Al Rolls over... this aint his first rodeo

He is a pro now. He has only rolled back over (from front to back) about 3 times and each were completely by accident and shocked him so much he almost cried. :( But, I have confidence that he will master that move soon!

Merry Christmas to All

Beau and Al opening Christmas stocking from Grandma and Grandpa... we didnt win the lottery this year.

I love my keys... now all I need is a car

"My toys are the coolest!... thanks Aunt Le Le"

This Christmas thing is too much... can a little guy get a nap around here!

Breakfast with Santa

We had to do the proverbial picture with Santa, so we opted to have breakfast included and do it at the MAC; afterall, we are the Reinbergs. Al didnt seem to care much either way; beard, big red suit, eh whatever. We attempted at a family picture as well and this was the best we could do. Merry Christmas!!

The rolling blues

So, since he has now mastered the incredibly difficult task of rolling from back to front, he, of course, wants to do it all the time... practice makes perfect is what he tells me. However, when trying to sleep this is not such an amaizing thing. (especiaaly when he cannot roll back over, and he HATES being on his tummy) He is now waking up in the middle of the night pissed off bc he is on his belly! haha. Fun for mommy!
Hopefully rolling the other way will come soon!

He rolled over!

Yeay, we have accomplished another feat! Great granny sent him this hilarious dancing santa and she said it was to entice him to roll over (back to front). So, last night I was sitting there and put it slightly to the left above his head and with much effort he finally rolled over and got it!! So awesome. Here he is asking santa for some figgy pudding for xmas (forget rice cereal :))

He woke up this morning fighting mad bc he had rolled over onto his stomach and couldnt figure out how to get back so his head was bobbing up and down ferociously... so funny.

Sweet Sleep

I got 7 straight hours of sleep last night!!!!!!!!! You do not even know how good it feels to get consecutive hours of sleep. Its like a fog has been lifted and I drink my morning coffee with a little less desperation. :)

He actually slept for 8 hours straight, which is awesome. But, we will see how tonight is. He still doesnt really want to go down for the night until around 10, and I cannot change that... too much work when I dont have control of his daytime nap schedule. Oh well, he will live.

He still loves his cereal, and we are going to try sweet potatoes tonight! I am so excited about him eating, you dont even know!

A

Break me off a piece of that...I'm Hungry!

Al had rice cereal for the first time today! He did pretty well, and despite the dirty looks, I think he liked it. I actually tasted it too... not bad.

Big Ole Baby

Al went to the Dr. on Friday and he weighs 14lb 2.5 oz (<50th%) and 26 in (75-90th%).... long and lean. The Dr. said " well that is pretty predictable... then he looks at me and says... you're thin, and he (pointing at Beau) is tall" Beau was like... "what does that mean about my weight?!"..haha
He also has an ear infection, which could be why he has been waking up every 2-3 hours at night! Poor baby. He had shots too, and then ran temps on Friday and Sat.. so sad.

White Noise

So, we put a box fan facing out, in Al's room and it is wonderful. It drownds out the noise and I think it is helping him sleep... and he has slept 2 nights now without nursing (yeay 12 hours!). So now we are just needing him to not wake up. :)

He is going to be around 7 or so and then he either wakes up 30 min or 2 hours later, just fussing. So I rock him back to sleep with binky. Then he sleeps until about 3 or 4 and I rock him back to sleep. No big deal, but I am just so anxious for him to make it all the way through the night! Seriously, this girls needs some straight uninterrupted sleep. Although, I will say, Beau is very good about getting up and rocking him for me now. Thanks honey.

I also gave him a snuggle blanket last night and he loved it! It gave him something to do with his hands so they werent flailing around. (Thanks Winnie, I stole that idea from you)

Praying for sleep....
A

Giving Up

I cant take it. Am I putting him to sleep too early? Am I making him STAY asleep too early? He is tired at about 6:30 or 7, but then last night woke up about an hour later... cried for 30 minutes, went to sleep for 15 miniutes, cried for 30 minutes, woke up at 9 and was just talking and jabbering like he had gotten 8 hours of sleep! I felt so bad just leaving him in there talking to himself (especially since I dont see him all day long) that I went in there and just talked to him while he was in bed for about 20 minutes. He finally fell asleep again by 10:30pm. Ahhh. I just want an answer. I think I am going to see if I can make him take a nap at 5 and then not go to bed until about 8 or so. We will see. I hate this.

What is the deal little Al?!

