Thanksgiving

We had a nice holiday weekend.  Brianon and Thomas came by to visit on Wednesday.  It was really great to see them, since it had been a year or so.
On Thursday we slept in.  And spent the morning bumming around.  Aaron did some raking.  At 2:45 we walked down to the in-law's house.  At the moment we walked into the kitchen, I remembered I didn't make the corn casserole!  So we ran back home and made it, it took about 45 minutes.  We walked back, my dad was already there. (We were a small group this year: Aaron, me, Bertie, Janet, Dennis, dad, grandma, and Aaron's aunt Judy.  Sophie and Ken had issues with his folks, Lewis and Sarah were with her family, and I'm not sure what the Guetschow girls were up to).  We were almost ready to eat when Janet realized she hadn't cooked the dressing.  Dinner was good.  We let Bertie feed himself.  He liked the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.  He had a little bit of turkey and some bread.  He had a good time.  (He was 9 months old that day too). It was also the first time Bertie laughed without being tickled.  Something about Judy was
making him laugh.  It was adorable.

After we finished eating, we took pictures.

Four generations

Three generations

Two generations

We had decided that we weren't going to go Grey Thursday, or Black Friday shopping.  But we woke up at 9 on Friday and changed our minds.  Actually Aaron changed his, but I'm always up for a shopping trip.  We went to Oakridge and got a spot right in front of Sears.  Aaron wanted to go to Old Navy, specifically.  We found some good deals.  As we were ready to leave, Bertram fell asleep, so we walked around more, so he could get a nap.

 Shopping companion

Different outfit (stripes on strips), he wet through the overalls from the previous picture

Later in the day we drove to Redwood City to see Trish and Rob(Aaron's bio-mom and her hubby), since they were in town visiting family.  They brought gifts for baby.  We opened two gifts, a nice new outfit, a singing puppy where you press his hands, or ears or tummy, etc. And a couple other little toys, a ball, and a Gumby and Pokey.

Saturday we slept in a little bit.  I woke up to this:

I didn't even remember that Bertie was in bed with me, and usually if he is, he's attached to the teat.  He was next to me, and Yoie was next to him.  It was really cute.

Then we spent the day cleaning the house, since my mom and stepdad will be here on Tuesday!

Bertie helped.

Today we went to church with Janet and that side of the family.  Baby Michael was baptized.  In the afternoon we went to lunch at the Boiling Crab with Trish and Rob.

It was a really good weekend, but my depression was still hitting me really hard. 

Shrinky Dink

I had an appointment with my psychiatrist on Monday.  I see him every three months or so.  Every time I go in, I fill out a depression score sheet.  My score on Monday was about double what it was last time.  I think there is just a lot going on.  Some postpartum stuff, money anxieties, issues with religion, Aaron having been working a lot of nights lately, the list goes on.  My doctor would like to adjust my meds.  But the things he wants to add can't be taken until I'm done nursing Bertie.  (I'll be able to have Adderall again.  Yay!)  In the meantime, he wanted me to start going to a Rapid Symptom Relief group.
I went to the first group meeting last night.  It was pretty good, except the guy sitting near me had super bad BO.  We did a mindfulness exercise, which was kind of neat.  We talked about sleep, and pleasurable activities.  I felt like it was more useful than the previous group I did.  Hopefully it'll be useful in the long term.

I've been trying to set goals.  Exercising, getting my steps in, not overeating, and setting a sleep schedule.

Tomorrow will be kinder.

Today was quite a day.  It started out well enough.  Bertie woke a little after 7, nursed and went back to sleep until 10.  In turn, I went back to sleep until 10.

We got up and both had breakfast.  He was acting like he was still tired.  So I tried to lay him back down.  That didn't work, so we went to visit his great grandma for a little bit. He seemed tired again.  I thought about going to Ikea today, and in retrospect, I should have just gone.  I tried putting him down a lot of times. I tried laying down with him.  I tried rocking him.  He nursed a lot.  Despite having slept a lot last night, nearly 10 hours, I was exhausted all day.  All I wanted was a nap.  Every time I wasn't holding him

I also kept looking to see if my MiL came home.  Because loves seeing Bertie, and I really wanted the break.  But she was gone all day.

