One Month Already!

Wow, can't believe it, but Nicholas is one month old today already!

These past four weeks have gone really fast! I'm finally feeling like we're starting a routine and my days at home still go really fast, but they're starting to feel more productive and not such a blur. We're still having some issues at night, but even that seems to be getting better or at least more routine.

Here's the little guy today

He's still such a good baby. He cries sometimes, but mostly when he's hungry, needs changed or when he's trying to fight falling asleep. He's got more awake time every day and he's getting so much bigger and stronger. He's holding his head pretty good, although sometimes it still flops around. He's starting to follow sounds a bit more and smiling - we choose to think he's smiling at us and it's not gas!!! He's getting very chubby cheeks and Hannah thinks it's funny to tell him that! He likes to suck on a binky and if only we could figure out how to keep it from falling out at bedtime so he doesn't fuss!!!

Here we are yesterday celebrating St. Patrick's Day in green

And last night, everyone was playing in Hannah's room. Hannah's been having a lot of Daddy time lately and she loves it!

I've got another month before I go back to work (officially only 2 weeks, but I'm taking 2 extra weeks). It's just so crazy how fast this month has gone by, but we're enjoying every minute of it!

I did a little comparing of Hannah and Nicholas and even though Hannah looked just like me from the get go and Nicholas seems to look more like Tony, these two definitely look like siblings! I brought up a picture of Hannah last night and asked her who it was and she thought it was Nicholas!

Here they are side by side after just a few days old

And then again at one month

This is just so cool! I love these kids!

Firsts at our house

We've got some "firsts" to tel you about and they don't all belong to Nicholas!!!

Hannah got her first haircut this weekend!!! Yep, after over 4 years, I finally decided to get it trimmed up and it was much needed and overdue! With the curl in her hair, I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I knew I needed to at least get her hair trimmed up. I mean really, the ends are over 4 years old!!! She didn't really want to go at first because she was afraid I'd have it cut short, but I told her that we'd just cut a little bit off and she'd get to sit in the beauty shop chair and look in the big mirror, so then it was all good! We just went to Great Clips and they just trimmed it up a bit. To be honest, you'd probably not even realize it was cut if I didn't say anything, but it did make it look so much healthier and made her curls bouncier. They angled the sides just a bit to give it a little shape, but you really can't tell. She loved it and it was fun to have another first with her!!!

I had spent most of last week preparing for a children's resale that I was attending with my neighbor. I went through four years worth of girls clothes that I had saved of Hannah's. There's no need to keep it anymore, so it is time to part ways. I couldn't believe how much stuff this one kid had!!! It's crazy and so many things were name brand and many items still had tags on it or she only wore things once or twice. Kinda ridiculous! Anyway, I had 7 tubs packed completely full of her clothes. We set up for the sale on Friday night and I went to dinner with the girls after. This was my first time out without Nicholas and despite being exhausted, it was sort of nice to go out. I had to get up early Saturday morning for the sale which was from 8 until noon. I came back home mid-morning to get Nicholas because Tony took Hannah to her last swim lesson. She was promoted to the next level for next session which is in the water without a parent!! I think that session starts in April, so we'll be signing her up! So I finished up the resale until noon. I made a total of $230.00 which I thought was pretty good, but still came home with 6 full tubs of clothes! I'm going to try another sale if I can find one nearby. I may wait until Nicholas is out of some of the baby things like his swing and bouncy seat. Those items seem to go really fast. I sold Hannah's old stroller and a cradle thing I had but didn't really use. I may also just take Hannah's clothes to a second hand store to sell them. I do a lot of shopping there for her, so maybe getting store credit there would be a good thing also espeically now that I will need to be buying Nicholas new clothes for every season!

Nicholas is doing great. He still sleeps a lot during the day and is still not that good of a sleeper at night. I'm pretty sure it's that he doesn't like to sleep on his back and in his bassinnet. I'm sticking to my guns for the most part though and keeping the routine of going to bed and staying there as best as we can. He's getting better and starting to get used to it more and more. I'm afraid of starting bad habits that will be hard to break, so while I'm still home, I'm trying to stick to a normal bedtime routine. He's getting bigger and has more awake time during the day. He's so bright-eyed when he's awake and is starting to smile a little and make little talking noises. He's a good eater still and doesn't generally spit up too much. He's really a good baby and I'm so happy to have him in our lives! Hannah still enjoys him and is so proud of him when we're out. She likes to boast about her little brother and give him hugs and kisses.

