Baby Sullivan | Week Forty Six

This week has been a doozy, one of unexpected frustrations and financial burdens. It's almost strange for me to write these words because most people don't believe what I'm saying until I show them photographic evidence of the spring storm that totaled our car. Yes, totaled...

Tuesday evening, I was driving home from work ever aware of a dark storm rolling in. I knew that I should get home before it hit and that I might not be able to go and grab that drink with my lovely friend that evening at a local brewery as planned. The sky continued to get darker and darker as I made my journey across town to our home. 

We were able to get the mom van in our single car garage. I tend to not park in there very often so we needed to move boxes and a bunch of other stuff. As the storm was starting to hit, Ryan moved the van into safety. Little did we know what would hit next. There was a lot of hail and rain. We knew Ryan's car was probably going to hit with some gnarly hail but we didn't have a garage to pull it into in time. We got the kids ready for bed, potty time, diaper changed, teeth brushed, stories read. In the course of probably about ten minutes, the storm hit hard. 

After the kids were in bed, we looked outside to a sight I wasn't expecting. Our entire street (we live in a cul-de-sac) was under water. The water was reaching up our drive way. Our neighbor's mail box was almost underwater. Ryan's car was toast. If only we had moved it up on the driveway, it would have been safe. But, our car is ruined. We vacuumed out 25 gallons of water the next day. The city had to come and haul away all of the hail. I couldn't even drive out of our street the next day...in the month of May! Our neighbor's basement has flooded. Numerous cars have been totaled. We have all been picking up the pieces this week. 

I want to cast blame to our neighbor that loves to blow all of his yard debris and leaves into the storm drain pretty much every day. That probably has a lot to do with it and it irritates me that he's already back at it with his leaf blower. The storm drain filled so quickly that it couldn't handle the storm.  But, this freak storm obviously wasn't planned. So now, we have a rental and get to go car shopping. Big bummer. It's been a crazy week. 

But, even in the midst of this situation, Sullivan is growing like crazy and is forty six weeks old. He's so close to crawling and I can't wait to write those words...it will happen soon. I know it. We are giving him lots of floor time even though he still hates it. He's close. 

Sullivan also decided that he was done nursing this week. I was not ready yet and was hoping to make it to one year, even though we were only nursing once, maybe twice a day. But, we woke up one day and he just decided that he didn't want to any longer. He's our last baby and this mama heart wasn't quite ready for this abrupt change. Luckily I had been only feeding him once or twice a day so I'm not in nearly as much pain as I was when Marin quite nursing. Now I walk around smelling like peppermint oil because it helps ease the pain. At least I smell minty fresh. My little baby is growing up so quickly. 

I'm ready for a new week. I'm not ready to go buy another car but that's what has to be done. I plan on working with Sully a lot with crawling this week. Hopefully we will get some time spent getting dirty outside in the sunshine. Hopefully there are no more freak storms. Lord willing and the creek don't rise. Literally. 

Here's Marin at week forty six. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Forty One

Week Forty One. As of today, Sullivan is 292 days old and every day with him is a new adventure. I see a new piece of the puzzle in terms of his personality and the little boy he is becoming. I'm starting to see this little boy slowly coming to the surface. Soon he will no longer be our little baby but our little boy. I try to not think about that too much because I love the age he's at but I also know that time passes so quickly and he is growing up so quickly. 

We are not planning on having any other children so this is the last era of diapers and sleepless nights, of baby giggles and teething. In many ways, I am alright with living life beyond that season but in other ways, I am slowly starting to mourn the loss of that season. I'm soaking it in while I can. I am trying to soak in the moments when I am still nursing him, in the early morning hours or right before bed time. I can feel those moments slowly falling away. 

Sullivan has been loving all food lately. He is such a good eater and I am sure that he will pretty much eat us out of house and home when he hits the teenage years. Seriously, we will buy so much food! Just yesterday for lunch he had turkey, half of a grilled cheese sandwich, peas, carrots, and a mum mum. Good gravy. The kid loves to eat! He has been slowly taking less and less breastmilk and formula. 

He's definitely working on some more teeth. His nose has been running, his cheeks have been rosy. He's been gnawing on anything he can get his hands on and drooling like crazy. I can see three more teeth, one on the bottom and two on the top, just waiting to break through. He has his first dentist appointment next week with big sis. He has gotten teeth so much earlier than Marin ever did. 

He still is not crawling, not even a little. He is not a fan of being on his tummy. He will sit and play to is his heart's content. He will stand and lean on things for an extended period of time. But crawling, not so much. I know it will happen when he's ready but I'm ready. 

Ryan is on vacation this week and I'm excited to spend some time together as a family. Since I started my new job, I feel like our weeks move so swiftly and we don't really have any days or extended periods of time to spend together as a family. We have some fun stuff planned and I am so looking forward to it. I will still be working a bit but overall, we get some time together and it's much needed. 

