Three Months Old

Quarter-of-a-year, three months, 90 days (give or take), 13 weeks…no matter how you look at it…FINLEY IS THREE MONTHS OLD!! I cannot believe it!

Three-month picture attempt #1...not so happy!

Three-month picture attempt #2...MUCH better!

On July 3rd our life significantly changed, and the changes continue everyday. Over the past 4-5 weeks life has gotten a little easier. I say “easier” with extreme hesitation; life with a baby is not easy, but three-month-old Finley is slightly easier than six-week-old Finley. Maybe we’re more comfortable knowing what he wants/needs, maybe we’re better at reading his cues, maybe he’s more comfortable with us, maybe he’s just happier – who knows, but we like it! And he's getting so handsome....

Finley has a new trick! He likes to sit in his Bumbo…kind of - he’ll sit in it for a few minutes before he gets mad. In addition to his hated-tummy time, he sits in the Bumbo a little each day to strengthen his neck. I think he looks like a little old man sitting in it; here are a few pictures from Bumbo-time this week. For some reason taking the same picture each day didn't get old to me...
On Monday we hung out with Spencer while Auntie was at class. Spencer sure likes to check out Finley!
Finley visited Kindergarten this week. I had paperwork to drop off, so we stopped by during snack time to visit. The Kindies were very excited to see and touch Finley – kid germs! Oh well, he’d be exposed sooner or later. We also stopped by first grade to see my kids from last year, they remembered my Baby Bump and loved seeing "that baby".
Team Dowell – A family friend’s son plays hockey, he was drafted to the Chicago Blackhawks and is currently playing on their Rockford team. Vikki gave Finley a Jake Jersey…I hope it comes with skating lessons! Jake is wwwwaaaayyyy more qualified than Patrick and I!
In preparation for our family pictures (that got rained out) Grandma, Auntie, Spencer, Finley and I hit the Mall of America in search of perfect fall outfits. The boys were troopers, but we could’ve used one more set of hands. Even a trip to the mall requires a lot of stuff, the strollers were full before we even made a single purchase! Finley even had a diaper change in the parking lot.
Saturday was UWEC’s Homecoming! My how homecoming’s have changed! I foggily remember one homecoming that started off with McDonald’s breakfast, Bloody Mary’s at the House of Rock, Captain-Diets for lunch, and finished up with a note to the pizza-guy to “Please leave the pizza on the porch and take the money.”…I don’t think Kitt ever got a bite of the pizza he bought for us that day. Anyway Homecoming 2008 looked a little different….

Getting ready for homecoming, sporting our Blue and Gold.
It was chilly out, so Finley dressed warm for the parade - what a cute bear!!
Finley watched the Homecoming Parade with Zach, he didn't give Z much competition for candy hunting...just wait until next year!
Look who was in the parade – it's the chancellor, oops, I mean Grandma & Grandpa!
After the parade we went to Carson Park for the pregame festivities with Grandma and Grandpa. Finley was a good sport; even the band didn’t scare him.

Is there a resemblance? MANY people think Mr. Finley looks like Grandpa - that's not such a bad thing!

An update on mom (me)….

I have to admit that being a Mom is harder than I thought it would be…let me back up though. The “hardness” of a three-month old, is what I thought the “hardness” would be in the beginning – does that make sense? The newborn stage (weeks 3-8) was harder than I’d anticipated and now we’re finding our groove…Kristi – remember this! You and I are alike and you can learn from me! Anticipate the newborn stage as being very hard – then you can be pleasantly surprised when it’s easier than you imagined!

Physically I’m feeling great; I’m back into my old jeans, and have 7-8 pounds to go (needless to say the jeans fit differently with those pounds, but I’m working on it). I workout 5-6 mornings a week, mostly running.

I’m losing my hair! Hair loss is normal for women post pregnancy. While pregnant, you don’t shed hair like you normally would, something with the hormones makes you keep all your hair. About 8-12 weeks post pregnancy you begin to shed all that “extra” hair you’ve been sporting (this is why women have luxurious hair while pregnant). Wow! At this rate I’ll be bald by Halloween (I won’t need a scary costume) – I’m finding hair EVERYWHERE!! My comb is full each morning, black clothing is not a good color for me, I’ve found hair in Finley’s hands, wrapped around his Nuk (gross I know), and even in his diaper! Seriously – it's EVERYWHERE!

And my recent selfish decision – I’ve stopped nursing and pumping. I introduced Finley to formula almost two weeks ago. He gets about two bottles of formula each day, the rest is still expressed breastmilk. Last week I began to wean from the pump and he’s now finishing off our frozen breastmilk. Weaning from the pump isn’t as easy as turning the pump off, its been a painful week for me – I slowly increased the amount of time between pumps (your body produces on a supply and demand schedule), I’ve been taking Sudafed like its candy (dries up all your membranes including your milk ducts) and I've been wearing cabbage in my bra (I have no idea why this is suppose to help but there's a rumor it works!). I've gone as long as 36 hours now and counting...I could be done!

Being a mom…the toughest job you’ll ever love!