A New Life

I've been at Notre Dame for a week now and honestly I feel like I haven't got anything done. This blog will get done though!

Here is a quick recap of life at South Bend.
-went to 2 BBQs.

One was with a bunch of psychology grad students who didn't know how to handle a baby in their company. We really are the minority here, being a married couple with a child all by our own choice. The second BBQ was hosted by our ward. There were plenty of children there and lots of fun.

-went to church and pumped!

As we were about to pack Linc into his carseat his pump starting going off "No Flow" that means there was a block that we needed to find. Thus we had to replace his tube, clear it out and then tape it all back on. We arrived at church just in time for the last 10 minutes of sacrament. I spent those minutes plus a couple more in the mother's room pumping. It was an interesting experience but a good one. The mother's room is the social room of the ward. When I went in there were already 2 women nursing. We had a nice chat and they finished up and left. As they left another young mom came in with her baby. After a very high stress morning to spend those 20 minutes in a quite room chatting with the ward members really helped calm me down. I have a feeling that I am going to make a lot of good friends in this ward.
That night a family invited us over for dinner. He is doing his residency at the local hospital and she is a former teacher. They have two very rambunctious boys and a cute chubby baby. They were very helpful and friendly. The boys were very excited to show me all their spiders and bugs they had found. It made me realize that I might not be ready to have my own little mancub. I'm glad I get a year or three to prepare for that aspect of motherhood.

-tried to unpack the apartment

This I feel is a never ending process. As soon as I empty one box there are 20 more to go. The other downside is our little apartment has little room for storage so we've had to purchase a few items to help us organize our stuff.

-Linc has started smiling

He still hasn't figured it out completely but he is definitely working on it. Sometimes I get a great big smile sometimes its only one side of his cute mouth but he is smiling in response to the silly things Ryan and I are doing to coax them out of him. I've tried several times to get them on film but it hasn't happened yet. We'll keep working on it.

-Linc is focusing more

I will catch this little man just staring me down from across the room. He also is starting to just look around and be content on his playmat.



-started cloth diapering

I am in love with cloth diapers. The only stinky part is emptying the bag into the washing machine. The rest of it really isn't stinky at all. I love how I don't feel like I'm wasting diapers when he decides to dirty one right after a diaper change. They are also freaking adorable on his little bum. Ryan has become a pro at it as well. I think I'll start being one of those annoying people who always advocates for cloth. Its worth the mess and the stinky for me if I don't have to spend the money down the road.

-got in my first cardio workout

Our complex has a ton of little amenities. Nothing fancy but it all works. They have a room with a couple treadmills, an elliptical and some other work out gear.  I have been dying to get on the weight loss bandwagon since I hit my highest weight during pregnancy. So after dinner one night Ryan watched Linc while I did a low impact 30 minute workout. I'm still scared to put on a sports bra or any other tight restrictive article so I just did a very quick paced walk. It felt so good to put my muscles to work.

-had my first sick day

Yesterday I was sicker then a dog. I woke up for my midnight pump barely able to walk to the front room where I pump. I went back to sleep only to be woken up by a pounding headache. I spent the whole day going from burning up to freezing cold with a headache and lots of other achy parts. I could barely function. Lucky for me Ryan only had one class so he stayed home and took care of Linc while I slept. He went to his class and Linc and I both slept the whole time. After drinking plenty of fluids and taking my share of advil I am feeling a lot better today. Not 100% but I can take care of my own.

-Linc went to his first doctors appointment here

Yesterday Ryan and Linc went to the local hospital for Linc's first assessment here in South Bend. We originally had an appointment with our pediatrician on campus in a couple weeks but they don't deal with feeding tubes so they sent us to the hospital. This caused some major chaos in our insurance but the doctors and office staff were very helpful. Wish we could say the same for the Notre Dame end of it. Ryan was not a very happy man yesterday. He still bristles when anyone brings up insurance. Insurance is and has always been a nightmare. Hopefully we can get it all figured out soon and then never deal with it again.

All in all I guess I have got a lot done. It just hasn't been visual until it was in writing.

Lincoln all bundled up ready for take off. We scored on the flight out there. It was fairly empty, most everyone got any empty seat next to them. Lincoln was great during the flight. The girls behind us not so much. ;) 

I love waking up to this little face. He is getting so big!