Life in the Mommy lane: February 2012

Has it really been over three months since I last blogged? Life is busy and it's easy to write short little status updates instead of a time consuming blog post. But a status update doesn't say it all.

Lars has been out of my belly for almost 4 months now. Time is flying and he is getting sweeter and cuter every day. In the beginning he was constantly hungry. I felt like he was never full and breastfeeding was all I was doing. This time around I decided to demand feed and see how it goes. With Anders he had been put on a nice and neat three hour schedule in the NICU. He didn't latch on and nurse at all for quite a while so I was pumping milk and feeding him AND trying to get him to nurse. It was exhausting. With Lars I just nurse him when he seems hungry. At night it has been fantastic because he is sleeping in a co-sleeper right next to me and I can just pull him in to bed, nurse him and put him right back in his bed. I leave a dim light on in the kitchen so that I can see at night and it has worked out smoothly.
Because Lars has been such a voracious little eater I feel like demand feeding him has been a really sweet bonding experience. I haven't been worried about scheduling or if he is getting enough (he clearly is at 15+ pounds at his 3 month appointment). I've enjoyed snuggling him and holding him a lot knowing that he won't be a baby for very long. Now that he is past 3 months we've slipped into a nice schedule and he eats, plays and sleeps. I still get up a couple of times a night to feed him and I'm hoping that he will start skipping that middle of the night feeding soon.

Anders has adjusted so nicely to being a big brother. He really loves his bro and is very protective and caring. One time Lars was wearing a little striped had and Anders said that he looked like a robber. He jokingly said "you're going to be in jail!" Immediately he got a little emotional and said that he didn't ever want Lars to be in jail! I love my sensitive big boy Anders.
Speaking of Anders he has been growing up a lot lately. He has been learning so much in school and he likes to talk about his "light bulbs" coming on while he's learning. We started him out in the Kindergarten program in September but quickly realized that he needed some more time adjusting to the academics of school. Since late September he has been in the preschool class and has been really thriving and growing. He can sound out words write his name as well as lots of words and is becoming much more independent and confident. I'm so glad we took this extra year to encourage his abilities. He loves doing puzzles, playing games and playing outside. His teachers Miss Mimi and Miss Sweetie have been so good at working with him and have really had to reach deep to find ways to keep him engaged and focused. I keep them in my prayers daily! =0)

I'm still adjusting to mothering two boys and the evenings are an interesting juggling act to try and meet both boys needs as well as make dinner do dishes or whatever else needs doing. I'm beginning to get back on top of house keeping although it is always an uphill battle for me. In my last weeks of pregnancy my blood pressure was really high and I couldn't do much. After I had Lars my bp was still high plus I had a new baby and was healing up from the c-section and I felt so overwhelmed by basic house hold duties. Add to that all of the STUFF that comes with a new baby, a very small space, no storage, no dishwasher and limited laundry access and it was the perfect storm. Slowly but surely things have found a place, laundry is on it's rotation, I have my energy back, Anders is in school most of the day... I'm happy to have some peace around here again.
My evening are quiet with Anders in bad by 7-7:30 and Lars down by 8:30-9:00. I get time to Facebook watch Hulu or Netflix and relax. Chris works late most nights and when he is home it's a rare treat. I miss having him here and it gets a bit lonely. But I am thankful that he has a good job and that we get our weekends to have our much loved and coveted family time.
Here are a few pictures from these last few months to fill in the gaps.