Happy Birthday to meeeeeee

Today is my birthday. The big 2-6. Jerad and I were just taking about how we were only 21 (me) and 23 (him) when we started dating. We were babies! I can't believe how the time has flown by.

Usually I am all about my birthday. I typically have a "birthday month." This year all I wanted to do was nothing. Just spend time with Jerad and M and RELAX. So, that's what we did. We saw a movie (The Switch), had dinner (Berry Hill Bistro), and went to the Hot Springs. Nice and low key and relaxing! This morning I even got to sleep in. Heaven.

I plan on spending the rest of the day savoring every minute with this little babylove:

Good Morning!

Love it

Do you see how his left eye is more droopy than the right?


His dad does this exact same lazy-eye thing when he's tired. It's even on the same eye. Love it.

I'm exhausted.

Man, how is it only Wednesday? This week has lasted forever... and I still have 30 minutes left of my shift today, then 10.5hrs tomorrow. Kill me.

Things have been going okay. Marshall still isn't napping well for my mom and so when I get home at 5:45 he nurses, then is asleep around 6pm. I'm glad he sleeps in our bed so at least I get to "see him" even if its in his sleep. He sleeps pretty good until midnight then starts waking up every hour or 2 to eat then we get up for the day at 5. Awesome.

Jerad quit his job, did I tell you that? It was just getting to be way too much drama drama and he was way under appreciated. his supervisor decided he needed to "prove himself" after having worked there for 3 years, coming in every weekend they asked him to, always staying late, doing ANYTHING they wanted. Then his email/computer got taken away and he started getting all of these ridiculous projects to do and nothing but attitude from his supe. No thanks! It was time to move on.

He was working crazy hours between having a full time job and all the side stuff so we decided it would be best for our family if he quit his full time w/ benefits job (crazy I know). The plan was that could work for himself doing random side jobs, work with the contractor he's been doing solar with, and have a flexible schedule so he could see me and the baby more. He also was going to work the Outage at Diablo so we could pay off my car to make Dave Ramsey happy, and have a nice chunk in our savings acct for when times are slow. We talked about all the free time he was going to have and how we could meet for lunch like we used to, he's have time to finish projects around the house, spend more time with the dogs who have been crazy lately, and have some daddy-baby bonding. Sounds great yeah?

Since he "quit" he's been busier than ever. In the last week he did a solar install in Bakersfield (or was it twice in Bakersfield? It's all a blur...), drove to Pasadena to bid a solar project, then yesterday flew to Delano for another bid. Today he left to go to bakersfield and install an inverter, LA to pick up solar panels (or something like that), and end up in San Diego for a big project. He has no idea how long he'll be gone. He's hoping to be back Friday for a day, then turn around and head BACK to San Diego. But who knows, he could just be there for a week. He's trying to get this install wrapped up before he starts working crazy overtime at Diablo. Oh, did I mention he thinks that will start next Friday? I guess I'm just a little overwhelmed.

I am SO thankful that he has all this work and that I have such a great job but ya... it's hard. Monday is also my 26th b-day! I don't know if I'm doing anything. I kind of just want to sleep in and snuggle my baby that I don't get to see anymore.

My mom starts teaching next week and we STILL don't have anyone to watch Marshall on Thursday's. The plan was for Jerad to get to stay home with him for the next month but now that can't work. That is super stressing me out. Less than a week to find someone I feel comfortable leaving the baby with for that long is a big task. I'm thinking about cutting my hours down on Thurs so he won't have to be watched by someone else as long, but I have yet to find that someone else. I wish I could just bring him to work. Maybe if I stick him in my file cabinet no one will know?

Having the next few days/week all to me and Marsh won't be so bad. Somehow when Jerad is home everything is just messier... if it's just me once I clean something it stays that way. Plus I clean when I'm bored so I'm sure things will be spick and span in no time. Also, one less person to listen to snoring at 4am when I'm trying to get back to sleep before the alarm goes off doesn't sound bad either.

One more day to get through then 4 day weekend here I come!

I survived!

Sorry in advance for this sounding scatterbrained:

Today actually went much better than I was expecting. The 10.5 hours I spent at work didn't feel as long as I thought it would. Pumping 3 times during my shift sucks... a LOT. There is nothing convenient about pumping milk. All the bottles and parts to clean... transferring the milk to freezer bags, labeling it. UGH. Way easier to just pull out the boob and feed the baby. Not to mention that holding your baby is way better than dealing with the pump. Anyways, I pump after the last morning feeding (around 6:30am), then at my 10:00 break, lunch, and 3:00 break. By the time I'm done on my lunch break and have everything cleaned up and put away, I have about 5 minutes to eat. Oh well, it could be worse!

Marshall had a hard time. This was the longest he had ever been away from me. He was supposedly super happy and charming all day, but would.not.nap. Then when he got home he wanted to nurse.... for 2 hours straight. I kid you not. Every time I tried to set him down he would scream like he was dying. Finally he fell asleep and I was able to lay him on the couch, surrounded by my sweater that smelled like me, with a pillow wedged against his tummy where I had been laying. It worked just long enough for me to scarf down some food before he woke up screaming to be cuddled some more. Poor little guy. I'm sure it will get easier. We took turns lovin/snuggling/rocking him until he finally decided to fall asleep around 9pm. He is the sweetest, easiest baby... as long as he gets his sleep!

