Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Dear [Remaining] Blog Readers

Dear blog readers,

I am so sorry my blog posts have gone from scarce to sporadic to once-a-month.  Life has just been a bit much lately.  Through October and November, I was traveling more than I was home.  Mid-November my maternity leave ended and I went back to working four days per week.  I have two boys and a house to take care of.  I've been sick on and off for about a month.  I'm preparing for the holidays.  I'm planning a baby shower (don't get me wrong, Kristin, I LOVE doing this!).  In the midst of all this, I've had to let go of a few things.  One of them was unfortunately blogging.  (This includes reading my friends' blogs...so sorry, friends.)

BUT.

Slower times are ahead.  Traveling will slow down after the holidays, as will all the planning and holiday preparations.  Hopefully I won't be sick anymore.

AND...

I am SO excited to announce that I will be going down to two days of work per week starting January 1st!! That's right.  God really put it on my heart about two months ago, and I told myself that if it was His will, He would make a way, and sure enough He did.  So starting in January, I will be working in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays and just checking email from home on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  I cannot even begin to tell you how incredibly blessed I feel and how excited I am.  I finally feel like my life will be in balance.  I'll have a lot of time with my sons, but I'll still get out of the house and make some money.  It sounds like an absolutely perfect situation.  Prayers have been answered!

So my plan is that once I go down to two days of work per week and the holidays are over, I can jump back on the blogging bandwagon.  Because I miss all you people, I really do.  I'm also sad that I've been doing horribly at documenting Greyden's first months in this word.  Poor kid, he got the second-child treatment right from the get-go.  Hopefully he'll always know that this has nothing to do with how much I love him and everything to do with how busy my life has been.

I look forward to catching up with you all in about a month. :)

God bless,
Kara


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Greyden - 4 Month Picture

Well Greyden Roy Boy, today you turned four months old!!

Here's your monthly pic:


And here's the lineup of the monthly pics from the first four months of your life:



1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, and 4 months

Can't lie...I think you're such a cutie pie. :)

Friday, November 2, 2012

Greyden - 3 Month Picture

Our littlest man turned three months old last Sunday the 28th!  Here is his monthly picture (taken one day late). :)


And all together:



1 week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months

I feel like he looks totally different in each picture, haha. Such a growing, changing boy!! We love him!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Babyhood Weeks 7 through 12

September 8th, 2012 through October 20th, 2012

Well baby boy, I haven't done so great at keeping up with your babyhood over these last several weeks.  But we've had a lot going on in our lives, so I guess I have a legitimate excuse.  We've been doing a lot of traveling, and your dear Great Uncle Jeff passed away a week and a half ago while we were in Indiana visiting.  Unfortunately and needless to say, blogging hasn't been a top priority. :(

But here I am, catching up finally.  So let's see...

You are still a very big boy.  At your two-month appointment, at around 9 weeks old, you weighed 14 lbs 13 oz (97th percentile), you were 24 1/2 inches long (95th percentile), and your head was 16 inches around (66th percentile).  Now at 12 weeks old, you weigh around 16 lbs and are about 25 1/2 inches long according to my at-home measurements.  You are wearing 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothing, size 2 diapers, and size 1 shoes (although we don't have any except flip flops).


You're not doing overly great at holding your head up while on your belly, and you still hate tummy time just like your brother did.  I'm doing what I can to encourage you to develop your back and neck muscles, and you honestly seem to have pretty good head control when I hold you upright.  You just hate lifting your head up while on your belly.  Sometimes I wonder if it's due to your size that you struggle so much, but who knows.



You are becoming so much more alert and aware of what is going on around you.  Just in the last week you've started turning your head to look at different things in the room that interest you.  You smile quite a bit, and oftentimes do it on cue if I ask you to.  You laughed for the first time when you were 10 1/2 weeks old, for your Grandma Nancy while we were at the hospice home visiting Uncle Jeff, ironically.  I haven't heard you laugh again since, but it was so neat to hear.  And I know it brought a lot of joy into an otherwise incredibly sad situation.



You seem to love baths but hate when I pull you out of the water.  I've learned that I have about 30 seconds after taking you out before I'll get sprayed with a stream of pee, so I always have a new diaper right there, ready to stick on your bottom.

