Lotsa Love

I was horribly nervous when Lauren was born about how Brenden would react to her. Thankfully, I didn't need to worry. I kept reminding myself that I needed to savor those moments because they would not last forever. I'm still reminding myself of that because so far, my son has amazed me.

He may not be quite as excited about her as he first was, but he has never shown any kind of anger or frustration towards her. That's not to say he hasn't been a pain lately. I'm sure he's feeling the effects of having another person in the house that needs attention. I know that he doesn't like sharing his parents or his grandparents with his sister. He's screaming more, listening less, and has moments when he tells us to put the baby down or give her to someone else so that he can sit in my lap or so his dad can play golf with him.

I will take a few outbursts and some whiney behavior if it means I get to see the wonderful, sweet moments between them. He will randomly ask where "his baby" is and then go and say hello to her. "Hi baby Lauren! How are you? What are you doing?" Ridiculously adorable. There have been several times when he has shared his things, from his toys to his chocolate milk, because the baby was crying or he just wanted to share.

One day she was in her bouncy chair while I was putting clothes away. I'm not sure what Tim was doing but Lauren started crying and he asked me if I could check on her. The sentence was barely out of his mouth when Lauren quit crying. I ran in to see what had happened only to see Brenden wandering back into his playroom and a happy Lauren sucking on the pacifier he had returned to her mouth. He's so gentle with her, which is shocking after all the times I've caught him trying to tackle the dog or yank on the cat's tail.

And Lauren is already enthralled with her big brother. If he happens into her line of sight she will stare at him intently. If he talks to her you can tell she's listening. She will turn her head to follow his voice if she can't see him. I have a feeling that "Brenden" or "brother" will be one of her first words, at least a version of them.

I'm so excited to see how they are going to be with each other when Lauren can actually react to him in a way that he can understand. I can't wait until she can crawl after him and giggle at his antics. He loves that type of attention and I think she will be more than happy to follow him everywhere. That will probably be when his love for his baby sister subsides a bit. But for now...

...LOVE.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

Brenden - One Month

Lauren - One Month

Lauren's One Month Well Baby Check

Today was Lauren's one month check up. Let me just go knock my head against the wall for a second. One month!?! Where in the world did this last month go? It seemed like Karen had just flown in and then suddenly we were taking her back to the airport. (Boy we were spoiled. Who will cook now???)

Her stats today:

Weight - 9 lbs 5 oz. (50th percentile)

Length - 21 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head - they didn't tell me, although the doctor mentioned she had gained (Lauren is no where near what Brenden's head size was by now)

She's gained over a pound but stayed the same length, although she sure seems longer. We think it might be because she's stretching out more now instead of pulling her legs up all the time. She's staying awake for longer stretches and eating more. (Hence her crazy weight gain...which is good!) Her tear duct in her right eye is still too small so it causes lots of goopy eye gunk, but we're dealing with it. She's graduated from newborn sized diapers to size ones and has grown out of a lot of the little, tiny clothes. (That works out well for our friends Susan and Craig. Their daughter, Ottillie, is super tiny and we've already taken some clothes over.) She coos, focuses on faces or my fingers if I wiggle them, and kinda sorta smiles at us occasionally. She can hold her head up, which she's been doing for awhile, and she loves looking at the ceiling fan. What did she get the most comments about at this appointment? Her hair, of course. Even the doctor noticed it had grown. :)

She's doing fabulous and we're all very happy with how she is growing. I wish I could freeze her just like this...at least for a little while. It's hard to accept that she's no longer a newborn. She's an infant! I'm trying to enjoy every moment, every tiny finger and toe, every small milestone she reaches. However, I'd like to stop enjoying midnight and 5 am. Whenever she wants to sleep through the night, we're ready. The doctor even said so! :)

Lauren, One Month Old

One Week - One Month

How much has she changed in just a few weeks? :)

One Week Old

One Month Old

Babies! Babies!

