Our little man –He is 2 months old today and we can’t believe it. He is growing up too fast. At his two month appointment he weighed 11 lbs, 7 oz and was almost 23 inches long. Holy Smokes! We still have yet to see him roll over on purpose, but he is grabbing on to shirts and is quite fond of the necklace I wear. Owen is becoming more alert and can tell when it’s not mom that’s holding him. He still doesn’t like his diaper changes, but our wipe warmer has helped a little. I’ve really enjoyed putting him in little man outfits and showing him off, however it frustrates me when people call him a little girl. He has found his tongue and it warms my heart to watch Owen and Brad stick their tongues out at each other. Very sweet.
Mom - On a more personal note, I’ve come to discover that the pregnancy part was easy but this motherhood part isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Pregnancy asked a lot from my body, but providing food for a little one is hard work. Breast-feeding is very time consuming and harder than I thought it was going to be. I’ve had some issues with milk production and latching, but I think we’ve gotten it down now, two months later! The sleep depravation is getting better as well; Owen sleeps from about midnight to 5, sometimes-even 6am. After he eats, we go right back to bed and sleep until about 10 before we get up and start our day. Needless to say we aren’t really morning people. ☺ We’ve gotten into a nice routine of eating, naps and playtime. Now if I could just get the rest of life down.
Our life – Brad has recently joined a new unit and is no longer with the 592nd. They still drill at the same hall and drill on the same weekends, just with different people. With all of that said, I am the leader of the 411th FRG (family readiness group). When they asked me to be the leader, they said “Thank you for accepting . . . now we have a family picnic that we scheduled for this month’s drill. On top that, it’s supposed to be for both the 592nd and the 411th. So there you go – plan!” If it were a picnic just for just Brad’s unit, it would be easier to plan and far less stressful as there are only about 50 soldiers compared to the 130 in the 592nd. Planning a picnic just for soldiers would be super easy too, but being a family picnic and all, you figure each soldier might bring one or two extra mouths to feed. That’s a good 300-350 people to feed. I spent all of Friday night and Saturday figuring out how many people were going to attend, and getting everything ready. It was a huge task to accomplish with a young kiddo, but I did it! The picnic happened, people were fed, and everyone had a great time. ☺ It was the one and only time I am going to plan a joint event for both units. Now I am strictly a 411th FRG lady.
Brad is in his final semester of school, which is very exciting. After August 9th, he will have a bachelors of science and liberal studies (with an emphasis in communication) and we can move on with our life. He has been eager to finish school for a few years now, but things have gotten in the way. He had every intention of finishing school by 2010, but then he got his orders to deploy and wound up having to postpone it for several years. I am so proud of him for not giving up and having the commitment to finish. We aren’t sure what we are going to do after he graduates, but we are talking about going active duty - More about that later.
Brads oldest brother Greg and his family spent our first father’s day with us and it was wonderful to have them here. We spent time at the big park down the street and had some tasty BBQ chicken to celebrate Brad (and Greg) being a father.
Next to come visit is Brads middle brother Tim and his small family next weekend. It’s so nice to have people out to visit us and to see our share our new home.
After Tim and Kaley are here, my parents and grandmother will be out our way for a few days and will be spending the 4th of July with us. My father hasn’t met Owen yet, so I am excited to get pictures of my dad in his new role as a grandpa! ☺ I am also really eager to let my grandma hold her great grandson and make some fun memories.
Lots to look forward to and I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted through more blog posts!!
