Come and Ride the Train!

Max just absolutely loves it when I sing to him... and dance:) Ha-ha! Here's a short clip of us having fun!  At the end of it you can tell that he's like -- "Um, I didn't know you were filming this!"  He's going to hate me when he's older for embarrassing him and once he realizes that I am a horrible singer he'll dislike that too, for now I will enjoy the fact that he is as tone deaf as I am.  He absolutely loves this song and I invented the dance (arm) moves to go along with it.

Everyone wants something for nothing...

I’m going to take moment to warn everyone that’s reading this post, that this will be one of my very few posts that may sound  a little political but I can’t help myself… don’t worry as with all my posts it does tie into my little family.  

Before I start I will begin with a picture of my little angel!

Yep, Daddy picked out this outfit!

Yep, Mommy picked out this one!! Love it!

Isn't he perfect!

 Okay now the semi-political stuff ~

So the other day I’m sitting in my office and I over hear a conversation that is happening in the hallway. Someone is discussing with someone else how their pregnant sister gave them her prenatal vitamins because she was about to have her baby and didn’t need them anymore, and what did it matter anyway because she had gotten them for FREE. My face immediately turned BRIGHT RED.  I had payed $75 dollars for a bottle of my prenatal vitamins – which equates to $2.50 a pill.  Now I wanted to make sure my little pumpkin got the best prenatal care, so naturally I sucked it up and even continued to eat the cost after his birth… why because I wanted the best care and was willing to pay for it.  So why did I turn red might you ask, because this chick was getting them for FREE!!!! FOR FREEE!!! FOR FREEE!!!

So this brings me to my point, did you notice how I stated that she didn’t care that she was giving them away because she was due in 2 weeks and wasn’t taking them anymore, in addition to the FREE part. She didn’t care she was due in 2 weeks, well any former or current prego will tell you – TAKE THE DAMN PILLS UNTIL YOU GIVE BIRTH TO THE DAMN BABY.  I can’t help but feel if she was paying for the damn pills she’d be taking them and  not be giving them away.  When things are for free we toss them to the waste side like they are garbage, why because it was free so it must not have any value… does it matter that I am paying full price over here for the same product?  Not to someone who got it for free.

This brings me to my second point.  For those of us that were honored to have had our children in an urban hospital – ie Youngstown Ohio –we  have found a few things interesting, this is what Kevin and I observed.  Half, if not more than half, of the patients there had no medical insurance, and so they were getting their care for free.  We also discovered that the nursing staff was used to getting told off and treated badly because they were very hesitant to be nice when they first came into your room.  We also noticed that many of the new moms were smoking – seriously you just had a kid and you are outside smoking. Our room’s window had a great view of the where you would come in and out to get the maternity ward and we saw countless new mothers out there in their robes smoking cigarettes and in one case a prego mom out there smoking in her bathrobe. Was she in labor.. Probably and needed that damn cigarette. Are you kidding me? 

I also remember when I was first admitted laughing when I was asked – are you on any kind of drugs today.  I looked at the nurse and said, “Oh yea, I just had my fix out in the car before I came up.”  She gave me a very serious look to which I quickly fixed my statement and said “NO” I couldn’t help myself.  It was such an awkward question I thought it was funny to joke about… she then told me I would be surprised by the number of mothers that came in there and were on drugs.  I was shocked.  Why do these mothers care so little?

The answer is this, because they are going to get everything taken care of for nothing. If they knew that they were going to have to pay for the healthcare of their unborn child would they take better care of it?  I think so.  Here’s another simile, when your growing up and your mother tells you to pick up your room do you… no… why because she’ll do it for you… but when it’s your house and your clothes that you paid for do you take better care of them? I certainly hope so!

How can these new mothers possibly care for these children properly when they’ve had no responsibility of the child yet. They’ve paid  for nothing for this child and will continue to receive things for them for free… so why properly care for it… the government will do it for you. 

I’m going to continue this rant with something I heard on Howard Stern today – yes I know Howard is very liberal but I think he’s starting to see the problem with Obama care.  Howard knows someone who is working to support her family as her husband is out of work. She makes enough money that she isn’t eligible for Obamacare so she has to provide healthcare for her family. She pays $1500 a month for a family of 2 adults, her and her husband, and 1 child.  Her insurance is so crappy it is barely accepted at most places, but she has to have it. If she was making less money she could get the government healthcare, which is a million times better than what she has.  How is the right! How is that these people that don’t work and live off the government are being afforded better care than the people that are busting there asses?? How!! And why would these people possibly take better care of themselves when if they do get sick everything is going to be taken care of for them. 

