Random Photos from the Past Few Days

Reagan is watching his Baby Einstein Video that my Mom's very dear friend from college, Linda, sent to him. It says that it is for 3 months and up, but we decided to see how he liked it and put watched it for the first time on the laptop. He really seemed to enjoy it and we have started putting it on the TV and putting his swing in front of the tv while we eat dinner. He gets really quiet and listens and watches.

Darrell and Reagan letting Cali know that Reagan is the beagle master and she will do what he says! Cali doesn't look too worried yet.

I think Reagan is almost as long as Cali is. Cali and Charley have been spending lots of time outside. They are so exhausted in the evenings when I let them in. They are going to miss being outside all day when I go back to work.

6 Weeks Old, Party at the Capitol, and No Nap

1.) Darrell and Reagan when I left for dinner.

2.) Darrell and Reagan when I got home from dinner

Here we are at 6 weeks. I've heard and read so many things that say 6 weeks is a milestone and your baby will start sleeping better. Reagan hasn't napped all day today.

The folks from Darrell's office had a shower for us today and I had to go pick up my packet for my 5K that I am doing tomorrow. Reagan usually goes down for a nap around noon and sleeps until about 3 or 4. Not today...he was having none of that. He would fall asleep while I was holding him and as soon as I would put him down, he would wake up and start crying. I thought for sure he would fall asleep when we got in the car to head down town around 12:30, but no such luck. After he had not slept all day, I figured for sure that he would be super fussy once we got to the shower. Everyone passed him around and there was still no fussing. We got back home a little before 5, I fed him a little, he fell asleep, I put him down, and he was awake again.

Darrell got home about 6:30 and didn't feel like eating so I went and ate some yummy tacos at Aranda's with my Mom. When I returned home, there was Darrell feeding a half asleep clean baby listening to classical music. He's in his playpen now, but I can still see him wiggling, so I know he's not asleep yet. Here's hoping he'll sleep all night!!

Red Sox cake and cupcakes with baseball rings from the shower. Thank you so much, Texas Legislative Council!!

Eight Miles

I did it. It wasn't easy or pretty, but I did it. I met up with the girls a little after 8:30. I was already having a rough morning. Nothing was where I needed it to be and I burned my Poptarts. So, I finally managed to get it together enough to get out the door and over to Stretch Rock to meet up with the group. A big thanks to my friend Cathy for hanging with me the whole time. The girls have been training for this half marathon since January, so they've definitely got a head start on me. Cathy had told me last week that she would hang with me on our long run this weekend. When we started out on the trail, it was kind of humid and very overcast. We ran the south side of the trail to the Congress bridge and then headed south on Congress. We got about halfway up Congress and it started raining. It was a nice steady rain for about 10 minutes...just enough to get us nice and wet. We went up turned onto Cumberland and headed back north on South 1st. When we turned onto South 1st, we were running into a nice chilly wind. We were walking in big chunks for the first part of the run and then when we got a quarter of the way up Congress, we started running 5 minutes and walking 2 minutes. We did that until we got back to the trail. At that point, I had pretty much had enough and we had 2 miles left before we were done. We walked the remaining 2 miles. Again...it wasn't pretty or easy but I did it. Knowing that I am capable of making it 8 miles is a big hurdle to get over at this point. I wasn't sore yesterday, which I really thought I would be. Today, it was back to the trail for 4 miles. I ran the first half and walked the second half. It was such a nice day today and is supposed to be even nicer for the rest of the week. Hooray for 80 degrees and the trail. Tomorrow, we are doing a track workout, complete with drills and intervals. This is the kind of workout that I did maybe two times with Colleen and made me cuss every step of the way. Not fun, but they are supposed to help your speed and endurance At this point, I need all the help I can get.


Reagan slept 7 hours straight last night. AWESOME!!!!! He is going to be 6 weeks on Friday. I have heard that the 6 weeks mark is a big hurdle as far as sleeping goes. Reagan may be getting to sleep in his crib soon instead of the cradle in our room! I say that, but I don't know how well I would sleep if I couldn't hear him.

Outfits with Ears

Yeah....they are pretty much awesome!!

