One month

Dear Brendan,

I'm already preparing myself for the moment when you ask me why Megan has 1093489345720983752987 pictures/scrapbook pages/blog posts about her childhood and you have 13. Here is my better-late-than-never effort to update the world on what has been going on with us since your birth. It has been pretty hectic around here lately.

So, let's start at the beginning . . .

We brought you home from the hospital. I loved it there and kinda wanted to stay there forever. I had someone to bring me three meals a day and change my sheets. I could take naps whenever I wanted and could watch TV without even getting out of bed. It was like a resort for mommies. Everyone kept asking me how I was feeling and bringing me these little pills that made me feel WONDERFUL.

You were so hungry. So hungry that you made mommy hurt very, very badly. I'm not going to go into details here but put it this way, blood was involved. So, don't even think I'm going to feel guilty about giving you a little formula so I could heal a bit.

Once we came home, everyone wanted to see you. Here you are putting your Uncle Justin to sleep.

You had your first doctor visit. We found out you were already back up to your birth weight of 9 pounds 2 ounces. Nice job! And you grew 1/2 an inch. Amazing.

I stopped having time to worry about what Megan was wearing. See what I mean.

Megan made you some blue cupcakes to celebrate your one week birthday. She was so proud of herself.

You had your first bath which you actually kinda liked until we got your hair wet. Don't worry, this whole event is captured on video so we can watch it someday with one of your girlfriends.

Your Grandma Keller came to stay with us for a while to help out. She knitted you this beautiful blanket that we will treasure forever.

And here you are at one month old . . .

Aunt Katie calls you "moose" cause you're so enormous. You've already outgrown most of your newborn clothes. (Some you never wore because you were already too big.)

At one month you were wearing size 3-6 months!

At one month, you already weighed 12 pounds. That kind of weight gain took some serious eating time on your part . . . like every 2 hours for 45 minutes at a time. (sometimes more) You better be nice to me for your whole life, by the way. Ouch, I'm getting tears in my eyes just remembering the pain, the ice packs, oh goodness.

Some other things I don't want to forget about you:

*Newborn diapers were too small for you and the nurse in the hospital had to go find size ones.

*You flash me the most adorable smile while you are sleeping. I know it is probably gas but I love to see it nonetheless.

*Speaking of gas, you have a serious problem mister. Whoa!

*Your eyes are very dark blue. I'm wondering it they will stay that way.

*You love to be held and hate it when I put you down.

*It took absolutely no time at all for me to be completely wrapped around your finger. I love you little guy!

Love,

Momma

Ahhhhhhhhh!

We're dealing with a case of colic over here.

I'm getting approximately 45 minutes of sleep at at time. Blogging just keeps falling to the bottom of the "to do" list.

We've tried walking, rocking, swinging, gripe water, mylicon, the chiropractor, infant massage, the miracle blanket, a baby sling, singing, dancing, and standing on our freakin' heads. (Ok, not really that last one but I would do it if it would work.)

I'm willing to try anything. Hocus pocus, a faith healer, acupuncture . . . am I leaving anything out?

Ahhhhhhhhhh, colic. I hate colic.

Welcome Carter Joseph!

My sister Katie had her baby!!!

I wasn't allowed in the operating room (darn!) but the birth was exciting nonetheless.

Even little Brendan was jumping out of his skin . . .
ha

He helped my dad survive the wait by trading silly faces in the waiting room.

And then Carter finally arrived . . .

Only he was known as No Name for almost 24 hours!



Brendan (left) and Carter (right)

I hope they grow to be as close as my sister and I.

Congratulations Katie and Justin.

Brother From Another Mother

Oh my goodness, could I get any more excited??

My sister is having her baby boy tomorrow morning.

Same hospital, same doctor as I had just weeks ago.

Wanna hear the best part????

She is going to ask if I can be in the operating room with her (and her husband) to witness the birth. Cross your fingers they let me in.

I'll post some pics soon of Brendan's brother from another mother.

Little Miss Independent

Last week was Megan's first day of preschool.

We enrolled her in the school at our church, two days a week for two hours at at time.

She was so excited the night before she couldn't sleep.

She got up at 5:30 am which is so unusual for her.

She chose her own outfit . . .

and got a brand new Dora backpack to hang in her own little cubby #5.

It just might be the ugliest backpack I've even seen (absolutely uglier than the polka dot one I had my eye on.) I felt myself grow as a human being when I allowed her to choose her own. Mommies have milestone moments too you know :)

Actually, watching her wear it with such pride made me so glad she chose her own.

My sister's son Colin is in her class too. What adorable little friends they are!

She was brave and independent and had no trouble at all adjusting to being away from us. Suspecting she would be this way, I reminded her on the way to school that some kids might cry because they were afraid of being away from their mommies and daddies. I told her to make sure she was especially kind to those children. Processing what I said while she spoke she replied, "Oh . . . some kids get sad when they are away from their mommies and daddies. Well, not me. When I'm away from you I get happy." Well then, Miss Megan!

I couldn't help but linger around in the hallway, watching Megan through the window (with crocodile tears in my eyes.) The teacher came up to me and asked if I was concerned about separation anxiety and asked who my child was. It was slightly embarassing to tell her that I was the one having problems with separation anxiety (while Megan acted like she didn't know me.) C'mon now, I just had a baby and am just a teeny bit hormonal!

And here is Little Miss Independent, pushing her baby brother all by herself.

I'm so proud of her capable, determined attitude.

I'm so proud of her!

Another post about boo boos

OK - this will be my last post about "boo boos" for a while.

While this particular body part may be the subject of much fascination right now at my house, I'm sure you could probably care less about my bosom.

So, like I said, Megan is fascinated with my boos boos lately. With wide eyes, she tells me how big they are and asks me why hers are little. Sometimes she picks up her shirt and looks down to compare hers to mine. I tell her when she gets older her boos boos will get bigger too.

Today she was inquisitively watching me nurse. She looked at me and most sincerely said,

"Mommy, when my boo boos get big I'll help

you feed the baby. OK?"

Isn't she sweet?

How can I NOT blog that, folks????

Magic Boo Boos

Yesterday was my first day alone (no helpers).

My little boy starting emitting noises from his behind that would rival those created by his daddy. Ewww. Did I just write that???

Anyway, I determined we needed some Mylicon Anti-Gas.

It only took us about 4 hours to get ready to go to the grocery store.

Not bad for the first time, right?

Here's how it went:

Mylicon Anti-Gas - $6.50

All the stuff Meg threw in the cart when I was not paying attention

(including Dora toothpaste AND Dora popsicles) - $9.00

Look on the cashier's face when Megan told them,

"My mommy has big boo boos. Yep! And they are magic boo boos. Umm hmm. They squirt milk EVERYWHERE." - Now that was just PRICELESS.

And here is my little guy looking adorable as his sister is embarassing the heck out of his mommy.