Ace - 4 Months

ACE 4 MONTHS

Ace 4-5 months. May 11 - June 11

      1.) 5/11 Steph and Ben babysat both boys while Mommy and Daddy did a date night to the Barnstormers football game. Daddy got free tickets from work

      2.) 5/12 Mothers day. Church, Jethros and then Aunt Steph and Bens for dinner. Boys enjoyed playing outside

      3.) 5/13 4 month appointment with Dr Owens - 12lbs 10oz 25.75 inches long. 1% for weight and 78% for height. Dr said we could start cereals and fruits. Not concerned about Ace's weight since he knows my babies are tall and skinny. Easton had his first dentist appointment with Dr Johnson and did great

     4.) 5/14 Mommies birthday. First time for cereal - wasn't having it at all. Rolled over from tummy to back for the first time. Boys got me scratch cupcakes (favorite)

    5.)  5/15 Fussy day at daycare. Slept from 9-2 and from 2:30-7. Pretty ok night

    6.)  5/18 Pony rides for Easton and Yellow Banks Park. Fun day outside. Ace slept from 9-4am...longest night of sleep in one stride. Loves talking in his crib during the middle of the night
    7.)  5/21 First fruits - loved his peaches but still struggling eating from a spoon

    8.)  5/24-5/26 Papa Chuck and Grandma in town for Dax's dedication. Painted mommies room, stephs house for dinner Friday night, family night at our house Saturday. Sunday was Dax's dedication and a grill out at Aunt Steph and Bens. Easton and Ace both had a good time with Papa Chuck and Grandma

    9.)  5/27 Memorial Day - home cleaning basement due to water

  10.)  5/28 First Veggies. Definitely liked your fruits better. Wasn't too sure of the sweet potatoes. Passed out for 3 hours after eating your Veggies. Better at daycare but horrible nights sleep. Was up from 1-4am 

  11.)  5/29 Mommy and Me. 13lbs and 6oz. Second shot appointment. You didn't have that much of a reaction to your shot this time.

  12.)  5/30 Awesome night of sleep. Only woke up twice.

  13.)  6/2 Family night. Walk to Hyvee with all the boys to get a fountain soda. Ace loved the walk and Easton had fun riding in the storage compartment of the stroller and getting pure sugar

  14.)  6/3 Ace rolled from back to stomach for the first time. Loves peaches, apples and bananas

  15.)  6/4 Ace starting to love tubby time with brother. Horrible night sleep. Awake 6 times through out the night

  16.)  6/7 Mommy off for the morning..Copper Creek garage sales. Easton's first ride on his bike..biffed it on the concrete. Need a helmet

  17.)  6/8 Double stroller purchased. Went on a walk with boy boys. Definitely harder in a double stroller

  18.)  6/11 5 MONTHS Ace finally grasping the concept of rolling over. He's doing great  

Sleeping Patterns: Sparatic. Sleeps good till 1:00am and then loves to talk and jabber after nursing in his crib while watching his mobile

Feeding Schedule: Likes to snack. Eats every two hours at daycare. Nurses twice at night

Sounds and Motions: Babbles non stop. Loves talking under the jungle gym and in crib. Squeals and laughs out loud

Likes: hands and fists, voice, chewing on everything, paci pal, musical toys, mobile

dislikes: tummy time, left alone, bumbo for a long time

Favorite toys: giraffe soother, jumper exersaucer

Learning: roll over, sleeping unswaddled, being content alone, tummy time and liking tubby time, eating cereal and liking fruits and veggies, sleeping better

Deb Nebelsick's Funeral

What a sad time. This week we had to say goodbye to our dear friend Deb Nebelsick. Deb had been in pain for quite some time. When Ace and I went to see her while we were home in March you could tell she was in a lot of pain. My mom and her friends would go over there and help her clean her house or cook for Dave. She really didn't start getting any better but only worse. Finally at the beginning of April she went into the Dr after some convincing from her friends and Dave. They discovered her cancer was back and completely all over..stage 4. It was incureable. When i got the news from my sister that she had incurrable cancer, my heart just sank. Just thinking about her still makes me sad and brings tears to my eyes. We have never known life with out Deb in it. Her and our families have been really close..especially while we were growing up...i remember always going to her house for 4th of July parties or any kind of party for that matter. She always liked to have fun and her laugh was so contagious. It's still hard to believe she is no longer with us. My heart goes out to her kids and grandkids.

