We celebrated Travis' second Father's Day and his 38th birthday since our last post. Max gave him a certificate for a session at a local gun range, complete with a gun rental and anmmo. I think Travis got his love of guns from his Grandpa G.P. He's a good shot and I think he'll enjoy his gift.
For his birthday, his mom, Bill, Kim, Pat and Madeline came to visit on Saturday. Kim made him his favorite cake, carrot cake! It fell apart because of the ride from Chattanooga, but it still tasted great!We had a nice time together and Joann and Bill treated us to lunch at Macaroni Grill, which was so sweet! Sunday, Travis got to sleep in and I made him biscuit sandwiches for a late breakfast. We met my mom and Tristen for dinner at Provino's to celebrate. John recently gave him a set of golf clubs he wasn't using anymore, and for his birthday gift, offered to take him golfing. Travis is really looking forward to that!
Besides all of the celebrating, Travis has been job hunting, of course. He interviewed for a company called Radiant Systems, here in Alpharetta. It's literally 4 miles from our house, which would be such an improvement compared with his previous 40 mile commute. He had a phone interview and a 3+ hour face-to-face interview with them. They said they were impressed with his resume and said they'll be making their decision in 2-4 weeks. As I'm writing this, a week has already passed. He's not sure that this will be the job for him but we are praying about it. They had 2 positions available Quality Assurance Analyst 1 and 2. He found out at the interview that the QA 2 position had already been filled, and he was interviewing for the QA 1 position, which could mean a lower salary than he should be making with his experience, but we'll wait and see.
Travis also applied for a job similar to my job. He received an email this week saying that he can take the exam. He has week to study and take the test, and if he passes, he can start working. He got the test package yesterday and has to finish by next Friday. It doesn't make much money, but could help bridge the gap a little until he finds other work.
Besides job hunting, Travis had some dental work done...some old fillings replaced and a root canal. The root canal seemed to go well, but he's still having quite a bit of pain and sensitivity. Hopefully it will feel better in the next few days. Tooth pain is no joke!
As for me, I've really enjoyed having Travis home, even if it's for a not so good reason. It's been a relief to share the joys and frustrations of parenting duties on a more full-time basis, especially since Max is in time-out every 5 minutes for standing on furniture. It's been wonderful having the company of the man I love. It's been so much easier to get my hours in with Travis home, too. This week was the first week I got all of my hours in before the weekend. I strive to work 20 hours a week. It doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're also caring for an active 1 year old, that wakes between 6-7 and isn't ready for bed until 9pm, it feels like an 90 hour work week. When Travis was working, I was working from 9-11 or 12 every night to get all of my hours in. The good thing is that I love my very full time "job" and that makes it all worth it! In addition to my computer job, I've also done a couple of photo shoots. I love using the creative side of my brain, and it's such satisfying work for me. I'm blessed to have a steady part time job that allows me to do photo shoots occasionally. I may do one more before the baby comes, but that's it. It's getting too hot, and my belly is starting to get in the way.
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good, but have some back/sciatic nerve pain and have been having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions. If I didn't know that it was normal for me, I might be worried, but I had them all through my pregnancy with Max. On Tuesday, I had my glucose screening at my 25 week appointment, which I passed. My iron and hemoglobin are good too. I measured at 26 weeks and have almost regained the weight I lost from being so sick in the first 5 months.
It's hard to believe we have less than 15 weeks until we will be a family of 4! I have mixed emotions about it all. I'm so excited to meet our new baby boy and hold him in my arms...see him with his Daddy and big brother. I feel like my heart has already been opened to the love of a child and this time around it's going to be overwhelmingly emotional. I'm scared we won't find a proper name for him and he'll be Baby 2 forever. The name game is even harder this time around and there are no real contenders yet. I get weepy when I imagine the bond that will grow between two brothers so close in age. I'm hoping that Max will want to hug and kiss him, when they first meet. It'll be interesting to see his reaction, whatever it is, though. I'm anxious about juggling work and 2 boys under 18 months. I'm going to have to prioritize and stick to a schedule like never before. I'm resigning myself to the fact that I'll probably have to work every naptime, at night and on the weekend, because it's almost impossible right now to work and watch Max at the same time. I want to give them the attention they need and deserve, and I realize that is going to be a major juggling act on my part. I know I will be able to handle it with God's help though. He has blessed our family with this new life and I am so grateful for the awesome responsibility of being a mother of 2!
My nesting instincts have kicked in early this time. I'm excited to get started on Max's big boy room this weekend. Lindsay, the lady who bought our guest bed, is picking it up this weekend and we'll be able to get going on the transformation. I have to say I'm a little sad to see the bed go. It is where I took tons of my favorite pictures of Max, including the one for his birth announcement. That room has the best natural light and I'm not sure what I'll do, now that we've sold the bed. I'll have to get creative.
