B is for Boy, and Baseball

we go to lots of games, especially this season for some reason. probably because connor is just as baseball obsessed as always and we like to get both boys out of the house as much as possible. i get crazy if stuck in the house for too long and unfortunately it seems I passed that along to atleast one of my boys.

I think this was Noah's 3rd or 4th game. Everytime we go connor begs to play in Future's Field where they have the batting cage. We've never let him because the line is Out Of Control but we planned it out this time and got to the game really early. It was Gonzo's retirement night so it was still bat s&%t crazy but we managed. He LOVED it which is probably pretty obvious. This is a kid who runs around target pretending to run the bases and then sliding into home.

waiting his turn nicely

hey batta batta

SAFE!

told jeff to take a pic of me and the boys since i'm always the one taking the pics. I am still not sure why we took our pic with Augie. Maybe because he's closer to the size of the 3 of us. Not sure. Random. Blame the photographer in this one :)

my boys, happy sigh

jeffrey intently watching the game...noah intently waiting for his next meal

i'm 100% sure this is the type of smile we'll get tomorrow on picture day. positive.

checking out the group behind us. loves the attention. shocker.

we told connor that if a foul ball came over it was his job to protect noah. he took his job serious. i think we ruined the game for him by giving him a job. we suck at parenting.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Boy hair is so different than girl hair. I never understood why it was truly necessary for Jeff to get a haircut every 4-5 weeks when i manged to go 4-5 months--which i'm fully aware is too long. I just don't make the time for it and it's not like an infant and 3 year old will sit nicely reading people magazine while I get my hair did!

Anyway, I didn't get it with Jeff but now I get it. When their hair grows even a bit you've got a junior mullet and over the ear hair showing up, which is no bueno. Connor's hair grows fast like mine and Jeff's so he's there pretty often as well, though we let him go a bit longer since his looks cute a bit shaggy. I've always wondered how he'd look with longish hair, like kingston or levi :) but I just don't think I would be able to handle the growing out period. we like to spike it up sometimes so there needs to be a bit of lenght on top. Wow, this is boring, i'll just post the before and after pic now!

It got a little shorter than i'd like but I don't understand the number system used for boy haircuts. It's like converting to the metric system...I understand 'take 3 inches off please', not 'use a #4 here and blend to a #2 here'. Moms of boys, you know what i'm saying, right?

Well, school pics are next wednesday so here's hoping that it grows out just a tad :)

Happy Friday Everyone!!

keep your eyes on the road

Things with the boys are constantly happening that I immediately think are hilarious and want to blog about so that I remember them forever. Unfortunately, those things tend to happen while I’m driving, or while we’re grocery shopping or sometime that I can’t easily stop what I’m doing and immortalize the story. Then, by the time I am at a computer I have completely forgotten about the whole damn thing. I’m going to try and be better about that. Maybe I can keep a ‘dream journal’ type notebook in my bag for just such occasions :) But...probably not.

Yesterday, when I was driving the boys home from school I didn’t realize how quiet Connor was. It was nice actually since I tear out of a crazy day at work to get them, deal with the chaos of a million 3 year olds swarming around me showing me their art project, offering up their plastic hamburger to me or telling me that they have a dog named Sam…all to get in the car and head home. That’s supposed to be time to decompress, right? Well, yesterday he was oddly quiet in the car. I didn’t even notice until he speaks up halfway home saying, “do we go left or right now mama?”. I looked in the mirror and see him with his hands at 10 and 2 (well done driver) pretending to drive the car along with me. So cute. The rest of the way home we talked about which way we were going to turn and I even took the long way home so we’d have more twists and turns to handle.

When we got home I realized where his sudden interest in driving came from…


We broke into an impromptu art project and made him his own little steering wheel for the car! He loves it.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

i got my haircut today. really wanted to go with something different but number one, i'm boring. number two, i'm in a wedding in two weeks and I need to be able to do whatever the bride wants :)

this is my new favorite photo. clearly, he's hungry. this is during our daily lunch date when i bring noah over to my office to feed him. it's a nice break :)

we took the boys to a game this weekend. Gonzo's number was being retired and i'm glad we got to be there. i'll be posting a few more pics of the game later this week.

this kid and the new creepy smile. i give up. it's like i broke him with too many photos. this concerns me with picture day at school less than a week away. sigh.

