somewhere in Middle America

It's been decided- our next move is to Omaha, Nebraska! 
And despite a move date of March 21st, we are still working on finding a home to live in at this time.  We've narrowed it down to two good options, thanks to David's amazing persistence, and are now waiting to hear back from the owners about our move-in date. 
Max and I will leave San Antonio next Monday and fly to Wisconsin to visit with family and friends.  While we're there, David is putting on his seminar here on Tuesday and then is taking on the huge task of driving the vehicles and our belongings to Omaha on Wednesday, stopping in Dallas on the way to visit with his brother and Julie and kids. 
I think we're both looking forward to our new city.  Omaha seems to be one of those great Midwestern "big towns."  No matter which home we choose to live in, we'll be surrounded by lots and lots of green space.  It'll be perfect for taking Max out in his BOB. 
We went for a very long walk yesterday in one of the original neighborhoods here.  It was absolutely beautiful out.  Here is Max, waiting patiently for us to get out the door. 

So you know how I mentioned that I was getting back into cooking?  Well, I've had some fun trying out new recipes.  Here are three of my favorites:

Chicken Curry Soup  (serves 6)
1 pound chicken breast
6 cups chicken broth
1 can light coconut milk
1 1/2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cups spinach
2/3 cup brown rice
1/2 cup cilantro, stems removed
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Put all ingredients in a crock pot and stir. Turn crock pot to low heat and cook for at least eight hours. Once cooking is complete, shred chicken into bite size pieces with two forks. Spoon into bowls and serve piping hot.
Note:  I cooked the rice separately and made it as a traditional curry instead, but can be made either way.

Sticky Rice with Mango  (serves 4)
1 cup Jasmine rice
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 ripe mangoes (see your frozen food section for cubed mangoes in off-season)
Prepare rice as directed.  In a separate saucepan, combine coconut milk, sugar, and salt.  Boil for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat.  Pour hot coconut mixture over cooked rice and stir well.  Press plastic wrap over mixture in saucepan to cover and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Spoon rice into a shallow bowl and top with mango slices or cubes.  Serve with sprigs of mint and fortune cookies. 

Carmel Apple Pork Chops (serves 4)
4 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3 tablespoons pecans or walnuts 
Preheat oven to 175 degrees F (80 degrees C). Place a medium dish in the oven to warm. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops lightly with oil and place in hot pan. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, or until done. Transfer to the warm dish, and keep warm in the preheated oven. 
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet, and stir in brown sugar mixture, apples, and nuts. Cover and cook, stirring, until apples are just tender and sauce has thickened. Spoon sauce and apples over pork chops.

I'm 2 months old - Look what I can do!

2 months

We popped a bottle of wine to celebrate Max's 2-month milestone one night and then we stared at him in awe the next morning - he's getting so BIG!  Max has been getting much more verbal and very active.  Cooing, gurgling, kicking, bouncing, and swinging those arms.  I love that he's so social  - lots of smiles for us.  It's too cute when he's telling stories to the owls on his mobile or the animals on his bouncer.  His expressions are very colorful.
He can go from this:

To this:

He is also moving so much that he often ends up sideways in his crib by morning.   How does he do that?! All that moving makes for some blurry pictures. 

 

 

 

 

sideways sleeper

We're still working on sleeping.  I've been using BabyWise, which came highly recommended by several friends.  The book reports that most babies on this program sleep through the night by week 8.  I was starting to wonder if this was only the formula-fed babies, but then I read my friend Courtney's blog and I learned that her BF cutie pie has started sleeping through the night too!  Max still gets me up at least 2 times per night most nights.  Last night, however, he decided to try it - we had our first night of real sleep!  Almost 7 full hours!  It was unbelievable!  So, I'm hoping he'll be in the next round of sleeping champions, by week 10-12.  Until then, I'll just keep dreaming of sleep...and keep telling myself that I'll actually take those afternoon naps.  Yeah right! 


This week, we opened Max's first savings account with the gifts from Aunt Diane, Aunt Kathy, and Nana.  Thank you so much!  Max was super excited when the banker at Wells Fargo let him check out the bank vault. 

