Day 120

Ha ha ha ha!! Gotta love his face in the above picture!! Let's just say that last night was a BAD night for Gus. He was WIDE AWAKE at 2:00am and then wouldn't go back to sleep. We brought him into our bed from 3:00-3:30 and he just played and thought it was so much fun to be in mama and daddy's bed. We didn't find it to be as fun. We put him back in his own bed around 3:30am and he played and fussed for about another hour before he finally fell back asleep. You'd think that with missing two and a half hours of sleep that he'd sleep longer right? NO. He was up at 8 and ready to go.

Of course, being up at 8 and not getting a complete night's sleep left Mr. Gustafer in quite the mood all morning. 

Steve and I tag-teamed and traded off and on with him. He wasn't happy with either of us for too long and I think he might be teething (LMAO). Who knows... he's been teething for seven months already and nothing has happened, so we'll see. I'm sure he's determined to wait until he's at least one before getting his first tooth.

We put Gus down for his morning nap and he slept for a little over two hours. Steve ran to Home Depot and to the bank and had time to come home and install the stuff for the screen door before Gus woke up. When he did wake up, we took him down and changed him and Steve fed him lunch. It was a nice treat to be able to eat lunch and not have to worry about Gus.

After lunch, Gus played and we watched some television. We dressed him in the outfit that his Uncle Scott and Aunt Christie gave him for his Adoption Day. :)

So Gus has finally figured out how to crawl onto the purple platform and then go down the slide on his belly. He was having to go up the slide, turn around, and go back down on his belly. Now he knows how to get onto the platform and I'm so proud of him!!

We put Gus down for a second nap around 4 and he slept for a little more than an hour and a half. All day while he napped, I've been working on my 365 project for him. I've been taking at least one picture of him each day since he was born, and I'm putting together a slideshow to show all the pictures in sequential order. I'm eager to see the completed project, but man... it's a lot of work! I have already spent almost four hours and I'm only at the beginning of December!!

I'm also going to make a Photo Story DVD for his first birthday party (May 14th). I've got to work on that tomorrow and this week.

I looked at the vaccination schedule and put together a plan for the next four years of when he'll get what vaccines. Here's the schedule:

At his 12 month appointment (May 11th)-- DTaP and PCV

15 Months: Hep B and Var (chicken pox)

18 Months: DTaP and PCV

2 Years: Hep B and IPV (Polio)

3 Years: DTaP and IPV

4 Years: DTaP (last one), IPV (last one) and MMR (first one)

5 Years (just before starting kindergarten):MMR

Any friends or family that read this blog, please comment and let me know if this delayed schedule looks good. I wanted to put the MMR off until he's older and then the others I tried to space out. I looked at the requirements for entering kindergarten in NC and followed their required number of immunizations for the amount and timing of each. I just don't want him to go and get a bunch of shots at one time... which this schedule, he'll get three at the most, and will be four when that happens.

So after Gus got up, I went down and made dinner. We had baked honey dijon pretzel chicken with broccoli and cheese pasta and steamed baby carrots. Gus at a lot and seemed to enjoy the chicken (which was a surprise because he usually doesn't eat the chicken).

After dinner it was bath time so we gave Gus his bath and then he was more than ready for bed. I'm hoping that he sleeps soundly tonight!!

See you tomorrow!

>^..^<

4-30-11 Laughing at Dinner

Week 16: Gus's Announcements

For my letters this week I am going to use the 80 announcements that we sent out for Gus. It took forever to hand address each one, and then I put a label on the back of each on telling everyone about Gus's blog. I hope everyone that received an announcement liked what came in the mail. I was pretty impressed, but I am a wee-bit biased.

 

We decided to make three different cards. Here are the three:

Which is your favorite?

>^..^<

Week 15: Kristin Adamski

I'm posting this a little late-- but I am sending my week 15 letter to my very good friend Kristin Adamski. She and I taught together at Redner and I liked her the minute I met her. She's one of the most creative, unique, wonderful people that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. She's funny and witty, and one of the best teachers that I've ever taught beside. I'd be honored to have her teach Gus someday... it won't happen, but I'd love it.

Kristin and I bonded right away while I first started teaching and we had a mutual disdain for the woman that I did my student teaching with. The interesting thing about Kristin is that she smiles at everyone but is calculating and very intelligent. She takes everything in before making a judgment. Because of this trait, our former principal (still hers), would tell her things that he didn't tell anyone, and she would soak it up like a sponge... and then share it with me.  :)

Anyway, she's a wonderful friend and one that I consider to be very close with. She was there to listen to me cry when I was going through my divorce... and she was there to support me when I began dating... and was so over-the-moon happy for me when I met the love of my life. I hope she finds the love of her life soon!!

Day 119

Have you ever woke up on the WRONG side of the bed? That was me this morning... and unfortunately, my dear husband got to experience the "Wrath of Cath" this morning. I was just stressed beyond capacity and I took it out on him. He didn't even see it coming and didn't deserve it at all, and fortunately, he is amazing and knows how to deflect my anger quite nicely. I started the morning looking for a fight, and he wasn't going to give it to me... he's so good. :)   

Our cleaning lady came this morning and I was partially stressed from trying to pick up before she arrived. I hate feeling like my house is a mess before she comes. I watched the Royal Wedding while she cleaned- I LOVED the wedding and thought it was beautiful! I'm not a big fan of the royal family and couldn't care less about them, but I am a romantic at heart and just love weddings. It was awesome to have it DVRd and be able to fast-forward through the parts that didn't interest me (the various rugby songs for example). I found it so interesting that they didn't hold hands during the ceremony and were so stoic throughout. I also found it interesting that they didn't kiss at the end of the ceremony... but they did kiss on the balcony and I LOVED it!!