This Just Happened

car please make this your FB photo. i'm begging you.

Carly, Brielle and I were waiting in line for chocolate covered frozen bananas talking about what we were going to order.

Linds: You aren't getting anything but chocolate?
Carly: I don't really like nut on my fruit.
Linds: That's what she said.

We laughed obnoxiously for the next 45 minutes.
Best.Moment.Ever.

This just happened

Copy Repair Guy: It's awfully dirty but it works ok
Lindsay: That's what she said
Copy Repair Guy (looks up, looks down, continues working)


fine. be that way.

Photo of the day

Nope, still don't do a photo of the day. But if I did, this would be it :)

Flashback Friday

I'm inconsistent with Friday posts, I know. This week Jeff wanted to see what color Connor's hair was at 2 months old so we looked through pics from way back in June of 2007. We were going through them and getting all weepy from how fast it's gone...and how much they look alike. I wonder if they will still look alike in a few years, like if Noah will go from being so dark to being fair like Connor is now.

Anyway, here are some pics of Connor at Noah's age...two months :)

Connor with his Auntie Sarah

this pic cracks me up. this is why they say parents should never leave their children unattended :)

this one really looks like Noah to me...but they all do so who knows.

chubby baby!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

The boys started at their new school this week. So far, we're working out a few kinks but we've found that's to be expected when you start at a new place and there is a bit of a learning curve to get over. Really loving them being so close to my office. I've been over every day so far to get Noah mid-day to nurse him here at my office. I just walk next door, grab him and bring him back to my office :) In fact...I've got him right now. he says hi. not really sillies.

Here are a few pics of the boys on their first day of school.

he really doesn't need a backpack. all he has to bring to school are a spare pair of underroos just in case...but he loves his backpack. i love that it's bigger than him and looks hilarious.

wasn't loving his tummy time this particular evening and after about 10 minutes of absolute freaking out he straight passed out. it made me crack up since he just looks so peaceful...totally worn out from his tantrum :)

i hate that our bed is constantly photographed with the mattress pad showing, but Noah is still at that peeing every stage and our sheets are always being washed. Worst part? We have three sets of sheets and they are on constant rotation every day or so. Maybe eventually we'll learn and stop changing him on the bed. Maybe not.


Happy Wednesday!

Sleep is for the weak

I think that if there is one thing other parents failed to fully describe to me before I had kids I'd say that it was easily the lack of sleep and utter exhaustion. Now that we're pretty much past the really, really tough part (knock on fake wood desk) I am able to look back on it and talk about it without breaking down into a puddle of tears and exhaustion. Seriously, yes, it's that bad. And no, i don't have any sort of post-partum depression stuff to deal with, sometimes you just cry because you're tired and it's all you have left.


There are a few things I really hated other parents to say to me. One is "enjoy this time, it goes so fast..." another is "are you going to try for a girl" and the real kicker is "just sleep when he sleeps". I'll kill you is what I said to those people. It's possible that was just in my head though, who knows...those first few weeks are a walking zombie-like experience where you are half awake and half asleep. Allow me a few moments to comment on the "sleep when he sleeps" genius. Ok, let's say that I start feeding Noah at noon. He takes 40 minutes or so to eat and another 10 for me to firmly, but lovingly, urge a burp out of him so that he doesn't spew 40 minutes of milk out of his little mouth and nose. Ten minutes later, he's asleep and now I get to pump. So, twenty minutes later he wakes up with a blowout of a diaper. Another ten minutes have passed while I've changed that first diaper only to have him realize that he wasn't quite done crapping the minute the new diaper touches his body. Two diapers gone now. While I calculate the cost of diapers in my head time continues to fly by. Ten more minutes to calm down from hating having his diaper changed and he's finally back to sleep. After ten minutes of sleep he starts to writh in pain which I finally deduce is horrible gas. Finally a monster fart appears and he falls back to sleep. Well guess what? it's now been over 2 hours and he's due to eat again. Just try and work in time there for showering, peeing, and laundry...yes laundry because babies, especially boys go through 3-4 onesies a day sometimes. They have magical pee powers I tell you. Anyway, that's my sleep schedule rant.


