Little Man

… is not really so little.

It is so very different to have a baby at the other end of the size spectrum. The girls started out so small (the bottom 5th percentile) and even though they took about 6 months to catch up, they have since then fit so nicely into the right size-for-their-age in clothes. 6 months wearing 6 month, 9 months wearing 9 months, etc. It just seems right.

Wyatt on the other hand, won’t even be 3 months old until next Friday and is already getting close to growing out of his 3-6 month stuff! And I know what you are thinking… it is not just around the waist and thighs that things are getting tight. It is kinda getting hard to get some things like bodysuits and pajamas to snap these days. He is long too! Oh and those little shirt/short combos aren’t much better. How does the saying go? If you have a belly don’t wear a belly shirt? Ya, that’s my little man.

No Thank You

A while back after I got my DAR certificate in the mail, I wanted to get a frame for it. We planned on putting it a wall next to Russell’s diploma and Eagle Scout plaque. His diploma has a really nice green and gold matting (the school’s colors) and since the DAR insignia is navy blue and gold we thought getting matching matting would be perfect. Since I was looking for something specific I went to a big chain frame store (which I won’t name but I am sure you could guess) to look around. I was really disappointed in their “selection”. In the 8×10 size they only has 3 colors for matting: white, black and cream. I asked the girl working there if other colors could be ordered since they carried many more colors in the smaller sizes. She told me no, that they couldn’t do that and I should just get it custom framed. Russell and had talked about making it look really nice, so I was willing to get an estimate.

Ha!

I was shocked. All I wanted was a simple frame with a blue and gold matting. I never would have imagined that this request would be estimated to cost more than half of a mortgage payment! I said I would need some time (code for “Heck No!”) to think and left. I went Across the street to Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts and found exactly what I was looking for. I knew they did custom framing as well, and I always get coupons for them in the mail so I figured it couldn’t hurt. Turns out I didn’t need to even have a custom frame made. They had tons of different colored mattes and a good selection of frames. I did have to buy two matte sets, one white with gold, and one blue with white, to achieve my blue/gold set, but all in all I found everything I was looking for. I walked out the door $25 later and love the way it turned out.

It isn’t the best picture, but you get the idea. I love the simple but old fashioned look of the frame, and the blue and gold match the insignia perfectly.

(Personal info removed for privacy.)

The best part of the story is that yesterday someone from unmentioned frame store called to see if I was still interested in having a custom frame made. No thank you! It was so satisfying to be able to tell him that I found exactly what I wanted right across the street from them for about 1/17 the price.

Sharing

Today we are sending off a cooler containing 600 ounces of breast milk. (I have about 1000 ounces saved for Wyatt already) It is going to Mother’s Milk Bank in San Jose, Ca. There it will be pasteurized and tested for diseases before it can be used. Then it will mostly go to hospitals where babies in the NICU will receive this life saving food. I am so thrilled to be able to be a part of this process and hope that my milk will make a difference for some sick little babies out there.

I have been fortunate enough that sharing our milk is possible. Wyatt obviously is getting enough himself (just look at his thighs!) and I am able to pump more than he will ever use in just two pumpings a day. I took a picture of this morning’s take in case you have a hard time picturing how much 27 ounces is. That is 27 ounces, in one pumping, after I fed the little man his breakfast.

We did end up buying a deep freezer, which  is almost entirely filled with milk.  It is a 7.2 cu. ft. freezer. The whole left side (the brown bags) is all milk. Only the small shelf on the right has a couple other freezer items.

Here are some examples of the babies who will receive this milk:

• babies who are failing to thrive on formula
• babies and toddlers with life-threatening diseases or conditions
• children with failing immune systems or catastrophic diseases
• multiple birth babies, often with lactating mothers who can’t keep up with the milk required to nourish two or three infants
• adopted infants, whose moms believe in the value of breast milk but can’t produce their own
• babies of mothers whose breast milk isn’t suitable for consumption, either because of disease or prescription medications that pass through the milk

If you are also interested in sharing your breast milk with other babies, check out this link to find a non-profit milk bank near you.

