Being Andrew

switched over!

2010-08-23T17:03:00.002-04:00

So I have switched over to an all encompassing family blog where all posts from this blog are now located! Please go to Crayons to College for all future updates!

Week 52 - Happy Birthday!

2010-08-23T15:38:00.006-04:00

Week 52 - Happy Birthday!
(8/8/10 - 8/15/10)

Well it has been a year since Andrew made it into the world, and I have to say that it has been a absolute joy having him in our lives! He is a happy happy baby and I can't wait to see how he grows and changes over the next year!

Week 50 & 51 - Watch out here I come!

2010-08-23T15:29:00.004-04:00

Week 50 & 51 - Watch out here I come!
(7/25/10 - 8/7/10)

My gosh I am starting to sound like a broken record, but Andrew is just trying to see how many new things he can fit into the last few weeks before he turns 1! We pulled to standing last week, and he make short work of figuring out how to move around and "cruise" the furniture. I do have to say though that I am seeing a glimpse into my future and it looks hectic and scary! This little boy who has spent the majority of his first year being this nice, calm, easy going baby is working on being a mini "Evil Knevil". Within the first two days of "cruising" he has decided that he can go between the couch and the coffee table which of course leads to him falling but them he gets right back up and tries again. He has also learned that if he picks his one knee up he can climb things.....OH MY!!!

I think we might also have our first word this week too, and it looks like he is going to have the same first word as his brother (which means I say it waaaayyyyy too much!). I think he is saying "YUM" when he wants to eat or drink. It comes out more like "Muuuummmmmm" but since his pointing has now been perfected he is saying it when he points to a cup or food. So YIPPIE!! I think we are on our way with talking!!

Andrew has also started dancing to music, he just "head bangs" but is darn cute while doing it!! We are only a week from his birthday and a trip to the beach!!!

Week 48 & 49 - Keep 'em coming!

2010-07-24T07:49:00.005-04:00

Week 48 & 49 - Keep 'em coming!
(7/11/10 - 7/24/10)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of an 11 month old! WOW how the time has flown! In less than a month I will have a one year old on my hands! Look out world here he comes!!!

These past two weeks were very busy weeks for Andrew, he had another "burst" of milestones. The ones he achieved are pretty good ones, personally my favorite milestones. I know that a babies first real smile is always awesome! But for me there is one thing that barely inches that first smile out of the top spot! And that is waving! Andrew has been working on waving for a few weeks now. But unless you physically picked his arm up (while saying bye bye a million times) he wouldn't continue or start the wave on his own. His waves started out as full body/arm convulsions (hehehehehehe too cute) but then progressed over the last two weeks. He now does the ever cute backward hand wave, where he opens and closes his hand but it is in the wrong direction and he is waving to himself. He also initiates the wave about 60-70% of the time. You have to be the one to start saying bye-bye and waving yourself (or someone waves to him) and then he will pick his hand up and start waving!! TOO AWESOME!!!!

Another HUGE milestone that we got last week is "pulling to standing". He has been crawling for awhile now but never pulled up to standing until now. He is pretty fast though and will try and stand on anything, including things that can't quite support his weight. So we have had a few bumps and bruises as well as a scrap/cut under his eye from where he has fallen! He is taking a few steps (cruising), but hasn't quite figured that part out yet, but boy if I know Andrew cruising the furniture will not be too far away! I am sure that will be a video that I will post on this blog sooner rather than later!

As if the past two milestones weren't enough he is "imitating" a lot here lately. Andrew has never been an imitator (much to the worry of his mother) but recently his personality, a rather silly one at that, has started coming out. And Andrew has started imitating us. Most of his imitations are physical rather than verbal and our favorite one is "sneezing". If you either pretend or real sneeze he will imitate it. Although we learned rather quickly that this is his favorite imitation right now and that you have to watch where you initiate this because he will take his head and whip it downward without regard of where he is. We have had a few close calls where table tops were barely missed by his forehead!

Weeks 46 & 47 - Independence Day!!

2010-07-10T16:37:00.008-04:00

Weeks 46 & 47 - Independence Day!!
(6/27/10 - 7/10/10)

These past two weeks we celebrated Independence Day with the family, and new found independence with Andrew! Andrew had fun at the 4th of July festivities! Unfortunately it was 94 degrees out and hot hot hot! There were a lot of different ways we tried to stay cool and dunking Andrews feet in the kiddie pool was one way, and he also loved drinking out of my cup of ice water and playing with ice cubes!

Fireworks went off at 9:30 and somehow we managed to keep Andrew awake although I am wondering how "awake" he really was. In the preceding weeks leading up to the 4th we had been setting off some small fireworks in the yard for Jacob and most of the time if there was any loud popping, cracking, or whistling Andrew would shriek!! He HATED it! That night however he barely flinched when the fireworks went off and would only be bothered to lift his head from my chest on occasion to even watch the bright lights. When I finally took him home he was asleep within 10 minutes! So I say he was just zoned out and tired!

Paul was off for the whole week so we had some "vacation" time to fill up with the boys. Since it was in the 100's for 3 of the 5 days and upper 90's for the rest doing "outdoor" activities weren't really an option with two small guys. So we went to the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy air and space museum one day and even Andrew got into the trip by pointing (his new found skill) and getting excited when we went in to see an Imax movie about fighter pilots. It was a great day!

Then another day this week we went to Old Town Alexandria with the WHOLE family! We had 18 people go and spent the day eating pizza and walking around downtown Alexandria which is a lot like a small "inner harbor" with boats, ducks (which we fed leftover pizza crust too), and street performers, and of course shops!
Overall it was a great two weeks and I am sorry to see them end, and Paul to go back to work!!!

Week 44 & 45 - WOW! 10 Months down!

2010-06-29T15:24:00.005-04:00

Week 44 & 45 - WOW! 10 Months down!
(6/13/10 - 6/26/10)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy to a 10 month old! WOW I can't believe that he is 10 months old already....and yes I HAVE started planning his first birthday party!!!!! Although unfortunately or fortunately he will be having a "together" party with his brother. Andrew's Aunt Jackie and I had birthdays 3 years and 8 days apart so we pretty much ALWAYS had our parties together and it looks like Andrew will too! Hopefully they won't mind too much! :)

I am also planning Andrews 1st birthday pictures and am currently looking at "my first birthday" tshirts to have him wear! I think I have narrowed it down to these two:

I am leaning towards the one on the top because Jacob will have a matching one and they already have matching brown shorts...but then again the one on the bottom is brighter and more "happy"....hhhmmmmmmm

In terms of milestones these past two weeks we have leveled out for now. No words yet, but babbling is in full force we have dadada, bababababa, mamamama, etc.... and pointing is starting to happen more often. He points a lot at things, but will only point on demand when asked "where's the light?" or "Where's the fan". Andrew is perfectly content to sit on the floor and play by himself and search through his toy basket and explore. Soooo different from his brother!! I guess one new thing that is starting to happen with Andrew is stranger anxiety...he doesn't always cry and will still let a stranger pick him up but it now only last a second or two before he is looking for me or starts reaching or crying. At least I know he loves his Mama! :)

We have 4th of July coming up soon and I can't wait to see how he does with fireworks, I am assuming it will be HORRIBLE!!!

Week 43 - MR. NEW THING EVERY DAY!

2010-06-16T16:37:00.003-04:00

Week 43 - MR. NEW THING EVERY DAY!
(6/6/10 - 6/12/10)

Well Andrew finally has a new nickname, and that nickname is "MR. NEW THING EVERY DAY" because honestly he is reaching milestones and doing something new almost every day. Heck in the past three weeks he learned how to get himself into a sitting position, learned to crawl and then I forgot to blog about how he learned how to drink out of a straw cup a 2-3 weeks ago, and now he is doing so many other things.

He is still not pointing at objects, but will look at something if you ask him "where is it?", and he will now share with you which is SUPER cute! You can ask him to see something and he will hand it to you, now sometimes he won't actually let go of the object but he will continue to hand it to you over and over again for a few minutes and he seems so proud of himself when you say "Thank you!".

Once this week he waved bye-bye at his grandparents, but it isn't consistent yet so even though I am 99% sure he did it on purpose we only have two or three instances of this so far so I am hesitant to put it down in the baby book. I am also hesitant because it is a "whole arm convulsion" (hehehehehehehehe) and not a bend at the elbow wave......but hey I will put this in the same category as pointing and have it be "in progress".

Head shaking "no" is in full force and he will shake his head NO at you if you tell him no, and will even shake his head NO if he hears the word while we are out and about. Another new trick he loves is when I pat his lips with my hand he makes a noise so he sounds like an indian (sorry don't know a PC way to describe it!).

So overall this post has been nothing but a "bragging" post, but hey every parent needs one like this every now and then, and Andrew has definitely given me a lot of cute things to brag about!

GOOD JOB ANDREW!!!!

Week 42 - I can get it!

2010-06-05T21:53:00.007-04:00

Week 42 - I can get it!!
(5/30/10 - 6/5/10)

Well between last week and this week I don't know how to keep up with my little guy! He decided to EXPLODE with new milestones! My gosh the next thing I know he will be cruising the furniture, talking, walking, and going to college!!! YIKES!!!!

