Winter 2011

Yesterday started our first day of Winter Semester 2011. Mitch and I are both on-track for this semester (our school has a three-semester calendar that runs year-round; each semester is called a "track." You are "on-track" two out of three semesters, and "off-track" during the third). Mitch is on-track during the Winter and Spring tracks and I am on-track Fall and Winter. So, this is the semester that we are both on-track, although Mitch went full-time last semester as well.

I don't like school. I can't wait to be done. Mitch is much better at school than I am. We both struggle with crazy due dates around midterms, finals, etc., but he loves learning much more than I do. I guess that's why he's the one going to grad school next and I'm the one who's DONE after my bachelor's degree!

I am taking two classes online so I can try to work our little man towards a more concrete schedule. It's much harder to be home balancing even just two classes and a baby than I thought it would be! I wish he would sleep more soundly during the day. I already feel so overwhelmed! I need to cash in on the several babysitting offers i've gotten from friends and family.

I also feel like going to school with a little one is the best thing for me, but not for him. This has been a real emotional struggle for me that i'm trying to get over because I know i'm doing the right thing.

On a more positive note, we are incredibly blessed. We have family and friends that support our getting degrees, a perfect little boy to love on all day, and we can still afford to go to school. Because our school is run by our church and is a private school, the church is able to take care of a lot of the expenses that we'd be responsible for at a state college. We are paying very little, and are working hard to remember how blessed we are and what a great opportunity for education this is.

I hope this post wasn't too much of a downer! I had so many thoughts floating around in my head. This is about the closest I've kept to a journal, so I want to take time to write when it strikes me. Now my favorite picture of Nathan, for the moment at least! :o)

Resoluting....

...is that a word? I guess it'd be resolving. Oh well, it got the attention of anyone who saw this on their Blogger Dashboard :o)

I never really make New Year's Resolutions. Never really have. I used to make the same resolution, "get better grades." But then I realized it's more effective if I just resolve to do that all along. See, my new year's resolutions usually have failed by about mid-February. It's like Pam trying to save up her vacation days at the start of a new year on The Office. She usually makes it about that far.

So, while my brother-in-law's girlfriend Sarah is rocking my cranky son, I think i'll jot down a few resolutions. Just goals that have popped into my mind after reading everyone else's resolutions:

1) Don't get pregnant again. We've ensured this won't happen, but there's always an off-chance. I don't know what I would do with another baby. After 8 weeks of trying to figure out this whole parenting thing, I don't know how people deal with more than one! We're not even TALKING about another baby for at least a year. I'm young. I've got school. We've got time to wait!

2) Complete a year's worth of credits towards my Bachelor's Degree. I have no idea how this will happen, considering i'm only taking 4 credits this semester. I'm hoping to make up for it by going this Spring semester (April-July), my usual semester off. I've only had one semester off in the six semesters i've been going to school, so i'm used to it!

Speaking of #1, Nathan just started bawling. I don't know how long my "help" is going to want to stick around!

3) Learn more about photography. I may not have an amazing SLR camera, but I know my amazing point-and-shoot can do a heck of a lot more than I'm using it to do. I want to learn more about things like framing and the details that make a good picture. That way, one day when I have a good camera i'll know how to use it and not just put it to waste.

4) Re-vamp our apartment. We tend to keep things. It tends to look like we do. We purge things all the time, but we use most of it just enough to make it worth keeping. That's an issue. Especially in our apartment where we have virtually no storage. Since all my credits are online and it'll be just me and the boy all day, I want to get things done at home. Even just one project would make me happy!

Well, that's it. Four. For someone who doesn't "resolute" around the new years, that's pretty good, right? It also kind of coincides with the "new goals for a new semester" routine that Mitch and I have. New goals, new budget, usually new priorities to save for.

Happy New Year's! Thanks to Nathan we'll both be up to see 2011 come in!

Update Pending...

Yes, i'll put up pictures. Yes, i'll tell about our Christmas. Yes, i'll update this blog one day.

...but for now, i'm enjoying every minute I can get with my husband's family in Wyoming, so you'll all (you know, all four of you that read this...) have to wait till i'm back at my computer where I can upload pictures! :o)

We had a fabulous Christmas and I can't wait to tell all about it!

PS--Nathan totally giggled at me (intentionally, not his "sleep giggle") on Tuesday night. It might be the cutest thing I have ever, ever seen!

:o)

Nathan started smiling on Saturday, the day before we headed to Gillette.

I have to tell you, it's the most rewarding thing ever. I spend hours smiling at him and making faces, and he finally returns the friendly faces! I love his sweet baby smiles! We're trying to catch as many of them on camera as we can. I'll put a collage up once I have a few! :o)

His smiles are making me fall in love with him all over. I love when he breaks out into a big, cheesy grin. It's one of my favorite parts of the day, and makes all of his screams at night worth it.

The other night, Nathan screamed and screamed and we couldn't do a thing about it. We were worried about waking people in the Dooley house up and were just so sad because our little man sounded so, well, pathetic and miserable! Then he settled down for a minute and smiled a HUGE grin at Mitch. He said it almost made up for the 30-45 minutes of screaming!

I just had to document our little milestone :o)

Merry Christmas! I hope you take the time to remember the true meaning for this holiday, and the real reason for celebrating! That has my goal for this season. Right now I am counting my blessings and taking time to love the life Mitch and I have made for each other.

I am especially thanking the Lord for protecting our friends, Stephanie and Nathan Cross, who rolled their Explorer and shouldn't have lived, but did, with just minor injuries.

For documentation's sake

Again, since I don't journal...this post is mostly for me :o)


Our sweet little boy, who has taken over every aspect of our lives (which is how it should be, right!?) was playing in his room tonight. He loves to lay on the rug on the floor and look at all the bright colors.

