Wedding Speech for The Cougans

Since weddings can often be such a blur of excitement and emotion, it is important to document as much as possible so we can look back and relive some of our favorite moments :)  Since my blog has become a personal family journal of sorts, I wanted to include the speech that Jenni (Maid of Honor) and I (Matron of Honor) gave last night - our list of top ten reasons why Peter and Rachel are the perfect match!

#10 - Rachel understands and appreciates Peter's love of robots.  In fact, they both like to talk in weird robot voices.

 #9 - Peter is appreciative of Rachel's bizarre fears of things, like onions, and is supportive of her growing cat fetish.

#8 - Rachel, a city girl, agreed to live in Everett. It must be meant to be!

#7 - From what we've heard, as children, both Peter and Rachel were known for being liars. I've heard a story about how Peter announced to his second grade classmates that a doctor would be amputating his leg to fill it with black goo. Rachel, not to be outdone, nearly had her mother convinced that there were pet alligators in her pre-school classroom, and if they were on their best behavior, they would be allowed to pet them. I think we are all a tiny bit fearful about these two's future offspring!

#6 - Rachel didn't freak out when she found a gun under her pillow one night.

#5 - Peter wants their future child's middle name to be "DANGER", (whether it is a boy, OR a girl), and Rachel has agreed. Peter, you have found your soul mate.

#4 - From what we have come to know about Peter, he needs someone like Rachel in his life....to drive him around when he has a concussion, or to monitor his video-game usage, regulate Peter's ammunition stockpile, etc.

#3 – Rachel isn’t embarrassed by Peter’s moves on the dance floor, instead she brags about them!

#2 - Peter cares about Rachel's friends, and is genuinely interested in their lives just as much as she is.

And the #1 reason: Peter and Rachel are more than just a great love match. They really are best friends.  They know how to laugh at life, and they make such a strong and amazing team together.

Rachel, we couldn't be happier for you to have found such a fantastic guy to marry.

Peter, we love you for not only being hilarious and awesome, but for making our friend so incredibly happy.

Cheers to Rachel and Peter!

Mr. and Mrs. Cougan

So, it's the morning after the big wedding day, and I am still finding myself getting a little misty-eyed at the fact that two of our favorite people in the world have made it official!  There is so much to recap from one of the most special days I have spent, but here is my attempt.

(More pictures to come soon - I only snapped a few yesterday)!

First a quick recap of the days leading up to the big day!

On Thursday evening, Rachel's mom Laurie threw a bridal shower for Rachel so that her out-of-town family and friends (and bridesmaids!) could celebrate with her.  The group gathered at Rachel and Peter's house for some fun games (musical bouquet!) and delicious food!  I was only able to stay a little over an hour as I needed to get home to Ben, and I am still regretting that I didn't take an extra plate of food to go :)  It was SO good.  Below are a few pictures:

On Friday night, we had the wedding rehearsal and a very fun (and delicious) rehearsal dinner at the Alexis Hotel's Library Bistro.  It felt so surreal to be hanging out with the bridal party, the family and very close friends of the bride and groom, knowing that the next day was the day that we (seemingly) have been waiting forever for!  It has only been a year since Rachel and Peter got engaged, but this special day was one that we have been waiting for and talking about for a long time. 

Most of the bridesmaids stayed with Rachel at the hotel that night, but Greg and I needed to head home and relieve my mom of her babysitting duties.  I also knew that I had a lot to pack up and get prepared for being away all day on Saturday, and I wanted to make sure I got a little time in with Ben on Saturday morning. 

Waking up on Saturday morning was such a great feeling!  THE day had arrived and I was so eager to get started!  Greg and Ben drove me to the store to pick up breakfast for us all to eat while getting ready at the hotel, and then dropped me off to be with the girls for hair and make up.  It was a very leisurely few hours as we all got our hair and make up done. 

Rebecca doing her sister's hair!

At about 2:30, we grabbed Uber cars and went over to The Hall at Fauntleroy in West Seattle, which is where the wedding and reception would take place.  Becca, Rachel's friend and day of wedding coordinator, had been at the venue all day (getting her coordination on), so she was able to keep Peter (who was already there with the groomsmen) away so Rachel could sneak in without him catching a glimpse.

