I still love their sound.
Quentin: 2 Weeks
Likes: Snuggles, being up all night long, generally being cozy
Dislikes: Diaper changes, seriously he screams during them, baths
Sleeping: Still working on switching our days and nights. He takes forever to get to sleep at night, but is out instantly during the day. The situation is getting a big old.
Eating: My pumping has resulted in less and less milk. I think I'm done with pumping also. We're moving to 100% formula fed over here.
Playing: Not quite playing, but he is looking around more and more. Plus, Arthur loves to talk to "Baby Quentin."
Doctor Visit Stats: Q's two week doctor visit is actually tomorrow on account of the holiday. I even got Arthur's 3rd year appointment scheduled right before Q's. Easy peasy! I anticipate being out of there before the second appointment officially starts.
Milestones: Two big developments this week. Q's cord fell off two days ago and everything looks good. Plus, he has flipped himself from back to tummy at least three times. I have no idea how he did this early, but he did. Arthur didn't flip over until almost three months. Q has done is at 1 1/2 weeks. Kid, you need to slow down...
Schedule: Trying to work on flipping Q's schedule so he's awake during the day and asleep at night.
My Recovery: Feeling better and better. I've cut my pain meds down. I'm still taking the occasional Motrin, but I go anywhere from 8-12 hours between pills. I also weighed myself for the first time two days ago. At admission to the hospital, I was 230 pounds. Currently I am 210 pounds. I'll take it! Now I just need to work on those extra 40-50 pounds I'm still carrying around.
Out and About: Other than the two visits to the Newborn Care Center last week, we stayed home to let me recover. Saturday Arthur requested that we go to the "bear house" otherwise known as Black Bear Diner. So we loaded up the car and had a nice lunch. Quentin slept through the entire trip.
Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe by Rebecca Raisin
Title: Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe (Gingerbread Cafe #3)
Author: Rebecca Raisin
Publisher: Carina 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 304
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Read My Own Damn Books; 52 Books - W41
The gingerbread is baking, the dress is fitted and the mistletoe’s in place – for once, everything’s going to plan. That is until her mother-in-law arrives… Suddenly, Lily’s famous cool is being tested like never before and her dream wedding is crumbling before her eyes.
In the blink of a fairylight, the Gingerbread Café has been thrown into chaos! Lily thought she had this wedding wrapped up, but with so much to do before she says ‘I do’, can Lily get to the church on time – and make this Christmas sparkle after all?
A satisfying conclusion to this little contemporary romance trilogy. It wasn't anything spectacular or attention-grabbing, but this volume definitely held my attention during late night feeding sessions. I loved reading about Lil's relationships with all the different townspeople. Those were more interesting than her relationship with Damon. Thankfully it seems that Raisin has written more stories centered around some of those characters. I may just have to pick up those other stories...
Gingerbread Cafe
- #1 Christmas at the Gingerbread Cafe
- #2 Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe
- #3 Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe
Life Right Now #28
As I look outside my window: The tree on the side if the house has turned completely golden. I love fall.
Right now I am: Snuggling with a tiny baby. Love the snuggling stage.
Thinking and pondering: When will I be able to leave the house by myself? Really starting to go stir crazy in here...
On my bedside table: I have no idea what I'm going to read next. I still have over half of Voyager by Diana Gabaldon to finish. Plus I put multiple things on hold at the library. Guess it depends on how fast I finish Voyager and when those holds come up.
On my tv this week: J and I have been watching a few movies: Independence Day 2, Angry Birds, Captain America Civil War, and Ghostbusters. Out of those three, I'm going to say that Ghostbusters was my favorite. Also, we've caught up on Full Frontal and Last Week Tonight. And we've restarted watching Shield. We stalled in the middle of last season, but have started to catch back up.
Listening to: Momentary silence. We've been mostly homebound for the past two weeks while I recover from surgery. The situation has resulted in a stir-crazy toddler who's incapable of being quiet. Once he gets super loud, the baby starts making angry noises. But right this minute, all is quiet in my house. I'm going to enjoy it for a bit.
