Big week!

So far this week has been big for Roman. He slept in his room for the first time last night! Away from us, all night! He went down at 10, woke up to eat at 2:40 down by 3 then awake around 7:45. THEN he had his 2 month appointment and he had to get shots. He did great the whole appointment, then got fussy when the dr left. I had to go to the waiting room to wait for the shots and he was hungry so he cried until we got called and was still crying and fussing, so when he got the shots you could tell he cried a little harder, but I was ready to feed him and he quickly latched on and stopped crying. Then he slept off and on till even now, most of the awake times he has been a little fussy, but I still got some smiles out of him. I have pics to post soon too! Today he is 10 weeks! HE weights 14.2 Lbs and was almost 24 and a 1/2 inches LONG! That put him in the 80 something percentile for both those, I think 81 and 82. His head is smaller then most being in the 30th percentile. I don't remember how big it was. I think he seems perfectly proportionate. :) Time to calm my sad baby. I dont think his tylenol is doing anything! :(

BF

I have been breastfeeding for over 2 months now! Wow its gone fast. I also had hardly any pain or discomfort. It was a shock to me and I also never had any leaking. I know you might be thinking tmi.. but this is my blog. SOO I will write about my boobs. I wish I had known that it was only a possibility of pain and leaking! I seriously thought that everyone had to go through a HARD time before it got better. I never hit that at all?! I am still kind of waiting. I did hurt the day my milk came in, but it was bearable considering I just gave birth a few days before. I have had a little bit of uncomfterable times when he latches on, but its totally NOTHING like I thought it would be. SO happy about it. I do have 6 pairs of cotton reusable breast pads if anyone needs them. I also have an extra tube of lanolin stuff too that I doubt I will use, and I have some breast shells. I was prepared to breastfeed. I hope to do it till he is 12 months old, maybe I will just start to pump more later. The thing I didnt think about was that I would have to think about what I put on that day and what I was doing if I was going to leave the house how easy is if for me to pull out my boob. HA! I dress for easy access. I just got three shirts today and a button up sweater to make it easier when we are out. Bonus for me they were on sale for $1 at the PX. Three shirts the same for $3. Wahoo. OK well Just wanted to make a short post about how surprised I am at how breastfeeding has been going. I think I was so scared and prepared for the worst that it just couldn't be as bad as I was thinking.

Nails and BUMBO!

I cut Romans nails for the first time. I have cut one or two maybe, and I filed them twice a little bit.. but I cut all his nails on his hands and most of his toes. I wanted to do it when he slept so he wouldn't move, but he wouldn't fall asleep and stay asleep when I did it. So today when he was eating he just kept stopping and looking at me wondering what I was doing. He is so curious. I don't think I hurt him at all, but he did pull his hand away once, but he didn't really stop moving the whole time. I just had to hold on tight to his hands and feet.

Today we also got him a Bumbo chair! He cried when I first put him in it.. we needed to change the diaper. Then he was happy and smiles. We took some video and it was pretty funny to us. I will try to post it soon, for all to enjoy. :) ha.

UPDATE! We got his passport in today! Wahoo.. France will so be his first country to visit. I am so ready to go back to Cora.

Easy Meal - Risotto

Pretty simple and delicious risotto. I found a similar recipe and just changed and added a few things to make it my own. I thought we would have left overs, but we didn't. I guess that's a good thing?

Spinach, Shrimp, and Mushroom Risotto

Cook time from start to finish - about 35 minutes (depends on how fast you prep)
Servings - 6 as a side or 2-3 as a main dish.

Ingredients:
2 cans reduced-sodium chicken broth

pepper to taste in broth
Garlic powder to taste in rice

Nonstick cooking spray

1 cup uncooked arborio rice

1-1/2 to 2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1/2 cup fresh or frozen mushrooms

1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups (or however much you want) Shrimp

Preparation:

1. Bring broth and pepper to boil in small saucepan and reduce heat to keep simmering.

2. Spray large saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until hot. Add rice and stir about 1 minute. Stir 2/3 cup hot chicken broth into saucepan; cook, stirring constantly, until broth is absorbed. Add garlic powder.

3. Add remaining broth 1/2 cup at a time making sure it's is absorbed before adding next. When last 1/2 cup chicken broth is added, stir in spinach, shrimp, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring gently until all broth is absorbed, everything is hot, and rice is done. (Total cooking time for chicken broth absorption is about 20 minutes.)

4. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in cheese and serve.

Recap of December! aka Month 2

Lots of things happened last month for Roman. I have posted a few pictures to recap in a somewhat backward order..

He passed out soon after midnight

He was awake for his first New Years!

He went to a few meals with new friends

He took pictures with his family

He played with Grandma Corona and his New Years pig

He spent time in Grandpa Coronas arms

He turned 8 weeks old and is all smiles!

He celebrated his first Christmas

He got lots and lots of Christmas presents

YAY for Christmas Morning!!!

He met Grandma and Grandpa Corona on Christmas eve morning!

He went to his first change of command

Had lots of Tummy Time

Slept often in my arms

Went to eat with Daddy at work (He served a Christmas meal)

He met friends of mine

Went shopping with us

First holiday photos!

Saw snow for the first time!
He was not very happy about it.

