Double Duty

I am definitely learning the struggles of being a Mom and a Deaconess at the same time. I absolutely love both of them, but this is the most intense juggling act I've ever done.

For those of you who don't know, I am a part/full time Deaconess at a church in Iowa. I try to average about 30 hours of work a week. And get in as much time with my son as I can. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom, so I am reluctant to give much of that up to anyone else! Fortunately, our pastor's wife lives right up the hill from church and is the *perfect* candidate to watch Seth when I can't.

Our church has been very gracious in letting me take Seth with me to work when I want to. They are more concerned with the end result (have I gotten the newsletter out? Was I able to run choir practice successfully? etc.) than how I got there. So Seth has been able to see everyone at church during the group meetings. He has taken naps in my office. Our Office Manager gets her baby-fix and likes to hold him once in a while. She has 3 kids of her own, so she has mastered the art of one-handed working as well.

This has taught me to work both slower and faster. Sometimes things just take longer than I'm used to! But other times, like during nap time, I need to get in gear and work work work!

When Seth is awake, I try to focus as much of my attention as possible on him. That's the fun part. I'm working on finding the balance of being able to get my work done while he's asleep or with his baby-sitter.

Trying to do it all is quite an adventure.


:)

What my sleeper looks like when I'm working.

Backlogged

I have a few crafty posts I've been meaning to post, but my camera/sd card are never around when I have the time to post. :)

Seth has come such a long way since my last post! We've worked very hard on naptime, so now if I'm home I can put him in his crib for all his naps...finally. Sometimes, like yesterday, he wakes up often, but that just meant I put him down more often...and was still able to get quite a lot done. The biggest improvement, though, has been that I don't have to wait until he is 110% asleep before putting him down. It's amazing.

He's been changing things up lately, too...falling asleep in the swing...falling asleep on his own. Ok, the latter only happened once. But it happened, and I was flabbergasted.

He has been experimenting with different sounds his mouth can make, which is very cute. He has finally started laughing! (Friday!) Just like his smiles were (sometimes still are), it's hard to draw a laugh out of him, but when he does, it is so cute.

He loves to sit up, supported. Laying down is for babies, Mom! He just started grabbing his legs, and finding his feet. I'm sure rolling over will come soon. He still does not like tummy time, unless you catch him in the right mood. I tell him if he rolls over on to his back, he can end tummy time. :)

Saturday we go for his 4 month pictures, and Monday are his 4 month shots. What a wonderful birthday gift! Not...! :)

We get lots of visitors...Grandma Barkley this weekend, seminary friends Monday night, then my family plans to stop by on their way to MN...and we'll go to MN for 6 days too!! Lots of fun!

I love this age :)

Wee Wee Wigwam

I stumbled across the blog "Make It and Love It" (thanks to  Sallie I believe) and she had a tutorial for Wee Wee Wigwams (her own Pee-Pee Teepees). I needs them!
[Right now we just use half a wipe, which only lessens the damage during accidents.]

Step one: Cut circles of 2 types of fabric. Then cut in half.

Step two: Sew the two pieces with right sides together, then turn right side out.

Step three: Top stitch near the edge.

Step four: Fold in half & sew the rough edges together.

ta-da! Wee Wee Wigwam. Simple as that.

Oh, and I held Seth the entire time I made it. hooray!

More Active

Yesterday Seth turned two months old.

Today I feel extremely motivated.

This will probably turn around and bite me in the butt (aka I'll probably try to do too much), but I'm going to start a sort of "2 months resolution". That is, I'm going to start to try to do more than just my silly games on Facebook or the iPhone.

Don't get me wrong, those games were lifesavers, especially during growth spurts, but now it's time to wean myself off of them!

When I am absolutely stuck on the couch, I'll try to at least blog a little more!

Seth is what some people like to refer to as a "high needs" baby. Mostly this just means he needs a little extra lovin/attention. And of course nursing :D Many people (mostly well meaning) try to tell me I need to put him down more, but it really doesn't benefit either of us... He simply won't stand for it; he'll cry and cry & work himself up...I'd much rather have a happy, calm baby. As he gets older, though, we both get better at a couple minutes here or there apart (he doesn't always start right in on the screaming! just whines about it). So I'll go grab a bite or find some papers, etc. Moral of the story is, sorry people, I am going to continue to hold him a lot, even if I won't be able to with subsequent children. 

But. We are getting better at using the Moby wrap. Since he comes to work with me all the time for now, I usually use it during the afternoons at work, but I think we can step it up a notch. So when he's in there, I can usually do something else. Perhaps not what I was planning on, if he wants me to keep walking, but at least more than just being a couch potato!

Also, if I am a little more disciplined, I know we can get him to nap in his crib. It's just a matter of paying more attention to when he falls into his deep sleep. I often miss it and then would only get a few minutes of him being down before he's ready to be picked up (or if I try to soon, he'll wake up again). Generally, I'd just rather have him have a good nap rather than wake up because I try to put him down...then he gets cranky!

But like I said, we are growing up!

So some things I would like to do:
knit! (obviously hehe)
finish his curtains (one is almost done!)
Take some ideas from http://makeit-loveit.com/ and make some cute things, especially her yoga-band dress.
Scrapbook (well, most of that will happen on church-scrap days)
help my hubby more around the house! (can I just say how grateful I am to have him??)

I'm sure there's more, but I better not think about it too closely.

I will also try to post pictures of my crafty accomplishments...and of my son.
In fact, here's one for you now :)

God's blessings :)

7 weeks!

Baby has been in my arms for 7 full weeks now! We have come such a long way since my last post. I have started working again, but fortunately everyone has been really flexible and understanding. It is a little complicated to juggle the two, especially when he basically refuses to be put down during the day. But we manage.

We are still using the shield to eat. It's only frustrating when NIP (nursing in public) or those times it won't stay on. but for cluster feeding it really helps...he loves to be independent and self-latch & this way he can & I can just relax.

He is starting to sleep more at night...usually at least 3 hrs between feedings & once made it 5 hrs! But I still have to rock him back to sleep every time, so total I am up for about an hour when he wakes each time. He also tends to not want to settle back down when he gets up between 5 and 6. But he's still tired so he gets grumpy. And usually he's back to 2 hrs again so I maaaaybe get another hour of sleep which is hard to fight for.

I got a Moby wrap which we use most days. Then I can be hands free for at least a little part of the day.

Well, I think I can finally put him down for our early morning nap. Later!!

Working Through It

Today Baby will turn 18 days old. I can't decide if this is the longest 2.5 weeks of my life, or the shortest!

We have been having quite the hard time with breastfeeding. It's probably no worse than most, but I just wasn't expecting it!
1. He was born 2 weeks early but measured @ 3 weeks early (gestational age). Means he had to get bigger for his sucking to fully work well.
2. We've been using a nipple shield to overcome that problem. Mostly I am ok with this, but I get a little frustrated with having to have it on me & always get it cleaned.
3. He eats about every 2 hrs around the clock, meaning I usually have about an hour between feedings to do what I need, and the question is usually what's more important, food or sleep??
4. Lately he's been gulping/choking/spitting up more so we are trying to figure that out too.

I generally don't like not knowing what I'm doing, so that increases my frustration. Fortunately, I have people around to tell me I'm not crazy, and that it really is possibly the hardest thing I'll ever do. I just want my little baby to be comfy! and to get some sleep myself... :)

Will have to write more later - need some rest now!