2 Months!

Two months down! Well, a little about this kid. He weighed in at 10 lbs 14 oz which surprisingly to me is low percentage for his age (16%) oh well, he still eats every two hours so I guess that's a good thing. I do hope he chubs up soon. He is nursing so he may not be getting as many calories as formula offers. He's also 16% for his height (22in) In comparison to Graham, who at his two month was 9lbs 15oz and 21 in long, so he's a little bigger. 

Ross is swaddled and goes to bed around 10:30pm and wakes up at 3am, then every two hours from there until morning. His schedule is basically eat, play for an hour, sleep for an hour and half, repeat. Although he does pull a two-three hour nap at least once a day. He just started cooing and his a very happy baby. He is pretty fussy at times, but it's nothing we can't solve. We love him SOOO much! Kids are just pure bliss. That is all, until next time.

1 Month Ross

We made it! Our little  boy is now 4 weeks old. I knew it would fly, as much as I didn't want to believe it. I'll start by recording his birth story since I haven't talked about it anywhere. I was scheduled to be induced on March 25. That morning felt like Christmas morning, waiting for that call to head on over was like waiting to go into the living room to see what Santa brought. I had butterflies. So they eventually called and said to come in at 10am. Woohoo! We left Graham with my parents and drove over to AF hospital. Things went as normally as they could, I got hooked up and then chilled for a while. I had dilated to a 3 all on my own which was exciting (With Graham I wasn't even dilated in the hospital, and my water even broke!) They started a small dose of Pitocin and I breathed through mild-ish contractions. My midwife planned to break my water but we all decided to wait for epidural because it was too painful for them to try and the contractions were getting stronger. So I got the epidural around 230 pm I think. That felt nice and all, but I was a little concerned that I could still feel when they were doing stuff and it even hurt a little. So I gave myself another little dose to see if that would numb even more. Well around 4 I started feeling pressure like I needed to go...and it started to hurt bad. WHA? Why am I feeling pain?! Long story short, the epidural got me through the contractions but for some reason, and this is exactly what happened with Graham too, I cant seem to get enough medicine or something to completely take the pain away, so here's to my second natural birth that I so was not expecting. Hard hard hard! Well thankfully, you forget as soon as they're born, Ross came out and it was glorious. I felt so happy and it was miraculous seeing another child of ours. So began our lives with two kids. I don't know about you but I love and cherish the hospital stay. It was fun and so special. So that's the story. Giving birth is just downright awesome (aside from the pain) and I feel so blessed to have brought about a healthy boy. Now, moving on. About our little Ross...

                                                     His first four weeks he woke up once in the night, varied from 3 to 5am

                                                          (Last two nights he was up every two hours, fingers crossed it's just a                                                         growth spurt) Ross and I conquered nursing about a week and a half after he was born. I never nursed with Graham so this was all new to me. I had no idea how hard it would be pain wise, and I was sad to think to myself how much I hated it. I'd be told it would get better, but that was so hard to believe. I would literally be scared to breastfeed. I'd have to hold my breath and take the plunge, then cry and cry.  I'm so glad that's over. What a difficult few weeks. Now it's starting to become enjoyable:)               

                                                           Sleeps swaddled n his rock n' play sleeper chair (I swear by those,                                                                they're awesome) next to my bedside and takes a binkie depending                                                              on his mood, gags on it when he is not in the mood

He weighs a little over 8 lbs and is already filling out his newborn clothes!

                                                           Graham "likes" him, he doesn't pay too close attention, but when he                                                             does feel like noticing him, he smiles and touches him, it's cute                                                                       enough.


Today I did not want to be a mom. After having woke up every two hours with the baby then not sleeping in and knowing that I was facing another day of mothering two, I felt exhausted and angry. I wish I could tell my future self (a few hours from the time of frustration) that I'd be over it and will have regained energy and not feel tired anymore because man, when you're in the moment, it's so hard to look ahead. You feel trapped, alone, and sorry for yourself. So here I am, hours later from this morning when I was frustrated and tired, and I'm not tired anymore, and much happier. There's always a light at the end of the dark tunnel. I just have to remind myself I will get there! Graham still naps a solid 3 hour in the afternoon and it's great. I admit I count down to it all morning long, especially when he's acting up. I'm even able to get a nap in most days. We have so much fun parenting two. It really is a joy. The hardships of parenting are so small a problem compared to the enormity of  the outcome and blessings. You have to look at the big picture. We have two healthy beautiful sons, and it's awesome! Here's to another and another and another and more and even more, never ending amounts of being a mom. I love it, and I feel blessed everyday. Happy 1 month to Ross!

