2010,  Baby,  Brayden,  Charlotte,  Football,  Hanleigh,  September

Gaga and Getting Adjusted to Our New Family

September 2010September began with a trip to Charlotte for the Labor Day weekend, which was nice. Our entire family got together and enjoyed good eats and conversation! I had my first true outing without both kids and went to the Lady Gaga concert in Raleigh. It was AMAZING. She is such an incredible performer with a good message, yet still keeps the sass and pushes the envelope (to say the least). I bought a whole new outfit for that concert (reminds me of when I did that in junior high), including some crazy ankle boots with a 5 ½ inch heel. My tootsies were killing me when I got home. I guess my feet are so used to wearing flats and flip flops that the stilettos were an unwelcome surprise. Oh well, all of us ladies definitely looked great!

Brayden had two birthday parties (classmates) this month and, after my six-week postpartum checkup, I enrolled in two exercise classes: Moms in Motion (held at Rex on Tues and Thurs) and Urban Powerstroll (held at Cameron Village on Wed). I also walk on Mon and Fri and give myself the weekends off. I am not sure exactly how I am going to maintain that level of exercise once I return to work, but maybe it will involve exercising after the kids are taken to school. It is a lot easier to knock it out in the morning and just get it over with. I got over a bout of mastitis, had a cold that lasted a week (there is definitely something going around these days), Trent’s parents came to visit, and we had photos taken of our family.

We have spent this month continuing to adjust to our new family of four and changes in schedule. Appropriately enough, football season began (GO PACK…they are doing AWESOME!) and I use the analogy now that we have two kids, our approach is either “man on man” or “zone” defense when looking after both kids. Things are pretty hectic until Brayden goes to bed and then we feed Hanleigh two other times (8pm and 11pm). She is now sleeping through the night until around 5:30am. I love how doctors consider that sleeping through the night since those times don’t take into consideration the time it takes to feed, burp, feed, change, swaddle, and rock to sleep. Good times. But, I have to say that Trent and I picked it all up like old pros. We are much more laid back this time around and let Hanleigh cry it out more. We still hold her all the time, but maybe that’s because she’s so darn cute!

As of the end of September, Hanleigh was seven weeks old. She is smiling and also has better head control. We feed her every three hours (3 to 3 ½ ounces) and then around 11pm, Trent gives her a pumped bottle. She is also completely enamored with Brayden. Miss B absolutely adores her little sister and there continues to be nothing but love for her. Although, Brayden is wanting us to watch her do things more often now…I’m sure because she is realizing that she is having to share the spotlight a bit. The good thing is while Hanleigh is napping, Brayden gets 100% of our attention. Trent and I have also learned that if we have anything relatively important to discuss with each other that we might as well wait to discuss it until after Brayden has gone to bed. She just has so many things to tell us and hasn’t quite grasped the concept of not interrupting. So, we are working on that, but it is so cute to hear the things that she has to tell us. Usually they entail made up words, something about what Hanleigh is doing, or about her day at school. Brayden is also hilarious in terms of how she sleeps at night. She keeps talking about how her feet are so cold each night and that she wants to sleep with her socks on. Trent told her that she sleeps sideways with her feet out of the covers and that’s the reason why she is so cold. So, he took a picture of her sleeping and showed it to her the next morning. She thought that was hilarious!

Brayden is entering that phase where she isn’t quite sure of what is appropriate to say in public. I took her out for breakfast (just the two of us, on a date) the other week to Bruegger’s and she turned sideways in her chair, pointed to a woman in a booth about six feet away and said, “Mom, that mommy over there has a tiny head, a big body, and a large bottom.” While she was being honest, I was speechless and just looked at her and said, “Let’s finish our bagels, sweetie.” I didn’t know what to say and was mortified as I’m sure that lady heard her. YIKES! I guess we are approaching that time where we just tell her that if she wants to say something about someone she sees in public, she should tell us first in her “inside voice” and then we’ll let her know if it’s appropriate to say outloud. That’s our hope, at least.

Then there are the comments that just melt your heart. Trent has been saying to Brayden that he gives her a kiss for her to put in her heart. The other night, I was giving her a kiss from Hanleigh. She then gave me a kiss and said, “Can you put my kiss in Hanleigh’s heart?” It actually made me tear up! So beautiful. I can’t wait to watch these little ladies grow up together.

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