L I V E S T R O N G Challenge

Today the three of us ran in the LIVESTRONG Challenge 5K - yes, the three of us...Kellen cruised along with me in the BOB (which by the way, is one of my favorite baby gear items)! Our day started early - we actually woke Kellen up at 6:30 (ah...never wake a sleeping baby, right?!) and hit the road at about 6:50 to the Nike campus, which is where the race started and finished. It was a great event. In addition to the run that we did, there was a bike ride with different mile options up to 100 miles! It was a hot and humid day and we were certainly glad the race started at 7:50 because it was already pretty warm. I couldn't imagine riding in the longer mileage rides.

Aaron finished in about 20 minutes and Kellen and I took a bit longer, finishing around 35 mintues. I blame the crowd and the stroller for our slow pace, not the fact that I hadn't run since the Quarter Marathon! ha. But really, it wasn't easy navigating the stroller amongst 3000 people! My friend and Nike co-worker, Jen, ran with us and it was just fun to be out there moving with all the people in support of a great cause - the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

our 15 minutes of fame...

About a month ago, Kellen and I, along with several other moms and babies were asked to participate in a video for Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield for new moms. Basically, we were asked to talk about what we wish we would have known before we had our baby. Since this video was only for Blue Cross insurance members, I haven't been able to share the video until now...as it's now on YouTube for all to view!



So, how did this happen? Well, I started going to the Good Samaritan Hospital Baby and Me group and ended up meeting a great group of women. A bunch of us started doing other things together - weekly coffee at Sip and Kranz, mommy Matinees, Gymboree and it's now morphed into our own official Mom's Group. Unfortunately now that I'm back to work, I don't get to attend all the events, but I've still been able to join in the Friday Play Dates that we rotate hosting at our houses and of course, Gymboree. Anyway...one the moms is a web editor at Blue Cross and her first project back to work from maternity leave was all about having babies and evidently their original plan for a video fell through so she came calling on us!

It was very fun - one of the first nice days we had this summer and a great way to remember this time as new moms together! Hopefully we don't scare people away from having kids - it's funny how so often when you talk about things, that's the bad or hard part that you share - but it's true, being a new parent is really hard and it's a big change AND something that we would do over and over and over again! I'm lucky to have found such a great, supportive group of women and I really do hope that we continue to get together and share this parenting experience! It's so fun to see these babies together and imagine that they could be friends for a long time.

So, since I know a lot of soon-to-be and new moms, here's some advice from me to you...in addition to things I wish I would have known - I share with you how valuable it is to get out of the house as a new mom and connect with other new moms - whether it's through the hospital baby group or other venue - take advantage of those opportunities! I know that it's been a huge help to me! And...we don't always just get together with the babies...here's a picture from one of our Mom's Night Out at Thirst Wine Bar!

6 month stats

Our six month appt was yesterday and the boy is moving up the scale! Here are his stats:

Weight: 17 pounds 12.5 ounces - 50th percentile
Height: 27 inches - 70th percentile
Head Circumference: 17 inches (not sure about percentile!)

He's now over doubled his weight in the first six months and I'm sure he's going to keep packing on the pounds as he is just LOVING the food! We're taking it a bit slow, so he's still only had rice cereal, but we're going to try out peas and beans here this weekend and maybe another type of cereal. It's all a bit overwhelming to me on how to incorporate the food into his nursing or bottle feedings - but as with a lot of things...I'm sure I'm making a bigger deal about it and reading too much trying to do it the right way. Some habits are hard to break.

Speaking of habits...we're trying to break the swaddling habit with Kellen. Most people stop swaddling their babies way before this, but that's typically because their babies won't let them do it anymore. Well, Kellen likes the swaddle and it's definitely become his sign that it's time to go to sleep. We've really had a pretty easy time putting him down for naps or to bed and it's because of the swaddle. Well, the other day I put him down for a nap and he was fussing a bit and suddenly it sounded a little muffled. I went in and he had flipped himself over, but was wedged up against the side of the crib. Since his arms were in tight, he couldn't get back over. I guess that was our sign to stop the swaddle. The problem is that is how he gets to sleep. Aa tried to put him down for a nap and it just wasn't happening. So, I guess we'll have to slowly wean him of it and I sure hope it works. Last night we left one arm out and one arm in. With one arm, he can flip himself over or scoot, so he's definitely safe. We'll see how it goes!

Today we went to the zoo with Isabel and Charlie. We were doing a happy dance since the sun has finally decided to shine here in Portland! I'm sure the rain and gray will be back soon, but it was sure nice to feel the warmth and get outside! The animals didn't do much for Kellen, but I think he enjoyed being outside and seeing all the people.