Andrew learned how to crawl this week and I guess he didn't really learn because honestly he has been up on all fours rocking for about 1 1/2 months, and he took about 1-2 steps crawling off and on for the past 2-3 weeks but just never took the plunge and really started crawling. I knew he was strong enough but his "need" wasn't strong enough yet and THAT is the best motivator of all for my little guy!

So what was the motivation?? Well last night he decided that he wanted a water gun of Jacob's that was put down a few feet away from him while we were outside enjoying the nice warm evening on the deck. I saw him look at it, and then of course there was the rocking on all fours, and 2 steps then sit back down routine that he has perfected the past few weeks.....but then I saw the wheels in his head turning and he got back up for round two. However, this time it didn't stop at 2 steps, 2 led to 3 then 4 until finally after his 5th step he reached his goal of the water gun!

We of course were all excited, but no more crawling happened last night. I woke up this morning determined to catch him in the act but again nothing much until he decided that he wanted something. He wanted Jacob's McDonalds Shrek toy.....and this is what happened:

All I have to say is "Jacob buddy, you know I love you, but you are in for one wild ride with your brother....you better learn to share!!!"

Week 41 - Take Charge!

2010-05-30T16:51:00.009-04:00

Week 41 - Take Charge!
(5/23/10 - 5/29/10)

This week was a week of big changes. Andrew really went from a helpless little baby this week to a "take charge of my own destiny" type of little boy. As everyone knows babies are notorious for being pretty helpless. They are born not being able to do really anything other than eat, sleep, and poop. Then they get a little older and it takes all of their energy just to lift their hand, and even more energy to actually get that hand to move, reach, and then grab what they want.

Andrew has successfully completed all of those tasks and then some. But this week he achieved one HUGE milestone that really separates him from the "babies". He can get himself into a sitting position all on his own. He has been rolling from front to back since about 5 1/2 months old, been sitting since around 6-6 1/2 months, and has been getting up on all fours for about a month. But he just figured out how to combine all of these items into allowing him to achieve a goal...SITTING!!!!

It is a HUGE milestone for me because now when he falls over or needs to sit and chew things or play he doesn't need me. This milestone allows him to be very independent. I am very proud of him for achieving this goal, I don't know when a baby is supposed to do this so I don't know if he is ahead or behind the curve but regardless I think he is ONE SMART COOKIE!!!

Check him out =

Week 40 - What's in a name?

2010-05-26T17:03:00.004-04:00

Week 40 - What's in a name?
(5/16/10 - 5/22/10)

When Andrew was born I didn't have any nicknames preset for him. I figured we would let the names come as they may. Well, they didn't really come.....now we had nicknames for him but they tended to be the same names that we called Jacob. Poor Andrew was being given hand-me-down nicknames!!! How HORRIBLE!!

But as Andrew grew, his little idiosyncrasies started showing themselves and nicknames started coming out. Now I am a little embarrassed by some of the name because since he is a 26 pound, 31 inch long giant baby most of his nicknames revolve around that! But don't be fooled these nicknames are given out of pure love and joy for my little "Chunker Nutter!"

We have of course:
Chunker Nutter - Kinda like a nutter butter cookie but sweeter and more kissable!
Sweet potato - hand me down name, but still applies to Andrew! He is a sweetie!
Fuzzy - puhleez...just look at his hair!
Chunka-chunk - I know I feel bad, but he is just so squeezable! And thoughs THIGHS!!!
Tater nugget - Don't ask me, just came out one day!

Unfortunately that is all so far, most are hand-me-downs! My gosh I feel so bad I am going on a mission to get Andrew a new nickname!!!!! Any suggestions??

We spent this week "Almost" crawling again, twice he took two steps but the fell to his belly. He has also decided that he LOVES to stand up. He obviously can't stand holding on by himself yet but as long as you are helping him he would stand on your lap, at the coffee table, on the chair, etc.... as long as he is standing he is happy! Andrew also ate eggs this week, tried salmon, and will pretty much eat anything he can get his hands on. We have started trying to teach him to use a straw this week too since he doesn't drink out of a bottle (just chews it). I figure if I want any date nights I need some way to get him something to drink!!

Week 39 - How time flies!

2010-05-20T14:55:00.004-04:00

Week 39 - How time flies!!
(5/9/10 - 5/15/10)

It took 38 weeks and 1 day to grow him, and now he has been out in the world for longer than that! Andrew is 9 months old....my how time flies! I can't believe my little guy is 9 months old!!!! He has continued to amaze me every day at how similar and how DIFFERENT he is from his brother.

This week he decided that he LOVES rice!! Yes, rice!!!! But the best part about this is how he eats it! (video below)

He has also decided that when you call him, or if a stranger or someone says "HI" to him he will look at them, smile a HUGE smile, and squint his eyes!! I haven't been able to catch it on the camera yet, but trust me when I do I will post it! Hilarious!

Andrew has been an absolute pleasure to have as a child, he is easy going, very loving, and just a big soft teddy bear!

One big thing he started to do this week is use his pointer finger. He isn't pointing yet, and still hasn't mastered the "pincer grasp" but has figured out how to close all fingers except his pointer finger. Paul and I have caught him staring at his finger numerous times, and he has been enjoying poking his finger into any hole he can find......thank god all the electrical outlets are still childproofed!!!!

We also visited my grandparents (Andrew's Great Grandparents) this week and they celebrated their 62nd anniversary!! I would say that is the biggest milestone EVER!!!

Week 38 -Here we go!!!!

2010-05-10T16:48:00.005-04:00

Week 38 - Here we go!!!
(5/2/10 - 5/8/10)

Well last week I posted about what milestones that Andrew had achieved or almost achieved. He must have been listening to me, because the few that were still in the "almost" category he went gangbusters on and not only completed them but far surpassed them!

The main "milestone" that I was honestly a little worried about was babbling. At 8 1/2 months old there was no real babbling happening which concerned me. Well I am here to tell you that that little stinker decided to start babbling and babbling, and BABBLING!!! We now have baba, dada, mama, gaga, and goo! And he babbles ALL THE TIME!!!! I have always found it interesting that babies (and older children) will wait until their parents are being driven insane or in a state of panic before doing whatever it is that has caused this stress in their parents! But hey as long as we are moving forward with things, so be it!!

Andrew has also decided to start eating, but he still hates the typical pureed baby food from a jar and prefers "people food". He will eat toast, pancakes, salmon, rice cakes, teether biscuits, banana, and cheerios. He has those silly 5 teeth in the front of his mouth so as long as he can munch with those nothing is off limits. Harder meats like chicken are still awhile away, but as of right now I think he eats more variety than his brother....I think I might like a little sibling rivalry with this and maybe Jacob will start eating more!

Crawling is also EXTREMELY close at this point, just have one pesky leg getting in the way , and three times this week a bedtime of 13 hours of sleep was achieved! We also went to go visit Thomas the Tank Engine this week, Andrew could have cared less, but it will still go down as a nice "family vacation".

Week 36 & 37 - Milestones...so far!

2010-04-30T16:39:00.004-04:00

Week 36 & 37 - Milestones....so far!
(4/18/10 - 5/1/10)

Since this blog is being used as Andrew's baby book and most baby books have sections for milestones I thought that I would list all of the things that Andrew is doing and ALMOST doing now that he is 8 1/2 months old.

Body: 24.5 pounds, 30" long (91st percentile)

Rolling over : He is a rolling master. Can roll easily from front to back and back to front. Will sometimes roll to an object if he really wants to get it.

Eye Contact: Phenomenal eye contact, no worries there!

Eating: Well this is a different topic all together. Recently (within the past 2 weeks) he has decided that he likes the "O" cereal and the puffs that you can get from the store. He is working hard on his "pincer grasp" but hasn't quite got that yet. So most of the time the cereal is on the floor because he tries to grab with a "sweeping motion" with his hands.

Sitting: He is a sitting champ. He sat pretty early and is honestly very very stable. I don't ever have to put any pillows around him when he sits now. He still might occasionally fall but that is because he is trying very hard to crawl and sometimes gets tripped up and will topple.

Crawling: We are very close to this. He can butt scoot in circles and can somehow get a foot or two across the floor by just wiggling and moving his legs. He is at the phase where he is shifting his legs to the side and then trying to rock up onto his hands. Of course that one pesky leg keeps getting stuck.

Walking: He is obviously not walking, but I had to put this in here because he is a "crazy maniac" in his walker. He gets going so fast that he will lift his legs and coast to a stop.

Talking: This is the one area that I am worried about. Of course all books say he should be babbling which is the bababa, mamamama, dadadad (basically combining consonants and vowels) but he just hasn't done this yet. That doesn't mean he isn't talking. On the contrary, he is very vocal. He is always ahhh'ing, oohhhh'ing, uuuhhhh'ing, blowing rasberries, and he does a "TTTHHHH" sound. We just haven't gotten any of those pesky consonants yet! (hopefully he is storing up or maybe it is the teething)

Teething: We have 4 teeth (in 4 weeks) and is currently worrking on the 5th tooth! He is a cutie with teeth.

Grabbing: At this point in his life there is nothing safe from his grasp! He will take anything out of your hand, and will gnaw it to death! He has also started to swap things from one hand to the other!

Sleeping: Before teething started we were having some good nights (up once a night) now that teething has started we are a minimum of twice a night with sometimes 3 times. But that is what happened with his brother so I am not worried! This too shall pass!

