Changes, changes & more changes!

Yes, I know... I've been extremely bad with my updates on our sweet Matthew.

Between a trip to Las Vegas at the end of October, a girls weekend in Asheville, then Thanksgiving, the month of November has completely slipped past me. They always as as you "get older" time flies right past you, but boy they forgot to mention when you become a parent, it flies by in warp speed!

Sweet Matthew continues to grow by leaps and bounds. It's really hard to ever imagine he was this tiny 5 lb nugget, that we actually worried he wouldn't put on weight...

Here is his 5 month picture - man I love those cheeks!

And you can see he didn't want to sit still too long for the picture... Before long, I'm sure he'll be trying to climb out of the chair!

We started solids at about 4 1/2 months and let me tell you he loves food! So far anything we introduce to him, he eats - guess he gets that from his Mommy! Last night we tried pears and he gobbled them up! The kid clearly hasn't missed ANY meals...
We also took Matthew to his first Georgia Tech tailgate :) Thank goodness for the Baby Bjorn... Our chunky monkey got a little heavy trying to carry the entire time. Although, he and I didn't go to the game, at least he experienced his first football tailgate!

As he grows up more and more each day, his sweet and fun personality continues to develop! He has the best giggle when you zerbert his belly or arm pits, or tickle those chunky thighs. He's finally rolling more and more and last night even did a 360 turn in his crib! He squeals and cracks himself up, but definitely will let you know when he's bored or wants to be held. But all I can say, is that we couldn't be more blessed with such a sweet, sweet little boy! I'll just never get over how much he changes from day to day.

And speaking of changes, tomorrow is my last day with the American Cancer Society. I accepted a position at Northside Hospital in their oncology program, and I start on Monday. It was such a bittersweet decision to make, but one that I needed to make both personally for our family and professionally. They always say that motherhood "changes you" and I just truly never understood or knew until it happened to me. I just knew in my heart it was time for me to switch gears, so I could be closer to home with Matthew and Jason. It will be hard to say good-bye to all the wonderful people I've come to know and love at ACS, but know that I will continue to work with this wonderful organization in my new role.

4 Months Old and a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

Here we are another month has gone by and our little man continues to grow and change more and more! He smiles all the time, except when I pull out a camera - he turns into Mr. Serious, we're getting more and more giggles, coos and makes lots of fun noises and is still sleeping like a champ at night - 10-11 hrs.

We had his 4 month pediatrician appointment on Monday, which meant more vaccinations :(

We were able to time it pretty well with his feedings, but the appointment ran late, so he was pretty fussy by the time shots rolled around. Jason was able to come to this appointment, since Mom wasn't ready to do another set of shots by herself again.

Matthew of course cried and cried - heck I would too! But this time after the shots, he was a lot more fussy than at his 2 month appointment. But by Tuesday morning he was back to his sweet, happy self - the boy we just adore!

Here is before his appointment - do you think he knew where he was going...

Ok, much better! Although we need to work on his smiles for the camera!

He was measured, weighed, the whole nine yards and he is:

• 14 lbs 1 oz (40th percentile)
• 25 inches long (55th percentile)
• Head circumference: 16 1/2 inches (48th percentile)

We also got the go ahead to start rice cereal, which we are really excited about. I think Jason is really excited - everytime we are eating dinner he puts something in front of Matthew's mouth. Of course I panic thinking he'll try and gobble it down. Matthew hasn't yet...

Last weekend we also headed over to the church pumpkin patch. it was quite comical trying to pose Matthew, but we got some cute pictures!

I love this picture of my boys!

This cracks me up that he's got his arm on the pumpkin - like he's thinking "yep me & my pumpkin buddy!"
Look at that pouty lip!
And next week is Matthew's last week at the Goddard School. About a month ago to our surprise we got a call from Dunwoody Christian Academy saying that they had an opening for Matthew. While I was of course extremely excited, it was bittersweet. Matthew did so well transitioning to daycare when I went back to work and his infant room teachers are just the most sweet women. They really made me feel so comfortable with the entire transition. But the commute for both Jason and I is really tough, where Dunwoody Christian Academy is less than a mile from our house. So once we get back from our trip from Las Vegas, Matthew will start his new "school".

We have a thumb sucker on our hands!

It appears that Matthew will follow in the footsteps of both of his parents and suck his thumb. For the past 2 months I've watched him try so hard to figure out how to suck his thumb, but in the past 2 weeks he's definitely got it down!

