Has it really been 2 months? (warning . . . very long post)

Sunday, December 13, 2009
Well, the entire month of November came and went without a moment of time to write. How do I sum up the last 7 and half weeks since Liam joined our family? Blessed seems to be a good word. For the first two weeks after he was born my mom came over every morning to help me feed and clothe the kids, get a shower for myself and keep up with laundry and other household duties. Liam has been a great nurser and sleeper from the get go. There have only been a few truly sleepless nights . . .
I got interrupted by a phone call and it is now Sunday, December 20th! Anyway, Liam is a great addition to our family. My mom thinks he observed our family from heaven and knew exactly what he needed to do to survive here! Liam seems to be very responsive to interaction. He smiled for the first time right around a month old while I stroked his chin. He sucks on his tongue the way that I did when I was a baby. He basically sleeps through the night with one major feeding around 4am. I just started him on formula. I give him two bottles a day and that has been wonderful. It gives me just a little bit of freedom to leave the house for longer than an hour! He is a super chunk. He has big chubby cheeks and has nearly doubled his birth weight. He’s wearing 3-6mo clothes and will be wearing size three diapers very soon.
Everyone was worried about how Kayla would handle having a new baby, but she’s handled it very well. She has been very helpful and loves to hold Liam. She didn’t throw any tantrums when daddy started putting her to bed instead of mommy. She has also started staying in her room all night long until I come to get her at 7. That is a major accomplishment for her since she generally wakes up every morning at 4:30. She lays in bed listening to her glow worm and reading books in the glow of her nightlight. She looks forward to quiet time everyday and loves to do ABC time on the computer. She has been attending speech preschool and her language skills are definitely improving. I love to hear her say new things. She just got her hair cut to her shoulders and looks very cute. In January she’ll be going to Children’s Hospital in Seattle to have an EEG, MRI and sleep study. She’s actually been seizure free for several months but I’m curious to see if the doctors are able to discover what the cause of her seizures is.
I think Beckham has the hardest time adjusting to baby. For the first 3 or 4 weeks he was terrified to sleep in his own bed. He was afraid that I would leave. I started having to rock him and sing to him before bed and naps. Thankfully he’s bounced back and goes to sleep on his own after a few songs. I think he still gets nervous about his place in the family. When Lonnie’s home Beckham is very territorial. He doesn’t want Lonnie to hold Liam or Kayla. Overall, Beckham is very kind to Liam. He gives him kisses and is atentative to him. I think they will become good friends once Liam starts to play a bit more. Beckham just turned two on the 18th. We had a birthday party for him last night at my parent’s house. He has fallen in love with Toy Story and received lots of fun gifts . . . Buzz and Woody galore. He has definitely hit the terrible twos. He’s started hitting and setting Kayla up to get in trouble. He’s also a bit of a practical jokester and speaks very well for his age.
Lonnie has been working a lot at the factory. He’s the assistant manager of his department and has gotten a few raises. We just bought a “new” van and his school loans will start soon so we are very grateful for the raises. He’s been working a lot of overtime which is good and bad. It’s hard when he doesn’t come home on time at night. Dinner until bedtime is hard for me because the kids seem to go crazy. Lonnie has been very helpful with the kids and has handled my mood swings pretty well. He is wonderful daddy and husband. We are all lucky to have him.
I’ve had my ups and downs. I’m so tired all the time and can’t seem to get everything done no matter how hard I try. I’ve been having major pain in my right arm and shoulder. I’ve had several sleepless nights from that problem. That’s frustrating. Thankfully I start physical therapy this week. It’s hard to imagine that there is more to life than laundry and poopy diapers. It’s like the light at the end of the tunnel . . . it’s just a really long tunnel right now.
I have been horrible about keeping in touch with friends . . . Sorry . . . I'll try to be better!