I'm surprised he wouldn't sleep because he has been a champion napper as of late. I used to have to nurse him to sleep in bed, then slowly sneak away. Or hold him. Or have him in the sling. That transitioned to me being able to put him down when he was asleep, to putting him down when he was super sleepy. Then in the last few weeks I've been able to lay him in his crib as soon as he looks tired, and he just falls asleep. Thats it! Sometimes he'll fuss a little bit and I just run his back until he konks out. And he'll stay out for 2-4 hours. Three times a day. Seriously, world's easiest baby. I hope him and my mom get it together soon because overtired babies are no fun.

We'll see how tomorrow goes!

Excuse me while I cry into a pillow...

This was the last weekend we had together before I go back to working 10 hour shifts. By the time you add in lunch and driving to/from work, I'll be gone 11 hours a day. That is an insane amount of time to spend away from this cute little guy:

Btw, this is my new favorite onesie. It has a horse on the front and says "here a neigh, there a neigh, everywhere a neigh" then has this on the back:

The good news is I only work 4 days a week. I am so blessed that we were in a position where I was able to take off so much time. I keep trying to remind myself of that... but its still hard. I'm not the kind of person who would like to completely stay home, but I did love working the 1/2 shifts. It was the perfect blend of being at home, and still feeling like I was out doing something productive.

We thought about doing something fun before I go back, like going to the San Diego Zoo, or up to Monterey. Instead I decided I'd rather stay home and spend as much time with my boys as possible.

Saturday we went to a yard sale at Kari's house where we finally remembered to get a pic of Marshall and his buddy Joshua. They were born 4 days apart! Right now they don't seem too excited by each other, but I'm sure they'll be bff's someday:


We spent more of the rest of the day outside. Marshall is loving being outside these days.


At night we gave him a bath in the sink.


Up until the last few days he has been going to bed at 10 when we do, waking up once to nurse around 2 or 3am, then up for the day around 8 (unless its a work day and we wake him up at 5:30). This worked pretty well for us. Sometimes he would wake up more often during the night to eat, but I don't mind, I fall back to sleep easy plus he sleeps in bed with us so its not a big ordeal. That all came to an end sometime during the past few days though. Now he falls asleep around 6:30 or 7, doesn't wake till 3, then wakes up about every hour from then until 6am. I can deal with the frequent waking, but it breaks my little heart that he's going to bed so early... I feel like I'm not going to see him once I'm working full time again!

At least he's a happy boy in the morning.


Sunday we went out to brunch. Marshall isn't quite ready to sit in a high chair yet, but he can sit in the booth pretty well.

I can't believe how much he has grown in the last 4 months!

He is starting to develop such a personality. There are definitely things he likes (music, outdoors, books, baths) and things he doesn't like (cold, getting out of the carseat, and putting on clothes mostly).

After brunch, and a good nap, it was time to hang up the sheets for me


and nakey time for Marshall:


The necklace he is wearing is a baltic amber teething necklace. They help with teething pain and symptoms. He isn't cutting teeth yet, so I don't know how it helps with the pain, but it did cut his drool waaaaay down. Plus we think its freakin adorable.

Well I'm going to cuddle with my hubby and cry into the pillow about abandoning my baby to go back to work. Here's a good note to end on:

Weekend Bliss

Saturday we spent the majority of the day running around doing errands. Jerad gave Marshall and I the lovely cold he picked up so I decided to get a humidifier. How cute is this little guy?

Marshall chilled in the backyard while I hung up the diaper laundry.

When it finally cooled off in the evening, we spread a blanket out and played on the grass.




How adorable are these little toes????

Sunday, we all slept in until after 9. Amazing! Jerad decided to whip up some grilled peaches and oat pancakes and fresh squeezed OJ while Marshall and I went to the sore to pick up some syrup. I didn't think we'd have enough time to walk there and back before breakfast was done so I drove there, then stuck him in the Ergo and walked back. He loves taking walks:



When we got back, Marsh took a nap and Jerad and I feasted on this homemade yummy-ness:



After breakfast we got Marshall all dressed up for a day with Daddy and the boys:
Then we went to get my car and found this:


AWESOME.

While Jerad and Marshall had boy time (fishing in Cayucos), I went to a cafe to read and sip an iced latte, thrift store shopping where I bought a ton of frames that I'm going to hopefully transform into something beautiful, cleaned the front of the house, mopped and dusted. Then I took a cat nap. It was so relaxing to have some alone time! For dinner we bbq'd fish.

Then a miracle happened. Marshall went to sleep at 6:30 and slept until 3am! Poor little guy. Having uninterrupted sleep is nice, but I can't go that long without pumping so I'm hoping it doesn't become the new thing.

A few more of baby's "first's"

I've been so busy trying to soak up every minute of not working full time (I go back next week! wah wah waaaaaaa) that I haven't been doing very well at updating. Here's a few things we've been up to over the summer:

We rented an electric boat, packed a picnic lunch, and boated around Morro Bay. First boat ride at 5 weeks:





At 10 weeks we went to the lavendar festival. Mommy looooooooves her some lavender!

At 12 weeks we took my littlest sister and our dog Buddy with us for baby's first lake trip:




He didn't seem to care one way or the other about the water, but he enjoyed sleeping on mommy in the shade:

At 13 weeks Marshall went to his first concert in the park. Moomy and Daddy go to a lot of concerts, so we're hoping he loves music too:

Oh Dear.

how adorable is this collection???

I love Janie and Jack stuff... just not so hot on the prices:) Baby clothes should not cost more than big people clothes. They're like 1/10 the size so clearly they should be 1/10 the cost right? Hence why I always buy baby stuff at consignment stores.

That said I'm totally buying the little coyboy hat. Just not this week, Jerad and I are doing a "no spend challenge" and I'm determined to win not to cheat :)