Name: At this point we are fairly certain he knows his name. If you call his name 9 out of 10 times he will look immediately. Of course if he is playing with his brother or a toy forget about it, but hey I don't always look if I am engrossed in something either! hehehehehe

Joint Attention: Now a days this is a big one that people look for and Andrew is good to go on this one! Part of him being curious is that when he finds something interesting he will look at it and then look at you (or the person doing the interesting thing) almost to say "What the heck is that?". He will also look at something that you point to, and has gotten pretty good at actually looking at the object not just your finger.

clapping: This one is tricky, I think he is trying to clap but am not 100% on this one yet. It really looks like it, but of course he doesn't do it on cue yet....so we will wait and see.

Personality: This is the best part of all. Andrew has the most pleasant personality. Don't get me wrong he cries and can get grumpy (he lets you know when he isn't happy). But he loves to smile, will catch your eye from across the room and give you the biggest smile imaginable! He is also EXTREMELY curious, and the #1 thing he is curious about is his brother. What Jacob has Andrew wants. I am not looking forward to him crawling cause I think Jacob will finally get a dose of what "sharing" means!

Week 35 - Kramer hair???

2010-04-21T15:29:00.003-04:00

Week 35 - Kramer hair??
(4/11/10 - 4/17/10)

This week I have to talk about an obvious conversation point in my house or even at playgroups that seems to be getting the attention of family, friends, and yes even strangers! It is my sons hair!! The only person I can think of off the top of my head (no pun intended) that his hair kinda reminds me of is Kramer!

Now, I know that my guy is waaaaaaayyyyy cuter than Kramer, but seriously his hair is HILARIOUS! I don't know if all babies go through the crazy hair phase that Andrew is going through, but I know that Jacob went through this phase and from what I have heard I went through this phase with my hair too!!! This light blonde hair is growing in at a pretty fast pace, and when it come in it is sticking straight up in the air! You can't do ANYTHING to lay it down (not that I really try to lay it down). So between this hair and his new teeth he is a C-U-T-I-E P-I-E!!!!!

We also had my mothers wedding this weekend and the boys were dressed in their matching purple suits! Jacob and Andrew have been "playing" together here lately....well actually it is really Jacob handing Andrew things to chew on and then Jacob trying to wrestle with Andrew and Andrew just getting knocked down.....but hey it is the start of their "brother" relationship and I have enjoyed seeing it start. I can only imagine what it will be like once Andrew is mobile and can crawl all over Jacob and steal his toys!!!! UH OH!!! But because they have been "playing" Jacob wants to be near Andrew all the time, and Andrew just LOVES his brother so at the reception Jacob decided he wanted to hold Andrew.....YIKES....at least he wasn't dropped!

Week 34 - Burnin' rubber!!!

2010-04-12T15:05:00.004-04:00

Week 34 -Burnin' rubber!

(4/4/10 - 4/10/10)

Well ladies and gentlemen I have found myself faced with an almost 8 month old that has decided to get mobile and get mobile QUICK!! Now I know you are thinking....

You: WOW is he crawling??

Me: Well no, not yet!

You: So then he must be walking?

Me: Well...... not exactly!!!!

You see when I say quick, I mean in the physical speed in which he is moving. And how is he moving at warp speed you may ask...

His favorite way to get around is his walker....and I mean HE CAN BOOK IT PEOPLE!! He can be from one side of the house, turn around, and be all the way at the other side of the house before you can blink. He also has the leg strength to push the walker up onto the carpet and start wheeling around up there too!!

I love it, I really do!!! Although mobile children come with problems like "baby proofing" they also offer new experiences in exploring, and playing!!

In terms of his "other" movement options, Andrew has started when sitting to turn his outer leg up so that his foot is flat on the floor and then he is "rocking" on his arms trying to get up on all fours. While on his tummy Andrew is learning how to pull his legs underneath him while up on straight arms. So I think his "content to sit and play" days are coming to a close soon. I need to go baby proof!!!!

We also almost have 3 teeth! His first tooth is through and two others are so close you can see the ridges of the tops through the gums, and they are very swollen! It looks like his fathers family teething has struck again with Andrew......Jacob had all teeth (including 2 year molars) by 15 months and it looks like Andrew will be following in those family teething footprints!!! Don't worry though I have already stocked up on Motrin!

We also had a wonderful Easter, here is our Easter 2010 family portrait!

Week 32 & 33 - Disney and Chompers!

2010-04-05T15:20:00.000-04:00

Week 32 & 33 - Disney and Chompers!
(3/21/10 - 4/3/10)

Well I missed two weeks of posts, but I have a very good reason! Do you know how long it takes to pack for a week long trip to Disney World when you have NEVER traveled with one child, much less TWO CHILDREN?? A long time!!!

And just so you know I packed wwwwaaaaayyyyyy too much! The first mistake I made was that I packed for warm weather, but didn't take into account that the nights in Florida are still a little chilly. So poor Andrew and Jacob had to wear the same long sleeve/long pants outfit 5 days in a row!!! Talk about dirty!!! But the days were nice with weather in the mid to upper 70's and other than rain the first day we got there, it was sunny skies!

Andrew didn't really know what was going on in Disney, but he was along for the ride and seemed to enjoy the loud music and the bright colors. He adjusted well on the trip and allowed his father and I to take him away from his normal sleep schedule and have most of his naps in the back of the stroller. During the week long trip we FINALLY got a tooth that actually came in, you know that alleged tooth that has been coming in since he was three months old......yeah that one...well it finally decided to join the world!!! The funny thing in that his brother got his first took on 4/25 and then proceeded to get 8 teeth in eight weeks.....wonder if they are going to be the same?? They were born pretty much on the same day (two years apart) and have met many of their milestones almost identically....looks like I could be in for "hell weeks" part two!!!!

Week 31 - Andrew's favorite and not so favorite things!

2010-03-24T19:52:00.001-04:00

Week 31 - Andrew's favorite and not so favorite things!
(3/14/10 - 3/20/10)

First let me say that I am the proud Mommy to an adorable 7 month old!

Andrew has gotten himself quite a personality! So much so that I feel compelled to write about what makes him tick...you know his "favorites" and "not so favorite" things!

Favorites:

1) His ULTIMATE favorite thing right now is his brother! I mean in the eyes of Andrew, Jacob is the funniest, smartest, and all around BEST thing in the world. You can catch Andrew staring lovingly at Jacob all the time, and Jacob has caught onto this little bit of information and has now started "performing" for Andrew in the hopes of getting Andrew to smile and laugh!

2) He loves sitting in his high chair at the table, and watching us cook in the kitchen or when we are eating or playing at the table with Jacob.

3) He loves leaving slobber marks all over EVERYTHING he touches. Nothing is safe from Andrew's little hands and once he gets his hands on something it goes straight to his mouth!

4) He loves blowing bubbles and making razz sounds with his mouth, it is his new "trick" and he makes sure he waits until he has a mouthful of food before he does it!! Hello food shower!!!

5) GROWLING!! He LOVES to GROWL!! This usually means he is hungry, sleepy, or frustrated, but which ever one it is, he now knows that this particular growl means business and we will come running!

Not so Favorites:

1) He still hates sleeping, he has good days even a whole week of sleeping, but then will go back to waking up every 2 hours. Heck I don't know what to do anymore, I guess I will sleep in about 17 years from now!

2) He wants to reach and grab for toys, but can't quite get his little body to move how it should, so if something is out of his reach he screams to let everyone know!!!

3) He absolutely, positively HATES food! Yep, my little guy just won't eat solid foods. We keep plugging away at it and have been feeding him one meal a day for the past month or so. But when I say meal I really mean maybe a teaspoon or two of actual food. He won't open his mouth, and he gags most of the time. I know there isn't anything wrong because occasionally he will eat, and eat really well!!! He will open his mouth, swallow without pretending to gag, and he even has eaten an entire graham cracker. But if it was up to Andrew he would just be nursed forever!

Week 30 - Sunny Days, and bubbly nights!!

2010-03-15T22:49:00.001-04:00

Week 30 - Sunny days, and bubbly nights!!
(3/7/10 - 3/13/10)

This week was great weather! We spent most of our days outside on the deck, and Andrew loved watching the bubbles float through the air!! He started getting very very grabby this week and went from being content to play with whatever happened to be put in front of him to grabbing and pulling table cloths off of the table, ripping pages out of magazines, and generally making a mess wherever he goes! We also finally turned a corner this week with Andrews sleeping, we decided to move him to his room (out of ours) and he is only waking up about twice a night. This is great considering he has been a horrible sleeper from the time he was born! Hey I will take 2 times a night vs. 4 times a night anytime!!

We also graduated to the "shared bathtime" with his brother. Andrew happened to think that this was the best thing that have ever happened to him, while his brother seemed to not really like this intruder that was taking up valuable real estate in the tub away from all of the toys! Eventually Jacob ended up giving in and decided that while Andrew wasn't allowed to actually play with any of the toys he would hold each one up one at a time and allow Andrew to look at them!!! It was too funny! Andrew is sitting in a tubside bath seat that is a lifesaver!!! I don't have to worry about him at all, and he feels like he is a big boy in the tub with his brother!

Week 29 - Movin on up!

2010-03-11T13:58:00.000-05:00

Week 29 - Movin' on up!
(2/18/10 - 3/6/10)

WOW Am I late getting this post out! I am pretty much into posting Week 30 and I am just getting around to last week!!! But there are good reasons for this! We have had GREAT weather! After the horrible snow filled winter we have had a few good days of 55+ degree weather which has sent me and the boys out onto the deck to partake in bubbles and walks!!