Went to his first Army Navy party!
GO ARMY!

Got our first family tree

Went shopping with just me - and slept most of the time

Took Tonys favorite picture yet

Turned one month old

Smiled and talked A LOT!

2010 Here At Last

I am so excited for this year. We will have so many things happening in the coming months. By next year this time we will have a whole new life in who knows where with a ONE year old. Oh my. My life has already gone by too fast. I guess I should get used to that since I have felt like I was just in high school last year for the past almost 10 years.

A friend posted a year in review with pictures and you would think that would be easy for me, but my pictures have been moved to a removable hard drive and I have to hook it up.. so maybe I will post the pics in a later post. I just am going to try to remember what happened last year!


January- I had just got back from Japan the very end of December and we brought in the New Year at my friend Mindy's house with friends. It was great and German new years are very fun with lots of fireworks!

February - We celebrated Valentines day in Berlin and we went to a GIANT indoor water park and we enjoyed a nude spa! We also took a tour on Segways and it was very very very cold. Tony headed to the field for 2 weeks and right after he left I found out we were going to have a baby! I waited till he got home to tell him in person and boy was that hard!

March - I took an official blood test at the hospital to confirm the pregnancy, filled out tons of paperwork, got our first taste of being parents by babysitting my friends little two year old girl one weekend, got our first sonogram and heard his heart beat, took a trip to the states, told our family and friends about the baby. I saw Britney Spears. It was awesome.

April - I spent a good 3 weeks in Texas visiting with family and friends! It was GREAT! My mom turned 50 too!

May - I flew on a Space Available flight to D.C. for my brother Josh's College/Masters Graduation and got to spend time with family. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary with a trip to Spain we stayed in Malaga and Seville. We visited Gibraltar also! We got to hear the heart beat again too. Tony's mom turned 50 also. Both would become grandmas at 50!

June - We found out its a boy!!! We also got to see the President of the UNITED States, Barack Obama, land at Ramstein Air Base. We also took a big trip to Dubai! It was a very nice trip. It was very hot there I don't know how they do it covered head to toe! I know that might keep some of the heat off them.. but when its all black!?

July - We hosted Tonys cousin and her family for a few days. I turned 26 this month. We celebrated with Thai food and friends. We also took a trip to visit our friend Roisin and the 3 of us went to Munich for a day of fun. I also got my hair cut - only a trim. I hardly ever get my hair cut. The last time was October of 08. Yes - sad I know.

August - We went to Trier with a friend of Tonys from West Point and it turned out to be a VERY VERY HOT day. It was over 100 out and we are no longer used to these hot days. Plus I was pregnant and already always hot. Tony bought a shield for Roman to play with. Oh and I finally did our Taxes..

September - We celebrated Tony's 27th Birthday with a trip to Belgium where he drank lots of beer and I watched. I climbed way too many stairs for being 8 months Pregnant. The giant KMCC also opened and began our many trips to the other side of the world for soap. (Ok so I exaggerate a little bit its 10 more minutes away but you have to add the time it takes to park, walk in, walk from one end to the other, and then stand in line, then walk out again)

October -October was a busy month. I played BUNCO for the first time and it was so much fun. I won two prizes. I think I played BINGO this month too maybe it was last month.. I won a very ugly wallet and I feel guilty about it since I am sure many people would have loved it. I wont twice really but didn't call fast enough and I the thing was cleared that lady was a bad caller.. We also went to the second largest beer fest in Germany held in Stuttgart Germany! It was much better then Oktoberfest according to me. Also my mom flew in to stay with us for almost 6 weeks to help with the baby. I am SO VERY thankful that she was able to do so, it was wonderful to have her. Oh ya and I cut my hair again this month.

November - Nov 3 I gave birth to Roman Anthony Corona. The most beautiful perfect little boy ever. He is such a joy and I love him so much. I swear he has the best smile EVER. EVER.

December - we celebrated our first Christmas Season as a family of 3. Tony's parents visited too.

I think I got all our trips in there?! How lucky am I? A wonderful loving husband, who is the sweetest dad and a healthy baby boy. We have our health and a safe home and anything we could need and a few things we don't. We both have wonderful family and friends that we miss and cant wait to spend time with. I am thankful for everything I have and all that has happened to be. Good and bad it all has made me who I am. Thank you for contributing to my life.

Books on babies.. have you read?

I am interested in seeing if other people have read any of these books and what they think. I have only read one parenting book so far, but I have looked online for short articles here and there. I think its best to go with what feels right for you, but getting some guidance isn't a bad thing either. The first three are more about signals babies send, and the second three are more about how to "train" the baby.

1. What Babies Say Before They Can Talk : The Nine Signals Infants Use to Express Their Feelings

2. The Secret Language of Babies: The Body Language of Little Bodies
This one I could not find much about, but it seems to be the most interesting one.

3. Dunstan Baby Language -- Learn the universal language of newborn babies

4. The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night

5. The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer

6. On Becoming Babywise

The last one I have checked out and started to read. I already have on opinion. But I will wait to see what other have to say. If you haven't read them look up reviews and tell me what you think! Leave a link of its a good one. If you have any thoughts or tips to share please do! About sleeping, feeding or whatever.
ps: I couldnt get the fonts to all be the same... not sure why. sorry about the yelling.