Name Meanings

What's in a name? Well, I wanted to share what Troy's name means. It means strong warrior or foot soldier. Above are some pictures of a cake my friend, Dava from church, made for Troy's shower yesterday. She's very talented! She wrote synonyms to the meaning of Troy around the cake. Some of you may wonder why we chose this name. Well, Lane picked out his name. He wanted a strong manly name and thought this name fit that description! I fell in love with it, too! Lane's name means narrow path and my name means angelic. Do you know what your name means?? Happy Sunday!

Unexpected Day

Well, today was supposed to be my first day back at school. However, we got some snow overnight which caused some blizzard conditions, so they cancelled school! I was up and ready around 6 when I got the call for a 2 hour delay, so I just snuggled with Troy for a bit. I was driving to drop of Troy at my mom's house when I got the call for no school today! I know this is our seventh snow day, but I was truly happy to stay home with Troy for another full day. He was so smiley today, which just melts my heart. He's also been pretty sleepy...he's sleeping now!
Over the weekend, I went into my school to plan and get organized. I was SO surprised at how horrible my room looked. If I had my camera, I would have taken a picture. There were posters half-hung on the wall, the board wasn't even erased, stacks of paper everywhere, coffee stains on the tables and my papers for assessments, marker and glue stains, and so much more! I spent a couple hours just cleaning everything! I think it looks better, but I wish I had more time to get organized. Needless to say, I am very disappointed in my sub. We are at least 2 weeks behind in every subject and things are very disorganized. Oh well!
On Saturday morning, I had a falling incident. We all got up in the morning and we were going downstairs to get some cereal. I was holding Troy and Lane was behind me. My legs felt funny, so I was commenting to Lane about that when I slipped and went up in the air and fell straight on my back on the stairs. Ouch..it really hurt! I knocked the wind out of me, so I couldn't breathe or talk for a bit and unfortunately I dropped Troy out of my arms when I fell (he didn't go very far). He was crying for just a minute, but thankfully he didn't have any marks or anything wrong with him. My back ached so much that day...but it does feel better now. I feel so clumsy!

Well, Troy is 2 months old now and doing fabulous. He smiles all the time (which is hard to catch on camera) and is so happy. I will really miss spending time with him during the day, but I know he'll be in good hands and it's just for a short time. Well better go...he's awake! (Oh and I'm not quite sure why the above text is underlined...sorry!)

2 Month Check Up

Well, we had a successful check up today! Troy is such a strong and healthy boy! He has a very strong heartbeat and is so alert. I told the doctor that he smiles ALL the time (which I love!) and he said that's a good sign and he's advanced for his age. :) He is in the 97 percentile for height and weight and 50 percentile for head circumference. They estimated him to be 6'3 and weigh 230 lbs and wear a medium sized hat as an adult (haha I don't see him looking like that, but whatever!). Their predictions are funny!

Then we had the dreaded shots. I had debated for a while now whether or not to get him vaccinated. I've read and watched things about vaccinating children and just couldn't decide. After praying about it, I felt peace about getting him vaccinated today. He got three shots in his thigh and one oral injection. Poor baby! I held his hands and kept talking to him the whole time to distract him, but he definitely felt the needles! He didn't cry too loud or too long, but he did for about 30 seconds and his face got real red. It was the saddest cry, almost like a high pitched scream and then whimpers. I just held him for a while afterwards....he's so sweet. He hasn't cried or anything since. We picked up some baby Tylenol, I fed him, and he's been soooo sleepy this whole afternoon. It was a big day for him! Well, that's all for now!

Decision Made

Well, I made my decision (I actually made this pretty much when I found I was pregnant) to not return to school next fall. I have always wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom! I see so much value in raising my own kids and I just feel like it's my job as a mom to raise my own kids with good Christian values. I loved having a stay-at-home-mom growing up...we did so much together and I treasure our memories. My mom even home schooled me until 4th grade. Lane's mom also stayed home and he was home schooled all the way through school. We both greatly appreciate our mom's sacrifices. I feel blessed that I have the opportunity to stay at home and that Lane and I have decided to just make it work.

So today I told my principal of my school that I would not be returning back to Hartford in the fall....it was hard because I really do love teaching! However, I know it's the best decision and Lane and I have prayed about this and feel so much peace about me staying home. I return back to school on January 25th to finish out the year. It will be nice knowing that I only have about 4 months left of teaching when I go back. I'm sure I'll go back to teaching in the future and I might even do some subbing once in awhile. Sooo if anyone else is a stay-at-home-mom around Des Moines, I'd love to have some play dates with you all! Have a good weekend!!

New Entertainment

I love this happy face :) Well, I didn't buy a mobile until just recently. I wanted something for Troy to look at while lying in his crib. He seems to love it!
On this mobile, there's a nightlight, 4 sound settings (rainforest, Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven), and the jungle creatures and leaves move up and down. I was surprised how focused Troy was on watching them move. He gets really excited and moves his legs and arms really fast while making happy noises...it's really cute!
Anyway, I'm sure there are many great mobiles out there, but I think this one is pretty neat. It's nice to have some new entertainment for him!

What I've Learned in 6 weeks

The past 6 weeks have been amazing. I absolutely love being a mom! Sure, it's hard at some moments, but it's soooo rewarding. I am just so in love with my little boy. Here are a few things I've learned in the past 6 weeks:

*Getting up in the middle of the night to feed Troy isn't horrible...not my favorite thing to do, but I had to remember that it's a joy to provide nourishment to my son and he needs to be fed 8-12 times per day! Also, I've spent my nighttime feedings praying for my son and for so many people. It's been a blessing to have this time to pray.