It is really cute to watch and I have to admit, it will be nice to not have to keep up with a pacificer.

Here's Matthew in action - it really is just too sweet!

3 Months (and then some)

Clearly this is way overdue, Matthew is well over 3 months old at this point (14 weeks to be exact), but since going back to work, I've realized some things (this blog, exercising, among other things) have been put on the back burner temporarily.

I'll probably say this on every post, but it is truly amazing how much Matthew changes from week to week and month to month. Clearly I'm a new mom!

Here he is before heading out to school. What a good sport for an early morning!
We haven't been back to the pediatrician yet, but his unofficial weight is around 13 lbs, probably more like 13+ lbs! The boy is a great eater, but I think his length helps to even out his weight.
However, check out those cheeks, who do you think he gets those from!!??

I've now been back to work for 3 weeks and Matthew in daycare for 3 weeks as well. Both are going really well, which is such a relief! Matthew has done such a great job acclimating to daycare. He's always smiling when I pick him up - probably because he's typically just been fed - but they always say he's had a great day. I will say that it didn't take long for the germs to hit. He's been congested for over a week and he came home on Monday evening with a slight fever, but the fever quickly broke. I will say, he was still his happy, playful self.

AND.... last night I finally got what I knew was an offical giggle! I think I squealed so loud, Matthew looked at me like I was crazy - but boy do I love baby giggles! Now I just have to figure out how to get more out of him :)

And here are a few pictures of our cutie pie from the past couple of weeks!

Bath time!

Tummy Time! I'm getting so strong!
In the backyard in my Bumbo!

Back to Work...

Yesterday was my official first day back to work, however I have been lucky enough to work from home this week to transition back, as well transition Matthew into daycare.

Yes that means we found a daycare too! I'll get to that in a bit.

I have to say (as I have many times before) the last 12 weeks just flew right past us. There we were at Northside Hospital a month early welcoming our sweet Matthew to this world and now I'm headed back to work and he's not the tiny peanut Jason and I were "scared to break". He's now this little angel baby, with spunk, personality, lovable smiles and chubby legs that I can't get enough of!

Here's our peanut in his carseat on the way home from the hospital...
And here he is at 10 weeks old!
It is just truly amazing how much he has changed in now 11 weeks! Matthew does something new everyday and continues to grow like crazy.

• He is sleeping about 9-10 hours at night - yay he got that from his Mama!
• Loves playing on a new activity mat - even started smiling and swating at the hanging toys, like they are playing back with him. It might be the cutest thing I've ever seen!
• Finally likes his bath - no more crying :)
• Enjoys diaper changes - we play and chat while Mama changes him.
• He smiles a ton, which totally melts my heart!
• He's cooing, ahhing and making fun noises - again I totally love!
• Holds his head up really well - no more floppy
• Doesn't fuss too much during tummy time
• And eats like a champ!

Jason and I are so blessed!

So speaking of blessed, as I go back to work and swallow the idea of being away from Matthew all day, words cannot describe the love I have for our son. No one, not even your parents, can fully prepare you for the emotions and the love that you will feel for your child. I never thought I could love someone as much as I love Matthew. Of course this makes the idea of heading back to work extremely hard, but everyone tells me it does get better. We shall see about that one!

So yes, we did find a temporary daycare. It is a bit of a distance from our house, but was a good choice, so I don't totally lose my mind worrying. It is a Goddard School my high school friend Janet has been taking her daughter and just raved. They luckily had an opening so we grabbed it up. The infant room teachers are just wonderful, so I knew we made the right choice. Tuesday we took Matthew for his first half day, I was ok while getting him dressed, fed and in the car. It wasn't until we did the "hand off" that I started to lose it. Then of course the minute we stepped outside, I just lost it. I know he's safe and happy - heck he smiled at us as we left - but I guess after being at home with him for 12 weeks the thought of not seeing him whenever I please really hit me hard. When I picked him up, he did look exhausted, and a bit confused, but he wasn't crying - whew! I did another drop off this afternoon and Mama kept it together.

And to close out this post for today, here are more fun pictures of our sweet Matthew!

Our happy boy!
See I love bath time now!!
He just melts my heart!

2 Months Old!

Matthew is 2 months old and it just amazes me how much he has changed in just 2 months.

