Shortest Post Ever

I would blog more, but as you can see...

...my hands are FULL!

Columbus Day...and Life in the Fast Lane

NaNa and Papa Joe headed north on Sunday morning, after a tearful good-bye. I cannot wait to see their faces again! I could go on and on, but instead I'm looking ahead to Thanksgiving and our reunion!

Yesterday was Columbus Day (a day off for Daddy)...and we celebrated by going to the park.

I walked a mile with Jude then played on the slide with Maddox.

The stroller's sunshade wasn't quite enough for Jude so we had to pull a Michael Jackson move and hide him behind a blanket. Peekaboo! (He didn't mind; he slept the whole time.)

So...how is life?

In one word: busy! Thankfully Jude is now in his crib and wakes up only every 3 hours to nurse. My mornings fly by and look like this:

-wake up and take Maddox to the potty, then get him a drink

-feed Jude then put Jude in a safe Maddox-proof place while I make breakfast (and COFFEE)

-clean up kitchen, make beds

-deal with a whiny 2-year-old

-dress Maddox and brush his teeth; potty time again

-try to put on a little makeup and brush my teeth; forget about hair - there is no time for that!

-give spitup-covered Jude a bath while Maddox tries to "help"

-dress Jude...who happens to be hungry again

Look, it's already lunchtime!

*sigh*

At least if I keep up this routine Thanksgiving will be here in no time!

Go Gamecocks!

I admit it...I slept through an amazing football game, snuggled up with my littlest man (who is getting so big, by the way!).

The other three men in the house started out watching the game together (Maddox soon ditched them for the backyard), with wings, cheese sticks and potato wedges.

A couple hours later, I woke up to A LOT of excitement. Surprise surprise! We beat #1 Alabama.

Gooooo Cocks!!!!

Jude Turned Purple!

There are things you do with your second kid that you would have never done with your first. With Maddox, I read the best books and I did everything BY THE BOOK (at least in the beginning).

Now, on my second time around, I am much more laid back. For example, Jude started showing signs of thrush...and of course that just gets swapped back and forth between mom and baby during breastfeeding...so after researching some ways to treat it, I had a little chat with the pharmacist at CVS. I asked him about gentian violet. It's a dye and is supposedly one of the most effective ways to knock out that nasty thrush. But the catch? It's a BRIGHT PURPLE dye. And it stains.

The pharmacist assured me it would work. He asked if I was breastfeeding. Then he got all creepy on me. He leaned over the counter and said, "But you do know, it will make your ninnies purple."

It got weirder.

"You need to breastfeed a full year. It will make your kid smarter and give him a better personality. Now how's your husband? Do we need to treat him as well?"

Whoa whoa whoa.

We've all heard the slogan "breast is best"...but a better personality?? Come on now! And what was he thinking? I just had a baby 2 weeks ago, so yea..I haven't been swapping anything with my husband.

I wanted to say, "Just give me the medicine and let me go!!!"

....

Anyway, that is the story behind why my little guy has purple lips.

I am happy to report that after three days of treatment, his lips have returned to normal!

I told his pediatrician on Tuesday and he assured me it was safe to use and yes it did work...but yes, it was very messy too.

He gave me some cream to treat the other end of poor baby Jude. Thrush, of course, is caused by too much yeast (most likely we got this problem after I was put on hardcore antibiotics in the hospital) and it doesn't stop with the mouth. It also attacks the diaper area.

So, needless to say, Jude has been a fussy little guy. Neither of us are sleeping too well. But, as with everything, this too shall pass :)

2 WEEKS LATER

Jude is two weeks old. Between the constant schedule of feed baby, burp baby, change baby poop, oops change baby outfit, time to feed baby again, etc etc etc...the days have blurred a little. Thank God that Maddox still takes naps so I can get one too! That one nap is a lifesaver.

Jude changes every day and is putting on weight. Watch out Maddox!

I started using the Miracle swaddling blanket and I do believe it is working small miracles. Another mini miracle is that Jude finally decided on a paci out of the collection I offered him. He has fallen for the Nuks.

Today I had my 2-week checkup with Dr. Cooley (coolest OB ever) and brought Jude along.

Of course he had to do the LOUDEST, nastiest poop there as soon as I walked into the waiting room!

Ahh, babies.

No matter what they do, they are still adorable. It's the same thing with my toddler.

Who couldn't fall for such sweet faces???

This is Life

 My laid back, little redman/Lawton-lookalike baby woke up...approximately 4 times lastnight. And then Mr. Maddox woke up at 6:45 am, yelling about "choc moon" which translates to chocolate milk. Lucky for this tired mama, NaNa is still here and I heard the coffee pot beep by the time I stepped out the bed. Dear NaNa, are you sure you don't want to move in??? Think about it?

For a long time post-Csection, my body felt like it had been through a horrific street fight and I barely survived. BUT...my incision is healing (and itching!), I can go from sitting to standing without feeling like I've been chopped in half, I can walk straight (no more hunchback wobble), my backache has lessened, my girls up top no longer feel like they are on fire, and my uterus is shrinking - yes! The size 4's will sit at the top of my closet for a while, but I'll get there eventually! A Csection is rough rough rough on the body, but I believe this little guy was worth it. Don't you?

Today we went out as a family of 4 for the first time. And we didn't have any breakdowns! Jude slept, Maddox played at the park and Andrew and I got some yummy fresh air and sunshine.

 Tonight Mommy and Daddy get a quick date night since I was able to leave NaNa with a lovely bottle of pumped milk. I can't wait. I love my two little men so so much, but...

...I love some alone time with TaTa too!!

Brothers

Maddox loves his baby brother...

 ...but, he also loves to tap him on the head or go in for a pinch if he thinks we aren't looking. Check out my face here. I realized what Maddox was doing JUST as the camera snapped.