Here's Marin at 41 weeks. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Nine

 

This week has pretty much been super crazy. Today is the first day I’ve actually had a moment to sit down on the couch and try to not do a whole lot of anything. I started my new (old) job this week back at the dental office. I have been staring at spreadsheets and Quickbooks for days until my eyes pretty much are ready to give up all together. It’s strange being back at a place where I used to work. A lot has changed in three and a half years but at the same time, hardly anything has changed. I know only a few people from when I was there before. 

Overall though, I think I’m really going to love it. It’s a nice new challenge and I’m ready to actually know what I will be doing day in and day out. The one thing that I absolutely love about this switch is the fact that I no longer am working from home. It is so refreshing to not check my email constantly or work like a madwoman during naptime all the while praying that the children sleep just a little bit longer so I can accomplish something. Working from home was an amazing thing at one point in our lives but I’m ready to be done with all of that. I’m ready to just focus on our family when I’m home and then go to work and actually just work. Hallelujah. 

Sullivan has his 9 month appointment coming up this Monday and I’m curious to see how much the little chunk weighs now. He’s still eating great. I feel like he’s slowly wanting less breastmilk from me or the bottle. He just loves to eat solid foods and is just content as can be eating meatballs and broccoli to his heart’s content. 

We have been trying to do a lot of floor time lately because I feel like he’s a little late on the whole crawling and becoming mobile thing. I know I should eat my words because before I know it...he will be unstoppable and the baby gates will have to come out. I think part of it is because he’s not tiny by any means. I also think that being the second child, we are so focused on both kids. With Marin, it was constant encouragement to crawl, walk, talk, etc. It was just her at that point. I know I shouldn’t worry and he will move when he’s ready. 

Pumping at work is pretty much the bain of my existence at the moment. I’ve slowly been dropping pumping sessions. As of today, I will have only nursed before 7am and at bed time. We will see if I can make it through the afternoon without the insatiable desire to pump. I’m not ready to give up nursing entirely but having to pump at work or during the day just isn’t working any longer. I’m hoping I can get my body to respond to only nursing during the early morning and at night. Hopefully, I won’t lose my supply entirely. It’s such a process and since I’ve been ever so slowly getting rid of feeds, I’m hoping I don’t go all or nothing. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Eight

As of today, Sullivan James Hollen has been with us for a total of 261 days since his July arrival. Those days have passed so swiftly already and in a little more than one hundred days, he will be a year old. My baby boy is turning into a little boy right before my eyes, a little more everyday. As a mom, I am constantly stressing how quickly time moves in our lives and how I wish it would just slow down a bit. But then there are other days where I can't wait for him to hit a specific milestone and I wonder what he will be like when he is a bit older or is a teenager. Having two teenagers in our home...oof. I don't want to think about that quite yet. 

Next week on the 3rd of April, Sullivan will be 9 months old. I have slowly been dropping nursing and pumping sessions with him. Granted, he is still getting a bottle in place of my nursing, but I needed to prepare for my new job that starts next week. I really want to get to the point of only having to pump once, probably at lunch during the day, instead of two times while I'm there. I love the early morning and bedtime nursing sessions and want to hold onto to those until we at least make it to a year. I feel like these times are so important in our bonding and I try to cherish them. They will disappear someday and I will miss them. Sullivan is probably our last baby and I may never nurse another little babe ever again. Yes, pumping is a drag and I pretty much hate it, but it's a necessary evil right now. Luckily, I will only be in the office three days a week and will only need to pump those three days. 

I'm curious to see if my milk supply starts to drop significantly as I start dropping sessions. Hopefully my body responds in a way where it produces enough for the feedings I want to keep and doesn't drop completely. We will see. I am looking forward to not always building my outfit choices around the ability to nurse easier. I also am looking forward to not washing pump parts day in and day out. I plan on getting some nice new bras that don't involve latches and nursing options. That will be a welcomed day. But, for now, we press onward. My goal is one year. We can totally do this. 

Want to know something amazing? You know what I didn't do all day yesterday or today? 

I didn't work. I didn't obsessively check my email. I didn't worry about a church schedule or paying a bill or turning in expenses..or this thing...or that thing... Hallelujah. I was having a hard time making this transition in the beginning because I am slowly realizing how so much of my existence was wrapped up in my job. But, I am moving beyond that. I am excited for the next chapter in our lives. I am excited to go to Easter Sunday and not WORK. I get to go to church with my family and then go to brunch afterwards. This decision is a good one. I am finally confident in that. 

Week Thirty Eight. 

Here's Marin at week thirty eight. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Six

This past week has been crazy, even though our home is pretty much back to normal after the kitchen cabinet remodel. I am very thankful to have dinner at our kitchen table in our actual kitchen. Not having a kitchen with two small children was quite the adventure. I'll be posting about the cabinets in the next few days or so. I still need to take some "after" photos. I love them. They are so great and clean and I don't have to ever paint them ever again. Hallelujah. 

