Card for Dedication

I made this thank you card for the pastor who did Nathan's dedication. I used similar papers that I had made the mini cards (go here) that we sent in birth announcements, but this is a regular sized card - 4"x6". I also added the light blue baby paper to this one.

A first that happened today was that Nathan went to the Jacksons' house for a couple hours today so that we could run some errands at stores that are not so baby friendly. Unfortunately, Nathan got off schedule and we struggled with naps and eating the rest of the day. He took some of the bottle we sent, but I guess was waiting for the good stuff!

Smiley

Nathan decided to share some smiles with the camera today...

Wiped

From this picture, you'd never imagine the struggles that we've been having with getting Nathan to sleep during the day apart from in our arms. He's laid out on this pillow like he does this every day! Unfortunately, the daycare isn't going to hold him for a nap so we're trying our best to figure out some alternatives.

We'd appreciate your prayers as we get Nathan ready. Of course, he may just be fine and dandy when he goes to daycare. One can only hope!

Mobile Time

Nathan has really started looking around and staring at things around him. My mom had suggested that he was big enough now to enjoy laying and watching his mobile. Sure enough, now that he's heard the music a few times, he's all into it! The music doesn't seem long enough and we're having to go and turn it again and again, but he loves it!

Pacifier Success

You may not think this is a big deal, but we were super excited! The paci that Nathan got at the hospital has been his tried and true soother. We found some other Nuk pacifiers with a latex nipple, but he would not take them very well. I checked online but couldn't find this one. When I was at the doctor's office last week, another mom suggested looking at the hospital's lactation store as she had gotten her son a couple there. Since I was going to the hospital today, I planned to check it out. SOOOOO..... I asked the teacher of the class I was in if she thought it was possible that they had some of this kind for sale (I didn't want to lug the baby carrier all that way if it wasn't likely). She said, "Oh, don't worry about it. I'll go get you some." Hurray!!! We are so glad.
And, the best part is, that he took to the new one with no problem!!!! What we had found was the nipple on it is larger -- almost 2x as big as the ones they were selling at the store.

It's the little things....

Dedication at Church

It was an unusually chilly morning (after the 80+ degree days we had been having) and we dressed Nathan in a 3 month outfit that was rather big on him. He slept all through church in the nursery and I was hoping he'd stay comfortable until after the dedication so I could feed him.

Nathan did a super job all through the dedication. Here he is before the service.

Pastor Jim admitted that we were the first dedication he'd done and you could tell he was a little nervous, but he did a great job. (We'll call it nerves that he called Nathan, Kenneth Nathan two times!)
They did a short PowerPoint presentation with pictures we sent over and the verse that we picked for him.
Pastor Jim gave us an official dedication form, the letter we wrote to Nathan (to be opened on his 18th birthday), and a white New Testament with his name on it.

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the final thing that was done. Pastor Jim asked for those people who'd commit to praying and supporting us as we raise Nathan to come up for the prayer. Our life group - the Farmers, Burts, Lopez family, and the Hendersons - my parents, and Rick came up to the front and joined us in prayer.

We are so grateful for this special gift that God gave us and the many people who are supporting us as we raise Nathan. We need all the help we can get!

Nana & Papa Visit

We were so glad to have a visit from my parents over the weekend. They came for Nathan's dedication on Sunday. We hung out a bunch at the house and did a few errands, but nothing too exciting.
Nathan loved talking and smiling to them. Plus, Nana had some good tricks on how to make his tummy feel better.

Trying New Things

I wanted to do some work in Nathan's room to clear out his crib so that he could watch his mobile so I pulled out this mat for him to lay on. He did fairly well -- he loves to look at all sorts of things and the various toys hanging down caught his attention. He'll talk and smile at all the stuff which is fun to hear.

Look, how I've grown!

The first picture is from February 18 when Nathan was almost 2 weeks old. We had to put the blanket in to help him fit in.
Today, 6 1/2 weeks old, his head is up to the red piping and his feet are hanging off the end. What a big boy!

Two Cards

These are two cards that I worked on to get out in the mail Thursday.It's our nephew Travis' 19th birthday coming up next week so I made this one up to send to him at college. I used 6 different papers based off the colors in the camouflage paper. I adhered the T with 3d tape to help it stand out. I wrote "happy birthday!" in brown on the front.
Our neighbor who we've been good friends the last 6 years or so, asked me a to do a favor for her as her father is turning 80. So, I used 5 papers to create this card. It's a little random but I was trying to create a festive card. Hopefully he'll enjoy it! Jackie hopes to get 80 cards sent to him!

A new hat

We were on the hunt Saturday to find a hat for Nathan to wear during walks. We went to the outlet mall and found this gem (the only choice!) for $2.50. He's not too keen on it, yet, but it's necessary for his safety for protection from the sun.
Isn't he a cutey?!

Growing Baby

I'm not sure that I ever took a picture of Nathan when he was first born in the bassinet, but here he is now. A common problem that we find now is that Nathan (AKA Houdini) gets out of his swaddling and starts hitting the side of the bassinet. He's definitely getting longer and we have to lay him higher up now than before.