This was a big week for Andrew, he "moved on up" from just laying under the baby arches and batting/pulling at toys to now sitting practically all by himself and playing with toys in his toy basket. Of course by playing I mean just gumming them to death and slobbering everywhere, but hey he seems to be enjoying himself!

Andrew has also moved up into his new high chair, we have an awesome Phil & Ted's Me Too! Hook on High Chair that I recommend to all of my friends with children. It is soooo small and you can take it anywhere. It is also confined enough that a child that isn't sitting perfectly can still be supported. But what I like most about it is that it allows Andrew to be at the table with us. Sometimes being in a separate high chair you can't pull the child up to the table very closely, or the table is too high for the high chair at a restaurant. He loves being up with us, and has even started eating a little bit of his baby food (he hates baby food, and doesn't eat very much at all....I mean teaspoons only).

Week 28 - Rollin in style....a different way!

2010-02-27T15:59:00.002-05:00

Week 28 - Rollin in style...a different way!!!
(2/21/10 - 2/27/10)

This week Andrew was "Rollin" in style...but different from last week. This week Andrew decided that he was going to start rolling over....and CONSTANTLY!!! It started at the beginning of the week when I would randomly find Andrew rolled over onto his tummy, but of course I would miss it every time! Now I can't NOT miss it, but he now refuses to stay on his back and will roll over almost as soon as he hits the floor! He is getting pretty strong and can do a complete "push up" once he gets rolled over. I give him maybe another week and he should be able to figure out how to roll back over onto his back!

My little guy is growing up!

Week 27 - Ridin' in style!

2010-02-20T09:38:00.003-05:00

Week 27 - Ridin' in style!
(2/14/10 - 2/20/10)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 6 month old!

This week was a big week for Andrew, he got moved up into a new car seat, he rolled over three times (all three of which I missed!), and he is now sitting unsupported for over a minute at a time, and can sit for longer if he has the boppy or some sort of pillow behind him! Andrew is a funny little boy, in some ways he is just like his brother (content to just sit and watch, and not be real grabby) and in some ways completely different (horrible sleeper, waaaay more smiley!)

However I find that most milestones are being met at the same pace as his brother so my expectations are a lot less "stressed" than they were with Jacob. I remember as a first time mom worrying and waiting, everyday seemed like an eternity. I would be around other babies that were the same age and they were crawling, or grabbing for everything that crossed their path, or pulling themselves up to standing and wondering when my baby was going to do that. Well in the end Jacob did everything in his own time, and turned out just perfect!

It is nice to just focus on Andrew this time around, I am sure that I missed things with Jacob due to my worrying and am glad that I am not going to miss things with Andrew. I could care less when he rolls, crawls, walks, or talks I am just content to just watch him learn and listen to his laughs....has anyone ever not smiled whiled hearing a baby laugh???? Bet you can't NOT smile after watching this!

Week 26 - MMM MMMM.....YUK!!!

2010-02-15T14:47:00.003-05:00

Week 26 - MMMM MMMMM.....YUK!!!!
(2/7/10 - 2/13/10)

This week we tried to give Andrew a little bit of rice cereal and like most babies the first meal was not exactly met with open arms.....I mean mouths!! There is no real reason as to why I started feeding a little bit of cereal, Andrew is still nursed and seems to be thriving on just that form of food. However we have still be plagued with bad nights of sleep and I thought that now that Andrew is almost 6 months old maybe a little bit of food right before bed could help him stay asleep longer.

It seemed to work the first night, although I probably only got about a 1/2 teaspoon into him tummy. We have worked our way up to maybe a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half at each feeding, but hopefully he will start eating better soon. It is a chore to get him to even open his mouth and we have to sit and make funny faces and make weird noises just to get him to start laughing/smiling and then BAM!!!! We shove the food in his mouth and hope that a little bit of it actually makes it down his throat!

I think I might have to start on real food, like sweet potatoes or apples because this rice cereal just isn't cutting it in terms of taste for Andrew!

Week 25 - Blizzard 2010!

2010-02-06T16:20:00.005-05:00

Week 25 - Blizzard 2010
(1/31/10 - 2/6/10)

This week there are two things that I need to talk about, first is the Blizzard of 2010 and second is the new found "curiosity" that Andrew has with everything and ANYTHING involving his brother!

We got 3 inches of snow last weekend, 5.5 inches of snow on Tuesday and now we just finished up getting 33 inches of snow in the Blizzard of 2010. Considering that Andrew is only 28.5 inches tall I don't think he would have much fun in this snow if he could walk. The drifts are pushing the 45+ inch mark and the picture below is a picture of our car when all of the snow was said and done.....yes that is a car under all of that snow SOMEWHERE!!

Now onto the more important things about Andrew, and what he was up to this week. He is now almost 6 months old so like his brother when he was this age Andrews sole purpose in life is to try and sit up. It actually makes for a quite annoying time when trying to "cuddle" with him because he is always trying to do his little baby situps and get himself upright. When I need to cook, or clean, or just need a break from carrying around a 22 pound baby (yes you read that right....22 pounds) I put Andrew in his baby seat. Normally this is just fine in moderation and he will sit and watch me or I will put the toy bar onto the seat and Andrew will swat and pull on the different toys that are hanging. The other day however was a different story, Paul and Jacob were on the floor playing in his rice box (I will talk about that on Jacobs blog soon) and Andrew just couldn't stand it....he HAD to be right in the thick of things.... he just L-O-V-E-S his brother and has to watch every move he makes. This day was no exception. Boy I hope Jacob is ready to be followed around here in a few months!

Can't you just see the wheels in Andrews head as he is watching them play? He got up into that sitting position because I had the toy bar attached and he pulled himself up through the bar, and then when I saw he wasn't going to lay back down I moved him closer to the action and removed the bar! Boy is my little boy growing up!!!!

Week 24 - Happy Boy!

2010-01-30T16:00:00.003-05:00

Week 24 - Happy Boy!
(1/24/10 - 1/30/10)

WOW has Andrew gone through a crazy transformation over the past 2-3 weeks. He has gone from a very happy "little baby" to a curious, happy, and silly "little boy". I don't think I can even call him a baby anymore because for one he is 21 pounds and 27" long. But he has just blossomed with personality and curiosity this past week.

He will watch anything and anyone like a hawk! He will follow you all around the room, will follow any food you eat from the plate to your mouth, if you smile at him he will smile this HUGE smile and will sometimes giggle along with it.

My trips to the stores have now been spent making sure the carrier arm and shade are down on his infant car seat because God forbid you block his view from people watching! When he gets excited he starts kicking his legs like crazy and will scream for you to know he likes what he sees!

I just love this phase, I hope he doesn't grow out of it too soon!

Week 23 - Wishing it away...

2010-01-24T15:42:00.002-05:00

Week 23 - Wishing it away...
(1/17/10 - 1/23/10)

*This is the same post over at BeingJake.....I felt it needed to be documented in both of my boys blogs*

This week was a tough week for me. Paul was gone all week for training and I was left for the first time since Andrew was born with two kids for a whole week. But to make the situation worse both of my kids came down with a pretty nasty cold. One that is still, 9 days later, going strong. Most days were spent dealing with a very very cranky 2 1/2 year old who didn't want to play, eat, sleep, or even watch TV. All he wanted to do was complain and throw toys, make a mess, and be disagreeable. Then to top it off Andrew being only 5 months old gets the same cold. But unlike Jacob he can't blow his nose, consciously clear his throat/cough, or tell me what is wrong.

Since just after Jacob was born in 2007 the CDC has removed all medicine for any child under the age of 4 (it used to be 2) so any sort of medicinal help for the symptoms was not happening. Tylenol was used during the first stages of the cold when Jacob had a slight fever, and of course vicks, and vaporizers have been running nonstop for the past week and a half.

I found myself wishing away the week, and honestly wishing away their childhoods. I found myself alone unable to ask for help (for fear of infecting other people), and wishing for anything that Jacob was old enough to be given medicine, and that Andrew was old enough to be able to at least blow his nose or at least talk and tell me what is wrong and to understand what is happening to him when he can't breathe!

What I wouldn't give for them to be feeling better, and for this cold to be gone and for me to be able to get more than an hour of sleep at a time during the night without having to wrangle those God forsaken nose aspirators into my babies nose or find that the 3rd box of kleenex was gone because of how often Jacob needed to blow his nose. I had finally gotten to the end of my rope when I found myself with two sleeping children and a small amount of time to myself. I decided to start reading the other blogs I follow and I ran across a post that suddenly made my life a lot less crazy and frustrating.

MckMama is a great blog if you have never read it, she is very well written and has a lot of really great posts. When I was reading this particular post I realized that she is soooo right. I have been so wrapped up in my "misery" that I wasn't looking at the bigger picture. This week wasn't about just my boys feeling bad and being frustrating. As I took a step back and thought about my week I realized that it wasn't just about the tantrums, and the lack of sleep. But during this week I also gave my boys 500+ kisses (no joke), I rocked them to sleep, I kissed boo-boos, I sssshhh'ed them as they fell asleep, and I was there with hugs and a smile every time they woke up (even if it was for the 10th time that night). I was their "one and only", they were sick and they needed me. They needed me more than I needed sleep, or time alone, or another person to help.

