Friday we had a busy morning and afternoon filled with plenty of errands that I needed to get done, and I couldn't put them off any longer. Dinner prepping for the following week, grocery shopping, the post office, doctors appointments, four other stores, and the bank - all with a baby who did not want to cooperate. Friday night, we cleaned a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean our whole house. Laundry was also done, which sometimes feels never-ending. And it was a successful bath night for little man. Saturday morning we all ran around like crazies getting ready for our family photo shoot. No matter what time either of us set an alarm for, or say we are going to have enough time to do things, something goes wrong and we're always running late - which also happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves. The photo shoot took much longer than we expected, and it was outside, and very, very cold. Shuffling Easton in and out of the car so he would stay warm made it difficult for anything to be done quickly, on top of the fact that he had no desire to have his picture taken, and wanted nothing to do with walking, let alone in the snow. Let's just say it was a battle within itself, and I'm very curious to see how they will turn out. After that, we picked up a desk that I bought. It wouldn't have been a problem if I had actually measured the back of my car like most people would have. Instead, I "guestimated" and continuously reassured Jake that it would fit in my car. Low and behold, it didn't. So I had a very frustrated husband loading a desk into the back of my SUV, and strapping the half of it that was hanging off down with some straps. It was exhausting just to watch him so I could only imagine his frustration. Once we got it home, our lovely cousin (who also happens to be our cousin LOL) was so generous to fight the battle with Jake to get it upstairs and into the spot that I wanted it. Once again, I should have measured, and it was a little big for the area that I wanted it in. At that point, after the battle of even getting it into the house and into the spot where I wanted it, there was no more battling with my husband. It is in that spot for now, and most likely will stay there. Lesson learned: MEASURE! After that battle of a move, there was now more cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. I was so exhausted and tired that by that point, I was done. My mother in law kindly brought over pizza so 1) I didn't have to cook, and 2) I didn't have even more to clean. Everyone sat down to watch a movie after that while I ventured upstairs and took Easton to bed.
Sunday morning was another bright and early morning. Last minute cleaning and everyone had to get ready. Off to church we went, and this week was extra special! We did a baby dedication for Easton at our church! We go to an amazing church in Brighton called The Naz. It's a non-denominational Christian church that we've been going to for awhile now. One of the things we love about our church is that they strongly believe that YOU should choose when you want to be baptized. For children, this means that they can decide to accept God into their hearts once they have a true concept of him and our religion, once they've learned about God through our great children's ministry, and when it's on their terms. We're so happy about this because we want our son to WANT to do it on his own, himself, when HE is ready - not because someone else made the decision for him or someone else has decided it's his time. So after birth, and so forth after that, up until a baptism is performed, at our church they do baby dedications. This is when you ask special family members and friends to come forth and make the promise that they will, along side us parents, help guide our children down the right path, help them with their learnings with God, and show them positivity, good faith, and strength. I love this especially because I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child. Plus, it would have been very difficult for us to narrow it down to just one set of God parents, because there are so many people we love and care about, who also love and care about Easton, and we couldn't just pick two. So we selectively asked those closest to us who meant the most to us to come share this day with Easton. Our pastor then asked all of us to come to the stage with Easton, he said some beautiful words, and then asked our family and friends for their blessings in helping us and assisting us with our son. After that, he held Easton and said a beautiful prayer. It was such a heartwarming and wonderful experience. We are so grateful for it and so thankful to have so many loving people not only in our life, but now in our child's life. It truly is a blessed feeling to have!!
And that brings us to the start of this week. It's only Tuesday and I'm already dreading the rest of the week. That's horrible to say, especially since this weekend is Valentine's Day and Jake and I actually have plans. Just to clarify, I'm not dreading that, I'm actually looking forward to that. But this week has already been a challenge in itself. Although Easton is still nursing, he isn't nursing nearly as often, and almost never during the day. Because of this, his doctor has switched him to 18-24oz of whole milk a day, on top of three meals and snacking. The switch happened pretty quickly and Easton took to it right away. So the eating part has been great. He loves yogurt or cereal in the morning, he loves veggies and meats and he's been trying and loving tons of new foods. The downfall to all of this - major constipation. He has been having serious trouble going number two (TMI - but he is literally crying hysterically and screaming at the top of his lungs when he is trying to go, his stool is very hard, and I know he's having a very difficult and painful time trying to pass it). So after talking to his doctor, he's now also on natural stool softeners, which is a switch on-and-off of apple juice and prune juice. It takes a little while for this to kick in, so the past couple of days with little man, have been rough. On top of that, another bottom tooth has officially popped through, a second one is rooting and making its way, and two big molars are coming in. Lots of crying, fussy moments, and lots and lots of drool. With all of this, he also has been having quite the time at night. His first initial fall-asleep is quick and easy, just like any other night. But the past two nights, and especially last night, have been rough. He wakes up around 2-3am and is just one unhappy baby. He won't nurse, he won't take a bottle, he gets a diaper change and is still unhappy, he doesn't want to be walked around or rocked, he simply just cries. It's almost as though he's over-tired but is refusing to fall back asleep. It is not fun, by any means at all. Last night, I went to bed at 8:45pm because I was so tired from the night before. Usually, I never ask Jake to help me with Easton at night because I know he works all day and I'm home with Easton, so he especially needs his sleep. Easton woke up at 2am last night, and I knew it was bad when Jake woke up at 3am and decided to try to make an attempt and making him feel better - which did absolutely nothing except send Easton into a massive, screaming uproar for a very short period of time before he handed him back to me and he went back to his subtle but still upset cry. I'm thinking (and hoping) that this is a phase, and it is a combination of an upset belly, a painful tushy, a big heaping handful of teething, and an over-tired and exhausted baby. The doctor said that this phase is normal, and that once the other teeth pop-through it should get better. But basically until then, you tough it out. I finally fell back asleep at 4:30am this morning, and at that time, Easton wasn't crying but he was still rolling around somewhat awake and Jake was up with him. I am so grateful and thankful to have a husband who does that, and then wakes up and goes to work two hours later and doesn't complain at all, but simply kisses me goodbye and tells me that he hopes I have a better day today. I couldn't ask for a better support system.
Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's hard. In the end, it's always worth it. God is good, Family is good, Parenting is good - that, I can promise you.
xoxo,
Christine
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