As for the other "firsts" for us, Nicholas had his first bath last week! His cord finally fell off, so I was able to give him a real bath. Of course, he hated most of it! He cried at the beginning, but I tried my best to keep him warm and then he was OK with it. I forgot how little and slippery a newborn was getting a bath!!!! It's a little tricky to hang on to him and have a productive cleaning! He smelled so good after though!

We also went for our first walk last week. We've been blessed by a nice warm up that got rid of all the disgusting snow we had! That was nice!

It was great to get out for a nice long neighborhood walk. That's one thing of having a winter baby that stinks - you're cooped up inside for the most part, so getting out for a nice walk on a spring-like day was great! It was also nice to get the exercise. I've been able to drop over half of my baby weight already and am in to normal clothes (a size bigger than normal), but I figure the second half will be a little harder to work off, so getting some exercise is nice. I can't believe how easy the first 21 pounds came off though - I was not that fortunate with Hannah!

Other than that, we're just hanging out. I've been working on Nicholas' birth announcements. After I get them all in the mail, I will post a copy of them on here. I think they're turning out really cute! I had trouble finding the right picture for them, but the one I chose seems to be perfect for the announcement. I've been doing a little work every day, but nothing too extreme. I haven't been to the office in about a week, but will probably pop in there at some point this week to print some stuff and drop off the stuff I've been working on and pick up more stuff. But I'm enjoying my time off with the baby and hanging out at home. Life is GOOD!!!

Nicholas 2-1/2 week update

OK, so blogging just doesn't seem to fit into the schedule - sorry for those that look here to see pictures and updates of how we're doing. It's amazing how fast these days go! Nicholas still sleeps a lot and I can't get over how much I don't get done during the day while he's sleeping. You'd think I could at least get a regular blog post done, but I just find it hard to sit at the computer and get it done.

So I fessed up about our little mishap when he was a week old. Since then, we've been really busy - and safe! We unfortunately had to go to the funeral of my mom's Aunt Norma. Norma had been one of the youngest 90-something I knew (I think she was 93). We saw her in January for the family birthday party and she was spunky as usual. She had just been given some bad health news and went in for testing just after that birthday weekend. The news after that was even worse and she immediately lost her will to live. She was in a nursing home to take care of her for a month. She really was ready to die, but she wanted to wait until our baby was born so the circle of life could be complete. Nicholas was born on her birthday - pretty cool, huh, and Norma died the following Tuesday. It was nice to see some family with Nicholas, but still unfortunate as to why we were all together. Anyway, Norma knew Nicholas was born on her birthday so we were all happy that the events happened as they did. Now she is resting peacefully with her loved ones who have already passed, something she was very ready to do.

Then that weekend, I went to Maggie's baby shower. Molly was still in the hospital, but I'm happy to report she finally came home!!! I think she was in for a little over 2 weeks, so I'm so glad for all of them to now be home!! The shower was very nice and taking Nicholas with me was easy since he slept the entire time!! Here is "un-pregnant" Maggie and I that day:

Also, my sister was in town. She came to visit last Sunday before she left for the airport. It was nice that she could meet her new nephew, but I have to say, I think she does a little better with the more self-sufficient 4 year old niece!!! She loves to get Hannah all hyped up and running around the house playing loudly! They had fun playing in her room.

I had a long outing with Nicholas last week doing some shopping. I had to get groceries and all the stuff to make his birth announcements. Tony's working late Monday's and Tuesday's now, so I have 2 evenings home alone with both kids (so funny to say that!!!). It's been going well so far.

Last Tuesday was Bible Study so we went next door to Laura's house. They enjoyed seeing Nicholas. I went into work twice last week to do some printing and pick up and drop off stuff I was working on. I guess I was doing a little showing off of the little man too - the girls went nuts over him!!! I spent most of the day last Wednesday working on the monthly forecast for work - I did that from home. We went to gymnastics last Thursday - no accidents!!! I tried to take a couple pictures of Hannah, but the picture quality in that gym is awful! There are seriously a million orbs in the pictures I take, so there's some sort of truth to orbs being present where there's a lot of energy - very strange! She's doing great in her new class and she's really doing well at some of her skills.