Halloween 2014!!

I never thought it could be so much fun watching Graham treak or treat, Last year was fun but this year he walked, knocked on the doors and picked the candy (One for each hand). SO FUN! I will never forget this night. Every second was adorable. I can only imagine how fun Christmas will be when he's older.

Our 16 Month Boy

Hello all, and welcome to the newest post at Lawyer and Lawyer inc. I will be discussing the events and changes of our little Graham boy in the past few months. Lets see, where did I leave off...surgery....walked at 12 1/2 months, oh, yes. Graham has 4 teeth on top and still the two itty bitty ones on the bottom and a third that's coming in pretty crooked. They call for a priceless grin.

Graham is a wonderful kid. We really are blessed to have such a wonderful baby. For a month or two now Graham's favorite phrase to say is "Uh-huh" We all get a kick out of because he will say it with any question you ask him. But he's a little strange and says it to himself while walking around or playing with his toys. In fact, it's usually the first thing he says when he wakes up and when we come to get him out of bed. It is so funny.

Graham LOVES to eat. All day if he could. I suppose all babies his age would, especially if they see you eating, of course they'll approach with lips smacking like they haven't eaten their whole life. He loves anything but peas, carrots, avocados...and not much else. I usually sneak veggies with apple sauce so he can get his intake. That usually works if there's something sweet in his mouth.

Graham loves to read, and it's so fun now because he will read himself and have all his books spread out and happily flip through them. His favorites are the "lift the flap" ones.

His favorite movies are Baby Einstein and Winnie the Pooh, (we're still enforcing that one)
Graham signs for Please, and we're still working on the others. As far as speech is going, he's doing alright but he could definitely do better. He says no, Mom, Dada, though they're not directed toward us really :( All babies are different and go at their own pace. He's normal in everything else so he might just be talking his time.

Disneyland was so much fun. He's at the age where everything is overwhelming which makes him have a blank stare everywhere we went and every ride we went on. He was never scared, just in awe I guess. I'm so glad we brought him. Early start for us as a family and there will be many many more to come as we grow! We did it growing up and we'll do it as our kids grow up. Disney is just what we do.

This last appt (today) Graham weighed 24.29 lbs (66%) and is 31 in tall (28%)

Graham takes showers now. It's pretty dang funny. As soon as we stand him in the tub he walks directly to the water and stands there for the duration of the shower. He loves water. He also enjoys splash pads.
 
Graham takes two naps one around 10 and another around 3. He mastered the sippy cup about two months ago. wears size 4 shoes and just got into size 4 diapers. It's always a bummer to move up in diaper size because you get less for the same price!

We love Graham. Gosh we love him. He makes us laugh every single day.
Here's pics on his 16 month and 1 day birthday...

Graham in the shower. He absolutely loves it.

                                                             

He plays very independently. 

Reading time. 

                                                                 

His play corner

                                                                   

The Twelfth Month

We made it! We have raised a year old! How? Not sure, you really just go with the flow, play it by ear, learn with baby and grow with baby, watch for queues and signals, and then listen and learn! We sure love our Graham boy. He has amazed us with his well mannered behavior from the day we brought him home. I don't think babies meant to be as good as he is. They just come once in a blue moon. Graham makes us laugh all the time. Lately he screams/squeals in delight and sounds like a girl. He loves when his dad comes home and immediately stops what he's doing and crawls to him. He LOVES being read to. Some aren't even cutesy baby books. He has a smile on face as soon as I pull the book out and put in front of his face. I love when I can see his dimples underneath his binkie. Speaking of  binkies, Graham loves his binkie but luckily he doesn't have it unless it's nap time or bed time. I think we're doing good on that...he never gets mad if we take it away on the rare occasions he does have during awake time. It really is amazing how it feels like a blink of an eye and they're so big. I remember every single month of his life, but I didn't see him grow! Here's a brief timeline of how he has grown and developed new talents. (So glad I've been filling out his cheesy baby keepsake album!)

Smiles: 5 days old in his sleep, 6 weeks at us
Laughs: 7 days old while napping smiles awake end of March
Takes a bath: March 2nd, Sink bath September 19
Rolls over: June 13
Sleeps through the night: March 1-2, July 1-4th, then August-Present
Eats solid food-July 27, rice cereal
Scoots: End of September
Crawls: Christmas Eve, 10 month birthday
Holds his own bottle: Sept. 20
Claps: Nov. 29
Naps w/out being rocked Oct. 26th
Waves: Dec. 20
Oh, and he wears size 3 diapers, size 3 shoes, and almost grown out of 12 mo. clothing.
These are just fun things to fill out in the book I have, as well as several more I didn't think I needed to mention. Well here are pictures of the latest of the greatest:

Graham's homemade Carrot Cake (I was proud of myself)

                                 We even had a birthday picnic. He enjoyed himself, and his food.

