Hotel Living

Liam and I are back in home after a week (well until Thursday) in our hotel. It's wasn't too bad now that we've gotten the hang of things. We had a little mix up Monday morning so he ended up coming to work with me for a few hours. It was definitely different and messed up my pumping schedule. I let Liam nurse on one side and didn't pump the other, big mistake. Let's just say, I'm definitely paying for it later. Lesson learned: Change in pumping/nursing schedule = Engorgement and possible clogged milk duct.

Since our work/daycare/hotel adventures have begun, I have realized Liam is becoming such an independent baby. He has started to entertain himself and loves to play with his toys. But by far, his favorite thing to do is stand. It's amazing how just eight months ago, he was a little guy and now he's such a big boy.

Back to Work...

Liam and I are finally home after my eleventh straight day of working at my base. Today is day one of our three day weekend (yay!). We still have six more workdays to go (four days next week and two days the following week). So far things have been pretty good. Tamara, a family friend, has been watching Liam through the week for me except for this past weekend. My base contracts childcare for drill weekends so Liam spent the weekend with Kay. During the first few days with Tamara, he was not happy at all. He cried a lot and even fussed once we were together at the hotel. I decided that it was a mix of separation anxiety and teething (his top two teeth are coming in). When I picked him up from Tamara Friday after work, she told me that he did a lot better but I was still worried about how he would do with Kay. Well, I was glad to find out that he was amazing! Kay loved him and said that she wished she could watch him full-time. She even took pictures of him (as well as the other Air Force kids) and sent us a slideshow during work. This week, Liam did amazing at Tamara's as well.
While working, we stayed in a hotel since my base is over an hour away from home. It was definitely interesting living in a hotel with an infant. At first I was not looking forward to it but Liam and I bonded even more (if that's possible). These past eleven days have made me love my little man even more. He's an amazing little guy and feels my heart with joy.
Even though our daycare, work and hotel journey isn't over, we made it past the hard part and I realized that it wasn't really that hard after all. Now, we just need Daddy to come home so we can use our future weekend hotel stays as mini staycations.

Let Me Update You!

The past week or so has been pretty laid back for Liam and I. We've been trying to stay cool, getting the house in tip-top shape, attempting to crawl (well, mostly Liam, I mastered crawling years ago), mailing birthday packages (post to come once Will receives his package in the mail) and enjoying the festivities of the 4th of July holiday.

Our town has an annual fair-style event for the 4th of July holiday so Liam and I attended the first day of the event along with his godmother, Krystal, and her daughter. It was unbelievably hot and things too a turn for the worse when Krystal passed out while getting food. She was fine after drinking water and sitting for awhile but needless to say, that was the only day we ended up at the fair.
I can't seem to find my camera so I snapped a few pictures of Liam pre-fair on my iPad.

Baby Wayfarers and he loved them!

"Please Mom, no more pictures!"

We did partake in a few 4th of July festivities including a barbeque on the 4th. We stayed away from the fireworks for two reasons: 1) Liam is far to small to do anything of the sort and 2) I am a little scared of fireworks. It I had my way, Liam would only want to play with sparklers but since that's very unlikely, fireworks will be a Daddy job.

So, all in all, our holiday was pretty mellow. We're relaxing this weekend in preparation for a week of daycare and hotel room living since I have to work at my base. Hope you all have a relaxing weekend as well.

Sorry for the Lack of Posts!

Liam and I just returned from a six day stretch out of town (Thursday-Tuesday) while I was working at my National Guard base. This was a week of many first for us. It was our first time away from home, our first time in a hotel room, Liam's first time in daycare. Just thinking about this past week makes me tired.

Liam actually went to two different daycare. He was with Casi (with Alexis and Alanna) Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday. On Saturday and Sunday, he was with Jayme (with Gavin and Austin). He did fairly well except for on Friday. He was really fussy and had been crying for the past 45 minutes when I picked him up. Luckily for me, I think he just missed his mommy since he was fine once we got home.

I had quite a bit of milk stockpiled and pumped at work as well so I thought we would be fine for this six day stretch. Well, Liam ran out of milk on Friday and I forgot the milk I had pumped at work so I made the decision to give him formula for the rest his time at daycare (we still breastfed when we were together). It was hard for me but I knew it would only be for a few days. He did well with the formula and actually had more bowel movements during the time he was on the formula. That definitely worried me a little and made me wonder if he was having tummy aches.

All in all, our trip was a success. We have another four day stay in July and 14 days in August so I plan to start pumping during the day to build up my supply again. Liam should be eating solids during that time (which I'll talk about later) so that should help as well. Until then, we'll be enjoying our Mommy/Liam time!