Not long after I found out I was pregnant I received a phone call from my friend Shebree. "You were right...we were supposed to be pregnant at the same time." I think I cried more hearing that news than I did when the little line turned blue a few weeks before.

Only a few weeks later my friend Susan, whose wedding I attended when I was 5 1/2 weeks pregnant, dropped by the house during lunch. She asked how far along I was. (I believe I was 11 weeks.) "Well...I guess that means I'm 4 weeks." I'm shocked that I didn't wake Brenden up from squealing.

Crazily enough, they both went in yesterday at 5 pm to be induced. Poor Shebree was due May 8th so she was a few days overdue. Susan was due May 24th but her doctor was concerned with pre-eclampsia so they induced her early.

I bugged them both all day today, letting them know I was thinking of them but knowing that they weren't going to be like me, updating facebook every hour. :) Shebree knew she was having a little boy but Susan and her husband opted to wait to find out. I thought for sure Susan was having a boy, too. (I should not go to Vegas...ever.)

Meet her little girl, Ottillie Rene. 6 lbs 9 oz, 18.5 inches long. :) She was born around 4:30 pm.

Thank you Anne, Susan's sister, for posting this photo!

Not 5 minutes after I saw this picture on Susan's sister's facebook page, Shebree sent me a message.

Parker Charles was born at 4:01 pm (5 pm our time...she's in Wyoming.). He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz. and was almost 22 inches long.

Thank you, Shebree, for sharing this picture!

Congratulations to my beautiful, amazing friends and their precious little babies. I am so excited for you all!!! Happy Birthday Ottillie and Parker!

Mother's Day 2010

We were lucky enough this year to have all 3 grandmas in the same place for Mother's Day, which definitely made it extra special. Karen made her famous meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes, and the rest of us looked super lazy in comparison.

It was a wonderful, laid back day with lots of baby snuggling and Shrek watching. Someday soon I hope to get a write up from Tim and Karen about the handmade presents they helped the kids make me. (They did a fabulous job! Thank you guys!) Until then, please enjoy the pictures of their finished product.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers in our lives!

My gift from Lauren.

They did a great job!

The best Mother's Day gifts I've ever received. :)

Lauren's Two Week Well Baby Check

Today Lauren and I headed to see Dr. Koul over at Utica Park Clinic for her 2 week well baby check up. Dr. Koul was the pediatrician who visited us in the hospital and, because she was so nice, we decided to have Lauren continue to see her. She has 3 month old twins so she really knows what we're going through with an infant and she really listens when we ask questions. I'm not sure if anyone else has ever dealt with a doctor that you felt completely blew off everything you said, but we have and it really sucked. We learned to appreciate a doctor that took the time to listen and answer us.

Her stats when she was born:

Weight - 7 lbs. 1 oz. (went down to 6 lbs 11 oz before we left the hospital)

Length - 20 inches

Head - unknown (Tim can't remember)

Her stats at her 5 day appointment:

Weight - 6 lbs. 15 oz.

Length - didn't check

Head - didn't check

And her stats today were:

Weight - 8.01 lbs. (50th percentile)

Length - 21 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head - 14 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

She was very happy with how she is growing, especially her weight gain. We talked about her goopy eye (her tear duct is too small so we have to do a certain massage next to her nose to help clear it, as well as use some eye drops) and her tummy problems. She told me it was okay to use the gas drops and that she wasn't concerned with her diaper schedule. She thinks we've found the right type of diapers for her (she was allergic to the regular diapers so we're on to Huggies Natural) and the tiny bumps Lauren has on her face are totally normal. She did recommend using only receiving blankets to cover her since that can make the rash worse.

I'm so happy that she's doing so well and that the doctor told me "she's perfect...so keep her that way!" I'm glad she's gaining weight, but I sure hope she doesn't follow in her brother's footsteps. By 2 months he weighed 14 1/2 lbs! I guess we'll just have to see.

Our little girl - 2 weeks old