After Rachel got into her wedding dress, it was time for the big reveal!  I knew it was bound to be an emotional night when I was on the verge of tears watching them see one another for the first time!  (Side note - thank goodness this wedding did not take place when my post-partum hormones were in full gear - I never would have made it through the day)!   

From that point, it was all about pictures and waiting for the ceremony to start!

Me and Maureen

So, the make up artist enjoyed poking fun at my totally pale skin all morning....but as this photo clearly shows, he was not lying.  Ready for a vacation!

The ceremony was short, but incredibly sweet.  Next up was a cocktail hour, followed by the reception!  I don't yet have pictures of all of the wonderful details and personal touches, so I will elaborate on that when I am able to steal some from another blog or Facebook :)

We had a delicious sit down dinner, gave speeches, enjoyed homemade (by close friends and family of the bride and groom) desserts, and danced the night away. 

 

 

I have to say, this wedding had some of the best music selections joined together with the most fun, hilarious, outgoing group of wedding guests I have ever seen on one dance floor.  Here is one final photo I snapped of Mr. and Mrs. Cougan during the last dance (as they belted out the song lyrics to one another).

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Rachel and Peter - I was so, SO honored to be included in your special day.  You two mean the world to me, (to US) and to stand up there with you and witness your marriage is a moment I will cherish forever.  I know that you two will take care of each other and will have such a happy and fulfilling life as a married couple.  We love you both so much!

Oh, and I was entrusted with the very important task of sending in their marriage licence :)  I'm dropping this bad boy off in the mail RIGHT NOW! 

7 Months Old

(Photo sessions are becoming a bit more challenging)!

Craziness!!!  We have a 7 month old!  He is becoming SUCH a little boy.  We all (me, Greg, my mom, Callie) often look at him and notice just how much of a BOY he is becoming.  It's so fun to see his personality developing, although as I have mentioned, still incredibly hard to see how his baby dayz are dwindling away.

Some of my favorite moments with Ben are to watch him take in the things around him.  He has very clear preferences for certain toys over other.  Stacking cups and toy cars seem to really get him going.  And lately, he is very much enjoying his reflection in the mirror.  We also just love to make him laugh - something his dad is (obviously) very good at!

PS - Ankles in mirror are SMALLER than they appear. (Dear God I HOPE so anyway).

I have been noticing just how happy he is when all three of us are together.  Greg went away last weekend for a night to have a little mancation with his friends, and the second that he arrived home, Ben was all smiles and as happy as could be. 

Ben is almost entirely in 9 month clothing right now, with the exception of a few 6 month cardigans and jackets.  He has almost outgrown his bear hat, which we had received in one of our Citrus Lane boxes - perhaps this winter I will get him another one in a bigger size!

As I mentioned recently, he has started to pull himself up to a stand (occasionally) while sitting in his crib.  I can tell his main motivation is to pull himself up just far enough to get his mouth around the edge of his crib, where there are now little tiny teeth marks from where he is chewing on it.  My mom said that my crib had those same teeth marks :)

In the last month, Ben has gone from rolling over and around only occasionally, to doing it ALL THE TIME.  In his crib at night he is rolling a ton, reaching for his teethers, playing his crib piano and squeezing his soothe and glow seahorse.

In terms of naps, I still cannot figure out his schedule.  Each time I attempt to create a napping schedule for him, Ben's needs seem to change.  Currently, it seems that he does not always require an early morning nap, and instead is usually waiting until after his morning feeding to go down.  This nap is sometimes very short, and sometimes is 3 hours long!  Depending on the length, he then needs another early afternoon nap....followed by a short late afternoon/early evening nap.  Like I said, every day it seems to be different.  I would love it if it were consistent every day!

Ben has also started to whine.  A lot.  I can't really tell if it's simply teething pain, or if he is bored, or if he is frustrated that he can't crawl yet (but obviously has the desire to), or a combination of all three?  Either way, it can be frustrating (probably for both of us) to not know what he wants.  Here is one of his new "moves".  I am pretty sure this is his pre-crawl attempt.  He generally goes backwards from here, but I can tell he is on his way!

As you can see, we got the rug!

