Liberated!

I'm finally finding that fresh air is not so difficult to come by. Yes, it's just in my backyard, but sometimes I go to bed at night and realize I never even went outside. Gross. And what a waste of putting SPF on my face every morning. I've been so proud of myself for spending so many (not all...but many) days taking it easy at home doing my full-time job of feeding the baby. But I've found that my limit is about 36 hours. On Friday afternoon, just as Dylan was doing some tax paperwork, I declared, "You've GOT to get me out of this house." Gavin had been making me crazy and we were all feeling cooped up. All it took was a short drive to the neighborhood park. Gavin and Dylan played with trucks, climbed the ladder and slid down the slide, and G2 and I hit the short little hike. I won't pretend that I broke a sweat or that it took me more than 25 minutes to do, but I felt glad to finally do something that was exercise-like. It was healing.

The next day, we loaded up our bikes and met the Jordans for a ride on the greenbelt and appetizers at The Vig. Gavin hitched a ride with Luke and Shawn, while Graham dominated our bike trailer. He was in his car seat, safely strapped into the buggy with bungee cords. #safetyfirst Unfortunately, my camera was packed too far away for me to take a picture, but I'm sure it won't be the last time we do this. Gavin and Luke looked so darn cute sitting side by side in their buggy, and it was so fun to watch them chase each other around the patio at the restaurant. Don't worry...it was like 3pm, so no other patrons were around for us to annoy. It was really cold, but felt so, so good to pedal a bike and be outside.

Yes, waking up at 4am will make you unusually tired in the middle of the day

1 month old!

Hiking selfie with Graham (he's under the hood). So bad at this.

Up the stairs, down the slide, over and over.

I told him to lay next to baby brother for a picture, which he interpreted as "Steamroll baby brother."

My aunt and uncle sent this turtle, which has turned out to be magical for sleeping (if the baby is on his tummy...yikes). #safetyfirst

My little runny-nosed stinker. He dislikes pants, but he can't go outside until they're on. It's a deal that seems to be working so far.

Balding at one month, just like his big bro!

And best of all, I finally dug out the breast pump. This happened a couple weeks earlier than I had anticipated, but I've served a month in newborn prison and figured enough is enough. They told me in the breastfeeding class that you shouldn't pump at all (or give formula, for that matter) for the first month-6 weeks because you shouldn't mess with the supply-demand system. I figured if I planned on breastfeeding, then I should do it right. So far, I've succeeded. But I want a glimmer of my old life back. I know things won't be the same for a long time, but if I can at least escape for a couple hours every so often, I think it will do wonders for my mental health. I was never cut out to sit very still. For one second the other day, I even found myself yearning to get up early and leave the house to go to work and be productive, in the income-earning sense of the word.

So that is the status of things around here. Gavin's behavior has maybe improved just a smidge, so that is a relief. He and Dylan have been hanging out at 4am the past few mornings now that he's discovered getting out of bed whenever he feels like it. I have the "OK to Wake" clock on my shopping list, but he definitely knows this is a no-no and hopefully the novelty of it will be over soon. I came down with a cold, and the last two nights of sleep have been some of the worst, so I don't see myself kicking it any time soon. Now that the sore throat part is behind me, I don't think it will be any big deal. The Cardinals won, the Seahawks lost, and we're looking forward to another week of doing what we do.