One Month!

So the lack of sleep and the busy life of a newborn are starting to catch up with us. The time and desire to blog have fallen to the wayside. I knew I'd fall off the blogging bandwagon...just wasn't sure it would be this soon. :) Here are a couple pictures of our 'lil man on June 26...his one month birthday.

Striking his GQ pose

It's exhausting being this cute

"Help Mom! I'm falling"

The best part of being a month old...cuddle time before naps/ bed. He snuggles his body, so his head is resting right under my chin. So sweet! Also, I love it when he wakes up from his naps, arches his back, stretches, and sticks out his lower lip. Makes my heart happy. The worst part...that would still be his gas issues. When he's awake, he's constantly red faced, grunting, and trying to work something out. I hoping he doesn't have Kevin's dairy allergy, but I've officially committed to cutting out all dairy from my diet just in case (I'm going to three days! WOHOO! Seriously people...it's really hard!) For the first few weeks of his life, I convinced myself that cutting back was good enough...I'm definitely not going win any "Mom of the Year" awards! Oh well!

Meet Caden...Colin's New BFF

On June 24, after 5+ days of labor (Yep, that's about 123 hours by my calculation) my dear friends Emily & Brandon welcomed their beautiful son into this world! At 41 1/2 weeks gestational age, Caden Wyatt Merkey was snuggled up comfy in his mommy's belly and eating like a champ. No medical interventions were going to disrupt his beauty sleep. After three (Yes, THREE) failed inductions, Em's doctor went and pulled Caden out of his slumber. And man, oh man, was he worth the wait. This kid is a cutie!!! At 10 lbs., 2 oz and 22 inches long, Caden can join Colin in the "chunk club." His round face and chubby cheeks are so kissable! I just want to snuggle him up! Kevin, Colin and I are going to meet him next weekend, and I CAN NOT WAIT! I'm sure Caden and Colin will grow up to be best friends and will come to have more in common than just their thigh rolls and double chins! Congratulations Em & Brandon!!!

Miss Avery Elizabeth!

I am thrilled to announce the arrival of our new niece, Miss Avery Elizabeth Gourley! She was born on June 25 at 2:30am. Born at 36 weeks, she is 5 lbs, 12 oz and 19 inches of cuteness! She's healthy, happy, and adorable!

While her mommy's pregnancy was much easier than her first with big brother, Carter, the last few days in womb were drama filled. Ashleigh was going to the doctor's twice a week for check-ups and her blood pressure was all over the place. Her doctors encouraged her to go the hospital several times, but once she showed up, the UCI doctors would question why she was there. Sometimes her doctors were convinced she had eclampsia and were afraid she'd seizure at any moment. They would take away her food and her c-section surgery would be imminent. However, her blood work never showed any organ distress, so they would then change their minds and tell Ash her symptoms (headaches, nausea, blurred vision) were due to her medication or were plain 'ole pregnancy symptoms. This roller coaster ride went on for over a week.

On the afternoon of June 24, Ashleigh had been stuck at the hospital for a couple days. Again, the doctors hemmed and hawed about delivering Avery and ultimately decided they would wait. Dr. Risky, the same doctor who told her two days earlier she would deliver Avery the next time Ashleigh's blood pressure spiked and she had a headache, now said Ashleigh would be on hospital best rest indefinitely! She would not be going home anytime soon! Feeling depressed, Ash settled in. Then came the shift change...The new doctor didn't like Ash's blood pressure readings or her headache. They took away her food (again!) and for what felt like the zillionth time, told Ash her c-section would be scheduled for that evening. Not wanting to cry wolf, Ash didn't tell anyone this news until it was a for sure thing. We got the call at 9:30pm on the 24th and sure enough after a little delay (Ash's 11:00pm surgery on the 24th was bumped after she was all prepped in the operating room because of an emergency with another patient), Miss Avery was born in the wee hours of June 25h.