But then suddenly, you wake up in the middle of the night and realize it's been 5 hours since you last fed him. You check and verify that yes, he's still alive and relish the thought that you may actually get to sleep through the night again soon. It's a good thought. Then he wakes up and you start the show all over again, but it's still good. Because it's true what all the annoying parents out there say, they really do grow up so fast. So you enjoy it because the sleepless nights won't last forever, they'll be gone before you know it and you'll have all new things to get crazy emotional about.


Night, Night Everyone!! The Barnes household is heading for bed...and hopefully for several hours :)

ahhh, but they are just so cute when they sleep :)

Wedding Woes

So...I had a baby two months ago. And a month from now I'm a MOH in our friends wedding. August 28th to be exact. Just a wee bit of stress to get my body in order to be immortalized in someone's wedding photos just 3 months after having a child cut out of my body. Cut out.

Lucky (I guess) for me, since I get so sick during pregnancy I leave the hospital weighing less than I did when I got pregnant. Score. At my 6 week post-partum pregnancy I was still weighing less than I did when I got pregnant. I hate weighing myself and even insist that they not tell me my digits at the drs office, but I can tell by my clothes. I can tell when they start to fit a bit tight...and I can tell when they start to hang off me which is what's happening right now. Loving it. None of my pre-pregnancy slacks fit at all, they actually look horrible - way too wide in the legs, a couple inches too big in the waist and even too long, since they just hang on me. I pulled out a couple pairs of slacks that I haven't worn in years and years and they fit. I won't dish on size, but I'll say that they were two sizes smaller than the too big ones I had to retire.

Back to the wedding stuff...I wanted to wait until the last possible moment to get a MOH dress. That way I'd have as much time as possible to lose a few LBs. Andrea was great about it and gave me her three colors and told me to run with it...any fabric, any style, any length, whatever. I'm the only bridesmaid/moh so we didn't have to coordinate with anyone or anything. This weekend I grabbed a dress and some gorge shoes. The dress is a wee bit big, but I bought off the rack so that's what happens. I'll wait another week or so and head to get it altered.

I only got the go-ahead to work out 2 weeks ago and due to some swelling was told I could only do 10 minutes of cardio a day, and lift no more than 15lbs. Not great for my goal, but I'll do what I can. Hopefully it's true about breastfeeding and that will help too :) Wish me luck!!

Paparazzi

be honest. does it make me a horrible mother that the photos that turn out really, really bad are just as great as the ones that are frame-worthy? Or that I continue to take photos while my boys are clearly done having their picture taken because I kinda find it funny? No? Great. Then enjoy a few of the not so obviously great pics above...especially the one where he's falling over and yet I didn't put the camera down.

Shots and Stats

We took Noah to his two month appointment today. If you mention the two month appointment to parents of young kiddos you get a sympathetic "oh, good luck", and they mean it earnestly. That is because this appointment comes along with 4 shots. Four! Horrible.

We gave him the obligatory tylenol a bit before his appointment to try and avoid the fever that one of the vaccinations often brings on. Unfortunately, Jeffrey accidentally gave him the Children's Tylenol and not the Infant Tylenol so he panicked while we waited for the doctor to come in and assure him that he hadn't just OD'd Noah on pain killers. Strike one. :) Obviously everything was fine...did I mention that Jeff is home with both boys alone this week? Not a simple task getting them both out of the house...especially when there is a set time you need to be somewhere.

So, I knew Noah was gaining weight well and I was not wrong. TWELVE POUNDS, EIGHT AND A HALF OUNCES! That places him in the 75th percentile for weight and his 23.5 inch length puts him in the 75th for height as well. He's big and strong. Our wonderful doctor assured us that even though he's eating double what most kids this age eat, he's not overweight and he's doing great. Good news. She was pleased with his growth, appetite, sleeping and even agreed with our parenting technique of letting him scream and self soothe instead of tending to every whimper. I know some parents don't roll like that but...well, we do. A rested parent is a good parent :) We did the same with Connor and he's pretty damn stellar.