Deb never left the hospital other than going to hospice after finding out she had stage 4 cancer. She had good days and bad days. Her kids were always there for her and would travel every weekend to be by her side. My mom would go visit her often. I kept up with her progress on her caring bridge. She just didn't look the same in the pictures as I pictured her. I cannot imagine being her daughter and going through what Amber went through. Deb passed away April 26, 2013. I don't think i have ever had someone that close to our family pass away other than grandparents. It was very hard to take in and understand. She was such a Godly woman...why would God take her at such an early age.

Steph the babies and I traveled back to SD for the funeral on Sunday April 29th. It definitely wasn't a trip we were excited about. The babies traveled farely good except when we got to Sioux Falls. We had to take a 1.5 hour break and do some shopping at Kohls so the babies could get out of their car seats. Monday we shopped for flowers for Debs funeral. Instead of the normal flowers we decided on a lantern with a candle. Deb loved to decorate so we just found that fitting. Monday night was the visitation. It definitely was hard to see the family in so much pain. Deb laying in her casket didn't even look like the real Deb. She wasn't smiling. Thankfully Mary Lou agreed to babysit the babies during the actual funeral. Both the funeral and visitation were uplifting and positive. A Godly funeral is definitely a lot different than a funeral where someone didn't know the Lord. The kids did a great job at putting together a slide show and portraying all the pictures. I don't think there was a dry eye in the church. Even though we all know that Deb went to be with the Lord...it's still very painful to realize she's gone. I will always be reminded of Deb when i look at the painted canvas with the bible verse on it that she gave to Ace as a baby gift. Steph and I decided to leave for home after the funeral due to some bad weather coming in. The trip home was a rough one. The babies didn't like being in their carseats one bit and fed off of each other when one started crying. We both were physically and emotionally exhausted by the time we got home.

Even though the trip home was quick I'm so thankful that we were able to take off work to attend the funeral and support the family. It's sad when you get to reconnect with old friends that you haven't seen in forever due to a funeral. Deb was an amazing woman and we will never forget the person she was. She is no longer in pain and is celebrating and decorating in Heaven.

Dates:

December 18, 1955 - April 26, 2013

Obituary:

Debra Kay Nebelsick was born December 18, 1955, in Mitchell, to William G. and Bonna Mae (Schrank) Titze. She attended Baker # 10 country school and graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1974. In 1977, she received her nursing degree from Sioux Valley School of Nursing. She worked as a nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Mitchell. On June 18, 1977, she married David Nebelsick at St. John Lutheran Church, Hillside. She was an active member of the Mitchell Wesleyan Church and Bible Study Group. She enjoyed assisting with school events and attending her children’s activities.
Deb’s relationship with Jesus Christ was first and foremost in her life.  She devoted much time to the memorization of scripture and worked to instill God’s word in her children’s hearts every chance she had.  She told her children in the hospital “I have scripture all the way to the bottom of my feet.”  This love of Christ stayed with her until her very last breath.  While on this earth she expressed her love to the people that she met and relationships that she formed with them.
Deb loved hosting dinners for special events, bible studies, club, and parties.  She was gifted in decorating and expressed it by decorating her home for at least 9 different holidays and seasons each year.  She also decorated for weddings that spanned from Wyoming to Minnesota and several stops along the way.  Deb was an excellent cook and provided physical and spiritual nourishment to her family, friends, and even her kids’ teachers during school conferences.   She will be missed by so many people that she has touched through her very blessed 57 years on this earth and is laughing and singing with our Lord and Savior now and forever more.
She is survived by her husband Dave; five children: Daniel Nebelsick and wife Elizabeth of Rock Rapids, IA, Amber Groendyke and husband Jason of Sheldon, IA, Joshua Nebelsick and wife Katie of Rapid City, SD, Benjamin Nebelsick and wife Maggie of LeMars, IA, Jonathan Nebelsick of Sioux Falls; seven grandchildren; her mother, Bonna Mae Titze of Mitchell; one sister, Barb Ahrar and husband, Hamid of Prescott, WI.  She was preceded in death by her father, William Titze.