So I powered through Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby, thank you Abbey (and Cary for giving me the book). I hate that he is always saying dramatic things like... "your baby will become an obese insomniac if he doesnt get enough sleep as a child" ... so I just skip those rediculous sentences. Other than that, I like the book. I was hoping to have a later bed time for Al, but with me working and having to wake him up at 6:30 every morning, he really needs to go down by 7. SO that is what we are doing. I bathe him or read to him and put his jammies on and then surprisingly he falls asleep around 7 or a little after. HOWEVER, he is waking up about 20 minutes later and fussing for about 2 hours! Seriously, it is like he knows that we are now trying to put him down for the night (as opposed to letting him wake up and play until 11pm) and is just fighting it. He is so tired though. Its not like he is awake and happy, he is awake and exhausted. So we comfort him when the crying gets really loud, but other than that we are trying to let him cry it out. It is so hard, but I know this is the best thing for him. He needs to sleep,... and so do I!

But wait... there's more.

We cant leave out Al and Gigi. Al loves his Gigi, but he's not so sure about the hat she bought him.

Oh yes, and then there was Thanksgiving..week

I love this thing called a hand.

I can look like a turkey too!

I found my thumb!

Papa is so comfy.

Al and Aunt Kristi in a talk off...

Al and I went to nana and papa's and then to gigi and popi's and saw all the family in between. No wonder he isnt sleeping. He had stimulation to last a lifetime.

Sleep... what sleep?

Albert thinks sleeping is for the birds. (Except for last night when he slept beautifully for 13 hours, not straight, but 13 hours none the less). We are on a horrible schedule of taking about 5 cat naps during the day and going to bed at midnight. I can deal when I am on vacation at my parents house, but when I have to get up at 6:30 and go to work, um no thank you. I am on a book boycott, but I am thinking i may give in and take up sleep theory 101. I mean how do you get him to go to sleep when his is jabbering away at 11pm like he has had a full nights rest. I hate leaving him in his crib talking to himself when I havent seen him all day. I dont know what to do. This better get better soon. (or maybe we'll get some teeth and the problem will be solved)! I swear I see nubs.

I love babies!

Beau teaching Al the beauty of relaxation... they are starting to look alike.

It is so great that all of my friends seem to be having babies at the same time! Not sure if i mentioned it or not, but Becca (my friend and roomate from college) is pregnant also! And, Abby found out last week that Al and Jackson will be getting a little girlfriend to play with! yeay.

Last night Abby, Cuevas, and I got together with our awesome old friend Abbey Marsh(now Matz). She brought her little boy Harrison over for our reunion and we has such a good time. We probably havent seen Abbey since we left college 4 years ago, so we had a lot of catching up to do and I hope we continue to get together more often from no on.

I also love babies when they sleep through the night... Al slept for 8 & 9 hours two nights in a row this weekend! But now he is back to waking up every 3 hours bc he has a cold and his nose is so stuffy, poor guy. The woes of daycare I guess. Life goes on!

Work is crazy busy this week, but I love it. I sometimes cant believe I am actually getting paid to do what I do... really.

Have a great week everyone!

A

Responsibility

There is a huge sense of responsibility that comes with being the mother of a child. It is crazy sometimes how different fathers opperate. Beau and I went to an auction (which was really super fun) on Saturday with a couple friend of ours. We were drinking and having a great time and around 10, mind you we started at 5, I needed to pump and I kept thinking... "When I get home at midnight Al will be up two hours later to eat... I should probably stop drinking". Beau, on the other hand, had no such thoughts. Not that he doesnt love Al, but I just dont think men think about children in the same way. He could have stayed out all night.
Oh well, I accept. I do think to myself though, am I ever going to be able to relax enough to drink and have a good time when I go out, or am I always going to feel like this. I think he will have to be staying at Grandma's house before I could feel that way. I know as he gets older it will get better, but man this weekend it just hit me like a rock really.
I have been so bad about taking pictures lately... I will post some soon!

Back to Work

SO I left this morning and I didnt cry. I used up all my cry tickets last night. I am just glad it is such a nice day outside... that always makes life more happy. I did call grandma around 12 for an update and I could hear Al in the background; that was a little sad, but no tears. I think I just have the mind set that this is the way it is going to be so I need to see the positive side of things. He will be able to have early social interaction at day care and he gets to bond with grandma on Mondays. I still am able to feed him before I leave for work so that works out great and I got a whole hour with his cute smiling face this morning. My only fear right now is that he wont prefer me or know that I am his mom... I know this wont happen, but you can never be sure. I just tell myself that my mom always worked and I was attached to her hip inspite of it. So, life is good...rolling with the punches.

A

Watch out...There's a Moose on the Loose

Cary gave us this hat because Winnie has one and it is said to have secret "happy" powers. It's working so far...

