Baby B's First Halloween!

First off let me say Happy Halloween! This has always been one of my most favorite holidays and even more so now that B is around! He has been in costume all day long... Can you believe it!?! A six-week old has been in just ONE outfit all day long! Thank you Huggies Little Snugglers for that poo-catching panel in the back of your diapers... You saved B's Halloween costume from Poo-Suicide more than once today!!! (If you are a mommy, you know exactly what I am talking about!)

Anyhoo... I had a house full of three skeletons tonight and my littlest skeleton has been a trooper all day long, he stayed up all day long with the exception of a small cat nap this afternoon and only fussed once during the mommy-paparazzi fest. (I had to take a thousand pictures of B's 1st Halloween, poor kid is probably blind from the flash!) He greeted all of the kids at the door tonight and even visited his girlfriend, Lilah, down the street. Needless to say he was out like a light by 8:20, leaving mommy some much needed down time! I was sad when I took off his halloween costume and tossed it into the laundry basket... This time next year my little skeleton is going to be a big skeleton!

Break Out the Cute Sweaters & Jackets...

Because my absolute favorite time of year is here...

We took B on his first trip to the pumpkin patch. If you haven't gone to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland, I highly recommend it! It was so much fun plus they have lots of food, plenty of homemade desserts, and a Apple Cider Press where you can buy fresh apple cider. Needless to say, B wasn't quite old enough to fully enjoy the surroundings but mommy and daddy did!

Little B is growing up...

Well I guess not as fast as I seem to think! I caught a few pictures of him first thing in the morning when he is super happy. I am pretty sure this is the first smile I have caught on camera!

Lately we have noticed that when we put B in the stroller but use the car seat he get super mad and gets really fussy. So for our walk around the block this morning we decided to use just the stroller and he LOVED it. He would look around and 'talk' and coo to himself. He is such a little man!

Chunky Monkey's Mini Photo Shoot

So, a good friend of mine and Noah's came over to see Blake shortly after he was born and took a few pictures. They turned out awesome so I just have to share! His website is www.barrympeterson.com... You won't be disappointed, I promise! =)

A Two Week Check-in with Baby B...

Blake is 2 weeks and one day old today. It has definitely been a transition, I, no longer, get 11 hour nights of sleep and my body is in shambles but B is a super duper good baby and I love him so much that it is absolutely worth it!

The first night he was home he cried the whole night. I thought that I was going to die if this what was in store for us for the next few months. But then the following night he would have slept through the entire night if I hadn't of woke him up to eat. At his first doctors appointment he had lost about 7% of his body weight. (10% is when they get worried.) So he had to go back two more times for weight checks plus the doctor was having us feed him every two hours. Luckily he gained 3 ounces by the second check up and we decided that he would let us know when he wanted to eat as opposed to us forcing food down the poor little guy's throat. Now he feeds about every three hours during the day and about four hours at night and he is pretty on schedule for the most part.

B's hair is getting lighter, it is about the same color as his daddy's and his eyes are getting bluer. He loves his lamb swings and making funny facial expressions, he even smiles every now and again. He is perfect in the car seat and didn't make a peep when we take him out and about. He is a total cuddle bug and I love the times when he nuzzles into my neck after a full tummy of food...

Speaking of food, breastfeeding has been a total nightmare! He doesn't latch and when we finally got him to he wouldn't eat. I have been completely frazzled about the whole situation because I do not want to give him formula. Not that I have anything against formula or those who choose to give their babies formula but I tend to side with the "breast is best" logic. But we are in a pumping-bottle feeding routine that seems to work for both him and I, and we are both happy and able to get some rest!

I never thought I could possible love someone so much but I do. Blake is one of the best things to happen to us and I am super excited to see him grow. In fact I was just telling Noah that I can't wait until B learns to hug back and give slobbery kisses!

Happy, Happy Birthday to.....

my most loyal, faithful, & unconditional loving companion. (Besides my husband!)

Lily Lovemuffin turns 4 years old today... Makes me nostalgic for her 6 week old, one-pounder days, especially since I saw a dachshund puppy at Petsmart today. She definitely has been my bestest companion from the apartment days when it was just her and I on the lonely nights when Noah had to work to now with our ever growing family.

Whoever said money can't buy you happiness definitely didn't have a Lily Lovemuffin because she was the best $350 my husband spent on me and she has brought me nothing but happiness! Love truly is a cold wet nose and a wagging tail. Happy 4th Birthday Lil!

Labor is called Labor for a Reason!!!

Wow! I'll tell you what, adjusting to life with a baby is such a transition! It's a good one though and labor is not called labor for fun!

But Blake is here and this is how he got here!!!

So I went into the hospital on Friday to be induced. The doctor gave me an oral pill at 7PM to help soften my cervix, at the time I was 2CM and 40% effaced. I was having no contractions or signs that labor was imminent so at 1AM when the doctor came back to check on me (at that time I was 4CM and 60% effaced), she gave me the option to start pitocin then or waive off until the morning. I chose to wait until morning since I have heard that labor induced with pitocin can be long and hard and I could have used the rest of the night for sleep.

But.....

At around 3AM I started having regular STRONG contractions every 5 minutes. I didn't want an epidural just yet so I took some pain medications and tried to go back to sleep. The anesthesiologist happened to be on the floor 45 minutes later and stopped by to do some consent paperwork and prep for whenever I wanted it. At that point I was ready for it and 6CM and 90% effaced. She gave it to me and I layed back down. About 5 minutes later a team of doctors ran into my room injecting stuff into my IV and the next thing I knew a doctor was telling me he was going to break my water bag. Turns out my blood pressure dropped to 67/34 and Blake's heart rate had dropped. Luckily both came back up and I got some rest.

At 7-ish I starting feeling pressure so I called the nurse in. She said if it started getting constant to call her back in. Not even 10 minutes later the pressure became constant and I called her back in because I felt like I had to push. She and the doctor came in to check me and the doctor told my nurse to go ahead and let me push since he wasn't in the birth canal yet and it would help since it would be a while. A little bit later after some strong pushing another team of doctors came running in telling me to turn onto different sides and get on all fours. I started crying because I couldn't really move because of the epidural and the IV would hurt my hand when I would bend my hand or actively use it. Later my husband had told me that the team of doctors was the C-section team and they were going to take me to the ER because Blake's heart rate significantly dropped again and they couldn't get it back up. Once again I got lucky and it came back up.

The rest was kind of a blur. I pushed alot and at 8:21 AM he SHOT out!

He was a healthy 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long! Head full of hair and very alert.

I suffered some bad 'trauma'... But it was all worth it for my long awaited cuddle bug!!!