Morning Happiness

I love Saturday mornings when I don't feel rushed, and I get to enjoy Jay's morning happy time. I also get to go run errands while John takes care of him. This morning I found a garage sale with a bunch of cute toys. I have priced them at Kohls, Target and Walmart and it is ridiculous how much they are. I got all these toys for $8 total. I guess it still is a lot for a garage sale, but I was specifically looking for these kinds of toys! I was washing them outside before he played with them, and I decided he should come hang out with me. Jay seems to like them:)

His hands still win as "the best thing to suck on".

Here is a video of his morning happy time. (it is a min. long)

morning happy time- jay from angie shaler on Vimeo.

Frustrated...

Can I just stay that I am pretty frustrated about the formula recall that they just announced. I checked all my formula today and almost all of it is on the list (and some of my containers are pretty much empty). Not only do we have to change brands and exchange it all, but I think baby Jay's tummy was just getting used to our breast milk most of the time with some formula routine. Now we are changing it up with different formula. He was pretty crabby tonight, and I wonder if that is why. The other thing I am frustrated with is that most of the other baby recalls are for cribs, or strollers where it would have to be an extreme case for someone to actually get hurt. This one is for something we put in our babies bodies! If nothing else, this gives me incentive to continue breastfeeding longer than I planned to, even if it isn't exclusive.

tasks...

Now that I am a working mom, all those little tasks that I had time to get done during the day, are needing to get done even when I don't get a chance. John has been amazing and I really feel like parenting has been a team effort. On the other hand, we are both taking online classes this semester and we are both working full time this month, so we have been multi-taking quite a bit.
Sometimes Jay is as happy as a clam when we do it. Today he sat in a chair and played with a toy while I cleaned/organized.

Last night he wasn't so happy to do laundry with me:)

(ps it kind of looks like he is getting teeth in this last picture, but I zoomed in on photoshop and discovered it is just the glistening of all the drool in his mouth:))

My sister's etsy site

My sister is really creative and is great at sewing. Here is just a random selection of what she has made for Jay and I: Toys, graphic onesies, bibs, blankets, fabric embellishments, and my ultimate favorite an extra long nursing cover.



Now you can buy some of the cool stuff she makes.
Please go check out her new Etsy site! Click Here: Bubbaloo

really?

You expect me to sit in this chair?
I don't think so!

First day back to work...

and it was great!
I'm not someone who cries much...and I didn't cry today either. I was actually excited to go back to work. I missed the kids, my colleagues, and "knowing what I was doing".
Let me explain that last one. I am "learning" how to be a mom and "learning" how baby Jay works. It was nice to KNOW how to do things back at work.
On the other hand, I was nervous about how his first day at the babysitter would go. Mostly just wondering how crabby Jay would be for her.

At work I was greeted by many kids and teachers enthusiastically saying "she's back!" and "how is your little baby?". I taught my lessons with gusto, and found a great little office room with a sink where I can pump. I didn't even worry because I got a text from the babysitter saying that he played happily on the floor for a while, and that he took a good nap. Oh he still had some crabby time, but it wasn't horrible.
Here is a picture of Kristie (our babysitter) and I. (and apparently a kid doing a skateboarding trick in the background)
She has 3 kids of her own, so she has plenty of experience:)

I started missing Jay on my way to pick him up..and when I got there he was just chillin in the swing. He had a good day. I guess even when he doesn't have a good day we know that he is capable of it:)
It will be a challenge to get everything done during the week, but I am excited to be back at work. The thing I miss most besides smiling and laughing with Jay are afternoon naps:(

Here is a picture of Jay wearing his first button down shirt from Sunday:

10 weeks

My little man is 10 weeks old. Goodness, it does go fast. I told John he has been sleeping more often during the day and he said "He's growing. He even looks bigger".
New things:
Bibs- we still go through 3-4 a day because of drool, you will probably see quite a few because all his pictures are of him with bibs on (unless I take it off for a few min. to get some pictures).


Giggles- yep, he has just started to giggle. Most of the time it is a smile with a few coo's, but the giggles have started.

Walks- I have gone on 1-2 10-15 min. walks every day lately. He doesn't last more than 10ish minutes, but it is still GREAT to be able to get some exercise and be outside. He loves the wind, so the wind has been great for our walks...not so great for the firefighters fighting the fire in Boulder.

Eyes- I get lots of comments on how pretty his eyes are. I agree, and I hope they stay blue just like Johns eyes. Here is a picture that shows his true eye color- no photoshoping involved:)
Trying new things- I finally feel like there is some "good" time where we can try new things with Jay. It only lasts about 10 min. most of the time, but besides walks we have tried cooking together, playing in the grass and going to the grocery store.

Toys- He has been enjoying toys more and more. Today he gripped his little cloth giraffe and got it in his mouth!


And another cute picture just for fun.

Grandpa and Grandma visit and more

We have gotten some really cute pictures of Jay lately. Also, he had a few GOOD days this past week...which is very encouraging.
On Thursday night, it was really hot here (we don't have AC) and Jay's long sleeve broncos outfit wasn't going to work for the last pre-season game. I let him stay in a diaper and put a hat, a bib, and booties on him:) We love watching football together.

Also, he's a big drooler. I don't think he's teething (he seems a bit young for that). We go through 3-4 bibs a day because of drool.

Grandpa and grandma N came this weekend. We had lots of fun and he showered them with smiles.



Grandma loves to tell Jay nursery rhymes and other silly songs.

Jay spent a good 15 min. smiling, cooing and laughing the night before they left.

(His shirt says "feed me or I'll snap" which is SOOO true. He still eats every 1-2 hours (except during the night) and sometimes it's just a snack.)
He loves bath time now. Even if he has been crying all night we can give him a bath and he will be content.



We also took our first successful walk (meaning Jay didn't scream the entire time). We ditched the car seat-stroller combo, and just tried our little stroller. It was pretty windy, and night time so he was kind of tired. He stayed awake for about 10-15 min. and then fell asleep (and by that time it was getting dark). I'm hoping for more successful walks in the future.

And...as much as we love him, he still screams. Case in point: