Liam + Toula + Rowdy = ???

I've been meaning to write about how the dogs have adjusted to Liam and their new lives not being the center of attention for a while now. But seeing as how they're no longer the center of attention, it kind of fell by the wayside.

We still LOVE our furbabies, but things have definitely changed since we added a baby.

#1 They no longer sleep in our bed (or even in our room) with us.

The first night home we let them stay with us, and every single time Liam would cry Rowdy would get so anxious and start pacing the room whimpering and barking. Liam's cradle also happens to be the perfect height for Rowdy to stick his face right in it to see what's causing all that noise. Not okay.

Every time we would get up to feed or change the baby, the dogs woke up and thought it was time to play or would bark to go outside.At 3am I was not in the mood to play or let the dogs out, and it was hard to see Rowdy get so stressed out from Liam's cries. So out they went.

We moved them to our guest bedroom and they absolutely love it. We took their beds in there, but it seems like Toula has now taken over Rowdy's bed and he's moved to the guest bed itself. He was never allowed to sleep in our bed (just Toula - he's too big) so he's pretty much in heaven now. We also put a fan in there and would turn it on every night to drown out baby cries but we don't need it anymore.

Even though Liam has been sleeping through the night for a while now, we decided to keep the new living situation for now. All we have to do at night now is let them out to go potty and and then say "Time for bed!" and they will both run in the guest room and snuggle up. Once Liam moves into his nursery we will probably bring them back in the room with us, but for now, this works.

#2 They spent A LOT of time outside the first month.

Luckily it was spring and the weather was great because Toula and Rowdy spent most of their days in the backyard. They are two pretty hyper and fairly loud dogs and with Liam sleeping so much that first month, I did not want them to disturb him.

They still spend a lot of time outside, but as I've gotten used to dealing with all three by myself while Will's at work (and since the weather is getting HOT here) they now come in and out throughout the day. And they come in every evening and obviously don't sleep outside.

#3 They do not get near the amount of attention that they used to.

I used to carry Toula around like a baby. Now I have a real baby to carry so that doesn't happen anymore. I still love on her and pet her, but I almost always already have someone on my hip so there's no more room for her. We also don't let the dogs on the couch like we used to because Liam is usually on one of our laps or on his lounger and we don't want them to accidentally step on him, scratch him, etc.

We try and make a point to take them on walks with us and take them to the dog park or play with them in the backyard, but honestly it doesn't happen as much as it should. I can't handle the stroller and two dogs so they only get to walk if Will comes along. Luckily they have each other!

We have seem some signs of jealousy from both of them, but overall things have been going okay. They haven't acted out drastically but sometimes they will bark at us or try to jump up on the furniture if they want attention.

One person they don't pay much attention to is Liam. They are aware of him and will sniff him occasionally but that's about it. Toula will sometimes lick his feet which I think is so adorable! Rowdy keeps a safe distance because his cries still bother him. I'm hoping as Liam gets older they will all be best friends.

Overall it has been quite a change, but I like to think it was a pretty doable change. Will and I both struggle with guilt about not paying as much attention to them as we used to, but we try not to be too hard on ourselves because having a baby is a BIG change and we are just trying the best we can. And we haven't had any crazy outbursts or peeing rampages from either dog which I consider a success, ha!

Pretty Toula

Coming in for a sniff.

Toula cuddled up next to Liam.

Rowdy doing his own thing. Pretty typical.

All three of our kiddos!

Lazy Summer Days...

Yesterday my mom and her friend Renee came to visit us for the day!

We all went shopping and to get sno-cones...

and even went to a concert at the lake!

Somehow this little guy managed to sleep through the whole thing. How do you sleep at a concert?!

Guess someone is taking the term "lazy summer days" very seriously!

A Few Of Our Favorite Things...

It's been two months and these are some of mine and Liam's favorite things so far!

My little lamb swing

Liam generally likes to be swung. We bounce/swing him when we put him to bed so it makes sense that he loves his swing. He naps in it everyday and sometimes will just sit it in and look all around. Ours has a mobile and mirror on it as well and plays music which he enjoys.

Nuk Paci

Liam will still take the soothie we got at the hospital, but this is his favorite paci. We usually give it to him after he's done eating so he can still suck for awhile. He will also take it before bed, but generally spits it out when we put him down. And sometimes when he's just being fussy. We're big fans of the Nuk :)

Soothing sounds gentle giraffe

This thing is awesome! It has different sounds for play, relax, soothe, and sleep. We turn it on the sleep sound which is just white noise every night at bedtime, and sometimes during the day I'll use the play music just to give him something to listen to. It's like african sounds with drums and stuff.

Nursing bra pads

They are a necessity for all breastfeeding mothers out there!

Newborn lounger

I'm going to be really sad when Liam outgrows this which is going to be soon =( It's so soft and squishy and Liam spends a lot of time in it and really likes it. It props him up at a good angle where he can look around but still has good neck support. He sits in it while I shower, while I'm cooking/cleaning the kitchen, and while we're hanging out on the couch (unless he's in my arms of course). I'm hoping he can transition quickly from this to his Bumpo seat or I'm not going to get much done!

The PNP changing table

We honestly haven't used the main sleeping part of the pack-n-play much because Liam naps in his swing and we haven't gone anywhere yet, but I would say I have changed about 90% of his diapers on this changer since we've been home. I actually haven't changed his diaper on his nursery changer at all yet, just his clothes. Ours sits in our living room so it's just more convenient.

