Adventures in La La Land

I'm going to attempt to bang this out quickly. I really should be sleeping, but I'm waiting for my cough medicine to kick in and am just now getting around to writing this post . . . 1. Every year, I fill out a bracket for the NCAA Basketball Championship. It started in high school history class with Mr. T. I always picked the teams with cool names like Gonzaga, Xavier, and Villanova. In the past few years, I've picked Villanova to go all the way because they actually had a chance. I know nothing about Nova. I don't know where it is in the country, who the coach is, I don't know any of the players' names. I just always pick them to win. Haha. Similarly, my sister Niki always picks North Carolina to win - solely because that's where Michael Jordan went to college, and she loves him. (Also because her favorite color is baby blue - their team color.) So imagine our surprise this year when my nephews, other siblings, friends, and basketball aficionados started...

1. Last Saturday, Lena found a baseball bat and insisted she wanted to play baseball with me. I tried to convince her that Daddy is better at baseball, but she only wanted me. So we did our best! As my mom said, it was the blind leading the blind. Lol. But Lena was so  adorable. Have I mentioned that she dresses herself? Lol.  She actually hit the ball a few times. The first time, we were both so surprised! I was exclaiming, "You did it! Way to go!" And she didn't even know what to do with her excitement. She finally said, "I want to hug you!" Lol. We hugged it out every time she hit the ball after that. (Which wasn't very often. Haha.) While we were outside, Justin was pacing with poor reflux-y Levi. They finally ended up like this: <3 2. We had a lovely Easter. The girls and I did Happy Home Fairy's Easter egg hunt/Easter story on Thursday to drive home the real meaning of Easter. Then Sunday morning we made resurrection rolls as has ...

Look at those scrawny legs! Well, my little leap baby is one month old! Time for an update! Breastfeeding Breastfeeding is going well. The latch issues got better by week 3 and he usually gets it on the first try now. The right side is a piece of cake. The left side hurts me still - usually just for about those first 20 seconds until he gets a good latch. He eats on both sides every 3 hours around the clock. We got thrush at 2 weeks and are just finishing up our meds for it. That was an unpleasant experience I don't wish to repeat. And last night, he took a bottle for the first time with no problem! Lena never took a bottle, so I was nervous about Levi. I wasn't home, but Justin said he chugged it right down without hesitation. Whew! Sleep He's been sleeping a lot better over the last two weeks. I think he finally has his days and nights figured out. He wakes up every three hours to eat, but usually goes right back to sleep. For a while, I didn't s...

1. Good news, everyone! Levi slept so much better at night this week! I'm wising up and have learned just to scoop him out of bed, feed him, attempt a couple quick burps, then toss him back in bed. No unswaddling. No diaper changing. No giving him time to wake up. It seems to be working. 2. More good news: we got free newborn pictures taken! I have a photographer friend who messaged me this week offering to take free pictures in exchange for more "boy newborns" for her portfolio. I wasn't about to pass that up! I think newborn photos are so adorable, but have never been able to justify the price. Levi is actually a  little  old for newborn photos. He was awake a little too often, but Amy did an amazing job of calming him down and getting him to sleep. And she got some awesome shots! He loved this nest thing. I need to get one for at home! Old man forehead wrinkles! She captured the dimples! The grin!! Thank you so much, Amy! Check out h...

I really did start this entry on Saturday, but I got distracted . . . Levi's having his awake time now, so I'm going to quick finish it up. So sorry for the delay. 1. Levi turned 2 weeks on Monday and suddenly woke up. Especially at night. Haha. On Tuesday, he woke up at 1:30 to eat, and didn't go back to sleep until after another feeding at 4:30. On Wednesday, he was up from 2:00-6:00 am. On Thursday, it was midnight to 4. It is ridiculous . It'd be one thing if he was just awake and happy. I'd stick him in the swing and go to sleep. But he wants to be held/walked/jiggled. I told Justin that I can do magic tricks. Levi will be sound asleep in my arms. I'll lay him down in his bed and he magically jerks awake and starts screaming. When I pick him up, he magically silences again. I don't know what his deal is. I've tried gas drops and bicycle legs, but I don't really think that's the problem. I think he just wants to be awake - and he wants me t...

1. One of the best parts of having a baby is all the meals people bring you in the week following. Haha. We had so much good food this week thanks to Niki's delegating and my friends' generosity. Major thanks to Missy, Niki, Kris, Amy, Kelly, another Missy, and Tammi! I'm not looking forward to doing my own cooking again. (Although I won't have to for a while thanks to the mounds of delicious leftovers!) Oh, and good news! Despite all that amazing food, I'm down 15 pounds! Since I gained less than 30 pounds for the first time in the history of my pregnancies, that's over halfway! Woohoo! Not even going to attempt regular jeans, though. I know my hips are still too wide and I just don't need that kind of disappointment. Haha. 2. My due date is tomorrow and I am so glad I'm not still pregnant! Although I do kind of miss my built-in table. I had a bowl of cereal the other day and didn't know what to do without my belly to prop the bowl on! Haha. It...

Mr. Levi is one week old! He's already experiencing third child syndrome and I'm a day late on the update. Haha. Sorry, dude. He has been a great baby so far! He's an amazing sleeper, is getting the hang of eating, and is such a sweet snuggler. He's going to be totally spoiled because everyone wants to hold him all the time - from the girls to my parents, to Justin and me. I just want to snuggle him non-stop. I still can't get over how tiny he is and how he curls into the perfect little ball on my chest. Breastfeeding I've been telling people that Levi is kind of a combination of the girls in the breastfeeding respect. Lucy was terrible and couldn't figure out the latch for two solid weeks. Lena practically came out sucking and had the latch down within days, but really hurt me. Levi struggles to latch, but always gets there eventually and gets good feedings. And he's barely hurting me at all (although maybe I've just gotten smarter and am mo...