Order!

My son is approaching the three month mark and we’ve settled into our new roles. It’s been an amazing learning experience so far. Not only have I learned how to become a better daddy, but we’re learning to become actual adults.

Mortgages, and Home Improvement

Our mortgage term is up this year and we have begun looking at other houses. Our house is great, but we want something a little bigger that our son and possibly 2nd addition (a year or two from now) will be able to grow into. We had our house assessed by a local realtor and she gave us some tips on what we should do before we decide to sell.

A few days ago we invited a contractor to take a look at our home. He’s just starting out on his own but has loads of experience working for other companies. He wasn’t afraid to give references and even invited us to a work site which we visited and were amazed at his work.

My wife has a cousin who is married to a plumber. To fix our plumbing problem in our bathroom he quoted me $700. With this guy he told me it was a quick job, and we’re actually going to have it fixed for around $200. A huge difference! Family isn’t everything I suppose.

We have a few projects that need to be taken care of but we’re going to do it all in stages throughout the year.

Yesterday after talking with the bank we decided to renew our mortgage for a 1 year term for now then sell next year. In the meantime we’ve rented out a storage unit to help declutter our home. We’re pretty positive with our decision.

Pita Pizzas, spinach, and egg whites!

My eating habits have drastically changed over the last month. In the process I’ve lost 12 lbs. I’ve been logging my food using livestrong.com as well as using the site’s android app. So far it’s been fairly easy to resist any sorts of temptation.

I know my weakness’ and I’m trying to stay away from them. What really helps is that we’re really watching our budget and haven’t eaten out since last month. Since I’ve switched my eating habits I’ve actually enjoyed filling up on veggies rather than making meat my main course.

Life is getting better… now for the time being I need to get back to bed. Lincoln just finished his morning feed and now dad needs his rest.

Gadzooks!

So I’ve been feeling really run down over the last month. I’ve also been finding my back beginning to give me grief… and then of course I gained a few pounds.

Well, this morning I stepped on the scale for the first time in awhile. I think the last time I weighed myself was about a month before Lincoln was born… I was around 207 lbs. This morning? 230.4 lbs.

I’m sorry for the language that is about to transpire but WHAT THE FUCK?!

I really let myself go. Being third fiddle next to mom and baby does not mean I have to not take care of myself as well. Starting today I’m going to be doing my best to get back into shape… a healthier shape. I’m at the heaviest I’ve been in about 8 years. My wife has never seen me this ummm big. It’s a definite wake up call.

Compounded…

Just when you think you can’t get anymore exhausted another day passes.

Working full time and then coming home and helping mom out has been a huge adjustment. I’m lucky whereas my day job is for the most part only mentally exhausting. Apart from major entertainment events that I have to cover, I am usually just in front of my computer editing, or doing some administration stuff for the network. I digress.

My evenings are easily the most enjoyable part of my day. It’s when I get to spend the most time with my son. He’s starting to smile without it being gas, and it’s becoming evident that he recognizes that mom and I are the two people he trusts the most.

My boy’s colic has subsided a bit. Mom is breastfeeding but we’re also using formula on occasion as well. With the formula we have been scooping out all the froth after mixing it… I think that’s helped. Who knows though. It seems to be subsiding anyways.

He tends to be fussy up until around 9 pm then he sleeps for 3 to 5 hours. I then get up and feed him. This usually takes 30 to 60 minutes… he then sleeps for another 3 to 5 hours at which point I get up again. Afterwards  I get another hour sleep then off to work.

I am finding myself enjoying the routine however. Between sportscentre and netflix I’m able to keep myself entertained while my son decides whether or not he wants to spit up all over daddy’s back, or burp.

“Momzooks” is adjusting well. Baby tends to have a lot shorter naps during the day so she doesn’t get many breaks at the moment. This is one of the reasons why I’m not all bitchy about taking the night shifts. She’s usually exhausted by the time I’m home.

We will be getting away for a bit on Saturday. My brother in-law and his wife will be sitting for us while we go out for lunch in the next town over. I live in a small town… the next town over is on the Trans-Canada and has a lot of things that we don’t… like decent places to eat, and shop.

Grandma and Grandpa (on wife’s side) live there as well, but they can be finicky at times. I won’t get into that though… at least not right now.

anywho, I forgot what else I was going to write so I’ll just end it here.

Later!

 

Houston, we have a…

I haven’t blogged in awhile. The reason? Well I have a newborn could be reason enough. But a newborn with colic… nobody told me it was going to be like this!

Mom and Dad have been near insanity at times. Our little one has been great for the most part but come the evening he turns into an inconsolable screaming machine. We’ve tried the “five s’s” and every other tip from friends and family. The only reassurance we have right now is that we know we’re not alone. A quick internet search and we’ve found that a lot of parents are going  or have gone through everything we’ve gone through…

It’s just extremely tough. As a parent it takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically actually. I can see how this kind of thing can cause a riff in parents relationships. We know this and are doing our best to stay positive and reassure one another. I’ll admit though we have both been guilty of our own form of colic towards each other.

We’re close to week 8, this started around week 6 which is apparently normal. We can only hope this phase will disappear soon. Our dog is even getting frustrated. At times when our baby starts to cry he’ll let out a deep breath and then find somewhere else to go lay down. It’s kind of comical actually.

Overall I think I’m handling it okay. I just keep on telling myself that it’s temporary. Mom knows this too but I think it’s been especially hard on her since she’s been home and dealing with it every day for the last 2 or 3 weeks. She’s so drained but doing good considering. I do feel a lot of pressure at times knowing that I gotta be strong for both of us at times, but again, all things considered I’m doing okay.

Dadzooks Update…

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated this blog. I have been trying to find a decent way to deal with the exhaustion of being a hands on dad.

I say hands on because a lot of people I talk to seem surprised that I’ll get up at 2am to change and feed my baby then go work a full day. I shrug my shoulders and simply tell them that it’s my baby too.

Surely I can’t be a rarity in this day in age. Especially with a lot more stay at home dads these days one would think this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

Yesterday was a great day for us. I took the day off, made a garbage run, had a great afternoon nap, my wife was able to go out and get her hair done, we made a great beef stew, and had a nice relaxing evening with the baby.

Once we put Lincoln to bed around 10 pm we went to bed. I was expecting to get up again in 3 hours but the little guy surprised us and slept for 5 straight hours. I honestly can’t wait til that becomes a regular thing at night.

Aside from mom and dad, grandpa is back home from his double bypass. He is recovering slowly… he’s actually kind of frustrated with how slow the recovery is. I’m not sure what his way of thinking is but damn, he just had major surgery… of course it’s going to take time. He’s doing well though which is a huge relief. I said it before, but I really want my son to know and have memories of all his grrandparents…. something I never got to experience.

Cluster feeding…

Cluster feeds are had to predict. I’m awake listening for my son in the next room. He fussy all day today then ate like crazy throughout the evening. Just when you think he can’t eat anymore, he surprises you. I’ve talked with a few parents I know and they haven’t gone through this. I know it isn’t rare after a simple search.

Lincoln is definately keeping us on our toes though. I figured he would have been up an hour after the last time I fed him… so I stayed up. I watched a movie on netflix and now I’m beginning to think I should have just gone to sleep. lol

 

Louis CK urging other dads to get involved

Great commentary by Louis CK… my favourite comedian.