Touching

We've noticed that Nathan likes to touch the skin that's available to him. Do you see that he's got his hand up at Barry's neck? He's been pulling out chest hairs! :)

This was a full day for me and Nathan. We took Barry to work so that we could have the car. Then we went to a meeting at church and later on went to my office so that I could get some paperwork turned in and help a friend out with a facial. It was a rough morning and Nathan cried a lot. In fact, we went through a total of 5 outfits during the day because of accidents. He hates having his clothes changed so that just added to his dismay with what was going on. It was a learning experience to be sure.

Many faces of Nathan

Nathan makes so many different faces throughout the day - while he's awake and when he's sleeping!

But, he's a cutey! We'll keep him!

The First Official Bath

We already had a good indication that bathing was going to be a challenge because each time that we would sponge clean him, Nathan would cry. But, this was even worse. He screamed and screamed about it. Nothing would help him calm down. So, we just had to go fast!

Look at how red he is because he can't stop crying. Poor baby!

Now he's calmer with dad with his fun monkey towel on!

Emma Loves Nathan

Even though all 3 of Melissa's children were gung-ho about meeting Nathan, Melissa couldn't bring them all with her for the visit. Emma did an awesome job with Nathan and was always looking out for him - like a typical big sister.

We hope to visit the rest of the family soon so that the boys can meet him too.

The visit was too short but we appreciated everything that was done for us.

More Family Visits

Nana with cousin Emma... Look at the expression on Nathan's face as Nana sings to him!

Papa and Nathan taking a nap in the afternoon.

Nana, Emma, and Nathan

Aunt Melissa (my sister) talking with Nathan.

Emma loved holding Nathan and taking care of him. One of my favorite memories over the weekend is from Sunday morning at church. Emma didn't want to stand to sing because Nathan wanted to hold her hand. So, she was singing the songs and holding his hand. What a cutey!

Mini Cards

I took a few moments this morning to make a few cards to include in birth announcements. I found this cool baby ribbon in my stash and matched paper to go with it.

The card is 3"x3". I added a piece of green paper just below the yellow ribbon and then put the pieces of blue to spell out thanks on top of it.
Here are the three that I made to go in birth announcements that I was sending out.
Last but not least is a birthday card for a friend. It is 3"x3" and I used the same papers that I did more recently the beginning of the month. I did use some 3d tape to adhere the candle on the card.

Squeeze Me?

This gown kind of leaves me in a quandary. Why would I want to squeeze my baby? When I move him around spit up comes out or if we don't get the diaper fixed just right pee comes out. So, if I squeeze him, what else will come out?!

Isn't the way he's holding his mouth just so cute? He's got all kinds of expressions that he shows. The many faces of Nathan.

With Mommy

We've been spending the last few days just me and Nathan. The only real routine we've established is an afternoon nap on the couch. He's not been sleeping consistently in the morning so it's hard to establish anything. I've been trying to do some things around the house to pick up and keep our household going, but it's been rough. Hopefully with family coming again this weekend we'll be able to get a few more things done and get on track next week.

Family Pics

We were so glad that the Stevens clan from Michigan were able to come visit (sad that Travis couldn't make it, though). They were so excited to meet Nathan and hang out with him.

Here's a pic of us...

I think that we're getting the hang of some of this... Of course, then Nathan will change it up on us!

A Walk in the Park

Jessi & Bree were glad to get out and do something different. Aren't they silly?!
Nathan went on his first walk in the stroller today. We were a little mystified by this one piece of cording that is connected on the stroller, but eventually got it open. Good thing we still have the book about it. :)
Doesn't it look like we had a bunch of fun?! The weather was nice and sunny and we enjoyed walking the 1 mile trek around the walking park. Hopefully we'll be able to do this fairly often!

Stevens Family Visits

Michelle came on Tuesday and then the rest of the family came early Saturday morning (after driving all evening). Unfortunately, Travis didn't get to come this time.

Hanging out with Uncle Tod

With Aunt Chelle

With my big cousin Jessica

With cousin Brianna

We were so glad to have them hang out with us over the weekend. We didn't do very much touristy stuff, but we did spend a bunch of time together.

Umbilical Cord

It came off!!! In the night, Nathan's umbilical cord came off. Another monumental step in Nathan's life!

After a rough night Thursday, we were very hopeful that Friday night would be quiet. Thank goodness, but he slept very well with just a short couple periods where Barry had to help him calm down and fall asleep.

Another first thing that happened today is that we went grocery shopping. Jessica pushed him in the cart through the store and he did an awesome job. Then, we went back to the family's hotel room where I took a nap and everyone else went down to the swimming pool. Another first!

The Perschbachers

Our good friends, David & Judy stopped by for a quick visit today. They were in town from St. Louis to celebrate birthdays with their family who lives in the Nashville area.

They gave us a very cute outfit, two burp rags, and his first pair of shoes! Each of the items had his name on them (except for the shoes). So cute!

Aunt Michelle Visits

Aunt Michelle has been awesome to have around to help with baby Nathan. She's been encouraging us with taking care of Nathan and helping out with things around the house.

This weekend Uncle Tod, Jessica & Brianna will be here to hang out and meet Nathan too.

Sleeping

This little one likes to sleep a lot, but it's been a challenge for the rest of us to get enough sleep! Since Michelle is here, she has been making me lay down so that I can get extra rest.

