We are busy around here! Blogging is taking a backseat to getting other things done, like looking at smiles, remembering how to prep dinner, and taking a shower. When I do have a minute to myself, I’m not spending it at the computer!

Our days are very full entertaining Mr. Logan. Here are a few pictures from the weekend to entertain you.

New the last week is smiles and cooing sounds! They are too cute. Logan is also in a growth spurt. His newborn and 0-3 clothes are very snug and we notice that he is getting longer and fuller. He definitely looks more like a baby than a newborn. He has also been waking twice in the night to eat. While still not bad, he was just a once-a-night eater. We hope this is short lived.

Back soon with a real food post and more baby pictures.

Now at 6 weeks old, Logan and I sort of have a little routine. As much routine as you can teach a newborn. I would say we are pretty scheduled in our eating and sleeping. I am on a 24 hour cycle of three hour increments with longer stretches at night.

While pregnant, I read On Becoming Babywise, which I’ve written about before. It is about setting your baby into an “eat, wake, sleep” pattern and feeding by “parent directed feeding” rather than “on demand” or strictly by the clock. It’s sort of a combo of both. While some people are very opposed to Babywise, I really like the scheduled way of life. We roughly started the philosophy right away with trying to stick to a 2.5-3 hour cycle and also following the eat-wake-sleep pattern.

Here’s a look into a typical day…again as “typical” as you get at 6 weeks old.

Let’s start at 7 a.m.: This is our first feeding of the day, it’s usually between 6 a.m.-7 a.m. Logan wakes up hungry, we change a diaper. It takes us about 45 minutes to eat. I watch the Today Show and play on my phone.

By 8 a.m. (or about an hour after whatever time we started): We re-swaddle Logan and he usually sleeps in the swing. I sometimes try to get him back in the crib, but have realized the swing will yield a longer nap, and there’s less up and down the stairs to get him settled and re-insert the pacifier.

This is now my time of the day to get things done, like eat breakfast, clean pump parts, get bottle ready for fridge, put real clothes on, check emails, take a walk by myself if our housekeeper is there for Logan, clean, etc.

Between 10-10:30: Nap ends. 10 a.m. is our normal feeding time, but I’ll let him go a little longer if he’s still sleeping. Don’t wake a sleeping baby! We feed again, starting with unswaddle, diaper change.

11ish-1 p.m.: Logan gets dressed for the day. We wash his face, brush his hair and put on a fresh outfit. We play on the play mat, put him in the stroller and walk with Lily, talk. I hopefully get lunch before we feed again. He used to take an hour or so nap, but sometimes there’s no nap and he is fussy.

1 p.m.: Feed again! Sometimes this one is 12:45 if there was no nap or he looks hungry. Diaper change, feed.

2 p.m.-4 p.m.: We sometimes have an errand, we may walk outside again, hopefully we get a nap in the swing, bouncer, or car seat. Sometimes it’s a good and long nap if he didn’t sleep earlier. Sometimes he gets fussy around 3:30 and we feed early, sometimes he sleeps until close to 4.

4 p.m.: Feed again! Diaper, feed.

4:45 p.m.-6:45 p.m.: This is our fussiest time of the day, although it has gotten better. Right after I feed him, he is content and I can put him in the bouncer to look around. This will hopefully be the time I can start prepping dinner. Then when he gets fussy, we walk Lily in the Baby Bjorn to calm him outside. We stand outside, he likes the sights and sounds. We also call Jeffrey and see when he’s leaving work.

6 p.m.: Jeffrey comes home, and I get 45 minutes to shower and eat dinner while he entertains him. It’s a little rushed!

6:45 p.m.: Bath time!

7 p.m.: Last feeding of the day. Our bedtime routine is bath, lotion, diaper, pajamas, brush hair, play music, eat. Then burp, swaddle, burp, rock, shhh, sway, crib.

8 p.m.: Logan goes to bed and is on his way to sleep. Quiet time in the house!

