Christmas #1

We have many Christmas celebrations in our family but of course Christmas Day is the first. What a special one this year to celebrate it as a family. Max treated me to 6 hours of sleep, the best gift ever!

Christmas Eve, after church, begins the marathon watching of daddy's favorite 'A Christmas Story', he couldn't wait to introduce Max to it. Of course the Christmas outfit Aunt Ellie bought him was a hit at church, I mean can you get any cuter....

But of course that's the first of much Christmas attire....

Max was so excited to see that Santa came and brought daddy, I mean Max, a Hess truck! He did seem to think the lights and noise it made was pretty cool.

Can you tell I bought this a month ago, tubo is busting out of it! But he doesn't seem to care...

Some day I'm gonna pay for this, I just have a feeling...

Being this cute really tires a reindeer out!

I told everyone Max was their Christmas gift and I meant it, everyone got pictures of the boy. (Yes it was our turn to be those sucker parents who spend WAY more than they intend at a photo shoot:))

Since I haven't updated for a while... in other news...

My mom got moved into her new house. It looks so nice all freshly painted and all new floors. She would like some new furniture and still has the kitchen to unpack but its coming along nicely and its such a cute home.

We're grateful that Nate is working from home with all the miserable weather we've been getting, lots of rain and ice of course. Max and I keep busy at my mom's or getting ready for Christmas or hanging out with friends from church (he loves his play dates of course). Its amazing how busy you can be with just one little one, I can't imagine two right now (though am starting to get a little anxious already:)).

Without realizing it we're actually starting to get into somewhat of a routine. It really depends on if its a hungry or sleepy day and if he takes a bottle or is breastfed (he generally lasts longer if he takes a bottle, a whole 6oz already piggy! and its pretty much split half and half at this point to how he eats depending on what's going on). He'll go down around 10pm give or take an hour and has been sleeping till anywhere between 3am and 4:30am (by 4:30am I have to wake him up to eat for my own sake anyway but he's usually stirring by then). Then he'll sleep for another few hours till anywhere from 6:30am-8am. He may wake up sometimes but usually either settles himself or we have to give him paci and he'll conk back out. Then we eat again mid morning, mid afternoon, around dinner time and again anywhere from 8-9:30pm. We've also started nap time this week. He sleeps on and off all day long but had been getting somewhat cranky if he didn't have a real good sleep (which sometimes he can just do downstairs in his bouncer and he sleeps pretty well) but we've been going back up to the crib after the afternoon feeding. Its working ok, we spend half the time in the glider sometimes but he'll get used to it and its nice for me to be able to get some things done, he's pretty good at sleeping through a lot of noise if he's downstairs but I still can't get done everything I can if he's upstairs in his nursery. So we're doing good, eating lots, pooping lots and entertaining a ton. He's just so much fun, I always knew this would be amazing but you just can't imagine it till it happens to you.

As I sit downstairs on a belly full of cookies (which is no way to loose the last 10lbs) and can hear my husband and son "talking" upstairs and our families have all gone home safely after a wonderful day together, I can realize how truly blessed we really are and I really did get the best Christmas gift!

Of course the greatest Christmas miracle came many years ago...

Luke 2:1-14
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (KJV)

All I want for Christmas...

I believe his wish list would be milk, cuddles and more milk with an occasional paci! We have it pretty easy this year. We figured we should get this in now because this year all Santa is is a big snuggle bug to him, next year may be a different story!

PS: Santa was free at Bass Pro so just ignore the antlers to the left there....

2 Months!!

Can you believe its been 2 whole months... Sometimes its hard to forget life without him but its also still hard to believe he's ours for the keeping!

We went for our 2 month check up today and he's a growing boy! He's 23 inches long and 11,5 lbs. We can't believe what a change only 2 months can bring. Its fun to look back like they're memories already. We go to Babies R Us and see all the excited pregnant couples with the registry guns and reminisce and its hard not to just go up and tell them that they can't even imagine the joy that will soon come into their lives. Even seeing a baby for its 2 day check up at the Dr's this morning and remembering those sleep deprived dazed days of just trying to figure the new baby out seemed like ages ago. Its also fun to have gotten to hold 2 newborns since Max and "remembering" when he was that big. I guess we have a long way to go and SO many wonderful memories yet to make.

