Can I Get a Witness??

We went to church today and it was a great service. Every year we have something called spirit Sunday which is marks the beginning of the new church year. This year our theme was "I am a Witness".

They always have wonderful music so we let Matthew sit out in the church with us. He got a little bit restless about half way through the service so I had to take him out. Our church just completed a new Christian Arts and Education wing where they have a new nursery so I took in there and changed his diaper and we played with all the new toys and the other baby that was in there. He had a great time.

After church we came home and my cold took a turn for the worse. I took a long nap and woke up feeling very weak. Matthew wanted me to hold him so bad and it was all I could do to pick him up...he is getting soooo heavy. After taking Tylenol I felt much better. I hope that this cold goes away quickly.

Tomorrow night I will post an update on Matthew's weight. He has a doctor's appointment in the morning with the GI doctor....keeping my fingers crossed!!!

TGIF

Tonight we went to TGI Friday's. We got this coupon for 1 free entree under 15.00 but when we got there they said that they were not accepting them so we just ordered cheap. I had the Sausage and Chicken Penne and Seth got the Jack Daniels burger. Matthew got to sit in the high chair tonight and he loved it. I have got to start taking my camera everywhere I go because that would have made a great picture.

For the past 3 or 4 months Matthew has been out of routine with his eating. I can't seem to get him on a stable routine and I think that is some of the reason why my milk seems to be drying up. Today I actually had to wake him up this morning at around 8:45, I think he would have slept a lot longer because when I went in his room he didn't budge and was sound asleep until I started rubbing his back. He breastfed very well. At about 10:00 I fed him some cereal with formula and he ate alot of that and really seemed to like it. Around 12:15 he seemed hungry so I fed him some sweet peas but it was like I was stuffing down his throat because he didn't seem to want to eat. I nursed him right after that but he was falling asleep and I don't think he actually got very much. I tried to give him a bottle of formula but he wouldn't take that either so around 1:00 I just put him down for a nap since he was sleeping anyway. During his nap Seth and I laid down for a nap as well. It is so nice that Matthew is finally napping long enough for us to get some much needed rest during the day. WE ALL SLEPT...GET THIS...TIL 4:00!!! I thought for sure that he would be starving so when I went in to wake him up I tried to nurse him but he didn't want any of that. I got a bottle of formula and he refused that too. The bottle had 8 ounces in it from a liquid sample that the hospital gave me that would go bad if I didn't use it up tonight but he refused it. I kept trying to get him to take it and finally around 6:00 he ate ALL 8 OUNCES!!! and get this...he only spit up a little bit. So then...leading us to TGIF...we went to eat. He got to sit in one of those wooden high chairs and get this...he ate 4 ounces of carrots, 4 ounces of blueberries and apples and then 3 and 1/2 ounces of a banana pudding baby food desert. He looked like he was going to explode! HA!! We got home and he was very happy taking a bath and he just played and played in the water then he nursed for about 15 minutes and went to bed.

I just wish I could get him on a set schedule because he never follows one from day to day. That means that at any moment he could be hungry and I won't have a way to feed him. It is very frustrating.

Tonight I will leave you with a couple of pictures. One from when he was less than one week old and the other one from yesterday so you can see how much he has changed. I love my little angel!!!!

What's new with Matthew

This week I forgot to mention that Matthew has started clapping along to music when he is at Ms. Cookie's during the day. I am so glad to hear that the babies have a music time during the day so they can develop that part of their brain. That is obviously very important to me since music has been a huge part of my entire life.

Here is a video of him clapping!!!

Have a great night!!!

Pictures for Tia Kay Kay

Here are some pictures for Matthew's Tia. He isn't smiling in a single one of them though.

Matthew is finally getting over his cold. Although he still seems congested sometimes I think he is slowly getting better. His little tooth just seemed to stop coming in. I thought that once you saw a tooth break the skin that it would come on up in a day or so but that didn't happen. He doesn't seem as grumpy so maybe he is taking a break from that for a while.

On another note, it looks as if we are going to start feeding Matthew more formula. I am going to see what happens this weekend because who knows??? He might start eating and nursing and get my milk supply back up and running. Since he was sick I don't think that he had a very large appetite so maybe he is getting over his cold.

I take him back to the GI doctor on Monday for a checkup. Let's keep our fingers crossed about his weight gain!!

I better get to bed tonight. I can't wait until I get to spend the whole day with my little munchkin!! What a wonderful job I have being a mom!!!!!!!

Good night!

It's a bird...It's a plane...It's a Mozart???

Tuesday night is my night to teach my Music class at the local University. Honestly, I have so much fun because unlike my day job the college class is much more laid back and less stressful. When I walk in to teach my class the staff always greets me with lots of warmth and respect. In fact one time as I was getting ready for a class the receptionist came in to make sure that I didn't need anything!!! What a concept?!?!? Showing respect!!!

