My First Mother's Day

So far I have LOVED being a mom. It is so rewarding and I never thought I could love a little person so much. My first few weeks as a mom have also been very trying and I have a new appreciation for my own mom and all that she did for me and my FOUR siblings. I can't imagine all of the sacrifices she made for us kiddos.

We had a relaxing Sunday that started off with breakfast in bed. Scott and Oliver took good care of me. I love this card from Oliver! I think I did do a pretty good job growing my 9-pounder if I do say so myself :).

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there!

 

Oliver's Blessing Day

April 29th was a big day for our little Oliver- he was blessed! It was also his Aunt Hope's Sweet 16 :). Both sides of our family were able to be there, and my grandpa, my dad, Mike (Marci's hubby), Scott's dad, and Scott's best friend he grew up with were all able to participate in the blessing with Scott. Scott gave Oliver a beautiful blessing, and thanks to Marci, my mom and Scott's mom all jotting things down, I was able to record the highlights of it in his baby book. Afterwards everyone came over to our house for a little brunch. We reused all of the cute decorations my mom made for Oliver's shower. Thanks for the pictures, Marci!

 

The man of the day

 

It was a special day and everything went perfectly- but we were so exhausted when it was all over!

I love how he always kicks off his socks when he sleeps :)

Happy Blessing Day, Sweet Oliver!!

Little Guy's First Month

So sad a month has already passed :(. It seems like he's been with us forever, and like he was just born a minute ago at the same time! He has transitioned from a little newborn with no schedule to a more predictable little guy who we feel like we have somewhat figured out! Oliver is now on the 3 hour "Baby Wise" schedule (thank you Marci for helping me realize he was old enough to have a routine!), and life is getting easier! He is finally sleeping in his own bed during the day (he ONLY slept while being held when he was tiny), some days better than others.

Sleepy 8-day-old

Some video of him having sweet dreams :)
Oliver's Blue Steel face

And first trip to Memorial Park. He slept through the entire 3 mile walk :)

At his two week doctor's visit he weighed 10lbs. 6.5oz. (87th percentile) and was 22.5in. long (97th percentile). We couldn't believe he gained 1lb. 5oz. and grew 2 inches in two weeks!

His umbilical stump finally fell off two days before he turned 3 weeks, so it was time for a REAL bath! He loved it, and loved it even more when we got him a tub that didn't fold him in half ;-).

We love how fluffy his hair is right after a bath!

Oliver and Nana (I need to be better about getting pictures of him with all of our family!)

And just a few more cute ones to leave you with :-) 

Guess who got 7.5 hours of sleep last night?!

ME! And it was wonderful. Oliver went down at 8:30, slept until 1:30 when Scott gave him a bottle, and then didn't get up again until 6:00! I haven't slept for that long without waking up since the first trimester of my pregnancy! He hasn't had this great of a night before, and I'm hoping it's the start of a new trend.

Our little guy is already a month old (as of May 2nd), and I can't believe it.  He had his one month doctor visit on the 2nd and weighed in at 11lbs. 7oz. (up 2lbs. 6 oz. from birth- 89th percentile) and is now 23.5in long (has grown 3in since birth- 97th percentile). 

 

Other news from his doctor's appointment- I'm on a dairy-free diet now. Oliver had several days of really, really bad gas and was crying almost non-stop. He couldn't stay asleep and had a hard time eating too. It's only been a few days since I've been off dairy and we've already seen a huge improvement! Dairy can take up to two weeks to totally leave their systems, so we're hoping it will just get better for him from here. We finally caught a big smile (which we've been seeing way more of over the last few days) this morning!

He has also started "talking" to us recently- I love to hear him respond with a little coo when we're talking to him. Right now he loves tummy time, being held, white noise, he loves it when we sing or talk to him, when he's super fussy going in the backyard calms him down, and he still loves his pacifier! He's not a fan of his car seat, the swing, or sitting still. When we're holding him we have to keep moving, and his favorite motion is still squatting :).


 

Goodbye, Kitties

Since bringing Oliver home, things have been obviously busy.  Our sweet kitties who used to be our babies were replaced by our actual baby- poor little Winston and Samantha :(.  My guilt has been building over the last couple of weeks as I walk past them all throughout the day and they just look so sad.  Samantha stopped following me around the house crying for me to pet her after a couple of days.  Oliver hasn't been able to nap during the day unless he's held, and also has been pretty fussy (Scott and I feel like he either has a dairy allergy or reflux or something- his one month doctor appointment is tomorrow and we're going to try to figure it out!), and some days I feel like I don't have time to do anything- let alone stop and love on our kitties.  I'm a clean-freak too, and don't have the time or energy it takes to keep a two-cat-household free of fur!

So yesterday after thinking about this for the last two weeks, an ad went up on good ole' Craigslist.  I was thinking if I started advertising now, maybe sometime within the next 3 months a fabulous family would come along.  Within two hours I had 3 families call to ask about them, and we met some of them last night. The second family that came seems so perfect- it's a mom and her two older children.  Winston, who usually takes some time to warm up to people, LOVED the mom and was purring and rubbing up on her legs.  When they left Scott and I just felt so good about them, we slept on it last night, and today at 4:30 she is coming to pick them and all of their belongings up.

It was weird last night as I watched them around the house thinking that it was the last evening I'd be cleaning up the kitchen and see them curled up together on the couch and that it was the last time Scott would come home from work to be greeted by Winston sitting at the garage door waiting for his lovin'.  We gave their new mom our our phone numbers and email addresses and told her they can never be split up or sent to a shelter, so if her situation changes she is going to bring them back to us.  I'm trying not to second guess myself and keep reminding myself that they are going to get SO much more attention with this new family than they will here since we're so wrapped up in little Oliver. 

They've been the sweetest kitties and we're going to miss them, but I think we'll all be happier this way. And writing this post wasn't a good idea- it's not making this any easier ;). Get ready for A LOT of pictures of our fur babies: