The bathroom break...

Lots of new moms struggle with how to have a baby and go to the washroom. I've never really had a problem with this though. Maybe it's because I will always make it possible for myself to go to the bathroom. My bladder has always been small. In my family, Desirée o'clock means you have to or are going to the bathroom. On road trips, I would infuriate my dad because we had to stop so often for me. I know almost every washroom stop from here to Utah. I was once lost in Sherwood Park and ended up asking a stranger if I could use their washroom. I don't think I've ever been laughed at that much but they had pity on me and let me go.

Anyways, after that little inside peek at Desirée's life, here are my solutions for the bathroom issue:

Method one:

I put him in his vibrating chair. This is for those times where you don't NEED to go, you just need to go (I hope other people understand the difference here but maybe it's just me) as it takes some planning. The vibrating chair doesn't reside in the bathroom so you have to grab it, put the baby in and then carry chair and baby to the bathroom.

This was tricky. He was swaddled but he needed to have legs in order to be strapped in. Hence the poking out legs or the wrapped upper body, whichever you choose.

Method two:

I wrap him up in my super soft robe and place him on the floor. This is for more urgent times. Grab robe, throw on floor, gently place baby and you are good to go.

He seriously loves this robe. Everyone should have one. Bath & Body Works, people

Both of these methods also work for showering so you can wash all that spit up out of your hair. :) And who knows? Your baby may even have a little nap.

A day devoted to Fathers

This last Sunday was the third Sunday of June, which so happens to be Father's Day. Throughout the last few years, Matt always got something for Father's day even though he wasn't a dad yet. There were desserts in YSA, cute cards and cookies from the Primary, etc. But this year was the real deal. He was official. I was so excited for him to have his first real Father's Day. I had all of this ideas of cute things to make for him off of pinterest (see here, here, and here). I settled on the last of the three and although I finished it late, Matt really liked it. There is something so cute about itty bitty footprints.

I also planned him a special meal. Matt's family does raclette. It's a fun time and Matt loves it so I decided to get us our own raclette grill and having a grilling dinner party. Matt wasn't so excited about having to store another thing but he loved the meal and the company. We were lucky to get to spend Father's day with another new father. Thanks Taylor, Jess and Clara for spending the evening with us!

Matthew is a wonderful father. He loves our little boy so much. It is a joy for me to be able to watch them interact with Matt telling stories and Oakley giving big grins and laughs to his Daddy. They really do love each other. Oakley is one lucky boy to have a dad who is so excited to do things with him. While I was pregnant, Matt was already figuring out how old Oakley would have to be before we could go hiking with him. They will have so many fun adventures throughout the years and I am looking forward to watching some and being part of others and seeing the love of this man for his children. Thank you Matt for being a fantastic father; for cuddling our son, singing to him,  for talking to him, for burping him, showing him how to tie knots at the ripe old age of 4 days, and everything else you do to show your love for him.

Swim time

Oakley went for his first swim on Saturday. We went out to Vegreville for the annual Tofield branch picnic and swim. After a very windy afternoon at the Pysanka park, we were all looking forward to getting into some warm water. Oakley LOVED the hot tub. He spent the whole time we were there (apart from his feeding) in the hot tub. He was just so content and almost nodded off a few times. Luckily, my dear friend Cristin was at the pool and decided to take some pictures of our little family so we have his first swim documented. Thanks again Cristin. You rock! 

I am looking forward to many more swims with my little boy.

Plethora of Pictures

Matt and I have never been great at taking pictures. Part of that was due to a lame-ish camera but mostly it was just not thinking about it. Before our baby was born, Matt insisted we get a better camera. Research was done and the camera was purchased. Since April 2nd, we have taken more pictures than we ever had in our 3.5 years of marriage. As such, there are many pictures that don't exactly fit in my blog posts. This explains the birth of this post - lots of random, unconnected pictures mainly of Oakley. Let's face it, he's a lot cuter than either of us. :)

This is his Yoda-esque pose 

His poor goopy eye! I am glad to report the goop has been gone for over a week now :) 

He was just so cute with his little hands sticking up

Check him out in his sweet hoodie. He's cool like that

Costco is exhausting!

Look at those big eyes

Tummy time was a lot of work, so he fell asleep. This one melts my heart

"Holy,  bright sun!"

This hill is KILLER but I pushed Oakley up the hardest part before I had to call in reinforcements 

My best friend Lyndi finally got to meet Oakley. Thanks for the visit!

We live in a basement so Oakley doesn't see the outside world from our house. He just stared at it all and it was adorable

Matt made Douglas creepily stare at Oakley one night. Seriously freaky.

We went on a road trip and this was the seating arrangement: Preston, Emily and I in the back, Oakley and Olivia in the middle and Mom and Ashley in the front. Crazy!

I fashioned Oakley a little tent so he was covered and would sleep but I could still peek in to see how he was

Oakley got to meet his Great-grandpa Woodruff

My mama, Emily, Oakley and me with my dear Grandpa

My boys hanging out in the backyard

Well, thanks for checking out all the random pictures. There will be many more to come, I'm sure. :)

So much happens in a short time these days

Oh my! It has been quite a while since I posted. Oakley is over two months old now. He has a teddy bear that he got from his uncle Zach in the hospital and I have been meaning to take monthly pictures with "Douglas" but I haven't done it yet. Maybe I'll get to it tomorrow.

Oakley got his shots on June 6th. He was really good. It helped that he was already upset when they started poking him. I made Matt come with me so that he could hold him instead of me. I don't like vaccines but I didn't cry. I might have teared up, but no tears fell. Once Oakley had his three needles, Matt handed him to me. I just held him close and he calmed down right away. After that, he was very calm. We were lucky to have no side effects - wahoo! As far as stats go, he was 10 lb 8 oz - 25th percentile, 22 3/4 inches - 50th percentile and still the 25th percentile for head circumference.

I got a new calling at church this last Sunday. I am now the music chairman. I am so excited for this calling! All I have to do is make sure there are hymns picked for each week, the choir sings once a month and try to throw in some musical numbers here and there. I will miss working with the Young Women but they are in good hands.

Ha! I also got mastitis AGAIN in the two weeks since I posted last. That is three times in two months. Yuck. It seems to be getting worse each time. I hope that none of my friends who will be bearing children ever have to experience it. After getting it this last time, I came to a realization: My mother had bad pregnancies and had mastitis with each of us. My sister Heidi had terrible pregnancies but no mastitis. My sister Christie had a great pregnancy but has had mastitis many times since her son was born in October. I had a really good pregnancy and lots of mastitis. Emily is screwed. She gets to pick one or the other. There is no escape.

I started potty training Oakley last week. Really, it's more training me at this point. He has gone almost every time I have put him on the potty. I love it! Now, some of you might think this is crazy to be starting now but I'll have you know, my mom started potty training each of us eight kids straight from the hospital and had huge success. It can happen. :)

With the nicer weather, Matt, Oakley and I have been enjoying the backyard. We've had many fires, barbeques, started our garden and just sat on the lawn soaking up the sunshine. You should see Oakley's hat. HA! The smallest hats they had were 3-9 month. It is HUGE on his little head!