New Haircut and My 6 Week Check-Up

Got my haircut today. I really love the girl that cuts my hair. Kelly at Shadetree Salon rules! She has been cutting my hair for the past 3 years or so and not only does she know how to cut my crazy curly hair, but she is just a great person. Thanks, Kelly! http://kellylaurensmith.com/

I had my 6 week post-partum checkup, even though it has techinically only been 4 1/2 weeks. My doctor is going to be on vacation when my 6 weeks rolls around and she wanted me to come in and see her now. She said everything looks great and I have lost half of the weight I gained. I'm really having a hard time with the whole weight thing right now because I've always been so thin and it's hard for me to have this extra weight. My doctor put things into perspective...it took me 9 months to gain the weight, I can't expect it to be gone only a month after having the baby. So, I will run more and I will eat right and I will work very hard to get it off. I told my doctor that I was have been running and that I have registered to run the half marathon in April. She said that was a great idea and that since I have a goal set, I will work harder to get there. She is running it also, which I think is so cool!

Reagan is eating like CRAZY right now! He is constantly hungry and will take an entire 4 ounces and still be so hungry. I called my mom on Tuesday evening and asked her what I can do to help him to be more satisfied. She said that when my brother and I were about 10 days old, she started giving us a mixture of rice cereal, applesauce, and formula for our first and last feeding each day. She came over that evening and we went to Target to get some rice cereal and applesauce. We made the mixture and went through our new night routine of bathing and swaddling and then fed him his new mixture that was nice and warm and just thin enough to go through a nipple that we hade made a little bit larger. He ate all two ounces of that and then the other two ounces of his warm bottle. He slept from 9pm-3:30 am. That's right...6 1/2 hours of sleep. He has seemed to be much more satisfied for the past couple of days.

One Month

Reagan is one month old today!!

It's so hard for Cali to look at him without licking him! It doesn't even bother him!

Charlie and Cali are looking at me while I eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Look how long he is!!



Cali takes full advantage of the opportunities that there is no baby in my lap to make sure I still know she is there. She has always done this thing with Darrell and I that she will put her paws on our shoulders and give us hugs. Here she is giving me hugs and kisses.

Here we are at one month! Wow...things have really changed around our house. Our living room looks like a baby store display with all of Reagan's stuff. We have his play yard sitting next to the tv, his swing in front of the play yard, a little white storage unit that has all the day to day items we need handy...blankets, burp cloths, clothes, diapers, wipes, towels, diapers, and more wipes. Seriously...I knew there would be alot of diapers, but I didn't know there would be this many! So much for Darrell's idea that he had before Reagan was born. He was planning on getting Reagan on the same poop schedule that the dogs are on. He wanted Reagan to be a two poop a day baby. I laughed and told him that I would buy extra diapers just in case his plan didn't work out. So, here we are one month later and I think we have gone through 3 boxes of 96 diapers. We also have his tummy time mat and his bouncer sitting on the fireplace. Don't forget the carseat sitting next to a wall as well!

I really can't ask for a baby with a better temper. Reagan is pretty chilled out most of the time. Sure, he gets mad when he's hungry, tired, and needs to be changed, but hey...don't we all??

I ran 5 miles today. I didn't run/walk...I really did run. I only stopped one time to take a couple of drinks of water and then I went on my merry way. It felt so good to know that I could do that just a month after giving birth. I found a 7 week training schedule for a half marathon that I will be following. I know I can pull this off. I can't get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes yet and I WILL NOT go back to work wearing my maternity clothes. I may have to get a few things to get me through until I get back to my normal weight, but I know that I can get back to where I need to be and this half marathon is the motivation and goal that I need to make me get there.

Here is Reagan hanging with Dad when he came in from work. We were getting ready to give him a bath and Darrell set him in this basket while we were getting things ready. Charlie and Cali jump at the opportunity to hang out with Reagan and I when we are on the couch. Here is Charlie keeping Reagan's feet warm.

Random pics from the past couple of days.

Reagan and I. Baby yawn. Tiny feet and a tiny hand. Charlie sitting next to Reagan on his play mat. She and Cali both want to get on there with him so bad!!

