Peek-A-Boo

{John is so cute when he plays with Andrew}

{I walked into the room while they were having some father/son time playing Peek-a-boo...}

{And trying to get him to smile!}

{THERE we go!!!}

{Andrew just recently started smiling back at us...melting his mama's heart even more!}

This Week In Pictures (1/18 - 1/24)

{Jocelyn wearing Mommy's shoes around the house}

{She still LOVES her bath time!}

{Cutie pie}

{Love this one of them looking at eachother!}

{Not really enjoying his first time holding his rattle}

{Jocelyn practicing her numbers}

{Big blue eyes}

{She was showing me her new gloves - and boy does she have lots of room to grow!}

{This boy can sleep anywhere, anytime}

1 Month Well Baby Visit

It's hard to believe our sweet baby boy, as of yesterday, is already one month old!

We took Andrew in this morning for his one month well baby visit. It was pretty low key so there is not much to report but here is his new weight and height measurements:

10 lbs 9 oz (25 - 50 percentile)

21 1/2 inches (10 - 25 percentile)

He has gained about 2 1/2 pounds since birth and has already grown a few inches. Thrush is gone too thank goodness. Giving him Nystatin 4 times a day for 2 weeks was torturous enough! (And I wasn't even the one TAKING the medicine - that's how gross it was.) No shots this time but there will be a few at his two month well baby visit. I'm happy to say that he's healthy and doing well!

Andrew - 1 Month

Wow. Where has the time gone?!?! Andrew turns one month old today. He is such a good baby. Sleeps much of the time but when he's awake, he's a joy! He eats every three hours or so during the day with one night time stretch being 4-5 hours. He used to be up every two to three hours around the clock in the beginning so we appreciate this 4-5 hour stretch at night so we can all get a little more sleep. John and I alternate shifts at night too so we can each get in as much sleep as possible. I can't help but want to hold him and be near him much of the time. Occassionally I'll share him with John and the girls. :) Speaking of his sisters...they LOVE having him around. He has a cute, laid back personality. And quite the temper when he's hungry or upset which results in him turning bright red which John so lovingly calls: cherry tomato. First of my babies to have a full head of hair upon birth, blue eyes to match his daddy's but everything else resembles his mama. Finally. One of them looks a lot like me. The last few weeks I've noticed that sometimes when I talk to him up close that he'll give me this great big grin and his eyes will squint and sparkle like he's happy. I'd really love to believe that it's because of me and not gas! He loves to fall asleep on his tummy during the day at tummy time and really enjoys taking a bath which he also falls asleep during. He's able to follow our face, fingers, or objects within close range when they move from side to side. We are so glad he has joined our family and look forward to the many milestones he will be making in the next few months.

{"Hey there! I'm one month old today"}

{Making a silly face. He does this one quite often: a little "o" shape with his mouth}

{Riding in the sling for a family walk}

{Sleeping during tummy time}

{Relaxing in the bath}

Andrew's Baby Blessing

We had Andrew's baby blessing at church today. We had asked our home teacher and good friend to give Andrew his baby blessing and he was honored to do so. Seeing that we won't be back in the Northwest with family until the end of summer due to change of moving plans, we felt it was a good time to have it now while he's little. We also wanted to carry on the tradition of having the blessing within the first month or two of life just like our girls' baby blessings were. The people at church in our ward have been instant family and friends to us since the time we moved here to Virginia so we were really grateful to share this special day with them. My Mom also happened to be visiting in town with us when the baby blessing occurred so it made it that much more special to have some family attend. It turned out being a really nice blessing. Andrew did well and slept right through it all - even pictures! :)

{Our family right after Andrew's baby blessing}

{Our family with my Mom}

{Our family with the Smiths - our home teacher (who blessed Andrew) as well as our great friends!}

{Dad, Mom & baby Andrew}

This Week In Pictures (1/11 - 1/17)

This week has been a busy one.

And a cold one.

Moments being tired.

Huddled indoors from the freezing cold.

Walks taken (including first stroller ride for Andrew).

Letters written.

Books read.

Daily tummy time for my sweet little one.

Trips to the doctor & orthodontist.

Many baby clothes switched daily.

Many MANY diapers changed.

Time spent with Grandma.

Playtime with the kids.

Kisses and hugs shared all around.

Lots of pictures taken (indoors because again it's freezing outside)!

Tears (out of joy of course!) and smiles shed when John surprisingly returned home.

Free babysitting (from Grandma) while John & I finally had a date night.

It was a busy week.

But a GOOD week.

{Having a sad moment. Not too happy that we couldn't go pick up daddy from school. It must be so hard for children this age to cope with one of their parents away for awhile. I just scooped her up and gave her loves and popped in a movie. Not a replacement but we had fun.}

{Letters being written while their daddy was away}

{Smiles & Dreams}

{Smiling for mama! This was my lucky day to get a smile of his taken. He always smiles when I conveniently don't have the camera nearby.}

{The three amigos. I sure do LOVE them!}

{First time out on a stroller walk. I'm not sure if he enjoyed it or not. He was warm and fast asleep all huddled in his stroller while all the rest of us were freezing. I'm guessing because he stayed asleep that he enjoyed it!}

{Having a few minutes of storytime}

{Reading and laughing with Grandma}

{Andrew LOVES his tummy time. Somestimes he's so comfortable that he falls asleep this way}

{A mama loving her baby boy}

{The day John returned home. Spending a little time cuddling with his buddy}

{Jocelyn cozzying up with her daddy while reading a book. He was so exhausted from his past few days at school that he layed like this for hours not noticing the things going on around him.}

{Good times spent napping}

{Squeezing in a little time to sleep. Hard not to do while holding him all warm and cozy.}

{Like father, like son. Doing what they do best: palling around or snoozing. Note: pacifier conveniently nearby.}

{Eyes still blue as ever. And yes, that's a bruise on her head. It's from a combination of running into the grocery cart at the store and hitting the coffee table at home. Guess it's mandatory for toddlers to have their bumps and bruises from time to time.}

{Me calming my baby in the rocking chair}

{Grandma and Andrew}

Welcome Home

Sometimes life goes according to plan but not always our plan. What a surprise it was to have John appear at the front door this afternoon 9 weeks ahead of his scheduled return. Between John and his OCS Commanding Officer, it was decided that this is not the right time for him to attend OCS having just added Andrew to our family among some other things. He will be rejoining his old unit for the time being and then go on to the next OCS group in May. We both feel that the decision made to join the next scheduled group was a blessing in disguise and truly what's needed the most for our family at this particular time. But hey...we both got through 5 days of separation. This little trial run I think will better prepare us for when May comes around and he has to leave again. Atleast I know I can make it. Especially with Andrew being almost 6 months and not a newborn anymore. And the summer time will surely keep me and the kids busy. It's so hard having my best friend away. As much as I know he wanted to get this schooling done and over with, I'm selfish to say that I'm SO glad he's back home!! The kids love having their daddy back home too.

"Welcome home babe! We love you!!!"