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| Dominic on his boys' weekend with Daddy |
Brian, Dominic, and I survived our first weekend where I left Dominic overnight, while I went on my girls' trip with some of my other mommy-friends to my parents' rental condo in Amelia Island, Florida. Dominic hardly knew I was gone because he stayed so busy the whole time with Brian, my parents, and my sister. I had a fun, RELAXING weekend at the beach with my friends, but I missed Dominic a ton. Having to leave him at my mom and dad’s house (while Brian was at work) on Thursday to go on the trip was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I haven’t cried that much in a very long time (thank you, pregnancy hormones). Dominic refused to go down for his nap in the crib at my parents' house. Seeing him so upset as I tried to walk out of the room killed me. He ended up being fine, of course!
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| Dominic loves kissing his mommy and daddy these days, and we love getting kisses! |
Once I was on the trip, I felt a lot better. I did miss him most when I saw other kids around Dominic’s age at the pool, beach, and restaurants, but I have to say that it was worth it because I really needed that time to relax and be able to miss him. It is hard to miss someone when you are with them the majority of every single day. I was able to lay by the pool all day without having to chase anyone around or take breaks to go inside for naps. Meals were also very peaceful because I didn't have to juggle my own eating with entertaining and feeding Dominic. I think most of all that time away gave me the opportunity to appreciate Dominic. I love that boy more than I can ever say and as much as I love relaxing by the pool, I love playing with him a million times more.
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| Stripes and Plaids = a no-no, Daddy |
Of course being the iPhone-addicted person I am, I always had my phone on me despite the poor cell reception, receiving updates via texts and pictures from both Brian and my mom on what was going on with Dominic. He kept everyone busy but was in good hands the whole time, which of course helped me be able to relax and enjoy myself that much more. Other than a diaper rash, a ton of dirty diapers for a day or two, and a small summersault down a couple of steps, things went pretty smoothly. The biggest “issue” I had was with an outfit that Brian put Dominic in on Friday. I had almost noted in my “sub plans” for Brian that stripes and plaids do not go together, but I didn’t want to be too bossy. Well, Brian ended up putting Dominic in a striped, collared shirt and plaid pants…all sharing the same shades of blue so at least he had that going for him. Coincidentally/Luckily, Dominic wore the outfit when he was having "diaper troubles" and happened to go to the bathroom a little on the shorts, giving my mom an excellent excuse to change him into the spare outfit (that actually went together) I had put in Dominic’s diaper bag the day before. But seriously, Brian did a great job while I was gone as did my mom and sister. I think Brian really appreciated my mom and sister taking Dominic on Saturday after my mom had babysat Dominic all day on both Thursday and Friday while Brian was at work. That left Brian having to care for Dominic alone just on Sunday until I got home in the afternoon, so it didn't get too overwhelming for Brian. I’m very lucky that I have so many people who were willing to help and enable me to go on such a wonderful trip/break.
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| Spending time with Daddy :) |
In addition to thinking about Dominic throughout the trip, I also really missed Brian a lot. Now that I survived 3-nights away from Dominic, I wonder if it might be nice to go on a short overnight trip just Brian and me soon. This girls' trip just made me appreciate both of my boys even more. And the best part was hearing Brian tell me after I got back that he could never do what I do everyday and stay home with Dominic. Being a stay-at-home mom isn’t as easy as people think! What I’m really looking forward to is going back to the beach with Dominic and Brian later in the summer. I can’t wait!
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| Running around the house |
Now that I’m back at home, I’m hoping to get everything back on track. Between leaving for this trip and being out of commission for the last couple of months thanks to my morning sickness and then the cold from hell that Dominic and I both endured, things around here have gotten a little crazy. Getting his naps back on track is at the top of that my "To Do List." Dominic had a couple of good 3-hour naps before I left last week, but while I was out of town he didn’t do so well with his naps. So it’s my goal to get him back to regularly napping 3 hours at a time once a day, which we were somehow able to do on Monday and almost on Tuesday. We are definitely back to one nap a day, which is a big improvement over the 2 naps a day he was doing while he was sick and then still recovering. Also on my "To Do List" is getting this house in order, having it clean and organized, and getting back on a good cleaning schedule.
In addition to all of that, we’re still in the middle of moving our office down to what was the living room and then Dominic into the former office. We have the living room cleared out, but we’re having a contractor come out to put doors on the room and getting overhead lighting put in that room since at this point the only way the room is lit is with lamps. In the meantime, we’re going to start moving the office furniture downstairs, but when I use the word “we” I do so loosely, considering I can’t lift much since I’m pregnant. Poor Brian will be doing most of the moving.
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| Sitting in his chair |
While all of this is going on, Dominic is busy becoming more and more of a big boy every day. He is turning 16 months this week, which I can’t believe. Where has the time gone? I keep seeing more of Dominic’s personality, which I love so much. He is just so funny. His latest favorite thing to do: dragging furniture around the house specifically hampers and his plastic outdoor chairs. It’s extremely entertaining to watch. He also is enjoying just sitting in his outdoor chairs, his wooden table’s chairs where he eats lunch, and of course on the couch. What can I say? The kid loves climbing up into these chairs and just sitting. There have been a couple of falls from the wooden chairs since they don't have arms, and he gets a little too comfortable, but he has been getting better.
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| Playing in the dryer, like Daddy used to do |
Dominic has become an expert stair climber and at getting down the stairs now as well as a great Rock-a-Stacker. He finally figured out that the rings are not just there to put in his mouth. Something else he has recently started enjoying is classifying objects and helping to put similar objects together. If he finds a piece of paper, he likes to put it with other paper…even if it doesn't actually go with the other papers but that is beside the point. Now Dominic can help me put his toys away because he knows which toys go with which. Since he can do this, I’m starting to have him help me clean up his toys, but it’s a process because he ends up wanting to play with them as he cleans up and sometimes makes a bigger mess. Boys will be boys. Additionally, Dominic is fascinated with the dryer. He even likes to help me load the dryer when I’m moving clothes from the washer into the dryer. It’s so cute how helpful Dominic likes to be (at times). He is quite my little helper…and I can always use the help! J
I am now 15 weeks pregnant, meaning next week we find out if Baby #2 is a boy or a girl, assuming he/she cooperates during the ultrasound. I’m excited that I’ll no longer be referring to him/her as “Baby #2,” “he/she,” or “him/her” and will hopefully use his/her name instead! Of course, if it is a boy, that’s going to be more difficult since Brian and I STILL haven’t decided on a name. We are at an impasse as we each have our top choice boy’s name and neither appears to be conceding. I’m not sure how we should handle it, but I tend to think that the fact that I’m carrying this baby and having to deliver him/her should count for an extra vote or something, right? ;) With Dominic we both loved the name and had it decided long before we had him – even before we were married, making things so much easier. We decided the girl’s name a long time ago too, so at least that’s settled. We’ll have to see what happens though. I’m thinking it’s going to be a boy, but I’m excited to know one way or the other. Then I’ll have my 20 week ultrasound on my birthday, so they can confirm the gender again (since I always hear stories about the first ultrasound gender prediction being incorrect). Either way, things are so much better now that I’m in the 2nd trimester, no longer suffering through morning sickness, and through with the major exhausted period. Now if I can just make it through the next week till we find out the gender!
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| 6 weeks pregnant |
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| 14 weeks pregnant...check out that baby bump! |
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