My Big Boy....and my Little Preschooler!

 Lucas is about 18 weeks now, or 4 months and 1 week. We have had a few big achievements over the past 2 weeks.

#1: We are finally sleeping! He takes 3-4 naps a day and goes to bed between 7-8 at night. For several nights now he has slept from bedtime to 2:00! Then he wakes up between 6:00 and 7:00! It's GREAT!! I have to pump after he goes to sleep or I wake up overflowing...

#2: He is sitting up. Yes, that's right. My baby boy is sitting up, on his own, without support, at 4 months old. I still cannot believe it! I'm scared he will be walking early too!! He has been trying to sit for about 2 weeks now but in the past few days he has really gotten it down and can sit for 10 minutes or more without falling over. Leyla didn't sit until 5-5.5 months and walked at 10. And I thought she was advanced...

I FOUND MY FEET!

#3: He is now eating breakfast and occasionally lunch. I still want him to breastfeed for most of his calories, but want him to try a variety so that by the time I go back to work, he has good eating habits/ a routine for the babysitter. He has rice cereal in the morning and avocado or carrots for lunch. I want to move into some fruits for breakfast, starting with bananas. I want to freeze some mango purees too before mango season is up, since Leyla loved them! Then I'm going to get some zucchini squash and see what other veggies I can find for him for lunch. I don't know why, but I really enjoy making my own baby food so I am excited to make and freeze a ton of purees :)

Leyla is growing up FAST! She is such a little girl now, not a baby :) She is learning to draw and write her letters and numbers!! I can't wait for her to go to preschool, I know she will love it, and I think she is ready.

Her drawing skills are great! I love to watch her draw, and then tell me what she drew. This is a family, mommy, daddy, a little girl, and a baby :)

 We found the gameboy and Leyla LOVES it. It is so cute to watch her play, and she is actually figuring it out!

 Another one of her drawings :)

We went to Tegus to get Lucas a permanent residency in Honduras and we spent some time at the mall. Leyla was so good and ate all her lunch (she has been eating really good lately) so she got some ice cream. She wanted the footprint. It was vanilla ice cream covered in white chocolate. When it started to melt, mommy got to eat it :) It was really good!

 Lucas fell asleep!

 It's Leyla-punzel!

 She got to play at the mall the day we left, again for eating good :)

Can't believe how big she is getting!

4 Months Old

Lucas will be 4 months old this week! He is getting so big! We don't have an appointment until next month, so I don't know how much weight he has gained since last month, but he was 13 lbs at his last appointment. Now, he is using 3-6 months clothes and a few 6 months. Last week we started him on rice cereal to help his sleep patterns. He started rolling over a couple of weeks ago and can hold his head up 90 degrees on his stomach! He is really trying to sit up too, but still wobbles a bit. When I try to lie him down on a pillow, he uses all his strength to pull himself forward to a sitting position! When I try to tickle him, he still just kind of makes a face and grunts - for some reason he doesn't know how to laugh yet!! Occasionally, he'l let out something similar to a laugh but it is rare.

Last week Leyla came down with a fever and of course this week, Lucas got it. He started with a cough, which I thought was from being hoarse and crying all day (due to sleep problems, I tried to let him cry it out - wrong week apparently!). Then that night I could tell he was getting the sniffles and having trouble breathing, and then he got a fever. The next day they put him on a nebulizer at Predisan and gave him antibiotics and cold medicine. He's doing a lot better and has been sleeping great! I can only hope that after he is better, he continues these great sleeping patterns! He falls asleep on his own, in his crib, and sleeps almost all night long waking up only twice! But, for right now, I can't say if it's the medicine, the cold, or the cereal helping him sleep!

He wakes up, eats 1 oz of formula with a bit of rice cereal mixed in, nurses throughout the day, and around 6 pm gets a 4 oz bottle of formula with a spoonful of rice mixed in. Then he takes a bath and I nurse him to sleep. He has been on that routine for about a week now, starting 3 days before he got sick. So we'll see if after he gets better, he keeps sleeping.

 He loves his baths now and kicks his legs and arms waiting for the water to heat up!

 One of his favorite toys!

 Asleep with daddy in the hammock at Iguana's Water Park.

 His other favorite toy :)

 Sick baby :( I put him down after nursing and started picking up around the living room - when I looked back at him he was sound asleep!

 Leyla and Lucas this morning, watching baby einstein! look at him sitting up!