So what’s the solution? Charge them something. Something! Whether it’s a total bill of $500 or $100… charge them something. Somehow these same people find the money for the newest shoes, the pretty nails or whatever else, charge them something. Make them have some responsibility for their child’s care and for the care of themselves.  Some people will say – they will never pay it – well maybe this money should then be deducted from their welfare check or food stamps over time. Or maybe their child is taken away from them if they can’t pay for them or maybe they have to do community service to pay off their debts. We have to make people accountable, just as you and I are.

Is it SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE for us to take all the SELF RESPONSIBILITY away from everyone? If we continue to take care of EVERYONE they will stop taking care of themselves?  It’s proven that wild animals once fed by humans will stop hunting for themselves, and start coming back to you to take care of them.  Aren’t people the same?

Now I am going to end this post with one last statement. NOT EVERYONE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE SYSTEM! There are people out there that GENUALLY need help, whether they are laid off, fired or just NEED IT. These people deserve to be helped, and will over time get new jobs and pay back what they earned.  This is what the system was made for… 

"I'm all for helping the helpless, not the hopeless!" ~ Kevin Hopkinson

October 2, 2011 - Maxwell's Baptism

Okay this is a little late but I feel like I should post something regarding Maxwell’s baptism.  Really there isn’t much to say – it was a nice day – okay the weather sucked and it was raining but to have family together and to welcome Maxwell into the Catholic Church made it a nice day. 

Max’s Baptism was different than any other Baptism that I had been to, in that there were many babies being baptized at the same time. Five babies I believe and I believe Maxwell was the only boy!    We sat in the pews and each repeated what the priest asked for and then each took our turns visiting the Baptismal fountain. Max slept through the entire ceremony except when he got water in his eyes during the dunking – okay it was really a dunk it was just water being pour over his head.  However, he didn’t cry.  He is such a good boy. He looked confused but he didn’t cry! He then promptly returned to his slumber.

He wore the cutest little outfit. I had a hard time deciding what he should wear and was very happy with my choice. I choose a knitted white pants and sweater outfit versus a dress/sleeper outfit. I choose this because he is such a big boy. If he was smaller – say newborn size – I may have chosen something different – say one of the dressy things. I definitely wasn’t going to get one of those white, silky, mini-tuxedos. Oh gosh, those are horrible. I’m sorry it’s just not my style and if anyone has put their child in that type of outfit – I’m terribly sorry if I’ve offended you – like I said not my style.   I think he looked adorable. I even got him some Gerber white booties… which of course fell off half way through pictures.

Maxwell’s godparents are my sister, Alexandria, and Kevin’s brother, Kyle, who just happened to be our Best Man and Maid-of-Honor at our wedding.  We believe they will do a good job in Maxwell’s spiritual growth, although Samantha (my baby sister & godchild) was quite disappointed that she wasn’t given the honor and we have promised her that she will get to do it next time.    Love her!  

It’s so funny to watch Samantha and Alex fight over Maxwell, Kevin and I can’t get enough of it.  I just wish they lived closer, it would be nice to have a 24 hour on call babysitting service, as it stands now I feel guilty to ask Memaw – Kevin’s Mom – to baby-sit on the weekend because she already watches Max twice a week. So I don’t want to do that. Oh well, I’ll just take advantage of them when I visit Sandusky.

Aunt Alex and Maxwell

Godparents, Kyle & Alex, Deacon, Maxwell, Me and Kevin

Sam, Mommy (Me), Maxwell, Alex

Aunt Dawn, Uncle Dan, Daddy (Kevin), Maxwell, Mommy (Me)

Mommy, Daddy, Sleeping Maxwell, Uncle Kyle, Aunt Kate

The Grandparents and Maxwell

Kevin, Great Grandpa Herman, Maxwell, Memaw, Papa, Me

Grandpa, Grandma, Maxwell, Me, Kevin

Me and Maxwell

THE 9 DAY HOLD OUT

The past few weeks have been flying by.  Between work, school <daycare> and spending time together as a family – time goes so fast.  Maxwell is so big – it’s amazing! I remember when I would sit in the chair feeding him and he was so small <well still much bigger than most newborns, but small>, now he’s legs are sticking out well beyond my body when he eats! Awe love him!! He’s perfect!  So perfect in fact that he chooses to only poop every NINE days.  Okay I don’t know if this makes him perfect, because it certainly had mom, dad, and both of our parents worried. 