Eulogy from the kids:

Deb, Mom, Grandma, Nana Boo Boo…
How do we begin to summarize your life in the few minutes that we have? It’s an impossible task so we will just try to highlight some of the essential memories and things we want to share with all her loving friends and family
The first thing we feel is appropriate to talk about it her love for Jesus Christ and also for the Mitchell Wesleyan Church. Like I said on the Caring Bridge, our family went to church every Sunday and most Wednesday nights. We may have always missed out on the first 5-10 or maybe even 15 minutes of the service, but rest assured that second row from the front always seemed to be empty and saved just for us! I think Chuck, Steve, Herman Semler and the other ushers must have purposely saved it for us knowing we would always get there eventually. After Church came Sunday School followed by finding them in the fireside room and having to wait and wait and wait until they were done chatting with all their friends. Talk about an awesome church body of believers. The Mitchell Wesleyan Church has always been a huge part of our lives and we always feel at home when we come back to visit. Mom was always telling me about her bible studies, wedding showers, baby showers and her memory group. She invested so much of her life into being an active member of the church and she instilled in all of her children that same love and importance of being involved in their own church. In the hospital she told one of her many visitors “I just tried to fill my Children up with God every chance I had.” I think back to the GT and the Halo Express tapes and all those verses I still start singing in my head when I hear them, the adventures in Odyssey tapes, and all the Christian music we used to listen too. And let’s not forget about all the oldies music she loved to sing to… in fact, did you know that she was a singing waitress back in the day? It was such a well-paying job that Dad had the privilege to pay her rent while they were dating.
The second thing we feel like we need to talk about it her love for my Dad. Mom and Dad were a team. When you think about the chord of three strands that cannot be broken, and the two shall become one, my parents lived that out and modeled that for us and many others. There were very few times that I can remember them being mad at each other… but there was this one time when mom was helping us work cattle. She was in charge of the head gate to drop it down behind the cow… well mom accidentally dropped it on Dad’s head and he wasn’t very happy. However, they never stayed mad at each other long, they really lived by “Do not let the Sun go down on your anger.” She always wanted to resolve things and move on to having fun. Just before mom was admitted to the hospital she was having a conversation with Elizabeth. She was bragging how well dad was taking care of her, since she was not getting around very well, and started to be in more and more pain. She just wanted Elizabeth to know how proud she was of Dad and what an example of a loving, godly husband he was and how he lived out how God has called us to love our wives as God loves the church.
Having fun should be our next topic. Oh Boy, did she ever like to entertain and have fun. Huge thanksgiving meals, 3rd of July parties (that’s right she made up a holiday), New Year’s Eve parties, birthdays, graduations, having team suppers, you name it we had a party for it and we were never short on food! Mom could cook with the best of them and she had to do a lot of that to keep up with four boys who never seemed to get full. She loved going to movies and eating movie theater popcorn. And let’s not forget about the movie quotes… Dumb and Dumber, O’Brother where Art Thou, Napolian Dynamite, and the Three Amigos were among her favorites. She was quoting them to the nurses at the hospital and made sure they understood the importance of seeing those movies. We will always cherish the memories of family game nights, which contributed to our closeness as a family.
Our mom was our biggest cheerleader, not only in sports but in life. I would hate to count the number of basketball games, volleyball games, football games, track meets and softball or baseball games that she was in the stands wearing her orange and black cheering us on. She loved watching all of her kids participate both in sports and also in their vocal and band contests. Her life revolved around church and her kids activities for many many years.
That love that shined through with her kids was expanded and transferred to her grandchildren starting with Dan and Elizabeth’s triplets, and now to Ben and Maggie’s new born baby Brynlie who is a whopping 6 days old. Our boy’s started calling Grandma Nebelsick, Nana BooBoo after one of our families favorite TV shows, “Boy Meets World”. She would have loved to spend more time with her current grandchildren and was looking forward to see her future grandchildren. She will live on to all of her grandchildren through our stories that we will share and always remember her through.
