Family Updates (New Job, Gabe Evaluation, Etc.)

 So, this cute little dude is now ALMOST crawling. He does an army crawl, but every now and then will toss some knees in there. But anyway, he is all over the place! Sometimes I forget how fast he is, and I have to remind myself to make sure the floor is clear from anything he can choke on. I can't believe we're already getting to this phase. It just doesn't make sense! He's still my tiny baby.

Alex is still being a little chatterbox. Sometimes I wonder when the actual "terrible threes" kick in, because lately it seems he's been more defiant as usual. Plus, more screaming and tantrums. He can definitely be a handful at times! Nap time is on and off. He knows it's quiet time in his room, so he'll actually say, "bye, Mom" if I peek in there. Sometimes he'll fall asleep, but mostly doesn't. This means he is mega crabby by dinner time. Let's just say bedtime can't come any faster some days! Besides that, I LOVE playing with this kid. He is getting into imaginative play and loves to build and construct things. He's really starting to get into the "boy-ish" things like cars, trucks, everything space related, and dinosaurs. 

As for me, I've been busy too! When we moved into our house, we unpacked a lot of things, but still had a lot of things stored away. It got kind of ridiculous, so the past 3-4 days, I've been completely organizing. Our walk-in closet is finally walkable and spacious, and both of the boys' closets are finally organized and cleared out. I also organized the walk-in pantry, laundry room, and the rest of the house. It feels SO good to finally have those things done. Now Gary just wants to reorganize the garage and get his tools in better order. He has shelving, but everything needs to be better organized. 

Speaking of Gary, he has accepted a new position! Some months ago, Golfsmith filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. To add, they were very hush about what was going to happen to people. Then suddenly they closed over 30 stores and had a lot of people laid off. Gary works at the headquarters, but there was still a lot of uncertainty.  Finally it was news that Dick's Sporting Goods bought them.  Gary had no choice but to put out his resume to be safe. Then, he was offered a retention bonus if he stayed until June, although they could lay him off anytime before that. We stopped the job search for a bit, but fasted and prayed last Sunday we would know what to do. The following day, he received a few calls, wanting an interview. The week was busy, but on Friday he accepted a new position as a senior developer for Texas Association of Counties. Not only will he be getting his own office, he gets the county pension, which is a pretty amazing deal. The benefits are what really motivated him to accept (besides a higher pay). So, he is excited about this new job! Prayer works!

And for the final update, we finally got some answers about Gabe. Although his weight has gone up and he's been great, we still had an appointment with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). They did a full evaluation and he scored high on everything but eating. We were told he eats like a 3 month old and works really hard for his milk, using his jaw. Because of this, he qualifies for OT services, which will be happening twice each month. So, my lactation consultant was right when she concluded his latch was just weak, which is why he couldn't draw enough milk from me. It's likely they were due to the ties he had in his mouth. I'm also taking him to get a CST session to help his muscles as well, and getting his tongue re-assessed, just in case it's still tied in some way. Whew, what a journey though. Hopefully with enough therapy, we will get this fixed. A speech therapist may be in the future, but for now, we're just doing the OT.

Well, that's about it for now! Time to get these kids down for a nap!

Six Months and Family Updates

I used to be so good at this blogging thing, but not so much lately!

Fall is finally here in Texas as the weather has now dropped to the 70's. We have been getting thunderstorms for over a week now, so lots of rain as usual! For Halloween (thankfully no rain that night), Gabe and I handed out candy while Gary took Alex trick-or-treating for his first time! He had a blast. Of course, after his pumpkin filled up, Gary just had to whip out a garbage bag for more candy. Um, he got A LOT. Thankfully, Gary took a ton of it to work to spread among his co-workers (or himself, I don't know), so I didn't eat a whole lot. Okay, I did. But, well, not THAT much. Maybe. Anyway, our neighborhood was huge on Halloween. I noticed a lot of the neighbors actually sat on their porch and/or driveway instead of being inside for people to knock on the door. Gary said he did knock on a few doors, but mostly everyone was out. So, I followed the tradition and Gabe and I sat outside in the nice weather to hand out candy. That's friendly Texas for you.

