Friday's Letters

Dear Dominick, on Monday you are going to be a NINE month old. How is that even possible? We've got to spend lots of time together the past couple nights since your daddy has had to work with Mr. B. You have been so funny and you are such a joy to be around. I don't know if I ever laugh as much as when I'm with you.

Dear Ryan, you are a good husband, you know that? Your birthday is coming up and your first Father's Day so I'd really appreciate it if you gave me some ideas instead of just buying them yourself. Mmmmkay? Thanks!

Dear June, you are going to be a GREAT month and I'm excited that you are making your appearance tomorrow. We have birthday parties, play dates, surprises and holidays to celebrate. Oh the anticipation.Dear Ryan, can we stop talking about all of your cross training options? As soon as you get me on board with one thing you're onto the next. How about you pick one and we go from there. Dear August Michigan Trip, how about you settle down on all the plans. Our trips are always so jammed pack and this time is no different. We do it to ourselves, but our trips are always jam packed with things to do. This trip has a Tigers game, birthday party to be had, a wedding to attend, zoo trips, family photos, friend dates, a spa date, a Pentwater day and more already planned. Yikes! It's already kind of stressing me out. Dear Cleaning Lady, I'm so glad we hired you...and that you're going to be making an appearance at our house today. I'm pretty sure there is nothing better than coming home to a clean house before the weekend. You rock! Dear Howard aka Howie, you my friend are absolutely the cutest stuffed doggy I ever did see. We love you.

 Dear Time, you could slow down. I wish I could freeze time as we are in such a great place. Our rough days are nothing compared to the pure bliss I feel when I lay my head down on my pillow and think of the day we had. Dear Air Force Gods, if you could just give us orders to someplace fabulous that would be incredible. The sooner the better, preferably. 

Happy Friday, Friends! 

Grands

Over the weekend I was driving to a birthday party, Dominick was in his carseat snoozing and Ryan wasn't able to go with. I had my ipod on and I began thinking of my grandparents. I often think about them, but I really missed them. I wish they got to meet Dominick or be there for our vow renewal/wedding or other big events. I just know that they would go nuts over my little man and it makes me sad that they aren't here to get to meet him.

My Grandma and Grandpa Gould were amazing and I know I probably took our time together for granted, but looking back on our memories makes me smile. I wish...

+my Grandma could make Dominick homemade frosting and put them on graham crackers for him.
+my Grandpa would share his bag of popcorn with him
+whenever D would be able to go visit and them offering him candy...the hard candy or chocolate or ice cream, they always had ice cream!
+when we were in Michigan and drove by, we would see the blinds pulled back, flowers in the window...unless it was Christmas and my Grandma in her rocking chair. Most likely with a bible on her little table and a cup of tea.
+he would get the chance to go sledding down their hill...but avoid the shed in the back because I hit that once and it didn't feel good.
+he could talk to my Grandpa about when he was young
+he would be able to taste her rolls on Thanksgiving or her applesauce in the Fall.
+he would husk corn or snap beans.
+she would spoil him with love, hugs and kisses.
+that he would have been able to see the love they had for each other
+he would have been able to witness their love for God and their family.
+he would have seen how selfless, strong, giving and wonderful they were.

and for my Grandma Oleson I loved her too. I cried probably every single time we left her house after a visit. I wish...
+Dominick would have been able to meet her.
+to spend time in her house and play in her backyard.
+to walk in to the same house I've ever known her to live in. Having her sit in her chair, have family dinner in the dining room or sit in her vintage dining table in the kitchen.
+to play cards with her, read to her or learn something from her...she was a teach after all.
+to play in the upstairs of her home or sleep on the pull out sofa.

Unfortunately he will never get any of these opportunities with them; thankfully, he has equally amazing grandparents who will do as many of these things, plus some with him as they can. I'm so grateful for the love they have for him, that they still show him all the way from Michigan (no matter where we go or where we are they still show him) and that the love him almost as much as we do.

Photo Dump

I haven't really uploaded any pictures from my camera to the computer so instagram will have to do.
+Dominick has been doing amazing with his naps and night time sleeps. He sure loves his Snugalug. Whenever I put him in his crib he gets really squirmy and tries to roll around until I give him his lovey and then he is content. Snugalug never goes out of his crib, but I just find is so sweet and he loves it so much.

+Last night we went to the club for dinner and we were giving Dom some of our food. He ate more than I've ever seen him eat. Apparently he really loved it because he ate a whole helping of baked macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, a slice of roast, red and green peppers, broccoli cheddar soup, fried chicken (only the inside), half of a roll and puffs. He loved all of it. I gave him his cup of water and he started drinking it like this. We had never seen him drink like this before and we thought it was hilarious.