3 a.m.: (or sometime between 1 a.m.-3:30 a.m.) Logan wakes for some more milk! We do a bottle and I pump. It’s a little of a time saver since it takes us about an hour for me to feed him, but only 15 minutes for a bottle (plus time to go back to bed). Then he goes back to sleep until 7 and we start again!

Maybe this will become a series. I’ll try to update monthly if you’re interested.

While pregnant, I was a pretty active person. I ate healthy, exercised moderately, and tried to stay within the recommended weight gain (which I did gaining about 32 pounds). I read a lot about healthy pregnancies and was hopeful that getting my body back wouldn’t be too hard.

I was happy that within a few weeks after delivery, I lost over 20 pounds and am within 10 pounds of where I want to be. I know my body will be very different for quite a while, even when I get back to the number on the scale I want to see. Because of breastfeeding, my bust is quite larger which is really very annoying. Most of my shirts from before don’t fit! Luckily, I wear stretchy Lululemon pants and t-shirts from Gap or Banana Republic or exercise tank tops every single day.

(below at 34 weeks pregnant)

Once I got home from the hospital, I never put on maternity clothes again. I thought I’d be wearing them for a little while, but I was just sooo ready to toss them in a different closet until next time.

For pants, I quickly fit into my old Lululemon Groove pants and leggings, even though they were a little snug. I was just happy to be wearing normal clothes again!

(below on the day we went to the hospital! 39 weeks, 3 days)

Now at 6 weeks post baby, I am still not in pre-baby jeans, and it might be a while. They are able to button, but there’s quite a bit of excess that isn’t welcomed. Also, my hips are still quite a bit wider which I hope will move in eventually. Did you know the uterus actually takes 6 weeks to decompress?

As for exercise, my doctor said to take it easy for six weeks. I had a second degree tear which needed time to heal. At about the two week mark, I started feeling muucch better and started taking short walks with dog and baby. Short like just a few blocks and very slow.

(below about 3 weeks post baby)

Then a couple weeks later, I started taking solo walks around the neighborhood for 30 minutes. Then 45 minutes. I also went back to the gym at 4 weeks post baby for easy treadmill sessions, light upper body weights and some stretching.

My muscles are very tight. My muscles are very non-existent, except for my right bicep where I hold the baby.

I thought it would be frustrating to start from scratch, but it’s not. I just had a baby! It’s an amazing thing that your body can do. I’m a little pre-occupied and tired to be doing much else.

I’m not sure what activities I will resume and how intense I’ll exercise. It is likely it won’t be everyday. It’s really hard to get to a class or the gym when you have limited time between feedings. And when someone is here to watch Logan, exercise might not be the one thing I want to do with my hour away. There are grocery shopping and errands or a shower! It’s also quite a workout just entertaining the baby daily. We walk, bounce, and play and it’s very tiring! Not to mention, breastfeeding burns a lot of calories too.

So that’s the update for now. I hope by next month to be in more of a daily routine and be more active at the gym. Maybe I’ll even find time to make it to a class!

Last Friday, Logan turned one month old! Here are a few pictures I took of him on that day and a few at the bottom to compare to see how much he’s changed!

I went to the pediatrician the day before, and he weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces! That is really good and almost 1.5 pounds above his birthweight. Yay for Logan and his momma’s milk!

While it’s harder for me to see the changes each day, when you look back, you can definitely see that he is filling out and looking different.

Every day we have something else to challenge us. We wonder if he’s getting too much milk or not enough, why he doesn’t nap in the daytime regularly, and if the half-smiles he’s starting to show are a result of something we do…or just gas. He also sometimes likes a bath and sometimes hates it.

He and I are doing pretty good on our 3 hour feeding schedule. We try to get to the three hour mark, but sometimes he is hungry closer to 2.5 hours and we just go with it.