In terms of eating food, he is getting a little better.  I now try to feed him pureed baby food (jarred) 2 times a day, as he responded to that a lot better than what I was making for him (mean!)  He still does not love it, but once I wiggle the spoon in his mouth he will take it in and begrudgingly swallow it.  I am careful not to push it too far, so when he starts to squeeze his lips together and turn his head away, I stop.  It's a process!

Our love for Ben just grows and grows with each day we spend with him!  This next month ahead of us should be a busy one, as I can tell Ben is mentally working out the details on how he will become more mobile.  NOT. READY.

Serious about toys

He is enjoying himself, I swear!

The "Vampire"

Pulling up to stand

I was just asked if Ben was doing this.  Today, in fact.  I laughed and said, "Oh, no way". 

And then this afternoon he did it. 

He was in a seated position in his crib as I was putting away some laundry.  He grabbed on to the crib bumper (yes, we still have it in there), and then sloppily pulled himself all the way up. 

And then he laughed.  He was so, SO proud.

Hard-Headed

The "Letdown"

* FYI This post is all about breastfeeding. Skip to the next post if all you are interested in are cute Ben photos ;) *

So, breastfeeding.  I never thought that this would become something so important to me, but it absolutely has become something I am 100% dedicated to.  Before having Ben, I had planned to "give it a try" as it seemed to be something that is recommended.  I figured if I could make it for 2 weeks, I could probably continue throughout my maternity leave, and then if it went well when I went back to work I would just keep on going until it was no longer beneficial to Ben. 

I was one of the lucky ones, as Ben and I had zero problems from the get go.  No soreness on my end, no issues with supply - in fact, I am pretty sure that for a few months I had an over-supply.  Milk for dayz.  Ben was packing on the lbs as fast as I was losing them - it was a mutually beneficial situation for the two of us! ;)  I began pumping and storing extra in my freezer for when I would be away from Ben at work, and I assumed that this whole thing was going to be a breeze until I decided I was going to stop.

Due to my work schedule, and the schedule we have gotten Ben on, I only need to pump one time each day while at the office.  I feed Ben before work, he gets a bottle (and I pump) mid-morning, I am home to feed him at lunch time, and then he waits to eat again until I am home from work in the late afternoon.  Once we got the bottle issue resolved, it seemed as if we could continue with our system forever until Ben hit 1 year of age.

But let me tell you how weird our bodies are:  About a month ago, out of the blue, my body decided that it was not going to respond to my breast pump anymore.  Ben would be at home drinking his 5-7 ounces of milk, and I would be at the office....pumping 2 oz if I was lucky.  I went from pumping at least enough milk to cover his bottle intake, to hardly pumping half of what I needed.

I didn't think much of it for a couple weeks.  I figured it was just a weird day, or I had timed my pumping session wrong.  I knew I had enough "reserves" in the freezer that it didn't really matter.  I started to panic when I realized I only had enough for a couple bottles left, and I still was pumping a lot less than needed.

I reached out to my network of experienced bf'ing moms to see what they thought.  A friend of mine offered to let me borrow her pump, to see if I had a pump issue instead of a supply issue.  I called my doctor, I started taking Fenugreek (it's supposed to boost your supply), I stopped drinking as much caffeine as I had been, cut out alcohol, tried eating healthier foods, but for awhile there NOTHING was increasing the amount I pumped.

Finally, someone asked me if I was experiencing the "letdown" while pumping.  After some reflection, I realized that no - I had not been experiencing this while pumping at work for the past several weeks.  I knew that it was occurring with Ben while feeding him, but for some reason it wasn't happening with the pump.  I did a bunch of research and basically learned how much your mental state has to do with the particular hormone release needed to have this occur - which will then make for a successful pumping session.  

It was suggested that I take several deep breaths, watch videos/look at pictures of Ben), bring a blanket that smells like Ben to work, and my personal favorite suggestion, "visualize a waterfall of milk", (LOL!) - basically anything to somehow trigger that happy "I'm feeding my baby" feeling.

Seriously.  How strange is that?  Our bodies are odd.   Yes, there have been some pretty major changes at work lately that have created more work for me, (and perhaps added stress), but nothing that I thought would affect me in THIS way.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that after MUCH concern and stress over this issue, I have somehow managed to relax enough to get my pumping situation under control and successful.