Bonfire and Baptism weekend...

Almost the perfect family picture... except Al looks like he grew a fang.

On Sunday our baby got Baptised at the Old Cathedral and he did so good. The weekend was so much fun and I am so glad that the fam came in to share in the good times!

Abby, Cuevas, Tyson and Sister all came to see him blessed.

Dad, Carlene, Kristi and Granny all came to town to share in our fun events this weekend. The Bonfire was a blast. There were so many people and everyone has babies (or toddlers) and many are pregers again, crazy. This one was a very different scene from the first event that no one can really recollect due to our friend Anheuser Busch. haha.
Cuevas and Abby came also and brought my old friend Callie, who I havent seen in years... we lived together in college! So fun to see her and we were back to our ould antics in no time; senior pictures and all. At one point I believe I looked up and thought, oh gosh, I have a son, I should go and check on him. Oops.
He was pretty good. We dressed him as a pumpkin, which he didnt really care for, but these are the things hat you do to make your parents happy. Starts early kids.

Hunter is keeping Al in check... he is used to all the pictures by now.

Papa is teaching Al how to make REAL Texas chili.

A

Stubborn

Um... still working. No luck for Cary yesterday...No luck for Beau last night. We will try again today. However, all of this screaming has made him sleep very well. There's a positive for you.

A

Woes be gone!

The Reinberg family finally has a working internet; thanks to our brilliant neighbor Jason who could probably build a computer in his sleep. Woohoo.
There is one woe however that has just begun with no clear end in sight and that is that Al will not take a bottle. He DID take a bottle up until last weekend, and now something has happened...great, right before I have to go back to work. He cried for 1 hour (excuse me did I say cry?, I meant scream) while I tried to give him a bottle yesterday. I finally gave up and let him nurse. I mean the little guy had tears streaming down his face. Horrible.
Today Cary is coming over and she is going to attempt. This has to work. I have purchased every bottle that is sold in the babys rus mega market and none have worked so far, so I am just picking the one that I want to work... Playtex drop in's with orthodontic nipples. This one had great luck with Hunter and he was really stubborn, so we will see what Al thinks. Results to come...

Baby and the Bumbo

Um...are you serious?

Ok, fine. I am pretty cute in here afterall.

Oooh good time for a poo...
Ahhh... get me out of here! I am finished!!
I love this chair. Period.

Shots...boooo

So Albert, like many babies that have come before him, hates shots. As do I. It was the saddest day of his life, thus far. He ran a temp all day and cried the most awful, mom you are so mean to me, cry. I am not kidding. He was definitely in pain. Thank goodness for Tylenol.
I hate shots.
But happy baby is back today! Yeay.
The good news is that Al now weighs 11lb 6oz and is 24 1/4 inches long! That is the 50th and 75th percentiles respectively. Long an lean... thats my boy. He's gonna be a heart breaker!

Aa

No Pictures

So, my internet wont stay connected long enoughto download pictures this week. And, Andy this is all your fault... if you're not more careful taking care of our complaints we may just move out! ;)

The boy is currently sleeping, surprise, surprise. He was so awake until the past couple of days...my sleepy baby is back! He is sleeping with his head forward though instead of to the side so that is good progress, i suppose. Oh the little things in life. haha
Beau and I are going to WI to see Beau's fantastic aunt Elaine and Phil. I cant wait. We are going to do nothing, and have so much fun!

Aa

The Bumbo Plunge

Ok, so I tried to avoid it.... all of this baby gear nonsense; especially since all "stuff" is exposed in our loft. BUT, baby needs a Bumbo seat. I am now thinking he needs some back and neck strengthening exercises, and I am bored of tummy time. Ill let you know how it goes. Pictures to come.
A

Its been too long...

Since i am still home on maternity leave, I have to use my home internet which never works... except for today of course! Finally. My baby is getting so big! He weighed 8 lb 13oz at his 1 month apt, which was 5 weeks ago... so he is about 11 or 12lb now, crazy. He looks different every week.
He has been such a good baby, i feel so lucky. He doesnt usually cry for long periods of time, only when he is hungry or tired... not even if he has a full diaper, seriously, I think he likes it. He is awake about 4-5 hours of the day now, and is even starting to stay awake in the car for about 10 minutes... I know all of these things are boring, but so amaizing when it is your child. Weird.
So, being off work is AWESOME! I love it and would continue if it werent for a thing called money. haha. No, I do miss my job, but I just love being around to see all of the new accomplishments Al makes everyday. He started smiling purposefully at week 7, which is the best!
We found out Cuevas is having a boy! SO Al will have another playmate... just waiting to see what Abby is having now! Winnie and Al are having so much fun together. Well, really it is Cary and I that are enjoying all the good times. The kids are more along for the ride at this point. We get together and go to lunch, go for walks, and just hang out several times a week. It is so great to have such a wonderful neighbor.
Al and I went to TX last week and were gone for 6 days... dad was not happy. While we were there Al started sleeping 5-7 hpurs at night, which is fantastic! Im telling you, he is perfect. :)
I am officially making my mom's title, GiGi, Im putting my foot down... no more indecision!
Al and I are going to decorate for Halloween this week and by some new nail polish from the new OPI line; very exciting!! I love this life!


