Monday, February 23, 2009

Watson at Five Weeks


Oh man, this kid is so cute it makes me sick. Not literally of course, but close enough. Everyday he gets bigger (almost 12.5 lbs) and cuter. Everyday he gets to be a little bit more of a person, and as his papa, it is very exciting. He smiles more now, and has even been known to smile AT people from time to time.
Basically, he makes everything that much better. This past weekend was spent running errands. Now that might not sound like fun, but when its with him and his mom, all of a sudden there is nothing I would rather be doing. Running errands was not all we did though, we also used that little bulb thing on his nose. Yes, that's right, I suctioned a big ol booger out of his nose, and it was very rewarding. Now he can breath a bit easier and I know its not the size of the nose but the size of the booger, it was HUGE.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

4 Week Picta


Watson on his 4 Week B Day.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

One Giant Boob

Well Brandon tried to shame me for not having blogged in here yet. It didn't work because I feel I have a pretty good excuse for not having the time to sit and write long winded posts about motherhood that people may or may not be interested in reading. I am living motherhood! I don't have that much time to ponder about it! But here I am, finally writing. Watson is asleep on my chest, wrapped in one of those Moby wraps. I had disregarded the Moby as overly complicated and annoying until yesterday when a friend and fellow mother encouraged me to give it a try. So I fished it out of the pile and did something novel. I read the instructions. The instructions with pictures that are very easy to follow and amazingly it worked! He's in it, snug and sound asleep in his favorite spot. Thank you Corry for the encouragement!

So anyway, I had been wanting to write sooner. The first couple of weeks with Watson were wonderful in many ways, except for one. Breastfeeding was about 100 times harder than I ever imagined it would be. Up until early last week, when we saw our lactation consultant for the third time, I was really frustrated and feeling scared that I'd never get it right. I was also just walking around feeling like one giant boob, like my only purpose in life was to have Watson permanently attached to one of my tits, and I imagined a life of doing nothing else but dragging him around at my chest, trying to make sure he was getting enough to eat! I was beginning to be obsessed with how much he was eating, making sure he was gaining enough weight, nursing for the right amount of time, etc, etc. It was consuming my mind, night and day. But magically, at that last appointment with our "milk fairy" (lactation consultant) Watson had gained quite a bit of weight and she confirmed he was getting a good amount of milk from both boobs. So I have since relaxed. Don't get me wrong, I'm still worried, but not as much. Considering the amount of poopy and peepee diapers I change, I have to assume that Watson is well fed. I no longer feel like I am a walking breast. I feel like I can branch out now and go back to doing and thinking about other things.

Well I guess that's all I got for now. Watson is stirring. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

-andi

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

First Day Back at Work

Yesterday was my first day back at work after three glorious weeks home with my family, it sucked! I knew it was going to suck as I was leaving the house and look in bed to give Andi and Watson a kiss goodbye. They looked so cute and peaceful laying side by side facing each other, I already missed them. I wish I could have put them in my pocket, or better yet, said fuck it and crawled right back in bed with them.

Alas, this is real life, not some fairy tale, so I sucked it up and went off to face my day. Work itself was more or less more of the same. The thing is, I actually really like where I work. I would give my actual job an 8 out of 10, but I would definitely give my place of work a 10 out of 10. There are great people, the culture of company is geared towards family, and they have always treated me well. No matter how much I like my job, it sucks not being with the two people I care about most in this world. Sucks, sucks, sucks! Basically I spent the entire day thinking about them and trying to wade through the multitude of emails eagerly awaiting my return. The emails were the easy part.

Finally, it is time to leave and I head home. When I get home I get back to what I love. I cook some dinner, hang with the fam a minute, clean up dinner, and low and behold its 8PM, time for bed. Again, this sucks. I know I am being a baby about this, and that millions upon millions of parents do the same thing. I get it, but it does not mean that I have to like it.

I'm sure we will get better with our nightly routine and I will have days where I get t0 spend more time with Andi and Watson, and let me tell you I am looking forward to those days. I thought I loved weekends before, but now that's my focus, make it to the weekend and the 48 hours I get to spend with those I love.

Brandon

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I Take Yo Picta




No more pictures please.




His first sponge bath at home.









Why so scared?




Finally, his umbilical cord has fallen off.


Monday, February 2, 2009


Our little man at two weeks.

The First Poop Accident…..

Now, I have friends with boys, and they have told me certain things. For instance, he WILL pee on you at some point; there is no two ways about it. Well, it has been two weeks and he has not peed on me yet. He has peed on himself though, right in his eye actually. For the tiniest fraction of a second I felt bad for not covering his wiener up when changing his diaper, then I quickly realized how hilarious it was. I laughed, and now I put a washcloth over his tackle when changing his diaper, because while it was funny, too much of anything is not a good thing.

But this is about poop not pee. I was sitting in the living room when I hear my wife scream. Instantly the fear grips me. Did she drop him on his head? Has he stopped breathing? I run back to his room to find my wife holding him in front of her like, well a baby that has crapped all over the place. It is EVERYWHERE! UP her shirt, DOWN her pants, on the floor. Because it was not me, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I’ve noticed that being a mom removes all modesty you had in life, and that was just another example. I would include a picture, but she was breastfeeding at the time and had one of her milk factories hanging out. Yes, I did take a picture before I helped her. My day is coming.

Brandon

Being a new Dad….

Is more than I could have possibly prepared myself for. It is more work, more worry, more joy and so much more love than I thought in my wildest dreams.

Our little man, Watson Kirby Rusk, was born just over two weeks ago at a whopping 10lbs 7oz, he is quite the big boy. We spent our first three days in the hospital, getting to know each other, and just trying to recover from the 18 laborfest that was to be his first mark on this world. In the end he came out looking beautiful and both his and his mom are healthy, mission #1 accomplished.

Once home the real story starts. No one tells you, but even if they did you would not believe, the amount of worry that goes into those first few days. Is he too hot, why is he breathing like that, is he eating enough, it’s enough to make you go mad. One night in particular felt like a bad trip with my wife and I having a joint emotional meltdown as we fretted over how little he was eating. At that point there was no consoling us, he was going to wither away in his sleep and die, that’s it! Well, the next day, we visit the lactation consultant and not only is he getting enough he has been putting on weight ahead of the average for a newborn. Not to say that information has made all of our fears go away, but it is something to get us through those nights when those fears try and take hold.

It has not been all worry though, it has also been the deepest joy imaginable. It’s amazing what can now make me face light up. After we first got him home, he went almost two days without making business (taking a poo). As the hours ticked by without a movement the worry built up. Finally he let loose! I was so proud. Yeah that’s right, my kid crapped all over himself and I was proud. Being a new dad is a crazy thing.

Every day that goes by he is a bit more alert, a bit more in control of his movements. Being able to watch this happen is awesome. I had no idea my entire world could become so focused, but it has, on my son.

Brandon