He's wearing a onesy that his cousins in New Mexico shared with us.

Friday Fun

Just in case you can't quite read it - if you think I'm handsome you should see my daddy.

Even though this is a tad on the big side, I thought this would work for Nathan since we were trying to find cooler clothing to wear during this heat wave.
Here's the family... Look at the expression on Nathan's face! He's got his eyebrow raised as if to say, "What are you guys doing to me?"

Walking

Usually at least once or twice a week, Nathan and I've been going for a walk. I'll walk for about 20-30 minutes depending on the weather. I strap him to my chest and within the first few steps, he's asleep, but I think he enjoys the fresh air too. Anyone want to join us?

(I apologize how rough I look in this picture. Can you tell that it's been a few rough nights lately?)

Baby Feet

It's been so warm, that we've been going around with very little clothing on so that we can stay cool. So, little bit was without socks and I couldn't resist taking a picture of his cute feet. Look how small they are in comparison to my hand!

Hanging out!

This is an unusual sight -- to have all 3 in the bed! Usually the cats will not stay by Nathan because he cries and they don't like it! He was doing good at this point with his pacy and looking at the ceiling fan & light.

Doesn't he look so comfortable?!

Super Baby!

Barry's sister sent us some baby items a couple weeks ago and included in them were some Superman shirts. Since it was a little warmer today, we decided to try them out.

Here Nate is talking to the fish on the wall. He often will talk to her!

Being a big boy and sitting in his bouncy chair!

We had an accident so Nathan got to try this one out too! (Holding those hands!)

It's bottle time!

We have tried both Saturday and today to take a bottle. Saturday he barely drank anything so we decided to switch nipples to one that's more like his pacifier. Sunday was a bit better - he drank an ounce, but it took almost an hour. So, we're going to poke a bigger hole in the nipple because it was barely coming out and see what happens. At least he wasn't giving up.

On another note, when we were getting ready for church, Nathan smiled at me!

Hands

I decided to try some black & white pictures and wanted to focus on Nathan's hands. They are always moving around doing something! He will often hold his hands on his chest. Or, when you're changing his diaper, he'll hold them up like he's saying "stop!" He likes to help when he's nursing, but usually they just get in the way!

Here are our hands together!

Daddy's Hero

We missed a picture with Daddy the first time he wore this, so we were determined to get it this time! Nevermind that Daddy's in his pj's!

The evenings are spent mostly in Daddy's lap/arms. Barry's counting down the days till the Tigers are playing on TV so that they can watch together.

Hugs, anyone?

I decided I needed to catch some of these cute outfits before it was too late. As the day progresses, accidents happen and I wouldn't get a picture of our boy Nate. So, here he is on the changing table, all clean and cute!

I'm trying for a smile, Mom!

1 Month Old

It's hard to believe that we've made it for one month already! That means we've been sleep deprived for over 30 days! :) On a serious note, we never could have anticipated how great it would be to have a little one of our own and to be concerned about things like how warm it is in the bedroom so that he'll be comfortable sleeping and eating lunch with only one hand free...

So look back with us on how big our cutey is...
This is Nathan at the hospital - 2 days old. He was 7 lbs, 7 3/4 oz. at birth and 20 inches.
Here he is today - one month old. He is now 8 lbs, 15 oz. and 21 1/2 inches. He is doing so good! In fact when we did the bath with him later on, he hardly cried at all. What a big boy!

Another First

We decided to have Nathan go to the nursery today. Since he's just sleeping during the service time, we didn't figure it would be that big of a deal and we were right. Barry & I were able to enjoy the service without looking every two seconds to see if Nathan was still sleeping and Nathan got in a good nap.

I did realize that we didn't get a tag for his diaper bag yet so that will be a project this week.

Froggy Socks

Do you see those cute little sockies? Since Nathan was wearing a frog shirt, we decided the socks would match perfectly! He actually kept these on without a problem. :)

It is a little over the top, but you just have to do some of those cute things, right?!

Hail Storm

Today, the high was 80. Yes, the 2nd of March, it was going to be 80! This was of course indicative of bad weather in store for us. Around 4pm there was a tornado warning issued for our county and not much later I could hear the siren going off. Barry called me on his way home and we decided that I should be prepared for a tornado. I pulled out the tubs in the bottom of the hallway closet and pulled pillows from the bed to put in the bottom. Not much later I could hear the hail coming and so Nathan and I piled into the closet. Thankfully, despite the bad hail storm, we were safe and nothing happened at our house. Barry arrived not much later and we looked out to see the hail all over the ground. The pieces ranged in size from nickel sized to quarter sized. We are so glad that we were spared and Nathan slept through the whole thing.

The view I see...

After such a rough day on Wednesday, we tried to have a low key day. Nathan likes to sleep on my chest and usually our afternoon nap has him sleeping on me on the couch.

Isn't he so sweet?! I tried to take in his baby smell and all about him -- his squiggling around and all his many faces. Got to enjoy this while I can!