The Halo Sleep Sack

Although Liam fought being swaddled for the first few weeks, we kept at it and now it is essential to get him to sleep. He can fall asleep easily but his little arms will randomly flail and he will wake up screaming because of it. And in regular swaddling blankets he would always figure out how to get at least one arm out. That's pretty much impossible to do in the Sleep Sack and I think we all sleep better because of it! He will fuss when he gets tired and usually within 30 seconds of putting it on and boucing/swinging him his eyes will start to droop and he's out!

And my number one favorite baby item is our Angelcare monitor and motion sensor.

It is a pad that goes under the mattress and detects your baby's breathing. If they don't breathe for 15 seconds a very LOUD alarm will sound. I was always so worried about SIDS before Liam was born, and I can honestly say I have barely worried about it since we came home from the hospital and plugged this baby in. The alarm did go off a few times in the first couple weeks which was scary but Liam was always fine and at least I knew it worked. I think our alarm went off three different times, but by the time I sat up and turned the lamp on Liam had started breathing again and the alarm shut off. Trust me, it wakes you up!

I think it's interesting to see what some babies like and others hate and what works well for each family because everyone's different! This is what we are loving at the Lofland Casa :)

I Just Can't Get Enough...

of Picnik or this little guy!

(I just couldn't resist the stache!)

:)

Under Construction

I finally bit the bullet and became a *premium* Picnik member. I've been eyeing all the fun collages you can make on Picnik for sometime, and I loved the way Tami was using them to document her daughter's daily photos, so I figured that was reason enough to finally do it!

Instead of uploading an individual picture of Liam everyday for my Project 365, I'm going to make weekly collages! Because they're fun and now you don't have to scroll down until your fingers are about to fall off to see all the images. And it gives me more time to get them up...I'm pretty sure at one point I was like 12 days behind...I really am taking a picture everyday I just don't always get around to uploading them what with snuggling a certain little 10 week old all hours of the day. *Yikes! 10 weeks already!?*

I am loving playing around with the collages so you will probably be seeing more of them on here. Just another excuse for me to post millions of pictures of Liam I suppose. Like I needed one :)

So what that also means is....I'm re-doing my Project 365 tab so it will be down for as long as it takes me just a bit.

Here's a preview of the new and improved P365 will look like!

How fun is that?!? I'm already addicted...

Our Weekend

Friday night Will and I had another date night! As much as I love spending 24/7 with Liam, it is so nice to get out with the hubs. We went out to eat and then went bowling! It was a last minute decision because there were no movies out we wanted to see and the batting cages were closed, but it ended up being a lot of fun!

My mom kept Liam Friday while we went out, and she spent the night so she could keep him Saturday morning while we went to my school. Will and I spent three hours in my classroom completely emptying it out! Well, not completely. I did leave some bookshelves and bins for the teacher taking my place and I set up a little store for any teachers to come shopping and pick stuff out. My long-term sub got a full-time job for next year teaching Kindergarten and it will be her first year teaching so I gave her most of my stuff. Since I don't know when/if I'll ever return, I didn't want to have to find a place to store a bunch of posters and classroom decor. Plus, I'm sure by then there will be new, cuter stuff out I will want to get. So we both won on that one!

Saturday afternoon/evening we just lounged around the house. Liam practiced sitting up for a while which of course turned into a photo shoot :)

My little bear

Such a cheese ball!

Mr. Blue Eyes

Liam's new hobby - blowing spit bubbles. And I think it's adorable :)

Sunday we went to church and out to lunch after. Then we met some friends and their kids up at the neighborhood pool which was a lot of fun; I see that happening a lot this summer! Will took Liam in the big pool and he actually liked it much better than just being dipped in the kiddie pool. Yay! It was fun to watch our friends' older kids play because it made me really excited for next summer. Liam will be 14 months old this time next year! I think there will be less snuggling in the shade and a lot more splashing!

After the pool we ran some errands, had a quick dinner, and went to softball practice. Yep. Will and I are playing softball. It's with our Sunday School class and we had our first practice. It was a lot of fun but oh boy, softball is NOT my thing. I like to bat, but I cannot throw. It is pretty pathetic how weak my arms are. Hopefully holding Liam a lot will help my beef up my arm muscles but we'll see. Our first game is next Monday!

Liam and I don't have any big plans for the week. I feel like I was away from him a lot this weekend so we are just lounging around the house today. We'll probably visit the pool once or twice though. I have a long summer to-do list in my head I need to write it out and maybe try to set goals for myself so I won't get overwhelmed and end up not doing any of it.

First on the list is finishing the laundry room. It's done except for a few things I want to hang up and I'm on the look-out for a cute ironing board cover. Anyone seen any cute ones lately or want to tell me where you found yours? :)

A Belated How-To

Back when I posted about my attempt to copy this cute photo, Meghan asked if I could show how I did it.

Then I forgot. Sorry Meghan!

But then I remembered :)

It's SUPER easy as long as you want it in black and white. I'm NOT an expert so I cheated and short-cutted my way through it, but I'm happy with the end result and that's all that matters in my opinion.

So...

Step 1

Take a picture of your cute swaddled baby on a solid background. Here's where I cheated. I didn't have a fun, brightly colored piece of paper or fabric or whatever was used in the original so...I put him on our bed. We have solid colored sheets. Done and done.

Step 2

Change image to black and white and mess with contrast until you're happy. You wouldn't have to change it to B&W if you used some kind of professional background, but our sheets were wrinkly and it was the only thing I could think to do.

Step 3

Sheets were still wrinkly, BUT when it's in black and white you can just blur the background and you can't tell. Cheating again. I tried to blur it in color but it looked terrible.

Step 4

Add text!

So that was a totally unprofessional tutorial, but whatever I still think it's cute. And it was much easier than having to actually iron the fabric and cheaper than buying something....ugh, who has time for that?!

Enjoy :)