Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Learning

Work is hard. Just when I feel like I am getting the hang of things everything goes down hill. I forget little things when I'm at work and then remember them when I get home or the next day. These little things can turn into big things and it stresses me out. I hate letting people down and not doing my compete job. I've talked to many other nurses there and they all say the same thing...you're still learning! Oh how I hate that I am still learning and not that perfect nurse I dream of being.

Also, I have the cutest most happiest baby in the world!!! I love him SO much and he's the best little boy.
-A few posts ago I mentioned how he doesn't want baby food anymore. Well, he would still eat it but preferred other food. After Thanksgiving he has decided to NOT want to eat baby food or even a bottle. His bottle he'll only drink a few ounces and push it away. Food...he pushes away. BUT he has had shredded chicken, waffles, toast, grilled cheese, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, french fries (just 3 little pieces), ice cream (screamed when we wouldn't give him more), frozen vegetables and more things I can't think of. He doesn't like fresh fruit. His face goes sour and then spits it out. He says mama and dada all the time!
-He started to crawl using his feet and hands and not on his knees or belly.
-He's more interested in the plug to the Christmas lights than the tree itself!
-his top right tooth finally popped through
-His body is all bruised from the falls he's been taking. His most recent is right in the middle of his forehead!
-He weighs 19.7 pounds, 27 inches long. His head is small but the doctor says it's growing consistantly so nothing to worry.
-He's wearing 12 month clothes now!

So that's the rundown on Mr. Coop. He's loud, happy, smiley! We couldn't ask for a more perfect baby!

Monday, November 22, 2010

'Tis the Season

It's Thanksgiving time!! I can't wait to see family and have all the kiddos together. Cooper will finally be able to play with them! But aside from the celebration part here are a few things that I am grateful for in my life:

- our home. it's not perfect. it's not ours. but it keeps us safe and warm. a place to go home to. and along with our home - our stuff in it!
- family. especially my boys. all 3 of them! how lucky am i to have such handsome men in my life. i know i will be taken good care of when i get old.
- our jobs. even though i hate having to work i am grateful for my job. our house is warm, bills are paid, we have plenty of food, clean clothes, and even a little extra to go out on dates, or buy plane tickets to MICHIGAN!
- vehicles. we have 3 that run. nothing fancy, just perfect for our needs.
- brady. he gets me through each and every day. i don't handle stress well..at all! my heart starts acting up and my body starts hurting. i start to shake and can't control the tremors. i have a problem with stress and always have. but just a simple phone call or text from brady calms me down and helps me relax. since i've started working, i often find a little note on my windshield. and just this weekend i found a picture of cooper in my front seat. how thoughtful and sweet of him! he lets me sleep in when i didn't get home until after midnight that morning. cleans the house while i've been gone. he even puts the clothes away!! he tells me i'm beautiful every day. his kisses make my knees weak. his hugs make me feel safe and loved. he's so gentle and kind to everyone. he loves his family and hates being away from them. he loves me more than i ever imagined my husband would!

what are you grateful for??

all in a months work

Cooper has recently been eating like a champ! He will sit and eat 3+ containers of food...of the BIG containers of food. He LOVES LOVES LOVES to eat! When I try to give him "people" food it takes him forever to eat because he doesn't get full. We always know when he isn't feeling well because he'll only eat maybe 3 containers a day total. Anyway...his belly is getting big and he is feeling much heavier. I wanted to see how much he weighed. So I stepped on the scale to see how much I weighed, then I was going to pick him up and do the math. To my surprise I have lost 10 pounds!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I knew I was losing weight because my pants are looser - but I have a hard time losing inches in that area so I just assumed my pants were stretching out.

Now aren't you curious how I lost all that weight in one month?? My job! I am always on my feet. And by always - I mean 8+ hours STRAIGHT. I still am running behind schedule, which means I don't sit down until I am done on the floor. The other nurses that see me working joke around about how fast I can walk. The other night I was even asked if everything was okay because I was walking so slow (it happened to be the one night I was ahead of schedule). Some of my aids have even told me that they consider working as their cardio workout. Agreed! So the only times I sit are when I chart...after I'm off the floor. Also, I don't eat lunch or anything at all during that time. I have no time to get my work done and eat. Eventually I will be better at organizing my time and I will have that half hour to chill. But until then...I guess I will keeping losing the pounds!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

October and November

I haven't posted any pictures because my Mac charger still isn't working and the Dell is kind of slow. But I have some "me" time while Cooper is sleeping...and some relaxation time after I am home after work...to post some pictures. I hope you like them!
Cooper is not even the tiniest bit afraid of the water! He would dive in head first if we let him.
playing before bed
he tends to dive head first into his spoon full of food!
playing with all his toys.
he LOVES paper and tore up Dad's soccer magazine within minutes
new favorite thing...looking out the window and grabbing the blinds
naked baby!
crazy hair. You can kind of see the weight he's been gaining!
bath time - enough said
Happy Halloween!
he hates things on his head. He screams.
he thought the fridge was pretty cool and climbed right in!
Look Mom!!
Happy Birthday to me!
first pumpkin
all of our pumpkins. C for Cooper, big one's mine, the owl's is Brady's, K for Kegan.
I woke up to this on my birthday :) All my favorite candy! And the card was super sweet with a gift card for a facial, money for whatever I wanted at the spa, and a picture of my cricut that we purchased later that day!
it takes two people to change this little boy's diaper. Sometimes even the two of us struggle together to hold him still long enough to get anything done. BUT give him a bottle and we can do whatever until the milk is gone. Seriously one of the most frustrating things as a parent.
Go Michigan!
Cooper waving at us!

