it seems this aways happens...

   In between my (extremely spread out) posts, it seems that something big ALWAYS changes! This time it has to do with work. I'm not working at the coffee shop anymore and have pretty much decided to just not work for awhile! It was getting pretty stressful trying to keep up with the house, Jack, and working at night. I think right now my major focus will just continue to be Jack! And I'm pretty sure I'm going to go back to school this fall and start working towards being an IBCLC. I'm so excited!

   So that's pretty much it on the "me" front. Jack, on the other hand... well, that's a whole different story! He has changed SO MUCH!

   Since putting him on formula, the little guy has gained a whole pound in a month! I'm so glad he's finally putting on some weight and not looking so skinny! He also grew about an inch and a half! He's been crawling all over the place and pulling himself up on EVERYTIHNG! The couch, baby gate, toys, Jump-a-roo, my legs, the sliding glass door at Ainsley's house... you name it. He also recently started walking around while holding onto the furniture. He goes all over the place! From the couch to the baby gate, down the length of the baby gate, back up to the couch, along the couch, back over to the gate, crawl over to a toy, pull up on it, walk around it... you get the point. 

   Jack has also discovered how to take the lid off of things now! I bought him the generic version of the Gerber lil' munchies (like cheetos) or whatever and left them in the living room with him (lid on) to go to the bathroom. Well, I hear "clang! .......... clang! ..... clang! ... CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!!!" and come out to see what on earth is going on, only to find Jack with the container in his hand, banging it on my end table, with NO lid on it. Needless to say, there were little cheeto things ALL OVER the floor! Haha... guess you could say I learned my lesson! 

   So I'm also in the midst of planning a first birthday party for my little man. OMG! I can't believe he's about to be ONE! Since his birthday falls on a Wednesday this year, we're going to have it the weekend before. BUT I still plan on doing something (just the 3 of us) on his ACTUAL birthday. I am so excited!
   Also, I bought a new computer a little bit ago, so hopefully it helps me keep up with my blogging a little better than I have been (I know, I say that all the time!)... Sorry! Anyway, that's about all the excitement I can handle for right now... it's pretty late and I've got to get some sleep. Oh! One last thing! The past few nights, Jack has slept from 9:30 PM until 9:30 (or later!!!) AM! THANK GOODNESS! I finally have a baby that sleeps through the night again! So, I had better catch some zZzZs while I can! :) Good night!

gah!!!

   I am SO sorry that I pretty much skipped the entire month of April on here! Let's just say I've had a lot on my hands here lately. I am going to configure my account so that I can write posts from my e-mail and hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it a little bit better that way! Anyway, I'm just going to go ahead and jump right into all of the updates for around here!
   For starters, Jack is about to be 9 months old! 9 FREAKING MONTHS!!! In 6 days! I really underestimated just how fast time goes by when you have a baby. But the thing is, the older they get, the faster it goes by (although I'm sure by the time he's a teen I'll think otherwise). So let's see if I can cover EVERYTHING that has happened in the past month that I was absent from here...
   Jack now has a grand total of 4 teeth! Two on the bottom and two on the top! His favorite food is broccoli. He no longer eats ANY jarred food or cereal. He doesn't like being spoon fed unless it's yogurt, cream of wheat, or grits. Haha. He has perfected his Army-style low crawl, can pull himself into a standing position while holding onto things now, can walk while holding our fingers, claps when we say "Yay!" or he is proud of himself, and he waves "Hi" and "Bye" to EVERYONE!
   Also, he is still breastfed, although not as often. He gets a couple of bottles of formula every day now. If you look at his "growing up..." chart, you can see that his weight for months 6, 7, and 8 are all VERY close. His doctor and I weren't sure if it was related to his reflux or what, but I started to notice before he turned 8 months that he was spending less time nursing because he was so easily distracted! The less time a baby spends nursing, the less nutrients they receive. This means he was pretty much getting the foremilk (the more watery part of the milk) and less hindmilk (the fattier, nutrient rich part of the milk). This can in turn damage your supply.
   So once I noticed that, I decided to go ahead and switch him to mostly formula when he turned 8 months old. Since we started doing that, he is sleeping better at night, less fussy, and seems much more alert, aware, and talkative. You might be wondering, "why not just pump?" Well, I have been. My supply has been pretty damaged from how he was nursing over the past few months and although I could get it back up, I just don't have enough time to chase after him all day long, keep up with the house, work (more about that in a bit), and pump. I have only been getting about 0.5-2oz each time I pump, where I would normally get 3-4oz. I'm extremely proud of myself for exclusively breastfeeding him for 8 months, but pretty sad that I wasn't able to continue that until a year old. So yeah... a pretty bittersweet situation!
   And yes... I mentioned work in the paragraph above. That's right, I have a job! Granted, it's only part time and it's at night, but I LOVE it! I'm working downtown at a place called Rude Awakening Coffee House. Yes, I have worked there in the past. It's my home away from home! I love it there! Also, Zach got a job too! He now works for a landscaping company in a town about 45 minutes away from our house. He's been loving it. Although we certainly don't get to see each other as frequently now! But we're working on that.
   Anyway, I had better get off here! It's pretty late and I have a good bit of cleaning and laundry to do before I can actually go to bed... oh joy! Haha. Good night!!!
  

i know, i know...