 Leyla is doing better with him - she loves him so much! But, I can see a little jealousy coming out now too. I wish I had more time to spend with her now and really can't wait for her to go to preschool so she will have something to keep her busy, and some new friends to play with. I practice her numbers and letters with her and she can write her numbers (tracing them with a marker) AND she could circle the right group when I asked her, "Which group has more things?" She knew without even counting them out loud. She can also recognize the letters, if I show her an A and tell her to pick out all the A's, then ask her, "Is that an A?" She will say yes or no. She is soooo ready for preschool! She is also picking up spanish again, saying things like "Permiso" and "Pase adelante" and "Ay caliente!" or "Que frio!" Her accent is not as good as it was before and some things are really cute the way she says them, but I'm sure she'll get there :)

Lately

Here are a few pictures from the past month!

 He's getting bigger every day!

 Leyla! I thought she looked a bit like me with her hair pulled up in a ponytail, and her bangs!

 Leyla is pretty crazy still, but doing better with Lucas. She has learned to be gentle and genuinely wants to help. One time she made and took him a bottle by herself!! She is having a hard time being an obedient little girl although she loves to say "I'm a big girl" and "I'm a good girl!" So she tries my patience but I try to spend as much time with her as I can while Lucas is asleep. We do puzzles - she does the easy one and I do the hard one and then I complain that she's going to finish before me! She gets so tickled and loves it. She loves to help so I try to involve her when I'm cooking or cleaning, too. I feel like I've finally, at three months, adjusted and settled into somewhat of a routine - but, there's definitely room for improvement. We'll get there though!

 Sound asleep between the pillows...

 Mother's Day - Lucas, asleep at Amanda's in his cute little collared outfit!

 Abuela with the grandkids - Lucas, Leyla, nd David.

 My little family. It was so hard getting a good shot! Leyla was done taking pictures and Lucas started fussing. Only Marcos and I were looking at the camera and smiling!

 Father and Son :)

 Me and my baby!

 He always opens his eyes SO wide when I take his picture!

 And believe it or not, Leyla fell asleep...

 Marcos thought he'd take a nap too.

My flowers! Thanks Marcos!

 There go those eyes again! But look, he found his hands! He's grabbing his toys now!

 Today we discovered Elmo. Lucas loves Leyla's Elmo! It's so cute, he really did stare at it and hold it and chew on it for a long time today.

 His big eyes make me laugh.

This little booger is 12 weeks old now, hard to believe! He is smiling, laughing, and talking a lot - clutching things now too. He gives smiles when mommy or daddy OR Leyla walk in the room and kicks his legs like crazy when he's excited. He laughs when I give him his toes to chew, or tickle his ear with them :) He's a pretty happy baby! He is finally exclusively breastfed (woo-hoo!) and is doing better sleeping. He wakes up around 7 AM and takes a short nap in the morning, and then his long nap around noon (sometimes up to 2 hours). Then he takes a few more short naps, and is normally down for the night around 7 PM. Then I rouse him around 9:30 to nurse him before going to bed myself, and he'll sleep until 1:00 AM! Then he wakes up around 3 and again at 6. But it's MUCH better than what he was doing before! I'm a much happier momma with this new schedule.

Alright, that's all for now! To bed for me!

30 Day Shred

After Leyla was born, I think I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight and clothes, like, immediately. This time around, though, the weight has not come off. I gained more with Lucas and those extra pounds want to stick around! Everyone says I look good, but there's just one little problem: none of my clothes fit! I had one pair of maternity jeans that fit me and that was it.

My friend Amanda cut out sodas and has lost weight eating healthy and exercising. I am so proud of her! And she inspired me to exercise as well. She has been using Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred program, so I decided to look it up. I was impressed with the results I saw in several others, in photos. I decided to give it a try...

The program works like this: there are 3 levels of workouts that you do every day for 10 days each. Ten days of level one, then up to level 2 for another 10 days, then finally level three. When you finish, it's been 30 days. Each one includes a warm up and 3 circuits of 3 minutes strength training, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute abs, plus a cool down. It's the cardio that kills me. And that last 3 minutes of strength training that is the hardest. I am currently on DAY 15, half way through!! Proud of myself and a little surprised that I have been that disciplined. Haven't skipped a day! It is hard, especially since I am mostly sedentary - and especially since you aren't allowed a break. But, I have already started seeing results, so that motivates me to keep going.