We were worried that one side of his head was looking a bit flat and although we know they always favor one side...it's pretty flat over there. It's all good though, with a prescription of lots more tummy time for Noah Bear. The rest of the appointment went well and Noah tolerated the poking and prodding of temperature taking, boy part checking out and other annoying stuff. Then it was time for the shots. While we waited for the nurse to get them all ready Connor comforted his brother :) Love.


They do an oral vaccination first and then the four injections in the theighs. He did his horribly creepy silent scream and then it erupted into full scale call CPS immediately screams. He stopped as soon as he started though and calmed down after being loved on for a bit.

We weighed Connor on the way out and he came in at 29.5 pounds at 39 months old. just kidding I hate that.

Flashback Friday

We kept some of Connor's clothes for Noah to wear that we really liked or that were still in great shape. One of the things we kept were these super cute Cubs onesies - one in blue and one in red - that I got Jeffrey for his first Father's Day. Jeff showed up to Noah's appointment today with Noah dressed in the blue onesie. I had to do a comparrison here for obvious reasons. See below :)

Connor rockin the Cubbies shirt at ELEVEN months...

...and Noah wearing it at TWO months. sigh :)

Two Months Old

Well, we've been a family of four for two months now and it's flown by. Lots of changes this week, namely I'm back at work. I looked forward to this while dreading it at the same time. I went back a few days ago and while I'm feeling way more productive than I have for the past two months I feel like there's a part of me that is missing.

This week, Jeffrey is at home with the boys. Next week they will start their new school, which I hope will go well. It is so tough finding a good place that doesn't cost the same as out of state college tuition. Seriously. This place is right next to my office, literally. It's right next door. That's great, except that it means I now have to do both drop off and pick up duty. Ugh. That's tough stuff, especially with two...especially at the age that mine are.

Some great things about them being next door? I plan on going over every Wednesday and having lunch with Connor. I can't wait to do this. I figure I have a very small window of time where he's going to still be so excited to see me and I'm going to soak it up. The day will come soon enough where my eldest won't hold my hand or kiss me in front of his friends, so I'll take all the sloppy kisses I can right now :) and they are really sloppy people. So, besides my standing Wednesday lunch date, I'm also planning on visiting with Noah every day. I'm going to go over mid-day everyday and bring him back to my office so I can nurse him once a day. I can do it there at the school if I wanted to, but this way I can get some work done at the same time. If that doesn't epitomize a working mom I don't know what would!! Yesterday Noah was at the school for a trial day and my system worked out great. It was a good way to break up the day and I was able to get work done while we visited :)

Since nursing is new for me I'm just going day to day. I enjoy it, although it hurts sometimes...on the left anyway. I know some people set goals for themselves like nursing for 6 months, 9 months, a year or whatever but I'm really not doing that. It's working for us now, so I'm doing it. If a month from now it's just too much work pumping 3 times a day while at work, then I'll stop. No pressure here. Pumping is a pain in the ass and I only lasted 3-4 months with Connor so we'll see. Noah's classroom includes formula in their fees so we're already saving lots and lots of money there, which I'm all for.

During their time off together, my three boys haven't really done a hell of a lot. :) Jeff and I are so different in that way so it's great for our family...good balance. I have to constantly have something planned so when I was off it was full of bounceU, storytimes, swimming, visiting grandparents at work, playdates, library visits, crafts at home and even errands. Jeff and the boys watch tv, play wii and nap. I think he's the smart one here! Yesterday while Noah was at school Jeff & Connor did go to see Toy Story 3 again and Connor loved it just as much as the first time around, though this time he was more freaked out by the creeper monkey.

The top of this post has Noah's 2 month pic with his owl friend, along with the newborn and one month pics. Can't believe how big he's getting. We have his two month appt tomorrow afternoon so I'll be sure to post his stats after. He was 9lbs, 11oz at one month so my guess is 11lbs, 3oz but I don't know anything. What I do know, is that he'll be getting 4 shots at this appointment so that's miserable. Poor baby. Anyone else have any bets on weight? :)

I still need to name the boys' owls. Any ideas?

