Playing catch up...again.

wow. i am not good at this anymore, right? ugh. all day i swear things happen and i think, oh i should blog about that...but then i don't. and then i forget. so now I have nothing clever to tell you but because i still feel the need to post something here you go. my advice? keep the expectations low my peeps.

the last 3 1/2 weeks have just flown by over here at the barnes residence.

I got a new car a week or so ago. since i wasn't cleared to drive, jeffrey test drove it and even drove it home. let me tell you how anti-climactic it is to get a brand new, shiny toy and not be able to play with it. lame. i finally did drive it though and I loooove it. we traded my 07 CRV that I really loved for a 2011 honda pilot. upgrade. it's a tank folks. seriously. a tank. before connor arrived, i drove a civic. great gas, all the space we really needed and it was only a couple years old. after cramming the infant car seat in there a few times and then attempting to shove the huge stroller in the trunk i was done. i swear, there was a process to getting the stroller to fit in the trunk. i'd put it in halfway, then adjust the wheels...push it in a bit more, adjust the handle thing...push it in the rest of the way and pray that the trunk would close. it was horrible. We got the CRV when connor was a couple months old and have used it ever since. this time around we didn't especially need a new car, but it would be so much easier to have that extra space. with two carseats in back, my car suddenly became a two seater. Add the double stroller and there's barely room for a trip to costco--and we love us some costco. We got to thinking about when we'd want to take a nephew alone with us somewhere...or one of the boys' friends and there literally wouldn't be a seat for them. Solution? Third row. Anyway, this is boring. (remember? lowered expectations) In summary, got a loverly new, big truck. I don't have a pic of mine and it's too damn hot to go outside and take one so here you go:)

unfortunately, they didn't have one with the sweet, oh-so subtle flames, so i got this one...

Noah is doing great. People who have seen him a couple times swear that he's getting bigger but i think that may just be something you say. i guess we'll see on tuesday at his one month appointment. Our goal is for him to be back up to his birth weight at that time. He was 7lbs 14.5 oz at two weeks so it's certainly possible. He's eating very well and we're still doing about 6 feedings of breastmilk (bottle or nursing) a day and 1 or 2 of formula. Nursing is going well and he's starting to latch without me having to do anything at all. Since that never happened with Connor, it's a bit of a victory. Pumping is such a huge pain in the ass though. I really wanted to have a stockpile of milk for when nursing isn't convenient and when I'm back to work but I just can't seem to make it happen. I have a good milk supply so that's not the issue, so how do people do it? I know what I need to do to be honest...I just can't seem to force myself to pump that many times during the day to have enough to store it for future use. By the time he's done eating, the last thing I want to do is sit still for another 20-25 minutes to pump. I have a great pump, but you still have to sit there and not do anything for the entire time. Since that doesn't appeal to me, I have a tough time getting more than a day or two ahead. Suggestions? Besides breast milk being free, this is the last time I'll be getting use out of the rediculously expensive pump so I want to go out with a bang and have plenty of supply...plus Noah never, ever spits up breast milk so that alone is a huge draw for us!

Sleeping is going pretty good too, although I laughed out loud yesterday when a friend asked me if he was sleeping through the night yet? Um, no. :) He does most of his great sleeping work in his swing or in his glider though...not so much in the basinette. He's doing good though, still waking at night every 3-5 hours to eat. He usually goes right back to sleep after ruining a couple diapers so I am thankful. I swear though, it doesn't matter how many naps you take during the day...if you don't get that overnight sleep something happens to your internal clock...for me anyway. Connor is still a two hour napper during the day so that's a blessing. I should use that time wisely to nap, pump, clean the bottles that somehow pile up or do the laundry that manages to accumulate at an alarming rate. Instead, I'm blogging while he sleeps. Dumb.

That's it for now, but I'm working on a few other posts so hopefully those will be done in the next day or so...lots of pics of course!