The trip up to the Dallas area was good. It does make me realize how rough i is to be a single mom. Reagan slept almost the entire 4 hour trip up to the Dallas area and didn't really wake up once we got up there. My Aunt and my cousins passed him around and he still didn't really wake up very much. Needless to say, he was awake most of the night on Monday night. My mom finally came in and got him about 6 am and let me go back to sleep. Monday night, I decided that I was just going to let him sleep in the bed with me and we both slept much better.

Tuesday, we went to my other Aunt's house. That trip was only about an hour and Reagan stayed awake most of the trip and once we got there as well. We had an awesome homecooked meal waiting for us complete with a sweet potato pie. Soooo good.

Here is a picture of Reagan with my Great Aunt's Nell ( left) and Winnie (right). These are his Great-Great Aunts.

Wednesday, we just hung out with my Aunt and had some cousins come by to see us.

Thursday, we got up and left at 5:45 am to make sure we out of Dallas before rush hour started. He was awake most of the time on the trip home. When we got home, I showered and layed on the couch with Reagan on my chest and we took a 3 hour nap. It was awesome!

I had been reading some different things on the web about ways to help newwborns sleep through the night. Everything that I said says pretty much the same thing. Establish a bedtime routine that includes: bathing, put on pj's, feed, and swaddle. We have tried this since Thursday night and he is sleeping about 5 1/2-6 hours at a time. Not too bad at all. I am trying to get this well established before I go back to work. The official date for returning to work will be March 9.

I decided yesterday that I am going to do the Zooma Half Marathon on April 4. http://races.zoomarun.com/austin/ My running buddies have been training for this since the middle of January. There is also a 5K that goes along with the event. I was going to do the 5K, but after checking out the website and seeing that the price for the 5K is $45 and the price for the Half Marathon is $85 and seeing that the half finishers get sterling silver necklaces and a super awesome post party, I decided that is what I will do. Having made this decision, I will now have a goal to work towards and I will have to get back on a normal workout and eating schedule.

Yesterday, I ran 4 miles and stopped very little. With all of the festivities that has come with being new parents, Valentine's Day came and went. Darrell did get me a day of beauty at Halina Day Spa. http://www.halinaeuroskin.com/ I have never been here, but our friend Patti had gotten a gift certificate from her boss and hasn't used it yet, so she suggested to Darrell that it would be a good Valetine's gift for me. I am pretty excited to use it and plan on heading over sometime before I go back to work. Last night around 7:30, we decided to go out to dinner. We didn't want to do anything big and Darrell wanted a steak. We wanted to stay close to home, so we went over to Roadhouse in South Park Meadows. The wait was an hour and 40 minutes so we opted for a plan B. We went over to Central Market and it was not very busy at all. I had the Valentine's Special that they had that was a 10 oz. New York strip steak, green beans, and a baked potato with gorgonzola cheese. I have rarely eaten anything at the Central Market Cafe that I did not like and this was no exception. Everything was very flavorful and the green beans were super garlicky. Yum! I had to go to the bathroom before we headed home, so Darrell said he and Reagan would meet me out front. They slipped in the store and got me beautiful flowers and a heart-shaped creme brulee and went out to the car and put it in my seat. Considering I didn't even thing we would be doing anything, it turned out to be a really nice evening.

Today, Darrell and I took Reagan out for his first spin around Town Lake and walked the 3 mile loop. A friend of ours gave us this AMAZING jogging stroller as a baby gift. You are really not supposed to run with your baby until they have control of their heads, so we will take little Reagan for walks in his super awesome stroller.

Reagan and Ella

One of my very best friends from college, Amanda, came to visit from San Antonio with her husband, Max, and their beautiful little girl, Ella. Ella is almost 9 months old. I found out that I was pregnant with Reagan the Wednesday after Amanda had Ella. We are always joking that Ella and Reagan wil get married one day. Here are their first photos together.

I went out and ran/walked the 3 mile loop at Town Lake today. I actually ran more than I walked today, so I was very happy about that. It was CRAZY windy outside.

Tomorrow, my Mom, Reagan, and I are heading up to the Dallas area to visit some family. My Grandmother was one of 9 children and there are 2 boys and 2 girls left. I am very close to the next to youngest sister, My Aunt Winnie has alwas been like another grandmother to me. She and my Uncle are getting into their 80's and I have been trying to spend as much time as possible with them.

