Unending Joy

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Drooler

Orien likes to drool a lot as you can tell below. Lots of time due to the heat and his constant drooling we keep him in his diaper :) Enjoy the photos!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

FOUR MONTHS

BEST FOUR MONTHS OF OUR LIVES.

Newborn!

Three days old.

Four days old.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

AIRPLANE

Spending some quality time with Momma...As you can tell, he lovesss his hands.
(I think he was 15 weeks here)

Look at those eyelashes and his beautiful expression. Love it!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Checking In

I wanted to check in and give an update on Orien at nearly 4 months! Time has flown. I can barely remember life before our little guy.

Weight: XXL!! Haha. He's probably about 16 lbs. He weighed in at 15 lbs two weeks ago. The nurse just laughed!

Length: Not sure. He's in the 50% still I think.

Eating: STILL eating every THREE hours!! Little piggy. He averages 6 oz/feeding. And averages 4 oz of spit up/feeding :) Doc said he'll probably be a spit up baby til about 9 mon. Lots of extra laundry for me!

Sleeping: FINALLY...some progress. He usually goes down at 8pm, sleeps til 1-2:30am (woohoo!) and wakes up for a feeding, then wakes again around 4-4:30am ready to play! Haha. So we're still working on that last part. I remember the days when every hour he was waking up and feeding every TWO hours. So we've come a long long way. I can say LETTING HIM CRY was the key :) Next baby, we'll be pros!!

New milestones: He's been talking for a while, but now he does it NON stop! He's a chatter box. The doc was impressed and said he's chatty for his age, which is great. I've read/talked to him a lot since day one - hopefully it's helped! He's starting to say "Da" a lot and "Hay!", but he has no idea what he's saying haha. When I say "I love you" over and over, he tries to copy. It's too cute.

He's getting pretty coordinated with his hands. He chews on them nonstop (and drools). He hasn't actually reached out for anything yet, but if you put something near his hands he grasps on to it! And holds on with a death grip. He loves pulling mommy and daddy's hair.

His neck and back muscles are getting super strong! Maqui has been working with him a lot on this. Whenever he's laying down or in his car seat or swing, he tries to sit up, but isn't quite there yet. But when you hold his hands he lifts himself ALL the way up to sitting position! Yay!! We sit him up as much as possible and he loves it. He loves watching Leah the most.

Another fun milestone is seeing him laugh out loud!!! It's the best. We haven't heard any big belly laughs yet, only little giggles. It's the cutest sound ever.

Challenges: The major challenge I would say right now is fighting his constant rashes. I swear he has the MOST sensitive skin in the world. He has heat rash on his head, face, (very badly) under neck and on his arms constantly. He has lots of cradle cap (dryness on head). Drool rash on chin and chest. Mystery rash below belly button. And severe diaper rash right now with little white bumps :( We're working with the Doctor now how to get rid of it. Good thing is none of them seem to bother him - mostly just upsets mommy.

Status on Mom and Dad: We are loving loving every moment! After four months of getting not much sleep I'd say we're doing fairly well. We've really gotten into a routine, especially in the evenings. We like putting him down around 8 or earlier so we get some quality time every day. Otherwise we'd have zero. To maintain a healthy, growing marriage it's a necessity. Orien has Brett wrapped around his little finger! And I have never been SO in love with someone! Life is great.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Mom Survey

Only because I had some free time at work...

1. How old were you when your first child was born?
23

2. What month and year was your youngest child born?
March 2009

3. How did you feel when you first found out you were pregnant?
Shocked and overjoyed!

4. Who did you tell first?
my friend Emily Keith

5. How many pounds did you gain during your first pregnancy?
32ish

6. What did you crave while you were pregnant?
sleep - no food cravings

7. Did you find out the gender of your first child? Why or why not?
YES! Why not?

8. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
Besides pain pain pain and bedrest, a few pre-term labor scares.

9. How much did your first child weigh?
6 lbs, 6 oz

10. Was your first child early, late, or on time?
induced early at 38 weeks!

11. What is the most difficult challenge or health issue that any of your children have faced?
nothing (THANK GOODNESS!)

12. What's your favorite part of being a mom?
That feeling you get when he smiles at me.

13. Do you think it's easier to be a mom or a dad?
Um. DAD!

14. What is the best piece of advice you could give to someone who is about to have their first child?
GET SLEEP NOW - before your child is born. And make friends with babies and kids. Surround yourself with loving (and helpful) family and friends. Don't be alone all day, every day. Get out some! ASK FOR HELP always!!!

15. Did you always think you'd have kids?
Yep.

16. What's been the biggest surprise about motherhood?
How much of a 24/7 demanding, challenging job it is. It's much harder than I thought, but also very rewarding.

17. Are there things you miss about life before kids?
Yep. Lots of things - doing whatever, whenever. Seeing my childless friends more. More quality time with my husband. More alone time. But I'd trade all of that for what we have now any day.

18. How many children do you have?
One - and that's ALL I can handle right now!

19. Do you plan to have any more children?
Yep, one more probably.

20. Who's the mom that you admire most?
MY MOM! She is so selfless. She has always put her kids first no matter what. She's also my best best friend.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

New toys for Orien!

Orien got slightly spoiled this weekend with a new Bumbo chair and a jumper! He isn't as entertained anymore with just laying around. Plus, he's starting to get a lopped-sided head! lol. He needs to sit up more. Enjoy the pics.

Love yall!