I've lost 4 pounds just in the first 10-11 days. I haven't retaken my measurements, but the pants I borrowed from a friend of mine are already loose, and she loaned me several other (smaller!) sizes. They are a mix of sizes, mostly juniors, so I believe I am now between a size 6 and size 8. Also, at my doctor's appointment, my pulse was down to 72. That was very exciting, since my pulse has never been under 80-90.

So, in 15 days, hopefully, I'll fit into my jeans again. And I'll post my results.

Back in Honduras

We have been back in Honduras since April 4th! It has been challenging to settle back into things and to adapt with the new baby and establish a routine. We're still working on a routine...

After Lucas was born, we spent a week more in Dallas before heading to Stillwater, OK to my sister's. Then we skipped back to Edmond to stay with Joni and Terry before heading to my grandfather's in Arkansas. After spending a few days with them we completed the trip to Nashville! It was a whirlwind time trying to pack, unpack, pack....nurse, feed bottles, and see everyone we wanted to see. We had a health scare also to deal with - Lucas's newborn screening test came back abnormal and we had to leave my Granddad's early to take him to the ER in Little Rock where they did additional blood tests and assured us that these tests have a high false positive rate. Of course the results came back within normal ranges and we were told to follow up once we got to Nashville just to be sure. In the end everything was fine, but we were scared out of our minds and exhausted from all the rushing.

It has been nice to finally be back in my own space and not living out of a suitcase! When we got back, however, the house was a mess! It was so dirty and dusty but luckily my sister in law had come to clean the day before. Still it was messy. And we had mice. Again. There weren't any when we left...but the people "taking care of" the house never cleaned I guess, so that was definitely not a fun realization. We killed THREE!

We also had to delay unpacking somewhat because we had so much junk to get rid of. I think we cleared 5 boxes of stuff to throw or give away! Then we had to buy a few things - a water dispenser, a bouncy chair for the baby, and just recently a new fan! Marcos found a good deal on a portable AC/fan that holds 7 gallons of water and has an ice chamber; so the fan blows cold air like an AC. It's pretty nice, and blows cold even without the ice! He also bought Leyla a swimming pool since she LOVES water and it's so hot anyway.

The other issue was whether or not to hire a maid. I have been so stressed trying to clean, take care of Leyla, take care of the baby, cook, and have some time for myself in there somewhere! It has been especially difficult with Lucas not wanting to nurse. We have had issues from the beginning and I have been trying desperately for about 3 weeks now to wean him from the bottles and get him back to exclusively breastfeeding. He is doing a lot better latching on correctly and my milk supply seems to have increased somewhat, but we are still not all the way there! He is down from 25 ounces of formula a day to 12 ounces, and is seemingly still gaining weight and doing fine so we will keep on trucking. :)

Anyway, we finally found someone to come twice a week and clean. So far she is great! She comes and starts right in and leaves everything clean when she leaves. She does a very thorough job and it takes the stress off of me for the rest of the week - I can do dishes and light sweeping, knowing that deep cleaning is done. Before I pretty much always lightly cleaned what was visible, but the dust and the corners never got cleaned...and that drives you crazy but there was just no time to deep clean!

Trying to nurse, pump, and feed bottles - and cook, and clean, and answer Leyla's every request, and rest, was NOT working!! Plus no rest and all the stress wasn't helping my milk production. I was doing so much to increase my supply and felt like it was taking way too long and not doing anything - so I've realized that stress and rest really do affect it. Just in this last week I have really noticed a difference so I am a lot more hopeful and positive about it now.

Lucas is 10 weeks old now and weighs around 12 pounds (he's a chunker!!). Leyla is doing better but still not speaking any Spanish. I think she is understanding a little more now though and at least participating (in Church) and having fun. She plays in the water all day long and changes clothes 3 times a day, almost always choosing a "beautiful" dress. She has really liked having her mantequilla and beans back!

 Before leaving TN, we went on a walk at my dad's - Lucas slept the whole way, thanks to this sling from Tia Fide!!

 Leyla and Lucas with Mama-Dena before leaving!

 Lucas at Mommy-Me's in Nashville - this outfit doesn't fit him anymore! He was probably a month old or so in this picture.

 Lucas asleep in his cute crib in Honduras!!! He actually won't sleep there for more than 5 minutes. I have GOT to sleep train him - but with all the stress from nursing I don't want to add anymore. Once he gets a good feeding routine going, we'll work on the sleeping.

 The two of them asleep on the couch! I love this picture! They look so much alike!

 Smiles!

 Swimming at Iguana's water park - Leyla had so much fun!

Lucas had a lot of fun :) Kidding! He slept the whole time.