You've developed a birth mark on the ridge of your nose, which I asked the pediatrician about at your two-month appointment.  She said it will likely continue to get bigger until you're six to nine months old, then it will begin to fade.  I'm relieved to say that it hasn't grown much, so hopefully it won't get too large over time.  But  honestly I think it adds a little character to your face. :)


A lot of the baby hair you were born with has begun to fall out and be replaced by new hair.  This new hair seems to be a light brown, but I could even see it possibly turning blonde.  Also, the middle of your eyes has begun to change color.  I can't quite tell what color it's becoming...it looks like it may even be a brown/tan color.  I'm so excited to find out what you'll look like over time.  You're already so different from your older brother, and it's fascinating to see and learn about the differences between you two.



I realized a couple weeks ago that you were getting a giant flat spot on the back of your head, more toward the left side.  After that, when I'd lay you on your back, I'd always try to turn your head the other way.  But every time, you'd move your head around until it was resting on that flat spot, and then you'd stay there.  I wasn't sure what to do, so I did some research online and discovered that there are pillows to help with flat spots.  I ordered one, and I am thrilled to say that I can already see a big improvement in your head shape.  I now use it all the time...in your carseat, your swing, your crib, and when you lay flat on the floor.  I'm hoping with time that the flat spot will completely disappear, but we'll have to see if I caught it early enough.


You continue to travel the country with me and your brother, and I'm still impressed with how adaptable you are.  The weekend you turned 9 weeks old, we traveled to Robbinsville, NC to see your Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Gordie at their new land plot in the mountains, the weekend you turned 10 weeks old we were in Ohio visiting your mommy's college friends, and after that we were in Leo, IN visiting Mommy's family through the weekend you turned 11 weeks old.  Your daddy didn't get to go to any of those places with us, which made us all sad, but fortunately he's going with us on our next trip, which we leave for in just a couple days.  We're going to Florida to watch him play frisbee, yay!


While on our travels, I discovered that you are definitely a Momma's boy.  There were times when you wanted me to hold you, and only me.  No one else would do, and if I would try to hand you over to someone else you would just burst into tears.  Of course it made me feel good to be so loved, but it did make things a little difficult when there was other stuff I needed to be doing.


Alright I think that's all for now.  Hopefully your next babyhood update will come sooner than six weeks from now!! :(


Love,
Your Momma

Friday, October 12, 2012

Uncle Jeff

After a ten-year battle with illness and various health issues, my Uncle Jeff went to be with the Lord yesterday at 6:22am.

We are all hurting, but at the same time rejoicing that he is no longer in pain. I feel so blessed that I was able to be with my family during this time and to spend time with Uncle Jeff during his last three nights on this earth.

Please keep my family, especially my Aunt Sandy, in your prayers. My aunt has a long road of healing ahead of her, but she is strong and brave and knows to lean on her Lord, so I know she will be ok.

We'll always love and miss you Uncle Jeff.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Greyden - 2 Month Picture

Grey turned 2 months old last Friday on September 28th!

Here's his two month photo:




1 week, 1 month, 2 months

As you can tell, he's become quite the chunk-a-monk!

I'll be writing his 6-9 week life update soon. :)


Friday, September 21, 2012

Toddler Times: Toothpaste

I just climbed out of the shower to find Krew sucking all the toothpaste out of his Thomas the Train toothpaste tube while watching his TV show. You know, since there was no popcorn available. The tube is pretty much empty. Prior to my shower, it was pretty much full.

As I took it away, he proclaimed, "But it's yummy!!!"

Apparently.

At least it's flouride-free.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The End of Who's Who?

Well, it's official.  Greyden doesn't look a whole lot like Krewson did as a baby anymore.  It's getting pretty easy to tell the difference.  Example below.


This is when they were both around 5 1/2 weeks old.  Krew on the left, Grey on the right.  The picture of Greyden cracks me up...holy cow he looks like a chunker!!  (This picture makes him look chunkier than he is, although I won't deny the boy is carrying some hefty rolls.)

Or here's another:


There are definitely similarities, but I also think it's easy to tell them apart.