Max woke up early Tuesday morning with a fever of 104, and continued to have a fever for the next two days in the high 102s. He had no other symptoms, so we waited to go to the doctor. By Thursday, however, we decided it would be a good idea to have him checked out. We saw Dr. Murad. She checked his ears, which looked perfect. His throat looked a little pink, but barely. They did a strep test, which was negative. They also tested his urine, which was healthy. She concluded that it was just a virus that his body was trying to fight off. She said to bring him back in if his fever went up past 104 again, or if he became lethargic. He didn't have a fever most of yesterday and today, but has been very clingy and grumpy. He hasn't wanted to eat a lot, so I'm suspecting he has a sore throat. Hopefully he'll start to feel better soon!
His scar is healing nicely. It's red, but it's very flat. We're putting scar ointment on it twice a day, so I'm sure that will help the healing. The doctor said it'll take a full year to look it's best, and not to judge it until the year is up. People comment on it all the time when we're out, telling me stories about their kids that have needed stitches. One story even involved a boy that thought he could fly! It's nice to know we're not the only family that has gone through this trauma.
Some cute things Max is doing right now include using anything he can find as a phone...Heyyo?! Heyyo?! Keep your phones close, he may be calling you soon! He has also been dancing up a storm! It is so cute and he actually has great rhythm, but almost every time I try to get it on video, he stops...of course! He also loves to drum on everything! He even drums on his highchair when he likes the food. :) He's doing well with his signing. It's been such a great means of communication and has reduced his frustration so much! We need to start teaching him some new signs. He's saying a few words like Mama, Dada, Nana, ear, all done. We're working on Gramma, Grampa and Papa, too. He loves looking at all of the pictures on the wall of the people in our family. He points to each person, and I tell him their name. He is pointing to a lot of things and asking what they are now, so it won't be long before he's really talking!
In the past few weeks Max has started sleeping though the night! The night before his big fall, I decided to fill him up with whole cow's milk to see what would happen. He slept through the night! I'm glad it happened the night before he hit his head, or I know I would have been freaking out that something was wrong with him. Before that night, the longest he had slept was a 7 hour stretch when he was about 4 months old. Otherwise, he would wake up every 2-3 hours sometimes sleeping 4 hours, but sometimes as little as 1. Almost everyone I discussed it with said he was in a habit of waking for the comfort of nursing, so we were on the verge of starting sleep training. We postponed it, however, because he was getting his molars and was miserable. In the back of my mind, I really continued to think that he was truly hungry, but the thought of being up all night with 2 babies, was too much to bare, so I felt it was necessary to try the sleep training route. Thank goodness we tried the milk. It isn't always consistent, but most of the time he sleeps at least 7-8 hours straight, and sometimes 10! What a difference! We're also making sure to give him another mini meal closer to his bedtime to make sure his belly is nice and full. Sleeping better at night has also helped him sleep longer for naptime. Before he was sleeping for about an hour and now he takes a 2-3 hour nap. It's amazing! I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, because I know I'll be waking through the night again in a few months...but at least it'll be with one baby and not two!
Baby 2 seems to be doing well! He is very active, just like Max was. Right now, his eyes have finally opened again, after being fused closed for many weeks, so he can see light now. He is about 13 1/2 inches long now and weighs about 1 1/2 pounds. He's really starting to look very similar to how he will look when he's born, with the exception of all of the baby chub. His heart rate was a nice steady 130 beats per minute at my appointment.
So here are some photos from the past few weeks...
Father's Day 2011
Max giving Daddy wipes for his gift :)
Daddy opening his card and his real gift
Silly boy
He loves milk and doing things by himself!
Max and Tristen at Grandma Snazzy's storytime
Cousins!
Grandma Snazzy
Craft time with Mommy!
This happens about 50 times a day!
They have so much fun together!
Pat holding the cake together so Travis could make a wish
Max getting some love from Uncle Pat and Aunt Kim
Talking on 2 phones...a boat and a dolphin
At Macaroni Grill with Gramma and Grampa
He loves his Uncle Pat! They have a special bond.
Our little family
Daddy and his boy
Daddy's afternoon birthday breakfast
Happy birthday Travis/Daddy!
Max's first time at Provino's...if you don't count when I was 9 months pregnant with him!
Opening his birthday cards
This is what happens when you don't strap Max into his highchair...
Daddy sharing his spumoni birthday ice cream with Max.
He doesn't like cake, but he sure does love ice cream!
Mommy 25 weeks with big brother Max
Showing off the big baby belly...ready to go out for Travis' birthday
25 weeks
Waiting for the pee pee to come at the doctor's office...He must have gone just before they tried to get a sample because we had to wait about 30 minutes. We walked the halls, kept peeking into Dr. Murad's office and played in water for a good 15 minutes before we had success!
I love holding him while he sleeps...it's one of the sweetest things.
July1st
One of the last photo shoots on this bed
You can see in his eyes he isn't feeling well, but I was able to get him to laugh...
My mom found a blanket she bought for me when she and my dad traveled to
New Zealand when she was pregnant with me. Max loves it!
Max at Dick's trying out the putting green
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