Being a baby is exhausting...

Jacob just fell asleep in his high chair. First he was sitting up, then I tried to recline his chair and woke him up slightly, but he nuzzled his head down on the tray. He is so cute!

I'm happy to report that Jacob is about 90% over his cold and feeling much better, although I suspect his top teeth are coming in. We let Jacob get away with waking up in the middle of the night during his cold, so we are now trying to get back in the routine of sleeping 'mostly' through the night - which means letting him cry it out when he wakes up at 3am. So far, Jacob wins... he has NOT settled back down and we end up going and getting him... I think we are being a little lenient yet, just because he still isn't 100% and the teething thing.

There are big changes in Jacob's future. He will no longer be the center of attention at Grandma's Daycare. Cousin Noah will begin going to Grandma's also starting on March 7th. I'm very interested to see how both Grandma and Jacob handle the change.

9 Months Old!

Jacob is 9 months old today! I can't believe that his first year is almost over :( He has been crawling for awhile now and pulling himself up on the furniture and he is getting very close to taking his first steps. This past weekend, he even stood on his own briefly - and that was even while he wasn't feeling good! Speaking of which, the poor kid is still sick and he had a slight fever tonight as well. Think I may call the doctor tomorrow...

Babyproofing is going pretty slow. We let Jacob get into most cupboards, except the ones with the chemicals, but it seems he prefers the ones with the chemicals. We just recently put on those cupboard locks and boy do they piss him off! To be honest, they piss me off too! WARNING: If you like your nails, do not attempt to help out in my kitchen.

Scoreboard:

Cupboard Safety Locks: 253

Jacob: 0

Mom: -5 (for the number of nails I have broken)

Here is the little monster causing trouble... don't let that smile fool you, he is up to no good:

In other news... I saw my OB at a restaurant last week having lunch. She was there before I got there (long enough to order a Martini... At lunch!) and she was still there after I left, I think I know why she was so late to all my appointments! It was so strange seeing her, especially since I saw her so frequently towards the end of my pregnancy and now I don't see her at all. But she kept me and Jacob healthy for 9 months and I look forward to seeing her again if and when we are expecting baby #2. Anyways...

For those of you who don't know, my brother Tom and Natalie are expecting a baby! I'm very excited for them and also for Jacob and Noah to have another cousin close in age. They went to their first OB appointment this week and everything looks good, there will be another Hilley in the family in September. (uh oh, another Hilley....) I think we are FINALLY going to have to make a trip out there to see them once the little one arrives, maybe around Christmas. I guess we better take advantage of the free/discounted seats while Jacob still qualifies!!!

Speaking of going out to visit Tom and Natalie, my parents will be heading out there on Thursday. Jacob is going to be staying home with Aaron for a LONG TIME and I have a feeling they are going to get VERY attached. Thank goodness Aaron has the available time to take off, we are very lucky that Jacob is always taken care of by people who love him.

Here are some hatchery pictures, a bald eagle and the platte river.

Oh, and finally, Uncle Mark is going to be proud. He isn't the only nascar fan in the family... Jacob apparently has a thing for cars turning left as well.

Sick Ninja Baby

Well, I spoke too soon in my last post. It's official, Jacob has his first cold. He is sick and miserable. One of the most shocking things about Jacob being sick though, is that while he is very lazy, lethargic and clumsy, he has developed ninja-like skills when it comes to deflecting things such as the medicine dropper, kleenex, bulb syringe, warm washcloth, etc. Jacob has perfected his karate chop and can easily anticipate my attempts to provide him with relief and can block them with swift, ninja-like moves and the accuracy of a black belt. It's like he has no interest in feeling better. It's quite impressive, yet frustrating. He can't breath out of his nose, which makes nursing nearly impossible and frustrating for us both. And he is just constantly waking up during the night because he begins to cough and choke when he can't breath. Unfortunately, Aaron is sick as well... in fact he lovingly shared his cold with Jacob and is trying to give it to me, too. Instead of a romantic Valentines Day date night with my husband, I ventured to the grocery store to buy $60 worth of cold medicine and stood in line behind a long line of men buying last minute flowers and cards. Fun stuff. And on top of that, I can't help but think that Jacob would have had more immunities to fight this off if I had done a better job at pumping lately to provide him with more breast milk (he has been getting more and more formula lately) ... Gotta love that endless guilt that comes with being a mother.

Well, I better go take care of my sick boys...

Busy Week

Here are my matching boys... this photo was actually taken on New Years Eve, but I think Jacob still looks the same.

Lot's of changes lately... my office moved downtown on February 2nd and it was/still is very chaotic! Our office was overbudget on things, so unfortunately, we had to do all the packing and the movers were only paid to actually move the packed boxes. It was quite a challenge because we went from having a huge space to having a more snug office. I got about 14hrs of Overtime and needless to say, didn't get to spend much quality time with Aaron or Jacob last week. On top of being tired and overworked, aunt flo was in town, so I was extra bitchy and moody... Aaron was probably lucky that I wasn't home too much. So now I work in downtown Traverse City, which is good and bad. It's nice because being downtown is fun. Our office is on the 4th (top) floor, which makes it one of the taller downtown buildings and it's got some decent views of the bay. I'm also putting in a pretty good effort (so far) to get some exercise by taking the stairs. Its all new, clean and nice. There are GREAT places to eat lunch. The company pays for our annual parking pass, so I've got free parking in the ramp on weekends too! But, on the other end of the spectrum, I am now an additional 10miles and 20minutes away from my mom's house/Jacob's daycare. Which means I no longer get to see and feed Jacob at lunch :( My mom has been meeting me downtown lately to pick up Jacob, which has really been saving a lot of time, but once she is taking care of Noah (Early March), she will no longer be able to. Well, she probably could some days, but it would probably be more trouble for her then it would be worth. However, since I no longer go home at lunch, I am able to make up my pumping time during my lunch break (yes, for those of you who don't know, I have to make up my pumping time at the end of the day... ridiculous, I know). I will also have time during my lunch hour now to go tanning or work out, if I ever get the desire. Right now, the stairs are a cheaper warming up alternative to joining a gym. Aaron isn't too sure if we can afford me working downtown though. With the extra mileage, eating lunch out all the time (who wants to bring leftovers when you have all these yummy options?!), tanning packages, possible gym membership... uh, ya, I'm going to need a raise!

The other that has been on my mind lately is breastfeeding. Since work has been so busy lately, I have been slacking on pumping regularly. I'm sure my supply is going to start to plummet. Besides that, I'm dropping a feeding session since I won't be home at lunch anymore. For those of you that are unfamiliar with breastfeeding, it's all supply and demand. If you want to maintain your supply, you must pump every time your baby eats. So I should really be pumping three times a day, but I haven't been able to find time to pump TWICE a day, so three just isn't going to happen. In a lot of ways I'm sad and disappointed, but I'm also kinda ready to wean. It will be nice to not worry about drinking and it will also be nice to quit pumping. I HATE pumping. Ever since Jacob was about 2wks old, one of the most common questions I got was "Are you breastfeeding?" Which is almost always followed up with "how long are you going to do that for?" I usually respond that I take it day by day. And I do. I set small goals for myself... 1st week, 1st 6wks, 6 months, etc. I'm quite proud of myself for making it this far. There are just SO MANY benefits for Jacob. One of them being that breastfeeding makes for healthier babies and Jacob has not been sick yet (knock on wood), which has been wonderful. I also enjoy the benefits breastfeeding gives me too, like helping lose the baby weight. So anyways, I'm sure it will be a slow process, but it's the beginning of the end.