Week 5

Little man had his first trip to the beach this week! Like the baseball game, I don't think he was very impressed. We went to Crystal River, FL to celebrate Tim's Grandfathers 80th birthday. I was a little nervous about heading to the beach, and sleeping in a hotel, with such a new baby but we did just fine! In fact it was nice to have so many family members around holding and playing with him. It gave me some time to catch my breath. I think I was able to go a full 20 feet away from him for no longer then 15 minutes at a time. I'm having attachment issues. Up to this point the only time I have left him was when he was just a few days old. Tim and I went to Target to pick up some last minute baby items. We left little man at home with my mom, so I knew he was in good hands. That didn't matter. I cried the whole way home because I missed him so much (I blame hormones.) I can't imagine that I'll ever be ready to leave him. No one knows all his tricks like his mommy does. They don't know that when he's upset you can hold his hands and talk to him to calm him down. They don't know that after he eats he likes to sit upright and tell you all about his day. They don't know that stroking his little head and eyebrows can put him right to sleep. They don't know that when he's grunting he's not upset, he's just talking to you. They don't know that he'll smile when you sing to him and nibble on his baby toes. And the biggest one...only Mommy has the goods! What if I leave him and he gets hungry? There's only one solution to this problem, I'm sticking close to my little man until he goes to college. And then I might just go to college with him!

I thought that I had just about mastered the whole showering process while caring for an infant. I would simply take his bouncer into the bathroom with me! For the most part he's content to sit and bounce while I get my shower. Not so much this past week. On Wednesday he sat bouncing just long enough for me to get lathered up from head to toe. He then decided to lose it. Not just little whimpers, but full out baby screams. I frantically rinsed off as quickly as I could, grabbed my towel and shook-it-like-salt-shaker to dry off. I threw the shower door open to grab my screaming man. In one instant he went from screaming to sound asleep. Sigh. Shower = fail.

(He loved the beach, NOT! Maybe in a few more months!)

1 month old!

Ok, seriously where are the hidden cameras because Nolen can't possibly be a month old already. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were driving ever-so-slowly home from the hospital? At the same time I feel like Nolen has been in our life forever, I feel like I've known him for a lot longer then a month! These past four weeks have been one big burr. My days just seem to slip away, and I don't feel like anything ever gets accomplished. I mean besides the norm: feeding, diaper, feeding, playing, feeding, nap, repeat. I can never really say "Today I finished________ and then went __________. Instead my brain thinks "Oh what a nice day out, maybe we'll go for a walk around 2, wait does that clock say it's already 6pm? Ok, so maybe we won't go for a walk. Humm, did I eat lunch today? Yes, I had cereal, wait that was breakfast, I don't think I ate lunch today. Shower, I need to take a shower. Oh screw it, it's already 6pm I'll just shower tomorrow."

We've been hard at work trying to get Nolen on some what of a bedtime schedule. It's really just a game of trial and error. We've tried different bed-times (anywhere from 8-10:30.) We've tried giving him a baby cocktail before bed (half formula- half breast milk.) We've tried white noise makers and every sound on his sleep sheep (thanks aunt Kari!) And lastly, we've tried the miracle blanket. It was not such a miracle. It is like a straight jacket for infants, the ultimate swaddling blanket. Sadly for us little man does not like to be swaddled, it cramps his dance style. He'll squeal and grunt as he tries to free himself, usually ending with Mommy feeling bad and helping him out. We really have no idea if any of theses are working. We just take it one day (and night) at a time. Good night (3-4 hours between feedings), bad night (1-2 hours between feedings) good night, bad, night, you get the picture. Regardless of what kind of night we have we always have great mornings. Little bit is quite the snug-bug bug in the am. He loves to nestle his little head under my chin and snuggle away, LOVES IT!

"Hey Zebra, it's St. Patties day. Know where I can get some corned beef and cabbage around here?"


What can I say, my boy loves the cashmere blanket!

First baseball game

Okay, it's official. I'm totally one of those sappy mommy bloggers who just wants to overload you with pictures of my baby. Today we took Nolen to see the Braves play at Disney's Wide World of Sports. As you can see he thoroughly enjoyed the game. (I think the only time he opened his eyes was for our family picture.)

Week 3

Life lesson #176: Always remember to PROMPTLY cover a little mans manhood upon removing his diaper. Forgetting to do so will result in a pee shower covering you, baby, and all surrounding walls. This rule also applies when putting a little man in a warm bath.
I've learned this lesson the hard way one too many times. I sometimes like to play Russian roulette while changing his diaper. "oh, he just peed, there's no way he'll pee on me this time!" WRONG or "oh it's the middle of the night and he's half asleep, he won't get me this time." WRONG. I keep learning this lesson over and over again, sigh. Maybe one day I'll actually learn my lesson and keep that thing covered!