I was wishing away the week and years, and for what?? For maybe a two week cold? I suddenly felt so foolish and realized that although the cold would be much easier to weather if they were older, by having them old I would miss so much more, and who knows how long they will "need me". There is nothing I love more than my kids and their kisses, hugs, "I love you's" and smiles. It seems like I have already blinked and found myself with a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old. What I wouldn't give to be able to keep them small and innocent. When they are older they won't need my kisses on their "boo boo's" or need rocked to sleep when they are 15 or 20 years old. They will be obnoxious teenagers who "know it all" and don't need me (or think they need me) anymore.

I realized right then that I can't keep focusing on the bad parts of my week and I needed to be thankful for the moments I do have with my children. And as MckMama said I will not wish away their young years, always hoping to get more sleep, movies watched, laundry done, house cleaned. "I will relish each kiss, hug and song. I will leave their childhood behind with no regrets, no "I love you" unsaid, no cheek unkissed, no request to "Cuddle wif' me!" turned down.

I am gonna miss this.....

(thank you MckMama for such as inspiring post, I hope you don't mind that I quoted you in my post!)

Week 22 - Smiley boy!!!

2010-01-16T15:33:00.005-05:00

Week 22 - Smiley boy!!
(1/10/10 - 1/16/10)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 5 month old!

This week Andrew has been working on his arm/hand movement and is getting pretty good and getting a hold of things as long as they aren't too far away. He isn't in to the "reachy grabby" phase yet. If my memory serves me right that is right around the corner. He is also becoming a very smiley boy and will smile and catch your eye from the other side of the room and very often now even from across the house! Here he is in action!

Week 21 - Sittin' Pretty!

2010-01-10T19:21:00.002-05:00

Week 21 - Sittin' Pretty!
(1/3/10 - 1/9/10)

This week we have started working on our stomach and back muscles. Andrew is in that phase where he wants to sit up all the time. So the moments of the cuddly little baby are almost few and far between. When he is on your lap he wants to sit up. So I broke out the bumbo seat this week to help him strengthen his muscles. Of course he doesn't like to sit in it for long but we are slowly working towards longer periods of time.

Andrew has also been working on reaching and grabbing for things. He still doesn't grab something off the table or off of the floor. But if something is dangled in front of him he is getting pretty good at batting it and will occasionally grab ahold of it, and almost everything that gets in his slobbery little hands at this point goes straight to his mouth. When he doesn't have a toy to chew on his hands are almost 100% in his mouth!!

I also noticed his feet are starting to make there way up and he almost grabbed a hold of a foot this week too! My how my little boy is changing!

**On a side note, sleeping has been HORRIBLE this week. Something is bothering him, either his teeth, tummy, or some unknown baby problem....either way his wakings have been about every 3 hours at night....so mommy is looking and feeling pretty haggard!

Week 20 - See ya later 2009! It's been great!

2010-01-03T13:46:00.003-05:00

Week 20 - See ya later 2009! It's been great!
(12/27/09 - 1/2/10)

It is pretty easy to think about what I am the most thankful for in 2009! I found out that I was pregnant with Andrew Christmas week 2008 and spent the first 8 months of 2009 nervous, happy, and scared about having a new baby! Having spent many many years with infertility problems to now be faced with having two healthy children is a blessing from God. And I thank Him most of all for allowing me to be the mother to my two beautiful children!

If Andrew could say thanks I think it would go something like this (in no particular order):

...Thanks for giving me such loving parents
...Thanks for letting me finally be able to see more than a foot in front of me, those first few weeks were rough!
...Thanks for giving me more control of my hands, although they still don't do what I want them to all the time!
...Thanks for giving me great head control so I can look around, who knew it was so hard to hold your head up!
...Thanks for giving me a great big brother, however could you tell him to stop kissing me sooooo much!
...Thanks for surrounding me with a very large family. I can't wait to get to know them all.
...Thanks for letting me sleep longer at night (that one is for my mom!)
...Thanks for giving me such a chubby little face. I love all of the kisses and attention it gets me!

Week 19 - Merry First Christmas!

2009-12-29T16:39:00.003-05:00

Week 19 - Merry First Christmas!
(12/20/09 - 12/26/09)

This week was crazy it started out with the 2009 Blizzard that dumped 20+ inches of snow and ended with a wonderful first Christmas for Andrew being able to spend time with family and friends! We started Christmas Eve going to a lovely Christmas Mass at a local church near my grandparents and then went to their house to visit with family and open presents. Christmas morning was nice. It is great having two kids during Christmas and I can't wait until Andrew is old enough to know about Santa and get excited about waking up Christmas morning!

Christmas day we spent it with Paul's family and had another great dinner and Andrew got passed around to everyone! They just can't seem to get enough of his chubby little cheeks!

Week 17 & 18 - Christmas Spirit!

2009-12-16T15:22:00.003-05:00

Week 17 & 18 - Christmas Spirit!
(12/6/09 - 12/19/09)

Well I have been sooooo busy with getting two kids shopped for and baptisms, and Christmas Parties that I can't believe that I forgot to post last week for Andrew! So this week is a combo post for this week and last week!

We have been getting ready for Christmas and went and visited Santa Claus, if you want a funny story head on over to Jacob's blog and check out A Year Without Santa Claus. If you have read that post then you know why Andrew is the only one in this years picture! But I have to say that the "deer in headlights" look that Andrew has is priceless!

We also went and got the first ever "holiday photos" with the two boys and I have to say (even though I am biased) that DAMN MY KIDS ARE CUTE!! Cause seriously is there anything cuter than two little boys dressed up in "man clothes"?? Nope didn't think so!

Lastly we decorated the house and got Andrew his "My first Christmas" ornament for the tree! I know he isn't going to remember any of this but lucky for him he has a mother with a trigger happy camera finger!!!

Week 16 - Baptism

2009-12-05T14:13:00.005-05:00

Week 16 - Baptism!
(11/29/09 - 12/05/09)

Lord, Surround this child with goodness.
Lead him in Your light each day.
Let him walk the path You've chosen.
Guide his steps along the way.
Teach him to trust Your wisdom and obey Your loving plan.
Keep him from all harm. Protect him as he grows to be a man.

By BJ Holt

Week 15 - Let's Give Thanks!

2009-12-01T20:13:00.002-05:00

Week 15 - Let's Give Thanks!
( 11/22/09 - 11/27/09)

There are a lot of reasons to be thankful this week. For one we made it to another Thanksgiving with family, and two we have a new little guy that celebrated with us. Andrew is doing great and is awake now more than ever. He is still sleeping great and even had a few nights this week where he slept for 8+ hours and only woke up once during the night to eat! Needless to say I didn't know what to do with all of my new found energy from all of my sleep!

Andrew has also started trying to bat at and even grab toys. And we are getting into that ever dreaded waterfall of slobber period where everything goes into his mouth and nothing but slobber/drool comes out!!!

Week 14 - The Twilight Zone!

2009-11-21T14:35:00.005-05:00

Week 14 - The Twilight Zone!
(11/15/09 - 11/21/09)

This week I woke up and decided very early on that I must live in "The Twilight Zone"! The first thing that happened was that on Monday Jacob and Andrew both took a 2 hour nap at the EXACT SAME TIME, I put Jacob down at 2:00 and within 5 minutes Andrew fell asleep and decided he was going to sleep two hours too! I thought "WOW! How lucky am I?". But then the weird part happened, they both two naps at the exact same time ALL WEEK LONG!!!! Holy cow, someone must love me up there (or be tired of my thousands of prayers for duel nap times!). I don't know what the odds are that a 2 year old and a 3 month old would both take two hour naps within minutes of each other, but if I were a bettin' man I would say it is pretty rare! I don't know how long it will last, but I am going to milk it for all it's worth!

The next "Twilight Zone" moment I had this week was when I was hanging out with Andrew and we were "talking" back and forth and I noticed something strange on his gums! HOLY COW! He cut his first tooth! Yes folks, you read right, I have a 3 month old that has his first tooth! Now of course it is just the pokey first part and not the whole tooth yet, but still! HOLY COW!

Now the Corcoran's are notorious for having tons of teeth early! Jacob didn't get his first tooth until 8 months, but then had 16 teeth in 4 months (yeah! I know can you say "That was hell!"). But the Corcoran's always get their teeth before they are a year old, some start super early like Andrew is doing and some get them all at once like Jacob but regardless they have tons of teeth!

I can't figure out if I like the idea of spreading the teeth out with Andrew, since he is starting earlier than Jacob maybe (hopefully) I won't have to deal with the 2 teeth a week scenario. But then again I don't know if I want to deal with a 3 month old with teeth either! Maybe this new little nub of a tooth will take awhile to come the whole way in! We will soon find out!

Week 13 - The head bones connected to the....

2009-11-15T14:07:00.003-05:00

Week 13 - the head bones connected to the...
(11/8/09 - 11/14/09)

The head bones connected to the neck bone,
The neck bones connected to the back bone.....

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 3 month old today! Can you believe it?

Yep this week Andrew finally mastered the art of holding his head up. He has been working on it for a few weeks, but has finally not only mastered the art of holding it upright in one position but can now hold it upright and turn to look at things. Paul and I put Andrew in the baby bjorn carrier a lot because a) he likes to be held and b) because have you ever held a 17 pound baby for hours a day?? Yeah I know, he is one big kid and since the head control doesn't necessarily equate to back/stomach control too the option of holding him on my hip is still a few weeks away. So even though he has head control you still have to hold him on your shoulder or with both hands! Which gets very tiring. So the bjorn is really nice especially now that we can face him out since his head isn't floppy anymore!

