Oh Hello There!

Oh Hello There!

Not too much going on lately other than work, taking care of the babe, and sleep when I can. This past weekend we had a wedding for Nick’s good friend Matt and his now wife Jen. Jen is actually the sister of Nick’s long time friend Sherine, so it was great to go to a wedding where we knew almost everyone there. Sherine is about 6 months pregnant and looks fantastic – she gave a beautiful speech for Jen and I think everyone got a little choked up. Matt’s brother was the best man and also gave a very emotional speech – it was a great wedding and I was sore down to my toes from dancing the night away.

We actually stayed the night in the hotel and my mom had Nicholas overnight. It was definitely weird not getting up in the middle of the night, and by the time 8 am came, I was ready to go home and see him. My mom was tired but overall everything went well.

Nicholas is growing by the minute – yesterday morning I put him into a 3-6 month outfit and it FIT! He’s not quite 12 weeks and he’s “growing like a weed” as the expression goes. He smiles, squeals, and laughs a bit and is very alert and interested in just about everything. I didn’t think it was possible, but I actually think he gets a little cuter every day. :)



Xoxo

Back to Work

Hey Everyone,

I went back to work today and it was easy peasy. My mom is visiting for two weeks so that is a big help. She and Nicholas had a great first day together, they took a short walk and he was very happy mpost of the day. Although he did have a gigantic poop explosion, my mom informing me "I've never seen so much poop in my life". I told her "welcome to my world!" People at work were very welcoming, and it felt (almost) good to be back. I had a few new files and the day just flew by. Nick sent me beautiful flowers from him and Nicholas that put the biggest smile on my face.

I have to admit, it was great to have some adult conversations and I probably talked twice as much as usual (who knew THAT was possible). Overall, I'm happy to be back and have a bit more structure to my day. People were surprised I didn't call my mom 100 times, I called her once, to make sure more than anything she was ok and not too overwhelmed, but she's a pro.


xoxo

Dad

My Dad called me yesterday to tell me he has prostate cancer. It is 100% curable as it was caught very early (he's been monitored for awhile) and he was told he could either have radiation or have his prostate removed. He is scheduled for a CT Scan with contrast dye today, and once the results come back from that they'll move forward with treatment. His brother had prostate cancer 5+ years ago and is doing very well. My Dad is the toughest person I know and I know that he will be fine. I cried when he told me but take comfort in the fact that he is confident he is going to be ok.

I don't know much else than that, but will post updates as I get them.

xo

2 Month Stats

Nicholas saw the doctor yesterday and is healthy and growing well. He is at 22 3/4 inches and 12 lbs 4.2 ounces. He had to get two shots (one in each thigh). I was glad Nick was there, he stayed in the room with him because it was so tough for me last time. He cried but fell asleep pretty quick and has thankfully had no side effects as of yet. (He could get a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) He's a tough little guy and has just been a little more sleepy the last 24 hours.

I am heading back to work on Monday and I have mixed feelings about it. I definitely do not think I could be at home full time, but I know it's going to be hard leaving him. My mom is coming Sunday and will be here for two weeks, so that will really help with my transition. We've gotten a pretty good schedule down and the last few days I've "acted" as if I was getting ready for work (other than putting on work clothes:) and I think we're ready for what's to come.

iPhone Pics

I bought the iPhone last year, not because it was popular, but I needed a new phone and people seemed to like it. I never wanted the internet to be that easy to log onto, but now that I have it I forget what it was like to go without. I have a beautiful SLR camera that takes amazing photos, but I can't always get to it right away. One beautiful thing? My phone is always a few feet away and I snapped a ton of pics of Nicholas, in rapid succession. Enjoy.

Happy Mother's Day

This morning I asked Nicholas- what are you getting me for Mother's Day? In return he gave me the biggest smile - I laughed and said "that's enough for me." Amazing how quickly I changed after having a baby - heehee.