"Helping" me hand out candy. More like being cute to attract more people!

Little Ninja Turtle

There was a regional LWB (Ladies with Babies) Halloween party, so this is where we're at!

This kid melts me

My cute Leonardo!

Besides Halloween and the 1,000 festivities that went on around here, we have been enjoying this time of year. I have been teaching piano in our home during the evenings when Gary is home. I don't go later than 7:15, so at I have time to get the boys into bed. It actually works out great because Gary takes the boys into their bedrooms and plays with them. Alex LOVES having that time with his dad. It's a great way for him to spend time with the boys and he's loving it. I'm also loving teaching as well. I had always wanted to teach piano from home, but I just needed the home part. Teaching from a keyboard in an apartment just didn't seem to appeal to me. Plus, with the small space, there would've been nowhere for the boys to go.  But this works out really well.

Well, a milestone has been reached here too! Gabe turned 6 months old! I'm still in disbelief this year has been FLYING by. Alex's first year felt like foreeeverrr. Probably because I was new to everything. Plus, I went from working full-time to staying at home, AND I felt more isolated. That was kind of a hard year for me. I didn't really have a close connection of friends/moms in the area, so I spent a lot of time at home. When Alex got a little older, we were able to go out more and it really starting getting easier close to a year old. But this time around, I have such a big connection of friends and support; plus, having a 2 year old makes the days go by pretty quickly with the baby.

6 Months!

Pretty much how the crib sleeping is!

Scooting around after his toys!

So, about Gabe. Two weeks ago he fell off the growth chart. He went from the 20th percentile to completely off. We had already doubled our supplementation, but now we had to triple. I still really am not certain why he's never been able to get enough milk from me, but my primary goal was to get him to gain weight, even if it meant even more formula. He had another weight check yesterday (2 week gap), and he gained an entire pound. So we're finally getting back on track. I nurse him first for about 10 minutes, then give him a bottle until he's filled up, which is about 5 ounces. I felt a little bummed at first, but reminded myself it doesn't always have to be all or nothing. According to my lactation consultant, it could be possible my supply is fine, but he may have low muscle tone in his face. He still leaks from a bottle, and he's on level 1 nipples, so it's entirely possible. I'm going to have him evaluated by a specialist to see if there's anything we need to do. Otherwise, it's likely it is my supply after all and my hypothyroidism is very likely behind it (studies show that even treated hypothyroidism leads to low milk because we don't produce enough oxytocin).

Besides all that, he's doing great! He's all smiles and LOVES to play. He sleeps 12 hours at night and naps 1-2 times each day, depending on what's going on in the mornings. He can scoot forward with his knees, but no sign of crawling or sitting up just yet. He's not super early like his brother was!

Anyway, Alex's checkup is in a few weeks, so we'll see how he's doing from there! Alex talks SO MUCH. I mean, a lot. Like, seriously kid, give it a break. But I love it. The only headache-worthy stuff is when he wants me to repeat things. He will not quit until I repeat what he says, no matter what or where I am. But he knows his ABC's, colors, shapes, letters, and can count to 40. He sings a lot, and drags his Cookie Monster around everywhere like it's his "baby". Feeds him, grooms him, runs with him, you name it. Love this fun kid.

Helping mommy exercise! Well, Cookie Monster is exercising too. 

Okay, time to end this. Until next time!

Home!

     When our family first moved to Texas, we knew we wanted to buy a house sometime down the road. I contacted my uncle, who works real estate, and asked for some hookups. He found us a local agent, by invitation only, who contacted us. We had been pretty early in our apartment lease, so we told her it would be almost a year before we needed to move further.

    Well, the year FLEW by, and as if on cue, she and our lender contacted us and asked if we were still interested. We honestly at that point decided we were going to just rent, since we didn't quite have the down payment we wanted. However, our lender was absolutely fantastic with making it happen. The home buying process for us was a breeze! We honestly had a really great team.