So, once again, it has been a reminder to me just how valuable it is to have the support of others to help navigate through situations such as this!  Often times the answers are out there, and all you have to do is stay focused on finding a resolution and ask for help.

A Good Weekend

I am certainly not covering every detail of what a nice weekend we had, but I wanted to include a few of the pictures I captured here and there.  We had absolutely beautiful weather, which tends to make for a lovely weekend.

Morning walk to Starbucks with Robin and baby Graycen, (and Kristin - not pictured), followed by a short play date at home:

My amazing friend Stephanie had her baby shower!  Her little boy, Mason, is expected to arrive on June 21st.  It was wonderful to get together and celebrate Ben's future buddy.  (More pictures to be uploaded in the future, once I get them sent to me)!

Wrapping Mason's gift

Ben, Kim and Bronson

Greg and I (and Ben, although he slept through appetizers) had a lovely dinner on an outdoor patio down in Edmonds.  Delicious/delightful!

I can't remember what they were looking at

Ben + Wine (mine, not his) = :) :) :)

We blew bubbles.

Finally, we wrapped up the weekend by taking a big blanket outside into our backyard and enjoyed one another's company (and the sun).  Ben played, I drank wine, and Greg cooked us an amazing BBQ pizza.  





** Contrary to what it may seem like in several of these photos, Ben was not a total grump all weekend.  I think it was the bright sun and/or serious focus he seems to have on things these days causing his "serious" look.



Ben's Favorite Game

Where's Ben?

Dream Rug

While shopping for a friend's upcoming baby shower, I came across this rug.  I'm obsessed and I need to have it.  I had a similar rug when I was a kid - the kind you drive little cars all over.  I remember loving that type of play.  (I was also obsessed with Sim City as a young adult).

How cute is this?  And who wants to make me one for half the price? :)

UPDATE - A much more reasonably priced rug FOUND at Target.  Thanks, Rachel!



Easter

We had a fun Easter this year!  We started the day at home, by giving Ben his Easter "bag".  I didn't want to go out and buy a basket, especially since he doesn't really "get" the holiday quite yet.  I had bought him a few books, a couple toy cars, and a toy airplane that makes fun sounds. 

Next, we moved on to my parents' house for Easter brunch!  My mom made us lattes and eggs benedict, and had an Easter "tub" for Ben (including candy for us) :)

We finished up with dying some Easter eggs.  My mom wants to do this every year, and while I never really want to, it always ends up being kind of fun...and then I have hard-boiled eggs for snacks for the rest of the week!  Ben happily hung out in his pack and play, playing with his toys.  AND, after zero #2 diapers for 5 days, "laid his own egg", if you will. 

(Don't mind me, I just cracked myself up with that on Easter as Greg was cleaning him up.  Had to include it to laugh about for years to come).

We then drove back home and my mom came over to hang with Ben so Greg and I could go see The Hunger Games!  I was so excited to FINALLY see a movie, particularly a movie that I had been anticipating after reading the book awhile back.  I thought it was great - Greg thought it could have been a little more "bloody".



6th Month Checkup

I took Benny in last week for his 6th month checkup.  Here is a picture of him before we saw the doctor:

Anyway, everything was great!  Here are his current stats:

Weight: 17 lbs, 9 oz - (50th percentile)
Height: 27.5 inches - (75th - 90th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.5 inches (50th percentile)

He even did a great job with his shots.  He cried, of course, but not as much before.  It seems to get a little easier for him each time.

The appointment wasn't too eventful.  We discussed Ben's lack of interest in food, and she suggested we stick with rice cereal every day until he is used to the texture.  I can already tell it is getting a little less strange for him, so hopefully soon we can start adding in other foods again.  She basically said there was no "eating emergency".  Phew!

And the next appointment isn't until he hits 9 months - nice to have 3 months in between instead of 2.

Happy Easter!

Grass

Ben, skeptically, experienced grass for the first time today.

Classy

It has been a classy day of fun for these two.

6 Month Photo Shoot

We had some family photos taken on Ben's 6 month birthday!  We had a fun morning with the photographer, and while Ben was not as smiley as he usually is, we were happy with the outcome :)

Here are some of our favorites: