TTT: Season 2, Episode 27 - a double shot!

1. Ah. Back to the old blog. Yes, it's true. The inevitable finally happened. I missed a full week of Three Thought Thursday last week! Hey, I had a feeling at the beginning of the year when I decided I wanted to continue on into 2011 that I might not be able to commit to every single week. And that was before I even knew that we'd be moving! So since there's been a lot going on, I thought I'd just double up this week and document all the recent happenings in our little world.

I was able to write two weeks ago because Mark's mom was here and I managed to crank out a blog post while she was taking the boys on a bike ride. But last week...well...not so much. A lot went on last week. Total craziness, in fact. You're probably thinking Total craziness happened to you!?! No way! Yes, I know that total craziness tends to follow me everywhere I go, but it also tends to follow people who have just had a baby and only happens during holiday weekends and on and on and on. I guess it was just a compilation of all of those things. So when Thursday rolled around, sadly I knew everything I wanted to write about and just didn't have the time or energy to even consider writing. Sleep took the priority every. single. time. Here's why...

2. Mark's mom left early on the morning of Saturday, July 2nd. Mark was on call that weekend and ended up getting called in for a surgery around lunch time. After lunch, the boys and I all decided to take a nap. I laid down on the couch with Grant cuddled up on my chest and when I woke an hour or so later, I was a hot, sweaty mess. At first I assumed it was due to the warm, snuggly baby. But thirty or so minutes later when I was still burning up, I finally checked the thermostat: eight-seven degrees. Did it really take me that long to realize it was way hotter than it should have been!?! We high-tailed it over to my parents' house after getting in touch with our home warranty company. When they called back and said they couldn't find any of their contractors that could come out on the holiday weekend, they allowed us to find our own repair man. He came out Sunday morning, only to discover that some sort of motor in the furnace was completely blown out and would have to be replaced. But, of course, the only supply company that sold the replacement motor was closed for 4th of July and wouldn't open till Tuesday, the 5th. So we spent the entire 4th of July weekend back at my parents' house staying cool and even enjoying a visit and burgers from our good friends Jared and Katie Bares. Finally, on Tuesday around lunch the air conditioner was finally fixed. I went back to my parents' to pack up all of stuff that had made its way over there so we could head back home. See what I mean? The A/C going out only happens on holiday weekends to ladies who have just given birth eight days earlier. Thank God we had some place cool to go!

3. But our stay at my parents' house didn't end there. When I arrived to pack up our stuff, Rudy was taking a nap and Kolbe decided he wanted to go with my mom to the airport to pick up my dad from the airport. (He was returning from the family reunion in Colorado that we missed...my mom came back early) I sat down in the family room to nurse Grant and afterwards came down with a bad case of the chills. Assuming it was just from sitting under the A/C vent, I went upstairs to start packing up and figured I'd warm up as I got working. Instead it just got worse. I ended up getting in bed and under the comforter to try to warm up. After thirty minutes or so I was still shaking out of control and decided to get in a warm bath. This helped, but I could tell that something was definitely wrong. After everyone returned home and I was back in bed, we discovered that I was running a fever of 103.2 and had really sharp pain in my collar bone/ armpit area which led us to believe that I had come down with mastitis. Really, to me, the effects of the fever were worse than the chest pain. The out of control shaking for several hours and horrible aching all over was just miserable! Luckily, we were able to get ahold of my mom's neighbor who is an obstetrician and she was able to get me started on antibiotics right away. (still on them too...ten days worth! Yikes!) So the next two days were spent there at my parents' too so that they could help out while I tried to recover. My mom says it's one of the worst cases of mastitis she's ever seen. I'm pretty sure it just covered a really large area and wasn't in one specific spot which did make it look really horrible. After experiencing that, I can completely understand why so many women give up nursing early on. I had such a smooth nursing experience with Reagan; after the initial few weeks of pain and discomfort, it was smooth sailing. I assumed it would be just the same with Grant, but it has proven to be very different and difficult at times. We're definitely still hanging in there and doing a lot better now, but like I said, I can totally see why women might throw in the towel while going through some of these trials. We aren't completely out of the woods yet, and I continue to pray that it doesn't come back or escalate to what my poor sister-in-law had to go through with an abscess. But really, I know that this is what is best for Grant, great for me, and will establish a wonderful bond between the two of us as he grows from a tiny infant into a little boy.