Our Max is doing awesome! He was such a good boy for his shots this morning, SO much better than mommy was but we all made it through and now he's nice and sleepy. He is still doing good at night. I usually get about 3-4 1/2 hours of sleep at a time. He does wonderfully in his crib. We still have no schedule, some days he sleeps all day, some days he barely sleeps for more than a half an hour at a time. He's eating less often now which is nice but still means when we nurse it can push almost 2 hours sometimes. He just really enjoys it and if I have time then so be it.

He is all smiles these days. He so often had such a "Mad Max" face I thought maybe he'd be one of those babies who always looked serious but not anymore. He talks to us all the time now and has the best smile. I even get it when I change his diaper if he's not hungry.

We still love having daddy downstairs and getting to see him a lot. Its going to be weird when mom-mom moves out of our house and I go back to work so we're really enjoying this time while we have it.

We've been keeping very busy lately with helping my mom get her house painted and ready. I've also had to go in to help at work a little bit for some very unfortunate reasons so I guess its a way to ease back into it, though I still am cherishing my last month at home with the boy and am SO glad that I won't have to be going back full time (and that daddy and mom-mom will be the ones to watch him).

So that's the two month update, just have to share our smiling pictures:

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend!!! We're lucky enough to get two. Wednesday my mom and I headed over to my grandmother's (Dad had to work so he came Thursday morning). First Max got to meet his best friend Noah:

Thursday we had a wonderful dinner at my grandmother's and Max got to show off his cuteness!

Then the poor guy caught mommy's cold so luckily Friday was just a quiet day at home (though I did get to sneak out to go shopping when dad was done work! Black Friday evening was the best, everyone was done shopping I think!)

Then Saturday we got our second Thanksgiving at Grandma Melody's. Aunt Ellie and Uncle Josh and the kids came up. Here is Max with his cousins Emma and Luke!

In other baby news....

My little tiny baby boy slept all alone in his big boy bed last night! (That's his crib, not a real bed). He has been doing so good all week, going up to 5-7 hours not eating at night so we decided its worth a try. I didn't think he'd do it since he hates laying on his back but Daddy went out and bought a really cool mobile which finally settled him and he slept from about 11:30pm-3:30am. Then after he ate at 3:30 he I put him back down in there till 7am when he woke up to eat again. He did much better than mommy who spent a good part of the night watching him on the baby monitor sitting on my nightstand. But I am so proud of my baby boy and I can't tell you how much I appreciate FIVE hours of consecutive sleep at night! Wow!

He's learning other tricks too, like sticking his tongue out and he has tons of smiles and things to say these days.

They really do grow up so fast:)

Moving along...

We're moving along here. Nights are much better, he doesn't need to eat as often or for as long. We also do a bottle before bed now and that sometimes helps him sleep better. The investment in a dual electric pump was well worth it. I feel much more free and he takes the bottle wonderfully. The hand pump, while it worked just fine, wasn't cutting it like I found out I preferred. (And for those who can deal without the hands free, the $150 Lansinoh pump works awesome and is half the price of other good ones).

We're having some issues sleeping on our back. He just hates it, he won't swaddle and he can be sound asleep and still wake up as soon as you lay him down. He still sleeps over half the night on my back/chest. I know this is a terrible habit but we both sleep so well that way. The only way I'm able to calm him in the cradle is with a paci (which I hate but he seems to love) and of course while sleeping he'll spit it out and I have to put it back. But its a process we're working on.

He's getting so big, outgrowing his clothes. And he has all kinds of tricks. He's awesome with his head and pulling up. And now he's starting to react and smile a little bit which is awesome. He'll lay and watch his mobile for a while too.

We still have no routine or schedule (but with having bottles around all the time it doesn't matter as much). Some days he'll still sleep all day, others he'll eat all day but that's just the way it is and I still can't imagine forcing a schedule on the poor spoiled baby. The only thing I'm trying to shift is his nighttime. He tends to take a good nap late in the day and not go to bed till 11pm-1am and then we sleep till 9:30 or 10:30am so we're trying to shift that earlier.

So that's what is going on with Max.

In other news....

