Baby J's growing fast

When I started this post Baby J was seven weeks old. I am only now (1/19/2012) getting back to actually finishing it and posting it. LOL.

The following text is from 11.17.11... It is amazing how fast time has flown by. And a week ago today was my first day back at work. During the six weeks that I was home with my little man I pretty much lost track of time. One day seemed to flow right into the next and honestly, it didn't much matter, I was cherishing the time I was spending with Baby J and sleeping / doing household chores when he was sleeping. Before he was born, I never imagined just how necessary those six weeks could be to a new mother...but as a new mom, I quickly learned, with only sleeping 1 to 2 hours at a time for the first few weeks that time off is necessary.
Baby J is now sleeping anywhere from 2.5 to 4 hours at a time, depending on the time of day. When he was born he was 6lbs 9oz and at 2weeks was up to 7lbs. Then at 1month up 8lbs. And I weighed him at home at 6 weeks and he was 9 lbs.
As for height, he was born at 18.5" and at 2wk checkup was 20" and at 1 month he was 20.75". Baby J is a healthy baby who is growing quickly before our eyes.

Newborn at Hospital

2 Weeks Old

3.5 weeks old

1 month old

7.5 weeks old

Thanksgiving - 8 wks old

9 wks old

Christmas Day - 3 months old

3.5 months old

1/19/12: I absolutely cannot believe how big my little guy is getting! It's just crazy how fast he has grown! Today is my day off and with the wintery weather outdoors him and I spent the day inside. I was able to get him giggling, and he's loves to roll himself over as well so it's a lot of fun!!! I love being a mom. It a joy being able to care for this little guy, and to see all the amazing things he is learning each and everyday. But even when he is not doing all sorts of neat things, and he is just sleeping, it's relaxing to just hold him in my arms and rock him. I never knew how peaceful just sitting in one place for an hour or two could be until I he came into my life. In the past I had to always be busy doing something so I could check it off my mental to-do list. Now however he is my primary responsibility, and if rocking him, or holding him is what he desires, then I am happy to do that for him.

Celebrating Christmas

 This year we celebrated Christmas with family starting the weekend before Christmas. This was a wonderful way to kickoff the holiday season. It allowed the actual holiday weekend to not be as stressful and to allow us to focus on celebrating Jesus' birthday, and spending more time with each of our immediate families rather rushing from place to place. All our celebrations were filled with joy, happiness and fun. Here are some photos to remember these days.

Grandma B with our family

Auntie Anna holding her precious nephew

Uncle Brad's favorite quote "It's not rocket science", what can I say!!!

Grandma D & Baby J

Our Family on Christmas Day

Ugly Sweater Party

A few weeks ago we had an Ugly Sweater Party / White Elephant Party. This was a lot of fun.

Jayden's Christmas Pix

This years Christmas season is especially joyous and reminds me of the true meaning of the holiday. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, my mom-in-law came to church with us, then came over to our house afterward. Dale took the opportunity to spend some quality time rocking Jayden in the glider, while Cheryl and I decorated our Christmas tree. This was a lot of fun because we all reminisced about family stories of Christmas past while we were decorating. Holidays tend to pass by so quickly that it's hard to stop and enjoy them. But this year time with Jayden and our family and friends is the most important thing on our Christmas wish list. After we decorated our tree Jayden and I spent part of a morning the next week having our play time near it, and of course my camera was never too far from me. So here are some of those precious memories...

Baby J's a Trooper

Thursday's are my day off during the week to get to spend the day with Jayden and catch up on some chores while he is napping. This week Baby J had to get his first immunization shots. Two months old already, it's crazy how time flies!!! He was such a trooper, the little man cried for about 5 seconds and was bright red during a fit of crying while the nurse was giving him the shots, but after the nurse was done, he forgot all about them and was happily drinking the rest of his bottle. He didn't have any need for Tylenol either, (our doc doesn't recommend it anyway) and he slept the same 3-4 hours as he has been the last few weeks. Here's some pics of him after his shots playing when we got home.

Look Mom...I'm rolling!!!

I'm saying cheese!

There's (kinda) a smile for you!!!

So Much to be Thankful For...Thanksgiving 2011

Dale and I have been very blessed in our lives. For that, we feel very fortunate! This year, we feel especially thankful; many, many, many prayers were answered when we took our Baby J home from the hospital in the beginning of October. So yesterday, on Thanksgiving day, when we were able to celebrate our first Thanksgiving with him, we offered up thanks to God for answering those many prayers, and granting us this joyous blessing in our lives. Here's some pix of Baby J with his fam celebrating the day.

Daddy and J

Grandma B and J

Grandma B and J

Halloween 2011 with Dillon and Eliza

This year's Halloween was our first year with our ds. I was also able to celebrate with my good friend Sherry and her son Dillon and her niece Eliza as well. Dillon was the cutest monkey and Eliza was a pumpkin. I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with them a day or two after Halloween, and getting to taking some pictures of them while they were playing.