1 Year Old!

 

 

Oh my goodness I can't believe that my baby is already a year old. Time sure does fly when you are having fun. It really seems like yesterday that I was going to the hospital to have him. I loved when he was a tiny baby and would just let me snuggle him all day and we could nap together. But I am really loving seeing him grow into a little boy, although I do miss the sweet snuggles all day long!

 

We went to GA to celebrate James' birthday. I wanted the great grandparents to be able to be at the party, so it was perfect for us to celebrate there. On the 22nd we were able to go to the Braves game and we had great seats. So James went to 3 baseball games before his first birthday! He was so cute at the game, just chilling out watching everything around him. 

 

 

 

For his actual birthday on the 23rd we didn't really do anything special. We did get him a cupcake to eat though.  We needed an oil change so we did take a trip up to our favorite dealership in Roswell. So he got to see some friends that day. 

 

 

We had James' party on the 25th at my parents house. We had around 36 people there. I was surprised that James was so happy around everyone, since he is used to it just being the 3 of us all the time.  He really didn't want to eat the cake. Which didn't surprise me, cause he didn't want to for his pictures the day before either.  It just meant he was very easy to clean up!  He got so many gifts! Lots of books, blocks, and little people toys.  My grandmother Mane and grandfather Hal gave him a rocking chair that has been in our family since 1949. She had it recovered and James climbed right into it!

 



 

 

James had his check up today and he is 21.25lbs, 30 inches long, and his head is 18.5cm.  He is in the 50% for head and height, and 25% for weight.  The doctor is pleased with his growth and said he is perfect! He only had to get two shots and only cried for a minute.

 

This past year has flown by and I would give anything to have time slow down.  I am doing my best to cherish every minute with my baby. I am so blessed to be his mommy!

 

Weaning Process

On April 5th I started mixing James' oatmeal with whole milk. I had been mixing it with formula, but ran out and didn't want to spend $35 to get another can. So I decided to make the switch.  For a few weeks I only put it in the oatmeal. Then I started giving him a cup of milk with his meals.  He has done so well with the cup that I decided to start weaning him from breastfeeding. 

On April 30th I decided to cut out the 3pm nursing session.  James had been fighting me each day at that time so I knew he was ready to let it go. I gave him a snack of cheese and milk. He seemed so happy to be eating a snack instead of nursing.  Today I decided to cut out the 11am nursing session.  For over a week James has been fighting me at that feeding. So once again I knew it was time.  When he got up from nap today I gave him his lunch and he did fine. 

Tonight at the 7pm feeding he wasn't very interested, but I'm not going to cut out 2 feedings at once. I plan to continue nursing him at 7am and 7pm for a few weeks.  I haven't had any issues with cutting out 2 feedings so far. I hope that I don't experience any engorgement when I cut the last 2 feedings out, but I will just have to wait and see. So far so good!

Struggling

I am struggling to get healthy. I keep making excuses to not work out or eat healthy. I want to do it, but always find a reason not to.  I am so tired of being the weight I am, and my clothes being tight. One day last week we took James to the park to take some pictures of him for his birthday invitation.  Joshua took a picture of me and I looked and it and thought "dang I'm ugly". 

Now I don't think I'm ugly all the time, but this picture doesn't make me feel pretty at all.  No my hair wasn't done and I'm not wearing any makeup. But I should still be able to look at myself and think I am pretty even when I'm not done up. 

I am making the decision to try much harder to make an effort at taking walks every day that it is pretty, and trying to do more exercises at home. I am going to find some recipes that are healthy and easy to fix. I want to get healthy not only for me, but so I can chase my little guy around.

I know that I only have 4 people who read this blog since I made it private, but I figure I can get some accountability from yall!  I'm gonna list my goals, and then do updates as I reach them!

Goals:
1. Lose 10lbs. I ultimately want to lose 90-100 or even more. But I know small goals are easier to reach!
2. Eat healthier
3. Exercise regularly

I weighed myself yesterday morning and I weighed a whopping 245. That is 4lbs less than the day I gave birth to James almost a year ago.