This morning, Gus was playing with my phone and it ended up in the toilet. It was only submerged for a few seconds before I realized what the "thump" was... but it was enough to make the screen go black and the whole thing refuse to come back on. I had to email Steve and tell him, and he said he'd try to fix it when he got home and if I needed to, I could put my SIM card into his old phone (he has the newest iPhone). Thank goodness he had his old phone!! I now have my phone back... and can still eagerly wait to get the new phone in June/July (praying that there actually IS a new model released in June/July). I've been trying to hold off on replacing my phone...

Anyway, Steve went to his conference this morning and then came home early. He brought us lunch (a nice surprise) and then the three of us enjoyed the afternoon together. I missed him so much and it was nice just to have him here. :)

Around 3ish, Steve wanted to get his haircut, so he took Gus with him and they both got their haircut. It's cute that they have something special that they can do together.

We decided to use our Outback gift card and head out for dinner. Gus was a bit fussy in the car and I wasn't sure how he'd be at the restaurant. I was praying that he'd be okay since he's now out of his baby car-seat and in a big boy rear-facing convertible one that Wendy gave us. He didn't have the option of falling asleep in the baby car-seat, and we were eager to have him sit in the high-chair and eat some mac-n-cheese for dinner.

Gus had some bread, some cheese from our salads, some cucumber and then ate a TON of his mac-n-cheese. He was also drinking water from a straw!! He was in such a GREAT mood at dinner and as you can see in the last picture, he was smiling and cute as can be. The servers kept coming by and talking to him and he was practicing his wave all night. He's such a little ham!!

When we left Outback, it was around 6 and it was like a switch went off and Gus was back to being fussy. Thankfully he wasn't fussy in the restaurant! We got back to the house and had about an hour left before bed and we did our best to entertain him and keep him busy so he wouldn't have a meltdown before bed.

It's SO nice to have Steve home to help me with Gus. I sometimes forget how much he does until he's gone and then I do it all. He's an amazing husband and does so much for me and Gus... we are so lucky!!

We brought Gus up for bed and it's about time for me to go to bed as well. 

I. Am. Exhausted.

Nite...

>^..^<

Day 118

So I'm going to bitch for a minute... and if you don't feel like reading about me bitching, just close this post now.

I am so very very lucky to be able to stay at home with Gus. I consider it to be the greatest job that I've ever had and raising him is nothing but amazing. That being said... I never wanted to be a single mom. I never wanted to do anything with raising a child... alone. Lately it's been too much. Steve's been gone all week and I feel like he was gone last week (he was) and then is going to be going away in two more weeks. I feel lonely and sad and I am frustrated. Now... I know Steve is working VERY hard for us and is doing everything that he can so that I can stay home- but it still SUCKS royal ass that he's not here.

I miss him coming home and sharing his day with me. I miss actually cooking dinner for us... since he's been gone I just make something for Gus and then I snack and end up hungry later. I miss his help with Gus and I miss having someone here to talk to. I don't think he fully understands how difficult it is to be here all day and then all night without him to talk to. I know there's nothing I can do about it... and it's all apart of the deal... but again, it sucks. Please don't read anything into this... it's just me throwing myself a pity-party.

Okay... that's done.

This morning I got up and actually had time to take a shower before Gus was up (SCORE)! We then went downstairs and I fed him some breakfast. He and I shared some cherry yogurt and then he and I shared some strawberries and cream oatmeal. He didn't love it.

Not long after, Kristen and Grace came over to play. I had a great time watching Gus and Grace... they're so funny together.

Then Wendy and the girls came over and the four kids played while the three of us talked. It was really nice. Gus loves his buddies and he was in heaven with all his favorite chicas around him!!

Grace is walking (hooray)!!! I took some cute pictures of her and Gus separately too:

 It was definitely nap time for the kids, so everyone left and I took Gus up for his nap. He slept for almost three hours!! :D

When he finally woke up, we came down for lunch. I made grilled cheese again and he loved it, and then he also had an entire container of applesauce with banana, and then he also had some ham and a slice of Colby cheese. He also had some puffs. He was a hungry little man!

After lunch he played while I watched Survivor and American Idol from last night.

He had a total of twelve ounces of formula today. It's definitely on the low side, but he ate a TON of solids. I am so happy with how well the feeding is going!!!

For dinner Gus had a whole banana, a whole container of his strawberry yogurt meal, and then some Honeycomb cereal (dry). He was making some funny faces while eating the yogurt so I grabbed my camera to take some pictures. This is what I was trying to capture:

I played with manual mode and automatic mode... it's so much easier to do automatic, but the flash is so harsh. With Gus being so squirmy wormy, it's really hard to get a good one in manual. I was pleased with this one. Here are some others that I took...all in automatic mode.

Now here are the ones I took in manual mode... some are a bit blurry, but that's what happens when you're trying to take pictures of a moving target!

They look so much more natural to me when they're in manual-- but it's so hard to pull off!!! Well...I somehow managed to take the best picture that I've EVER taken. It's totally in focus and is just gorgeous:

It takes my breath away... it's absolutely perfect. Ahhhhh....

So the picture was the perfect end to my picture taking for tonight. I'm off to bed...

>^..^<