*Boy we go through a lot of diapers!! It seems like my little boy likes to have "explosions" every so often, which leads to a lot of laundry.

*I do at least 1 load of laundry per day!!

*I've been sprayed several times when I didn't cover Troy right away when changing him

*My favorite time with Troy is between 9-10:30 each morning when he first wakes up for good. He is so smiley and happy. I absolutely treasure this time.

*A remedy to calm Troy down is to take off his clothes and loosen (or sometimes take off) his diaper. He loves being naked!

*Traveling isn't very hard with him...he loves to sleep in the car.

*I have the best husband-he is so kind and helps me out all the time!

*Troy has a fussy time each night. It's usually from 7-9. He just seems to be unhappy no matter what we do.

*Troy loves his baths. At first he didn't like it...but we got some tips from Grandpa Thayer and now he LOVES them. It's very cute! :)

*Being on a routine at night really helps. It signals to Troy that it's time for bed and we rarely have problems with him falling asleep at night.

*Breastfeeding is incredible...it's perfect food for babies! I've learned so much about breastfeeding and I'm so thankful that it is easy for us. We haven't had a single problem with feeding him, and I am surprised because I was expecting it to be difficult. Below are a few things I've learned about breastfeeding.

-Breast milk is easily digested and very economical and convenient

-It promotes attachment and a close, nurturing relationship between us

-Breastfeeding releases oxytocin, which is a calming affect on women.

-Nursing also releases prolactin, which is a "love hormone" and helps a mother bond with her child

-Breastfed infants have reduced chance of getting diseases later on in life

-Breastfeeding enhances the development of the brain

-It totally helps women lose weight!! I only have a few pounds to go to get back to my pre-preggo weight!

-You have to eat a lot and drink a lot of water while breastfeeding

-It's just a beautiful thing that God designed for women to nourish their children. I understand that not everyone is able to feed by breastfeeding, but it was so designed by God and is amazing.

*Overall, I've learned that it is a blessing and honor to be a mother. I am surprised that I already have a desire to have more children, if God should bless us, but hopefully not for a little while. Thank you, Lord, for blessing us with a son and for giving us grace each day so that we may live for you!!

Lovin' Life

First of all, isn't he the cutest baby boy ever?! I know I'm biased, but I can't stop staring at my little one. He is a true gift from above!
Lately, Troy has been smiling!! It is soooo cute! Around 2 weeks old, he would smile in his sleep or when he had gas, but now he will look at us and smile! He's also making cooing/happy noises. It melts my heart each time.
I'm really enjoying my time off from work right now. I'm kind of dreading going back to work on January 25th. I know it will be good for me and my kids at school, but it will be hard to leave this little boy each day. I'm so thankful for family and friends to watch him while I'm working. I've gotta keep telling myself "only 4 months" then I'll get to stay home with him. It sounds like my kids at school are in need of me, so I know it will be good for me to be back.
Troy is such a strong boy! It might be his size, but boy is he strong! He likes lifting his head and really enjoys tummy time. Today when I put him on his tummy, he got halfway to rolling over. It was so surprising to me! I think they are supposed to do that around 3-4 months...crazy?! I'm so thankful to have such a strong, healthy boy.

Moby Wrap

I just purchased a Moby Wrap from "Simply for Giggles" in the East Village...I love it! It it so fun to wear my baby and be able to do chores around the house. Right now he's sleeping in it while I'm blogging. I think Troy enjoys the feeling of being so close to me. Makes sense since he was curled up like this for nine months! Anyway, I just wanted to share and if you have a baby and don't have one...I suggest getting one! Have a good day!

1 Month!

I love my darling son! He gives me so much joy! He's growing so very much and it's so wonderful to watch him grow! I can't believe he's almost one month already...time really does fly by! Here's what we're up to these days: We're trying to incorporate ideas from the books Babywise and Baby Whisperer into our daily routine. So, the routine is to feed him, have wake time, then nap time, and repeat that for every three hours during the day. He likes to sleep for about 3-4 hours at night, wake up to be fed, then sleep a couple more hours. So far the routine is still getting established, so it doesn't always work, but I'm hoping it will soon.

Troy is a good eater and loves his pacifier. We've started a routine at night so he sleeps better: takes a bath (he's definitely not a fan of this), get dressed in warm pjs, gets fed, rocked, and put to sleep. It's been working well. Some nights he's slept for about 5 hours, but the last couple nights haven't been that nice :). Anyway, Troy also enjoys tummy time and I read him stories and "play" with his toys with him. It will be fun when he starts to play himself!

Today we had our 1 month check-up. Everything is going really well and he's very healthy! He's gaining weight and he's already growing in height! He did a great job and we love our pediatrician, Dr. Salow. Well, that's all for now..better go attend to my son!

I love my husband!

Let me just start out saying that my husband is the absolute best! Before I had Troy, I had heard of mothers complaining that their husbands never do anything! Well, I knew I had a great husband, but I didn't expect him to help me out as much as he does! For example, last night he stayed up for several hours with our crying baby so I could sleep! Now he's the one working outside the home right now, and I get to take naps during the day, but that's how sweet he is. He also goes above and beyond to help out around the house- cleaning, shoveling, bringing me food, etc. I LOVE YOU LANE-TYLER!