Mr. Nicholas has his days and nights a little mixed up. We're working hard at getting that fixed! He still sleeps a lot during the day, although he has more awake time every day. I think he pretty much doesn't like sleeping in his bassinette. I had been giving into him and bringing him in bed with me or sleeping with him on the couch, but I just don't want to start that habit with him, so I'm working hard at sticking to the bedtime routine I want to have. It's extremely frustrating though when he fusses all night long when I'm trying to sleep, especially when he sleeps all day (and I don't rest enough - shame on me). He's had a couple good nights though where he does sleep for 3-4 hours by himself. We'll get there, I just have to remember these phases don't last long in the big scheme. He likes to sleep with me or Tony - on our chest or in our arms.

He also likes his swing and bouncy seat....look at how he layed his head back and his binky flipped over his nose!!!

He also took a bottle already, so that's encouraging to know I can leave him with Tony for a while and he'll be fine. I've got a TON of milk frozen already, so we're good to go for a while!

Nicholas had his 2 week check up last Thursday. His only job was to get back to his birth weight of 8 pounds, 6 ounces, and he surpassed that! He was 8 pounds 10 ounces. His lenght didn't change - still 20-1/2 inches. I forgot to ask the percentiles for his size, but looking online, it seems to be between 50-75%. She said everything was great and he seems to be doing very well. We go back when he's 2 months.

Friday morning, Hannah had her 4 year old check up too. She's doing great too. She's 35 pounds and 40 inches tall, which puts her at 75th percentile for her age. She got 3 shots and did really well during them. She was so brave and this was the first time I think her shots made me cry with her. She did really well though and shook it off quickly. These were the first ones they gave her shots in her arms.

Saturday seems like a blur!!! I know Tony took Hannah swimming and my sister in law came over with the kids - Krista was in town. I think we all took a nice long nap during the afternoon and I went to Shelly's for a book party in the evening with Nicholas I'd never hearsd of a book party before, but it's just another home party to sell stuff we don't need! I mean books are great, but we've got a million already! I still got a couple new ones though - Easter gift for one thing. Tony took Hannah on a date! She loves going out with him for special Daddy time. Sunday, we went to the mall to get Nichols' newborn pictures taken. They were just OK. I'll get them back on the 18th, so I'll post them then.

Yesterday we just hung out at home all day. I'm working on his birth announcements, doing a little work and I'm sorting through all of Hannah's clothes. There is a child's resale this Saturday that I'm taking all of her stuff to. I'm hoping to sell most of it. It's sort of sad to go through everything knowing I'll be getting rid of them, but there's no sense to keep anything anymore as she grows out of it. We're certain we're done with babies. It's fun to remember things when she wore certain outfits. There are some things that I think I want to keep, but then what for? The clothes would stay in a bin I'm sure and just take up space. I might as well try to sell it and make a few bucks. Hopefully, I do well and get rid of a lot and make some money!!!

I have pretty much more of the same planned for today. I should make sure to get a nap in somewhere today. We didn't have a good sleep night the first part of last night so I'm sure it'll be catching up to me soon!

Mother of the Year

Well, I guess I don't get this honor this year, although, I try to be the best mother I can be (and I think overall, I do pretty well).

I did the unthinkable last Thursday...I dropped Nicholas - in public!

I took Hannah to gymnastics last week by myself, with Nicholas, who was just one week old. I figured I could totally handle this task and was ready for the outing. Tony got busy at work, so he didn't make it.

So anyway, we get to the gym, and I got Hannah ready for class. We were a little early, so we were sitting on the bleachers waiting for class to start. I had Nicholas in his car seat, which was a bit akward and bulky to sit on the bleacher, so I decided to go to the top on (three tiers up) and sit against the wall. We were doing fine and since we'd be sitting there for about an hour, I had some crazy notion that he'd be more comfortable in his seat if I un-did his buckles. I have no clue why I thought this was a good idea, but I did it. Anyway, shortly after that, the carseat tipped over and fell down to the step that you put you feet on (with him in it). Everyone gasped and we grabbed for the seat and then all of a sudden, he plopped out of the seat, face first on to the floor.