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

I have no idea how it happened, but somehow my baby noah turned 2 months old today :)

If I ever have to go to a baby shower again I know what I'm getting the person. A swaddleme. Connor loved being swaddled, meaning wrapped up like a burrito, all the time and Noah is the same. Unfortunately, both of my kids are destined to be soccer players. Soccer players who punch and thrash around. The swaddleme is like a blanket, but with velcro...like a straightjacket I suppose if you're getting technical. Love it.

the only way i could get connor to clean his room was if noah and i went in there with him. i stuck noah up with all connor's bed animals and noah hated it. a lot. he's screaming in this photo, but since it kinda looks like he's laughing i'm posting it.

we visited the Calabretti family last week so the boys could play and noah chilled in Gabi's Bratz chair for a while. I found out later that it's their Naughty Chair, which Noah clearly found hilarious.

I took Connor to his new school last week on a "try it out" day. We know he'll for sure be going there but I figured this would be good for him to have a day there before the big day. I kept Noah at home with me and Connor had a great time. The one thing he didn't love is that "no play baseball in room, play baseball at house". Apparently, that's a rule. :) The two pics above are from his "unofficial" first day of school.

Noah continues to be a pretty happy baby. He's pissed when he's hungry but pretty chill and full of smiles when he's held and well-fed. Found out today that the other kids in his new school who are his same age are eating 2-4 ounces every 4 hours...Noah eats 6 ounces just as often. My kid's a fatty is what I'm learning :)

it's for you

It is what it is

I go back to work tomorrow. There's so much running through my head about this right now that I'm positive this post will be pure, messy word vomit but that's where I'm at right now.

It's bittersweet. While I have enjoyed being home with my boys for the last 8 weeks I know myself well enough to know that being a stay at home mom isn't what I'm meant to do. This is in no way meant to diminish the incredibly important job that stay at home moms do so let's spare the debate, k? k. I just know that I enjoy having a job to go to during the day and that it's important to me and my saneness that I have a job. It's tough. Working all day at your job and then coming home to a second job at home as wife and mama is exhausting. Anyway, I digress. I have loved this time with my boys and it seems horrible that tomorrow I don't get to be with them all day long.

I enjoy my job well enough. I like what I do well enough but it's not really something I'm passionate about if that makes sense. But that was intentional--my family is my passion now. I know it may sound odd but when Connor was born I left the job I was passionate about and found one that simply paid the bills instead. Something that I go to, work and leave to be with my family. When I had kids, my priorities shifted in a HUGE way. I left the job that allowed me to travel, boss people around and have a fancy pants career. Now, I still have a career but it's just there as a paycheck. I'm good at my job and have zero intentions on leaving. I guess what I'm saying is that at this point in my life I work to live...I don't live to work. That's a recent adjustment for me. Recent since I had Connor. And now...it's just multiplied by a million since Connor is getting older and Noah has arrived.

So, tomorrow I'm getting up a few minutes early so I can cuddle my boys, stop for good coffee on my way in, and remind myself how to put on makeup since I haven't done it in 8 weeks. Seriously. I'll muddle through the 8 hours and rush home to be with my three boys...jeffrey took this week off to be with them. I'll secretly wish during the day that both boys throw hissy fits all day because they miss me so much and being with dada all day just isn't quite as grand. I'll note what size picture frames are in my office so that I can bring in more pics later this week. I'll pump 3-4 times while at work because I have to, hating every moment of it. So, that's what my day tomorrow will most likely be like. But I'll get through it because that's what mom's and all parents do. They do what they can because they know it's best for their kids and themselves. I know that working is good for me and is in turn good for my boys. Working helps us pay for them to go to school where they have structured days and become the friendly, little social boys that they will forever be. So I'll keep thinking that all day and I'll be ok :)

Hope your Monday doesn't shape up to be nearly as traumatic as I'm thinkingmine will be :)

Noah's Birth Announcement

yeah, i love hims :)