Back to School

Yep, everyone knows it... back to school. Back to the grind. The END of summer. The END of free time. The END of fun. Danny hates school and it's too bad he has 3 years left. He's on his last round of undergrad classes and hopes to be ready to graduate by April, but probably won't be til August of 2011. Then he's working right now to apply for Grad school and hopes to stay here at BYU because it has a great program and a great professor in the Acoustics division, which is what he wants to do. If only we could find a way to really enjoy the journey, maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

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I finished my first week of working at home --- I'm a WAHM bam mom! I like to make myself feel good, can you tell? :) That stands for Work-At-Home-Mom (like Stay-At-Home-Mom) just in case you didn't get that. I actually feel really lucky even though it's only 20 hours a week. I do customer service for the same company I've worked for over the last 4 years. It's bittersweet doing customer service again, but definitely nice that I can get up at 6:15am and still get to work on time (6:30am!) Also, it's fun to come down the stairs in the morning or have Danny come in the room after my shift is over and there's Carson, as excited as ever to see me. No more commuting! Woo hoo.

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The job change also meant a change in insurance. BOO I really loved Select Health through my employer. I figured it out that we were only paying maybe $70 more a year to have that insurance, but since I'm only PT I don't qualify for it anymore. I bring this up because I took Carson to his 9 month checkup today. Lucky him, he didn't have any shots! That was nice. We also got a very nice Dr. I guess he's the Director or something. But I HATE BYU insurance. As nice as everyone is, it's stupid. Plain stupid. I hate hearing "...in order for us to keep premiums low, you don't get this, or this or this." I'm sorry, our premiums are NOT low. And we're simply paying for what??? None of Carson's immunizations will be covered...I'm not covered on any maternity insurance right now (not that I WANT to be anyway, but still -- I'm looking ahead for another 3 years down the road)... I still have yet to see what gets covered for prescriptions if anything. I miss my old insurance already. But hey, at least we left the office with a free diaper and a free book.



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As I said already, Carson is 9 months old today. 18 lbs 6.5 oz, 27.5 inches long and a head circumference of 46.5. That's 25th percentile for weight and height and 75th-90th(??) for his head. He's changed a lot because he used to be in the 90th and 75th for weight and height. So, I think that means that I'm not feeding him enough calories. If you ask me, he's perfect right now. But, I think the Dr. wants to see him a little fatter.
Right now Carson has no teeth, but I think he's going to break his bottom two this month (and the Dr. seemed to be on the same page). He's always chewing on his fingers or his hands.



Carson is getting very mobile VERY fast. Just last month he started scooting for the first time, and right now he's doing a very good army crawl. He's also trying real hard to pull himself up to stand and he loves to hang onto the ottomans we have in the living room. I saw him go from a standing position to a sitting just a couple times, and he's able to go from sitting to his tummy in seconds. I also have been "walking" him (by just holding his hands and letting him take the steps) and he is doing very well! We started barricading him into a space in the living room so he can't go mess with Daddy's electronics. But he's his father's son --- we won't be able to keep him away forever. You put him on the floor without having those blocked off and he goes STRAIGHT for them. In fact, I haven't had to say "no" to him until now. If he starts to play with them I tell him "no" and he looks back at me for a minute and then gets a smug little smile on his face and I can't keep a straight face anymore! It's hilarious. I'm gonna have to work on being more serious with no or he'll just think it's a game.

Carson is also finally sleeping through the night. I think it's been pretty consistent for the last week that we put him down between 7:30 and 9pm and he will sleep 12 hours. We're very excited about this, though it's frustrating to Danny at the moment because he's trying to figure out whether to stay up late and do homework or get up early and do homework. Either way he doesn't win because if he stays up, Carson wakes up before Danny's ready to get up; if he goes to bed early and gets up early to do homework, Carson is also ready to get up. And since I'm working I can't take care of Carson, so it falls on him. I wish it was easier, but I'm sure we'll figure something out that works. At least Carson is on a schedule we can work with.


