A traveling one, that is.

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was traveling to visit the parents with Gabriel and both dogs, baby on my lap and dogs as carry-on. I was slightly concerned about how I would manage to fly with all three of my boys. It did feel a little circus-like, I admit.

I pushed Gabe in his stroller with the diaper bag hanging at one end and carried the dogs in a bag. When it came time to go onto the plane, I'd switch Gabe to the sling, pack the dogs into the stroller, then get to the end of the walkway, take the dogs out of the stroller and try to break down the stroller with Gabe hanging from my mid-section. I hit him a couple of times in the head with the handles of the stroller, unfortunately. Once I had the stroller broken down, I'd carry everyone onto the plane, slide the dogs under the seat, try to shove my diaper bag under there also, and then juggle Gabe in the never-ending minutes until the plane took off. I thought that was the hardest part, keeping him happy until the plane finally took off. I stood him up, sat him down, sang to him, made him look over my shoulder, out the window, at his blanket, and so on and so on until I could finally feed him close to take-off.

All my worry ended up being for nothing, though, because he slept for both flights. First from Boston to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to San Francisco. He hardly made a peep on both flights, and the dogs were also model citizens. I was terribly relieved.

Since then, our trip has been fun and fairly uneventful. We had some mishaps with the time change with Gabriel waking up at 6am for the first couple of days, but we're fine now. He also seems a bit out of sorts when we go out too much, so I've had to curtail activities, but that doesn't bother me. Other than that, we are having a great time.

Gabriel is changing by the day, which is almost scary. It has been almost 2 weeks since Josh saw him since he went to Russia for a school trip (hence the reason for our visit to California without him). I think Josh is going to find a completely different baby in his place when he picks us up from the airport. Gabe is cooing and laughing and interacting 100 times more than he was before. I've taken tons of pictures, and I can't wait to share them with you once we are home and I can connect to the computer.

My biggest problem is that I have had a touch of insomnia since I've been here, and I end up staying awake until 2am or later and then of course Gabriel wakes up around 4am and I feel like I'm not sleeping enough. I'm looking forward to climbing into my own bed with Josh and getting back to a regular routine. I'm also looking forward to a house that doesn't have a dial-up internet connection. Ick. Hope you are all well!

in the eternal quest for more fiber

Since being pregnant, my quest for enough fiber has been a never-ending one, as I'm sure you all can relate.

I have to share my newest discovery... Fiber One's Granola Bars. Seriously, I cannot stop talking about these granola bars because they are sooo delicious, and the best part is that they have 35% of your daily fiber. 35%!!! Do you know how many vegetables I have to eat in order to get to 35% of my fiber?!

I have never had tastier granola bars than these, and I tried both flavors- Oats and Chocolate and Peanut Butter, and both were fantastic. I thought that maybe I was crazy because I loved these bars so much, but I ran them by both Josh and my parents, and all agreed that they are sweet and yummy. More like a candy bar, than a granola bar. I even made my mom take me straight to the grocery store in California to pick some up, because I love taking a short break in the afternoon with one of the granola bars and a cup of decaf coffee as a quick pick-me-up.

The funniest thing is that I googled the granola bars to see where I could find them here in California, and there were tons of blog posts about them, so I'm not the only convert.

I'd definitely give them a try if you are also in the hunt for fiber, and if you don't like them, send them my way!

on the boobs

As a woman whose breasts normally lean on the smaller side, I'd always made jokes about wishing for big boobs. Although I'd never go the plastic surgery route, I thought that "bodacious tatas" (as coined by Liz) wouldn't be bad.

Now that I've graduated into this new world of humongous breasts (leaning on the D side of things), all I can think is HOW THE HECK DO YOU DO IT?

Nothing fits. Nothing. Not one of my old shirts fits me now. All the stores that used to work for me don't anymore, because their shirts are too short with the breasts in the way. If I move to the bigger sizes, then the whole shirt swims on me. So I'm still wearing maternity tops, or at least those maternity tops that don't have a huge amount of belly space in them, of which I have a few. I'm remembering fondly my perfectly respectable B cups.

But seriously, where do larger breasted women shop? Gap doesn't seem to work, neither did Ann Taylor. Am I shopping at the wrong places? Or maybe I'm gravitating toward tops that would have fit my smaller bust and now hang all wrong. HELP!

exhausted, and more exhausted

Things are a little bit better, thankfully. I've been making a concerted effort to get out of the house, even for just a few minutes every day, and Gabriel gave me a couple of nights of 6 hour sleep- wooohooo! But it was last weekend. Since then, he's had some of his worst nights of sleep ever, though, go figure. I'm exhausted. He is getting up every 2 hours or so, and refusing to take any naps at all during the day. Saying that I'm very tired feels like an understatement.

