Nursing on the Mass Pike? Sure!

I don't even know how to start this post, but it's a long one.

I promise you it's entertaining though.

While the rest of the Marine Corps got a nice long weekend, my husband got stuck working.

I had this genius idea to cook him a home cooked meal from scratch, and take it to him in Boston.

I spent the majority of my Friday afternoon making home made turkey quinoa meatballs in marinara sauce while juggling a crying infant and a rowdy four year old. 

What should have taken thirty minutes to make took me almost two hours (due to above mentioned crying infant and rowdy four year old). 

Once I was done, I was so excited to take my delicious home made meatballs to my husband for dinner.

Just a side note...

When we were dating, I used to cook him dinner several times a week, pack it nicely in Tupperware, and drive from Oceanside to San Diego at ten in the evening to make sure he ate something.

(He was a drill instructor at the time, and if I didn't cook for him, he lived on Monster energy drinks and protein bars...blech!)

It's been a while since I've done something like that for him (since he has barely stood duty in the last 4 years of our marriage), so I was REALLY excited to get to do something nice for him.

I was dreading the drive into Boston, because Boston drivers are crazy and they give me anxiety.

Top that with driving with an infant and a 4 year old...call me crazy.

 However, I was going to do it for the love of my dear husband.

I figured I would be going against rush hour traffic since everyone is trying to leave Boston in the afternoon, and I was going into Boston.

First off, I hit traffic on the famous "Mass Pike" within ten minutes of my drive, and my irritation level was already rising.

What was supposed to be a twenty three minute drive into Boston turned into forty five minutes, and I had to detour from my GPS because the traffic on the exit I was supposed to get off on had not moved in ten minutes.

Finally, I made it to my husband, and he looked thrilled to be having a home cooked meal.

It made the drive worth it to see his face light up when we arrived with his food (and two Sam Adams...he was not on duty, btw).

My irritation level started to rise again when my GPS would not find me a route home without taking the Mass Pike (because I knew the traffic was horrible going back home on it).

I started to panic as my husband calmly told me alternate directions to get home.

"I NEED my GPS, babe!"

I was irritated with him that he wasn't helping me figure out my GPS, and was rushing me home with directions that he texted to me.

Of course I got lost in Boston and drove in circles around Fenway Park before I said "screw it", and I went off my GPS and made my way onto the dreaded "Pike".

I was literally moving five miles per hour on the pike, the baby was crying because he had just exploded in his diaper, and he hadn't been fed in three hours.

My GPS estimated it would take an hour to get home...irritation level still rising.

There's nothing more stressful than bumper to bumper traffic when you're 20 miles away from home with a crying infant in the back seat. 

We were inching along, when all of a sudden, my Jeep literally stopped. 

It wouldn't accelerate, and my brakes had locked up.

I put it in park, neutral...turned it off...tried to turn it on.

Nothing.

People were honking at me, giving me the middle finger, and yelling at me.

I wanted to scream at them, "If my Jeep would freaking move, I would pull over to the side, idiots! Do you really think I would just park in the middle of the Mass Pike during rush hour?!"

I turned my hazards on, and frantically called my husband.

When he didn't answer, I started panicking hard core, which made Dannika freak out, which made the baby freak out.

I dialed 911, and I'm pretty sure the conversation went something like this.

911 operator: 911, What's your emergency?

Me (in frantic tears): My Jeep just stopped in the middle of the Mass Pike, and I have a screaming infant and a toddler...I mean 4 year old...

(I couldn't decide if Dannika was still considered a toddler at that point....of all things to be thinking about).

I was told to sit still, and that highway patrol was dispatched to me. 

Because of the traffic, the police officer was 25 minutes out. 

I couldn't handle my screaming infant anymore, and that's when I basically thought "F it", I'm grabbing him out of his car seat and nursing him.

He calmed down immediately, which in turn calmed me down a little, and Dannika stopped crying.

I can now say that I have nursed a child in the middle of rush hour, in the driver's seat, at a dead stop in the lane next to the fast lane, on the Mass Pike.

Twenty Five minutes later, the highway patrol finally got to me. 

He called a tow truck for us, and had offered to give us a ride to the nearest police station off the Pike.

He stopped traffic for us, so that I could get Mattis and Dannika safely out of the car on the Pike, and into the back of his squad car.

If I were a bystander witnessing all of this, I would have seriously thought that I (the mother) was being arrested for whatever reason, and we were waiting on CPS to come and take my two children away.

When the tow truck finally got to us, the officer thought it was a better idea for us to ride with the tow truck to our house.
So there I was in a flat bed tow truck.
Dannika sat in the middle (with no seatbelt), and I sat on the passenger side holding the baby in my arms.
We safely arrived home, and my husband came shortly after.
He had left work to make sure we were all ok, and he spent an hour troubleshooting my Jeep.