4. So other than a completely unlivable house and a torturous bacterial infection, I'd say things are going pretty smoothly. Prior to Grant's birth, I had people tell me that three kids was the hardest thing they had ever done and others say that three was a piece of cake. Right now, I'd probably have to go with a middle of the road type feeling. It's certainly not easy, but also not as hard as I thought it would be either. It helps a ton that both Kolbe and Rudy are somewhat self-sufficient. They love to play together and don't always need mom to be involved. They can eat meals without me supervising. Kolb knows how to dress him self and use the restroom on his own. Rudy is working on both of these things. So really, it's nowhere near the challenge of taking care of a newborn and a fifteen month old like when Rudy was born. I'd say the hardest part is just trying to explain everything to the boys when I can't do what they want to do right when they want to do it. Or I can't give them the full attention they're hoping for every time they want it. I've just been trying to do and much with them as possible while Grant sleeps and give them the quality time they need every chance I can. Sure, dinner plans have gone by the wayside almost every single night, but hey, we're getting through the day, getting to bed relatively on time, and everyone seems to be happy. We survived our first trip to Target just the three boys a me a few days ago. It went much better than I pictured it would be! And as for Grant, he continues to be just a magical little guy. He usually has a long wakeful time in the morning and one in the afternoon as well. Otherwise, he likes to sleep quite a bit and just tags along for the ride when we're out and about. He had his two week check at the pediatrician's office last week right in the middle of the whole mastitis ordeal and hadn't gained as much weight as the the doctor had hoped, but when I took him back on this Tuesday, he was up to seven pounds and twelve ounces...over his birth weight...so he's finally starting to take off. We can't decide exactly who he looks like just yet, but he definitely looks like Kolbe and Rudy's brother. Considering they each have their own look and don't really favor each other much at all, maybe Grant will just be working his own look too! Regardless, he sure is a cutie and I can't get enough of him.

5. Mark and I have some of the best parents in the whole world. Really, I think I could do an entire post about this topic, but it's been on my heart a lot this week and has been such an integral part of the past few weeks, that I'd be crazy not to include it. To say that my parents did a lot for us before Grant was born would be a gross understatement. Heck, we lived at their house for two whole months while Mark started his job and we tried to find a new house! And the number of times they've watched the boys for me while I've gone to various doctor's appointments or just struggled through the last months of pregnancy are too numerous to count. And helping us get the house set up! And feeding us when I was too exhausted to cook! Really, they've done far, far more than they've needed to and helped us out time and time again, even when we haven't asked. Thankfully, they were both here the day that Grant was born, but left the next morning for our big family reunion up in Colorado. Mark's mom arrived on that same day, and man, was she ever a big help! Really, I can't imagine going through my stay at the hospital or that first week back at home without her. One of the things I worried about the most...like all moms, I suppose...was how Kolbe and Reagan would adjust to me bringing Grant home. Having Miss Lora there was the perfect balance to creating a positive, smooth transition. When I was nursing the baby or too sore from my surgery to do something the boys wanted me to do, she would jump right in and take care of it. Shoot, she was even willing to take the boys out around the neighborhood on bike rides in the sweltering heat! I hardly will consider that even when I'm not pregnant! Really, she was a champ. We can't wait for her to come back! And Mark's dad is next. He is flying in to stay with us this weekend. We can't wait to see him and show off his newest grandson. After all, he and Grant do share the same birthday! So throughout these past few weeks, when I look at my baby, look at my husband, look at my kiddos and look at our family, all I can think of is how thankful I am that I have been so greatly blessed.  Who knows...maybe some day when Kolbe, Rudy, or Grant is bringing a new baby home, I'll look back at this and hope that I can be all for them that our parents have been for us.

6. Time for pictures!

I love this picture! Definite "framer". This is Kolbe and Rudy taking in the 4th of July parade up at Market Street (an outdoor shopping mall).

Two buddies--Kolbe LOVES his new brother. He always asks for me to put him in the little swing when he's awake so they can "hang out" together.

In love with this pic too. They were so excited to get to sit with their baby brother!

Mark and I follow the Tour de France every single July. It's been perfect timing this year since I have to spend so much time sitting down and nursing. Gives me something to watch! Mark took Kolbe up to a bike shop that is near our house so he could see all the bikes that are in the race and try on some of the helmets. What do you think? He just might be the next Lance Armstrong!

Ah, the I-spy quilt. Also comes in handy during nursing sessions! We've played many-a-game of I-spy over the past weeks. I can call out items from the couch and they can search and find them.

Another parade pic. These two are totally in the fire truck/ambulance/police car phase. They're obsessed! So of course their favorite thing in the parade was the long line of fire trucks.

Ahhhhh. Sleep. Wish I could get some too!