Start Them Young

This past weekend my Dad, step-mom and cousin came over from southern California to visit. This side of my family has some strong traditions, one of those being Pinochle. And as with all important family traditions, they must be nurtured from a young age!

Jo Jo and Lissie

Opa and Kylie

And to complete the Modugno family experience, the girls enjoyed some loquats while they played.

Two Month Stats

Wyatt turned 2 months last week, but we didn’t get into the doctor until this morning. The poor little guy had to had his first shots today, which isn’t fun for anybody, but he was such a trooper. He had stopped crying before they started the second leg, and then again before I even picked him up. I am so proud of him!

He also got measured and weighed of course. Here are his stats:

Height:  23 1/2 inches, 50-75th percentile

Weight:  14 lbs 12 oz, 95th percentile!! (he has almost doubled his birth weight)

Head Circumference:  38 cm, 10th percentile

He is roughly the same size as the girls when there were 5 months (and they were in the 50th percentile then!).

And here is a photo from the little man’s two month photo shoot!

In other Wyatt news, he only got up once to eat last night (for the first time ever!) and since he hasn’t used one in weeks, I have packed up his pacifiers. I can’t believe how fast he is growing up!

Hugs And Love

There has been a whole lot of love going on around here lately. One day the girls insisted I take about 100 pictures of them hugging. It was so cute. here are just a few:

kiss

And the little man better get used to girls hanging all over him, because if his big sisters can’t get enough just wait until he gets to high school!

In Sync

There are so many cool things about being a parent, and having a new little one can be especially amazing.

One cool thing I just learned is that a baby can smell and recognize his mom from up to 20 feet away. It is a pretty incredible bond between a mom and her baby. Did you know that moms and their babies can actually instantly synchronize their heartbeats (to within milliseconds!) simply by looking at each other? To read more about this study click here and here.

Now if only we could bond with a few less middle of the night feedings, that would be wonderful!

Tuesdays

… are our Mondays. And this face pretty much sums up how we ALL feel about them!

Daughters

It is official! I am now a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution!

Many of you are aware of my love of early American history, especially around the foundation of America. It is true 1776 is one of my favorite movies. (A musical about the writing/signing of the Declaration of Independence.) It is true before I got married I had an American flag hanging in my living room. AND a copy of the Declaration of Independence, AND a poster of the presidents of the United States. It is true that I have owned not one, but two copies of an interactive presidents quiz game. ( The first one melted on my drive to TX in 2003)

So, you can probably imagine how excited I am to tell you that my great great great great great great great great grandfather (that is 7 greats!) served as a solider in the Continental Army. He was 19.

John See enlisted from Greenbrier County, VA in 1776, served as a Private for one year under Captain Arbuckle, and for three years under Capitains Lapsley and Breckenridge. He was in the battles of Germantown, Monmouth and Stoney Point. On September 29th, 1832 at the age of 73 years old, while residing in Henry County, Indiana, he applied for a pension, which was granted.

The DAR was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism. It has had more than 890,000 members join since it was founded. One must be able to prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution to be able to join. She also has to be at least 18 years of age. (There is the Children of the American Revolution for those under 18, and the Sons of the American Revolution for men.)

Also, if you haven’t seen the internet series I Made America you are missing out. This is not very historically accurate, but it is really very funny. It is about 6 founding fathers (Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton, Franklin, Washington and Adams) who were time traveled to 2012. They do not react as you might except and end up having to find jobs at coffee shops and as musicians in bars. Also, Franklin discovers pop tarts.

The Resemblance

Most people agree the girls look like my husband but with my skin and hair. While Russell and I believe Wyatt looks like them all as well, there has been lots of uncertainty from other people. They say they see a lot more of me. Or they don’t know who he looks like. But today as I was adding some new pictures of the kids to my wallet I found this old photo of the girls we had taken at Sears. They were 13 weeks. (To really compare you have to use pictures of the girls where they are slightly older since he is so much bigger than they were) Now I really see resemblance between him and Alyssa in this picture, but you be the judge.