By the way, he got it running again.
We just have to figure out why it doesn't run when the low beams are turned on.


Seriously though...
I nursed my son in the dead center of the Mass Pike during rush hour....in the driver's seat of my Jeep.

oh yeah...
I made it on the traffic report on the radio too according to a friend.

Post Pregnancy Weight Loss

Post pregnancy weight loss sucks.

There's no other way to put it.

I LOVE to work out, and I LOVE to stay in shape.

Fitness is a HUGE part of our family's life, and the only time I've ever been in a position to lose weight is after I have a baby.

I've maintained a pretty fit and healthy lifestyle for the majority of my adult life, so I've always worked out to "maintain".

I've never had to lose weight....except for after I have babies.

And it sucks.
I've been running, spinning, and Crossfitting for the last 3 weeks.
I don't eat carbs after breakfast.

I'm impatient, so when I don't see results right away, I get frustrated.

I just want my body back.

I want my stomach that's been stretched out to carry a baby for 9 months to go back to the way it was before....tight and toned.

It also drives me insane when people tell me things like, "It's only been 6 weeks."

I know it's only been 6 weeks!

Can't a girl just mope a little?

Remember how I said I never looked at the scale when I was pregnant?
Because of that, I'm not sure exactly how much weight I gained, and how much I've lost since giving birth.
Based on how my pants are fitting though, I'm guessing I have another 10 to 15 more lbs to lose.

BLAH!

On a random note...
Breastfeeding is going good...not great.
But definitely not bad to where I want to stop.
Breastfeeding is tough, but I'm enjoying it a lot more with my son than I did with my daughter.
I've also been pumping once or twice a day...

There's all 150ozs so far.
And since breastfeeding supposedly helps you burn calories, it's more of a reason for me to continue doing it.
Can I just add though that running for a breastfeeding mama kinda sucks.
I'm sure you can imagine why.

Little man had is one month well check last week.
He's 12lbs 8ozs and 22 inches long.
He's chunky.
90% for his weight!

And the "Duchess" of our home is still doing great.
She's an awesome big sister, and such an amazing help to me.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Government Shut Down

I tried to avoid blogging about this topic because I feel like this topic is EVERYWHERE lately.

But those that know me know that I can't keep my opinions to myself for very long.

I know that that congress passed "POMA" (Pay Our Military Act), and they also passed a shutdown exemption for the VA.

However, that doesn't mean that veterans and active duty service members aren't affected.

Special pay has been stopped, and the VA still faces the possibility of running out of money to pay benefits to veterans (GI Bill, disability, etc.)

The thing that enrages me the most is the fact that our active duty service members that are in combat zones are not getting their hazardous duty pay.

As a veteran, I receive disability pay and benefits.

I'll be OK with not getting my monthly VA check because I don't rely on my disability pay for anything.

 I'm thinking about those guys who are medically retired or are disabled to a point where they can not work.

The medically retired and the severely disabled solely rely on their VA disability check to pay bills, to pay expenses...to LIVE.

 My husband works hand in hand at his job with government employees that have been furloughed.

These civilians have been out of work for a week, and my husband mentioned that one of them had found a construction job to work this week to make ends meet.

It's sad that it has come to this.

Most of these civilians are also veterans with families and bills to pay.

With all of the civilians being furloughed, my husband has had to take on their responsibilities at work as well his own responsibilities.

Regardless of the government being shut down, the military mentality is always, "the show must go on."

I just wish congress can hurry up and figure something out soon.

And just some randomness...

With the lack of sleep and the responsibilities of caring for a newborn, my husband and I have had our moments where marriage has really been a challenge.
Our patience is running thin most days.
At the end of the day though, this guy works a 60 hour work week and comes home to step up to the plate as "Dad of the Year".
I'm so blessed to have him by my side through this journey of parenthood and life.

Life With My Babies

It dawned on me today that if I were still in the Marine Corps, I'd be going back to work on Monday.

It's crazy that it's already been 6 weeks since I had a baby!

It's also crazy to me how different I feel about baby #2.

I love both my babies in ways that I could never describe in words, but motherhood has definitely been a different experience between the two.

I feel a lot more relaxed with Mattis than I did with Dannika.

I actually enjoy nursing him, and when he's screaming bloody murder, I don't get anxiety and freak out.

After my work out this morning, I needed to take a quick shower before we went about the rest of our day.

Of course, right before I jumped in the shower, baby woke up from his nap and was having a meltdown.

Four years ago, I probably would have skipped the shower, freaked out, called my hubby begging him to come home from work, and sat in my sweaty work out clothes all day.