Where should I begin with this story? I guess it’s best to begin with this 2-month doctor’s appointment.  At our 2-month appointment our doctor, Dr. C. had warned us that his BMs may not happen as often, so naturally they immediately <the next damn day> went from everyday to once every 3 days and we weren’t surprised.  Then they went to once every 4 days, with a really big poop happening when it came – we call it a ‘Poopcano’ okay I just made that up but seriously it’s just keeps coming and coming out. Ha-ha!  So last week Max was at 7 days and I was beginning to worry. 

Naturally I scoured the internet and talked to everyone that I knew about it. Had anyone ever heard of a baby holding out this long?  Apparently I’m not the only mother clueless in these matters because I found dozens of websites addressing/asking about this same problem – the common denominator you ask – breast milk.  All of these babies were breastfed and apparently it’s quite common as they begin to get older, as the babies are naturally absorbing all of the breast milks nutrients. 

So I found some relief in these articles and information, but I was still worried.  I did what any new mother would do – I called Max’s doctor.  What prescription was Max given you ask???  I’ll tell you it involves someone taking his temperature in his BUTT. Yes I said it - his butt… I didn’t even want to type the word because I still feel horrible about it.  But we did it – and what happened might you ask – nothing! The kid stared at me and laughed. He couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about and why everyone was talking about him going POOP.  I couldn’t help but laugh too. This was after all ridiculous. The kid wasn’t uncomfortable and was happier than ever. What goes up must come down after – so what goes in must come out -- right!!

DAY 9 – Saturday! Kevin is out of town hunting – aka drinking in the woods – and my mother is in town staying with Max and me. I need to run some errands and do some shopping so we get all ready to head out. I naturally put Max in a cute outfit and hope that maybe just maybe the combination of being out and about and his cute outfit will motivate him to poop.   Let’s just say that this did the trick. We made it through 3 stores without a peep or stink, but after I ran into the Home Depot and was loading up the car with my new shelves… I could smell that something had happened. 

We got home and I immediately changed his diaper.  Low and behold we have a POOP.  I have never been so excited in my life, especially for poop! Gezz.. are you kidding me. Hell I can’t even believe I just wrote a whole blog about it.  But this is what excites us parents now.  Poop! He didn’t poop just once that day he pooped 3 more times, silently, slyly and coolly – so I didn’t even know it until I smelt it.  What a little stinker!!! Needless to say after his great and wonderful poops, my mother and I went to lunch and I celebrated with a well-deserved glass of wine.

And that’s the “Great Poop Holdout” of 2011.

Who are you calling a pumpkin!?

Last week was a good week. Mommy went back to work, Max went to school and Daddy stained the deck, mowed the lawn, did laundry, worked his real job and made dinner 3 out of 5 nights last week.  Needless to say Daddy (who works at home) was lonely and had to find things to do when he had downtime at work (which is rare).  All and all last week was a good week.  Max seems to enjoy school – when he’s not sleeping – and has been accepting this transition like a champ.  This week, however, has been a bit rougher on Mommy, but we will get through this.

To celebrate our first full week back to our new normal we decided it was time for our Annual Pumpkin Patch trip, plus we had amazing weather.  We were lucky because Memaw C.s was home alone, Papa had gone away on a golfing trip, so she came with us.  We had so much fun and took lots of pictures.  Max was even awake for most of the adventure – MOST – and we even saw other families with babies out there.  It was really hot, so Max didn’t have to wear any shoes or socks, but did get to wear his Halloween onesie. 

So to Detewier Farms we go for our annual Pumpkin excursion.  Thanks to the Baby Bjorne I didn’t have to worry about carrying Max and he’s big enough now that he could be worn facing out, with a big floppy hat to protect his eyes of course.  Mommy was hot but I think Max was very comfortable.  There were more pumpkins this year than Daddy and Mommy had ever seen before, the patch was full of wonderful choices. 

As usual we walked around and around in search of the best pumpkins to represent our family – a Daddy pumpkin (always the biggest one Daddy can carry – 50 lbs this year), a Mommy pumpkin (the second biggest but more on the small side), a Maxwell pumpkin (our newest addition to our pumpkin family, so naturally the smallest) and a Guinness pumpkin (we look for a strange, fun one for him – because he’s both).  We all found our pumpkins, and Memaw found the perfect one for her as well.   We’re going to hallow out Daddy’s pumpkin and see if we can’t fit Maxwell inside – so check back later for pictures on that.   It was a fun day and a tradition that we will continue to do for many falls to come! I’m already looking forward to next year and can't wait til Christmas when we go cut down our Christmas tree.

Before pumpkin patch!!  Isn't his outfit too cute!

After we got the pumpkins - we are HOT! Literally!

