things I like:

• the lasting earmark imprint on my forearm after nursing my babies
• the sight of Charles reading the scripture stories with Azure on her bed
• the way Vince's face lights up at just the sight of me
  
• Charles taking care of me and sitting at my bedside to attend my every need when I'm sick
• Azure kissing me and telling me she loves me and then kissing Vince's head while I nurse him on the couch
  
• getting out of the house daily (which I do almost always)
• going to gym
• our new camera
• azaleas

Things I don't like:

• having mastitis, ouch!
• fainting and having seizures
  
• when the azaleas die
  

Quote of the day

Azure: "Mommy, can I get married to baby Vince?"

To Vince

Every time I see your sweet face my heart flutters, and I think "I am so in love with this boy." Let it be known that I am the first girl to have fallen in love with you. And by the way your face lights up to see me I would hope to think that I am your first crush :)

Thank you for being such a good sleeper! You've been sleeping in an hour, from 8am into 9am now. You seem to not like going to bed for the night until 10pm. That's 11 hours! Bless you child!

Lauryn Hill said it quite well:

How beautiful if nothing more
Than to wait at [Vince's] door
I've never been in love like this before
Now let me pray to keep you from
The perils that will surely come
See life for you my prince has just begun
And I thank you for choosing me
To come through unto life to be
A beautiful reflection of his grace
See I know that a gift so great
Is only one God could create
And I'm reminded every time I see your face

Catch up: Charleston and Easter

I never wrote about Easter I realized. I was a little disappointed that Easter fell on Conference weekend this year. As a friend put it, "it was like having [my] birthday on Christmas." I like celebrating both separately. Maybe the next time that happens we'll celebrate Easter the week before or after.

It is always a good reminder to hear the apostles talk about the divine nature of motherhood and the important work mothers do in the home, since that is my life's work and what I do every single day.

We went to Charleston, SC on Good Friday since Charles had the day off. I took Azure to the Children's Museum there while Charles and Vince strolled through the picturesque streets.

Azure had fun painting.

And grocery shopping.

For mutual (our Young Women's activity at church) we had a small Passover type/Jerusalem dinner and read the Easter story in plastic eggs.
Then while Daddy attended the Priesthood session of conference, Azure and I dyed some eggs. (He came home just in time to take some pics)
Easter morning we woke up and listened to "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" and other Easter hymns while we opened up our baskets. We also read the Easter account from all 4 gospels. Then Daddy made us potato latkes for breakfast. We watched General Conference and I made our Easter dinner that we shared with our friends the Georges. I made a ham, a quiche, and a springy pasta dish. Charles hid some eggs for Azure outside.

I love her hair in this pic.

She insisted on wearing this shirt backwards and capris that didn't match after she took a nap in her cute Easter dress and soaked it with urine.
All in all it was a good Easter.

Birthing

I'm sure you've given up on my birth story post right? Well, I'm still writing it. I'm kind of a perfectionist and I don't always have a lot of uninterrupted time to write it.... but, I will post it soon. Soon meaning a few weeks or a couple months, I don't know, but I will post it.

I just read this however on one of my fave birthing blogs and it made me cry, (though that's not hard to do) so I want to share it! Giving birth is such a sacred, wonderful, empowering experience. Women are amazing!

Naps- a blessing and a curse

Azure stopped taking a regular scheduled nap back in August. Ever since then bedtime for her has varied greatly. If she takes a nap (even if she falls asleep in the car for only 10 mins) she doesn't go to bed until very late. This problem became exacerbated when Vince was born. I preferred that she take a nap with me even if it were late in the afternoon to her being awake and destroying the house.
Sometimes after taking a late nap she hasn't gone to bed for the night until 1am! When she goes to bed that late she usually doesn't wake up until 10:30 or 11am, which is nice for me because I get to sleep in if Vince happens to be sleeping too. (Blessing) But, it's also annoying to have to keep going into her room every 15 mins because she wants us to sing her "Down Chickens" or she has to go potty, or she's hungry and her tummy hurts, or she wants to brush her teeth again, or she wants more water, etc. (Curse)

Tonight I was in charge of a portion of our mutual activity for the Young Women at church. I had to make a lot of phone calls, gather my thoughts, download 2 talks from General Conference last weekend, among other things. Vince was crying, Azure was being whiny and pestering me for something or the other and I was trying to get dinner together and unload the dishwasher. Unfortunately Charles wasn't here to help me because he was out shooting his brand new shotgun. So, when Azure crawled under the "panda" (the playgym) and fell asleep at 4pm I didn't discourage her. It was a blessing while I got some things done. The curse was that she didn't fall asleep until midnight tonight.



On Monday she was acting very tired and went into her room and shut the door. I opened it a few minutes later to find her laying down on the floor with her sleeping bag and pillow. It was 5pm and I didn't want her to take a nap because I knew she'd be up all night so I told her to get up. "But, I'm tired mommy! I want to go to sleep!" Charles and I laughed pretty hard at that. Such a different tune she sings at actual bedtime! That night we put her to bed at 7:30 and she was fast asleep 15 mins later. And she didn't even wake up until 9:30 the next morning! (Blessing)

2 months

Yesterday was Vince's 2 month appointment. He weighed 11 lbs, 5 oz and was 22.5 inches. They gave him 2 shots and we both cried :(

The Dr. said he had very advanced oral and motor development skills because she clicked her tongue at him and he copied her. Then she put him on his tummy and he lifted his neck and torso way up and turned his head from side to side. I was even impressed with that because I've given him "tummy time" like twice. I think Charles holds him in a way that perhaps forces him to use his neck muscles more, so I guess his incredible motor skills are thanks to Charles. Anyways, she said she hasn't seen either of these developments very often in a 2 month old, that's it's more common at 4 months. I know, my son is amazing :)
He really is such a good baby! I'm afraid of when my luck is gonna run out with him. He's been sleeping for 9-10 hrs straight for the past 2 weeks! And the week before that he slept consistently for 8 hrs straight. I'm pretty sure once he turns 3 months this will stop for awhile, if he follows Azure's sleeping habits (which so far he's done).
What helped Azure sleep for so long was a consistent bedtime schedule, including a bath. So, I tried this with Vince and the results were the same. I give him a bath around 9-9:30pm, then I nurse him and swaddle him up really tight using a burp cloth to tie down his arms for extra support. He usually falls asleep between 10-11pm (on his own I might add) he just looks up at his mobile until he drifts off and doesn't wake up until 7:30 or 8am. Amazing right?

Last week I pulled out Azure's old play gym for him. He loves it! As soon as I put him under it he gets the most adorable toothless grin from ear to ear! It has a mirror on top and he just loves looking at himself!Azure loves laying under it with him. She also likes to link her arm in his; and in this picture, she apparently likes to put her arm over his face to see what it will look like in the mirror above :)
He's had blocked tear ducts for almost a month now and some green discharge here and there so he finally got some antibiotic ointment for that yesterday.

He snores and squeaks when he sleeps quite loudly. Some people have thought that he has the hiccups when in fact he's just squeaking. I think it's adorable.

He has become more interactive when he nurses and looks up at me and smiles. He has also started to reach up towards my neck while eating which means he'll be batting at toys soon. Why do they have to grow so fast?