I am already laughing about how different it is to travel with a child. I feel like I have packed the entire house for a 4 day visit!! I am really looking forward to seeing all of my family. I haven't seen them since July 4th and I was sooo sick when I was up there last. My Aunt loves to feed me and I love to eat and I didn't do much eating at all last time since I was so sick. I will make up for it this time!!

Weekend

Hooray for having Darrell home for a long weekend. Darrell came home at 2 pm yesterday and is off today. Reagan and I are so happy to have him here with us!

I had been saying since Monday that it smelled like dead animals in our room. Darrell thinks that formula smells like milk with garlic and beef bullion and kept saying that I was just smelling formula and baby barf. That was not the scent that I was getting out of our room. Finally, Wednesday evening, Darrell got up in the attic and said that he definitely smelled something dead. Yesterday, was the time to address the problem. Darrell got home from work and went up into the attic. He was only up there a couple of minutes and yelled for me to bring him a trash bag, some paper towels, and bleach spray. This turned out to be the odor removal kit. A squirrel had gotten into our vent and died in the attic. Darrell said that it had not been dead for very long because it was still soft. He put it in the trash bag and told me to go out and watch my dogs in the back yard and in just a couple of minutes, the trash bag came flying out of the vent on the side of the house. Thank goodness, the stench of dead animals is slowly dissipating from the house.

Other than that excitement, we don't really have any big plans for the weekend. Our friends Max and Amanda and their cute little girl Ella are coming to visit on Sunday and we are looking forward to that. I would like to get a couple of good walks/runs in as well this weekend. The weather should be nice and warm, although it will be a little windy.

Run/Walk!

After a long night on Thursday and getting up very early on Friday morning, I somehow had some energy on Friday afternoon. Mom was here, so I decided to throw on my running shoes and see what I could do. I ran around the block one full time and 3/4 a second time. It was not quite 15 minutes of running/walking, but I did it and I felt pretty good.

Saturday was a beautiful day. Gotta love that Texas weather where it in the mid-70's on January 30th. Darrell and I took Reagan out for some errands and he was awesome. We went to Target for some random items and then went and had lunch. Reagan slept pretty much the entire time we were out. We went over to see my Dad for a while and as we were leaving, my friend Stephanie called and said she was getting off of work and heading down to Town Lake for a run and wanted to know if I woud like to join. She was looking to do 4 miles. I told her that I didn't think I could go 4 miles, but I'd definitley come down and do what I could. I ran the first mile and then walked the other 3, so I did actually do 4 miles total. I felt so good about it! I thought I might be a little sore the next day since the last time I had walked any sort of distance was at the Trail of Lights 5K on December 13. After that, I got to where I was just too uncomfortable to walk. I felt great on Sunday...not sore at all!!

Sunday was spent running more errands. We went to BabysRUs for some things, went to lunch, went to get Darrell's hair cut and went to Target again (yeah, we go there ALOT!). Again, Reagan was so well behaved. He was awake the whole time we were in BabysRUs and was just looking around. He was awake most of the time we were eating lunch and then slept for the remainder of our outing.

Boo for football season being over! I LOVE football and don't know how get through the time from the SuperBowl to August/September when football season starts again. Yeah, I like basketball and of course I like baseball and watching the Rangers and the Red Sox, but I really love football. The Super Bowl ended up being a much better game than I expected. I was rooting for the Steelers, but the Cardinals played so hard, that I found myself routing for them towards the end. Either way, it was a good game although the commercials seemed to be not as good as other years. I did like the koala getting punched commercial.




Today, Reagan took his first trip downtown. Our friend Patti asked me to bring Reagan down to her office which is at 10th and Congress. I called Darrell to tell him that I was going to be down there and asked if he wanted me to bring him over to the Capitol. Darrell works for the Legislative Council and does the computer support for the Lieutenant Governor and the Senate. Since the Senate is in session, this is Darrell's busy time at work. He said today, they were only going to be in for about half an hour before they went in to committee meetings, so it was actually a good day to bring him over. Reagan and I got over there right as the Senate was getting out for the day, so Darrell got him and took him out on the Senate floor and then we made our rounds to see the folks that Darrell works with. Reagan was passed around and ooed and aahed over and slept through the entire event.

Not sure how we got so lucky to have such a calm little guy!! Not sure how long this will last, but we will definitley take it!