Nick is heading back from the Cape this morning and then we're heading to his Uncle Al's 50th birthday party. Nick bought me a beautiful ring for Mother's Day, I have to have it sized but I absolutely love it - my friend Brooke helped and they did a great job. Here's a pic:

Being a new mom, I appreciate my own mom even more. I always thought it would be tough, but WOW, is it tough. Now that we're into month 2 I definitely see things getting easier in some ways, but I also give even more credit to stay at home mom's...I think that is the toughest job there is. I go back to work next week and I'm not gonna lie, a part of me is looking forward to having some adult time. Plus, I'll have Nicholas to come home to so when I'm hating work, I just have to get through the day and then I get to see him.

Here are some recent pics:

Nicholas is 2 Months Old

Nicholas is 2 months old!

I believe he's saying "yes!! this is getting easier"

I'm not sure who this outfit was from but I love it- it's 3 months size and fits fine, and has a baseball on the bum!



His doctor's appointment is this Thursday so I will update his height/weight then, but here's what's been going on with him:

Likes:

Sleeping on Mom - this hasn't changed, but he has been GREAT at sleeping at night. We started a loose "schedule", since I don't plan on trying to get a real schedule going until his 3 months old. We let him be during the day. He doesn't really nap much, and likes to be held alot. Then at about 8 we start getting him ready for bed. Depending on when he got his last bottle, we may need to feed him another, but we have him swaddled by 9 pm ish. I've thought about giving him a bath every night to add to the routine, but his skin has been a little dry so I'm holding off on that for now. He's gotten much better with the baths too, now he just looks at me as if to say, what the heck are you doing?? No more screaming. :) He then sleeps from around 9 until 1 or 2 am, then back to bed until 6 ish. If he's not up at 6 we wake him. It isn't always easy to get him back to bed after the night feeding, so we just take it day by day.



His Activity Mat - My dad's friends bought this for us off my registry and it is awesome! I can put him on this while I make bottles, pee, etc, and he's a happy little guy. He started to kick and squeal and smile at it too, it is just awesome to watch.

Eating: He's still going strong at this. We have him up to 5 ounces (just moved up from 4.5)every 2-3 hours. If he is sleeping and it's been 3 hours, we wake him up - that seems to help and get him to be able to sleep more at night.

Dislikes:

The two major ones are really getting his diaper changed - although this is about a 50/50 thing. Half the time he's fine and the other half he's screaming bloody murder, and the other is waiting for a bottle. If he wakes up from sleeping and is hungry, he SCREAMS as if you've never fed him before. We used to get very frazzled, crazy at first, but now we just laugh. The second the bottle is in his mouth, he goes quiet and is happy.

Things have definitely gotten easier now that we're into month two. I think he is settling in and calming down better, and is starting to realize he can't get back into my stomach :)

Lastly, if you wonder how I was able to type this since he's always attached to me, here's how:

The Blue Rose

My friend Becky sent me this the other day and I wanted to share. For those of you that don't know the story, I have a blue rose tattoo on my right arm. Why blue you ask? When I was a little girl, my mother used to read me the story of Beauty and the Beast (it's probably why it's my favorite Disney movie as well). In the version she read to me, Belle's father took a blue rose from the Beast's garden to give to his daughter and that is how he was captured by the Beast. The story always stayed with me (what a father/daughter will do for love) and that's why I chose to go with blue and not the traditional red or any other color. When my brother was a little boy, one Mother's Day my dad helped him dye a white rose blue to give to my mom. Becky lives in New York and saw these at her local bodega and thought of me. Thanks for the beautiful picture Becky!

A little note...

I thought I’d write a little note to you, my baby Nicholas. You sleep on my chest all the time and I love it. I never thought I had a maternal instinct, but now I know I do. I look at you and I just love you so much. You are my everything. You are so little, so helpless, and I love taking care of you. When you cry I run to you, I don’t even feel the tiredness, it’s never even a thought in my mind. All I want is to make you better. You curl up to me and stop crying almost instantly, you know me, and it’s the most amazing, indescribable feeling. I don’t think about tomorrow, or a few weeks from now when I have to go back to work. I enjoy every single day and every single moment that I have with you. I’m sad to know that I do not remember these moments with my own mother, and it makes me appreciate her so much more.