Some of the most wonderful family times and memories that we have are from our multiple family vacations and just time spent together. We were blessed enough to travel to Disney Land once and Disney World three different times. Out last visit to the “happiest place on Earth” allowed our parents, siblings and spouses to experience the magic. We enjoyed the Disney Dining plan and Mom’s favorite part of the vacation was time our family spent at our meals, the desserts, and of course the Tower of Terror. She also enjoyed our skiing vacations and was slightly more cautious compared to the rest of our family; however, she was a trouper and would try to keep up as much as she could. She did gracefully bow out of the jumps off of ten foot rocks that we have on film. The last family event that we’ll touch on was Life Light. It was an event that incorporated several of her favorite things: family, camping, music, and all of it with a focus on God. I can’t hear a Newsboy classic song without picturing mom at life light with a big smile and her foot moving back and forth to the beat of the music sitting in her foldout lounge chair.
Mom had so many great friends I wouldn’t even be able to name them all, for one I didn’t know them all, and secondly we would be here the rest of the day. But mom loved her friends! Crawl murder at the Buches, Pool parties at the Napolitano’s, homemade ice cream at the Barcher’s house to name a few. She also loved camping trips, especially to Pickstown… wherever her camper was, there was lots of food and always a party, highlighted by the beacon of party lights. I’m pretty sure the campground lost money on our electric bill.
Mom went through several different phases in life… She has always been an amazing decorator. As they mentioned in her obituary, she seriously decorated our entire house for 9 different seasons. I remember when I was little sitting at Craft fairs with all her craft creations, her talent with Decorating for not only her children’s weddings, but also her friends children’s weddings as well. I always told her she could be hired out as a wedding decorator, but she was way too interested in having fun for that sort of commitment. Dad bought mom a lap top computer for Christmas several years ago and she loved it so much! Mom went through an ebay phase where the UPS man made daily visits, which progressed into Facebook and Pinterest as well as spending hours looking through blogs for decorating ideas. Speaking of Facebook, several months ago, she said, if I would ever die, here is my password… deactivate my Facebook account! So with much sorrow, I deactivated her Facebook with her 222 friends that she loved to follow daily.
I also feel as if shopping needs a bit of mentioning… my mom was the best bargain shopper I know. I would come home for a weekend and sure enough there would be a skirt or a shirt beside my bed that she found on sale for $1.97. When it came to math, she used her fingers, but what she lack in math she gained in spelling. Back to her math skills, she may not have known figures but she knew how to save money. One evening we went to Kohls in Rapid City and she bought just a bunch of items. We were talking with the checkout guy and after he gave her the receipt she looked at it and said… I didn’t save enough! Turns out he had not rung up half her order, so she didn’t realize that the total was not near what she should pay, but that she didn’t save enough money! This was a very scary thing for my dad…she never told him how much she spent, just how much she saved. All stores will miss my mom… she could shop with the best of them!
A little more math humor for you, we were eating at the Ground Round, I had given Ben, Amber and Mom a coupon to use and Mom paid for the meal. So we were trying to figure out how much to give each other to split up the bill, as Mom was trying to figure out how much to give Ben, she handed him a wadded up pile of money from her right front pocket. Ben said, “I don’t know what happened but I just made $5.” Another Story for you… My mom was making change in the Sunday School Offering, and Dad leaned over and said “you didn’t give anything,” She responded by saying, At least I didn’t make anything.
I could go on and on with all these memories that we have of her, but again, we would be here all day. So we will leave you with just a few words from her last few weeks on this earth. Mom absolutely loved all the caring bridge posts… whenever she needed to calm down at night she would ask… “are there any more caring bridges?” So thank you all for your kind words and love and support though this unbelievably difficult time in our lives. One of the evenings Jacob Shoup brought his guitar and we sang a few songs at her request and after those songs she said, “God is bigger than this, he is doing something BIG here, so you better get on board.” Mom was never scared to die, she just wasn’t ready to leave us quite yet, she wasn’t ready to end her party here on earth, but God’s will is sovereign, and one day we will understand why her time on this earth was shorter than we wanted it to be. She had a faith that moved mountains and now our mom is singing, dancing and decorating all of our rooms for us in Heaven.
We will miss everything about her, her laugh, her smile, her leg movement in church, her singing, her wadded up money in her pocket, her endless supply of gum, steam bread at Christmas, and her love of life. Our only hope is that we will be united with her one day in heaven and what a glorious reunion that will be. We love you mom forever and always.

