2 Months Old

All smiles :)

Our little big guy is 2 months old!  He would be due for a 2 month check up but due to the holiday season the doctors office is keeping most appointments open for sick ones only so he doesn't go back until Jan. Since we have a good friend with access to a baby scale we got his weight checked and he is up to 13lbs 13 oz!  His unofficial length is 24 inches.  Since we did these on our own I don't know the %'s.  I'm  guessing he is still up there since he is already in 6 month size clothes!

Ryan loves to eat!  He is a good sleeper at night.  During they day he cat naps and just when you think he is sound asleep he pops his eyes open and is awake again.

He loves to be upright and isn't happy if you hold him any other way unless you are going to feed him.  At 13 lbs (nearly 14) he gets heavy quickly.

He is getting very smiley and likes to chat it up especially after having his diaper changed. Speaking of diapers.. he DOESN'T like his diaper to be dirty at all.  You of course have to be quick with those changes so you don't get peed on. Yep he is a boy and this is a frequent occurrence!

Big sister still loves him!  She noticed he is a lot more wiggly than he used to be when holding him.

Mom's Party @ Pre-K

She was being a little shy with someone else taking our picture!

 Today was the Mom's party in Jillian's Pre-K class  She was very excited that I got to come with her to school today.  Especially since this was just a mommy and Jillian activity. Her brother Ryan went with his papa for the morning.

We made 3 Christmas themed crafts and had donuts and muffins for a snack.  We made a gingerbread man, decorated a Christmas tree, and made a reindeer ornament. Jillian was a little sad when it came time for mommy to leave, but she didn't cry.  I reminder her I would be back shortly to pick her up.  Also it is Friday and on Friday I pick her up through the car line.

Selfie on the preschool couch. She smiled much better for this one!

One Month

 At one month Ryan can smile at us :). I was lucky enough to catch a couple of these on camera. He loves to eat in case you couldn't tell. He sleeps for a 3-5 hour chunk each night and after that is usually up every couple hours. 

Big sister is very protective of him and very rarely jealous of him. She is also an excellent helper!

Smiles

Showing off his Rick face ;)

Our sweet boy!

Content boy in the morning.

2 weeks old

2 weeks old

JjHard to believe this little guy is already 2 weeks old. No surprise that his favorite thing to do is eat! We spend a lot of time snuggling while he nurses like a pro. He is a pretty good sleeper. Generally I get 2 periods of about 3 hours together. Not bad. I'm sure my memory has faded but it seems his big sister didn't sleep as well. Those newborn clothes are already too small! Those never last long. He is going to be styling for a while thanks to many gifts of new clothes and lots of loaned clothes :).

He has pretty decent periods of awake time. Luckily this is normally during daytime hours!

Baby belly 2 weeks later. Feels tiny to me after what it was!

One Week Old

Ryan went in for his one week check up on Tuesday.  He started at 8lbs 11 ounces at birth.  Was down less than 2 ounces by 11pm of day 2.  At one week old he has more than gained back to his birth weight.  Big boy is up to 8lbs 14.5 ounces!!  They also measured him at 21.5 inches.  I don't think he grew 1.5 inches in a week.  I would guess that maybe the initial measurement was off.  It isn't like newborns like to stretch out too easily.

For the most part he likes to be awake for a good amount of time in the mornings.  He is pretty good about just hanging out in his pack an play for a bit.  He does have this big sister that we still have to help sometimes.  It can be hard being the second born and having to wait.  

As is to be expected his favorite thing to do is EAT!  He is also a champ at going through diapers ;).  He is a decent sleeper for a newborn.  He takes a long while to eat and eat and eat before he will go to sleep but then he will sleep for a good 3 hour stretch at least.  Wakes up for another good feeding and goes back to sleep for another 3 hour stretch.  I feel pretty rested with getting several hours in a row.  I don't remember Jillian doing so well with sleeping...  Maybe I'm just used to getting up from being pregnant and this is really more sleep than I had been getting ;). 

Bringing Home baby

Settling into her bis sister role.  She loves him :)

Ready to go home. Finally!