He has also started to try and bat at toys while he lays under his play yard toy. I don't know if he is doing it on purpose yet or just flailing, but he loves it under there and will intently watch the toys as you move them or shake them!

Week 12 - Hair today, gone tomorrow !

2009-11-07T15:37:00.005-05:00

Week 12 - Hair today, gone tomorrow!
(11/1/09 - 11/7/09)

This week I started to notice something with Andrew. I first started to notice it when outside or if I was sitting in one of our chairs by the window, but his head has started to "glow". Now at first I thought it was just a trick of the sun or the angle that I was holding Andrew in. But then Paul noticed it too....was Andrew getting blonde hair???

Soon after Paul and I noticed the "glistening" on his head I started to notice dark brown hairs on his sheets and his clothing. I got out the baby brush one day and wound up having a hairbrush full of brown hair!

Like most babies Andrews hair that he was born with has started falling out, however since he sleeps on his belly he now has bald spots starting on each side of his head instead of on the back of his head like you see on most babies. On the top of his head he has started getting in some lighter colored hair. Now with Jacob we never had this problem because other than the well loved mullet he was pretty much bald and what hair he did have was blonde/red so you didn't really notice it falling out or coming in. This guy definitely has some bald spots forming and it will be interesting to see what color hair he has as a toddler. Jacob was red and turned brown (getting darker by the minute), I was a bleach blonde and ended up having brown hair....Paul pretty much has stayed brown and has gone from a lighter brown as a child to the dark dark dark brown that it is now.

I think it will be hillarious if Andrew goes blonde since he looks soooo much like Paul, for him to have the exact opposite color hair as Paul will be funny!

This is me at my 2nd birthday...blonde...blonde....blonde!

Week 11 - My first Halloween!

2009-10-31T14:16:00.003-04:00

Week 11 - My first Halloween
(10/25/09 - 10/31/09)

Is there really anything I have to say other than "Look at the picture above!!!" I mean seriously can you get cuter than that??? Andrew is still sleeping great this week and has gotten himself on a pretty good schedule that even coincides with Jacob's naptime for about an hour so I get at least an hour to myself which is nothing to sneeze at considering I haven't gotten any time to myself for the past 11 weeks!!!!

This week was just spent preparing for Halloween and although Andrew is far too young to enjoy it thanks to his Grandmother got to dress up this year as a pumpkin. Although it was a bomby 72 degrees so he only got to wear his outfit for a little while to get some pictures!

Week 10 - Jinx!

2009-10-24T09:21:00.003-04:00

Week 10 - Jinx!
(10/18/09 - 10/24/09)

I know that this blog is starting to sound like a broken record, but I have to talk about sleeping again this week. Although I am probably going to jinx myself by uttering even a single word or bringing even the slightest bit of attention to it. But I am feeling human this week because my little grunter has seemingly stopped grunting and started sleeping! Every day but one this whole week Andrew slept one 5-6 hour sleep followed by at least one 3+ hour sleep. But the most amazing part of all, is that he didn't do his hour and a half grunting session starting at 5am like he has for the past.......well.......his WHOLE LIFE!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed and hopefully will be able to move onto other topics for this blog other than sleeping!!!

Week 9 - Tell me about it!

2009-10-18T13:15:00.003-04:00

Week 9 - Tell me about it!
(10/11/09 - 10/17/09)

First let me say that I am the proud mommy of a 2 month old. It is hard to believe that Andrew is two months old already, boy time flies when you have one kid but when it is two kids...WATCH OUT!

Andrew has started "talking" this week. It is to a point now where Andrew will smile at you about 85% of the time now when you talk baby talk to him or make funny faces...sometimes he will just smile because he sees you or hears you talking (which is really cool). But what has changed this week is that sometimes it isn't just smiles but coos too! It is really kinda funny because his "coos" and "talking" can range from a cute little gurgley noise to a hard to describe "cute scream".....I don't know maybe I should describe it more like a squeal.......nope "cute scream" is more accurate.

Anyway the baby conversations have started and Paul and I are making complete fools of ourselves talking back to Andrew in weird noises and tones!

Sleeping still stinks, and I am to a breaking point! His sleeping during the day tends to be about normal, (at least to what I had written down in Jacob's baby book for him at this age) and his daytime sleep is very sound. However I might get one night of great sleep (5 hour block followed by 3 hours) and then he will decide to hardly sleep and toss and turn the whole next night.......I wish I had answers as to why I can't get this kid on a decent schedule. He isn't colicky and he sleeps soundly for the most part when he is asleep he just doesn't stay asleep for longer than 2 1/2 hours at a time during the night. Oh well....this too shall pass.....hopefully!

Week 8 - Peeking Through?

2009-10-11T15:52:00.003-04:00

Week 8 - Peeking Through?
(10/4/09 - 10/10/09)

This week Andrew starting having a little bit of personality peeking through! He of course is only 8 weeks old so still spends 80% of his day sleeping, but it is getting to the point where the time he is awake isn't just spent eating, but interacting! He is smiling more and more now and is even starting to look around and giving "inquisitive" little looks and raising and lowering his eyebrows to the point where you are wondering what if anything an 8 week old is thinking!

I can't wait to see what his personality ends up being. Jacob was a very serious baby and was always watching and soaking everything in around him, so far it looks like Andrew might be the same but you never know! Time will tell!

I also took an awesome picture of Paul and Andrew this week! You can really see the resemblance!

Week 7 - The first of many!

2009-10-04T14:01:00.002-04:00

Week 7 - The first of many!
(9/27/09 - 10/3/09)

This week was a big turning point for Andrew. As you can see from the pic above, he is starting to have a "social smile". Now don't get me wrong you might only get one or two "social smiles" a day so far, but these I am sure will be the first of many to come. I have in Jacob's baby book that he started smiling at 7 weeks too and would smile regularly and often by 12 weeks! I can't wait to get Andrew laughing and smiling all the time because his little chunker cheeks and double chin just make for the cutest smiles!

He is also staying awake for longer and is very very curious and looks all around. He has started following objects although the occasional ceiling fan will keep his attention trapped for awhile (what do kids see in ceiling fans...hehehehehehe). He makes great eye contact now and it is amazing how they change in just a short period of time. I remember a week ago I was worried because I wasn't getting a lot of eye contact and now he will stare at me and smile for a long time! I am just being a crazy mom! It is my personality flaw! ((GRIN))

Week 6 - Very Different!

2009-09-26T14:37:00.002-04:00

Week 6 - Very Different!
(9/20/09 - 9/26/09)

If I have been told once I have been told a million times that every child is different! The past few weeks have been pretty similar to what I remember from Jacob. Andrew doesn't sleep quite as well as Jacob but isn't a horrible sleeper so I can't complain. Overall Andrew is a very easy child, he does cry (what baby doesn't) but most of the time you can pinpoint what is making him cry and it is the usual culprits of hungry, dirty, gassy, etc....

This week though I started trying to figure out how I can get Andrew to sleep better. I do feel that Andrew doesn't nurse as well as I would like him to. Even though he is gaining weight like a champ he doesn't latch well and gets a lot of air in his tummy during feeding. Which ends up with a 20+ minute burp session where most of the time we still don't get all of the bubbles out. So this tends to make Andrew a light sleeper because 40 minutes later he could have another burp that will wake him up.

I do the proper thing of putting him on his back to sleep and that is fine but this week after 40 minutes of hearing him grunt and squirm at 3 am trying to get a bubble up, I said heck with it and put him on his side to sleep. I noticed that he could burp more easily and he seemed to quiet down. I also noticed that I could have him on his tummy on my chest and he could sleep for hours but once I move him to his back he would wake up within a few minutes of a good sleep. So during the day I have been putting him occasionally on his tummy to sleep. All of these things seem to help him sleep more soundly. I don't think he has reflux as he isn't showing the signs of that, I just think we need to get him to eat without getting so much air.

Jacob wouldn't have laid on his stomach for a million dollars! And this baby LOVES his stomach that alone is crazy for Paul and I! We fought and fought with Jacob for tummy time and ended up just giving up after a few months, luckily Andrew will be a lot easier but now I wonder if he will crawl before Jacob and do other "tummy strength" items sooner as well!

Week 5 - Visiting with family

2009-09-21T09:34:00.004-04:00

Week 5 - Visiting with family!
(9/13/09 - 9/19/09)

This week was a good week, the sleeping is starting to get better and two or three nights this week we have gotten two 3 hour blocks of sleep at night. Although his first 3 hour sleep has been starting at around 7:00pm so I can't take advantage of it since Jacob doesn't go to bed until between 8:30-9:00. But then with a 2nd 3 hour sleep that I can take advantage of I am starting to feel more and more human. It will only get better from here. I have in Jacob's baby book that he starting sleeping in 5 hour increments at around 6-7 weeks old. So I am crossing my fingers.

Andrew is also staying more awake and is getting more and more alert. He will occasionally make eye contact although isn't doing it constantly yet, that will come more in the upcoming weeks. We also got Andrew a minor surgery this week for a family trait that him and his brother had. They were both "tongue tied" which can affect their eating and speech. So with a very minor procedure and little to no crying we got that taken care of now instead of waiting until he is older and would remember the procedure.