He has gained almost 4 lbs and grew 3 inches in length. I knew he was getting bigger, but I was so surprised when we got the official measurements at his 2 month appointment.

1 Month Old
Weight: 6 lbs 12 oz (3rd percentile)

Height: 20 3/4 inches (25th percentile)

Head Size: 14 inches (10th percentile)

2 Months Old
Weight: 10 lbs 2 oz (20th percentile)

Height: 23 3/4 inches (75th percentile)

Head Size: 15 1/4 inches (25th percentile) At his appointment he also got his first round of vaccines. I knew Matthew would cry, who wouldn't getting a shot in the leg, but I didn't realize how much Mom would cry too!

Just seeing my sweet Matthew cry so hard just absolutely broke my heart. I was also really nervous to how the rest of the day would go after his shots. I had heard that some infants run fevers, are really fussy, the works, but Matthew did quite well. He ate well and cat napped the first few hours after we got home. Later in the afternoon, he did get pretty fussy off and on, but I happened to notice his leg was red and a bit swollen, so a bit of Tylenol did the trick to make him feel a bit better.

Luckily today he seems to be back to his old self.

I only have 2 more weeks of maternity leave and during these past 10 weeks, I've come to learn that I'm definitely not ready to be a stay at home Mom yet, but boy it is going to be hard to be apart from Matthew. We are still trying to figure out our daycare options. We looked at 2 places with openings, but I cried at the thought of leaving Matthew at either place, even if it is only temporary. I am hoping after tomorrow we will have a plan in place.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Aunt Josie makes a trip to Atlanta!

It was such a wonderful weekend to have my Aunt Josie come for a visit to meet Matthew. It was the first time she flew by herself, and she did fantastic!

We had such a great time, and Matthew just fell in love with her as did she with Matthew.

And of course she cooked her delicious enchilladas, rice, beans & homemade tortillas and salsa (no wonder I can't lose the last of my baby weight!).

He LOVED taking naps on Aunt Josie!

And she helped give Matthew a bath, which she loved!

And we played on his activity mat - he even coo'd some, which we both loved!

Matthew continues to grow and grow! I was showing Aunt Josie the newborn pictures and it really hit me how big is really is getting! And how tiny he was when he was born. It's amazing how you almost forget. His newborn outfits are getting more and more snug, but the 0-3 month outfits are still a bit big. He continues to become more alert and I've caught a few smiles, which just melt my heart.

And in 3 short weeks my maternity leave will come to an end :( I really can't believe it. We are still on the waiting list at his daycare, but I haven't heard the official word about when we will get Matthew in. However, I'm getting ready for plan, what that is, I'm not sure yet!

What we've been up to..

I know I haven't been great about updating our blog with updates on Matthew, I promise to get better, so this is going to be a marathon of updates.

So what have we been up to lately... We've had visitors, I finally put together our jogging stroller and Matthew had his first trip to Milledgeville!

Aunt Jori (one of my very best friends) came for a visit a few weeks ago. It was so great for her to spend time with Matthew and I while Jason was traveling.

Matthew just loves his Aunt Jori!

I finally put together our Bob jogging stroller and have been getting out with Matthew for morning walks. I can't wait until I can actually run with the stroller, but that will have to wait until Matthew is a little bigger.

Here we are ready to go!
We had a great visit from Janet & Brooke. Janet & I went to high school together. She was actually my inspiration to workout my entire pregnancy. We worked out together during her pregnancy and she made it look SO easy!

Brooke just loved meeting her future boyfriend!
And last week, I took Matthew on his first trip to Milledgeville to see his Nana & Papa. It was a fun time. His cousin Andrew was visiting too, and Andrew just loves Matthew. He is obsessed with his feet too - as he says "I like to lick them because they don't have bones and they are squishy"...



Jori's Mom, Beth, came to meet Matthew too!

Time continues to fly by! I go back to work in a month and I can't believe it. It's a little overwhelming to think about, so I've decided I'm not going to yet :)

Matthew continues to grow. I can't wait until his next pediatrician appointment to see how big he's getting, but his little thighs are definitely getting more meat on them. He is also sleeping really well at night. He sleeps for a 5-6 hour stretch, which is wonderful! We are definitely blessed.

