People have been asking me the same questions a lot lately...if you're curious, maybe you'll find some answers :)
1. Are you breastfeeding? No. I can't.
2. Why can't you? Turns out it's a physical problem with me. My milk just doesn't flow. I get the milk in, and amazingly enough, I'm able to keep my supply up somehow, for a while... But it just won't come out the way it's supposed to. Balian would have been a fabulous nurser - too bad :(
3. so...are you pumping? Nope. I pumped about as much as I could stand it for about a week after stopping the whole nursing thing, when Balian was about 2 months. When I say "as much as I could stand it" - I'm meaning as much as I could without going crazy. When it takes about an hour to pump because the milk just doesn't flow, even when pumping, you kinda start entering loony-ville. After that week, I just pumped when it was convenient (morning and night) and supplemented the rest for about a month (which I was doing anyway before that). I finally stopped pumping when we got to Texas, in mid-December. So, Balian got breast milk for about 3 months. not exclusively, but hey - I see any amount is better than none. Especially when it's such a chore rather than a joy.
4. How is Balian sleeping? Well, he was a fabulous sleeper (going 10 hrs. at night before feeding and not waking up unless to feed) until the Beginning of January. Then, he started going all night (up to 13 hrs.) between feedings, but he'd wake up for various other reasons. The first reason was gas (apparently his body just didn't take to rice cereal well...even though we started slowly). we took him off the cereal and the gas wasn't the issue anymore... when he was waking up with gas, we would give him his binky when we put him back down to bed, and apparently, doing that so often, every time he woke, made him NEED the binky to go to sleep and stay asleep. So, he started waking when either the binky fell out, or when he would stir between sleep cycles and realize that it was gone. So, we got rid of it - immediately. He actually did amazingly well, and only woke up once and was easy to settle the first night. the next night however, he got the sniffles, and we've been battling that for the past week. Hopefully, after all of this is said and done, we'll be back to sleeping like normal people :)
However, nap times are pretty fabulous right now. He's on a 4-hr. routine during the day, taking 2 2-hr. naps and 1 catnap. I've regained a lot of sanity because of this :)
5. What is Neil doing now? He's working at the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant in Glen Rose, TX as a Mechanical Engineer
6. Does he like his new job? He's going through a lot of training right now, so it's been kinda tedious, but he likes it. we especially like the workweek - 3-day weekends every week? Sweet!
7. Is he doing reserves? Yes. He drills in Ft. Worth (about 45 min. away) once a month.
8. Where are y'all living? Pecan Plantation in Granbury, TX. It's an active Pecan Plantation and Deer reserve. Drive through our neighborhood, and you're bound to see over 100 deer at any given time, sitting quietly under the crazy amount of pecan trees. We love our neighborhood! Good roads for running/ biking, a playground about 2 minutes away, as well as a grocery store I can go to if I only need like 1 or 2 things right away that I forgot to get... it's wonderful!
9. Are you renting, or did you buy? We ended up buying. we got a really good deal on a fixer-upper house (aka "grandma's house"), which is what we wanted anyway.
10. Have you started home improvements? Yes... so far we've pulled up the carpet in the dining room, painted the dining room, pulled up the gross 1970's-looking tile in the entry-way, pulled off MOST of the wallpaper on a big wall in the living room, and started painting trim in the entry-way and living room.
11. Have y'all found a church yet? As of Sunday morning, YES! We're so excited! The first time we visited, we weren't so keen on it, but after we talked to the pastor and got some of our questions answered, we decided to try it out for a couple more weeks. They were in a transitional period because they had just lost their youth pastor/worship leader and were in the process of hiring 2 new people to cover those positions. We already liked the preaching of the Word. It's challenging, and solid. Then...this past Sunday was the first week that the new worship leader lead us in worship. yeah...I don't think my face was dry from the moment the music started. He's an African American who has a track-record for transforming all-white churches into multicultural churches. And I can see why. Amazing God-given giftedness used for the Kingdom. I felt at home. When I need some good gut-wrenching broken time with Jesus, I turn on Kirk Franklin - and this was just like that. The songs that were sung didn't matter. It's the atmosphere that is set - one that gives people a feeling of true freedom to worship their savior however they feel lead and not feel the least bit self-conscious about it. Seriously, tears were rolling from start to finish. I can't remember the last time that happened...
oh, and they have children's worship (not just Sunday school) during the adult worship time. Bella LOVES it!
12. How is Bella adjusting to the move? Fabulously. I think we've had to adjust more to having Balian around than moving. We're starting to get on a pretty good schedule though, so we're starting to do more and more of the "normal" things we were doing before. Balian is taking better naps now, so I'm getting more 1-on-1 time with her, which is always a good thing. Bella loves her new room and her new house and her new backyard. she's a happy kid.
13. Have you found any friends? I'm starting to. I've met the wives of some of Neil's co-workers that are also former Navy and seem to be pretty cool ladies. Also, while we were visiting a local church, I met a girl that lives in our neighborhood that is a mommy of 3 (one older one, one Bella's age, and one very new), loves running, and is just an over-all pretty neat lady. we've had rumors of play dates, and we seem to have a lot in common. I'm excited to get to know her and the other ladies better.
14. Still using cloth diapers? Of course! What's not to love about a baby with a ginormous rear-end? I actually fit right in here! a lot of the ladies I have met use them too :)