We finally got out of the house this week and visited some family. My mom came up to the house and spent the weekend helping me with Jacob and Andrew, and then this week the boys and I packed up and went to visit the boys Great Grandparents for a few hours.

Jacob, Andrew, and Great Grandma and Pop-Pop

Pop-Pop, Great Grandma, and Andrew

Grandma and Andrew

Week 4 - Deja vu!

2009-09-11T21:39:00.003-04:00

Week 4 - Deja Vu!
(9/6/09-9/12/09)

This week I had an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu after giving Andrew his bath. With Jacob Paul and I over did it on the photos (as most first time parents do) and I am embarrassed to say that we probably have 300+ photos of Jacob from his first 3 months of life. I knew that I wasn't going to have the time to take that many photos of Andrew but have made a point to take as many as I can especially when a really cute shot presents itself.

I was messing around with my camera the other day and found that it has an option to take photos in sepia or black and white. I of course have had this camera for 2 years and just figured this out, but oh well....

So I saw this great shot appear as Paul was drying Andrew off after his bath and decided to take a pic in "black and white". After I took the shot nothing really came about with it other than a few "oohs and aahs" about how cute Andrew looked. Then today I went to take the pics off of the camera and put them onto the computer and when the image from bathtime was on the screen in a larger format I instantly got a sense of Deja Vu.....I felt like I had seen this picture before.

Now Paul and I think that Andrew and Jacob look alike in many ways. Their coloring is different which keeps some people from seeing the resemblance (Jacob was born a red head and Andrew is dark brown), but their nose, and mouth are definitely the exact and the jury is still out on the eyes because it is too early and Andrew is still too sleepy to really tell. But when I started to check into pics of Jacob from the same age I realized exactly why I was feeling that "deja vu" feeling........can you tell who is who????? One of these pics is Jacob at 6 weeks and the other is Andrew at 3 1/2 weeks!

Answer:
Jacob is the top picture, Andrew is the bottom one! Pretty similar....huh??

Week 3 - Rub a dub dub

2009-09-05T12:59:00.002-04:00

Week 3 - Rub a dub dub
(8/30/09 - 9/5/09)

This week was a milestone with Andrew, the first bath!!!! I remember waiting and waiting for Jacob's belly button to fall off so that we could bathe him for the first time and this time around with Andrew it was much of the same thing....waiting.....waiting.....waiting!

It took almost 3 weeks for everything to fall off so that we could give him a bath, and of course like most new babies he cried and screamed when we first put him in the nice warm bath but then quickly realized "Hey this isn't so bad!"

Andrew has also be gaining weight like a champ and is turning into my little chunker which I love! If you compare pictures of him from even 3 weeks ago it is amazing how different he is already! He doesn't sleep great, but I am hoping that it will slowly get better as we get more used to each other and our little idiosyncrasies! Like with Jacob I am having to adjust what I eat because of different items that don't agree with Andrew and being a nursed baby anything that will make his life less "painful" is fine with me even if I have to live on crackers and water for a few months! ((GRIN))

Week 2 - Mr. Squeakers

2009-08-31T17:38:00.000-04:00

Week 2 - Mr. Squeakers
(8/23/09 - 8/29/09)

It is hard to believe that we already have a 2 week old little baby but it is already going too fast! I can see Paul and I now blinking and Andrew will be a year old!!!

This week is pretty much the same, as Paul likes to say Andrew doesn't really do anything but eat, sleep, and poop! ((GRIN)) But the funny thing about him is that while he sleeps he grunts and squeaks! So the already lack of sleep that Paul and I are getting is becoming less and less because of "Mr. Squeakers" as we have named him constantly making noise and waking us up. As any new parent knows when you have a newborn you have bionic ears and even the slightest noise, breath, or movement tends to wake you up. So the first night the squeaks started Paul and I were up almost all night making sure that Andrew was OK and that the squeaks and grunts weren't because of gas, or hunger, or wet diapers.

Now that we know what to expect from our little noise maker we have been able to ignore certain noises and try and get as much sleep as we can (if that is even possible)!

But in the meantime the first nickname of Andrews life has come to pass and hopefully "Mr. Squeakers" won't last too long......for all of our sanity's sake!

Week 1 - Sleep? What's that?

2009-08-25T16:58:00.000-04:00

Week 1 - Sleep? What's that?
(8/15/09 - 8/22/09)

Well we have made it through the first week with a newborn which inevitably is always the hardest. With Jacob it was going from no kids to one and with Andrew it is adding a new baby into an already well oiled (and scheduled) machine.

Overall I can't complain about Andrews sleeping, as anyone who has had a new baby can attest to they sleep for about 21-22 hours a day with little waking other than to eat. So being on a two hour feeding schedule hasn't been too bad because even though it leaves little room for more than an hour to hour and a half of continuous sleep got me at least it is predictable and can be dealt with.

The hardest part has been to try and get in naps. With Jacob I could nap whenever I wanted but with Andrew I can only nap when Jacob naps which has been a little harder. I think we are all doing well and are looking forward to Andrew starting to stay awake more during the day and sleeping for longer periods of time during the night. The biggest thing that has changed with Andrew over the past week has been his face. Of course most newborns are all squishy looking and red and their faces are even sometimes beat up and swollen. So over this week Andrews looks have started to morph and Paul and I have spent a lot of time looking at him and seeing what he shares and doesn't share with his brother. We have gotten a couple of involuntary smiles and there are definitely two very deep dimples on this little guys face which will be really cute as he piles on the baby fat and gets more and more cuddly!

I'm here!

2009-08-18T09:31:00.001-04:00

I'm Here!
(August 15, 2009)

This blog is all about Andrew and how he will grow and change as the days and years pass! He was born on August 15, 2009 and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long! He has a big brother Jacob! This blog will be used as his baby book so updates will be made weekly (if I can find time with a newborn and a 2 year old!)!

Week 36 - Almost done!

2009-07-30T11:11:00.000-04:00

Week 36 - Almost done!

Well it has been awhile since I have posted about the new baby and I am happy to say that hopefully this pregnancy is almost done! Over the past 6 weeks my belly has continued to grow and my nights have continued to get more and more uncomfortable as sleep has become more and more a luxury! The anemia level for the baby ended up leveling out at about 1.25 which isn't an issue (according to the doctors) and starting this week I have also stopped taking the aspirin which thins my blood during the pregnancy to combat blood clots.

I have met with my doula multiple times, created my birth plan, and am overall just PLAIN OLD DONE with this pregnancy! I delivered Jacob at exactly 37 weeks and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have this baby in a week too, but something tells me that just because I really want that, I won't go into labor until week 40! UGH!

I haven't gotten any pictures of the baby for the past 4 weeks due to the fact that he is already head down and facing my back and has usually had either his foot or hand covering his face (just like his brother did). Yesterday during my measurement scan the sonographer couldn't even get a good measurement on his head because he was sooooo far down the birth canal and face towards back. She measured his head in the 80th percentile but told me that she wasn't confident with that measurement. His overall percentile ended up being in the 61st percentile, but the 80th with the head padded the percentile and he is probably more likely in the 50-55th percentile.

Hopefully the next post I make will be a birth announcement! Cross your fingers!

Week 30 - Almost there!

2009-06-20T15:19:00.000-04:00

Week 30 - Almost There!

We had another ultrasound last week but with the events of Jacob's fractured leg I am a little behind updating everyone. We actually got excellent news! The anemia level that they measure for the baby dropped last week from 1.31 to 1.2 which is excellent. They took about 5 measurements and as I stated in the last post they take the highest of the 5 which was 1.2. The doctor said that he is now not overly concerned about the intrauterine fetal anemia since there has been no significant increase nor steady incline over the last month. Now this doesn't mean that the new baby won't be born anemic because most symptoms of ABO incompatibility don't present themselves until after birth, but it is nice to know that everything with the baby is going well. They will still be monitoring the baby every two weeks and still measuring the anemia level each time, but without a drastic change I will most likely give birth before the anemia level would get up to 1.5 which is indicative of moderate anemia.

Next week we get another ultrasound with measurements so it will be exciting to see where the baby is in terms of his estimated weight and percentile. He was in the 59th percentile for size at 27 weeks and this will be month later. By this time with Jacob we were well into the 60th percentile and if you have ever seen Jacob he is always mistaken for at least 6 months to a year older than he is. He is a big boy and definitely looks older than he is. I will be curious to see if this little one follows in his big brothers footsteps.

We got a few good ultrasound images with this last scan and even got a good 3D image. Now I will warn people who aren't good at "viewing" ultrasounds that you will probably think this next image is just a blob, but I will have another image below it to try and help you out. Paul and I are now ultrasounds experts since between Jacob and this new baby we have probably been to over 60+ ultrasound appointments.

Two fingers under nose, eyes just above, righ arm up to the side of the head.

Arm up by side of head, hand under chin, clear image of nose and pouty mouth.

Here is one with labels hope it helps you see our new little cutie pie's face!