Potty Training - FAIL

Since Vicky had the day off on Friday i figured i might as well try the whole potty training with Easton. My sister had sent me a while back the potty training 3 day boot camp. I read through the whole thing and had a good idea on how to tackle things and what to expect.

Easton woke up this morning and I immediately took him to his big boy potty. He of course didn't go. Put big boy underwear on him for the first time. He was so excited about his big boy underwear. I on the other hand was nervous. Ace was home with us as well so i couldn't have my full entire focus on Easton. Almost immediately after I put his big boy underwear on he peed on the carpet....UGH....lol. I got him changed into another pair of big boy underwear. We sat and watched cartoons for a while...i gave him plenty to drink...told him every 30 seconds "let mommy know when you have to go potty"...well not even 20 minutes later I hear him say "oh know"...what did the little pickle do..peed on the couch this time....to his room we went again to change his underwear. I think he liked changing many times to see what character he'd get this time.

Steph and the boys were coming over for a play date. Probably not the best time to potty train when the cousins were coming over but i had the 3 days to at least try. We ended up with 3 more accidents...needless to say...this girl gave up. I need to have my complete focus on Easton and Jesse needs to either be home with me to care for Ace or take Ace out of the house so i can focus on Easton. This time it was a fail on the whole potty training. Hopefully he'll find more of an interest and we'll try again. I tested the waters and they are not fine....lol.....

Dale and Tiff's Wedding - Denison IA

Friday could not come soon enough. I was super excited to pick up the boys from daycare so we could spend the weekend with them. I miss holding my little Ace daily all day long. Being at work is definitely not as enjoyable as being at home snuggling a little one. He's starting to show his personality as well....just as I was coming back to work. He is definitely a smiley little guy. Easton is still a little jealous of him though. I'm hoping that phase will pass and he'll be able to realize what a blessing his little brother truely is.

This weekend Jesse's cousin was getting married. Dale and Tiff. I couldn't decide on if I was going to go or not. The idea of watching two boys on my own at a wedding/reception just wasn't my ideal of fun. At the last minute I did decide to go. I told Jesse that he was in charge of Easton and I was in charge of Ace during the wedding.

We arrived in Denison at the last minute. The wedding was at 3 and we got to Denison around 2:40 and still had to stop at Tom's so I could nurse Ace and Jesse could get his tie tied. We arrived at the wedding just as the wedding party was walking in. Easton was a little pickle and didn't want to sit or be quiet so I took him out and we walked around the church. Good thing the wedding wasn't all that long.

The reception turned out to be fun. It was open bar the entire night. Jesse and I didn't have to do a whole lot as in watching the boys due to having Grandma's there and little girls (Molly) in particular who loved carrying around Ace and watching after Easton. At the reception Tiff had an awesome idea of putting a couple of kids tables in the back. They had colors/coloring books/masks/puzzels/markers...etc...kept Easton busy at least. Never seen that before at a reception but it is a great idea for little kids who are bored.

Easton finally had enough and was getting tired. We left the reception around 9 and went back to Tom and Marla's. I let Easton stay up till around 10 or so and then him and I went to bed...Ace was already in bed and passed out. He was exhausted. Every one slept really well for the most part. Easton was on a blow up toddler bed which worked out great....I will be getting one of those in the near future for our travels.

Over all I think we all had a good time and I was glad I went. One thing that I wanted to do that didn't get done was dance with my handsome hubby. We were too busy visiting and watching kids to make time for each other :(

On another note: my flash that i got free worked like a dream at the reception. The pictures for the most part turned out rather good. Still need to get used to it though and tweak some settings.

brotherly/sisterly love

Grandma dancing with Easton

Miss Ava

Molly and Easton - she was a great help with the boys

Jesse's face and Easton's eye placement is hilarious

Ace - 3 months

Can you believe that Ace is already 3 months old. Crazy how much bigger he's getting and less of a newborn he's looking. What a great baby he is. He isn't as mellow as Easton was as a baby but Jesse and I sure have no room to complain.