I was MORTIFIED! People came rushing over, I grabbed him off the floor and he was still sleeping and not at all phased by the fact his mother just dropped him on the floor! I was so shocked that I didn't even freak out, but felt like someone should call social services or something - how could I have done this?!?!?!
Everything was fine and he wasn't hurt at all. I just held him the rest of the time. Hannah kept asking me why I dropped her brother. I tried to explain to her that it was an accident and I didn't do it on purpose, but then I knew I had to fess up to Tony. I figured that'd be the first thing she'd say when we got home.
Tony called while I was there and I told him. That was almost as painful as dropping him, but since everything was OK, I finally was able to chalk this up as a true accidental mistake. I realized I need to get back into baby mode and be more aware and careful about what I'm doing. Now I keep hearing everyone else's story of how their baby fell or they wacked them on the head or whatever.

So Nicholas, I'm so sorry I dropped you! I guess when you're acting goofy some day a few years from now, we'll know why!
I love you!

(I'll get some pictures up soon....I've been pretty busy the past few days)

The First Week

Wow! The first week has gone by so quickly! Sorry for lack of blogging and pictures, but it just hasn't fit into the day for me for some reason.

So here's how the first week has been for all of us.

Nicholas's birthday Thursday was really good as was Friday in the hospital. I felt pretty good and he slept a lot. I got a little more rest in the hospital than I had gotten with Hannah, but it was frustrating that when they did bring him into me at night to eat, he'd just fall asleep after a few minutes. It made feeding time last like an hour and then he came back again two hours after that. So sleep was for like 1-2 hours at a time, but I guess that's pretty good.

My hospital stay seemed to go very fast, but it was a good experience. All of the nurses at the hospital were great and helpful. I really enjoyed both of my stays there very much. I was up and moving around just fine, took a shower, got dressed in my own jammies and recovered pretty well. Tony & Hannah spent a lot of time with me in the evening which was nice. We didn't have too many visitors, which was also just fine. The low-key two days were just right.

Saturday morning, I woke up and started to get myself ready and all of a sudden broke completely down into tears! I'm sure it was all a hormonal mess because I kept asking myself what's wrong and since I didn't know, that made me cry even harder! My pediatrician walked in on that mess, which seemed to make him look a little uncomfortable, but he discharged Nicholas with no real issues. He said he looked great and they'd see me in two weeks. The only thing was to pay attention to his coloring. He had a bit of jaundice, but not at the levels to put him under the billi-lites, but they said day 4 the levels usually peak, so we just had to keep an eye on it.

I called Tony still crying which I'm sure made him a little nervous too, but finally, I got a grip and that all stopped. My discharge nurse was a bit of a scatter brain - she was the only one I wasn't that crazy about during the stay, but it wasn't that big of a deal. Tony and Hannah came up after swimming lessons and we hung out the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

Around 3:00, we got Nicholas ready, dressing him in the same outfit that Hannah came home in and then they came in to cut off our security bracelets and sent us home.

Here we are just before leaving.

We headed home and Hannah napped, Tony hung out, Nicholas was sleeping and I cleaned. Yep, I cleaned! I'm nuts, but I needed to do it. I put all our stuff away, straightened up, did laundry and that sort of thing. We just hung out trying to figure out what our new roles were all about the rest of the evening. We were disappointed that our swing didn't seem to work with him in it, so we have to get a new one.

Sunday was low key in the morning and then we all went on our first outing with two children later in the day to the store. We got some groceries and a few sleepers and looked for a new swing. Both Walmart and Target didn't have much to choose from on swings and I was a little sticker shocked that they were between $100-125! For some reason, I thought they were cheaper. We held off and decided to maybe hit Babies R Us later in the week. Here's the little man with his cuteness at his new home....I think he'll like it here!

Monday, we had our first photo shoot to try to get a picture for announcements. It's hard to do that with a sleeping baby! I don't think I got quite the right picture today, although he did take some cute ones!