On the menu for this week:
- Monday - Gouda Turkey and Artichoke Quesadillas with Black Bean and Salsa Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Tuesday - Friend is bringing us food
- Wednesday - Leftovers
- Thursday - Potato, Barley, and Ham Stew
- Friday - BBQ Chicken
- Saturday - Frozen Meal
- Sunday - Leftovers
On my to do list: I've got a big list after taking a two week baby break
- Fix the front curtain (J's job)
- Finish assembling the stroller (J's job)
- Send cards
- Pic up pictures
- Library visit and find last two "missing" books
- Redo meal plan to account for leftovers and meal train
- Buy Halloween treats
- Work on Christmas card class
- Lay out PL spreads
- Finish at least one book
- Pick up and vacuum living room
Happening this week: Still recovering from surgery, so I'm not really scheduling anything or even driving yet. We do have Quentin's 2 week and Arthur's 3 year doctor's appointments on Tuesday morning. Very excited that I could schedule them back to back. Makes it a whole lot easier to take care of.
What I am creating: Working on nailing down Christmas card designs for my Christmas card buffet classes next month. So far, I have 3 out of 8 designs set. I need to choose and make the other 5. Plus, I'm trying to catch up with the Project Life albums.
My simple pleasures: Peanut butter filled pretzels. Oh man! I am addicted. A friend bought us a giant tub from Costco. I'm amazed we still have any left.
Looking around the house: Toys need to be picked up. The living room needs to be vacuumed. But otherwise, the house is in decent shape considering I haven't been able to do much housework.
From the camera: Arthur was talking to Quentin apparently. I intruded on their conversation to take a picture.
Odds and Ends
Here's my randomness for the week:
- Somehow life with a new newborn seems easier this time around. It is just new mom amnesia? Or is Q really a easier baby that Arthur? Either way, I'll take it.
- Having a meal train organized by friends has been amazing. I love that at least two nights a week, I don't have to plan dinner. Just heat and serve. The meal train and stocking my freezer before baby came were great ideas!
- I'm itching to craft, but don't think my body is ready for sitting on my stool or dining room chairs for any length of time. Maybe next week.
- I went a little crazy today and bought Arthur a Halloween costume, bandana bibs for Quentin, and tons of planner accessories for me. I think cabin fever shopping has started. I need to stay off my usual shopping sites for awhile...
- Fluffy romances are perfect reading material for middle of the night feedings. Working my way through some Kindle reads.
- Trying to decide if we should have Q dress up for Halloween or just wear his First Halloween onesie (with Frankenstein's monster).
- I need to print photos for our Project Life albums... unfortunately I still can't drive to pick them up and don't really want to pay for shipping.
Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe by Rebecca Raisin
Title: Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe (Gingerbread Cafe #2)
Author: Rebecca Raisin
Publisher: Carina 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 94
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Read My Own Damn Books; Women Authors
The Gingerbread Café is all a buzz! This Easter, Lily and the rest of the town of Ashford, Connecticut are planning a truly decadent Chocolate Festival. Cooking up a storm, CeeCee and Lily are not just baking a batch of their sinfully delicious chocolate-dipped gingerbread men, but an excess of chocolate truffles, squidgy, cinnamony hot cross buns and melt in your mouth chocolate eggs. The Gingerbread Café staff have definitely enjoyed the tasting process!
Another cute little fluffy short story to occupy my early morning newborn feedings. I liked diving back into life at the Gingerbread Cafe. And Charlie was a treat. My biggest issue with the story was the abrupt ending. It felt like the story just cut off mid chapter. So I knocked off a star. I imagine I will start the last story in the trilogy tonight.
Gingerbread Cafe
- #1 Christmas at the Gingerbread Cafe
- #2 Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe
- #3 Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe
Christmas at the Gingerbread Cafe by Rebecca Raisin
Title: Christmas at the Gingerbread Cafe (Gingerbread Cafe #1)
Author: Rebecca Raisin
Publisher: Carina 2013
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 64
Rating: 4/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Read My Own Damn Books; 52 Books - W40
Christmas is the season the Gingerbread Café in Ashford, Connecticut was made for…but owner Lily couldn’t be feeling less merry if she tried. She’s spent another year dreaming of being whisked away on a sleigh-ride for two, but she’s facing festive season alone – again. And, just to give her another reason to feel anything other than candy-cane perky, a new shop across the road has opened… Not only is it selling baked goods, but the owner, with his seriously charming smile, has every girl in town swooning.
But Lily isn’t about to let her business crumble — the Gingerbread Café is the heart of the community, and she’s going to fight for it! This could be the Christmas that maybe, just maybe, all her dreams – even the someone-to-decorate-the-Christmas-tree-with ones – really do come true!
With the arrival of the littlest addition to our household, I've been mostly reading during night feedings. Because it's night time and I'm super tired, I decided that I would dive into some of the fluffy reads on my Kindle. This series is one of those fluffy reads. The beginning wasn't amazing, but I eventually was sucked into the story of the cafe and Lily. A nice light read. I think I'll start the second one tonight...
