All About Axton at 4 Months Old

More St. Patrick's Day

Me and Axton in green!

Jon before the parade

The Utah Pipe Band (Jon is in the very center- third row from the left and 3rd person back)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is always fun. At least I think so. I wish there were more days in the year where we all wore the same color and did fun things. :) Today Axton went to his first parade (outside my belly that is). Jon was in the parade in downtown SLC at the Gateway Mall with the Utah Pipe Band. It was a little windy and cloudy but it actually wasn't that cold.  I put Axton in the Baby Bjorn front carrier (which he LOVES) and watched the parade. He loves anything action packed so he enjoyed all the colors and costumes and whatever else there was to see.  He did fall asleep for about a half hour or so but woke up just in time to see Jon marching and playing the bagpipes. Growing up we never went to parades but last summer I had the opportunity to go to a lot with the Utah Pipe Band and I had so much fun! I look forward to taking Axton to them this year.

Time

I've been thinking a lot about time lately. Maybe because we just had Daylight Savings, maybe because Axton just turned 4 months old, maybe because it seems to be going by too fast... It seems like the month of March has become a significant month for us the last few years. Three years ago, when I was in my final semester of nursing school, I became really sick. Finally, after a few weeks, I couldn't take it anymore and gave in to the idea of a colonoscopy. That's when I got my diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (March 31, 2009). The next day I was admitted to the hospital for almost 2 weeks to receive treatment.  A year later I started having flare symptoms again in March and April and when outpatient treatment failed, I was admitted to the hospital on May 1st for 3 weeks to receive treatment.
Last March I found out the best news ever: that we were going to be parents! On March 17th, at 5 weeks 6 days pregnant, I had my first glimpse of my growing miracle (my US was earlier than most because I was having pains and they wanted to make sure the pregnancy was in my uterus and not the fallopian tube).

There's not much to see that early in pregnancy but the little white dot in the black oval is my baby's heartbeat. 

I know that in no time at all, we will be celebrating Axton's birthday and even perhaps the birth of future miracles. We look forward to these little things. 

Whoever said 'sleeping like a baby' obviously never had one

Axton has gone on a sleep strike. Yes, I know he's a baby and they don't usually sleep for very long periods of time. When Axton was about a month old he'd sleep for about 4 hours at a time at night. At 2 months I was super lucky and he'd sleep about 6 hours. Right after he turned 3 months, he suddenly went to waking up every 3 hours. And it hasn't improved. I am one tired mama! And of course, it started the week before I went back to work. (more on this later) 
He also is a terrible napper. When I get him to nap, he wakes up exactly 30 minutes later. Some may argue and say that some kids don't require a lot of sleep but he's way cranky when he's lacking good quality sleep. On the other hand, he does nap for longer than 30 minutes when his Aunt Kristin baby-sits him.  I've tried mimicking all the things she does but I don't have the same success. I know it'll pass but I just needed to rant.
Earlier I mentioned about going back to work... My first day back was February 20th and it has gone surprisingly smooth. I am only working 2 days a week and will soon be orienting another nurse at work to take over some of my charge nurse duties. This is wonderful for me because I have less stress at work. And it means I only spend 2 days a week away from my baby.  On days that Jon and I both work, Axton gets to hang out at his Aunt Kristin's house with his 2 cousins, Matt and Olivia.
I miss hanging out with my Axton all day every day but I knew that I would eventually have to go back to work. This is only my 3rd week back but I'm glad everything is going ok.