Just to show you how crazy Red Sox fans are... Someone sent us a Red Sox sleeper when Gabriel was born, and last weekend we decided to put him in it, got him ready for bed, and glory of all glories, he slept 6 hours. So we thought what any logical parent would think- it was clearly the Red Sox sleeper. The next night, we recreated conditions. Put him in the sleeper, wrapped him up, and he slept 6 hours again! We were singing from the rooftops our praises for the Red Sox!

Then he spit up on the sleeper. I warned Josh that we needed to wash the pajama and get it back on him before the next night, but of course we didn't. He was up every 2 hours throughout the night. Clearly, because he wasn't wearing the Red Sox paraphernalia. Since then, I have made sure that the stinking Red Sox pajama is clean and available for him to wear, but has he slept longer then 4 hours at a stretch? Of course not!

A sleepless baby wasn't enough either. The dogs wanted in on the action, and have apparently just realized that the baby is REALLY not leaving after 10 weeks. So the other day, they pooped on the bathroom rug. I washed the rug and put down a towel in the meantime. They peed on the towel. I started shutting the bathroom door. They peed on Gabriel's beautiful bedroom rug. I went out for a walk, they climbed on the coffee table, stole Gabriel's toy and shredded it throughout the living and dining room. They are also stealing baby socks and articles of clothing. I feel like I'm starting to lose my mind!

I called my veterinarian yesterday because I simply cannot deal with this. If the dogs had acted up when the baby first came home, it would have been one thing, but two and half months later, I'm lacking in sympathy for them. They are incredibly pushy and demanding all the time, and we give them quite a bit of attention and treats and rotate their toys, but it is never enough. If anyone has advice or has been through this, please do share. I'm hoping that an improvement in the weather might help because I can take them on some walks to get rid of excess energy.

Lastly, I'm packing for Gabriel and my first trip, we are off to California. I am traveling on my own with Gabriel, Tango and Murray. I don't know whether I'm daring or insane. Maybe a little of both. Any tips on flying with a newborn are much appreciated also. Hope you are all enjoying some Spring-like weather too!

funkity funk

Lest you think it is all sunshine and roses around here, I can definitely burst your bubble on that one.

After his shots on Wednesday, Gabriel was in a bad, cranky, no good, awful mood for the next 3 days. We couldn't figure out if it was because he was fatigued from the shots, whether his little thighs were achy, or some combination of those plus more, but he was NOT HAPPY.

On Friday night, I woke up with him at 12:30am, 2:30am, 4:30am, 6:30am, 7am, 8am, and then finally 9am for the day. It was a bad, cranky, no good, awful day. On my part that is, Gabe was in a fine mood once he was up for the day. Then on Saturday he blessed us with a 6 hour stretch, his first ever, and I woke up on Sunday morning feeling like a new woman. Oh, the sleep, it is good.

I was so excited that I let myself believe that perhaps we were moving into a new era of 6 hour stretches, so on Sunday night he scoffed at me and was wide awake from 4:30am to 7:30am, also his first time ever. It was exhausting. At least his mood has improved since the days following the shots, and I am incredibly grateful.

His mommy, however, is fighting a case of the funks. I am feeling funky, and a bit down these days. I'm attributing it to a few things, like the weather, the lack of consistent sleep, the fact that none of my clothes fit me, the hormones from breastfeeding, and mostly, from the fact that Josh got back from his first trip away from us. I didn't share the fact that we were alone, for obvious reasons, but Gabriel and I had our first stretch of 4 days on our own last week. It was lonely. Very, very lonely. Especially at night and in the mornings, when I had no choice but to be alone. During the day, I kept our schedule jam packed with outings with friends, but we were on our own at night and I definitely felt it. By the time Josh got back, I realized that I had definitely fallen into a case of the baby blues.

It is mind-boggling how you can have everything you've ever wanted, be happier than you've ever been, and still find yourself feeling sad with no explanation.

Anyway, I'm working to pull myself out of the funk and keeping busy. Gabe and I are traveling to visit my parents soon, and I'm definitely looking forward to that. On Saturday, the three of us took a day trip to Newport, Rhode Island, to enjoy the warmish weather and get some fresh air. It was good for my soul.

So is this, of course. This is always good for the soul.