Family

Riley is 3 Months!

The Merfett

HOW? That’s a whole trimester! Well, it covers the “missing 4th trimester” theory ;)

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Weight: Bad Mama. I was planning to weigh him last week when we were at a baby store, since they have a scale. Well, I totally forgot. Mama Brain. What I do know, dude is SOLID. I’m noticing that his car seat is heavier and not as easy to haul around. We probably won’t be carrying him in it for much longer. He was 13lb 4oz at his last appointment, so I’ll guess that he’s over 15lb? He’s pushing the limits of his 6 month clothing. I bought him some winter outfits in 9 month size, hopefully that holds!

Health: Healthy! We got a NoseFrida which seems to be much less traumatic for the stuffy nose moments. He almost sort of likes it? Odd kid. I think we’re approaching the teething phase. He’s a drool monster, gnaws on his pacifier and is constantly shoving his hands in his mouth. I have some teething things ready, but from what I’ve heard he can be in this “pre-teething” phase for a long time. No fever yet – I’m watching for that since I know it’s often a sign.
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Sleep: 8 HOURS on Friday night. It was ah-maz-ing! We put him down at 9:30pm and he slept until 5:30am. I felt like a champion, like I could take on the world! For the week prior he’d been waking every 3 – 4 hours to eat. Lovin’ those growth spurts, and my Wonder Weeks App, ha. Naps are pretty consistent. We’re up around 7:00am, then he gets a short nap in the car on the 30 – 40 min drive to work. We get to the office and he takes 2 – 3 naps, either 40min or 1.5 hours. If it’s two naps it’s more like 2 hours each. Then a short nap on the drive home, and we have some extra awake time before bed and he goes down between 8:00pm – 9:00pm depending on how things are going. Fussy nights = earlier bedtime. That goes for both of us!
Nursing: Still going really great. After that 8 hour stretch I was hurting a bit though ;) Being a part of “Mama Culture” now makes me want to tell the new Mama’s all the things I didn’t know about nursing. It hurts at first. Don’t freak out when you pump hardly anything. It’s HARD. I remember hearing about how you need to reach out and get help early on if you’re struggling – but I didn’t know what struggling looked like. You can’t “practice” nursing before you have the baby, so what are you supposed to to? I feel like there should be mandatory house calls for new Mama’s. Where a Mentor Mama comes and checks in with you.  And the Mentor Mama’s should be new-ish to motherhood. Hopefully there’s Mom’s and Aunt’s and Grandma’s to talk to – but some things get forgotten, and it’s SO helpful to talk to a Mama that’s been where you are recently.

What Riley is up to: Lot’s of chatting! He’s also learned how to hold things. So he’ll grab his shirt or a blanket and hold on. It’s so simple but so adorable. He’s discovered his hands, and they’re pretty  much the best toy ever. If he’s awake, 80% of the time his hands are either in his mouth, or he’s clasped them together staring at them. He also likes to wring them together and stare off – sort of like he’s an evil baby genius plotting world domination. Well, at least that’s what it looks like. Bathtime is his favorite thing in the world. Not to be confused with ending bathtime and starting jammie time. That’s the worst time ever. He goes from pure joy splashing in the water to absolutely horrified that we have to remove him from his wonderland and clothe him.

DSC_0264A rare, happy jammie time

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Merfman + Merfbaby = <3

PostPartum: Still trucking along and getting ready for my Sprint Tri. It’s hard since I have limited time to train with Merfman working so much. I try to spend Sunday’s with my parent’s so they can watch Riley and I can train in the area near their house, since that’s where the race is. I’m eating cleaner, not 100% but probably 80/20. I fit into a pair of my pre-prego jeans two weeks ago, whoo! I’ve also tightened my belt loops and the waist strap on the Ergo, which is a good sign :) Emotionally I’m good – but I’ve heard about some hard stuff lately. A Mother of four with stage 4 cancer, parent’s planning memorial services for their babies. Rough stuff. It consistently helps me keep my little challenges in perspective. We all have hard stuff, some of us have harder stuff.

