Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Free Nursing Covers

If you are a breastfeeding mommy and don't have one of these covers, here is a chance to get one for free. All you have to pay is $7.95 for shipping and handling...

Go to...

http://www.uddercovers.com/

Look to the right and click on the box with the Essence covers. It will ask you for a promotional code to keep shopping. The code is "onefree". Click on the one you want (only pink and blue are left). Add the quantity you want (1) and then go to checkout.

I just ordered one myself!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Happy 3 Months!!

Today, Mateo turned 3 months old. Time has gone by so fast!
I can't believe we have gone from this.....
to this......
in 3 short months!! It makes all the extra LBS that have been hanging on seem more worth it when I get to see Mateo smile at me!
Here are some things about Mateo...
-Mateo does so well sleeping. He sleeps 12 hours at night in his crib. This is a true blessing!

-We are having lots of trouble getting Mateo to take a bottle. He took a few Avent bottles early on when we were out in public, but at about 8 weeks decided he didnt like the Avent bottle anymore. Then we tried a few other bottles with no success, but finally got him to take a Playtex Ventaire bottle last week. He took a bottle from Antonio 2 days last week and one bottle from my friend Brandy who babysat for us on Saturday. However this past week, when my mom was in town to watch Mateo for us while we took Tatum to get tubes, Mateo decided once again he did not want to take the bottle. Also, we went to church this morning and he would not take the bottle from the nursery worker, so I feel like we are at square one again with this. I secretly think he doesn't want me to return back to work in a few weeks, but that's not an option.

-Mateo also doesn't really care for the pacifier either. He usually only takes it for naptime or bedtime, but quickly spits it out and sleeps away. I think he would be fine without taking it at all, but I still offer it. Also, if he is upset, offering him the pacifier is not an option. It doesn't help in these crying fits.
-Mateo does NOT like a dirty diaper. He will cry so hard when he is dirty. Don't get me wrong we didn't let Tatum sit in dirty diapers all day, but I do want to be sure they are done doing the deed before I change them. He lets you know when he is done with some loud crying.

-Mateo loves to be held and cuddle with you. I love this! It makes it difficult at times to get things done, but everything else can wait....I am going to enjoy these moments!

-I can remember when I had Tatum I wanted to rush her into growing up 'cause when she was little she didn't 'do' anything. With Mateo, I think I appreciate this baby stage more. I love the fact that he isn't crawling or walking around. He is just happy sitting in my lap or in his Bumbo seat so we can talk and look at each other.

-Mateo has a nickname or two....I constantly find myself saying "HEY BUDDY!!", "Morning Sunshine", or "Hey Little Man!"....I also sing the "MY BUDDY" song to him daily...you know that old toy and the commercial went...."My buddy, my buddy, wherever I go, HE GOES"(I feel like we are tied at the hip since he won't take a bottle so it seems quiet appropriate.)...... I will have to post the video for you guys.
-Mateo is wearing 3-6 month clothing these days. He can wear 0-3 months, but I think he looks a little more comfortable in the 3-6 month clothing...plus I want him to wear his 3-6 month clothing before it gets too warm. He is also still in a Pampers size 1 diaper.

-Mateo loves to watch TV with me. I am not sure if it is because the TV is so big (50") or if he just thinks the people are talking to him or what, but the TV catches his eye.

-Mateo also enjoys walks outside. He prefers to just be in the stroller and not in the carseat.
-Speaking of carseats, Mateo still HATES his. We don't get out much to go shopping or anything because it just never works out. I end up having to take him out of his carseat to hold him. This makes it harder for me to shop and I ALWAYS manage to break a sweat like I am playing basketball or something. This becomes quiet embarrassing when it is 45 degrees outside. We made a family trip to the new Target this weekend. I wore a t-shirt and jeans while everyone else was in sweatshirts and sweaters....yet I was the one sweating....lol...

-I attempted to cut Mateo's nails for the first time this week and managed to draw blood! I have cut Tatum's nails for 2.5 years and never done this!! errrr
-We are raising Mateo as a Memphis Tigers fan of course. He is the youngest Tigers fan in our family, but he has already made it to a game this season. We plan to make it to many more in the future!

I don't know what life was like before Mateo, maybe a little less hectic? We have had to learn how to manage our time a little better. However, we did make it to church at 8:30am this morning, so we are getting good at it! We are loving every minute of watching Mateo grow. Antonio and I are very thankful and blessed to have 2 beautiful and healthy children that we adore! We don't take any second for granted!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Tatum Gets Tubes....

Tatum was scheduled to get tubes Friday morning. We had to be at LeBonheur by 6:15am, so that meant I had to get up at 4:30am to get Mateo fed and get myself ready. While this sounds bad, it was actually worse since Memphis Tigers played a late game the night before that I HAD to watch. My mom came into town to watch Mateo while we took Tatum. After getting everyone and everything ready, we were off.

When we got there, Tatum wanted Antonio to read her a book.

Since it was so early, we decided to just let Tatum wear her PJs.
For some reason, Tatum kept looking at this statue of this woman....she said it looked like her mommy??



Then she had to check everything out while we waited to be called back...
Once we went back, we had to change Tatum into her new gear. She got to keep on her PJ pants...
We got into a room and were waiting for Dr. Milburn to come by and see us.