But today, I jumped in the shower while baby was crying, cleaned myself up, and tended to him when I was all clean and relaxed.

Dannika was definitely my "guinea pig", and I am so thankful that she turned out to be the bright and beautiful little girl she is today (despite my shortcomings when it came to being a new parent).

She's LOVING being a big sister, and she is constantly asking to "pet" the baby on his head.

When he cries, she immediately tends to him like a miniature mama, and she is such a huge help around the house.

She's always "reminding" me to change his diaper, and always letting me know when she thinks he's hungry.

She brags to her friends in preschool and Sunday school about her baby brother, and how she is a big sister.

I thank the Lord everyday that he gave us our precious daughter first.

I have been working out everyday, and I can slowly but surely see the baby weight come off.

Yesterday, I put both kids in the BOB, and ran my daughter to preschool.

It came out to a total distance of 3.5 miles, and it was my longest run since giving birth.

I was pretty proud of myself considering I was pushing a gigantic double jogging stroller up and down hills.

I've been vigorously icing my knee and hip after every run, and it's been helping a little.

Happy "post run" face.

I put my Fall decor up. 

It's really more for Dannika than me.

I want her to have good memories of different seasons and holidays when she gets older.

I think some of my favorite childhood memories are when my mom used to put up Christmas lights.

Baby Mattis is still sleeping a steady 4 hour stretch at night.

I'm hoping by the time he's 8 weeks, we can be at 6 hours?

A girl can wish, right?

And here is the Romer family's 2013 Christmas card photo....

Just kidding....maybe ;)
A friend pointed out that Mattis was thinking, "I can't believe I'm related to these people!"
hahaha!

Hello October

Is it October already?

To be honest, I'm not excited about the "beautiful Autumn" that New England has to offer.

I'm just not a cooler weather person, and I don't really care about the leaves changing colors.

I call myself "tropical".

I was at Target yesterday, and I saw girls already wearing their Uggs and sweaters (it was in the 70's yesterday!)

The only thing I really welcome about Fall is the pumpkin stuff, and getting Halloween costumes for my little ones. 

On another note, our son has been sleeping 4 to 5 hour stretches at night for 3 nights in a row now!

After some desperate measures, I invested in two baby books.

I am usually not the type of person who likes self-help books, but after a month of no consecutive sleep, I was desperate.

The first one I read was "On Becoming Baby Wise", and the second one I read was "The Happiest Baby on the Block".

They were both life changing....ok, ok....maybe not LIFE CHANGING, but for a mama who has not slept in 4 weeks, it sure felt life changing.

I HIGHLY recommend both of these books. 

And for those mamas out there who have newborns, I'll tell you what method worked for us.

Again, this worked for us, but it doesn't necessarily means it'll work for you, but it's worth a shot!

So here's what is working for us (so far):

1. We used a new swaddling method called "the bat wing swaddle". You can YouTube it.

2. We moved him out of our room into his crib.
3. We put a white noise maker in his crib (Note: not a running brook sound, no animal noises, no lullabies...just straight white noise)
4. We lay him on his side.
5. Give him a pacifier
6. We bounce him in our arms, and right before he is about to fall asleep, we lay him in his crib.

You really need to read "The Happiest Baby On the Block" to master this technique.
There's a certain way you have to incorporate all these techniques for it to work!

I swear by it though, and maybe it'll help someone else out there too!
Here's to a good night's rest!

This Sam Adams cream stout is delicious!

I am loving my Saturday mornings with our whole family in bed together.

Even in my sleep deprived state, my heart feels so full when I see my two babies next to me.

Even with my disdain for Fall and cooler weather, our family is all into "Fall activities".

This past Saturday, we went to our church's Fall Festival.

D had a blast, and at the end of the day, we do these things for our kid's happiness, right?

I love watching little man's facial expressions.

I feel like I can see his personality a little through them :-)

I think the sweetest thing in the world is watching a sleeping baby.

I could watch a sleeping baby for hours.

They look so peaceful and serene.

I sit and wonder what he dreams about, especially when I see him crack a smile or a little laugh in his sleep.

It absolutely melts my heart.

I've been pretty exhausted lately, and being home with a newborn 24/7 has been starting to wear on me.

My husband came home early from work yesterday, and offered to take both kids to the library so that D could check out a few new books.

As for me?

I went to my own little sanctuary...Target!!!!

I spent an absolutely peaceful hour at Target all by myself, and it was marvelous.

See how refreshed I look!?

After an hour to myself of retail therapy, I was a much happier mama to come home to these two sweethearts.

And lastly...

Is this not the most hilarious picture ever?

Boys....