   It's been forever since I've been on here! Man, I'm really slacking! Haha. But I have a pretty good excuse this time. Jack and I took a nice 8 day trip to Georgia and Florida to go visit some family. It was his first time getting to meet my mom's side of the family and I'm SO glad we got to go for as long as we did! The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had an amazing time. He had so many new things happen in that time frame too! His first long car ride (he did pretty well!), first trip to the beach, he finally got his pincer grasp down pretty well and has been enjoying feeding himself, he tried a bunch of new foods, and learned how to pull himself up into a standing position! I have lots of amazing pictures from the beach that I need to upload, so hopefully I'll be able to get that done soon.
   So the weather in Florida was absolutely gorgeous! Sunny and hot... perfect beach weather. Then we get into North Carolina and there's a high of 52 and it's RAINY! The high was 44 today! Ugh... needless to say, I want to go back! I'm so ready for it to be warm and sunny all the time! I am in desperate need of a tan... haha!
   Other than all of that, not a whole lot is new in my life! I've just been enjoying life as a mom! I skipped my workouts at the gym the past two weeks... unfortunately! I was out of town the past week, so I obviously couldn't have gone. Then the week before that I was super frantic trying to get us ready for our trip! But that's okay because I pick right back up on it tomorrow and meet up with my trainer on Thursday! I'm also going to really start cutting/counting calories this week too. Not too much though because I still breastfeed, so I have to have a minimum daily amount.
   Anyway, time for me to go! Jack is up from his nap and I'm going to lose control of my keyboard soon if I keep sitting here!

i'm going to go crazy...

   If I don't start posting more often! Haha. I feel so terrible for not keeping up with this thing as much as I want to, but I guess that's one of the many perks of being a mom! Not enough time in the day!!! Plus, Zach always has the computer for school work.
   Anyway, not too much has changed around here recently! Jack is about to be 7 months old in a few days. I can't believe that 7 months have gone by already! People always told me time was going to fly by after he was born, but now I know just how true that is! I have loved every single second of being a mom. It's the best thing there is. Watching your baby grow and change every day is the most rewarding thing ever because you know that you're the reason they know all that they do! I absolutely LOVE watching him discover new things!
   Jack's bottom teeth are REALLY coming in now! You can see them when he smiles and babbles... it's adorable! Until he bites me that is! Those suckers HURT! I'm pretty sure he's going to get some more in pretty soon, although I'm not sure which ones it will be yet. Guess we'll find out soon enough!
   Everything has been going really well! I started working out with a personal trainer a few weeks ago and it has been kicking my butt! My arms hurt like crazy right now, but it's nice to know I'm doing something. My goal is to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight by summer, but I'm hoping it happens before then! I don't have too much left to go, so I'm hoping it goes fast!
   Anwayyy... I think I had better go get some sleep! I have to be up bright and early once again! :) Hopefully I can post again sooner than a week though! Good night!

crawling...

I love my little inchworm! :) 

ma ma ma...

   I have MORE great updates to tell you all about! On February 16th, Jack said "ma ma" for the first time! I was so excited! Also, on the 18th we put him down on the floor to let him roll around for a little bit before bed and next thing we know, the little stinker is CRAWLING towards his toys! He wasn't on his hands and knees... it was more of an Army crawl. But still! Haha. My baby boy can CRAWL! Oh lord... I guess I had better start the baby proofing! What a joy!
   This morning I had him in his bouncer and he was just jumping all over the place and saying "blah blah ma ma ma ma blah ma ma ma blah ma ma ma ma..." it was pretty funny! I love that he is starting to "talk" more now! Oh yeah, I think he might be getting 2 more teeth sometime soon too! Right next to the other two! Things have certainly been getting more interesting around here lately. Right now he is down for a nap, but will probably be waking up sometime soon.
   Anyway, that's pretty much it as far as that goes. As for me, I have some new things going on! I've recently started working out with a personal trainer. My first workout was on Friday and my legs are still sore! Guess that just goes to show how out of shape I am. But I'm really looking forward to getting back in shape and feeling/looking better! Love the burn!
   I've also decided that I am definitely going to start up my blog about breastfeeding. There are so many women out there who just need to hear that what they are doing is right and that they aren't alone in what they're going through. I want to be one of the voices telling them they're doing a great job. Now I just have to pick out the perfect title and get it up and running! I can't wait! I'll keep you guys posted on that and post a link to it once I get it started.
   Well, I hope that everyone has a wonderful day today! I'm thinking about taking Jack up to the park today for a walk... I gotta get going! Jack just woke up from his nap! :)

oh, how time flies...

   My little boy is 6 months old (and 3 days) already... I can't believe it! Where has that time gone?! It feels like just yesterday I was holding him for the first time... now he's sitting up on his own, eating solids, laughing, has TWO teeth, he's playing and interacting more, sleeping in his own crib, sleeping in his own ROOM (AH!), and so much more! Anyway, this is going to be a short post! Just wanted to throw his newest picture up here. :)

   Not to brag or anything, but my baby boy is absolutely adorable! :) He lights up my world, puts a smile on my face, and melts my heart all at once! I love him more than anything!

   Oh yeah... here are those TWO teeth I was telling you about!!!

SUPER EXCITING!!!

   Anyway, time for me to get some rest! Good night...