I did make one of those first "tough Mom decisions" over the weekend. Before Matthew was born, I said that I would take breastfeeding in stride. We would do it as long as both Mom & baby were happy. When Matthew was born, we had some difficulty since he arrived early. I met with lactation consultants in the hospital and felt pretty confident when I left. We continued to have some difficulty, so another trip to the lactation we made. After that visit, I again thought we were on the path to success, but for the past 2 weeks, it was just flat out tough. I wasn't happy and I didn't want Matthew to feel the stress I was putting on myself. So after many conversations with other Moms, my mother-in-law and Jason, I decided to stop. It was a really tough decision, but I felt strongly that it was best so I could be a good (and happy) Mom to Matthew. I am continuing to pump, so he's actually still getting some breastmilk, but we've also started formula. I never imagined something that is suppose to be so natural would be so incredibly hard. Nor did I ever think I would have such an internal battle about making the decision to stop. I will say since making this decision, I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I guess that means I made the right decision.

So after all that, what could possibly be next for us!!?? Well my Aunt Josie is coming for a visit this weekend! Matthew will get to meet his great Aunt. We can't wait to see her!

It really is the hardest job you will ever have...

I've always heard that being a Mom "is the hardest job you will ever have"... and I thought I believed it or tried to understand, I mean I've watched many of my girlfriends have children. I hear their stories of late night feedings, absolutely no time for themselves and the thought of regular mani/pedi's - HA that's something in the far distance! Well I will honestly say that I truly never understood what they meant until now.

Here we are almost 6 weeks into our lives with Matthew and each day is a new adventure. Some days the absolute best and others where yes, I have cried my eyes out. But I have to say that once I see through the tough days when Matthew is crying and feeling like there is absolutely nothing that I can do right to console him. It will be a moment when I take a second glance at this beautiful boy and all my tears and feelings of being an inadequate Mom completely disapear. It really is amazing how being a parent teaches you a new lesson each and everyday.

1 Month Old! And looking back a year ago today...

It is truly amazing how time is just flying by, I honestly can't believe that Matthew is already a month old! It's crazy to think that his original due was just this week too. I have to say, although it was such a surprise that he decided to make his grand entrance a month early, I wouldn't change it for the world!

We had his 1 month pediatrician appointment yesterday and it was such a great appointment!

He now weighs 6 lbs 12 oz (at his 2 week appointment he was 5 lbs 9 oz) and his height is now 20 3/4 inches long (he was 19.5 when he was born).

I was thrilled to see how much weight he had gained since his last appointment. I'm sure before we know it he'll have those little ham hock legs I just love on babies :)

This week we also gave Matthew his first bath. He did much better than I honestly anticipated, although we definitely had some screams.

Ok this isn't so bad...

Ok Mom & Dad, maybe I don't like this so much!

Ahhh, I'm out and warm in Mom's arms!
As I think about how fast this month has just flown by, I have also been reflecting back to 1 year ago today. It was a year ago today that I found out I miscarried from my first pregnancy. It's just amazing how life can turn a heartbreaking experience into a blessing in disguise. It wasn't until I told my friend Heather that I was pregnant again and she asked when I was due, that we realized Matthew's due date would be around the miscarriage. As hard of an experience the miscarriage was, I just knew it was God's way of telling me everything in life does happen for a reason and that Matthew would be such a blessing to our life.

Happy 1 month birthday Matthew! Each day you bless our life with new memories we will cherish forever!

"Before you I never knew what it was like to smile for no reason at all"

I got that saying from one of my staff and all I can say is there is just so much truth in it. I never realized how blessed our life would become with the addition of a child. In just a few short weeks he has truly blessed our life beyond belief!

This smile just says it all!

2 weeks old already!!??

Where have the past 2 weeks gone? Well let's see probably to eating, sleeping and pooping, but I wouldn't change it for the world! They always say motherhood is a life changing experience, but you truly never know until you experience it. Granted we are sleep deprived and some days are better than others, but life couldn't get much better with sweet Matthew. He is such a blessing!

We had a great first week home. Jason was able to be home the entire week, which made our first week so smooth. He ran errands, went to the grocery store, made dinner for us, anything and everything you could imagine. I couldn't ask for a more amazing husband!

One amazing husband!

Today we had another pediatrician appointment. Matthew weighed 5.9 lbs, so almost back up to his birth weight. When we were discharged from the hospital he weighed 5.3 lbs, then at his first pediatrician appointment he dropped to 5.2 lbs. So our pediatrician recommended I supplement along with breastfeeding and it seems to be doing the trick to put weight on our little guy. We have another appointment in 2 weeks, so I'm hoping we'll be well over the 6 lb mark.