Gingerbread Cafe
- #1 Christmas at the Gingerbread Cafe
- #2 Chocolate Dreams at the Gingerbread Cafe
- #3 Christmas Wedding at the Gingerbread Cafe
Music Tuesday - Regina Spektor "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
I love love love this song and her interpretation is just amazing.
Quentin: 1 Week
Likes: Snuggles, being swaddled, Arthur
Dislikes: Diaper changes, being cold
Sleeping: So far Quentin seems be a good a sleeper. He's pretty easy to get back to sleep after a feeding if I use the swaddle. Funny seeing as Arthur hated being swaddled and would scream until we took it off. Q loves being a baby burrito. I wish he would go to sleep a little faster after those middle of the night feedings, but otherwise I'll take it.
Eating: I again attempted to breast feed, but excruciating pain put an end to that pretty quickly. Instead, I am pumping and supplementing with formula. Q is now completely bottle fed. Once his stomach adjusted to food, his spit up volume has decreased dramatically.
Playing: Obviously no playing yet, but Q does love watching Arthur play.
Doctor Visit Stats: Unfortunately we have already been to the newborn care center twice since being discharged. Thankfully we have been cleared and don't have to go back to the doctor until his 2 week appointment on the 11th. Q ended up losing 11% of his initial birth weight necessitating those doctor visits. With the start of supplementing with formula, we are back on track.
Birth weight (9/26): 8lbs 4oz
Discharge weight (9/28): 7lbs 14oz
Thursday weight (9/29): 7lbs 6oz
Friday weight (9/30): 7lbs 7 oz -- back to gaining weight!
Milestones: We made it one week! Woohoo! And Q had his first bath. Really a sponge bath as his cord stump hadn't of fallen off as of yesterday afternoon (although it's really close). He screamed until I wrapped him in a towel. Not a big surprise. Arthur screamed through his first one also.
Schedule: No set schedule as of yet. Q eats, sleeps, and wakes whenever he wants. I'm starting to see some pattern with about 3 hours between feedings. However he has went through a few cluster feed periods.
My Recovery: Recovery is going much more faster and smoother this time around. The hospital has been offering a new pain management system after c-sections involving Tordal and IV Tylenol. Whether it was the different drugs or something completely different, I was up and moving a lot sooner this time around. One week out, I'm still taking my Motrin, but have moved away from Percocet. My energy and stamina has been increasing over the week. I'm hoping to be off my pain meds and be able to get out of the house soon.
Monthly Life Goals October 2016
Let’s check in on September’s goals and my progress.
- Figure out Arthur childcare for October – Success
- Read 3000 pages – Fail. I only read a little more than half my goal. Late pregnancy exhaustion is no joke!
- Finish prepping freezer meals – Success! I have a decent amount of food prepped and in the freezer.
- Finish organizing the baby supplies – Success!
- Pull off Arthur’s 3rd birthday party – Success! I'll post photos for Arthur's actual birthday mid-October.
- Prep cards for September, October, November, and December – Fail. I finished September's card, but still need to prep the rest of the year.
October's Goals:
- Take daily photos -- I need to stay on top of documenting Arthur, Quentin, and life in general
- Read 1500 pages -- Bringing my goal down to be more realisitic
- Prep and send cards for October -- The usual
- Focus on self-care and recovery for myself -- I won't have my post-partum doctor appointment until November. October is all about taking it easy and attempting to recover from surgery.
- Take Arthur Trick-or-Treating! -- Don't want to forget! I'm sure Arthur would love to actually trick-or-treat this year.
The Motel Room by Alyssa Cooper
Title: The Motel Room
Author: Alyssa Cooper
Publisher: 2014
Genre: Paranormal
Pages: 28
Rating: 3/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Read My Own Damn Books; Women Authors
Since his death, the ghost has been trapped in a motel room, watching the comings and goings of his nightly guests. The strangers never stay more than a night or two, and they never seem to notice him – no more than he notices them. Wrapped in fading memories of the time he was alive, he drifts through time, waiting for the return of the one person he can still see clearly.
But as time stretches out before him, his frustration begins to build, boiling over into violent anger. When a young couple dares to rent his room for the night, igniting his rage, the ghost finally discovers the true power behind his ghostly form.
A little short story I snagged for free off of Amazon. I didn't quite know what to expect from the summary. The story could have gone the true horror route or the sentimental romance. Instead I must say that the story had a weird tone. I couldn't quite figure out how to take the characters or storyline. I think there was some interesting plot points in there, but ultimately it wasn't really for me.