Blast from the Past

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while, and I'm just now getting to it. I thought you might all enjoy seeing baby pictures of Josh and I to see who Matthew gets his good looks from.

Isn't Josh cute?

Here is Josh with his mom. I think he really looks like Matthew here.

This outfit says "first grandson" on it.

And here's Matthew in his daddy's baby clothes :)

This is another of Josh's outfits, seen in a previous picture.

And here's me! This is my hospital picture. I think I look like Matthew in this one.

What a cutie! (ha ha)

This is a Matthew expression right here.


And there you have it. So who does Matthew look like more, Josh or me? Here's my vote. I think in my last two baby pictures Matthew totally looks like me, but overall he totally looks like Josh.

Over the River and Through the Woods...

... to grandmother's house we go! And that's literal too. We visited Josh's grandma over the weekend, and you really have to go over the river and through the woods to get there. She was so excited to meet her great-grandson, and Matthew really enjoyed being there. It was a six-hour trip (well actually it was longer, since we had to stop for the baby), but he was a really good traveller. He slept pretty much the whole way and only woke up to eat and get his diaper changed. Here are some pictures from the weekend!

Meeting Great-Grandma for the first time, and totally not in the mood for pictures.

With Grampa and Great-Grandma, and again, not in the mood for pictures (that was a running theme for the weekend) I love Dad's face in this shot :)

We visited Great-Grampa's grave while we were there

Chillin' with Great-Grandma on her lap

Four generations

Hangin' out on Grampa's lap. We spent a lot of time on the porch, and Matthew really liked being outside. He seemed to enjoy the cool mountain breeze.

This one isn't from our trip, but it's just too adorable not to end with :)

An Unexpected Blessing

On Tuesday I went to my in-laws house in the afternoon to hang out. Grammy and the aunts had fun holding Matthew and trying to get him to smile. He had one meltdown while I was there, but that's because he was hungry ahead of schedule. Once we got that taken care of, he was his more charming self. Near the end of the visit he got a tad fussy, but Grammy took care of that by getting him to fall asleep in her arms. And here's the unexpected part: Josh's mom made dinner for us and sent it home with me! It was the perfect day for it too, because I was not feeling well. I had a fever and I was really tired. It was very nice to have dinner all ready for us to eat. Thank you for being a blessing, Mom! :)

A Cheeky Smile

Matthew's Great Smile!

Family Visit

Hey all! I know it's been a while since I blogged. Things have been busy. Boy is that the understatement of the year! Did you know that a baby is a full-time job? Yeah, mommyhood doesn't come with breaks or vacations. Of course the load is lightened when daddy gets home and he can help out. And I know there are babysitters for the occasional evening out, but that still doesn't stop me from being a mother. Oh I'm not complaining, unless you count last night when I was trying to get the little booger to sleep. Overall I love being a mom, but I'm not without frustrations and difficulties. Little boys are not peaches and cream. Then again, I'm sure little girls aren't either.



Matthew is growing and changing every day. He slept through the night again--it was awesome!! Now could we have come consistency with that, please? He smiles so much more now, and he makes cute little baby noises. Josh or I will be talking to him, and you can see in his face that he wants to communicate. So we pause from our talking and wait for him to comment. His whole body wiggles and his mouth moves in all different directions until finally a small noise or coo comes out. Sometimes it's very melodic, like he's trying to sing. Oh, he's even laughed in his sleep once or twice. I can't wait until he does it when he's awake. He's gonna be so adorable! He loves to look at all sorts of things, and he's starting to "discover" his hands, as the books say. He brings them to his mouth and he'll suck on his fist or a finger or two. He's even managed to get his thumb in a couple times. He hardly ever complains when he's getting his diaper changed, unless he's really hungry. It's nice that he knows diaper-changing is a positive, hence no crying. Oh, there have been a couple mornings where he doesn't wake up crying. It's like he's patiently waiting for me to pick him up. And another time that he doesn't cry is bathtime. He only cried for the first tub bath we gave him. After that, he decided that he likes it. I think the warm water calms him down.



He's much better about getting strapped into his car seat. He used to cry, but now he likes it cause he knows he's going somewhere. And he's good in the car. He'll either sleep or just look around, all nice and content. So far he does not like the Baby Bjorn we have. He gets all mad when we try to carry him around in it. I'm thinking he'll like it when he's older and can face out while he's in it. But for now we'll keep trying.



Like all babies who've been put on their backs to sleep since the hospital, he hates tummy-time. And who can blame him with that heavy head? I need to be more consistent in putting him on his belly so he can develop the right muscles for rolling over and crawling and all that good stuff. He loves to lay on his back on the floor and just look at things. Yes, I use a blanket, I don't put him directly on the dirty carpet. What kind of a first-time mom do you think I am? :) He also likes to lay in his boppy on the couch next to me, and he likes to lay in his crib too. There's been a couple times where he'll be laying in there and just fall asleep on his own. Now why can't he do that at bedtime? That is the million dollar question :). Oh, he loves to hang out on the changing table too, so I'll pull up the rocking chair so he can see me, and I'll play with him or read him a story.



He still sleeps in our room at night. The pack and play we got has a bassinet part to it, so we've been using that. But if I remember correctly, it's only supposed to be used for 15 lbs. or lighter, which means he'll have to start sleeping in his crib at night. This morning I took him on the scale with me, and it said he is 14.5 lbs!!



Breastfeeding is going well, though I'm still sore. I'm going to attempt to pump this weekend for the first time. We want him to take a bottle so he can be babysat for longer time periods. He's not a pacifier kid, so I don't know if he'll like a bottle or not. He might be more interested, since food will be coming from it. I'm a little worried that I've waited too long and he'll reject it all together. But I also didn't want to try bottle-feeding too soon and mess up with nursing. If he never takes a bottle, then oh well, that's life. But it would be nice to have a break from feeding him once in a while.

