Alex is Seven Months!

Another month already!!

Height/Weight: My itty bitty baby!  Alex is hovering at the 10th percentile and is currently 15 lbs 15 oz.  We had an extra doctor's appointment to check his weight, and his doctor isn't worried.

Clothing Size: Alex is wearing pretty much all six month clothes.  And man does he have some clothes!  His closet is so full of clothes I probably could put him in a clean shirt from now until he outgrew six months shirts without doing laundry!

Diaper Size: 2, although we did have our first overnight leak, so it's probably almost time to move up!

Eating: Alex is doing great with solid food! We have started leaving some texture and he's also had bread and tortilla (both of which he loved!). This month we had our first two meals where our entire family ate the saem thing!! (Veggie soup first and then pot roast, we used the blender for baby's dinner!) I wish he nursed better, or ate milk a bit better, but I'm happy he's growing, even if it's a tad slowly for my liking!

Sleeping: Overall, Alex is sleeping great.  He sleeps from 7 pm to about 5 most nights.  He is also on a pretty good nap schedule (morning, afternon and short evening nap).  Unfortuantely our dual nap is pretty much over and it seems like most of our day is one long nap between the two boys somedays!

New Skills: Guess who's moving?? Alex isn't quite crawling, but he has no problem going where he wants to go!  It wasn't great timing with Christmas morning, as he was picking up every spare piece of paper or wrapper to try to shove in his mouth!  His other new 'skill?'  Teeth!  Alex now has two teeth! See?

Alex is still an easy going and happy baby, although if you don't feed him fast enough, he will let you know.  He loves to watch his brother and listening to Colin singing and talking.

Alex is more fun every day and I can't wait to see what this month holds.

One Week Old

I blinked and a week disappeared.

We are so incredibly lucky to have no only a healthy baby, but a seemingly incredibly content little guy.  Alex is sleeping better than we anticipated, he's nursing well, although not with as much dedication and passion as Colin did, and he's healthy and gaining weight.

Exactly One Week Old!

I'm doing alright.  His delivery, as most deliveries probably are, was a challenge.  I'm doing my best to take care of myself and make sure I don't over do it.  That's particularly challenging with a toddler around!

Speaking of our toddler, Colin is doing really well so far with Alex.  We have to be very vigilant, of course, but he hasn't shown much jealousy or trouble adjusting.  He likes to point out Alex's nose, toes, mouth and feet.  He also likes to rock the baby, which is a bit challenigng at times.

Gavin and I have been surprised at how quickly you forget how to do some of the newborn things.  New born bath?  Hmm... maybe we should have checked that booklet they sent home from the hospital again...

First family Walk

It's hard to believe that it's already been a week since I meet this little man face to face for the first time.  I know from experience how fleeting these first few days, and really every day to come is and I'm doing my best to enjoy every second.   

Happy one week birthday, Alex.  We love you and we are so happy you are a part of our family!!

You're a bright little fish and I love you.

Colin's nightly lullaby is still "Bright Bug".  I painted him a picture of a bright bug that hangs over his crib (and accurately fits all of the descriptions from the song!)

When we started putting together Nursery 2.0, I thought it would be super cute to do a 'Bright Fish' painting.

I'm not a great painter, but I drew out my best idea of what a 'bright fish' would look like:

First Draft

Canvas Sketch

I then used some of the samples we had bought for the walls and got to work painting!  I'm so happy with how the painting came out.  Gavin told me pilot fish are supposed to be mean and have big teeth.  Luckily, bright fish are not. :)

• Bright Bug? Check
• Orange and Green? Check
• Belly Does Glow? Check

I love my bright aquatic bug, already and can't wait to meet him!

Nursery 2.0

As I roll into my third trimester, we've started the task of creating another nursery!  Slowly, Colin's room has become "Colin's Room" instead of "The Nursery".

Nursery 2.0, the current "The Nursery," has been a wide range of rooms since we've moved into our house. It started off as 'The Game Room.'   During this phase, it hosted Big Buck Hunter and the inside of the closet got painted red.  Eventually BBH got evicted for loud random comments while I was trying to sleep.  Notabley "You got somethin' against women??"

It then had a short stint as storage for other random things.

In 2010, it housed my wedding dress from a hook that was randomly in the ceiling and had a warning sign on the door for Gavin to NEVER EVER ENTER.

In 2012, it was Cheryl's Room for a while.

Finally, it became "Round Room" after Nursery 1.0 progress started.  Sadly, I don't have pictures of it in this state.  Round bed was sold and Nursery 2.0 offically began!!