After the dr. and a few nurses came by, Tatum got to go to the Bunny Tunnel and pick out a present. She picked out some pink cheerleading pom poms and a megaphone set. We gave her hugs and kisses in the Bunny Tunnel and then she went on with the nurse and we went back to wait in the room for the nurse to come and get us. She did great and didn't cry at all when we left her.

While we were waiting, we watched a little TV. Antonio decided to hook the remote to himself...


About 15 minutes of waiting and Dr. Milburn came and said her ears were a little worse than he had expected so he was glad we did the tubes. He said all went well. Then a nurse came and got us and said Tatum did GREAT! She didnt cry a single time when she was back in the surgery room. When we went back another nurse was holding her and led us into a room. I grabbed her and sat down. Here is a pic of us... We dressed up Amigo bear in some scrubs so he could go with her...
Tatum was talking a little 'crazy' when we first saw her. She told us she wanted her kitty cat...apparently she THOUGHT we had promised to get her one if she did good???? Antonio is allergic to cats, so this won't be happening.

The nurse said she could have clear drinks and I had packed some Gatorade for her. She CHUGGED it and the nurse was a little shocked and offered her some apple juice. She drank the whole thing very quickly too! She was doing great and wanted to watch Dora(?) So we turned on the TV and she sat in my lap. Eventually we got the okay to change her back into her clothes. The nurse came in and said we were free to go. Tatum wanted to walk out on her own, so the nurse held her hand and Tatum did a cheer for the nurses with her new pom poms.



Tatum has been doing great since we got home. Antonio headed to work around 9:30. My mom stayed with me all day to help out with the kids. I am sure glad she did cause I was TIRED!!! Tatum took a 3 hour nap, but I am guessing that is because she got up so early.


My dad stopped by to see the kids on his way home. My mom and dad left around 6 last night and Antonio had a men's conference to go to, so I was home with the kids by myself. We ordered pizza, watched some TV, colored, played with playdoh, played dressup, and FINALLY went to bed. Tatum was in bed asleep by 8:15, Mateo by 8:45, and me by 9:30!! Antonio is at the men's conference again today until 2pm. Things are going great. Tatum is playing and watching VeggieTales and I am blogging while I feed Mateo.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun....

The weather has been so nice this weekend and we were expecting it to be in the 70's today. Antonio and I decided we should take Tatum to feed the ducks, so we gathered up our old bread and headed to the park near our house. When we got there, we could only find a few ducks...

....but that was fine. Antonio had to remind Tatum that we couldn't get too close to the water or else we might fall in....


sometimes, she would try to get closer, but he would rope her back in...
Here he his telling Tatum..."You stand RIGHT HERE!!"
I guess the geese saw us feeding the ducks, so they decided to come get some food too...
The geese were very agressive towards the ducks, but they were fine for us.



we decided to try to get the ducks or geese out of the water so that Tatum didn't feel like she needed to stand so close to the water....
we tried to tell her not to point at the geese cause they may want to bite her finger....
MORE geese came and ran off some of the first geese that were there...they were VERY territorial...
AND THEN IT HAPPENED......
...........................................................................................................
..................................................................
That's right....Tatum FELL IN THE WATER!!!! She was trying to throw the bread really far and threw herself in too! Antonio grabbed her right away and she was fine. I couldn't help but giggle a little because we had told her so many times to NOT stand so close to the water or she would fall in. (I know I am horrible for laughing) and Antonio got mad at me for taking pics of it, but I managed to get a few before he made me stop taking them...


Antonio stripped her down and I had a sweatshirt jacket in my car that we wrapped her up in and we put her in the car to head home...
Here is Tatum and Antonio getting out of the car at our house....As you can see, Antonio's foot went in the water too.
Here are Tatum's clothes DRIPPING wet!
Tatum was okay and we all had a great laugh. Tatum said she went swimming with the ducks and she had fun! We decided to not let this little excitement ruin the day, so Antonio and Tatum changed clothes and we headed to the park.

Now I know that Antonio's shoe got wet, but that is no excuse to wear THESE out...
Antonio has at least 4 pair of tennis shoes, flip flops, etc. However, he thinks THESE UGLY HOUSE SHOES are okay to wear out. He wears them to run errands all the time. I tell him that they are embarrassing, but he doesn't seem to mind, so I am sure he won't mind me posting a picture of them either....love you honey!!!
We had the whole playground to ourselves. Tatum had a blast!
Antonio was helping Tatum do the 'balance beam'....wonder if she will be into gymnastics one day...



I know Tatum is getting so big, but where is my baby girl!?!?!? She used to need our help getting up these ladders and whatnot, but not anymore....

This is about as still as she would get so I could take her picture. She was walking towards me....

Tatum LOVED exploring....



Taking time out to talk to Daddy and tell him to climb up and play with her....
so he did of course....

We had a wonder family day at the park and playground. I promise Mateo and I were there too. I had him in a carrier and I was taking all of the pics of course. I didn't realize that we didn't make it into a single picture until I uploaded the pics.
After all the playing, we went and ate lunch. THEN we went home so Tatum could take a nap. Now we are waiting for Tatum to wake up so we can all go for a walk and take Maggie too.
We love this warm weather and no plans! It allows for us to slow down and enjoy the little things in life!