Oh, I just looked at the title of my blog and realized that I haven't written anything about my family's visit yet! My dad, mom, and brother drove here and stayed at our apartment with us for about a week. We had a great time together, and they loved meeting their first grandson and nephew. It was nice to have all the extra hands to hold him or push the stroller or do the dishes. We didn't do too much, since Matthew is still so young. We visited the Creation Museum, but Matthew didn't cooperate very well. Then we ate out at a restaurant, and again, Matthew didn't like it. Josh and I think he gets overstimulated when he's out and about with lots of noise like that. We still managed to eat out some other nights, we just used the To-Go menus that many restaurants have now. It's great, cause you don't have to wait as long, and you don't have to tip :). We had an outing at the mall, and my mom helped me get set up when I had to nurse him. My sister did the same thing for me when she visited the week before. I'm really glad for their help, cause it's very hard to juggle a squirming, hungry baby while trying to keep the blanket draped just right. Don't wanna give anyone a show, you know? :) Eventually I'll get better at the whole nursing in public thing. Practice makes perfect, right? Anyway, here are some pics from my family's visit.


This is Uncle Pete holding his nephew for the first time. Why is he laughing? Because Matthew greeted him with a very loud noise from his diaper (hee hee).


Grandma holding Matthew for the first time.


This was Grandpa's favorite way to hold him. He'd hold his hands and gently sway him side to side--Matthew loved it.


He wasn't exactly in the mood for pictures or kisses.


Josh's sunglasses didn't stay on Matthew's face for very long, but I was able to snap a quick picture of it. This was outside the Creation Museum. They had a nice garden area and lots of picnic tables.


We had a baby dedication on Sunday for the little guy. I got him these little khaki pants and a plaid button-down shirt. What an adorable little man!


Josh and his family. Matthew is fortunate to have a set of grandparents and some aunts living nearby.

Visiting the Doc

Well, I was going to blog about my sister's fabulous visit, but she's alredy doing that, and since I feel lazy, you can just read her blog to see pictures :)

I brought Matthew to the pediatrician today for his one month appointment. He'll be six weeks old on Thursday--can you believe it? He's getting so big. And speaking of his size, he's a whopping 13 pounds. That puts him in the 90th percentile. He's 23.5 inches long, and his head circumference is 16 3/4 inches. Oh, and just to update on something embarrassing (as Josh would say), his testicle has descended. As the pediatrician said, both his guys are present and accounted for :).

He's doing new things these days. They aren't huge feats, but they are exciting to me. His neck and back are getting so strong. When we burp him on our shoulders, he lifts his head and moves it all around. He even keeps it up for a while, but there are times where it doesn't last long. Cause hey, lifting that heavy head is hard work, you know? Sometimes when he lays on his back he'll tilt his whole body to one side, as if he's going to roll over, though I know that's not in the near future. Oh, he can also turn his head from side to side when he's laying down.

We've caught a couple smiles on camera, so don't worry, I'll share those with you. He's also starting to make noises other than crying. I don't know how to describe them, but it's like he's trying to talk, and a random little sound will come out. It's so cute!! Oh, and he gets all excited when Josh comes home and starts talking to him. He knows his daddy is fun and is gonna play with him.

He's really good at sleeping at night. He went six hours one night between feedings. I dont' think he was asleep that long. What I mean is, I fed him at 8 and he fell asleep at 10, and then he woke up at 2 to eat. So the fact that he didn't wake up earlier cause he was hungry was good. He also did seven hours one time as well. I'm really glad, cause I think it's a good sign that he's on his way to sleeping through the night. We only have to get up once, sometimes twice with him.

The thing he's not good at is falling asleep for bedtime. He fights it so hard sometimes. This kid definitely has a strong firstborn personality (just like his daddy). He does take daytime naps pretty well. He usually has to cry himself to sleep a little bit for those. Oh, and I don't know what it is, but Sundays do not agree with him. He's fine while he's at church, but that night he finds it hard to fall asleep, and it usually carries over into Monday. He's fussier for no reason and he can't stay asleep, and he wants to eat at weird times. I hoping he can adjust to the weekend somehow, with our help of course.

Ok ok, here are some pics. That's what you're here for anyway, right? ;)

One Month Old

Can you believe it? My baby is one month old as of Sunday! It doesn't seem like we've had him that long, yet there are times where it feels like he's always been around. Well, I guess he's been around for nine months before his birthday, but you know what I mean.

So you see my previous entry title, Sleeping Beauty? Well, to play off that, I was able to get some beauty sleep last night. This child slept for six straight hours! Which, according to the books, for a baby this young, that's defined as sleeping through the night. And as extra proof, Josh woke up well-rested and in a great mood. He even put in his contacts! Which translates that his eyes weren't too tired to have them in. You contact-wearers can relate to that. Oh, so any sort of semi-schedule this kid has been on (and most days have been predictable, such as when he's gonna eat and sleep) was thrown out the window yesterday. His naps were erratic and short, and he would eat in three hours, then two hours, and then want to eat again in an hour and a half. And to top it off, he was grumpy and fussy for no apparent reason. Oh, and for one of his evening feedings, he ate for a whole hour! We figure he's going through spurt, because he usually isn't so unpredictable and cranky. So maybe sleeping through the night and having a rough day are directly related. If that's the case, then I'd rather he not sleep six hours until he is mature enough to handle it. I'd rather have my good-natured baby that wakes up once or twice at night. But hey, let's say they are not related. In that case, there was a silver lining at the end of the day. At least he didn't have a bad day and a bad night.