Year 2 here we come!!

The Surgery In Which Graham Is Repaired.

I remember clearly as if it were yesterday laying on the bed in the hospital, alone at the precise moment Graham's pediatrician came in. She said a few things before telling me that my baby had a cleft palate. It was so overwhelming to hear. If I only knew how little of a deal it was at that moment, I would have understood and accepted it much better than I did. I held back the tears as I struggled to respond adult like. As soon as she left I called my mom and started crying when I told her, which she couldn't believe mostly because of the bizarre coincidence. My brother also has a cleft palate so it was crazy that it fell into my genes into Graham's. Graham and his uncle will have a special relationship. Anyway, now that it's been two days since Graham's surgery, I cannot believe how quickly the months of counting down have passed. Looking at my little newborn, picturing him an 11 month old at the hospital after surgery felt like an eternity away especially when you think your little baby will always stay that small, it was hard to believe we'd get to that point.

So, to the story. We had the pleasure of waking up at 4:30 am in order to get to Primary Children's Medical Center at 6:15. We were there plenty early which is always better than being late. We checked ourselves in and waited only ten minutes or so to be called back. Graham got to be put in this adorable hospital gown (if you can even call it that...I thought it was hilarious and cute) which, as you can tell, thought was the funnest thing.

So 7 am pulled around and we were taken to a different waiting room where Graham's Anesthesiologist and surgical doctor came to talk to us briefly. Twenty minutes after that we followed the nurse down the hall and we gave him up and went out different ways. I became emotional and shed a few tears. I knew he was in good hands and I was glad I didn't have to watch the surgery. We grabbed breakfast in the cafeteria (way cheap, it was awesome) and then hung out in the waiting room. Dr Muntz (Ear tubes) and Dr Schmelzer (Cleft Palate Surgeon) both came and talked to us when it was finished. About an hour and fifty minute wait. They only allowed one of us to see Graham fresh out of Post-op so I thought Nick should go since he'd be on his way to work shortly. I was called to come fifteen minutes later because they thought Graham might settle down better in the arms of his mother. So Nick and I traded places and I got to sit and hold my poor love in my arms. He was pretty hysterical. While they were finishing up whatever they do before they take us to his room, I was able to calm him down as best I could. Poor thing had no idea what was going on. 

This was the best picture I could take with my right hand reaching to this side. He was very "drugged up" and tired I know.

All was well once he was settled in his room, hooked up and had pain meds going through him. He was an angel.

So we stayed one night and enjoyed sharing a room and bathroom with complete strangers...the nurses were also kind enough to come in every hour (for us and the other baby) and leave the door wide open while we were trying to sleep waking Graham up almost each time. I especially enjoyed this during the day (before I finally drew the curtains around our vicinity) holding Graham while he was hysterical with pain watching all sorts of visitors walking past in hall way staring into our room (because the dang door was wide open all the time) probably thinking poor poor mom! Not a pleasant stay and I wish they would've given me a form to fill out my comments and complaints because my mind was fresh with plenty. My mom came Tuesday evening with dinner. I loved the company since my husband was at work and staying the night at home. But he came back first thing the next morning. Well Wednesday morning we anxiously awaited our discharge. They wanted to make sure Graham was feeding himself properly and sufficiently without a fluid tube. I told them I was perfectly comfortable to take him home and work with him, and I was. We finally got home at 2 pm. With pain meds hes practically the same kid. He sounds very congested when he breathes through his nose and I hope that it's meant to go away soon. Can't believe it's already over. We are so blessed to have a healthy child and that he had such a small problem compared to so many other babies. I kick myself for ever complaining that he had a small hole, unnoticeably inside his mouth that never affected 

his mental or physical health. So glad he's not going to remember any of this! We sure love our son. Thus concludes our story of the year (for now) Thank you, and Goodnight 

Month 9 of My Creation

With two bottom teeth, and the ability to get in to crawling position from sitting, Graham has reached his 9th month. He is the still the happiest baby I've seen. He loves to bounce and stand with help. He says, "ra-ra-ra-ra and na-na-na, it's cute because his cheeks get all chubby as he forms the words. His best friend is probably Nick. They have their little "inside jokes" and laugh and play together as soon as Nick gets home from work. We love our son to pieces and are excited to share his first Christmas with him! I had to get cute pics of him with the tree on this first Christmas of his.