My mom bought a house. Its an adorable townhouse that has a very homey feel. We're very excited. She closes on December 4th so for now we're just picking out floors and paint colors.

And Nate has started to work from home! Its awesome. He can even work in his PJ's like he is this morning. It saves almost 2 hours in commuting each day, plus he gets an hour lunch and some breaks so he can see his boy. He'll just have to go in to the office every Thursday. We're so excited he got this, just have to keep the little one from crying too loud!

One Month Old!

I can't believe he's a whole month already!

My how things have changed. Even reading back on the blog, things seem to change every day. We have no "normal" or routine or schedule or anything. Not the easiest for a control freak but probably good for me every now and then. He still eats every 1-4 hours and often for an hour at a time. I've finally broken down and ordered an electric pump so we can start pumping a lot more and taking bottles more often (which he takes in about 10 minutes) so we don't have to spend 8 hours a day eating and we'll be able to plan things a bit more. Its a little sad, he really just loves nursing and its 50% a comfort thing so he's never in a big hurry. But the little bugger has a serious temper so when he wants to nurse, you better be ready!

We figure at the rate he's going he'll be running around the house by Christmas. When laying down on his back, if you let him grip your fingers he'll put himself completely up, multiple times. His other fun trick is that he can hold himself up so when you have him up on your chest he likes to push away and show you that you don't need to hold his head. The scariest thing was the other day at tummy time he was actually wiggling himself a bit forward. He's stronger than I am when I'm trying to bend his limbs for dressing.

He has fussier days and often has some gas issues but other than being hungry or gassy he's pretty good. He loves riding in the car, it usually knocks him out.

His expressions are priceless, while sleeping or awake. He loves looking around now and he loves his music and dancing. We still love to fall asleep together with him laying on my chest and we allow it sometimes as long as he'll still go down in his cradle and pack and play when we need him too. We both just sleep so much better that way cause he loves the contact and I don't have to watch him if he's right on my chest. Its a shame they have to sleep on their backs now cause he loves being the other way.

Its great to have Mom-Mom here to help, she entertains him a lot and he gives her a lot of funny looks. And daddy just can't wait to get home to see his boy.

I just can't believe how much he's grown!

We'll be taking pictures with George every month.

This was 3 days old!

4 weeks

He looked so cute this day in his cords...

His first trip in the bouncer. It vibrates and it was confusing him a bit.

Happy Halloween and 3 weeks!

Max was SO excited for Halloween....

Some 3 week updates....

I have a VERY slow eater. Some days each time he eats its over an hour and then the times he doesn't eat for long he eats again in under an hour. He's a hungry little boy and he should be on milk mustache commercials, its pretty funny. He's on no schedule but he's usually fairly good at night. He eats at least every 3 hours so I never get much consecutive sleep but he's usually good about going right back down and those times he can't settle or I just NEED more sleep, he sleeps on my chest and he's out for a while so we both get some good sleep then. I do have quite the TV schedule now though. Its amazing what is on in the middle of the night. All kinds of infomercials selling very interesting things. PCN however does have Deutche Welle on for hours in the early morning so thats kind of fun to get my German TV time in. Fresh Prince is also on a lot so thats a good fall back when HGTV goes to infomercials at 3am.....sad huh....

He still has all that hair. He likes his baths now. We give him his bath after I have, or someone, has, gotten a shower so the bathroom is all warm. He still hates being cold and naked, diaper changes are still a scream most of the time. He's also getting projectile and I have to try to keep him "covered" during changes but again, because he just loves it so, he's usually crying and wiggling so that's not always easy. I also have figured out how to diaper him in a way that he's not leaking all over so that saves me a lot of laundry and keeps us all a bit drier. He's starting to outgrow some of the newborn clothes but it really depends on the brand.

Other than all that exciting stuff he totally cracks us up. He makes the funniest noises and faces and is really just hours of entertainment. We have so much fun, I sometimes miss him when he does sleep for a while.

He's always good when we go out too so I hope we keep that up. We even made it to church on Sunday and we've been house hunting and shopping and to Grandma's. He seems to like riding in the car.... walks are still iffy but I think fresh air is good for both of us!

Anyway, that's our Max in week 3, I can't believe he's almost a month old. It seems like we just "got" him. We couldn't e happier though!