At my school during the day it always seems like someone is always looking to make sure that I am not being 'lazy'. Right now I am so frustrated with my job...I haven't really complained (eh hum) I mean talked about it on my blog because I wanted to keep this all about Matthew but after the past week and a half I want to pull my hair out. I really don't think that the school district realizes how impossible our schedules are??? I mean I have 14 classes at my 'home' school and the other school I travel to once a week I have 5. Plus until today I was being asked to tutor for an hour every morning I was at my 'home' school which added another 4 hours to my actual music classes. Now I am having to administer some kind of test called FAIR (reading) to the first grade students for an hour a day instead of the tutoring.

I just wish to heaven above that I could just stay at home with my little Matthew FOREVER. Now...all my time is over with him and I feel lost in my job away from him. Right now we are going through another dry spell (so to speak) with his eating habits. Ms. Cookie says that he eats really well during the day at 'school' but when he gets home he is not interested in eating...breastfeeding??...formula??...baby food???...he is even turning away the peach cobbler dessert!!!!! I hope and pray to GOD that this is just because he has a runny nose and is a little sick. I don't know how much more stress my breastfeeding can take before I start to dry up. Tonight I had to supplement the last feeding with formula because I feel like I ran out of milk for him. I am so disappointed that I might have to stop nursing just because of my stinkin' stressful job!!!!!!!!!! Of all the reasons to have to quit nursing...jeezz!!

On a happier note, it is already WEDNESDAY so we are half way to the weekend so I can spend every minute loving on my little froggie!!!

As for the random title?!??!?!?!! It fits with my life during this school year so far!!

GOOD NIGHT!

OK..OK..No pictures again

Hi again...tonight I do not have any pictures to upload yet again. For one thing my Picasa web album is getting full because I use the Google online storage as a backup for all my pictures of Matthew. I just started a Snapfish account tonight so maybe I have eliminated the problem.

Matthew has been sick the last couple of days. He doesn't seem interested in eating as much. I hope Ms. Cookie will get him back on track this week because he has an appointment with the GI doc again on Sept. 14 (next Monday) and he needs to have gained lots and lots of weight so the doctor doesn't see the need to do the upper GI test on him. Remember he went a month without gaining a single ounce so he needs to have gained at least a pound since he went to see Dr. Goosby a couple of weeks ago. I am hoping for 15 pounds by next Monday which would be about a pound since two weeks ago on Aug 26. It would be great if he gains even more though.

His tooth is peeking through even more now...I do not feel a difference when he nurses though. I thought that I would feel a change but so far he hasn't bit me or anything.

Well I better go for tonight...I am already tired and need to get to sleep for my long week at work (even though it is a shorter one being away from Matthew for even one day makes it seem long).

Have a good night!!!

Long Weekend

Hi everyone!!! I know that it has been a while since I posted. I told myself that when I start back to school I wouldn't stop posting every day but I did. Hopefully I will be able to start posting more now that we are getting into the swing of things.

On Friday after school...we decided to go to Naples to visit my FIL who was flying in from a sabbatical to perform a wedding. We had lots of fun and Matthew loved getting into the swimming pool again. I decided to not take my camera or computer and take a much needed break from my life. Although we do have a nice LONG weekend we decided to come back today so we could enjoy our day off at home.

Matthew has a little cold and he is still cutting his tooth so he has been rather grumpy at times. He has been drooling so much that Ms. Cookie even had to change him the other day. I hope that the tooth comes in more quickly in the coming week. Although we put him on his stomach and try to get him to crawl he always seems to want to stand up and walk (with our help of course)...I really think he might walk before he crawls. He is really starting to come out of his shell and enjoy playing with his toys, reading his books, and eat more of the solids at each sitting. Right now he eats somewhere between 2 and 3 four ounce jars of baby food each night. He is still eating and loving Ms. Cookie's food for lunch. I have still be able to continue to breastfeed although I feel that my pumping sessions during the day are getting less and less. I always feed him when he gets up in the morning, once before I drop him off and leave at Ms. Cookie's house, pump at 11:30 a.m., once when I pick him up in the afternoon at around 3:30. Then in the evening I feed him when we get home at around 4:30 or 5 (usually because he eats quickly at Ms. Cookie's)...then we eat dinner and he has solids usually 1 or 2 veggies and a fruit or baby dessert. Sometimes he wants to nurse again around 7:30 or 8 and then he nurses again around 9:30 or 10 for bedtime. At Ms. Cookie's he usually eats 1 bottle of breastmilk (when I have a full bottle) and 1 bottle of formula. He does eat 2 bottles of formula on days that I didn't have a full bottle of breastmilk pumped. So far I am very proud of myself for being able to continue the nursing. It has been hard because my body has taken a while to get adjusted to the new schedule but the last few days I have seen a difference in my milk production.

Tomorrow I am going to post some more pictures of him so check back for more!!!

Have a great night!!!