Best Birthday EVER!

Well, I am officially another year older. So far, thirty-two is amazing. I woke up on my birthday next to the man of my dreams and got to spend the morning with my boys. Hubby surprised me by "leaving for work" only to return a few minutes later with coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts. I received a sweet card from both him and my 12 year old and the day just kept getting better. I sat outside in the sun for about 45 minutes, went for a 3 mile run and after my run got into the shower to freshen up.

While I was showering, hubby came in and told me that I needed to hurry because Travis had learned a new trick. A new trick? I know he's not walking, he's close, but not close enough yet. I hurried out and he walked me to the living room covering my eyes.

The instant that he uncovered them I started crying! My best friend and her family had driven all night to come surprise me for my birthday. It was absolutely the best surprise I have ever been given and I was so happy to have them for the whole weekend! We had a great night out to dinner where we had drinks and good conversations. When we got home and I tried to pay our amazing baby sitter, she refused to take the money and said it was a birthday babysitting treat, AMAZING! We spent the rest of the weekend playing, talking, relaxing, cooking, going to the park, Rawhide Western Town and the only thing that was missing was Joey. (he had flown to his dad's house for the weekend. Yes, on my birthday)

I am one lucky lady!!!

Teething.

It is truly amazing how quickly time flies when you have a baby. I can not believe that it's already February and little Travis is 8 months old. Joey will be 13 in just 6 short months and my life is on a track that I am pleased with.

Little update (since I haven't written in a while). Travis is still sleeping through the night, usually asleep by 7:10PM and sleeps until 5:30 or 6:00 am. It's wonderful to get a full nights sleep and I have already forgotten how sleep deprived I was when he was still getting up 2-3 times a night. He's napping very regularly as well and this whole schedule thing is amazing. We do the same thing at the same time every day and he knows it. If I have an appointment and it takes us off schedule just a small amount, he's quite the bear.

He was an early teether with the two bottom teeth, got them in one day when he was 4 months old. Now that he is 8 months old, he's been working on the top two teeth for quite some time. I'd have to at least for the last month. Some days are worse than others and today is one of those days. The right tooth is through but he's working on the left one and I hate seeing him in so much pain. Why is it that teething doesn't affect some babies at all and some are down right horrid to deal with? I feel so bad for him that he's in pain, but hey, we all went through this in our life right? So, I know he'll be fine, it just sucks in the meantime.

School is going well for me this semester. I am taking a critical thinking class and also an ethics and criminal justice class. They kind of go hand in hand with one another and I am having fun exploring personal values, thoughts and ideas.

Running. I am running and officially training for a half-marathon. The half-marathon is on March 3 and I am seriously excited! I am running anywhere between 3-5 days a week and my overall health is amazing right now. I'm eating well, feeling well, looking well and have found happiness within myself.

I need to start writing more, I miss it and need to get back into a routine of doing so. Maybe this will be the start...

Wrap yourself around me

I haven't been in much of a writing in my blog type of mood as of late...

The last two months have been somewhat of (yes another) blur. Days, nights, weeks, they all blend together with the same goal in mind. Feed Travis. Feed myself. Get Travis to sleep, shower, sleep, you get the point.

A couple weeks ago we hired a Newborn Care Specialist, after getting to the end of our rope, tired, annoyed, frustrated and plain mad. She came to our house, spoke with us about what we had been doing with Travis and how it was done all wrong, but we did it because it was really the only thing we could do to keep ourselves sane. She educated us on the importance of teaching good sleep skills early on and that if we teach him now, he'll forever keep the skill.

Things around the house are much better after working with her... no more middle of the night feedings and Travis is now napping in spurts longer than 30 minutes. Who would have though you could actually train your baby to sleep? The key? More sleep = More sleep. I've also started him on solids as of yesterday. So far, so good and no reaction other than a little bit more gas in the evening. Hopefully his little tummy can handle it and it doesn't create too much of a problem.

It's now December and almost time for Christmas. I haven't shopped one bit and frankly don't even want to. Joey is going to spend the holidays with his dad in Tennessee and it will be just Paul, Travis and I here in Arizona. Yes, of course, I am happy that it's Travis' first Christmas and all but really, it's about the photos. He's not going to remember it. He won't remember the presents he's given and he probably won't even care to open them. (he was given a present at Thanksgiving and he cried the whole time he was crinkling the paper. The sound maybe?) Call me Scrooge if you want, I'm just not in the mood. Maybe once we put up our tree this weekend, I'll change my mind. Maybe.

I'm ready for the new year. Again. I have personal goals for the year and I'm really excited to embark on a new journey.

Just go to sleep!!

Another month already half over and I still can't tell you what day it is. I'm lucky if I am getting 6 hours of sleep at night, (that's a lot considering the average is 4-5). I'm exhausted, overwhelmed and just plain going insane.

I've started running again to help me clear my mind and get me out of the house. Most of the time it works, but on those days that 1/2 mile into the 3 mile run Travis starts screaming, it's not so therapeutic. I am proud that I have worked up to a 3 mile run as my regular workout, just wish I could go longer. 3 miles takes me about 30 minutes and that's about all Travis is good for.

Travis is two weeks away from being 4 months old and still is a horrible sleeper. I tried to "sleep train" him but it only seemed to make matters worse, so I have gone back to just living by his schedule. Not great, but better than he was when I was trying to force him to sleep when and where he didn't want to.

He is growing like a weed and learning new things each day. He has happily discovered his feet and toes and likes to play with them any chance he gets. He still isn't rolling over but I like to blame that slow development on his horrible first two months. He has rolled over from belly to back a few times, but nothing regular.

Joey has two weeks left of this first quarter in Junior High, hard to believe. He's doing well so far. He has all A's and one B. I am hoping that he can maintain those grades for the next couple of weeks and then continue with that next quarter as well. I'm not sure if he's into girls or not yet, I'd like to say "not" but he's 12. Is he really going to tell his momma everything? I doubt it.

I'm tired, I want a break and I can't wait for my trip to California in a few weeks....

Really? September?

Looking at the calendar today, I can not believe that it's already September. Almost one year ago (this month) we were blessed with that little blue line on the pregnancy test. It started the journey that I never imagined. I have learned more about myself, my husband and my family than I ever thought I would.

I really wanted to blog about this journey a little bit more since Travis was born but his health issues have really tied my hands behind my back. I haven't been able to read, work out or even call to catch up with an old friend. BUT, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Travis is 3 months old now and doing much better than he was just a month ago. His food allergies are under control with Neocate and even though we are still working on getting his reflux under control, he's doing much better. He is still a horrible sleeper and hasn't developed any type of routine. He is sleeping about 11-13 hours in a 24hr time frame which to me doesn't seem like enough sleep for his age, but I guess it could be his "norm". I'm hoping to transition him into his room in the next week or so with hopes that he might sleep a little better at night.

In other news, I have started a 30 day challenge for myself. A few weeks ago I started running again but had to stop due to our lovely Arizona temperatures. Yesterday I started up again and am hoping to run at least 4-5 days a week and use my elliptical or go for a walk on the other days. I feel so much better when I am working out, I just haven't been able to get into any sort of work out routine with Travis and his temperament. It's only been two days and I can already feel the difference in my mood and my body.

Time for bed, Travis will be waking me in the wee early morning hours and I'm going to try and go to the track with the hoosband....