My mom brought us home only because Rick had to go to work.

Heading home with my two kids!

Day 2 (10-15-14)

Grandma and Grandpa Morphew came over at 1 to meet Ryan.  Big sister Jillian had stayed the night with meemaw and papa and couldn't wait to get back to the hospital too see her baby brother.  That first day she was very possessive of him and only "allowed"people to hold him for a limited time frame. 

Throughout the day they kept a close eye on Ryan's heart rate.  His resting rate was always in the 90's and usually a new born has a rate closer to 120.  After about 24 hours it came up to just over 100.  It was within an acceptable range just on the low end.  The nurse called Dr Iorio about him and she gave him the all clear.  He never left my room for a nursery stay.  They just checked his vitals every 4 hours instead of 8. 

Day 3 (10-16-14)

Jillian arrived at the hospital at the beginning of visiting hours once again.  She was so excited and she wanted to stay with us.  We made sure it was OK with the nurse that she stayed even after my mom left and she said that was fine.  Ryan got cleared to be released before lunch.  The doctor checking patients for the day was busy with procedures and laboring moms so we ended up waiting around all day for me to get my official clearance to go home.  Rick was at the hospital with us until about 3 when he needed to leave for his visit.  It was still over another hour before the doctor came to clear me.  My mom came back so I didn't have to mange both kids by myself in the hospital room. 

Once I was cleared for discharge I called my nurse.  It took another hour or so or her to have time to get us discharged.  As she was giving Ryan one last look over she was asking if he had wet his diaper.  He still hadn't that day.  As she took off his diaper.... well he let her have it and peed all over her hand, his clothes, his blankets, and the baby bassinet.  At the same time Grandma and Grandpa came over for a quick visit.  They were able to hold Ryan while I finished my discharge paperwork. 

Finally home! 

Baby Ryan's birth story

Started as a typical Monday for me.  I went to work from 8-5.  Took Jillian to her gymnastics class at 6 then Story Time at the at 7:30.  We grabbed Wendy's for dinner on the way home.  Got home by 8:30 had our dinner.  I cleaned up the kitchen and living room area then got ready for bed.  

As I was brushing my teeth I thought that Ryan had finally pushed down to hard on my bladder that I couldn't control it.  I quickly realized this wasn't the case but instead it was fluid and time to call my parents (to take Jillian) and then birthing center.  This was about 9:30 pm.

By 10pm we arrived at the hospital and got checked in.  They were testing to make sure it was fluid leaking and nothing else.  I got changed into my lovely gown and into the bed. No sooner did I get settled onto the bed then lots of fluid came out.  It was no longer necessary for a test they were pretty confident my water had broken.  Initially I was 90% effaced and 3-4 cm dilated. 

Shortly after getting hooked up to the monitors contractions started and we were off.  My parents brought Jillian to the hospital.  She and my mom were hanging out with us in the labor room.  I did good about not showing my discomfort during contractions with the little one in the room.  She eventually curled up on my moms lap and fell asleep.  She was asleep before the contractions got really strong and long.  I had some nice ones that stayed at the peak for 4 minutes! 

We did actually get a few updates along the way about progress.  When I got to 6 cm dilated and was having pretty strong contractions I elected to take some pain killer nubain to help dull the pain.  We had been told that this needed to be given before we reached 8 cm since after that they won't administer any more pain killers as it is not safe for the baby. 

Rick and the labor nurse helped me decide when the best time to take the pain killer was.  So it didn't wear off to soon but still had time to take it.  Getting from 6 cm to 10 is pretty much a blur to me.  I was sleeping in between contractions.  I think it was about 2 hours and it was time to push.  It took 37 minutes of pushing to get Ryan out.  Overall from start to finish the labor was 6 hours. 

Ryan Joseph arrived on 10-14-14 at 3:37 am.  Weighing in at 8lbs 11 ounces (a whole 2 lbs bigger than his sister).  He measured at 20 inches long.  

Meeting Big Sister for the first time.  For the middle of the night she woke up happy :).

All snuggled up

Week 38, day 5 (almost 39 weeks)

Baby boy at 38 weeks!