Ace 3-4 months. April 11-May 11th

     1.) Difficulties at daycare sleeping - always wants to be held
     2.) 4/12 - First night in crib with out car seat - did great
     3.) 4/13-4/14 - Trip back to Denison for Dale and Tiffs wedding. Did great sleeping in Tom and Marla's crib and did great at the wedding.
     4.) 4/13 - weight check - only gained an ounce since last weight check - 11lbs 5oz - mommy concerned
     5.) 4/15 - Visited Dr for a weight check. weighted 11lbs 9oz - 10% on charts. Nurse not overly concerned. Should be consuming 22-33 oz of milk a day between breast milk and formula
     6.) 4/17 - Get together with friends at Glens to see Billy and Julie. Emma, Addy and Ace all together...so cute
     7.) 4/17 - slept great 9pm - 4am - 7hr stretch of sleep with no waking to nurse
     8.) 4/19 - play date with cousins due to daycare closed.
     9.) 4/20 - Mommy and Daddy date to the PBR with the Owens. Jill watched both Ace and Easton. Boys did great
    10.) 4/21 - Ace's 3 month pictures - turned out great
    11.) 4/22 - Jill came over to help with Ace's 3 month pictures - so cute
    12.) 4/24 - Ace second round of shots - HIB. Weighted 12lbs. Gained 7 oz since last Dr's checkup. Slept most of the night. Only woke up at 3am to nurse. Shots wore him out
    13.) 4/26 - Deb Nebelsick passed away - Bianci boys with Johan and Julie
    14.) 4/28 - Aunt Steph, Dax, Mommy and Ace traveled to SD for Deb's funeral. Boys did great till last leg of trip. Had to stop at Kohls to shop to get the boys out of their car seats
    15.) 4/29 - Flower shopping for Debs funeral - Ace slept all day while shopping. Visitation - Ace fussed the majority of the time
    16.) 4/30 - Deb's funeral - Aunt Mary Lou watched Ace and the boys while we attended the funeral. Headed back to DSM due to weather. Boys made it for a long trip. Fussy and didn't want to be in carseats. Took us over 8 hours to travel back home. Long day emotionally and physically for both Steph and I
    17.) 5/03 - Ace first runny nose and teary eyes - cold
    18.) 5/04 - Visted Brooke and Oswalds while they were visiting in DSM for the faith conference.
    19.) Doing better at daycare - not as needy and needing to be held much
    20.) 5/07 - Rough day at daycare - slept good only waking at 12 and 4am
    21.) 5/08  - Another rough day at daycare - rough night as well. wanted to talk in his crip after his first feeding at 1:00am. Talked and babbled in his crib till 3:30am.
    22.) 5/08 Found feet
    23.) 5/11 - 4 months old today. Aunt Steph and Ben watched both Ace and Easton while mommy and daddy went to a barnstormers game that daddy won from work. Nice night out.

Sleeping Pattern: Sleeps 4-6 hours at a stretch. 9-2, 2:30-5:30. Sleeps great swaddled in crib with out carseat
Feeding Schedule: 4oz per bottle. Mommy only pumps 9-11oz per day so consumes 2-3 formula bottles
Sounds and Motions: found hands, loves fists in mouth, rubs eyes when tired, laughs out loud, talks like crazy under jungle gym and in bumbo, very smiley at all times, feet ticklish, swats at toys, smacks lips when hungry
Likes: Hands and fists in mouth, being blown with blow dryer after tubby time, watching big brother play, sitting in bumbo watching mommy cook, glow worm
Dislikes: being buckled in carseat, tummy time, being left alone, still tubby time, being hungry
Learning: laugh more outloud, sooth own self to sleep, mommies voice, rolls on side but cannot roll completely over.

I tell you what..this week is going by so slow it seems. Ace seems to be doing pretty well at day care. His second day at daycare wasn't the best. Vicky said he fussed a lot and never wanted to be put down. Thankfully yesterday he did way better and was content for most of the day. He is consuming roughly 9 oz of breast milk and 2 oz of formula per day while at Vickys. I am unable to keep up with his supply in milk so we are still having to supplement. At least he is getting some breast milk.