This morning we were in the pediatrician's office for Max's wellness exam and first round of immunizations.  That was rough! It might have been harder for me than Max, though it was hard to tell from his screaming and bright red face!  He actually shed his first real tear on that exam table and I swear he was looking at me, like "Why are you letting them hurt me, Momma?" But I know the benefits outweigh the discomfort.   Here he is two hours later at home.  Some day, he'll appreciate those Spiderman band-aids, but not today.

Max is 23.5 inches long (75%), 12 lbs, 4 oz (65%), and his head is 15 inches in circumference (25%).  A perfectly healthy breast-fed baby (with a case of cradle cap).  

It was our last visit with this pediatrician - a reminder that I better start looking for one in our next city!  More on our move soon, I hope!  We move in 16 days and at this point in time are still not sure where we're moving to.  Decision deadline is tonight.  Surprisingly enough, I'm not really worried about it.  Boy, how things change!

Smile! Or Not.

Today we took Max to have some professional photos taken.  Sounds simple, right?  It should be, but this was very stressful for me.  Mornings with Max are extremely unpredictable.  He likes to eat a little, sleep a little, eat a little, sleep a little.  There isn't much time to shower and get out of the house in between these activities.  I'm sure Max picked up on my anxiousness which didn't help him eat or sleep peacefully either.  Thankfully, once we arrived at Holly's in-home studio (an hour late), she made us feel very comfortable.  Since Max didn't get his nap in, he wasn't his usual happy and smiley self for the camera.  Nevertheless, I think Holly got some cute shots and we had fun. I can't wait to see how the photos turn out.

Birthday inspirations

So it felt like my 32nd birthday was more like a New Year's Day to me than a birthday.  I was inspired to work on some things - a little personal development for this new phase of a now older me.  I'll have to write all these birthday resolutions down so I don't forget (ahem, Mommy Brain!) but more so I can be held accountable. 
No. 1 - Get back in the kitchen!  While we were visiting last weekend, my brother-in-law made an amazing dinner on my birthday that included steak, salmon filet with basil butter sauce, this awesome medley of grains (rice, barley, etc), grilled asparagus, green beans (my favorite) and warm multi-grain bread, right out of the oven. YUM!  All those amazing flavors inspired me to start cooking again!  David's going to have to give me directions to the kitchen, I've been MIA for so long!  A major challenge for me has been that our current rental has this yucky kitchen in it.  Truly, this plays into my lack of interest.  It's dark, very outdated, and I feel claustrophobic in it.  The oven stopped working the 2nd week after we moved in.  And to say the utensils are lacking is an understatement.  But the other big hurdle has been that Max's need for extra attention always coincides with dinner time.  (Not to mention, who has time for making dinner when you're feeding, changing, rocking to sleep, repeat, etc. a newborn?)  We've been getting our schedule ironed out, so I think I can work dinners into my day again.  Also, the owners of the condo purchased a new convection oven/microwave so the oven excuse is no longer valid.  Kind of. 
I miss Cooking Club terribly!  My once-a-month date with 6 fabulous ladies, a fun ingredient theme, the resulting mouth-watering food, wine, and lots of fun conversation!  I had to leave Cooking Club and my gastronomically-oriented friends behind when I left Denver.  Boo!  So I've decided that since I can't have Cooking Club anymore, I'll give myself some cooking homework a few times per month.  Maybe a new food or spice I've never tried or a culturally-inspired meal.  I think the only way to stay on track is to have a weekly meal plan and a grocery day.   David used to work at Albertson's when he was at ASU.  He explained to me that the grocery ads always come out on Wednesdays and that's the best day to shop.  I never realized that there was a science to this.  See?  I'm working on my domestic engineering degree!

Inspiration No. 2 - Get your butt to the gym!  More on that later.

Field trips

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since our last post!  Lots to update.
Max has been doing great.  He visited the pediatrician last week and is now 10 pounds, 7 ounces!  I about fell over.  Seems like those eating difficulties haven't affected his weight gain!  Speaking of, the coughing and choking has much improved, but we're still dealing with some crying and spitting up during feedings.  Max's pediatrician thinks it's likely normal, but has suggested that I can try exclusive pumping (pumping for bottles and no more nursing) if it seems to bother Max.  I don't think I could do that.  As long as he is gaining weight and is happy more often than not, I'm going to stick with nursing.  Selfishly, it would be too hard to give up and Max definitely seems to prefer his Mommy time to bottle-feeding.  Fortunately, the pediatrician is okay with this.  She was just offering a suggestion if frustration prevails. 
Tears!  Max is starting to make tears.  We got to see a preview last night during one of Max's over-tired spells.  Poor guy.  That pouty little lower lip gets me every time.  Shhh! Don't tell him it's my weakness.  Max also started smiling recently.   This little grin can trump just about anything.  Here he is, cracking up at something he thinks is pretty funny. 