    There were a few areas on our mind, and the house hunting officially began. Linda showed us a selection of homes one day, and then a couple the next. Gary and I discussed which ones we liked best. We were also sent links to homes that fit our criteria. One afternoon, I browsed a couple of homes she sent us, picked a couple of favorites, and sent them over to Gary. He knew immediately which one he liked, and that afternoon, we went to check it out. We knew then we wanted to make an offer. The homes go so quickly!

    That evening, we received word our offer was accepted!

  So, here we are! We closed on the day we wanted to close, and moved in that week, which was a month ago. We still have some boxes that need to be unpacked, but we're settled for the most part. We're in a beautiful community in Hutto, Texas. Hutto is the countryside Northeast of Austin. This is where you see farmlands and stretches of beautiful, green land. There are fields behind our backyard, so we do see bunnies and other critters, but we immediately hired pest control services too, you know, since we don't want critters inside our property. We love how green and quiet it is here, and also love how we can see the stars so well at night.

   We currently have been working hard to get our lawn and grass taken care of. The bachelor living here before us didn't seem to do regular lawn maintenance. I don't think he actually lived here that often. We had water coming out of our a/c unit the day after we moved in, only to learn he hadn't done regular maintenance on that either. Thankfully after a few Youtube videos, Gary was able to fix and take care of it. Besides that, we were told our house was the cleanest walk-through that had been done in a long time, which was good news for us. As for the lawn, Gary's been working hard to de-thatch the grass while I've been working on the landscaping. I've mulched and and landscaped the trees planted in our front yard and have been working on the hedges as well. We have nothing in the backyard, so once the grass is greener and looking better, I'll start the gardening and landscaping back there as well. I still like the open space for the kids and dog though, so I won't go too crazy.

Anyway, we love it here. It's so quiet, our neighbors are super friendly, and our ward is great. As a mom of two littles, I often found it hard in an apartment to keep things clean and organized all the time. I feel I can do a better job here in our home with more space. Sure, it's never going to be perfect because, well, I like to find that balance between housework and spending time with the children, but it's really great to care of something that we OWN now.

The family is doing well too. I find it easier now that Gabe's getting a little bigger, so I can keep him entertained on his play mat and/or his exersaucer, and Alex has more room to run around and play. They're both healthy too. Alex is still tiny at 22-23 lbs and has a checkup soon. They might mention his weight, but I don't know how to make him eat more since he's ridiculously picky. I do my best! Little Gabe has gained almost 3 pounds in the last month (he's 14 lbs now). He had a moment where he wasn't gaining, so after finding the right amount of supplementation plus adding in a couple of dream feeds at night, he's jumped up. He's about 95 percent breastfed now and the rest is supplement. That balance seems to work just fine. And now that he's older, he's more efficient at nursing, so our sessions are 10-15 minutes now instead of 45 minutes or so.

Anyway, that's our update for now! Boys are asleep so it's ME time!!

My handsome kid!!

These two can spend all day in the backyard

We have a BEAUTIFUL view from our backyard and kitchen. These are some wicked storm clouds.

Here's a shot of our house in the rain

Alex received this gift from his uncle Devonn and aunt Carla on his first birthday. He finally gets to use it!

This is a great way to keep him entertained and cool when he wants to play outside

My sleeping baby

Hanging out

Just finished mulching- now to add flowers!

On our drive this morning to the grocery store. The big Texas sky! It takes about 15-20 minutes to drive to town or to the grocery store.

My blue-eyed beauty. He and his brother definitely do NOT look alike!

Updates

 So, a few updates!

 We are all doing well and hanging in there! We have some cool news, but we'll talk about that later. For now, here's how things have been going!

 It's definitely been hot and humid here in Texas. I can tell there are heat waves going on in California too! Whew. Because of a new baby, we've mostly been inside. However, a few times I've taken Alex to splash pads with his friends just so he can get out and move! And play in water, of course. We've also had some playdates at the homes of other moms. Anything I can do to get this kid out, or else he dismantles the place. Seriously. It's so hard to spend time feeding the baby while Alex practically destroys everything in site- and he knows I can't immediately jump up and do anything about it. Little stinker. He has gotten better at accepting Gabe is here though, but it's still a big adjustment for him.