Easton has been rather on the winey side these last couple of weeks and this week he's gotten even worse. Could it be because baby brother is at daycare? Who knows. I know he has his 2 year molars coming in but for the amount of fussyness and temper tantrums he's given I just don't think that that is what is the problem. I'm guessing he's strugging with jealousy with baby brother Ace. When we get home from daycare and I have to tend to Ace and nurse him Easton is always pulling at me and telling me "put baby down", "put baby down". Easton does not like me holding Ace all the time. I try and divide out my time between the both of them and give them equal mommy time but some nights it's harder than others especially if Ace is more fussy. He does great most nights but some times there are just nights he needs to be held and rocked by mom. I hope Easton grows out of this stage and realizes that baby brother is not going anywhere and that he'll have to adjust to him not just being the only child anymore and the only one getting mommy and daddies attention. He'll eventually adjust I would think. It will just take time.

It's so hard to be at work right now...the days are so long due to me not having anything to do and no system access to even work on anything. I cannot wait until I"m officially up and running and my days go by faster so I can see my boys that much quicker. Since i have all the time in the world i am pumping 4x a day. I'm trying to get my milk supply up since Ace will so be taking in more milk due to him growing bigger. During the day I only pump out 9oz of milk. Slightly shy of what he's consuming. Hopefully my milk will either stay the same or increase so he can at least get a little more breast milk. I just think of how much time i spend at work verses how much time i get with my kids. Just stinks how I only get a couple of hours a day with them. That is so not ok...but what do you do....we have to earn a living :(

1st Day Back At Work

Are my 12 weeks of maternity leave really over? Where did the time go. Seems like when you're working or on a 12 week diet plan...12 weeks takes a life time but when you're spending time with your new bundle of joy 12 weeks seems like 1 week. I knew this time would finally come but a part of me wishes it wouldn't.

I was really worried about Ace's sleeping schedule heading back into work. He for the most part has been only waking up once in the middle of the night. Of course he is still being swaddled and sleeping in his car seat in the crib. One of these days I'm going to have to break him of that because he'll start to be able to buck himself out of his car seat. Thankfully my first night prior to going back to work was great. Ace went to sleep around 9pm and didn't wake up till 2am to nurse. He then again woke up at 6am to nurse which was perfect for my schedule since most mornings he'll have to be fed by 6am in order for me to get to work by 7am. Hopefully he'll stay on the same schedule and go back to sleep after his 6am feeding so Jesse has time to get him and Easton ready.

Dropping off Ace with Easton was actually not as bad as it was when i dropped off Easton for the first time. Knowing we have a great caregiver made it a little easier. Don't get me wrong..it was still difficult leaving Ace for someone else to care for but at least I had a sence of relief since I knew he would be loved and cared for just like he is loved and cared for at home with us.

My 8 hour day at work couldn't of ended fast enough. My first day back was pretty light. I didn't have access to anything and I had hundreds of emails to go through so I at least kept a little busy.

I was really anxious to know how pumping at work would go and how much milk I would actually get during the course of the day. Surprisingly I pumped out 8 oz. With Easton it was a struggle on a daily basis just to get 3 oz the entire day. At least with Ace he is able to get more of my priceless milk. Work as well is at least understandable when it comes to pumping and I'm able to pump as many times as needed. I call them my smoke breaks...lol...

My 8 hour day finally came to an end and I was so excited to go and pick up my boys from daycare. Ace was all smiles when I got there which made me feel better. Vicky also stated that he was a perfect angel as well..barely fussed at all during the day and took great naps both in the morning and in the afternoon. He also ate pretty good. I for 2 weeks have been pumping every time after nursing to gather enough milk for Ace's first day. I had brought Vicky 12 oz and Ace really only took in 9 or 10. Now I have at least a good idea as to how much he's eating during the day. I'll be a little on the short end when it comes to producing enough for him for the entire day but I'm definitely ok with him being supplemented with formula for only a couple of ounces if need be.

The weather was amazing my first day back at work. The boys and I spent the evening playing outside and enjoying the nice weather.

Overall it ended up being a pretty good day.

Oh and I asked Vicky how Easton was with Ace at daycare and her response was "Easton basically ignored Ace all day"..lol...He'll one of these days be old enough to enjoy his baby brothers presence :)



Love this little guy and will miss him dearly during the day