(I know, I still haven't put pictures up of his room...I have one more Cricut project and then i'm done!)

Anyway, he was playing and I picked him up, rocked him in our rocker and he started staring at me. I love how he'll pay attention to faces now! I started smiling at him and he smiled RIGHT BACK! He's never smiled intentionally at anyone! He smiled and stopped, and smiled and stopped, for about 3 minutes. It was the best! I told Mitch to run in with the camera, but i'd misplaced it, AND left it on video. So, now we have an awkward video of me telling him to stop recording and Nathan making a confused face because I stopped playing the smile game.

This picture that we took over Thanksgiving, that most people would think was intentional, was purely coincidental, and it's amazing we caught it in a picture!

This totally makes all the late-night/early-morning feedings worth it.

Oh, and also, we used gripe water for the first time last night. I do believe I owe the company thousands of dollars for the wonderful, tummy pain-free night we all had last night! Nathan slept great, and so did we!

Happy Birthday to Mitch!

Thursday, December 2nd was Mitch's 24th birthday. He and Nathan are 23 years, 11 months apart. Mitch and his dad are also 24 years apart, which is pretty cool!

Mitch has worked very, very hard in school this semester. His GPA has gone up and he is loving his new major. So, since the semester is wrapping up in a week or two, I thought let his present be something that would also reward him for the hard work.

He was insanely jealous last year when all his siblings got Wii's for Christmas and we didn't. We both wanted to improve our grades, and we thought a game console wasn't the way to do that.

I did a bit of research and, with the help of his brother, discovered that an original Xbox is what his heart most desired :o) So, I found one, complete with wireless controllers, a dvd remote, and a free game thrown in. There's a store in town where he can buy pretty much any Xbox game at a rock bottom price, so he's going to enjoy that as well!

His parents will be pleased to know that we have set time limits and restrictions on when and how long he can play. We've set up parameters that will still allow him to be productive, while still enjoying his gift!

I got a video of him opening it. Mind you, he convinced me to let him open it a day early. I agreed b/c Thursday, his actual birthday, is his busiest day of the week, and I wanted him to enjoy it. He wouldn't let me wrap it, either, saying it was pointless to wrap it and bring it out so he could unwrap it. Okay, I kinda see his point! I was able to keep it a surprise--woo hoo!

You'll have to listen for my "Michael Scott" moment. I tend to misspeak as often as Michael Scott from the Office does ("oh, how the turn tables..." "the early worm gets the worm..." "Afganistinanis with AIDS", etc.). Most of the people that know me well enough know what i'm trying to say, so I usually don't notice. This video features a "let the record be known..."

yep, "let the record show" and "let it be known."
It's hard to believe English is my native language sometimes!

I love you, Mitch, and I'm so grateful for everything you've done for our family! I never knew husbands could be this much of a help, and that a guy who never babysat could know so much about babies! Thank you for helping me keep my emotions in check during this "fun" hormone transition, and for being such a wonderful husband, father, and provider for our family!

I'm one month old!

Isn't that crazy!?

As of yesterday, December 2nd, which was also Mitch's 24th birthday, our tiny little man has been with us for a whole month! We don't know where the time has gone!

Just to document, since I'm terrible at journaling, here's a little bit about our sweet Nathan at one month old:

Nathan likes:
cuddling
eating
(the lact. consultant says he eats like he's 2 or 3 months old; this is when he was a week old!)
focusing on things, people and faces
being swaddled at night
keeping his parents on their toes as to how much he'll sleep
bath time, especially with lavender bedtime bath
pulling 3928658 different faces that entertain us all
being held
being read to
(I never knew how much he'd pay attention to "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" until I tried it!)
taking walks around the house to focus on things
our black and white bathroom
his colorful room
the black and white paintings above our couch

This month, Nathan has learned:
how to focus on people's faces and follow them around the room
how to get his diaper changed without acting like it's the end of his little world
how fun bath time is, and how when mom takes you out, there's always a towel to keep you warm
how to mimic faces
how to hold his binkie in his mouth
(we're still working on that one...)
how to hold his head up, only bobbling around when he's very tired
the signal that food is coming, and which direction to turn his head
(mom puts a burp cloth under his chin & over his shoulder, on the side he's going to eat on, so he doesn't drool all over [we're messy eaters in our house, I guess!])

Nathan's favorite:
way to nap during the day:
(on his tummy, laying over our dear friend, the Boppy pillow, and always laying on his hands. He's such a good tummy sleeper, too bad he's only allowed to sleep on his tummy when I'm awake!)

time of day:
bath time!
A tired baby at the end of the day + bedtime bath = a very relaxed little one who occasionally falls asleep in the bath!

way to sleep at night:
in his swaddler, on his tummy if we'd let him.
(Why the little wedges around him? Because this little booger likes to roll. A lot. In the swaddler, he ends up on his face and can't do anything about it because he's temporarily without arms. It didn't take us long to figure this out!)
Sorry for the bad picture; I added fill light b/c I took it at night and the picture was way too dark!

favorite toy:
(yes, he already has one!)
any burp cloth he can get his hands on. He loves to rub them all over his face and keep them clenched in his hands. This is probably because we use them when he eats to keep us both dry, so they always smell like milk! Good thing we have about a billion, and he's not picky about which one he's holding!

However, MY favorite time of day is:
our last little cuddle after I burp him, before I put him down for the first time at night. It's a great way for me to relax and get into "nighttime mode," which may or may not include sleep. I love that our little man is such a cuddler. I guess both his parents are, so it's in the genes, right?
(again, sorry for the bad picture...dim lighting!)

We love you, Nathan Patrick! We can't believe it's been a month already!

And because I can never stop taking pictures, here are a few more of our favorites!
(We're also taking a family picture for our Christmas card this weekend! Get excited!)