Then I had the bright idea to hit our second hand store for a swing and made out great! I got one in super shape for $42 and picked up a few outfits for him too since we don't have a lot of boy clothes yet. I took him into daycare when I picked Hannah up at the end of the day. It was so cute when I pulled in the driveway. All of the kids were standing at the window watching for me to come in with the baby and then stood there in awe of him! It was really cute. They were all so excited to see the new baby! Aunt Dawn, Uncle Jack, Kendal & John came over to visit Monday night.

Tuesday, Nicholas and I just hung out all day. He loves his new swing! I love how you can imagine that these smiles are because he's happy (who says it's gas?)

I got a little cleaning in, check email from work, get myself ready for the day and took a nap in the afternoon for a while. We attempted another photo shoot which went better, but he still was so sleepy! I may use one of these for announcements, so I won't post here just yet. Around 5, I headed to pick up Hannah. She loves to be by him and this is how she sat until dinner was ready! I asked her if she wanted me to move him out of her way, and she said, "no, mommy, he's fine right by me like this".

She got to hold him for a while too. She's pretty good at it!

It's Tony's late work night, so I got home, made dinner, cleaned up, got Hannah bathed and put to bed all by myself. It's a lot of work, but since Nicholas is pretty low maintenance, it is very manageable.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. Tony did pick Hannah up for me last night and brought home Boston Market for dinner to make the evening easier.

Nicholas sleeps all the time! He is up about every 3 hours to eat - like clockwork. He's a great eater and HATES to have his diaper and clothes changed. My real milk came in on Sunday and he seems to be doing fine on it, not much spit up. The hardest thing is keeping him awake to eat long enough to last 3 hours. He lets some serious wet farts!!! I've been peed on at least 4 times and have learned that you need to open his diaper and leave it there for a few minutes to wait for the fountain of pee!! I went through that lesson with about 3 clean diapers - he peed just as I was putting the new one on and had to change it again! Tony got sprayed for the first time last night! It's pretty funny, but has become quite a game to get the changing done without the mishaps! He's been smiling while he sleeps and making cute little faces and a few little noises. I think his days and nights are a little mixed up because the longest he's been awake at one time is from 11 pm to almost 12:30 and then he's up at 1:00 to eat, so the past two nights I've resorted to letting him sleep with me on the couch after the 4:00 feeding to get some decent sleep. He doesn't do very well in his basinette yet, which is hard because I don't want to start a habit of sleeping with me, but to get some sleep right now, we'll do what it takes! He's so good and I'm so fortunate so far that he's not like Hannah was as a newborn. I wonder how long this sleepyhead stage will last? For now, I just soak in his cuteness and let him sleep. I'm totally falling in love with this little guy - he's just so sweet!

Big sister Hannah is doing great. She thinks he's pretty cool and likes to hold him. She thinks it's funny when he makes his "little baby noises" as she calls them! We make sure to spend special time with her to play and ensure her that she's still so very special to us. It's kind of cool that we have a little boy now so Hannah will always be our only special little girl!!!! I love that she gets to have that title all to herself!

Tony's doing well too. The new daddy thing came much easier to him this time around, although he's still a worry-wart about everything! That's just him and I try to reassure him everything is fine. He's super helpful with Hannah and holds Nicholas most of the evenings since he's at work all day. He's going to be even busier with work since they did a major layoff on Monday. Thank God Tony wasn't part of the cuts! But they cut the staff almost in half, so he's super crazy there and will probably have two late nights now.

I'm doing really well too. Healing up very nicely. I'm a bit tired, but I'm sure I do most of that to myself. I should rest a little more than I do, but so far, I rest when I know I need to. My back is sort of achy still, but I try to stretch real good every day to work out the kinks. I've had trouble breathing a little since giving birth. I had that sinus infection last week and after the epidural, I wasn't able to get any good coughs in to help relieve the mucous. That's slowly getting better too. I'm finally feeling like I can get a productive cough again and the sinus infection seems to be gone now. I was pleasantly surprised to have lost about 10 pounds at the hospital. I weighed the same when I came home with Hannah which was so frustrating! I've lost another 5 pounds since Saturday, so it's encouraging that it's coming off easier so far - at least the first part of it. Unfortunately, I got some big ol' stretch marks across my tummy - hope they fade!!!

So, we're great! We're so in love with Nicholas and we're just so grateful he's here with us and has made our family complete!