I just ordered a bumbo seat for Justin.



I can just hear Andy now...What do you mean you bought more baby gear? But I think he will definitely appreciate this one.

My 36th birthday is on Saturday and it's going to be a year for catalog gifts since I can't get out of the house much to pick anything out. My wonderful parents-in-law ordered this beautiful sheet and quilt set for us from The Company Store:



We have been wanting to redecorate our bedroom in shades of orange (incidentally the chakra color for passion) and these new linens are just the beginning.

Andy is going to get me a recliner for the back porch once I find the perfect one. We threw out our wicker set which was getting old--or should I say we put it on the curb and someone picked it up an hour later. The porch is a nice enclosed place to hang out and without all that furniture there is lots of room for Merritt to play.

Finally captured one of those heartbreakingly cute moments:



My beautiful niece came for a visit:



My mother gave me several of her plants during their move to Tennessee, including this hens 'n chicks:



Merritt had built his first Lego tower without any help...this is the smile he always gives the camera now:

Yesterday I came down with a nasty case of mastitis. In the morning I felt fine but I had some red lines on my left breast. By the end of the day I knew it was a problem but I didn't have a fever so I left messages for my OB and lactation consultant and went to bed. When I woke up for Justin's feeding around midnight I felt absolutely horrible, like I had been run over by a truck, as if every inch of my body was infected, and I had a temperature of 101 even though I had taken ibuprofen and just drank a glass of water. We had to make an emergency call to the OB and lucky for us there is a 24 hour pharmacy right around the corner so Andy was able to pick up a prescription for antibiotics right away. I feel a little better today but I am supposed to take it easy and it's so hard.

I hate taking antibiotics when I'm breastfeeding because the baby will most likely get thrush or diarrhea or both. And the latter is not good because we've been battling diaper rash on this little baby. It's very strange because breastfed babies are not supposed to be as prone to it, Merritt certainly wasn't...I'm starting to suspect that maybe Justin is overheated at night and that's contributing to the problem. So we are going to dress him in less for bed and see if that helps.

On a positive note the camera Andy got for Fathers Day is fantastic and I've been taking some incredible pictures which I'll post when and if I ever have time.

Right before Justin was born our digital camera began to die. There were many perfect moments between then and now that we couldn't photograph because of it. I decided that Justin and Merritt were going to buy Andy a nice camera for Fathers Day and I hope the one I chose turns out to be a good one.



It's a Canon anyway.

For the first two weeks or so I was waking Justin up every two hours during the day to feed him, in the hopes that it would keep him regulated to the fact that we eat at daytime and sleep at nighttime. The past two days I've been letting him sleep for much longer and that's working fine too. The doctor said as long as he does not go more than four hours without eating during the day then he's okay. Letting him nap has given me a lot of down time which I appreciate. In the evening he wants to eat nonstop, cluster feeding to prepare for his long stretch of sleep from 7 pm until about midnight. In the early AM he wakes up every two-three hours. But overall he is still way easier than Merritt at night and I am grateful.

We are finally getting the rain we need here thanks to Tropical Storm Alberto. I never thought I'd be so happy to see a potential hurricane. The timing was rather perfect because I just planted some Christmas cactus cuttings in my huge clay pot outside. I have been convinced for quite some time that this particular pot has bad karma--it was given to me by my ex right before we split and ever since then absolutely everything I've planted in it has died: hibiscus, palm, perennials, annuals, vines. I've taken a different route this time and I have just stuck lots of odds and ends in there hoping that something would finally thrive. Right now there is aloe, yucca, a hearty succulent from the beach, and now the Christmas cactus. If these take off it will be a pretty assortment. But that pot...I think it's evil.

The rain is really coming down hard now.

Merritt can say Mommy but he prefers Mimi, probably because it's easier to say.

Today he was looking at this issue of Maxim magazine and he pointed to the cover girl and said it was Mimi.



Pretty funny and sort of flattering...wondering if it is the fact my breasts are always out these days feeding Justin that Merritt made the connection.

Honestly I will be glad when the free subscriptions we never asked for to Maxim and Stuff finally stop coming in the mail. The articles can be interesting but the air brushed bodies are really obvious and annoying.

Justin is starting to act like a regular baby now. I don't mind the night waking but it's trying to get him to go back to sleep that is extremely tiring. But it seems much more bearable than it was with Merritt--maybe because I know from experience that this stage will not last long. And that we will never go through it again. So I try to treasure these moments as much as my sleep deprived moody self can manage.

Merritt is getting four or five teeth at once and he is impossible right now, constantly whining and very difficult. Today he even bit me on the arm hard enough to bruise me. Normally he would be clinging to me as much as possible but sadly for him I am mostly taken up with breastfeeding the ever hungry infant. Yet he has not shown any anger or hostility towards Justin which is good. We do have to keep a careful eye on him though because he gets a little rough sometimes. You simply cannot leave a toddler alone with a baby for one minute.

My recovery from the C-section is much easier this time. The doctor said it's because many of the nerves are dead from the last operation that I don't have nearly the amount of pain. I have a lot of night sweating which is normal for postpartum, one of the ways the body gets rid of the extra fluid. My stomach has been very upset after dinner the past several nights and I have no idea what to attribute it to.

I think the baby is waking up...