Go Phillies!!!!

Mom-mom's good luck charm!

Two week Dr's visit

We were told we have a "solid" baby! By the two week visit they're to be up to their birth weight again, he is up to 8lbs which is over a pound over his birth wait. I think that means the 8 hours a day he spends "attached" to me seems to be working! But she did say he's solid so no rolly polly baby for us. He's also grown 2 more inches in length. We're up to a different diaper now (still newborn but different brand, its amazing how different they are) and I think I've finally figured out how to keep the pee from going everywhere! We've spent days going through up to 10 outfits, its amazing how much laundry something so small can make. Other than that he's doing great. We've had a few outings now and he's been perfect. We even have some nights where I think I'm getting about 6 hours of sleep. I don't know what I'd give for 3 consecutive hours but I take what I can get at this point.

Here are a few firsts:

His first bath (his cord finally fell off and he kinda likes being IN the warm water if you don't catch him when he's hungry)

This was the first solo mommy and Max outing, to our neighbor's baby shower, it was weird to be dressed....

Officially Two Weeks

Meeting my cousins!

We had some visitors last weekend. Aunt Ellie and Uncle Josh came up with Luke & Emma and Nate's Aunt Barb and cousin Steph came down from NYC with her son Milo so Max got to meet some cousins.

Cousin Emma and Max

Second cousin Milo and Max

Cousin Luke was having more fun in the leaves and unfortunately Max got a little sick and didn't get to see people on Sunday so next time Luke and Max can hook up for a picture!

One week and some firsts

One week old! 12:48pm on October 16th (which was to be the due date).... I can't believe how much he's changed already!

Some swing time and some tummy time. He's getting really good at holding his head already which is nice because wobbly heads are a pain to always be watching!

We did have our first "real" trip to the Dr's on Sunday. He has some sniffles, coughing and sneezing but he checked out ok. He had no fever and we got a "solution" prescription to use only if he has trouble breathing while eating or sleeping but he's much better now.

I'm one week old!

Today I'm a week old! I'm starting to get the hang of being out here in the real world. Mom and dad are pretty cool and I'm getting to know my grandmas pretty well too. I'm hungry ALL the time now and I've been what mommy calls "bulking up". I guess that's a good thing cause mommy and daddy told me they were proud of me at the Dr's yesterday for gaining 7oz in 2 days so I guess I better keep eating like this.
I've discovered some other fun new things, like peeing when I take my diaper off. I just wish mommy didn't have to change my diaper and outfit 20 times a day because I hate being naked but she keeps telling me I'm leaking. I have some belly issues sometimes but the Dr also told mom and dad how to make that better and even though I don't always cooperate while they're doing it, it does seem to work good.
Mommy and daddy seemed kinda tired so I decided I would try to sleep more last night. We watched the Phillies win the big game and then went up to bed and I only woke up twice to eat (I like to eat very slowly at nighttime!) and slept in my cradle for them. They seem very happy this morning.
They put me in a swing now which I really like and have also been getting tummy time, which I don't really understand but whatever....
I keep seeing a flash in my face so I'm guessing that means there will be more pictures of me to share soon but for now I just wanted to give my one week post.
Hugs and kisses to everyone (or just sloppy milk slobber)
Max

5 day update

Thanks SO much to Aunt Ellie who had a great idea for some "real" pictures. Its nice to have photographers in the family!

He's FULL of expressions!

Mini me...

You've been asking for some real pictures so here we go. We're doing good. He's nice and calm being held all day sleeping, not so easy at night but we're getting there. He's down just a little bit (to 6.5) in weight but again, we're learning as we go and nursing is going well. He's the sweetest thing ever and we just love him so much of course. Most of my issues I was having are heeling so I'm slowly starting to feel somewhat human again though I still think I'm in such a sleep deprived daze most of the time I'm not sure what is going on. We've had so much family around to help (we appreciate the help of course but we know they're mostly there to fight over who's holding him next!) and things are going well. He and the whole process is a much answered prayer and we're truly blessed!

Even though poor sleepy daddy had to help replace a porch roof Sunday and could only listen to the game, he did get to watch with Mommy and Mom-Mom. You can tell he was very into it! (At least they won!)