It's so fun to see how genetics can combine to create completely different little boys. :)

Alright, there's a little one upstairs screaming to be swaddled, so that's all for now.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Babyhood Weeks 3 through 6

Grey, you turned six weeks old this past Saturday! Such a big boy! :)

You continue to grow like crazy, gaining almost a pound per week.  I measured you the middle of last week (when you were 5 1/2 weeks old), and you weighed 13.2 lbs, you were 23 3/4 inches long, and your head was 38 1/2 cm around.  That put you at 99th percentile for height and at >99th percentile for weight and head.  In other words, you're giant!!  Haha I don't know how your daddy and I make such big babies...your brother was an oversized infant, as well.  But I love your giantness.  It makes you so cuddly, and all your rolls are just awesome. :)


I'm still nursing you for all your meals, and I'm hoping to be able to nurse you until you're a year old like I did your older brother.  It only takes you about ten minutes to eat at each feeding, which is absolutely amazing to me.  Your brother would nurse for 40 minutes each time! Although you don't eat at the same pace as he did (thank goodness), you sure do spit up at the same pace.  I go through about six burp cloths a day.  It never seems to bother you (unless you choke on it, which happens occasionally), and you're obviously gaining plenty of weight, so I'm not too worried.  It's just something we have to deal with.


You've continued to get closer and closer to sleeping through the night, sometimes going to bed around 11pm and sleeping till 5:30 or 6:30am.  The first time you slept past 3:40am (your typical first wake-up time), your momma here got worried.  I woke up over and over and over, wondering if maybe I hadn't turned on the monitor loud enough, or if it was on the wrong channel.  I of course even wondered if you were alive, as all paranoid mommas do.  But you were alive and well.  You were just trying to bless me with some extra shut-eye, if I would have taken advantage of it.  You sleep swaddled in your rocker at night most of the time now, because that's how you seem happiest and sleep the longest.  Plus I like knowing you're on an incline with how much and how often you spit up.  I'm not sure when I'll switch you to your crib...just playing it by ear. Isn't that how most people do most of parenting? :)


You've started occasionally smiling in response to things, which is so adorable to watch. Your smile just warms my heart. :)  You still really enjoy watching your mobiles, too, and have started tracking with your eyes while looking at them.  It's so neat to see you taking interest in things around you.




You seem to pretty much hate tummy time, just like your brother did.  I still try to do it several times a day, but it's hard to convince myself to do so when I know it's just going to put you in a crabby mood.  Your brother ran a little behind on holding his head up while on his belly, and I don't want the same thing to happen to you.  So sorry to disappoint you, but the tummy time is going to continue!







You definitely seem to prefer your mommy to anyone else, which I must admit makes me feel special.  I can almost always calm you down, and sometimes when you're calm and I hand you to someone else you start crying.  Of course, I'm sure a lot of this stems from the fact that I carry your food hanging off the front of me.  But I enjoy being the preferred adult nonetheless. :)



You've done a lot of traveling already in your short life.  The weekend you turned four weeks old you went to a frisbee tournament in Maryland, the weekend you turned five weeks old you went to Lake Gaston and went on your first boat ride, and this past weekend when you turned 6 weeks old you were in Charlotte visiting your grandparents and great grandparents on your daddy's side of the family.  You've been a great travel buddy so far!  You ride well in the car, sleeping most of the time, and you adapt well to changes in schedule.  I'm so impressed. :)



On your first boat ride!

I think you're looking less and less like your brother as you're changing to look more like an infant than a newborn, but we'll see.  A couple weeks ago I noticed that you all of a sudden had two hair lines.  That's right - you had this little strip of hair growing on your forehead, then a strip of baldness, and then the rest of your hair.  It was quite the bizarre hair style. :) Since then little baby hairs have started growing in the bald area, so it doesn't really look like two hair lines anymore.  And I'm pretty sure the hairs are brown, so we might have a little brunette boy on our hands! It's so fun to watch you grown and change, especially during this time when it all happens so quickly.  I'm so thankful for my phone camera, because it makes it easy to take pictures of you every day and catch all the changes. I don't want to miss a thing!




Till the next update, keep us smiling little boy!