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Last thought and I'm done for the day. I talked with my mom yesterday and I think I'm ready to start weaning myself from breastfeeding this month. She told me how proud she was of me that I pumped (exclusively) for 9 months - she doesn't remember being able to even breastfeed longer than that. I also met another mom the other night who has been pumping for 8. It's hard.. for sure! But, I'm glad I was able to do it for Carson. My original plan was to stop around 9 months because I had so much milk in the freezer I thought I could feed Carson up to a year off of it. But, such is not the case since I went to pumping only 3 times a day this summer. I've slowly been using the milk that has filled my freezer full, and the last time we took inventory I think there is only a month or a month and a half in there. So, I'll slowly stop pumping all of my milk, then go to 2 times a day and then to 1 and then be done I hope. I didn't want to have to buy formula, but my mom reminded me that WIC buys formula. Duh... what was I thinking. Plus, maybe the formula will help Carson plump up a little bit.

I'm excited but sad at the same time. I liked the feeling I got from providing this kind of support for Carson. But, I'm excited I don't have to be a slave to the clock anymore. 6:30am - wake up and pump. 3pm - oh crap, I need to pump again. 9:30pm - I'm ready for bed and I want to go to sleep but ugh, I have to pump again. When I went back to work in March I got myself on a schedule for 4 times a day and because I felt like a slave to the clock I thought I would be happier with 3 times a day... and it's nice don't get me wrong, but I'm still ready to be done. So, this means that once I'm done making milk I can go see the Dr about my face and finally do something about this severely inflamed skin problem called acne (see my previous post). Then maybe I have a chance of getting another part of my old body back, and we'll try to work on a few other things (though some things will sadly NEVER be the same). Time to go shopping for a new pickmeup bra, lol. Oh, and maybe one of those things that helps you fill out the back side of your jeans...


Thanks for reading!

Amanda X commented on "Back to School"

Sep 3, 2010

Hey! Sorry about your insurance! We just found out that none of our little boys immunizations are covered either. (thanks to a $900 bill) but you can get them done at the Health Dept in Provo. If your insurance doesn't cover them you are considered under insured and each shot there is only $13. Way better than the $100-$150 it is at the doctors office. Just an FYI. :)

Kendra and Caleb commented on "Back to School"

Sep 8, 2010

Hey your little guy is SO dang cute! I totally understand about pumping. I nurse Porter when I'm home but now that I'm at work full time I have to pump and it is not fun or easy. I hate it but it's what we gotta do right? Way to go for making it so far! you rock!

Rachel commented on "Back to School"

Sep 13, 2010

First of all, I think you are hilarious. What is this about some object that fills the backside of your jeans? 

Second of all, you are an awesome mom. Pumping is hard work. I exclusively pumped with Nate until 6 months and then switched to formula. Switching to formula changed my life. I really wanted to nurse him, but he just wouldn't have it. Having feedings take half the time was wonderful, but I'm glad I did pump for the same reasons you're glad you have been doing that for Carson.

Third, Carson is so stinkin' cute. Love him. You need to post pictures of him more. I can't believe how much he's changed and grown.

Fourth, in answer to your question on my blog: I feed Emi just about anything. We don't even do baby food anymore. She's actually really good at just gumming most things--bread, crackers, cereal, oatmeal, fruit, beans, well-cooked veggies like peas, corn, and sweet potatoes. You'd be surprised what they can gum. But the things for sure you'd need teeth to chew (like meat or hard fruits like apples, or raw veggies) I do what I call ABC food (Already Been Chewed). I chew it for her and then give it to her. Sounds gross, I know, but a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.
So there ya go, I hope that helps. Just make sure when you're giving them things to gum you give them SMALL pieces. I always break up or cut the food to small bite-sized pieces before giving it to her on her tray to reduce the risk of her chocking.