Had another follow up visit with the OB today. The doctor said to me that my belly is all baby and my internal organ s are way squished.  I am at 1-2cm dilated and 80% effaced.  So the big prediction is that the boy is expected in the next week.   My due date is next Friday (Oct 10) so that is to be expected.  

This past Sunday I had a decent period of time of discomfort with lower back aching and contractions.  Thinking that is when the boy starting plotting his escape and dropped down.  Since he has now dropped I have an even smaller bladder and woke up every 1 to 2 hours to use the bathroom.

Now we just wait until he decides he is ready to come. 

Nesting at 37 weeks

My husband has accused me of nesting... just because I have swept and deep cleaned carpets, washed a bunch of our sons clothes,and prepped freezer meals... hehe  With just under 3 weeks until our due date I would say I am allowed!!

I have a couple small projects for his papa to help me with to finish getting his room ready.  Hopefully we can get those done before he arrives, but if not it isn't anything that can't wait.  Also need to drag his daddy out to the store to pick out a poster to frame and hang in his room.  That way I can see what colors to paint for his name letters.

This past Saturday the huge kids resale that happens twice a year around here was on.  I was happy to have found all of these clothes for our baby boy.  Big sister Jillian also got some new clothes.  She had fun picking out some new dresses of course.

Kids resale finds :)

I also have some awesome friends who have loaned me clothes to borrow for our son.  So with my garage sale finds and those clothes he has a closet and dresser full of clothes ready for him to wear.  I spent quite a bit of time on Saturday washing and sorting boy clothes.  I am getting much more used to this.  The first time I bought any boy clothes just felt odd after over 4 years of girly only items!

Clean and organized clothes for baby boy.

Week 35 Day 5 (almost 36 weeks)

Had a check up today for baby boy.  He is head down as they want him to be at this point.  I was assuming as much based on were I get kicked all the time!!  They were able to double confirm his position by finding his heart below my belly button.  His heart beat was nice and loud when directly over it and came in at 140 beats per minute.  

They also did a check for dilation and thinning.  At this point we are at 1 cm dilated, but not thinned out yet.  The doctor advised this is perfectly fine for this time in the pregnancy.  Also due to these findings he didn't expect the baby to be born any time soon (well relatively speaking)..  We have just over 4 weeks until his due date!

Last night I experienced the worst Charley horse I think I have ever had! I am glad that I haven't had many of those and really hope it doesn't happen again!  I was trying to stretch out my leg and the muscle spasm was so strong it was forcing my toe pointed if I tried to straighten mt leg.  After physically holding up my toes and finally getting to my feet to stretch it out good it subsided.  Of course after that I had trouble going back to sleep as I was afraid it would return if I let my foot go un flexed.  I finally took some Tylenol and put an ice pack on my calf muscle and got a little more sleep.  Man my leg is tender today.  I'm trying hard not to limp too much!

Almost 34 weeks

Had a checkup today for Baby boy.  No kicking the doctor today like he did last time.  Everything looks good and his heartbeat was nice and strong :).  We go back again in 2 weeks for another checkup and then we will start going weekly.  His arrival is sneaking up on us now!

Big sister Jillian is very excited to meet her baby brother. She gives my belly plenty of hugs and kisses. Such a sweet girl!  A couple nights ago she was snuggling up against my belly and her brother "kicked" her three times. The next night she wanted to snuggle up again and was hoping he would kick her again. 

Dance Class

Big girl ready for her first Tap Dance Class in her new "stylish" dance outfit!

 

Jillian had her first tap dance class Wednesday (8-13-14).  We had gotten her shoes just before vacation and she has been wanting to try them out.  She was very excited to go to her class last night.

After a very slight hesitation she went right into the dance room with her new dance teachers.  She listened well as far as I could tell from watching and was trying to do all the dance moves.

They had them pretending to be Sheriff's or cow girls so each child was given a pretend cowboy/girl hat to wear.  They galloped across the floor chasing cows as I was told later by Jillian.  They had given them each a spot to stand on a little no-stick place mat looking thing.  (good plan tap shoes are slick!)  As they did what I would call cross the floor moves the girls each went back to their spots instead of all the way across the floor.   I have no idea if this is what they were supposed to do or not, but it sure was cute to watch.