My mom flew in for a visit late last week and stayed for a long weekend.  We had a really good time while she was here.  It was nice to have an extra pair of hands around.  Remember I was talking about the grocery cart issue?  Well, with Mom here, she could push Max in one cart and I could push the groceries in the other.  We also spent one afternoon doing a little shopping for some post-pregnancy clothes.  That was frustrating!  Good thing no one knows me around here.  I wear the same thing pretty much every day.
We took a little road trip to Austin on Sunday.  It was so cold, but we spent a few hours walking up and down South Congress Street checking out the shops and grabbing some of our favorite things to snack on.  We kind of did it backwards - walking then eating.  On the way home, we decided to stop by the Salt Lick for some barbeque.  I don't think going to that place will ever get old.  The best part of our weekend was that Nana and Max had lots of time to hang out and get to know each other. 
Here are some pictures from our field trip:

Max with Nana

In line at my fave coffee spot

Walking north in SoCo, Austin skyline in background

The best slice EVER!

We have officially decided not to move to Houston next.  Seems there are a few seminar companies there currently and staying through June, which is when we'd be there.  David doesn't think this will majorly affect business, but it can be a bit of a headache.  So, we're likely going to settle on a city in the Midwest this Spring.  Wichita and Omaha are contenders.   It will be nice to be within driving distance to family and friends!  It's hard to believe, but moving day is only a month away now...

l-o-v-e

Max meet world, world meet Max.

We love so many things: We love our friends and our families.  We love to travel.  We love to eat sushi.  We love to vacation in Hawaii.  We love to snowboard the mountains of Colorado...

BUT, love has just been redefined and taken to a whole new level with the birth of our son, Maximilian. Its hard to explain the emotions you feel when you see your son being born, so here is a picture that says it all.   - David

Max's Baptism

Two weeks ago, our little guy was fully initiated into the Catholic Church.  We planned Max's Baptism so that David's parents could attend while they were here to visit.  Max is fortunate to call his Aunt Laura and our dear friend, Dan, his godparents.  We were also honored to have Max's great Aunts Kathy and Diane, fly in from New York for the occasion. 
Unfortunately, we were missing some really important folks - David's brother Steven, his wife Julie, and their two kids, Jack and Abby, were not able to attend.  Little Abby had been diagnosed with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) the week before.  RSV is a very contagious and often severe infection in little ones.  Fortunately, Abby is doing very well.  However, due to the risk to Max with his immature immune system, they did not attend the event, but did drive into town so that they could visit with family later that weekend.  My side of the family was not able to attend either, but they are all planning trips to visit in the next month. 

Max was a bit of a ham during the service.  He timed a very loud toot with Deacon Joe's discussion of the Holy Spirit.  While pictures were being taken, he spit his pacifier into the baptismal font.  Whoops!  Aunt Kathy very calmly grabbed it out and stuck it right back in his mouth.  And I think he actually enjoyed the pouring of water.  He didn't cry once.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Max's Opa, me, Aunt Kathy, David, godmother Laura with Max, Aunt Diane and Max's Grammy

Max with his great Aunt Kathy

Grammy telling Max wonderful stories

Oops!  The paci in the font!

Here we are with Max, who is being held by godparents, Dan and Aunt Laura

Congratulations, little man!  We are so proud!

