. he grows! .

can you even believe how much he's grown?

. 1 month dr visit .

one month doesn't typically call for a doctors visit, but my little buddy has been having some reflux issues and now was the time to get him in.  he doesn't spit up near what the girls did.  his is "silent reflux", where it stays in the esophagus causing pain and irritation.  he arches his back.  coughs.  has nasty hiccups.  and he's been a pretty restless sleeper lately. 

thankfully, our pediatrician is familiar with the reflux that both of the girls had, so he went straight to the point.  "zantac or prevacid?"  were his first words.  prevacid it is for us.  we now have a prescription and are praying it works soon.  i have to take him back in if it doesn't help the reflux in the next 2 weeks.

other big news from the doctors office ... little buddy weighs a whopping 8 lbs 5 oz. 
i. was. shocked.  how can he have gained a whole 2 pounds since birth?!  the doc said he has now moved from the 2nd percentile to the 10th.  :)  he's still my little buddy, just growing like a weed.

and what would a post be without a picture ...

. little pumpkin .

we headed to the farm patch pumpkin patch today.  the farm patch is our local farmer's market and i think i may have a new addiction.  it was so fun to walk in and see bins and tables full of fresh produce.  we ventured to the back of the place and walked through their pumpkin patch.  it was a lot of fun.  what wasn't fun was trying to get all 3 of my children to cooperate at one time for a decent picture.  didn't happen.  and mama didn't have the patience for it to happen.  usually i can pull of 2-3 good pictures of them together.  not this time. 

but little man worked it.  my little pumpkin.  this is my new favorite picture of him.

AAAAANNND ... he is ONE MONTH OLD today.  how in the world did that happen?!?! 

. 1 month old .

how are we even here already?!?  he's grown and changed so much. 

*weighs 8 lbs 5 oz ... this means he's gained a whole 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks!
*eats great.  4 oz every 4 hours.  give or take.  sometimes he's starving after 3 hours. 
*does have reflux though.  he's now on prevacid twice a day for that.
*still on a good schedule.  eats at 10:00, 2:00, 6:00 around the clock.
*getting stronger!  he can hold his head up pretty good.
*loves his bath.  does not love the process of getting there or leaving there.
*sleeps on his boppy pillow, swaddled tight.
*hates his car seat.

we call him buddy.  or bud.  it's the sweetest thing in the world to hear the girls talk to him.  i love how much they love him and how much attention they give him.  and mykah now plays babies like never before. 

i still can't believe how much i love him. 

. be still my heart .

i can hardly believe the bond these two have.  the way he looks at her.  the way she talks to him.  words can't describe what it makes this mama's heart do. 

can you feel it too?

. 4 weeks old .

*definitely a paci baby, as you can see.  he doesn't need it all the time and i try really hard not to stick it in his mouth at night to help him sleep.

*working hard at getting his head up

*has been more alert the last few days for sure.  he stays awake for a couple of hours at a time now

*his sleeping at night hasn't been the best, but he's doing good.  he sleeps solid from 11-2, then is pretty restless the rest of the night.  he has ended up in bed with me once or twice.

*i'm pretty sure the restlessness is from silent reflux.  we'll talk to the doctor next week about that.  he started coughing some, chewing motion like he spit up and it stayed in his mouth so he swallowed it again, getting fussy after feedings.

*now on dr. brown's bottles.  hoping this helps his fussiness & gas

*does NOT like to have a wet diaper

*does NOT like to be cold.  usually if he fusses, but he's already eaten and has a dry diaper, then all he wants is a blanket.  silly boy.

*does NOT like to be in his car seat.  especially if the car is not moving.

*he is still in newborn diapers and clothes.  we may move up to size 1 diapers only because he's close to wearing them anyway and we are almost out of newborns.

4 weeks?!?!  that came so fast.  i'm so glad he still seems so little, but i can tell that he's growing and changing daily.  i'm so happy that my little family is complete.

. wordless wednesday .

. in the details .

i wish i could remember vividly the details of each of my babies.  i remember a lot, but sometimes i have to think back.  good thing i blogged most of it.  seriously.  for little man, i want to remember this...

i can't stop staring at his hair and his head.  his skin is still super soft.  his hair so fine.  a little fuzzy in the back.  and he has a perfect head.  we keep saying that his head is already prepared to be shaved when he's 18 like his daddy.  it has dark spots and light spots.  and it's curly when it's wet.  in the front, his hair line almost reached down to his eyebrows, which tickles me.  and it really looks like he has a receding hairline.  like his daddy. 

it's precious.  it really is.

