Peach Picking in Weston, MO

So I never shared these pictures we took this summer. I love taking pictures of my little men, but I can be really bad at sharing.  Hopefully, I will become better at documenting so I can lovingly look back at these pictures.

Last summer, Jude’s fruit of choice was the peach.  He ate fresh peaches almost every day and was the happiest little baby.  Now, in Oklahoma, Porter Peach farm has these delicious tree-ripened peaches that bleed their juices down your arm once you bite into them. They are SO good. I wanted him to experience something like that this year.

Weston, Missouri, outside of KC, is known for their picturesque and fruitful countryside. We drove the 40 minutes there from Olathe and went to Historic Weston Orchard and Vineyard .  The weather forecast was clear and sunny, but of course, it poured when we arrived.  Stormy days make perfect clouds and moody pictures.  And, with a baby strapped to my chest, I snapped a few (apparently exposure and angles are difficult for me to manage with a newborn on my chest, so these pics are VERY, VERY moody.) 🙂  We had a great time.  Isaac carried Jude on his shoulders and Grant snuggled up on my chest as we sifted through the mud and trees.

The rain also left mud, lots of it.  As we were leaving, Jude succeeded in finding the biggest mud puddle of them all.  In the short time we weren’t looking, he managed to cover his shoes in enough mud to where he couldn’t barely walk without tripping. Typical Jude.

As sweet as one’s sweetest childhood memories, the peaches were delicious!  We ate our entire peck in three days and enjoyed every single bite. Jude was able to reach the best peaches on Isaac’s shoulders and we had extra clothes in the car for a muddy accident. All in all, fresh picked, tree-ripened peaches are wonderful.  We can’t wait to do it again next year!

How Not to Return to Work (Post Maternity Leave)

“Should I go back to work?” “Should I be a stay at home mom, for a while?”

“Will continuing to work give me the balance I need to be a great mom and wife?”

“Will Isaac be able to watch the boys for 13-14 hours while I go to work 30 minutes away?”

After 12 weeks of all this worrying, Monday was my first day back at work!  Surprisingly, it was exciting to be there once I clocked in a little before 7:00 am.  Being on leave for three months, I was a little anxious to be back.  However, I found it was, “just like riding a bike.” Maybe a rusty bike?  Fortunately, I am blessed to have smart and patient coworkers. Sifting through charts, writing down labs, looking at treatment plans, assessing patients, and simply being around adults all gave me reassurance that I made the right decision to return to work.  It was good to be back on the floor.  And it was good to be using my brain for non-mommy things. 🙂

The morning was going particularly well…until Isaac called me.  Sounding a little frantic, he explained he had been trying to feed Grant all morning.  Grant was refusing the bottle, crying, and had no wet diapers all morning.  Aaah! All the words a parent does not want to hear.  I asked him to try all the different bottles and nipples I left on the counter, then to call me back with an update.  Thirty to forty-five minutes later, Isaac called back with no luck.  I could sense the urgency in his voice; bottle feeding Grant was not going to work today.  All my worrying manifested. Gah! At 10:30 am, I packed up my nursing bag, grabbed a goodie from the break room, and headed home.

Obviously, this entire scenario was all our fault.  With Jude, we did only one or two trial bottle feedings before he actually went to daycare three days a week.  He did great!  Apparently, this is something we really should have done with Grant too. Who knew?  Its just the month’s parenting fail.

Currently, we are learning from our mistake.  All the parenting advice we read or heard, to practice bottle-feeding, was right.  And this week Isaac is going to try to feed Grant again (and again) with the bottle until he catches on.  Today is Thursday, my next shift is Monday and we have not made any progress.  I trust we will get there!  We have to.  Also, a word of advice, practice bottle-feeding before you return to work! 😉

 

Here is the little man looking quite innocent as he sleeps. ❤ 

 

Happy Birthday, Jude!

Happy Birthday, Jude!!  Your dada and I love you very much!  You bring so much joy into our lives.  As we tell you daily, “You are sweet and smart and handsome.”  You know the alphabet and about half of their phonetic sounds! You can count to 20 and you’re almost counting to thirty without skipping a number or two!  Now you have such a big vocabulary.  You are able to communicate well with your dada and me. Right now you understand so much!