giggles


Saturday, November 13, 2010

exhausted

Work is kicking my butt! Since I'm still trying to get the hang of everything it takes me so much longer just to get half my job done. I speed walk everywhere (someone even told me I was going to get shin splints). And then there's the few days where I'm running. Last night was a marathon for me. The other nurses on the other halls mentioned how they've noticed I've had a lot of things going on (phone calls, faxes, call lights, etc.). Thankfully, one of the nurses was ahead of schedule and had some time to help me get the little things done (like checking blood glucose). If it wasn't for his help and guidance through this learning experience I probably wouldn't have left before 1:00 am. It was rough and my body is paying for it today. And unfortunately (or maybe it's a good thing) I have this weekend off and then only 2 days off until Thanksgiving. I am going to be one tired mama but Christmas is coming and the money would be helpful to give Cooper the BEST first Christmas!

Oh and on that note...we think Cooper will LOVE opening presents. His favorite toy or form of entertainment is paper. Any type of paper. Brady had a soccer magazine on the floor. It was torn to shreds within minutes! Cooper had a BLAST ripping it apart and shaking it around. When we go to restraunts...give him the children's menu to play with. It keeps him busy almost the entire time. The other times that it doesn't occupy him...give him a straw cover. Works like a charm!

So we're pretty excited for the holidays this year. It will be great fun with the little man of ours and all his energy!

Monday, November 8, 2010

cooper

i really really do miss my little man. i miss being home with home all day and knowing everything that he's doing. now that i've been working a lot i don't get to see as much of the cool things he's doing. but, as his mother i do get to see it just not as often. here's a list of some cool things our active boy is doing:

- opening cupboards. he figured this one out and has done it only a few times. hopefully he doesn't figure it out again any time soon.
- giggles ALL the time!!! brady has told me several times "he is always laughing!" maybe we look funny to him??
- said "dada" for the first and only time. brady was on speaker phone and i always tell cooper to say "hi dada". this time he breathed in real deep and whispered "dada". brady didn't even hear it :(
- he has no fear. he'll be standing against the furniture, spin around real fast and throw himself to the ground. he serioulsy pushes off the couch and falls with as much energy as he can. he then gets up and does it again, over and over. if he's on the furniture and we are not holding him...he will throw himself over the edge. i have only had to catch him once half way off the bed. he doesn't get very many chances to do anything that courageous.
- still has a ton of energy. brady and i will be on the floor playing with him. he crawls over to brady, stands up against him, does his spin move and throws himself to the floor. then he crawls over to me and does the same thing. once again, he does this like 5 minutes straight before he gets onto something else. oh and don't forget the giggles. he's laughing and squealing the whole time!
- he absolutely loves bath time. remember the whole "no fear" he has going on? i turned the water to the tub on. as usual cooper comes crawling in as fast as he can, naked, ready to get in the tub. i turned my back for a second and the next thing i see is cooper balancing (on his tummy) on the edge of the tub trying to reach the running water. the funniest part was his little legs weren't touching the ground but they were kicking trying to get a little farther. and to add to it he was giggling as usual :) i would've grabbed the camera but you can imagine what my reaction was!
- he loves, loves, loves hair. he will crawl up to me giggling and laughing...so i think he wants to play. when he gets to me and stands up the first thing he does is reach for my hair and yank on it as hard as he can. and not just the top layer...it's almost always the bottom little hairs at the back of your neck. OUCH! he does this to brady too but he will grab whatever he can. surprisingly, my hair is grabbed WAY more than my glasses.
- his new favorite spot is the window. unfortunately we have 3.5 windows total in our whole place. the one in the living room is low enough for him to look out.

well, that's all for now. he's napping and i'm so ready for a nap. i have a meeting i have to go to for work...mandatory if i want to get paid. blah.

oh and pictures will come sometime soon. promise. i am going to go buy a new computer cord today.

Time?

This week I worked a lot of hours...in the past three days I have worked 30+ hours. I want to say about 35ish. And, to make things worse I worked two evening shifts (2pm-10pm). I don't mind the late hours...it means more time with Cooper but when I leave work at 12:30 after being there since 1:45 I am pretty pooped. Also, I don't have the time to take breaks or even think about being hungry or peeing. So I can't wait to get home and into bed by this time, or maybe eat. Then all too soon Cooper decides to wak up in the middle of the night. Of course Brady gets up with him but I'm still aware that the little one is awake. But THEN he gets up at 6:30 - 7:00 every morning. So after several days of being up early, working hard for 11 hours straight, then maybe 5 hours of sleep at night is starting to wear on me. But hey...my pay check should be helpful right??