Even Daddy is catching a little rest as he holds Nathan!

Valentine's Day

Isn't this one of the best Valentines that one could have?!

We hung out together all day with just a short visit from Natasha (from church) so that I could take a shower.

We were counting down the minutes until Aunt Michelle arrived! We picked up Michelle from the airport and then went to Wendy's for dinner. (Another first!)

Hanging with Daddy

Daddy likes to help Nathan play the drums, play guitar, and just basically whatever he can do to keep Nathan awake a little bit in the evening.

Monday was actually a pretty rough day. We had an episode in the morning when Nathan couldn't be consoled and then later in the day we went to the pediatrician for the first time. Nathan was now 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. They were impressed with his growth and showed me how to better take care of his belly button. We won't go back until Nathan's one month old. Yea, Nathan! :)

Family Picture

Our second outing was to church on Sunday. We dressed all in brown. It was rough to get Nathan to calm down, but finally with his binky in his mouth we were able to get a quick picture.

We also had our first experience with nursing away from home as I had to feed Nathan in the nursery at church. It was a bit of a rough morning and he made up the time he lost sleeping in the afternoon.

First Outing

The weather was dramatically colder over the weekend, but we still wanted to get out and celebrate my parents' anniversary. We bundled up Nathan and warmed up the car so that it would be easy to keep him warm.

We went to the Olive Garden for lunch since it was sunnier then. You can see Nathan all bundled up with his hat on!

We had a great time!

Meeting Oreo

We headed home from the hospital on Thursday, February 9. It was a long morning as we waited to get discharged, but eventually the paperwork got processed and we were able to leave.

We got home and were hanging out with my parents. Oreo decided to hang out with my mom and Nathan. The cats are adjusting to not being the number ones in our lives, but they're not liking it...

Cute Pics of Nathan

Snug as a bug in a rug! He really likes to be bundled tight so that he can sleep comfortably (with his pluggy, of course!).

Look at this cute turtle that he got!

Everyone loved the little hat that my sister had crocheted. It fit just perfectly!

Guests

Starting from Monday night, we had lots of people come and visit with us. Here are a few of friends and family who came for a visit:

Uncle Rick (Kristy's co-worker)

Aunt Mary (Kristy's co-worker)

Papa & Nathan

Mary & Nathan (Kristy's co-worker)

Katherine & Nathan (Kristy's sister)

Nana, Papa, Aaron & Nathan

Aunt Laurie (Kristy's co-worker)

Nathan & His Daddy

One of the comments that I heard this week was how when they came Monday night to visit us in the hospital that they had never heard Barry talk so much!

Barry was so excited to have Nathan finally be here. He was so supportive and helpful as we recovered in the hospital. I am so blessed to have these two great men in my life!

Unexpected Arrival

What was expected to be a visit to the doctor turned out into an emergency c-section and the arrival of our son!

I had a doctor's appointment at 10:20am on Monday, February 6 in advance of our induction on Tuesday evening. There was a problem in the office and we ended up waiting almost 2 hours before seeing the doctor. At this point my blood pressure was high (wouldn't anyone's be?!) and the doctor said that I needed to go over to triage at the hospital.

This made me very frustrated - we were going to have him tomorrow and of course my blood pressure was going to be high. But, we went over to the hospital and found that they were very full. We had to wait in the waiting room for a room to be ready for us and they found one in the acute area.

Within minutes my blood pressure was going down and things were within the normal range. But, I started having contractions and in the midst of the contraction the baby's heart rate would be erratic. They had me switch sides and it would be fine but then occasionally the heart rate would go erratic again. I switched again and the same thing happened. They thought that the baby's umbilical cord was being compressed during a contraction and by moving me around that it would shift around and be okay.

My doctor was on her way to the hospital to do a scheduled C-section so she came by and said that with this issue, she did not feel comfortable letting me leave. I could either have the induction started or have a C-section. Within the time it took for the nurse to get the bag of Pitocin and use the restroom, the baby had an episode where his heart rate dropped from the 140s to 88. She called the doctor and Dr. Maikis made the decision that we'd need to go in immediately for a C-section.

They began prepping me for the anesthesia and Barry began calling people. From the time of the decision to when they wheeled me to the operating room it was about 30 minutes. Another episode had occurred in the mean time and the heart rate had dropped to 95.

Nathan Kenneth made his entrance into the world at 4:49pm on Monday, February 6, 2012. He weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. We are so blessed!

Work Baby Shower

This shower actually occurred on Tuesday, January 10, but these are the first pictures that I got from it. They had decorated the employee kitchen with green and brown balloons. This is the gift table. It must have been an earlier picture because there were more gifts than this.

Ladies from both of the departments that I worked in helped plan this shower. My current boss Mary Kiethley is on the left side of the picture and led the time out with prayer and a really neat poem that one of my co-workers wrote.

Here's a view of the group -- there were more ladies as the time went on.
Here are the hostesses and me! (L to R) Jody, Mary, me, Beverly, Mary, Allison, & Stephanie
One other thing that they did during the party was share little bits of wisdom that they asked for in advance. They had them on a big poster with a cute stroller on it and called it the Stroller Lot. They gave me a copy of all the advice so that I could share it with Barry.

We are so blessed!