Wouldn't nap in his room, so we gave up and brought him out. Moments later...

Loves splash pads!

Little Gabe himself is doing great too! He's finally doing stretches at night. Well, one stretch, usually between 5-6 hours, which is pretty sweet. It's my only chance to get a stretch of sleep myself, so I try to go sleep as soon as he's down for the night. After that, he's up every couple of hours- and we can be up for almost an hour each time, giving me just about an hour to sleep at at time. So mornings can be hard, but we're making it through! Mornings in general can be pretty hard. He won't nap or sleep unless I'm with him or holding him. Baby wearing isn't always an option either (chasing a 2 year old), so I do the best I can. And as I mentioned, this is Alex's time to destroy everything in site. Sigh. I gave up on trying to keep things clean around here, Lol.

He's doing real smiles!!

His typical sleep face, LOL

As for myself, I'm doing well. I'm tired, of course, but it is picking up and getting better. I'm taking a break this semester and will get back into the swing of things next month.  Like I said, mornings can be rough, but it all gets better and easier by the end of the day. I absolutely love staying home with my sweet boys though. They are such a blessing, and I know someday I'm going to look back and totally miss these days and moments. I was browsing pictures of Alex when he was in his first year and it totally made me miss his crawling, giggling days. It was so much fun watching him reach his milestones, and I'm excited to do it all over again with Gabe. Gabe is bigger than Alex was at this age and will likely be bigger in general, so we'll see how and when he reaches those mobile milestones! Love my boys.

Also, I mentioned in a couple of posts back we had a rough start with nursing due to the ties in his mouth. Well, a few days after his procedure, I had complete relief! No pain! It's been pain-free since and awesome. I still have to tweak and adjust his latch often since he spent most of his little life learning one way, but he's getting there. A week after that, I had the lactation consultant come back and do another weighed feed, and it was discovered my supply had more than doubled since last time. So, thankfully it's been uphill. He still gets a bottle every now and then though, especially when I need a break from nursing or things are crazy and it's just easier that way. Like I said, I'm not going to stress over it this time around. Full is full. Full= happy baby which = happy mommy.

Anyway, we are doing well. Gary's still enjoying his job, and his co-workers are awesome. I forgot to mention they threw me a baby shower before Gabe was born, and it was great! Gary's been such a great help and dad. I love when I come out of hibernation to notice the dishes and kitchen clean, and Gary playing with Alex. Seriously love. He's been so patient with me, and will ask if he can help in the night if he hears the baby crying (or me getting stressed if we've been up for a couple of hours, knowing I have to get Alex up soon). Love my man!

My TWO Year Old!

Last Sunday, this cute dude turned 2!! Where has the time gone (seriously, where?)?? He is just loads of fun and I enjoy every moment with him!

Milestones:

Weight: 22 lbs. (still little!)
Height: 33"

Doctor says he's long and lean! His BMI is normal, despite how little he weighs. May be tall someday!

He can count to 10
He knows all his ABCs
He LOVES to sing nursery rhymes. He sings them all day long. Twinkle Twinkle, Rain Rain Go Away, Wind the Bobbin Up, an Ice cream song he loves...the list goes on. He'll even sing himself to sleep.

Speaking of sleep, we transitioned him to a toddler bed a month or so before little brother was born. Where does he sleep? The floor. By the door. With his blankie, stuffed animals, and a collection of pillows. Well, at least he's sleeping, right?

Alex still loves the outdoors, running laps, getting into anything messy (dirt, mud, etc.), loves collecting rocks, and is just complete boy. He's also fascinated with space. Stars, moon, sun, galaxies, etc. He's the best! He's also adjusting okay to little brother. It's been hard, I'll admit, especially when he starts crying because I can't immediately play with him. From there, he will do ANYthing to get my attention; good or bad! Ugh. Thankfully baby is sleeping more though, so I do my best to carve out anytime I can with him.