Here's a cute picture of Kellen and his Grandparents in our backyard last weekend:

Enjoy the weekend!!

Look at those kicks!!

Kellen's swim lessons wrapped up this weekend and he did awesome. He did lots of dolphin dives and was so good at kicking! It was fun to see how much he improved from the first to the last lesson - he definitely became much more comfortable in the water. We're hoping to continue with the lessons at some point, but we have a pretty busy summer and fall schedule. Enjoy the video!

mmmmmmm.....rice cereal!!

our boy loves rice cereal!

Speaking of sleep deprivation...

Kellen and I are locked out of the house and the car. My keys are in the house and there is no hidden spare! Aaron has to drive home from Salem to rescue us!

6 months old - really???!!!

Last night as I was up at 3am feeding Kellen and he was smiling back at me it dawned on me that today he was 6 months old. And then I shed a little tear! WOW..the time has flown and it's crazy to think back to those early days and that he's already been here for half a year. He is such a wonderful little guy! He has a smile that just brings so much joy and his spirit melts our hearts every day. We can't remember or imagine our lives without him. I'll post some pics and more thoughts later today!

**Update**
okay, so this is a day late now! We had a busy day yesterday - it was an all day work day for me and Kellen was in Salem for the day...so by the time everyone got home, we ate, bathed Kellen and did our bedtime routine, I was beat! The boy is very busy these days! He's fully sitting up and in the last few weeks has started to army crawl - he's not getting up on his hands and knees but he moves his arms and legs with his belly on the ground and gets to where he needs to go...the boy can move fast - especially if he's zeroed in on the remote control or telephone!! I'm not sure what it is, but babies sure love what they shouldn't have! There is certainly a new person with clicker control in our house!

In so many ways, this age is so much easier - but there are new things that make it much more difficult! It's great that he'll sit up by himself and really play with toys now. He can entertain himself for a bit, which is nice! But he also is super busy and starting not to sit still for very long. We used to be able to hang with him on the changing table for a long time and he'd have SO much fun...no longer! He now wiggles and squirms to get down and it makes changing his diaper or getting him dressed a real challenge. Speaking of diapers - now that he's sitting up most of the time, we've had a lot more blow outs - the poop goes straight up his back (I guess the floor is stopping it from soaking into the diaper)! After about 9 days in a row of poop up the back and all over his clothes, we've now figured out that he likes to poop after his breakfast and I no longer sit him up...on his belly he goes and the poop stays in the diaper like it should. Bathing is a bit easier now and a lot more fun! He's now in a small, inflatible tub that sits in our tub and he has a lot of fun splashing and playing with toys! He's still easily distracted which makes eating more difficult - he just wants to check everything out, get his hands on it and put it in his mouth! It is fun to see exploring and so into everything!

This is the last week of swimming and I think he's really enjoyed the pool! Last Saturday he did a dolphin dive, which essentially is where the teacher holds him and dives him under the water, face first! He did it twice and didn't even shed a tear. We'll try to capture it on video this week. We probably won't be able to pick up swimming lessons again until January - the summer we are too busy and then fall we'll have football games. I guess he won't be qualifying for the Olympics, after all!

We probably get the most comments on his hair! It's growing and continues to stick straight up! He's rocking a pretty great Faux-hawk and I have to admit it's pretty darn cute!! His eyes are still blue and I'm growing attached. I think that I'll be a little sad if they change on us now!

Sleep has become a lot harder lately. I read that when babies make these big developmental leaps that it's harder for them to sleep because they are dreaming about practicing all their new skills. I'm not sure whether it's that, teething or if we're just spoiling him...but he has been waking up a lot at night and won't easily go back to sleep like he used to. In fact, when we try to replace the pacifier...he moves his head back and forth really fast so that we can't get it in. It's actually pretty hilarious to see and if I weren't so tired and it wouldn't make it worse, I'd try to catch it on video! Anyway...I've been having to pick him and and rock him or nurse him back to sleep multiple times throughout the night for the last couple of weeks. This lack of a good night's sleep is really starting to get to us! The other day I couldn't figure out if I had to go to work the next day or not and last night I'm certain that Aaron told me to either bring Kellen into our bed or to put him in the garage! We also still swaddle the boy, which worries me that he'll be 16 and we'll have to get him all wrapped in his swaddle for him to sleep!

All in all - he's sure a happy, sweet boy! Aaron and I go into his room every night before we go to sleep and say to each other how lucky we are to have him and just how darn good and cute he is!