. my girl .

i always thought karsyn would be mama's girl.  she's definitely turned into daddy's girl though.  and makes it quite obvious at times.  this girl though ...

she's mine.  and she makes it even more obvious who she prefers than her sister does.  she does love her daddy though.  first thing she does when he comes home from work is tackles him.  or punches him.  throws some of her signature power rangers moves right at him.  yep, he walks in the door already guarded.  i always thought i'd have girly girls.  not. at. all.

the personality this girl packs is beyond amazing.  she's spunky.  wild.  crazy.  naive.  hilarious.  she makes us bust a gut every single day.  you just never know what'll come out of that mouth.  that's what i love about her.  she's so carefree.  loud.  sometimes out of control. 

and i wouldn't have her any other way.

just about every thursday i wish i had put her in preschool.  she wears me out.  she's constantly on the move.  constantly wanting to "make something", which always means she wants me to let her loose in my kitchen to create whatever she feels like it with whatever ingredients her little heart desires.  ain't happenin'.  and she doesn't understand.  so now, every wednesday, we bake.  in preparation for the holidays, but also to fulfill that desire she has to make sweets.  it's a win win.  and it still poops me out, but that time with her is so worth it. 

. 3 weeks old .

*suddenly eating 3 1/2 ounces every 4 hours

*eats and sleeps all night.  he wakes up at 2:00 and then again at 6:00am still.

*going to see nana and papa today!  and meet my grandparents for the first time.

*still sleeps a lot during the day.  helps mama get lots done!

*not much else has changed since last week.

*loves taking a bath.  does not love getting out of the bath.

*the girls are doing so great!  they even want to feed him now, which i have allowed once or twice.

*nicknames : bubba, bubs, buddy, bud

. rain socks .

what?  don't you take every chance you get to dance in the rain?  in your pajamas?  and socks because you can't find your rain boots?  their "boot socks", as they call them, were the next best thing.  and they danced.  and i let them.

and this is proof that sometimes they do like each other.

. wordless wednesday .

. who knew .

first of all.  who knew i'd have a teeny tiny baby?  who knew he'd be 5 weeks early?  ok, quick story to answer that one.  i actually told david for 2 months prior that i'd deliver on september 20th.  i knew i'd only be 35 weeks.  but that's the date that continually came to my mind for some reason.  i even scheduled a cleaning lady to come on the 19th, just in case.  little did i TRULY know..

who knew that we'd have to go buy newborn clothes?  and more newborn diapers?  who knew that he'd have to use the hospital bottles for his first two weeks of life?

i know these are supposed to be disposable bottles, but it's the only thing we could get him to drink his formula from for 2 weeks.  another side note : his first 2 days, he drank regular similac.  he started spitting up immediately!  AHH!  i prayed for a long time that we'd have just one baby that didn't spit up.  and he did.  after talking with his nurse, we decided to go ahead and switch him to similac sensitive, which is what both of the girls ended up on.  and it's been MUCH better.  and immediate difference.

back to the bottles ... and now i'm wondering why this is even blog post worthy, but it is.  so, disposable hospital bottles.  they sent us home with 10 bottles.  i would just wash them out and reuse them.  something about the nipple.  we have a ton of avent bottles.  the 4 oz ones.  and he just doesn't drink good out of them.  so these teeny tiny bottles were what we used for 2 weeks.  i have since bought evenflo bottles that have the same exact nipple and he seems to be doing well. 

i think the point of this post is so i can look back and remember the things that proved how little he was.  one day he'll be a giant.  maybe he'll be taller than me.  maybe he'll be taller than his daddy.  and it'll be so very hard for me to remember him being a mere 6 pounds 7 ounces.  and how his feet didn't even stretch out to the ends of his newborn size sleepers.  or how none of his 0-3 month hats fit his little head.

. rocking the argyle .

look at my little man!  rockin' the argyle sweater and khakis to his first day at church.  i know, it may have been to early to venture out, but i had to!  i kept him close as to keep as many hands as possible away.  many people respected that.  and he did great.  we missed half of sunday school because it was feeding time and i had forgotten what to do it seemed.  it's been a while since i've had a baby at church with me!  and during the sermon, he got snuggle time with mrs. shannon and slept pretty much the whole time. 

. 2 weeks old .

 

time is flying already!  little man is 2 weeks old today and here's some new stuff about him ...

*he had his 2 week check up today.  

*weighs just 6 lbs 7 oz.  he's only gained an ounce in the last week, which the doctor was concerned about.  we're having to increase feedings and come back next week for a weight check.  he eats so good though, so this surprised me.  

*was 19 3/4 inches.  he's grown a whole inch since he was born!

*was in the 25th percentile on the preemie charts for height and weight.  this surprised me too!  he was a 6lb 5oz preemie and there's lots of term babies born at that weight.  so out of 100 preemies, he's longer and weighs more than 25 of them.  when the doctor adjusted the chart to make him "term", he was in the 5th percentile.  he's a tiny little dude!