Anyway, we didn't have a big party for him this year, but we did have our own little celebration at home with a Ninja Turtles cake (he loves TMNT). We probably carved that one into him with all his action figures he still can't play with ;).

I love this boy with all my heart!!

3 Weeks!

 This little guy is now 3 weeks! So here's the update!

 A friend of mine told me that having a baby is easier the second time around- and I'm definitely agreeing so far! With Alex, I knew nothing and was always worried and panicky about every little thing. Now? Not so much! Of course I worry, but it's not obsessive. I'd say my biggest challenge is having a newborn AND a two-year old who is still adjusting. When Gabe starts initially crying, Alex tries to soothe him by holding his hand or giving him a toy or blanket. After awhile with no avail, he gets mad and wails along side him, then says firmly, "stop crying!" It's cute.

This kid eats a lot, though it took some time for him to get back to his birth weight. I was really excited about nursing this time around and was basically on a high for the first week. I didn't feel exhausted and I really enjoyed sitting in bed all day binge watching Parenthood while nursing. My milk came in early on the second day, and everything seemed fine. Then, the trouble started.

I knew I would be sore, but suddenly nursing became excruciating. I had TONS of milk that came in and was all over the place. No problem, I knew it would eventually balance out. However, I knew something else was off with his latch. Anyway, his 2 week appointment rolled around, and we discovered he had not reached his birth weight. No big deal, sometimes that happens. A few days later, there was another weight check and he still hadn't improved. The doctor started recommending supplementing on the side- just a little bit until his weight went up. He noticed a minor tongue-tie and referred me to an ENT, whom we visited the next day. The tongue was clipped, yet the unbearable pain continued. I knew it would take some time for his latch to improve from it, but I was still living on painkillers and pretty much crying every session because it hurt SO BAD. Finally, a couple of days before his 3 week weight check, I contacted a lactation consultant to come to my home.

The first thing she immediately noticed was how badly his upper lip was tied. He couldn't do the "fish lip" with it, like they're supposed to, meaning he was actually chomping down on me- hard. Plus, because of it, he was using his jaw to suck instead of his mouth. By now it was discovered I had some pretty bad nerve damage because of it, thus the continuing agony even after feeding. It was also discovered he was not able to draw out much milk because of it, meaning I couldn't fill him up. So, the triple feed was recommended (nurse, pump, give pumped milk). Exhausting, yes. However, on his 3 week, he still hadn't reached his birth weight, so the doctor became serious about the supplementing with formula. So, every time he gets formula, I pump to keep up my supply.

Today he had his visit with the pediatric dentist to release the tie via laser. He's sore, but I'm looking forward to finally seeing an improvement. It can take up to 10 days to have a noticeable improvement, so the triple feed will continue until his latch improves and I can go back to breastfeeding exclusively. It was pretty depressing and upsetting to discover I was having breastfeeding issues with this guy too, but I reminded myself how healthy Alex is, who also supplemented. I also told myself when he was a baby that I wasn't going to stress about it with another baby. So, I had to suck it up and tell myself not to get so worked up. If it doesn't work out, then okay.

The good news is today he has caught up and surpassed his birth weight, so we're on a good path! I'm still working with my consultant too, so I'm optimistic!

Besides that, everything is going pretty well. Alex has been naturally acting out more, but I try not to let it get to me. I do my best to spend as much time as I can with him. The guilt can be SO BAD sometimes, and I've found myself crying several times over it, but I know they will be best buddies someday.

Speaking of Alex, he turned 2 on Sunday! But that will be another post.

Gabe himself is doing well though! He sleeps on my chest at night, but it's the only way we can both really sleep. He'll do great in his Rock N Play, but I hate being woken up by him squirming and crying. At least on my chest, his rooting and movements wake me up, so I can quickly feed him and go back to sleep. Love this guy!

I love this post-feeding face of his! Lol!

Cute boys!

Seriously can't get enough of this!

Pretty much how it always is!

