8 Weeks Old

Look at this baby boy! I can’t believe it’s been two whole months since he was born, since I had a c-section, since he was taken away to the NICU, since I went through the three hardest days of my life, since our family became complete… and it’s going by so quickly.

I knew it would. I felt the same with Summer, and then with Camryn, and I now wonder how they are almost 5 and 6 years old.

Jace, you are still eating and sleeping great. Two nights ago, you slept for 6 hours straight after your midnight feeding, and you did the same thing last night. I’m loving it!

You sure are lucky to have so many people that love you. You finally got to meet my cousins Katherine and Libby, Uncle David, and our friend Jordan. You got to spend some time with Uncle Wes this last week, too, since he was home from college on Spring Break.

You had your 8-week check-up this past Friday. Daddy and I both got to take you. The doctor said you looked great. You are now 11 lbs 8 oz and 22 inches long. You got your first set of shots, and you screamed, and it hurt my heart, but you were fine after a minute.

Here is a video of you on Monday, laying on your new activity mat. Bad quality thanks to the iPod…

And another of yesterday evening. Good quality thanks to the Nikon, but too short thanks to a full memory card…

I love you, my little bubba man!

Dear Jace: Six Weeks

Jace… you are six weeks old! Actually closer to seven now. It seems like you were just born a few days ago. I’m sure I’ll be saying that forever… I still say it about your sisters.

You go to your check-up next week, but when I weighed you at home, you were 11.2 lbs. You’re wearing mostly 0-3 months clothes, and have completely outgrown the newborn stuff.

I am still exclusively breastfeeding you… you haven’t had formula since the stupid nurses in the hospital gave you some. You are doing really well with nursing, and eat every 3 or 4 hours. You go a little longer at night between feedings, which is great for me! Although we’ve both figured out how to co-sleep and nurse safely so I feel like I get plenty of sleep on most nights. I love waking up and seeing you sleep soundly next to me.

You finally stopped pooping with every feeding, so it might be time to try out some cloth diapers! Hopefully it’s not as overwhelming as it seems like it could be.

Your sisters adore you and help Daddy and I out a lot, getting your pacifier or a diaper, handing you to us from the swing, talking and playing with you… you are one spoiled-with-love little boy!

I left you for the first time a few nights ago, to see your cousin Richard’s band play. It was only for a few hours but I worried about you the whole time! I knew you were safe with Grandpa and I had pumped milk for you, but I was afraid you would fuss the whole time. You did, apparently, but I think Grandpa still loves you anyway.

You have some fussy times during the day like most babies, usually around 9pm or so, but you get over it pretty quickly. No signs of colic around here!

You love laying in your swing. It puts you to sleep pretty quickly, but if you are awake you watch the mobile spin or stare out the window at the sky. You also love to be carried around in my Boba Wrap. You sleep so soundly and I can get things done around the house!

Your biggest milestone to-date: An hour after I commented on someone’s Facebook picture of their baby boy smiling, saying I can’t wait for you to start smiling… you did! On purpose! I haven’t caught a good one on camera yet, so this one of you smiling in your sleep will have to do. So precious, and look at that dimple!

Next milestone on the list: Getting one of this big baby belly laughs out of you, because there is nothing better than that!

We Made a Wish…

On Saturday, we went to my parents’ house to watch a UK basketball game. My friend Audrey came too, and got to meet Jace for the first time. Her daughter Olivia loved him.

Sunday, we had our usual lazy day around the house. Got some cleaning done, watched TV, and enjoyed out time together before the craziness of the week began.

I can’t believe he is five weeks old today. FIVE WEEKS! Please just stay this size for awhile, little guy.

I think I might frame this one…

Love.

Our New Normal

We’re slowly starting to find our new normal as a family of five.

Things are going so well. I really couldn’t have hoped for a smoother transition into life with a newborn. We’re blessed to have such a good, sweet, adorable baby. The adorable part is pretty important – the late night feedings aren’t as bad when they’re super cute.

I mentioned Joe’s crazy work schedule before… When we decided that he should accept this new position, we did it a bit reluctantly, hoping that it was the right decision for our family. It requires so many more hours of hard work from him than the position and schedule he’s had for years. But it was such a great opportunity for him and for our family. We agreed that we would take it one day at a time and so far, so good. With Joe being gone the second half of the day and into the night most days, and then needing to sleep in the mornings after a late night, it’s required a lot more of me as a mom. I’ve had to do the grueling after school homework, dinner, baths, and bedtime alone most days for the last few months. Some days are worse than others, but for the most part, it’s been easier than I anticipated and Jace has fit right into the routine, not really making it more difficult, just making it a little different.

Summer and Camryn have adjusted so well to having a baby brother around. We wondered what would happen when we threw this little living, breathing being into their world but they have been amazing. They haven’t acted jealous of all the attention he gets at all, and they love to spend time with him, hold him, and help us when we need something. Sometimes, they want to be a little too involved… I’ve had to have several talks with them on why they can’t pick him up and carry him around the house.

Bath Time!

Jace’s umbilical cord fell off pretty quickly, last week some time. There was a tiny bit of moisture/yellow looking stuff in there still, but I Googled and found out that the advice I had been given with all three kids was outdated and as long as the cord dries completely afterwards, newborns can take normal baths right away.

He was a little sleepy but we needed to get ready to go out to eat, so we went ahead and put him in. He immediately started fussing but didn’t cry at all.

We cleaned him with a little Burt’s Bee’s baby wash and then got him out. Nothing like a clean baby!

After his bath, the five (!) of us went to Buffalo Wild Wings to eat dinner. Jace did really well in his first restaurant – he slept the whole time, even at the grocery store afterwards!

Two Weeks Old

Technically Jace was one week and six days old when I took these yesterday, but we’ll just round up.

One Week Old

Jace turned one week on January 23rd. Here are some pictures we took throughout that week…

He loves his swing!

He sleeps in our room in this Sleep N Play every night. He’ll be doing that until he’s sleeping through the night, hopefully in about 6 weeks or so if he’s like the girls were!

So sweet. This yellow outfit was Summer’s, that she got from my Nanaw… it was the first baby outfit anyone ever gave her.

I think he already has Joe’s big square manly hands.

Hanging out with Daddy

It’s kind of hard to tell in these pictures, and it was MUCH worse, but Camryn got strep last week and was prescribed Amoxicillen. After about 4 days, she developed a horrible rash that almost looked like chicken pox. My mom took her to the doctor, where we found out she is allergic to Penicillen. It’s been almost a week since then and she finally doesn’t have a rash any more. It was so horrible… bright red splotches and spots over her entire body. She was miserably itchy even after taking the medicine that was supposed to help. I am so glad it’s over with and so is she! I hate that she has an allergy, but it could definitely be something much worse.