Lining up for her first class

Dancing around waiting for class to start.  She liked spinning on the slick tap shoes.

When we got home Jillian had to show daddy some of her new dance moves!  She did expect me to remember what all they had done.  Good thing I was watching so I could help her out on that one.

I think she was a little sad when class was over because she was having so much fun.  She will be happy to go back again next week :).

Pre K

Monday August 11 Jillian's papa took her in for "orientation" for pre K.  She was a bit shy for him that day, but did stay in the classroom when he ran some papers down to the office.  She has one of the same teachers as last year and then one new teacher.

Wednesday August 13 was Jillian's first day of Pre-K.  Daddy reported that she went in confident and he left as she went to find her name at her seat.  She has a new place to hang her book bag this year vs. last year.  As daddy tells her because you are a bigger girl.  This made her smile :).

When I picked her up she was a happy girl :). I even took her picture by a sign the school had out.  Of course it is best she couldn't read it since it said first day of Preschool!  She would correct you and say that she is in PreK!!

I asked what she learned and she just told me how to write her name.  She already knew how to spell it, but is still working on using upper and lower case letters correctly.  She also reported that she had time to run in the gym.

After her first day.

Vacation 2014

Crooked Lake Delton, MI - the view from the backyard of the rental. Our retreat for a week.

Countdown to Vacation Calendar - she loved crossing off the days

First Time fishing - she had fun and stuck with it for quite a while

Fishing with Grandpa - she caught 4 little fish!

We had fun checking out the local library where they had a chalk table you could draw on and two library cats!

She loved "driving" the boat.  She would randomly stop us to look at stuff in the water.

Swimming time, there was lots of swimming!  Our little fish loves to play in the water!

Attempts to make sand castles didn't work out to well the sand was too wet.

At the Kalamzaoo Nature Center - she enjoyed checking out the indoor rainforest and the few exhibits they had in the main building.

Nature trail walk - it was 0.6 miles long and she did make it, but just barely.  She was hot and tired by the time we finished.  But of course still had plenty of energy for swimming back at the house ;).

Plenty of relaxing time.  Grandpa and Jillian playing on respective size ipads.

FAIR WEEK

She loved petting all the goats.

I have a ride addict!! :)

She wanted to try the pedal tractor pull.  She jumped off right after this saying it was too hard!

Looking back wondering what they heck they are hooking to her tractor.

Jillian, Chase, & Eva

Ice cream in a cup at the fair :)

Just a few of the rides she went on this week.  Her current favorite is the Tilt-a-Whirl

26 weeks!

(07-06-14) Jillian kissing on her baby brother. She is very excited to be a big sister :)

(07-06-14) Baby belly at 26 weeks

Strong Baby!

 

In the last week this baby boy has gotten quite strong.  At 25 weeks 4 days he is weighs up to 2lbs and is up to 9.2 inches long.  I captured this video of him wiggling around last night.  Watch the left side and you can see him making it move pretty good.  

I have also noticed in the last few weeks that he doesn't much like me to lay on my left side or something.  Every time I roll over to my left side he gets very squirmy.  This can make it quite a challenge to get back to sleep!

Last day of Preschool 5-22-14

At the beginning of the year someone didn't want me to take a picture... so I of course had to replicate the same pose for her last day too :)

Last day of preschool

Left: Fall 2013, Right: Spring 2014

We are very proud of how well she can now write her name! The teachers told us for the middle sample she must not have felt much like trying because they ad seen her write it far better than that.   

Painting at school

Blowing blue bubbles at school

Cutting out either J's or candy canes at school

"Special Day" celebrated at school

Painting rainbows at school

It is hard to believe her first year of preschool has come to an end.  She had tons of fun and made new little friends.  She is going to miss seeing them.  I know a few of her classmates will be coming back next year in her same class, but I'm sure not all of them.

She has learned a lot during her first year at preschool and is looking forward to going back for Pre-K in the fall.