Due to being a late-term preemie, the NICU team was in the OR in case Avery had any issues. While it took a few minutes to get her breathing after her delivery, the NICU team was the first to leave the OR...and they did so without Avery! For my family and me, waiting anxiously outside the OR, this was the first sign that Avery was a healthy baby. We were absolutely elated! A few minutes later, Grant left the OR holding Avery, all swaddled up, and looking like a porcelain doll. She is so little and her features are so beautiful and delicate looking. She is absolutely perfect, and we couldn't be more excited for Ashleigh, Grant, and Carter! Congratulations Gourleys!

Colin and Avery are exactly four weeks apart in age. Size wise, they look more like four months apart!

Big brother, Carter, loving up on his little sister. So sweet!

"Ba, ba," said the sheep

What do a sheep, goat, and dolphin all have in common? Probably nothing, but Colin makes all three animal noises...This is adorable at 3 p.m., but definitely not as cute at 3 a.m.

Meeting more family...The AZ Whalens

Last weekend, Colin got to meet some more of his family. Kevin's brother and family came out from Arizona to meet our 'lil man. The kids were so incredibly cute with him! They got here on Friday night, and Colin and I had already gone to bed. On Saturday morning, Kevin got up with Colin after the 6am feeding, did the diaper thing, and the two of them drifted back to sleep...Kevin on the couch and Colin in his bouncy seat. At some point, Liam got up to meet Colin. However, he noticed his Uncle Kevin and cousin Colin sleeping, so he went back to bed himself. His mom, Colleen, asked him later why he was still in bed, with the covers over his head no less, and he said he was being quiet because Baby Colin and Uncle Kevin were sleeping...How cute is that! Molly was equally as cute! Kevin said her face lit up like Christmas morning when she woke up and saw baby Colin. Both cousins loved holding Colin, kissing him, and Liam even read him a couple books. We're so happy that Colin got to meet his cousins and his Uncle Tim and Aunt Colleen too!

Molly & Liam...so sweet!

Molly loved holding Colin.

Maybe Good Night Gorilla isn't Colin's favorite book?!? I think we'll have to give it another try when he's a bit older. :)

Happy Father's Day

As new parents, it's really weird celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day. Over and over again, Kevin mentioned how strange it was to receive well wishes on his first Father's Day. (I felt the same way on Mother's Day, but I think that was mostly because Colin wasn't even born yet!) However, Kevin whole heartedly deserves many thanks and much praise. He is a true partner in our parenthood adventure, and he is already an amazing dad to Colin. We are both truly blessed! I love you babe!

Dad and Colin enjoying some bonding time. Colin's shirt says "Dad's Team."

This is the first smile we caught on camera. Kevin always does his best to make Colin happy, and it's only fitting that this picture was snapped while Kevin was holding him on Father's Day!

Toot Toot!

Colin is now three weeks old! His biggest obstacle as a three weeker- gas! This kid has some major toots...I feel so sad for his little tummy. Everyone says things will get better over time and we've received some good suggestions from Colin's Aunt Colleen and Aunt Ashleigh on how to help him feel more comfortable.

He's now on a fairly consistent eating schedule of every three hours and we're "working" on the sleeping bit. Overall, he's still getting up every three hours or so at night, but he did let us sleep for five hours straight last weekend. (Kevin said that was the best Father's Day gift ever!) Although he loves having his hands up by his face, we went back to swaddling him because his startling reflex kept waking himself up.

Last weekend, Colin got to meet his Great-Grandma Gaebel and Great-Uncle Herb. These two people mean so much to me, and I was really excited to introduce them.

He also got some boy bonding time in...While "us" girls went to my cousin Meghan's baby shower, the boys (Kevin, my dad, Uncle Grant, Carter, and Colin) hung out at the house. It was my first outing away from Colin and while it was a little tricky trying to arrange feeding times, it was nice for me to "escape" for a little bit. I go a little stir crazy at times being so house bound.