Around 4:30 he finally went to sleep!  The heavens opened and the angels sang.  I got a couple things done, and then I took a nap on the couch with Zelda.  Bertie woke up around 6, and my MiL was home, so we went to visit for a bit.  We came home, he had dinner, I had dinner.  He played a little bit, and I sent him to bed at 7:30.

Aaron was working all day, so I haven't seen him.  It was a long day.  I haven't exercised, I barely have 4000 steps, I ate terribly.  I couldn't do anything to help the baby.  And I'm having a crohns pain. It was a bad day.

Misc

• Aaron and I started a week-long Diet Coke fast yesterday.  So we're nearly two days down.  It hasn't been quite as hard as I thought.  I'm definitely craving it (especially now, as I'm typing about it).  No caffeine headaches so far.  But I hit a point this afternoon where I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I dozed with Bertie for a little bit, which was nice.
  We'd been drinking way too much.  Like 3-4 cans a day (some were caffeine-free).  But it was just way too much.  Plus it's an extra expense that we don't need to spend.  Once we're done with the week, maybe we'll have some again.  I'm thinking about just having it as a "treat" and not keeping it in the house.
• Bertie has become an excellent sitter.  I can't get over how cute he is.  I bathed him in the sink a couple days ago.  Now that he can sit on his own, he has so much fun.  He just splashed and smiled.
• I've started exercising again.  My goal is 6 days a week: 2 cardio, 2 strength, 2 yoga. Last week was the first week I got back into it, and I did four days (and got my 10,000 steps in every day too).  So far this week I did power yoga today, and we're going for a family hike.
• My mom and stepdad are coming to visit in less than a month!  EEEeeeee!
• I figured out how to do a back carry with Bertie in the Ergo.  I wasn't sure I could do it without help but it wasn't too hard.  (Thanks, YouTube!)  And now I can do quite a bit of work while holding him. Though, he's happy to play by himself a lot now.
• Things Bertram likes to eat: crackers, shredded cheese, tortilla, beets, squash, sweet potato, apple, pear, mango, yogurt (with fruit mixed in), avocado (if mixed with something else), rice, peas (if he's finger feeding, he doesn't really like baby food peas), mashed potatoes, raw tofu and carrots.  There isn't really anything he doesn't like so far.  Some things he likes a lot better if they're mixed with something else.

Trapped on a couch

I'm under a blanket, Moss and Zelda are both on top.  It's not a bad place to be trapped.

Aaron and I went to vote this morning.  I usually vote by mail, but I waited too long, so I walked my ballot it.

Yesterday I did yoga for the first time in ago a year.  I am so sore today.  I've decided I need to get back into exercising.  I decided I'll do yoga, cardio and weights twice a week each.  I'm going to do cardio today, probably walk/jog.  Tomorrow I'll do a weight work out.  And once the new Bikini Body Mommy starts in January I'll do that.  I really want to get back to 140 (or less) by August, for our beach vacation.  Plus, if we want to try to have another baby, I want to be as fit as possible.

Aaron surprised me yesterday.  He still hadn't gotten me an anniversary card.  I went into the hall bathroom last night, and there was a card and a new set of salt and pepper shakers (they look like dachshunds).

It's November!

I don't think I have too much to say.  Sophie had baby Michael on Wednesday night.  He's perfect and so cute.  I've gotten to see him a few times, and all that.  I think they're all adjusting well.  She's been able to use my milk for him, since hers isn't coming in as fast as he needs it.  I'm glad it's going to good use.

I saw gas for $2.99 the other day!  I can't remember the last time it was under $3.

I'm going to bring Bertie to vote with me on Tuesday.  I usually vote by mail, but I waited too long, so I'm going to walk it in.  Our polling place is around the corner.

Bertie has been enjoying finger foods.  Lately he's had whole peas, rice, crackers, tortilla and tofu.  I'm either going to have him try beets or spinach next.

Aaron and I cleaned the living room today.  We moved the couches and tv and vacuumed behind.  That was gross.  We're going to get rid of our 2nd couch soon, since it's falling apart.  I'd like to get a love seat to replace it some day, but not any time soon.