Winne and Al- Week 5

Al's favorite position

Week 7

Al is starting to look more like Dad with his eyes open!

He loves the bath!

He is Here!!

Wow, it has been a while... and man has our life changed! For the better of course. :)

Albert Joseph Reinberg was born at 1:19am on August 9th. (He didnt want to compete with all those Olympians on the 8th..haha) He was 19.5 inches long and weighed 6lb 4oz. He has a massive cone head bc he was so far down in the birth canal while I was stalled out in my contractions!

What happened...

First of all, I could NOT wait to have this baby. I was miserable. I had been sleeping on the couch for weeks bc I needed to be upright to get comfortable. I am telling you, I dont miss being pregnant at all right now. So, Thursday night (the 7th) I started having regular contractions again. So naturally, I started cleaning the house and then Beau and I went on a 3 hour walk... I mean, I wanted this baby out! We went to the hospital at 11pm and I was so upset bc I was still only dilated to a 2 and 50 % effaced!! Ahhh.

We went home, slept (somewhat well actually... a blessing from God), and went to work the next day. My water broke at 9am on Friday and I was elated to say the least. Mariella, a girl that works with me, brought me to the hospital and Beau met me there with our bags. Al was finally going to come for sure! I was dilating just fine and got to a 4 1/2 and then stalled out. At 3 they came in and told me I need to get the show on the rode since my water had broken. I was at a higher risk for infection the longer the baby stayed in there. So they wanted to start Pitosin, which totally freaked me out and made me upset. I really wanted to have this baby naturally and I was so afraid the ptosin would be unbearable. But, I said they could start it anyway... didnt want to risk infection to the baby. Man... I the early labor contractions are NOTHING lik active labor contractions! Holy cow. I thought I was going to die... literally. I think I said those very words about a thousand times. At 10pm I had still only dilated to a 6 1/2 and they said I could be in this pain for another 10 hours if I couldnt relax in between contractions. (RELAX!, are you kidding me... I felt like I was on a bad rollercoaster, just waiting for the next drop). Finally at 11, I got an epidural... wow, I thought the sky opened up and the heavens were shining down on me; it felt so good.

I dilaed, effaced and pushed the baby out in 2 hours after the epidural... piece of cake.

He is adorable. I just want to snuggle with him all day. The hospital stay was so nice.. all those people doting on you and making sure you are doing ok. Sometimes I would like to go back, just for a night. haha

He is doing so well now. And, I am so lucky bc I feel great and have felt great since the day after he was born. I am up and moving with minimal pain and he is a champion breast feeder. I couldnt have asked for a better senario. Beau has been so helpful, and since he only works a couple of blocks away, Al and I walk down to see him periodically, which is nice. I am getting used to this being off work, though I am not sure if I could do it all the time. I think part- time would be perfect... but we dont live in a perfect world now do we... :)

Al had gained 3oz at his first Dr.apt last week and we go back this week to make sure he is still gaining. We'll let you know how it goes! Grandma Leslie is coming in tomorrow and will be here for a week!! Nana and Papa are coming over labor day wih Great Granny Marak... we cant wait to see all of them!

Still Chillin'

Baby Al is still in belly. Oh my gosh, I am going to be pregnant forever! I am not in pain anymore though, which is good. That went away around Sunday afternoon. Today was my first day back to work since last Tuesday and I feel good. I got the okay from the Dr. yesterday and I am on a mission to go back into labor. ( I know, you say... enjoy my last moments of freedom... but I am so anxious to have this baby, I cant help it!) I am going on a walk after work and every day after this one just to make myself go into labor quicker. Ill let you know if I am successful.

This weekend was so fun though, despite being somewhat bed bound. My mom and Leah came in on Friday and then on Saturday morning I got a huge surprise... Shelly and her 7mo old baby, Koen, surprised me and came to visit. So great!! Beau flew them in and has been planning this since early June, how sweet is he. I hadnt seen Shelly in like 3 months and Koen is growing up so fast. I cant tell you how surprised I was! Koen got to try out all of Al's equipment... bed was really comfy he said, toys tasted really good and the blankets sure were soft. He approves.