He is also a really great nighttime sleeper. I don’t want to write much about this, so I’ll just write facts! He gets his last feeding at 7 p.m. It takes us about 45 minutes each time he eats, and by 8 or 8:15 p.m., he is in his crib, hopefully on his way to sleep. Sometimes he wakes at 11 p.m., but that is not ideal and usually not hunger but discomfort from needing to poop (has happened just a few times). Ideally, he sleeps until between 2-330 a.m. when he gets a pumped bottle of milk and then sleeps again until almost 7 a.m. we hope.

Here are some pictures to compare:

On his first day of life!

About two weeks old:

Any questions about Logan’s first month?

Hello and welcome to Logan’s nursery! As you might remember, we didn’t know if Logan was a girl or a boy until he arrived. I planned his whole nursery to be gender neutral, and then we added some boy colors after he arrived.

I also realized that there is a good mix of something old, new, borrowed, and blue.

Old=the little white table next to the glider. It’s very helpful in holding lots of odds and ends I need close by during feedings, like the binder of feeding times, water bottle, phone, etc.

New=crib, dresser, glider, most things

Borrowed=well, passed down, the bookshelf

Blue=the wood board over his dresser

 I love everything about his room, and I spent a lot of time researching furniture and choosing the big pieces. It’s a good thing because he and I spend a lot of time in there!

Here are some pictures and a tour of his room. The other funny thing is that all of the furniture pieces we bought were without knowing the actual size of the room. Everything was ordered by the end of 2011, and we found our house in January. Good thing it all worked out! In reality, we knew we’d need a crib, glider and dresser, and the other pieces are decoration. And we knew the wall color would be painted to whatever we decided.

The paint color is a dark grey called Rocky Bluffs by Valspar. It is the darkest grey of all the shades in the house. I love it.

(Please ignore the TV below. We just moved it in there since feeding him takes a long time and I spend hours a day sitting in the chair. It’s helpful for me to pass the time! We’ll move it out when feedings speed up.)

The furniture is all white. The crib is a spindle crib, his bedding is custom made with a green sheet, and a grey/white pattern for the bumpers and part of the crib skirt. Both crib and bedding are from a store called Doodles in Houston.

The dresser and glider are from Pottery Barn Kids. The little wood boards are from a store in Atlanta and a gift from my sister. I love them so much!

The display shelf above is a piece from Jeffrey’s parents that we had in our old house. It’s not exactly “baby proofed,” so it might not stay once Logan starts crawling or pulling on things. It’s quite delicate with the glass shelves!

But for now, I like the antique looking touch and it holds a lot of his gifts!

One of the last pieces we added were shelves on both sides of the crib. They are from The Container Store, and are two feet and three feet long. The letters above his crib are also from Doodles.

Now you know where we spend a lot of our time!

Logan is four weeks old this week, and one month on Friday! Yay for Logan! Yay for his parents! Not only is every week different, every day is something different too. Sometimes we get a lot of naps, sometimes not.

Sometimes he screams his head off when I put him on the playmat (below), and finally this week, he actually enjoyed it.  His shirt says “I love mommy.” I bought it for him.

One of the books I have, I think Baby 411, says that if baby doesn’t like something or something isn’t working for us, wait a week and try again. One week older is one week smarter. That’s what happened with the play mat.

Below is a self-taken iPhone pic. It’s what I look like most days, and where I spend most of my days. Hair in a messy ponytail, baby in lap, and on this day, doggy in lap too. Sitting in the glider in Logan’s room. It’s a crowded chair.

Lily will write a post soon, but here are some pictures of her so she isn’t left out. She sits on the ottoman of the glider while I feed Logan every time. I think she thinks it’s quiet time. She doesn’t get as many naps as she used to! And she thinks the Boppy is just another pillow she can lay on. It also takes almost an hour, so she gets a good rest every three hours!

As you can see below, we try tummy time. This particular time he liked it a little.