I did't realize until we had this little man just how crazy life was about to become. People try and warn you. They tell you to get your sleep now, and enjoy your time before little one arrives. Yeah, yeah, sure people. But they are SO right! I totally should have gotten my sleep then, because I'm sure not getting it now. I think one of the hardest parts of having a newborn is the whole breast feeding process. It literally consumes your life. Just imagine having to plan your life in 2 hour increments. Every 2-3 hours, 24 hours a day, you need to be somewhere where you can whip out a boob and sit for 30 minutes. I know it will get easier, and the breast feeding benefits totally out way the negatives that I'm feeling now. I just have to keep looking at the positive, look at these boobs!!!

Weight updates:
Little man has packed on almost 2 pounds since birth. He's already pushing 9 pounds!! Rock on little one!
Mommy is down the 20 pounds she gained plus another 5! Rock on Mommy!! (and yet another bonus of breast feeding, you lose weight while consuming boxes of girl scout cookies!)

Here's a picture of little man and his first friend Zebra. He spend a good 30 minutes talking and staring at this guy, so sweet!



And finally...Mom, I'm so over these pictures, give me some food!

Newborn photos

Here are a few of Nolen's newborn photos!!! Thanks so much Rachel Absher!

Week 2

We're just moving right along with this whole Mommy bit! Coming home from the hospital 2 weeks ago we had 3 people to help tackle the job; Tim, myself, and MomMom (my mom.) Things were going great between the 3 of us. We all took turns changing diapers, playing, singing, and just enjoying little man. 1 week later we were down a man, Tim had to return to work. Slight anxiety attack, but I still had MomMom in town to help. The two of us were surviving just fine, whew! Saturday rolls around and we're down another man, MomMom was flying home, YIKES! I had a slight breakdown on the car ride home that day. Maybe it was because it was my birthday, maybe it was because I was about to do this Mommy deal on my own, or maybe it was just from hormones! Who knows, but I drove home in tears totally freaking out about doing it alone. Guess what, we survived! In fact Nolen and I have had 2 great days together! He eats, he sleeps, he poops, repeat. I think I can handle this!

Going out now (anywhere) has become a huge task. You have to time it all around these oh-so-often feedings that occur every 2-3 hours. Our first big outing alone, and where did we go, to Publix! I fed the man, changed the man, soothed the man, fed the man again, changed the man again, and finally changed the mans clothes before heading out the door. We arrived at the grocery store, so far so good, I put his car seat in the grocery cart and we were on our way through the isles. Problem was, once you put a car seat into the grocery cart there's no room for groceries. I could only buy the bare necessities, 3 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk. Cart full! At this rate we'll be going to the grocery store everyday.

Here are a few shots from our first attempt at tummy time, it looked a little more like nap time ;(

Week 1!

So I always promised myself that after Little Man arrived I wouldn't become one of those sappy mommy bloggers. You know the kind I mean, "Today my baby cooed and burped, it was the cutest thing ever!" But here I am, about to indulge you in tales of breast feeding, sigh.

I had always heard horror stories of breast feeding. They said it hurts, your milk might not come in, blah blah blah. This might be the case for some, but luckily not us! Nolen has been a boob man since he was 10 minutes old. There has never been a shortage of milk for this little one! As soon as we assume the "feeding" position, those eyes grow wide and he throws that little (big) baby mouth open. We had his first doctors appointment on Monday. We were anxious to see what our little man weighed. He was 7pd 3oz at birth but we knew babies drop weight those first few weeks before packing it back on. Well this little man gained weight, 1/2 pound. The doctor said that mommy must be making heavy cream! Ha, ha, that funny doctor... or so we thought. Yesterday I dragged out the breast pump for the first time so that Daddy and MomMom could share in the feeding fun. The girls quickly pumped 4 oz of that liquid gold. I stuck it in the fridge where it would wait until one of those lovely nightly feedings. We went out for a few hours, when we arrived home I ran to check on his bottle(like it was going to go anywhere?!?) Well anyone who knows breast milk knows that after sitting for a few hours it separates. Watery substance on top, creamy stuff on the bottom. Not mine, not this heavy whipping cream, because that's exactly what it looked like, pure white heavy cream. Oh my, mommy might need to lay off of the cheesecake and girl scout cookies!

Below is Nolen and his monkey...we'll watch Nolen grow next to his buddy every month!


And here we are one week post partum...still looking slightly pregnant, but a great improvement from last week! At least we're back in our old jeans again, ahhh!