Moran Family Adventures: musings of a boy mom

My One Year Old! Weighs: 23lbs Length: 29.5 inches First word s: not yet! But still quite a babbler Teeth: 4 on top, 2 on the bottom Favorite Food:    Oranges    Bananas     French Toast     Cheese     Chicken Noodle Soup     Sweet Potato    Animal Crackers Least Favorite Food: Whole milk & peas Loves:    Splashing in the bath tub    Snuggling with mom    Tickles from dad    Chasing the cat and dog    Being chased, especially when he's going somewhere he knows he shouldn't be going!    Being outside    Nursing    Daycare    Clapping    Family walks in the Baby Bjorn or stroller and watching Abby chase pinecones dad kicks down the street    Mom's phone   Does Not Love:    Bed time    Being put in the car seat    Diaper changes    Reading with mom   I ...

Belly Tracker and Weight Gain  Well I finally did it! I took some time to take my 17 week photos of little Tater Tot in my belly. I was trying on outfits for our upcoming trip (something I have OCD about...I have to try on outfits before I pack them for vacation). Some new dresses came in from my online shopping addiction and I figured I might as well do my makeup and pose for a picture. I didn't do my hair though....that crazy mess is what happens when I air dry it and then throw it up in a pony tail. I'm starting this pregnancy heavier than the first time with Jellybean. The weight gain is definitely something I'm struggling with. I was also in better shape before I got pregnant with Jellybean so the muscle took some time to deteriorate. While I've been able to squeeze in a race here and there and try to make time for the gym or a run outside, it's been tough to squeeze in a decent workout as a working mom. When the weather was nice, it was much easier to wor...

Being A Mom  Is Awesome, Except When It's Not Being a mom is fun, rewarding, and gives me a sense of purpose and fulfillment. Being a mom is also terrifying, exhausting, and full anxiety attacks. This last week, I spent way too much time experiencing the latter. My time with Jellybean has been relatively stress free. We've had our bumps in the road like having to take care of him alone for the first 10 months, leaving him for 5 weeks, the "witching hour" that newborns tend to get, but it's been a short and relatively anxiety free list. That all changed last Monday.  In the weeks leading up to Monday, Jellybean had an ear infection and then developed some weird rash. It was his first ear infection and we treated it with antibiotics. The rash? The doc said it was probably virus caused and not to worry since his only other symptoms were a runny nose (which he's had since he was about 4 months old. I guess I just have one of those always congested kids). On M...

Pregnant Again  They say the second child doesn't get nearly as much attention as the first. They say you'll post half as many pictures and make half as many scrapbooks. They say...they say... they might be right. And I'm still just pregnant. And only 17 weeks pregnant at that but I'm already noticing differences!  A friend of mine in my squadron is pregnant with her first, a sweet little boy with a name we're keeping secret. Every time she gets a sonogram, she rushes to my office to show me the pictures of her baby boy! When he kicks or makes his alien moves, she tells me. All the first time pregnancy excitement is new and clearly happily plastered on her sweet face. I remember those days.... where I'd just sit and enjoy those faint movements in my belly. Where I'd sit and fantasize about names and fight the urge to shop for the latest and greatest in baby must haves...before I even had the baby! Where I meticulously planned the outfit and hairstyle ...

Adventures in Teething I miss that gummy grin sometimes. It seemed like before I knew it, those two bottom teeth had shown up and I didn't get to say goodbye to that gummy grin. I'll never see it ever again! Luckily, I have about a billion pictures to remember it by. It only lasted about a second, kind of like how his time as a baby really only lasts about a second and off into toddlerhood, childhood, teenage shenanigans and so on they go. As I look at my son and he LOOKS like a toddler now, no longer my little baby, I'm quickly realizing that his time with a baby is extremely brief and it will go by faster than any mom is going to be ready for. And it all started with the teeth and the disappearance of that gummy grin.  Of course I was super excited at the idea of those two little bottom teeth poking through and the cute smiles it would result in. But I didn't realize I'd miss the way his smiles used to look, nor did I realize til it was gone that I'd nev...

Routine? What routine?  A year later and you'd think I'd have some sort of bed time routine down. Maybe if I weren't so desperate for sleep so that I could function the next day at work I'd do more to try the cry it out method or take the time to walk to the nursery to sit with my baby or whatever else is out there that guarantees getting the kiddo to sleep through the night. When I talk to moms that don't work, they seem to have kids that were sleeping through the night in "no time at all" and just can't understand why Jellybean is still in bed with us. When I talk to moms that work, they get it! "Hell yeah my kid slept in bed with us otherwise I wouldn't get any sleep myself."  Finally! A friend that understands!   Our night time routine goes something like this...  1. Gather as a family at the table to eat dinner. (By eat dinner I mean shovel food in my mouth because if Jellybean goes one second without food in his mouth he starts...

Boy oh Boy!  When I was pregnant with Jellybean, before I knew Jellybean was a he....well really before I ever got pregnant and just considered having children, I fantasized about ruffles, glitter, ballet class, pig tails....etc. When I got pregnant, part of me wanted a little girl, but my heart knew I was having a little boy. When that was confirmed, I was through the roof excited! When you finally become a mom, the only thing that really matters is having a healthy baby. So this time around, I secretly wanted a little boy (because Jellybean is just so much fun!) and part of me thought that since I wanted a little boy, I was going to get a little girl. Imagine my excitement when at my ultrasound, I saw that all too familiar "turtle" image as they call it and knew that another little boy was growing in my belly! And most importantly, a HEALTHY little boy was growing in my belly.  Don't let the fact that I wear combat boots for a living fool you for one second. I may ...

You Can't Get Pregnant While Breastfeeding  They say you can't get pregnant while breastfeeding. They say it's Mother Nature's way of protecting mothers. Every time moms breastfeed, a message gets sent to the body saying "I have my hands full here." Breastfeeding is a pretty draining process, not to mention caring for a little one. Makes sense right? Well, sure it does, but there's always a bigger plan out there. Pair breastfeeding with the mini pill and perhaps you up your chances of stretching out time between kiddos right? WRONG. At least in my case.  A Small Moment of Panic  Back in December, I started feeling a bit....odd. I was used to being exhausted all the time, but this was a new level of tired. That odd feeling started to turn into...a FEELING that perhaps, despite the odds I had stacked up, perhaps there was a tiny little miracle secretly growing in my belly. Maybe that's the reason I couldn't lose the baby weight because i...