1 month

Our Max is 1-month old today!  I'm not sure that I've really sat down to process all that has happened in the last 4 weeks.  One day your life changes and you kind of move with it... I don't want to look back and think that so much has happened without fully realizing it.  I've decided that I'm going to try to do a better job of really taking inventory every day, because Max is quickly changing!  Our clothes dryer isn't shrinking his onsies - he is getting noticeably bigger!
We've been stumbling a little bit in the last two weeks.  Max has been working hard with feedings, often coughing and choking, spitting up lots, and seems to be really uncomfortable during and afterwards.  I checked it out with our lactation consultant, our pediatrician, and did some research on my own.  It was suggested that he is swallowing too much milk and air at once due to high milk flow.  He's filling up on the air and then gets hungry again sooner.  He also seems to be tiring out before he gets the nutrient-rich hindmilk which is causing him to have watery stools.  Now his gastric disturbance has crept into his sleeping routine, making our days very long and our nights too short.   It's been a little stressful watching him go through this and not being able to help him.  We're working through it with some of the recommendations I received, but I'm realizing I need to take naps too. 
In the meantime, since I'm definitely not using it for my hair these days, my blowdryer has been moonlighting as a cure for my crying baby.  The sound puts him out in 2 minutes or less.  Oh, and the vacuum has been a great help at lulling him to sleep too!  I can put Max in the Moby wrap, start up the Hoover, and kill two birds with one stone!  :)  Love this! 

My Mom flies back into town in a week.  It'll be a very short visit - just a long weekend - but it'll be nice to have an expert mother on-hand when I just don't know what to do.  Not to mention, I know she's super excited to finally meet Max. 
I'm on the wrong computer to add pictures, so get on David's case because he's in charge of the next update!

Too fast!

Oh my gosh, it's happening already!  Every parent I've ever talked to has warned me about this --- our child will grow up too fast.  Can you believe it?  Today, Max is 3 weeks old!  Slow down, child!

Life has changed.
I've learned to accept the fact that I can no longer quickly run into a store to grab a few things.
I've gotten used to showering with my eyes and ears glued to the baby monitor.
Dinner occurs at whatever time we can get Max to sleep or else may need to be eaten in spoonfuls fed to me by David while I'm nursing Max.  It's usually cold.
I actually have body lotion that smells like baby and I wear it on purpose.
There are days I may not brush my teeth until 10:30am. 
Yesterday, David was working from home and offered me the chance to get out of the house to run some errands by myself.  I went to the bakery for my favorite loaf of bread and then the coffee shop for a latte.  I didn't realize until after I was on my way home, that I was wearing yoga pants AND a hoodie spotted with spit up, my hair was on top of my head in a knot, and I hadn't even put moisturizer on, let alone make-up!  FANCY!
You know what?  It's a new phase of my life and I can totally rock it.  You know why?  When I entered the coffee shop, the barista called out, "Hey, it's Max's Mom!"  That is SO cool!  There is also nothing better than seeing how in love David is with Max and how effortlessly he has absorbed fatherhood. Even the poopy diapers don't phase him anymore. This is a guy who used to dry heave at the thought of changing dirty diapers in the past.  I guess this is what growing up is all about!

Life has certainly changed and it's pretty amazing!

Growing...

This week, I stepped foot outside the house on my own with Max and visited the Lactation Center at the hospital for some one-on-one time with the consultant.  (Let me tell you, driving across town was terrifying!  So many idiot drivers!  We made it there and were early too!)  Max was the only baby on the post-partum floor that was latching on, but I was still concerned about some of his feeding behaviors, so we went in for some reassurance.  I was so happy that it was Laura, the same consultant that we had when we were inpatient, because we really liked her.  She weighed Max before-hand (8lbs, 2oz) and we were both surprised that at 1 week of age, he had already re-gained his birth weight and then some!  Max decided this was the time to show off too, so of course, none of the feeding behaviors I had been observing were actually displayed during the visit.  He did great! 

Max had his first trip to see his pediatrician the other day.  We L-O-V-E his pediatrician and were excited to see her again.  She confirmed that he had met his weight gain milestone (8lbs, 4oz).  Max measured in the 85% for length (again, how is our baby so long?), 65% for weight, and 35% for head circumference.  The peanut head comes from David!  He had his second PKU screen at this visit and although Santos, the lab tech, was very sweet with him, Max did not appreciate being stuck in the foot twice!  Poor guy was screaming his little peanut head off!

Sound Off
Can I just say, the rule about not lifting more than your baby's weight is impossible!  How are you supposed to get your baby in and out of the car?  Those car seats are heavy!  And apparently the stores in San Antonio have never heard of standard-sized grocery carts - every cart I've used is like the European model; skinny and small - Max's car seat doesn't fit, so I end up having to lug him around the store in his car seat.  Gets to be very tiring so I usually just give up, decide whatever I'm there for is not worth it right now and go home.  Looking forward to the BOB arriving on my doorstep in a few days!