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Baby Gear: Carter’s winter clothing. My Mom and I took a trip to one of the Carter’s stores (dangerous place, people) and I got Riley some super stinkin’ cute outfits. He’s gonna look like a little lumberjack in his winter clothes! ErgoBaby Carrier – Merfman even wore it when we walked to coffee Saturday :) Activity Mat – now that he can see more and hit the toys it’s much more fun.

Thoughts: I was able to meet up with a Mommy Friend from our Bradley class last week and it was SO great. We spent the whole time trading stories and sharing baby milestones. We could even commiserate over losing all our hair, yea – that’s fun. Neither one of us thought we’d need Mama Friends, but we both shared how great it felt to talk to someone that’s in the same “place.” We’re hoping to keep getting together regularly, and maybe even be workout buddies :) It’ll be fun to see our babies grow together. They’re only 1 day apart!

Family

Day 23 – Financial Hope

The Merfett

Today I’m trilled to be sharing a story of hope on My Life (His Mission). Head on over to Kerry’s blog and check it out, she’s sharing 31 Days of Hope.

AND there’s a giveaway!!! I’m SO excited to be blessing someone with Financial Peace University. The best part? It’s the online class so you can do it on Baby Time, in your own home.

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Don’t you want to be WEIRD?!

Family

Day 22 – Mama Memory

The Merfett

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying – you birth a baby and along with it, part of your brain.

There was “Pregnancy Brain” and now there’s “Mama Brain.”

What happened to my “Merfett Brain?”

I’ve never had a super stellar memory. I’ve always been a list maker, note taker and a calendar maker. Mostly because I second guess myself all.the.time. Oh, and my favorite  – walking from one room in the house to the other and standing there for 5 min trying to remember why you went in there. The best.

Armed with one of my lists I went to Target last week, and at our store the greeting card section is right at the front, next to the shopping carts. It’s always a great way to remind me that I need to pick up a card for this or that. Last week I grabbed some Halloween cards to mail our niece and nephew (hi!!!) and a card for a friend’s bridal shower. With Merfbaby strapped in the Ergo Carrier I paced the section feeling like I was forgetting something…Was there a birthday coming up I needed a card for? A holiday? Celebration? Hm….it’s right there, I just can’t remember it. Oh, well. Probably not a big deal, right?

So I went about my week. It was an exceptionally busy week at work, I even missed returning a call to our Insurance guy – which I’m always on top of. He even commented that Merfman must have forgot to give me the message…nope, it was just one of those weeks.

Thursday evening I get a call from my Mom. She often calls me when she’s on her way home from work. We chat for a bit as I’m wrapping up the day and getting ready to pack up Merfbaby and head home for the night. We catch up, and then she says, “I have to tell you something you did – but, don’t get upset.” Uh – WHAT?! My mind is racing, what did I forget?! I felt like a little kid again, like I didn’t bring in the trashcan’s after she’d told me to. Did I miss something? What? What did I do wrong?! Please, tell me! Merfett personality note: I absolutely hate letting people down. Seriously, if you want to bring me to my knees just say the word DISAPPOINTED.

She gently mentions that I forgot their wedding anniversary the day before.

KNIFE.TO.THE.HEART.

My wonderful parents have been married for 31 years as of last Wednesday.

And I forgot.

#daughterfail

All I could muster on the phone, was “I’m so so so sorry, I can’t believe I forgot” over and over again.

I’m not that daughter. I always remember their anniversary – I normally have a gift and a card weeks in advance. This is was so not like me.

My ever-gracious mother just chuckled and said, well now you know what it’s like to have “Mama Brain.”

Yep, I’m there. BIG time.

Her request – that I blog about it :) Here ya go, Mom.

Happy Anniversary!

Love,

Me and my Mama Brain