First Haircut

Bubba got his first hair cut at 10 1/2 months!  He simply just had too much hair and was starting to look a bit like Bozo the Clown with his curly hair coming out over his ears!  Here are some photos of the occasion:

 Sitting still like a big boy!  Sorry for the blurry photo, Daddy took this one!

Showing off my new haircut!

Motherhood

I'm sleep deprived.  Yet, here I am posting on my blog rather than using this time when the baby is asleep to get some sleep too.

Today was rough.  And that's an understatement.  After two days of Cade having non-stop low grade fevers, teething, being clingy, not eating...the list goes on and on.  I finally had a breakdown today. Cade woke up after only 20 minutes of napping (and he usually naps at least an hour to two hours at a time) and it went all down hill from there.  After nearly 30 minutes of inconsolable crying, I was at my wits end.  My husband, a day sleeper, woke up to all the crying and came out of the bedroom and Cade immediately went to him and all was fine.  I broke down crying and I remember saying "I can't do this anymore!" as I handed him over.  At the time, I really thought I couldn't do this anymore.  I couldn't find a way to make my baby feel at peace.  I couldn't find a way to help stop the tears.  He didn't want me to comfort him.  It was an awful feeling.  And I was just done.  Done.

Kyle took him into the bedroom with him and from my curled up position on the couch with tears on my face, I could hear them laughing and giggling.  I started feeling remorse and felt like a bad mom for giving up, for getting so frustrated so easily.  It took awhile, but I got back into the swing of things.  And Kyle took it in stride.  He never once became angry that his sleep was interrupted.  He didn't look at me as if I was ridiculous for crying over something like this.  Instead, he took Cade and gave me time to regain my composure and when I was ready to join them again, he kissed my forehead as if to say "it's okay babe.  You're allowed to have bad moments." and all was forgotten.

Part of me still feels guilty, but I now understand, what happened today is normal, if not expected.  I am a "single mom" during the week.  I don't get the luxury of passing Cade off to his father when I need a breather and after several days, my pent up frustration, despair, and anger all came to the surface.  In the end, I thank God that I do have Kyle to save me when it finally becomes too much.  He truly is an amazing man.

Random 5

Nothing spectacular happened today so to keep it interesting, I will sum my day up in five happenings of the day.

1.  Cade has maintained a temperature of anywhere from 99.5 to 100.5 for 2 days now.  Tylenol will bring it down, but it goes right back up after it wears off.  I'm guessing teething is the root of this problem, but is it normal to maintain a low grade fever this long??

2.  I have made it through Day 2 of watching what I eat and "journaling" it in the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone.  Call me crazy, but I almost feel like my clothes just fit better already.  I think it's just my mind really getting used to the fact that I am being healthy and it feels good!

3.  I need exercise.  But two things are hindering it.  The first is this cute adorable thing named Cade who is seriously hell on wheels, but in a good way.  If I turn my back for two seconds, he climbs or does something that would give any good mother a heart failure.  The second hindrance is the heat!  I don't live in town, so to go to the gym would require more than just a drive around the block.  So I prefer to walk around here.  Yeah, I don't think I should pack up Cade in a stroller and go walking with 105+ temperatures.  That equals bad parenting choices.  Tomorrow, I plan to go to the FREE rec center while I am already in town to get in a good walk.

4.  While out and about today, Cade was identified as a girl.  Not once, but twice!  And he was wearing a very "boyish" sports outfit.  I know he has adorable curly hair, but come on!  Result:  We now have a haircut appointment on Saturday afternoon.  I've been meaning to do it so we can take birthday photos so this just pushed me into setting the appointment up.  However, I am SUPER SAD about getting rid of his adorable baby curls.

5.  I watched 6 episodes of Roseanne.  Best show ever.  Seriously.  Hands down.

To end, here is my cute photo of the day!  I thought a dip in the pool might make him feel better.

Losing the Pounds

I've been thinking about this for awhile and giving it a half-hearted attempt, but then I finally decided enough is enough.  I need to lose this baby weight plus some.  Cade is almost 11 months old and I have not lost any of the weight I have gained with him.  And to lose just the extra baby weight is not enough.  For my height, I need to lose more than just the added pounds that came along with Cade.  So with that, my ultimate goal is to lose 60 pounds...yikes.  That number scares me!  To make it more bearable, I think I'll break it up into chunks.  You know, just like they do on Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition.  In 90 days, I hope WILL lose 15 lbs.  That is approximately 5 pounds a month or a little over a pound a week.  I know that number seems low, but I have always bought into the whole "slow and steady wins the race."  That and research shows it is best to lose about 1 to 2 pounds a week.

So here goes my weight loss journey.  I even took a photo of myself to show where I am today and remind myself why I am doing this.  Ugh...I'm not a fan of this photo AT ALL, but then again, I need this reminder as to why I am sticking to it!

After that awful picture, I have to end this post with a much better photo!  Here is my precious baby...he was not feeling well all day due to teething and I couldn't resist taking advantage of it and sneaking in all kinds of cuddle time today.

He's Reading!

Another lazy day.  This summer heat is driving me crazy and makes me want to hide out in the house and never leave!  But being the good Momma I am, I took Cade into town to his library class.  It's so great to see him interacting with new people, learning to love books, and I get the chance to be the parent I always dreamed of being.  Involved.  Now, don't go reading into that and thinking my parents were not involved because they were the opposite of that!  I have just seen too many kids in the education field whose parents are not involved in their lives and it saddens me.  Anyhow, library class must be having a positive affect on Cade.  I found him over in his book basket reading books this afternoon and making the cutest babbling sounds that sounded like he was reading!  My heart seriously melted!  The book nerd in me was so proud!  Here are a few pictures I captured, but of course, pictures never do justice.

Starting Fresh

Well here we go!  A new blog!  Lately, I've been so inspired by other blogs that I have been reading and I want to try a few things out professionally at Teachers Pay Teachers so I'm giving this a shot!  I hope to keep you updated on my family, my career, and my many other projects I have going.  And in return, I hope this blog will give me a chance to meet some great people, become more inspired, and keep me motivated to be the best I can be!