Gabriel John

Born: May 6th, 2016
Time: 8:41am
Stats: 8 lbs. 3.3 oz. 20 inches long

     Baby Gabriel is such a wonderful blessing and we love him so much!

     My official due date was May 8th. Throughout my pregnancy checkups, Gabe continued to measure 2-3 weeks ahead. While I was nearing the end of my due date, my doctor was concerned he would be too big and didn't want to risk having a c-section. So, she scheduled an induction to start the evening of May 5th. I was hesitant at first, but decided for it.

     Thursday night I was given a little cream to soften up my cervix. The plan was to start the actual Pictocin Friday morning. Well, come 3-4am Friday morning, my water broke on its own. Labor officially started from there as the contractions immediately kicked in. A few hours later, I opted to get an epidural. However, the only effect it had was numbing my left leg. I felt the contractions continue, but tried to rest anyway, telling myself it would eventually do a better job. A couple of hours had passed, the contractions continuing. My doctor popped in to check on me, said I was a four, then said she had a c-section to perform and she'd be right back. Suddenly the contractions were so intense I was shaking through them.

     About half an hour later, I decided I needed to call the nurse as I could feel Gabriel begin to work his way down. I told Gary he was coming NOW. Seconds later, the nurse popped in and I told her I felt the baby coming out and I had a strong urge to push. She immediately paged the doctor and checked me. Sure enough, he was coming out. Winded, the doctor ran in, and within 5 minutes our little boy had entered this world. He almost didn't fit because his shoulders were too wide, but I switched positions and he came out rather quickly from there. Considering the meds hadn't been properly working, I felt everything. However, pushing was actually a relief and it was really neat to experience and feel it.

    He has been such an amazing blessing. He has a big appetite and nurses about every 1-2 hours, except for evening time when he cluster feeds and won't leave my side. The nights are actually pretty good, as he wakes up 2-3 times to feed, then goes back to sleep. I've been truly blessed to have such a supportive husband who has taken over everything else while I've been a milk factory. I'm also trying to do my best to spend quality time with little Alex as well, who has taken everything like a champ. He gets upset when baby cries and tries to comfort him by handing him a toy or a blanket. He gives him kisses as well. But, for the most part, he just ignores him really. I'm sure it will take some time for him to get used to it all.

    Anyway, my heart is so insanely full! Some random pictures:

Getting in some Alex cuddles

At church the Sunday before

How he watches his baby music videos

Getting ready and feeling HUGE!

Our cute boy

Brothers meeting for the first time

     Welcome to the world, Gabriel!

   

Spring is Here!

     We've sure been busy here and I've been behind on blogging.

     Spring is here and I'm so happy it is! I really don't like the winter. Well, we were told this was actually a very warm winter in Austin, so it wasn't too bad, but still! I hope this doesn't mean the summer is too hot. But we'll see I guess.

    With spring comes all of the beautiful wildflowers. It seemed to be the trend here in the area to do photo shoots with our little ones in the flowers. So, I decided to jump on board and get some pictures of my little dude.

     He kept running around saying "flowers!" and really had a good time. The weather was really great, too. Love him!

     This spring was also great as my family came to visit! My mom and dad, as well as my brother Quinn and my family's exchange student, Gabriela, from Moldova. It was so nice to have family here! I can't believe it's been almost 10 months since we've moved here! Crazy, huh? The last time they saw little Alex was on his first birthday, and now his second is just around the corner.

     I took them mostly around Austin, and not too much Round Rock. Next time for sure. ;)

Visiting the state capitol. Alex with daddy and papa. 

Alex with Papa (his favorite) at Tortuga Flats 

After a nice BBQ meal at County Line on Lake Travis

All of us at the state capitol

Dyeing Easter eggs with Nana

Me and my mommy on the top of Mt. Bonnell

     Now I just need to convince everyone to move here with us ;).

     As for everything else, we're doing great. About 5 weeks to go before little brother arrives, which we're looking forward to! Everything is great and healthy with this little dude too.

   A small update, but that's about it for now!