I seem to be really really bad at taking before pictures.  I'm not sure why.  Here's what I've got:

Choosing Colors

Hard at work!

One of the bigger challenges for us was the closet.  We needed to get rid of the red and reconfigure the hastily installed shelves. It took two coats of heavy primer, a few hastily drawn sketches, and at least one argument, but we got it done!

I really wanted shelving that would grow with the clothes and needs of a kids room.  I like this so far and I'm optimistic that it will fit the bill.

Next was wall paper.  I'd fallen in love with this sea creatures wall paper border and since we'd decided to skip the chair rail this time, we thought it'd be the perfect way to bring the height of the room down a bit.  Neither of us had ever worked with wall paper before, so of course there was lots of research, measuring, and more sketches! For some reason the border looks grey in this picture.  It's not, it's blue.  The sea green wall matches the shell on the turtle pretty closely and the I think it highlights the 'dolphin grey' walls beautifully.

Installing the wall paper was a bit challenging.  Several times Gavin commented on the advantages of having an Engineer in the family, particularly with setting lines accurately, measuring, and having a good plan.  (he didn't comment on the disadvantages, of which there are a few, especially with my tendency to treat wall paper installation with the same seriousness I devote to bridge construction...).

The specific challenge with installing this wall paper border was the scallop on the top and bottom.  I'd read in the reviews that people said it wouldn't stick at all and it was impossible to get even.  I used a very similiar technique as I'd used with the chair rail to align the paper and it worked really well.  I set my line at the bottom of the top scallop so when installed, the line would be completely hidden, but easy to check for levelness.  It worked great, although it was a two person job and it tried our patience a bit waiting for the glue to set enough for the paper to stick.  also We had to stick each scallop individually.  

So far, I love the results.  The room has a much different feel than Colin's room, but still feels both comfortable for a baby and 'growable.'  I had no idea how difficult it would be to pick out grey paint!  There are as many greys as whites!!  

Next steps are decor and furniture.  And before we know it, the occupant will be here!!

Colin's First Birthday Party!!

Colin's First Birthday!  The numbers:

Birthday Boy: 1
Adults: 31
Babies under 2: 7
Pounds of Beef: 5
Number of Rolls: 72
Ounces of Gravy: 128
Balloons: 52
Smiles: Totally Enough!

I was a bit busy having a SUPER fun time to take tons of pictures during the party, but we really did have so much fun.  It is so wonderufl to know there are so many people who love our little guy as much as we do!

Overall Colin had a great time.  When it came time for cake, he was a little intimidated by the 60+ eyeballs staring at him while he was supposed to eat his cake.  Instead, he wanted mommy to hold him.  My baby rarely wants me to hold him, so hold him I did, while he ate his cake over my shoulder and all over my clothes instead. <3  

Thank you so much to everyone who helped make his day special!

Living in Wonderland (& Thanksgiving!)

Life has been so beautiful here the last week.  I haven't had a moment to sit down and reflect about it all adequately, let alone write about it!

We were so lucky to have my family in for Thanksgiving  We had a beautiful day and a beautiful dinner. Last Thanksgiving was exciting, waiting for Colin to make his appearance, but this year was so relaxed and fun.  Colin loved having so much family around to spoil him, Gavin appreciated all of the help in the kitchen and I appreciated having some time to relax and sleep!!

I truly do feel like I'm living in wonderland.  I made Colin a book for his birthday and I found the perfect quote for it from Dr. Seuss:

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

My life today is better than my dreams, better than any dream I could imagine.  And while we were pretty sure there was nothing in the world that could make it better, we were wrong.  Our family will be growing this summer!

Taking to the High Seas!

The blog has been quiet because our world has not!!

We have just returned from a serious of exciting adventures.  The first was a 4 day Carnival Cruise to Catalina and Mexico.

Setting Sail! ( Queen Mary in the Background)

I am not sure we'll ever sail again, especially with Carnival, but it was certainly an adventure!  Lots of eating, family time and eating.  :)

Our Cabin after I decided the provided crib wasn't going to work!

Dancing with Grandma

Dining Room Ceiling

In Catalina

Getting Colin to nap was a challenge, so we took what we could get!

Family Adventure 2013

As usual, mom forgot sunblock so we got to buy it.  It's our most purchased souvenir so far!

Formal Night! 

Cuddles

 

Ensanada (As far as we got before going back!) 

 While I'm not sure cruising will ever be our go to family vacation, we had a great vacation.  It was so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa around to help out and we are so lucky to have such an easy going, willing to eat anything (and everything!) baby.