IN the patch!! Finding Pumpkins!

Really in the patch!! Aren't there tons of pumpkins!!

Also this weekend I decided that I needed some fall pictures of Maxwell. So thanks to Memaw and her awesome camera I was able to catch some wonderful moments.

Guinness wanted in on the action.

 

Doesn't Max look thrilled?

Love him... look at those cheeks!

That’s It - I’m a Chemist

 Monday marked the end of Mommy’s 3-month stint at home – otherwise  known as Maternity Leave.  It’s been a sad past few days but all and all we’ve been managing. Max is such a good little boy. We’ve been telling Max that he’s going to school and thinking about it that way makes the process of him going to Daycare much easier.   

We’ve even got a little morning routine going on.  We wake up around 7 a.m., Max eats, Daddy & Mommy dress Max for the day and then we all go into our room and Max watches Mommy get ready and make the bed.  Max and Daddy leave for “school” at 7:35 a.m.  or soooo… and Mommy finishes getting ready.  The few minutes that I have alone without my boys are sad but I’ve been managing.

 

Max and Mommy - Max's First Day of School & Mommy Goes Back to Work

Bundled up and Ready to Go - Daddy and Max

 On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Max arrived at Daycare and slept for the first 1.5 hours of the morning – my little sleeper.  He didn’t even know Daddy dropped him off. Today was a different story as he was awake… Daddy explained to him that he wasn’t leaving him he was just dropping him off and we would see him in a few hours.  Again he is a good boy so he didn’t cry when Daddy left, Daddy assured of this 3 times this morning.  Love my little guy!

My days back have been busy and it feels like I’ve never left, except I miss my angel.   I’m pumping so that my Maxwell has his milk for the following day so the 3 times a day that I do that, break up the day and help things move faster – it’s like a mini-goal.  Make it til 10:20 a.m. pump and then look forward to the next time because your that much closer to seeing Max again. It’s sorta like in car navigation – ‘You’ve got 300 miles until you turn left’, it’s giving you a goal.  ‘Arrival time 10:30 p.m.’ and you think to yourself, let’s beat that time. Goals!

Anywho, yes I’m back to work and it’s like I didn’t leave.  I think it helps that I really enjoy my job and I love the people I work with. I’ve had so many friendly visitors pop in or come visit to say ‘Welcome Back and Congratulations!’, both in the front of the office and from the plant.  It’s very sweet and I love the connection that I have with everyone. I suppose that’s one of the perks of working for a large/small company. It feels like a family!  Here’s a funny story – I go to put my expressed breast milk in my bosses fridge and I find a half gallon of milk and a yogurt from June.  Yep those were both mine, like I said it’s like I didn’t leave.

So how am I a CHEMIST you ask?  Well, as I mentioned above I’m pumping/expressing my milk and the process of it is hilarious.  First, I’m one of those lucky people that have their own office with a door that locks, yippie! So I’ve set my pump up under my desk.  When it’s time to pump I sit on the floor (under my desk), lock my door and turn out the light (if the lights on people will knock and well that could be annoying).  The process takes about 10 minutes but then you have to clean up, ready things for my next session,  combine the bottles and put everything away. I feel like I’ve got my little chemistry set and I’m making magic or something, plus I’m hanging out under my desk (picture it people). I am also very much afraid that I’m going to forget to lock the door so my obsessive compulsive self has to get up at least 3 times before I start to double check that it is locked! It is very funny!  Then when I go home at night I’ve got to clean my equipment and get bottles ready for Max the next day. We use different bottles for feeding so I’ve got to take the bottles out of the expressed bottles and into the ‘Tommy Toppie’ bottles. This crap is stopping this weekend. I’m buying new Medela bottles and putting an end to this. (I’ve really got plenty of Medela bottles but I have frozen milk in them and don’t want to dethaw and waste, so I’m buying more.) Ah, is it a process and over the course of this week I’ve begun to call myself a Chemist! Hey I was a Biology major for a time – I can do it!

Hey I’ll engage in all this chemistry for my little man because he’s worth it.  I haven’t officially weighted him this week, but I am going to do so tonight. I’m guessing – and this is a guess – that’s he around 18lbs. as the size 2 diapers are starting to be a little snug.  Speaking of diapers I am very upset to discover that only the Pampers Sensitive diapers have the color changing line on the front and these diapers are not available at Sam’s Club. WTF people! These silly lines should be on all diapers… why aren’t they?  Plus the Sensitive diapers are literally .5” bigger than the regular Pampers 2s. Which is soo much better! Ah diapers diapers diapers!

Alright the off to do some more chemistry!!