+Over the weekend we were playing and he decided to crawl through his toy to get to another toy. Why go around when you can go through? He's so funny.

+We also went to the park. Dominick loves to swing, but we were waiting for some friends and the only ones there so I decided to let him try out the big kid toys. He thought it was so cool to crawl back and forth on this little "bridge". He would go from one side to another and back. He has the prettiest brown eyes I've ever seen. Also, in this picture he looks so much like his daddy to me. He is starting to look more and more like R; people say all the time that he looks identical of me, but he really looks so much like R. And his mannerisms and facial expressions are Ryan to a T.

+The other morning Ryan brought Dominick in after he changed his diaper. D wouldn't let him put his pants back on - ha! He is always so happy in the mornings. He loves to play in our bed. He just crawls all over and he loves to lay his head on our pillows.

+Dominick will crawl over us and play on us all the time. He had found my keys and he was hanging out with his dad. Earlier he had two plastic toy balls that he was banging together and R was on the floor like this and he came and was hitting R in the stomach with them and he kept going closer and closer to his face. I told R to watch him because he was going to end up doing it on his face. Sure enough he clonked Ryan on his nose (obviously not very hard) and laughed. It was super funny.

+All the way in California we get Pure Michigan commercials and I love it. Tim Allen's voice and the serene photos of our home state can sure make us stop in our tracks and watch. :)

Perfection

Yesterday I was watching Holly Has A Baby and then the Grey's finale. If you watched either of them you would know that a baby was born in both. As I was watching them I was thinking about my birth experience. I told Ryan that I didn't get to immediately hold Dominick or even see him  and that while I wanted to be focused on how he was doing I was more focused on the amount of pain I was feeling AFTER he was born. In all honesty, after he was born I remember asking Ryan if he was okay and then being in so much pain.

Ryan looked shocked. He said, "Dominick was fine. You were not. They took the baby, cleaned him up enough for me to hold. I held him and they took him back. You were bleeding everywhere. The doctors were nervous and I was watching all color leave your face and body." I said, "yeah, but I wasn't the first one to hold him. I didn't get that immediate skin to skin, it wasn't what I thought it would be." All Ryan said was, "yeah, but you're here now to enjoy him and that's more important than getting to hold him right away, skin to skin contact or anything else about that day. You're here, he's here and you're both okay." I promise I'm going somewhere with this

We pondered the thought of that day and while it wasn't what I had imagined or hoped for, Ryan's right (and I felt SO loved by him when he said that, FYI). We are all here together, we're all okay and all is good in our world. My life is pretty darn perfect. So many people see the imperfections of their lives; the little things that shouldn't really mean much.

 We are all together. We are all happy. Dominick is thriving, learning and growing each and every day (he just learned how to high five and is a pro at it). We both have jobs and are able to put clothes on our backs and food on our table. Our house is FULL of love and what is not perfect about that? Ryan and I are happy, in love, laugh daily and are not only married, but friends too. We feel like we have a good foundation of friends who are like family in California. We have family who supports our decisions and loves us unconditionally. Life is good.

With that said, is our house always clean? Absolutely not. Do I cook a homemade meal every night? Nope. Is the MOUNTAIN (yes, mom...mountain) of laundry hung and folded in all the right places? NEVER...unless my mom is in town. Do we miss our families? Absolutely. Do we have other wants? Of course. All those things, they're not perfection to us. Perfection is leaving the house on time (almost never happens, but we are getting better). Perfection is being together. Perfection is kissing each other good night. Perfection is giving Dominick a bath and laughing and playing. Perfection is Dominick getting 9-10 hours of sleep at night and feeling refreshed and happy in the mornings. Perfection is making memories as a family.These moments and days are fleeting. We all know things happen and can change in an instant. Enjoy this time, be joyful in each others accomplishments and love each other more during our struggles. Be apart of the highs and lows, heartache and pleasures. Every time my parents leave they always tell us to take care of each other and I think we are doing just that.

Enjoy the perfections! Take care of each other. See the perfections of your life...it's not THAT bad!

Mother's Day 2013

Our Mother's Day was intended to be a lazy, low key, do nothing kind of day. Ryan woke up with Dominick so I was able to sleep in just a little bit, although it was only for about 40 minutes because I just wanted to be with my family, not in bed alone. I got up and we played...instead of a homemade breakfast we opted for a BK breakfast. HA!