Mom painted the rest of my house and rearranged the baby room and some pictures to make the house more cozy. All 6 of us spent Friday through Wednesday nesting for me! I cant say I was always the most pleasant person to be around as my emotions are like a yo-yo right now. Some might say Im crazy. But, we had such a good time. We went to the shower on Sunday and I got such great stuff. I finally feel like everything is complete... except we need baby Al. Soon, soon I keep telling myself.
Until then...
A

Beau and me in the hospital last week...

Mom finally getting rid of my purplu wall for me!!

Leah sleeping with Baby Koen... so tired!

36 1/2 weeks pregnant and feeling every day of it...but I will say, I do look happy here, so Ill go with that :)

Just Chillin'

So, I am not posted up on my couch wishing that my cable worked as it is currently out and trying to keep my self entertained. I know I can read a book, but I can only read so much.
How did I get this way you might ask?

Well, Monday night I started having constant cramping, very similar to period cramping that wont go away. I had it all through the night with some contractions that I really wasnt paing any attention to. I woke up on Tuesday with continued cramping and went to work like usual... taught a class from 11-1 and then decided I couldnt take the pain anymore. So I started counting my contractions. 2 minutes, 4minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes.... ok now I was FREAKING out. I started to sweat and I felt like I was getting the flu, seriously. I called Shelly to get her assesment of the situation and she of course told me to call the Dr. and go to labor and delivery... why wouldnt I go? Well, because I was so afraid that I was wrong and I was just making all these feelings of labor up in my head. I didnt want to looke stupid or needlessly call the dr. So I did end up calling the Dr., who of course told me to go to the labor and delivery to get checked. Oh my gosh! I have so much work to tie up, this cant be happening now! So I am frantic at this point and Beau came to get me.
Turns out I was having regular contractions and my cervix was effacing... dilating etc... The Dr. decided to try me on Tri-something to stop the contractions,which didnt work but made me feel like I was smoking crack... which some might enjoy, but I DONT. So then they went to Procardia, which has spaced them out but not gotten rid of them. Beau and I stayed in the hospital overnight and then got to go home yesterday afternoon. I am now sitting here.

She just wants me to make it to 36 weeks, which is Friday. So I will go off bed rest and the medication tomorrow and we will see what happens. My mom and Leah had already planned on coming in town tomorrow so they are super excited.

Watch... the contractions will stop completely and I will be prego for another 4 weeks!

haha

35 weeks and counting...

So, I kept saying all this time that I have felt so great and all... but today I feel like poo. I am so tired; I think its the heat. The heat index is like 105 here today and it sucks.
I got so much done this past weekend thanks to little Al. I was supposed to go to KC to see Allie and new baby Tanner (and Andy, of course) but I went to the Dr. on Friday and she nixed that idea when she discovered that I was 1cm dialated and the baby had dropped... I know, I could be like this still 5 weeks from now, but I was shocked and a little scared to say the least. I hadnt done ANYTHING to get ready for baby. So I kicked it into high gear... with the help of my wonderful mother-in-law. I cleaned all the baby clothes and the house. I shopped for all he things I would need to bring to the hospital... for nursing, etc. Beau and I moved and cleaned out the storage closet and the baby's room. Now I'm ready!... and Al is just hangin out still, go figure.

Mom and Lee Lee are coming this weekend and we are going to finish painting (well, mom is) and hang the curtain in the door of the baby's room. I also desperately need a pedicure and it is getting hard to bend over for any length of time, so it is essential that someone else be painting my nails. ;) Good excuse though! Cant wait until they get here!

Aa

Family Fun!

This Sunday Linda had the Reinberg Family and long time neighbors out to the farm for dinner and we had such a good time! John, Ruth and the girls werent there unfortunately becasue they were finishing up The Bar for its grand opening of the "new do". It looks awesome! They refinished two bathrooms and the bar and it is just so nice.

Hunter is just adorable with his cute little bald head he has a striking resemblance to Charlie Brown... and his grandfather Gregg. He is walking and talking... but everything starts with a B or D... so naturally he is really good at saying Beau's name, but doesnt even know where to start with my name. (Two A's and an R!.. tough) In these pictures he is learning how to play golf, and doing quite well. He really mastered fetching the golf ball after uncle Beau hit it half way across the yard. haha. Then the boys decided to finally put the flag on the flag pole in a reinactment of Pearl Harbor...

Good times had by all!

A