Trip to El Paso, Texas, Easter 2013

 

We had such a fun trip to El Paso, Texas for our niece Lizzy's baby blessing! It was great to hang out with Briana and Eddy and see little Lizzy who is so adorable! We went swimming in the pool on the army base where they live, went to Texas Roadhouse, Krispy Kreme, church for the baby blessing, and just had lots of fun being together. We miss Briana and Eddy and look forward to seeing them again soon!

Nathan is 4 months old!

 Nathan in El Paso. He survived his first road trip!



His new trick--sucking on his bottom lip. He also makes a little noise when he does this.

His cute little foot sticking out of his blanket while he was sleeping.

Nathan has discovered the joy of holding and sometimes sucking on his toes/feet.

He looked so cute while sleeping--I realized I don't have many pics of him sleeping, probably because he rarely sleeps!

Julianna LOVES Nathan. Now that he can hold his head up, I have taught her how to pick him up this way and lay him back down. She is becoming a good little helper.

 

 

We now have a 4 month old! Nathan went to the pediatrician today and weighed in at 13 lb 10 oz. They are now a little concerned about his weight gain and want me to supplement with formula in the breastmilk again. I just hope he has a better reaction this time around--when we did it before he got red bumps/rashes on his face and was very gassy/colicky. But they want to increase his weight gain so we need to do it. He is very healthy and usually happy and AWAKE. I guess he doesn't want to miss out on anything! So far he's gone 7 1/2 hours during the night on one stretch, and we just got him a glider swing to help him nap better during the day. It seems to be helping a little bit. He is a pro at rolling over now, lifting his head up, reaching for toys, grabbing at our faces or anything within reach, standing up strong while you hold him, cooing and talking, and overall seems very alert and smart! He really is so much fun to hang out with all day while the older kids are in school.

Nathan is 3 months old!

 

The big 3 month old!

 

12 weeks old. Such a strong boy!

 

11 weeks old. He found his hand!

 

10 weeks old!

 

 

Nathan has made so much progress in milestones this month! As of yesterday, he learned to roll over from his back! When I lay him down on a blanket, he immediately tries to roll over, and he's been doing this for about a week now. Finally yesterday he did it! I think he's going to crawl early. He can bring his hand to his mouth now, he tries to sit up when I lay him on the boppy, he can hold his head up perfectly while on his tummy, he laughs a LOT now, he reaches for object held in front of him, he turns his head more when he hears noises. It's amazing how much he's changed in one month. He was just weighed today and came in at 12 lbs 4 oz, and measured 24 inches. Still hanging in there! His next doctor visits will be with a plastic surgeon and then opthamologist! I just LOVE this boy and look forward to spending my day with him while the older kids are at school. He is becoming so animated and expressive, and is always talking.

Nathan's 2nd month and baby blessing

 

2 months old!

 

Holding his head up--such a strong boy! He's even rolling over already!

 

Nathan's blessing day--February 3, 2013. (Blake was sick and went home with me immediately following the passing of the sacrament, so he changed before everyone else got home!)

 

Joel's family came to support us.

 

My mom and dad came, as well as my sister Cindel and her kids who did not stay long because Blake was sick!

 

The big 2-month-old.

 

7 weeks old

 

6 weeks old

 

5 weeks old

 

 

 

Nathan is doing so great! His weight as of today was 10 lb 15 oz, the 17th percentile. We are working on keeping his weight up as much as we can! This is common in babies with cleft palate. I am SO glad he was such a big baby--this is saving him from being in the very low percentiles. Since the small scoop of formula made him colicky, we are going to try a little bit of rice cereal in his bottle. This will also keep him from spitting up so much. We found out the palate will be repaired when he is 6 months old, which is so great! He will also have tubes put in his ears--routine for this condition as well. Overall he is getting stronger every day! His smiles are so cute and he loves "talking" to us. We love Nathan!

 

 

Over the winter break, we spent a good amount of time teaching the kids how to ride their bikes w/o training wheels. Let me restate this: Joel taught them to ride while I got in some walking exercise with Nathan. Blake learned on the first day, pretty much. Julianna took a full 2 weeks. We are so excited that they can ride now!
 (Sorry about the poor video quality--for some reason blogger does this to all my videos! You can see it on facebook too.)

Julianna's 9th birthday--December 6th

I'm a little late on this, but didn't want to forget to post about Julianna's 9th birthday. A while back I posted about how Julianna kept asking for a baby for her birthday. We couldn't believe that my due date ended up being December 4th, 2 days before her birthday! And then Nathan came on December 5th, just one day before her birthday! Of course I was still in the hospital, and my mom was still here helping, but we were able to call Julianna before she went to school on her birthday, and she got lots of surprises at school from her teachers and aides! My mom sent some cookies to give to her class, too. Then later that night, my mom drove to the hospital with the kids and we were able to have a little birthday celebration with some cake, and she opened some presents. The best gift was being able to see Nathan for the first time, and even hold him! It was a special birthday for her. She really loves Nathan and keeps saying, "I wish he could be MY baby." I can't believe Julianna is 9 years old now! She is getting really big and smart, and doing so well in school, and she LOVES playing with Blake now--they are little buddies (most of the time!) Happy birthday to Julianna!

Nathan's first month

4 weeks old

3 weeks old

2 weeks old

1 week old

One month old--January 5th! He is starting to smile at us now! Things to remember from Nathan's first month: He weighed in at 9 lbs even at his last appt. with the specialists, and they are happy with that! His weight gain should continue, and feeding him is becoming much easier. He is a good night sleeper--he's already gone up to 6 hours! He usually is asleep by 12 and up again at 4 or 5, and then not until 7 or 8. He loves staring at our faces very intently. He gets the hiccups a LOT still. The kids are now asking to hold him a lot--they love him! Joel is very good at feeding him with the special bottle. When he is hungry, he's HUNGRY and screams until his food is ready, which is a little slower since I have to warm the bottle and put a little formula powder in it. Pumping is not easy, but I'm going to go as long as I can! He is starting to show his personality, and can hold his head up for a few seconds on his tummy. We love having Nathan around!