Here are some current pictures so that I have a before:

 

 

 

 

Breast Feeding

So I've made it 11 months breast feeding James. My goal has always been to make it a full year. Let me say that I thought this was going to be an easy journey and boy was I wrong! James has become horrible at just laying still and eating. He constantly tries to stand up and look around. He can tell when I am starting to get mad and he will climb up me and give me kisses and then rest his cheek on my face. I can't be mad at him when he does that to me! But dang it's frustrating that he won't just eat.  I really hope that the next baby I have will be better at nursing, cause I don't think I can handle another one like James.  I don't regret my decision to go a year at all since I know I made the best possible choice for him.

I had heard from tons of people what a joy it is to breast feed, and that there is such a strong bond from doing it.  I have to be honest and say that I don't find it joyful, or think that it made my bond stronger. I compare it to how everyone says that when you are shopping for a wedding dress when you find the right one you have that "feeling", well I didn't get the "feeling" then. I guess I'm just different.  I do love that I can look at James and ask him if he wants to eat and he will get excited and crawl over to me, cause he knows that I supply the food. It makes me happy to be able to provide the best nutrients for him. I have to honestly say that I am looking forward to his birthday because it means I will have reached my goal, and that for the first time in almost 2 years my body will be mine again!!  That is until we decide to have another baby, and then it won't belong to me again for about 2 years. It's all worth it in the end, I know that for a fact! 

Check back after James turns 1 for a whole recap on my nursing journey. I know that I will love having it written down when the next baby comes along and I want to remember that it wasn't all sunshine and roses. It's really a full time job.

11 Months Old!

James turned 11 months old today! I can't believe that he will be 1 in just a month. The past 11 months have flown by. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was seeing my baby for the first time. I have enjoyed every single moment since he was born. It truly is a blessing to be able to be this little guys mom. I can't imagine life with out him. 

I stuck him on the scale this morning and it said 20lbs 2oz. He's my little guy, pants that are size 9 months are big in the waist and long on him. lol!  He can wear 12 month t-shirts, and onsies. He's got a long torso and short legs. He is still able to wear some 6 month pjs, but is mostly in 9 month stuff. I did buy him some new overalls that are 12months and they fit him good. Buying shirt and shorts sets are not good right now cause they pants will be too big, and the shirt will fit. Hopefully the shorts that have been bought for him already will fit him next summer. 

James is a crawling machine, he crawls so fast.  He pulls up on everything, climbs on his chair, climbs in the cabinets, walks with his walking toys. He loves to pull on the cats collar. The cat loves to swat at him!  He loves to be outside. Thankfully we have a balcony, so we have been spending time each afternoon out there. Our apartments are brand new and do not have a playground yet. They are supposed to be putting one it. So once it's in we will be there swinging every day! 

James is currently saying: mama, dada, nini, nina, di, ma, na. He babbles all the time. I swear he is speaking his own language. He is waving bye bye, can do the touchdown signal, and will try to give the home run signal too. 

The Zoo

On Wednesday the 17th we went to the Cincinnati zoo with the mom and me group I'm part of.  Joshua didn't have to work, so he went with us!  This was James' first time going to a zoo, and we had never been to this one.  We really enjoyed it. It's a zoo and botanical gardens in one. So there were beautiful flowers everywhere! The tulips were in full bloom and it was so colorful.

 

 

We got to the gorilla area right as one of the keepers was coming out to talk about them and throw them carrots. It was so neat to see them interact with the keeper. No she wasn't in the area with them, she was outside of it. There was 1 silver back male, and 4 females in the area. One of the females kept clapping trying to get the keeper to throw her carrots. She was a very good catch too. She put on a very good show. One of the other females was over 30 years old and was hiding in a little cave area and only came out to get food. It was funny.

 

I would love to go back again one day. They are building a new addition to the Africa section. I know as James gets older it will be even more fun for him.  He seemed interested in what he was looking at during part of the day. Most of the time though he was just looking the opposite direction of the animal we wanted him to see. We got there at 10am, which is right in the middle of nap time. I figured he would sleep on the way there, but he didn't.  He stayed awake until around 1 and then crashed in his stroller for about 30-45 minutes. Then he fell asleep on the ride home.  He is so used to his schedule, but you would have never known we had thrown it out the window that day. He was in such a good mood all day and was full of smiles!