When R got back I said, we should have went to Santa Monica today instead of being gone all day yesterday (we had a birthday party and then ran some errands). After pondering the thought we decided to hurry and get around and we were off to our favorite little day trip destination. We had no plans in mind aside from getting out of the desert. It was just what we needed (aside from the traffic on the 405 that Ryan absolutely despises).

We shopped, walked around, had fun on the pier and had dinner at this delish Mexican restaurant on the pier outside on the patio. Another thing I want to remember about our day is that as we were pushing him on the pier he would "yell" because he loved to hear himself over the bumps. It was quite adorable. I'm not sure our day could have been any more perfect. It was totally spur of the moment, so much fun and best of all I was able to be with my two best guys.

There was a guy there who took our picture. He took this one and then he took the one above. He asked if our lens was set to auto focus and I said yes. He said, "oh let me take one in manual" so he switched it and the picture above is the one he got. We thought it was so funny that the one he shot with manual focus turned out super blurry.

When we got home last night D was ready to play, play, play! He was tired of sitting in the stroller/car seat and I can't say as I blame him. He was going nonstop until bedtime. He did SO good all weekend despite having some off nap times and most of them being in the car. That's one thing I love about my little man.

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day celebrating with your momma's or as a momma yourself.

Happy Mother's Day

Before I was a Mom - 

I slept as late as I wanted and never worried about how late I got into bed. I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom -
I cleaned my house each day. I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never been puked on - Pooped on - Spit on - Chewed on, or Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and My thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests...or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom -
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known The warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

 

This Mother's Day I feel blessed beyond belief. I have a momma who loves us more than words can express, has been the best role model I could ever imagine, has taught me what unconditional love is and is the BEST Grandma to our little man. I also have a healthy, beautiful little man who made me a momma. And I really never thought I'd love being a mom as much as I do...never in a million years.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you momma's out there! Extra hugs for all of you out there who are missing your mom's today. XO

Dominick - 8 Months

Weight

Birth: 7 lbs 13 oz

3 months: 16.4 lbs

6 months:  19.5 lbs (weighed at home)/actual 18.6 (at the doctors)

8 months: 19.7 lbs (as of 4/23)

 Length

Birth: 22 in

3 months: 24.5 in

6 months: 26.75 in

8 months: 27.2 in

Diapers

Size 3 Honest
Clothes

You are still wearing mostly 9 months and 12 months

Eating

You are still exclusively breastfed and eat every 3-4 hours. You take 2 bottles at the baby sitter's (5-6 oz) and you get a snack in the morning, lunch and dinner. 

Some of your favorite foods are fruits, graham crackers, chicken, ground beef, green beans, gold fish, salmon and sweet potatoes

Sleep

You average 10 hours at night. Your first night sleep teaching was 4/10 and I think it's safe to say you were 100% ready. We start bedtime routine between 7:15 and 7:30. You are in bed by 8-8:15. 

 Likes

Any toys that play music

Your Jumperoo

Swinging and sliding at the park

Watching Elmo

Sophie

Crawling

Standing up
Your momma
Playing with your daddy

Calli and Rocky
"Talking" on the phone

Real Food

Going for Walks

Bath time

Cords

The vacuum

Cell phones and remotes

Dislikes

Teething
Having your nose suctioned

Getting dressed

Changing your diaper

Being told no or not getting your way

Being tired
Your inhaler
Momma walking out of the room

Baby Boy,

How are you already 8 months old? You have had such a big month and it seems like it's gone by really fast. You are so funny and your little personality is out of this world. I become more and more in love with you every day. 

This month you started sleeping through the night and I have seen such a difference in you. Before you would be so tired and cry most of the afternoon at day care and now you still have your moments/days, but normally you are able to make it to about 7:30 and we all know that bedtime is right around the corner. I think having you on a sleep schedule has really been the reason for the change. I wish we would have done this sooner, but we live and learn.

You LOVE going to the park and I believe there will be many of days that we take you to the park. You have always loved being outdoors and now that the weather is warming up we can spend a lot more time outside.

You are one determined little boy. If you want something and we redirect you, you just keep trying to get it. You love to see how things work and figure them out, so inquisitive. Maybe you'll be an engineer when you grow up. 

You are such a great eater. As I mentioned above you eat a snack, lunch and dinner along with the breast milk. You just started to drink from a sippy cup and it's so cute. You'll take a big long drink and then go "aahhhhhh" like it was just SO refreshing. Most of the time you take handfuls of food and shove your mouth jammed full (sometimes you choke because you just keep putting more and more food in there and momma has to pull some out). You always scare daddy whenever you do this (and momma too), but we know you're learning. When you really love a food the faster you try to eat and you make kind of a grunting noise. It's so fun to watch you get better and better.