On our way to the pediatrician!
Like I said, it's been a good 2 weeks. Today was the first real day that I finally felt exausted, which I think is pretty good since I'm getting 1.2 - 2 hr blocks of sleep at night. Matthew is so far a really good baby. He's very content, unless you have to change his dirty diaper or I give him a spong bath - he is not a fan!

And lastly, here are some fun pictures we've taken the past 2 weeks!

He's here!

It is truly amazing how your life will change in the blink of an eye. On June 16th our sweet baby boy – Matthew Jonathan – decided he was ready to enter our lives 4 weeks shy of his due date.

On Tuesday evening around 10 pm, I was at home getting ready for bed and while getting into my PJ’s when all the sudden I felt a trickle of sorts and all I could think was "seriously did I just pee myself". I thought here I am 36 weeks pregnant and I just peed myself, lovely. So I checked it out and honestly didn't think anything of it. I really just thought I couldn't control my bladder; I’m not sure which is more embarrassing… Well as I lay back in bed, again wet, this proceeds to happen 2 more times and it was when I felt what I thought was a cramp, and knew something wasn't quite right. Mind you, I'm at home alone. Jason was in Kentucky for work - literally his LAST business trip before Matthew’s arrival. So at this point I call my OB, talk to the nurse and who connects me with the on call doctor. He tells me to come to labor & delivery so they can see what’s going on. For whatever reason I guess I thought, I'd either get sent home or just get put on bed rest – clearly I hadn't read far enough in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" or I ignored the part that says if you're leaking the baby is come soon, so all I took to the hospital was me and my purse... Granted packing my hospital bag was going to happen over the weekend AND I was waiting for my cute monogrammed Land's End bag to arrive - that came while I was in the hospital... Also, if you are following along carefully, I drove myself to the hospital...

So I get to the hospital and checked in, and the nurse takes me back to a room. All awhile, Jason and I are texting and phoning back and forth. Trying to decide how best to get him back to Atlanta in a reasonable amount of time. The nurse confirms that my water did break, and our sweet boy would be here in 24 hrs. However, with no husband they wanted to wait before inducing labor since I wasn't dilated at all. Jason luckily was able to get on a 6 am flight.
During the night, I was able to get a relatively good night sleep, still no major contractions, until 7 am when they give me Cytotec. Jason finally arrived by 9 am and all I can say is what a relief!! At that point the contractions were starting to get a bit more intense, but I could handle them relatively well. Around 10 am, I did give into to some pain relief, not knowing it would only help with nerves more than the contraction pain, but it at least it helped with something.

Here I am checking my blackberry while in labor - what else is there to do :)

By 11 am I was then given Pitocin to really get my labor started. The Cytotec did help; it got me dialated to 2. However the Pitocin is NO JOKE - holy contractions! During all this the doctor told me that my pelvis was small and Matthew's head was down, but somewhat wedged, so it was inevidable he would come out with a cone head - poor buddy! The doctor did say that with the size of my pelvis and he was such an advocate of trying to deliver vaginally before c-section, that we would try what we could to get him out... For whatever reason, this just wasn't appealing at all to me, but I just went with flow.

I continued to contract and held out as long as I could before asking for the epidural, but by 12:30 I said uncle and got the epidural and what sweet relief. The process for the epidural really wasn't too bad, just the combo of contractions AND inserting the epidural wasn't fun, but it worked! At this point the doctor came back into check me and I was dialated to 5. I was pretty proud that I had made it that far. Unfortunately the epidural started to make Matthew's heart rate go down. So the nurses kept coming in to monitor, flipping me over, and putting oxygen on me in hopes it would level out, but it didn't, so the doctor said it was time to go down the c-section route.

This was sometime after 2 pm, and by 3 pm they wheeled me into the OR and by 3:12 pm Matthew was here, weighing 5 lbs 10 oz, 19 1/2 inches long.

Here we are getting ready to go to the OR

One proud Daddy holding his son for the first time!

We are now a family of 3 - what an amazing feeling!

Proud Nana & Papa

Time to eat!

Jason is one heck of a swaddler

Just precious is all I can say!

Ready to go home! We made it home Sunday afternoon and just taking our time getting settled. It has been the most amazing experience having been so blessed with such a beautiful boy!