Many things have been changing this week and I'm just trying to grasp all of it. Granted, most of the change has been at my hand, but nonetheless, our lives have been all over the place lately. Some of you know this, some of you do not but I guess now is a better time as any to tell you all out in the grand internet....

I gave my two weeks notice at the church I work for, at least in the administrative role that I have been in the past few years. For the past few years, I have lived and breathed all things admin. It has been a wild ride but I really started to feel the need for more consistency in our schedule and I really, really, really want to be able to raise our own children. Now I know that sounds like I quit my job and am not replacing it with another, but that is not how this story ends. Long story short...I'm going back to the pediatric dental office I was at for nearly 6 years of my life. Many people probably think I'm crazy but I need a job I can go to, work hard at all day, then walk out the doors and leave it there. With working in a church and in ministry, it's 24/7 in one capacity or another. I think if we didn't have children, this would all look so different but for now, I'm going back to the dental world, part time. I also am still going to be even more involved in worship at church and I'm looking forward to diving deeper into that part of me once more. That part has been dormant for far too long. I've been involved but I have always had a million other administrative responsiblities taking up space in my head. It will be nice to not have to worry about all of that and just focus again in the place my heart really longs for. 

Anyways...enough about me. Sullivan is thirty six weeks old. His top two teeth are going to break through any day now and he's had quite a bit of teething pain this week. His normal demeanor is super chill to begin with so I know when he's hurting. Poor dude. Teething is pretty much the worst. 

He's been eating like a champ. The dude loves eat. His current favorites are meatballs, tortellini, peas, carrots, avocados, hummus, and bananas. He eats better than Marin most days. The girl knows what she likes and pretty much refuses to steer away from that. I know that's mostly our fault as parents...too many cheeseburgers...not enough broccoli. 

I have been trying to not nurse or pump quite as much and keep end up being in way too much pain. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. I was trying to get down to one pumping session during the day at work, especially with the new job coming up and just feed him in the morning and at night. But, we aren't quite there yet. I need to slowly back off of all the feedings and supplement instead of going almost cold turkey. My body gets all confused and in pain when I drastically start changing feeding times and frequencies. Breastfeeding has been great this time around and I am definitely not ready to give it up completely. 

Marin has been on Spring Break this week and it's been nice with all of my work craziness to not have her in school for a few days. She's had one slumber party already with the grandparents and she will be with the other set of grandparents tomorrow evening with her cousin. Marin loves sleepovers but I feel like they wipe her out so much. When she finally does sleep, she sleeps hard. 

Here's Marin at Week Thirty Six.  The crazy thing is that when I posted her week thirty six, I had just changed jobs to the job that I just gave my notice at this week. Life is crazy sometimes. 

Week Thirty Six. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Four

Pure joy at Costco. 

As of today, Sullivan James Hollen is eight months old. He has now been with us for 243 days and counting. What a whirlwind our lives have been since his arrival and I'm sure life will only get crazier from here on out. Someday in the near future Sullivan will start crawling. The baby gates will have to be taken out of the back of our closets.

I feel like Sullivan is hitting milestones a bit later than his sister and I'm trying not to let that go to my head and worry. I know that every child is very different. Marin and Sullivan are pretty much night and day with a lot of things. At this point, Marin was pretty much crawling and saying, "Mama." Sullivan isn't a fan of floor time and rolls over the second you get him on his tummy. At least he is now rolling over because that was a little slow going for a while. 

Sullivan also eats a lot more solid foods than Marin did at this point so I'm counting that as a win. We have been giving him lots of vegetables, sweet potatoes, some fruits and chicken. I want to continue to expand his eating horizons one meal at a time. He's a great little eater and I am thankful for that. I can slowly feel him nursing less and less though. We are still consistently nursing but the sessions aren't for nearly as long as before. I know that having solid foods alters those feedings but I don't want him to start weaning himself yet. I don't think he will but I like where we are at with breastfeeding. My goal is one year at least with him and I feel like we are well on our way to hitting that goal. 

My goal this week is to make sure he's getting lots of floor time and lots of tummy time. I know he will start becoming mobile when he's ready. He's also not a small dude and sometimes I think his size hinders him at times. I do believe that's why it took him so long to roll over. I also think with the second kid, everything is so different. You still are caring for your first child so your focus is not just on one child but two. He does a lot of hanging out with us and it perfectly content just staying in one place. 

We are getting our kitchen cabinets resurfaced & refaced this week and a backsplash done. I am super excited but I am definitely not looking forward to not having a kitchen for a week. I'm trying to figure out feeding our children...perhaps we will set up shop in the living room and use the Instant Pot a bunch? Who knows. It will be an adventure for sure, but I'm so excited for that project to completed. 

Happy 8 months, Little Dude!