You have a fake laugh that you love to do, blow raspberries and squeal which is a huge delight. You love to make us laugh and will keep doing whatever it is over and over. You love to have someone play with you, but are okay playing alone as well. 

You are now able to crawl at lightening speed, stand up by yourself and are beginning to "cruise". You've even tried standing without holding, but it didn't last more than a quick second before you were on your bum. You are getting better about going from standing to sitting. I could see your hesitation and as if you were scared, but you are doing so much more gracefully and confidently these days.

Dominick you are such a social little guy and have lots of friends. When we arrive at daycare everyone comes up to you and tries to get you to smile and laugh at them. You do a little bit of stranger danger, but you will almost always give a smile. You are so talkative too.

This month we also had you at Urgent Care and the doctors all within a week. You have really bad allergies and a cold that just won't go away. They put you on steroids for 5 days, zyrtec because they don't think the benadryl is actually working, more nasal spray, tylenol, motrin and an inhaler. We left the pharmacy with a bag with handles. You seem to do really well when I give you the zyrtec and not so good when we miss a day. 

Buddy, we love you so much. You've brought so much joy and happiness into our lives. It's hard to think of our pre baby days and I wouldn't change it for the world. I pray each and every day for you and that your daddy and I can be the parents that you need. Your daddy and I are so blessed and thankful that God picked US to be your parents, raise you and trust your life with us. Sometimes I get sad at the fact that you're growing up and doing all these new things, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I have LOVED every month, but so far this one has by far been my FAVORITE! I always ask your daddy, "don't you think he's just SO fun?" We love you SO much!

Love,

Momma

Our Weekend

+Friday Ryan and I both worked; it seemed like such a long week! We were all ready for the weekend. After work we decided to head into town. We needed to pick up a few things from the store and didn't know if we'd have time over the weekend. We went to Olive Garden, the mall and Target.

When we were at Target Ryan picked Dominick out a little stuffed animal. Whenever we are out he will find something for Dominick. Most of the time at the grocery store it's a piece of fruit - haha. Anyways, he only saw this little cat so he gave it to D to hold onto. Well I told him there were more aside from a cat so Ryan went and found him this little dog. They had an elephant, lion, monkey, the dog, and a couple others so I told him we would let D pick. I held them all up and Dominick of course chose the dog. I said to Ryan that I'm sure it was because that's what he had and I was going to mix them up and let him pick again. I did and he looked at all of them and then picked the dog. I really wanted him to have the elephant, but apparently the dog was his pick. He really loved it.

+Saturday we really didn't do much. I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few items for a BBQ that we were attending that evening. I also picked the house up, did some laundry and made some Amish friendship bread. We went to the BBQ later and it was so fun being around friends. Dominicks daycare provider (also our friend) is going to Germany for a couple of weeks so that's whose house it was at. I don't think there is much that can beat yummy food and good friends.

+Sunday was such a lazy day for us. We played, we napped (all of us), made this dip and ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant. I think that's a win!

Dominick is all over the place nowadays. Unless he's napping I barely have time to shower. I normally just lock him in our bedroom with some toys and let him go to town. After my shower getting around is even crazier. I found that if I put him up on the counter and let him play in the water he'll stay entertained for a REALLY long time and he LOVES it. He kept falling into the sink yesterday so he started with a diaper on and soon we just stripped him down. Such a cutie!

Yesterday he didn't nap for his afternoon nap. I don't know why, but I left him in his crib for over an hour just crying and crying. Finally I decided it was pointless to just make him stay in there that I got him out. The first picture he was upset because I told him no (he wanted my phone) and the second picture was maybe a second or two after the first because I was laughing at him in the first. The poor thing was exhausted by bedtime, but he did stay up until 8 and then slept all night. Poor thing. 

Obsessed

To say I'm obsessed with my child might be an understatement. I take as many pictures as possible of our time together. I have cut back from when he was first born, but in my defense he used to not move at all and now he's all over the place and WAY more fun than before.

Baby loves from my baby man
He loves playing with my phone and he loves seeing himself on the screen so it's fun to take selfies with him.

he hates his hat and was just so sad that I was making him wear it.

Every night I call my mom normally after dinner.  Normally we are on the floor playing and he always wants to "talk" He just sits right there, holds the phone and listens so intently. Sometimes he will talk back to her. It's just so cute to me.

"talking on the phone"

Ryan has been studying for SSgt and Dominick was really wanting his attention. He thought he was helping. 

My mom got him this bear when she was out here. We named him Snugalug and it's D's lovey. He really wanted him out of his crib when we were playing in his room.

On a walk with momma and daddy. 

Happy Thursday, y'all!