*eating 2 oz every 4 hours.  

*sleeping so good now.  he had a few days of having his days and nights mixed up, but i think we got that straightened out now.  he wakes up at night to eat and goes right back to sleep.

*yawns a lot!  and sneezes even more.  and gets the hiccups after every bottle.

*loves to lay on his side.  at night, he sleeps swaddled tight, on his side, on his boppy pillow.

*started picking his head up really good last night.

i'm still shocked that he's here.  i should still be pregnant or about to be induced at this point.  he continues to be so laid back, unless he has a wet diaper.  and he really enjoys taking a bath now, until you get him out of the warm water.  i bathe him about every other day right now because his skin is still so thin and dries out very quickly.  we keep him lathered up in lotion all day! 

. my school girl .

i am an emotional person.  1000%.  so i have a feeling there will be lots of blog posts in the coming weeks where i just ramble.  and it'll be emotional.  cause that's how i am.  and, right now, that's how i get through the days.  baby blues are killin' me this go 'round.  

ok, so ... the blog, and lots of other things, took a back seat during my pregnancy.  it makes me sad that i wasn't able to keep up with it, but i could hardly keep up with my own kids!  pregnancy makes me very lazy and i had every right to be, i'd say.  growing a baby is hard work!  after my last two pregnancies have ended, life resumes, and i finally start to feeling better, i always have a guilty feeling that lingers.  guilty because i basically lost 9 months of life with the child i already had.  for 9 months mama didn't feel good.  for 9 months mama was tired.  i can't imagine what went through their heads for those 9 months.  surely they noticed that mama wasn't the same.  but did they understand and were they okay with it?  those are the things i think of today.  i missed lots of precious time with my girls these past 8 months, this time around.  and now i feel like i have to catch up.

remember, karsyn started kindergarten?!  do you know how hard this year has been on this mama's heart?!?  to have my first baby start kindergarten AND have a new baby all close to the same time.  my heart has ached, all for good reasons, for the last 2 months.  i just thought karsyn starting kinder did me in.  then jaxton comes along.  and now i have 3 blessings.  ok, we won't go into all of that again.

karsyn has done so good in school.  i must say, she has already grown so much in the last month that she's been in school.  seriously.  grown tremendously.  she no longer lets me drop her off at the front door.  we've backed up to the sidewalk now.  "just drop me off here" she tells me every day.  and, yes, i'm the mom that parks it and watches her walk all the way inside the door.  that's me. 

she did miss one day for being sick.  i debated.  debated hard on whether or not to send her that day.  it was a monday.  mykah had been sick with a lower respiratory infection the week before and karsyn caught it by that weekend.  she never had fever, but was coughing up lungs for a few days.  i spoke with a sweet friend who was a school nurse and said to keep her home!  several said that she won't get behind in kindergarten for missing one day.  so, i kept her home.  we actually ended up at the doctor that day and got medicine, so thankfully she was better right away.  she acted perfectly fine the rest of the day, so she certainly went back to school the following day.

she missed the day jaxton was born as well.  who wouldn't have?  although we didn't know for sure what time he would arrive, she had it set in her mind the day before that she would be at the hospital and not at school.

then, the day i never even thought of explaining.  daddy went to pick her up last week and she was so sad.  "i didn't have a good day."  he even had to carry her inside when they got home.  i had no clue what could have caused her to be so sad.  and i never even thought about telling her this could happen.  she had a substitute teacher.  mrs. mosely was not at school.  and it broke her sweet little heart.  my girl is definitely a girl of routine and planning.  she has to know about things before they happen.  i never once thought about preparing her for this kind of day.  where the teacher would be out.  and it broke her heart.  thankfully, mrs. mosely returned the next day and all was right in the world once again.  i did have a talk with her though about how that could happen, so maybe next time won't be so traumatic.

and ... a day i actually prepared for ... she wanted to eat in the cafeteria.  GASP!  okay.  okay.  it's not life-threatening.  but she's always insisted that she takes her lunch.  now all of a sudden she wants to eat there.  it's not that huge of a deal.  my mom is a food nutrition director for the school district i grew up in.  i know how cafeterias work, for the most part.  and i know what kind of food they serve.  my hesitation was that i know what kind of food my mom's cafeterias serve.  not ours.  so i was hesitant.  but i let go.  and she loves it.  we check the menu daily and she decides if she wants to eat that or not.  and i'm ok with it right now.  our mornings are crazy enough with a new baby in the house.  it's just one of those things i chose not to fight.  plus, nana went to eat with her one day last week and gave us the "nana approval".