 

 

How you enjoy life!  We go to the park almost every day and you love to swing as long as your dada and I will push you.  You love sliding down the slide with your best friend. You also love “Moana” so much you ask to watch it every. single. day.  Your love for animals is remarkable.  Puppies are your favorite, but you are gentle and loving to every animal you meet.  Currently, your favorite things are anything and everything Paw Patrol, reading books with me, dada and/or Grant, playing with your friends next-door, at church, and at the park.  Playing in the dirt and helping me garden are your daily chores that you love.  You have a love for music and dance.  So, daily dance parties featuring the music of edited Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore, Taylor Swift, and Ingrid Michaelson are your favorite! Since Lamar was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music this year, I suppose we can let you listen to him? 

You love going to Target with me to get a cookie.  Going to Starbucks, you really love it when I order a “Jude Special,” a tall water–extra ice.  Eating grilled chicken and bread at Panera while standing on the booth is a weekly treat for you. But, above all, your favorite thing to eat is pizza, which you call “PEET-ZEES!!!”  Fruit snacks are your favorite treat!  And your daddy sneaks your fruit snacks at night when you go to bed.  Your so much like him.

You kiss your brother, Grant, so sweetly.  You hug him often.  Laying beside him while he does his tummy time, you giggle if he reaches for you and shout, “Mumma, Grant tickle!”   The first thing you say when you wake up in the morning is, “Momma, where baby Grant go?”

And this week is very special, not only because it is your birthday, but it’s the first time you said, “I lub mumma, I lub dada.”  Mumma loves you too. Dada loves you so much.

We are both very proud of you, Jude.

 

 

Moving right along…

In the past seven weeks, as one can imagine, much has happened to us as a family of four. Grant was hospitalized for viral meningitis (cured by 36hrs inpatient, snuggles, and Tylenol), we bought tickets to Spain for May 2019, our A/C broke and we had the entire unit replaced, Grant was baptized, we dog-sat, (which made Jude one seriously happy toddler), visited our friend Keith and family in Wichita, and currently Jude is on a nap strike. With all this being said, the sweetest thing that has developed over this time is Jude and Grant’s relationship and Jude growing into his toddler self.

“Mom-ing” has been challenging lately (like I just-signed-up-for-a-wine-club challenging and when Isaac reads this he will be finding out for the first time.)  But seeing Grant and Jude together makes my heart full.  Jude asks–no begs– to hold Grant every morning after breakfast.  When he does, he tenderly says, in his highest voice possible, “Hi, Grant!”  It is very cute. And when Grant is crying, Jude will stop in his tracks and quickly exclaim, “BabySad!” as if its one word. Jude always wants to push Grant on our daily walks, but only about 50 feet before he asks to “seat” in the stroller too.  I love them so much and I cannot wait till they can play together!

Bittersweetly, my baby Jude is now my toddler Jude.  He is always talking, singing, and telling me things he learns. He knows all his letters, number, colors, most shapes, and even knows some letter sounds. He fills in the words to “You Are My Sunshine” and most other songs. If I say, “I love…,” he shouts, “Jude!” Our days are filled with giggles, tears, proud exclamations, and much love.  Although these past few weeks have been trying, the sweet smiles and love my boys share are definitely worth it!

 

Baby Grant

Welcome to the world, Baby Grant!  It has almost been one month since Grant’s arrival and we are so in love! Born on June 5th, 2018, at 12:49, Grant weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 20.5 inches long.  Simply perfect!

As of now, we are adjusting to our new family of four smoothly.  We thought Jude was an easy baby, but Grant is somehow easier and calmer!?  We are all sleeping through the night this time around!  Grant gets up at 4am for a diaper change and feed then goes right back to sleep.  During the day, he is all snuggles. We are very blessed!

Isaac and I were so nervous about going from one baby to two, but Jude has really taken to his little brother!  Throughout the day, he hugs and kisses Grant so gently.  We have had a couple of scares where Jude wants to love on the baby so hard or is slightly jealous I have a new baby.  After four weeks, Grant is still alive and well. Considering all the change, Jude truly is an excellent big brother who loves his “bAAAAA-bY” very much.

Grant’s full name is Grant Xavier Damiano.  Like Jude, Grant has his name simply because…well, we like the way it looks (and sounds!)  Isaac initially loved the name “Grant.”  No matter how many names we sifted through, we kept coming back to it. Isaac also thought the initial “X” looked cool, thus Xavier. Originally, I was pretty set on the first name “Damian,” after Saint Damien of Molokai, an admirable model for healthcare providers. After some debate, we decided to tuck in “Damiano” as a third middle name.  It sounds beautiful so why not?

 

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