Maybe one day I’ll write a little more about our whole days, but they change often, and I’m no expert on how to do it. I am trying to stick to a Babywise pattern of “eat, wake, sleep.” While there isn’t a lot to “wake” right now, I do like the pattern and try to stick to a three hour cycle. I know many disagree with On Becoming Babywise, and feed their babies “on demand,” but this is working for us. I’m a routine person and like to be on a schedule, so naturally, I try to make it work for baby too.

I am also not ready to write about his sleeping patterns at night, because 1–I am not an expert on what works, and 2–I don’t want to jinx anything.

We’ve learned everything must be clarified with “for now” at the end of a sentence. Like “he’s a great eater for now,” “he has a morning nap I can always count on for now,” “he loves falling asleep in his swing for now.” I could go on and on!

With that, I am off to get something else accomplished during a quiet time.

Posts coming soon:

• Lily’s take on this new person
• A body after baby post
• A peek into Logan’s nursery

Sheesh it has been too many days since I last posted. Our little guy is almost four weeks old! We had a busy few days of a lot of family. Everyone on my mom’s side has met Logan now!

The weekend was for Passover, but before that, we had many visitors come over, including my youngest cousin Rome, who was just as interested in Lily as Logan.

My sister finally met Logan too, in town from Atlanta. She even held him in between holding Lily, her first love. She brought two cute onesies for Logan. Look out for them soon.

And we got dressed for seder, Logan stayed home to sleep. Family pic!

My mom got to give Logan a bottle, she’d been waiting and waiting for that!

And since everyone came to Houston for Passover, a first, we took some casual family pics. All the cousins, including the newest one–Logan!

Then all the parents and grandparents.

And check out Lily looking at her brother. I think she’s saying “Is he leaving now?! Is it going to be quiet?”

That’s it for the weekend. Back later this week with four week pics and an update! And maybe even some pictures of Logan’s room!

Logan is three weeks old today! Since I’m not great at uploading pictures in a timely fashion, these pictures are from the past week. He might be even bigger by now! Lots to share this week—read on!

We are having a great time and getting better at feeding, shhing, swinging, and waiting for him to nap. In the past week, we have learned some new tricks that he enjoys to calm him, like standing outside, walking outside, strolling, and babywearing.

Lily is starting to show some interest in her brother too. It’s funny when he starts crying and she looks at him to see who is making those noises. We aren’t sure what she thinks of him.

My parents were here two weekends ago and are coming back this weekend.

Logan also discovered he likes the swing! It’s becoming a favorite nap spot. We had a little trouble with the swing at first, and he didn’t like it, but then a friend showed us how to raise the seat to an incline and now it’s great. Lily protects him.

In the last week I also decided to figure out how to “”wear” the baby. I have a Moby Wrap (above) and a Baby Bjorn. I successfully figured out both with the help of friends and YouTube videos, and Logan likes it. Except above when he was screaming. There’s not much to calm him during the 5 p.m.-7 p.m. hours. They really do like being snug and close to your body. I wanted to figure it out so I could have options to easily take him outside when I have to walk Lily and I’m by myself.

And it’s nice to have free hands. Right now I like the Bjorn a little better. It has more back support and is a bit easier to get on by myself, and just looks more secure. But I need to practice with both more!

And on a lazy Sunday (well lazy when Dad is home to help!), everyone took a little snooze while baby was sleeping in the afternoon.

There are plenty of things we’re still trying to figure out, like baby gas, naps, and other ways to calm him during the day. And for me, I’m feeling really good and am trying to figure out when I could exercise when I’m able to start back again. I’m also getting the hang of feeding and pumping but still figuring out lots!

I’m also trying to find some time to cook. One morning last week, I hard boiled eggs, made some oatmeal squares to freeze for snacks, and made some raw chocolate chip balls for snacks too. I found I needed some more snacky things for during the days and needed something besides apples and peanut butter!

Jeffrey also cooked two dinners at home this weekend, which was so nice!

And I decided to stop eating Greek yogurt for a while to see if it bothered Logan’s stomach, so breakfasts have been a lot of oatmeal, eggs, and toast.

That’s the update for this week! Lots going on and so much to learn!