Week 27 - Good News

2009-05-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

Week 27 - Good News

Well we got through our doctors appointment yesterday and after 8 different tests of the babies anemia level we got the good news that it only went up to 1.31 which the doctor said was pretty much the same as two weeks ago and was good news. The even better news was that my doctor always takes the worst score and uses that, he likes to err on the side of caution and unlike most doctors doesn't average out the score from all 8 tests but takes the worst one. I actually like that about this doctor because I would rather know the worst result then have a false sense of security with an average. But because of this that means that 7 of the 8 results were lower than 1.3 which is great! If all 8 results would have been in the 1.3 range than that would indicate a truer level of anemia, but because only one result was 1.3 that is great! We have been bumped from high risk to extra high risk now though and will be getting ultrasounds and retests every two weeks to make sure the baby doesn't hit that ever dreaded 1.5 mark.

The coolest part of the exam yesterday was that the sonographer we got worked for 6 years at the University of Maryland and actually worked with the intrauterine blood transfusions. She proceeded to tell Paul and I that in the 6 years she worked there they NEVER lost a baby and only once did they have a complication where they had to do an emergency C-section but the pregnancy was at 36 weeks and the baby was born fine without any complications. That makes Paul and I feel a lot better about the possibility of having to go through that procedure.

We also asked TONS of questions and we also asked if Jacob had been given the same doppler exam when I was pregnant with him. The doctor looked up Jacob's records and told us some very interesting news. When I was 28 weeks pregnant with Jacob he was a 1.1 and the ultrasound that happened at 36 weeks 6 days (4 days before I gave birth to him) his level was 1.4!!!!! And he was born without any complications from anemia. He did have the bad jaundice and was in the ICU for 5 days but didn't need any sort of transfusion! So that just shows us that although his level wasn't as high as this babies it did get pretty high right before he was born. So hopefully this baby will continue to only increase by these teenie tiny amounts and not get past 1.4 before he is born.

I will keep everyone posted and our next appointment is June 12th. The baby is growing great and is in the 59th percentile! He is weighing an estimated 2.4 pounds and is kicking me regularly!

Thank you for all of your prayers and Paul and I ask that you keep them coming!

Nothing is ever easy!

2009-05-21T15:16:00.000-04:00

Nothing is ever easy! (25 weeks 1 day)
May 20, 2009

Paul and I learned last week that nothing is ever easy, and pregnancy certainly follows this rule. Not that Paul and I have ever thought having a child was easy. We are the perfect examples of how NOT EASY it is. We tried for 6 years to have a baby with two miscarriages and failed fertility treatments. When we finally did get pregnant with Jacob because of a blood disorder that the doctors found out I have I was on aspirin throughout the pregnancy only to find out once Jacob was born that Paul and I also have a condition called "ABO Incompatibility". This is where the baby has a different blood type than me, resulting in my body creating antigens against the babies blood. Imagine if you went in for a blood transfusion and they gave you the wrong blood type....your body would treat it as a threat and try and rid itself of the foreign blood. Luckily the placenta stops most of my anitigens from getting to the baby and causing serious problems, but some antigens get through. Some problems that can arise from an "ABO Incompatibility" are mild to severe jaundice and mild anemia. 95% of the time these problems do not occur until after the birth of the child. However in very rare cases (less than 5%) the anemia can occur while the baby is still in utero. With Jacob we were lucky and he only suffered mild-medium jaundice and was in the NICU for 5 days.

This week we got a doppler test of the babies cerebral artery in its brain (I was told they use this artery because it is the largest, not because it is the brain itself). If the results of this doppler test are above 1.5 then that is an indication that the baby is becoming anemic in utero. Our baby came back with a score of 1.3. We were told that this is fine as long as it doesn't go above 1.5 and that we need to understand that the score although mathmatically very close to 1.5 will need to go through all of the increments (1.31, 1.32, 1.33, etc...) before it gets to 1.5 so we will probably be OK since I am at 25 weeks. If the baby gets to the 1.5 level at or after 34 weeks the baby will just be delivered early and if a transfusion is needed then it will be given then. If the 1.5 is achieved before 34 weeks then an intrauterine transfusion will need to take place and we will have to travel to the University of Maryland to have this procedure done.

So needless to say I have EVERYONE I know praying that this will not happen and that the baby will stay well below the 1.5 score. We go back again on the 29th for another scan. The doctor did say that if this score was going to rise that it will consistantly rise throughout the next 10 weeks so if the score is still a 1.3 on the 29th we don't have anything to worry about because it more than likely will not rise enough for concern before the baby would be full term and can be delivered.

So whether you know me or not, or are religious or not, please pray for the new baby and a safe and FULL TERM healthy pregnancy!! We have been through enough and are ready for an easy pregnancy.

Week 21 - LONG LEGS!

2009-04-19T13:49:00.000-04:00

Week 21 - LONG LEGS!

This week was my 21 week scan and the baby is looking great! Unfortunately we didn't get any great pics because the baby was facing down towards my back so the ultrasound couldn't get any good profile shots. But that is OK because I am going back again on May 15th and hopefully by then he will have moved his way around for a good profile shot. One of the best pics I have of Jacob was his 21 week scan so hopefully we will get one more good round of ultrasounds before the baby gets too big to really see anything.

One funny thing about this baby is that he had his legs perfectly straight and was in a pike position (for those of you who know what that is). Jacob too would always be in this position. I remember when we got our 3D pictures of Jacob and instead of sucking his thumb like some babies will do Jacob was sucking his toes!!! Looks like this baby is set to do the same thing....hhhmmmmm wonder who they get that from.....

The picture above if you can't tell are of those LOOONNNNGGGG LEGS! To the right is the bootie, and to the far left are his feet which are crossed at the ankle. I have put a smaller image at the bottom that if you click on it will show you all of the labels for the image if you are one of those people who just can't figure out what the heck you are looking at with ultrasound images. We did get to see both feet, and both hands including being able to count all ten toes and all ten fingers. I don't quite know why they sonographer didn't print those images out but for some reason she only printed us out the legs and another shot of the "unmentionables" which I will spare my son the embarrassment of posting that on the Internet!

The baby still doesn't have a name, but Paul is working hard to come up with one. We decided that with this baby that if it was a girl I could pick and if it was a boy he could pick. However I am a planner and I have given him a deadline of June 1st because I need to start decorating!!! hehehehehehehehe We have a few names that we are throwing around but haven't decided anything yet.

The baby is kicking up a storm and I can now feel him every day some days stronger than others, but the doctor told me that when the baby is facing towards my back (which it was a few days ago) that I won't feel it very much cause it will be kicking into organs and my back and not forward into my stomach where most kicks are felt.

The baby measured 4 days more than what I am so he measured 21 weeks 5 days instead of 21 weeks 1 day. Jacob also ALWAYS measured about 4-7 days bigger than where I was, and if you have seen Jacob at 20 months he is 32 inches tall and 30 pounds. So it looks like Paul and I are going to have another big kid on our hands!

Cravings....

2009-04-02T13:35:00.000-04:00

Cravings....
April 2, 2009

Well it has begun, the cravings.....oh the cravings.....sitting here thinking about cravings, makes me want to go out to the local Starbucks and get my craving for this pregnancy. If you haven't figured it out my MAJOR craving for this pregnancy is a Tall Java Chip Frappacino from Starbucks. Now I know that traditionally caffeine is forbidden during pregnancy, but to my defense (and elation) the FDA recently released a new study that shows that pregnant women can have between 150-200 mg of caffeine a day. That is great since the Tall Frappacino that I get only has 100 mg!!! YIPPIE! Plus unfortunately or FORTUNATELY I live about 20 minutes from the closest Starbucks so my quantities are limited to only about two Frapp's a week.

It is kinda funny with what cravings I get during pregnancy. With Jacob my HUGE craving was McDonalds french fries and for those of you who know me you will attest to the fact that I NEVER eat french fries. I am actually not a big potatoe fan at all other than mashed potatoes so seeing me licking the containers of McDonalds fries was quite a site for some. Then towards the end of my pregnancy with Jacob the fry thing died off and was replaced by the intense craving for Peanut Butter, Banana, and Grape Jelly sandwiches ON TOAST! Now that might not sound too weird but I only craved EXTRA CRUNCHY peanut butter (you know the kind where it is 99% peanuts with 1% butter holding the peanuts together), and it had to be GRAPE jelly and it had to be on toast! I was going through about 2-3 of those sandwiches a day during the last 2 months of my pregnancy with Jacob.....hhhhmmmmm wonder why I gained 45 pounds!!! ((GRIN))

So this pregnancy is starting off a little different but slightly similar. Different as in you can't get any more opposite than Fries and coffee, but similar as in I am NOT a coffee drinker just like I wasn't a french fry eater. I am one of those people who will occasionally (1-2 times a month if not less) get an overly sweet, overly flavored coffee type drink. The true coffee drinkers in my family usually can't even stomach one sip of what I call a "coffee"!

So we will see where this craving ends, and what other horribly nutritious thing replaces it in a few months! Do you think I could crave carrots?? Salad?? NAH!!! Then what would be the fun of being pregnant!!!! BRING ON THE HORRIBLE JUNK FOOD!!!!

And we have a.......

2009-03-21T08:12:00.000-04:00

And we have a.......
(March 21, 2009)

Well I am 17 weeks preggo now and we had another ultrasound yesterday. Of course at first all of the important things were looked at that could jeopardize the safety of the pregnancy. All was well so the blood thinners I take during pregnancy are doing their job. Next the main items of the baby were measured, we got the feet, hands, femur, humorous bone, brain, 4 chambers of the heart and the head. Then I had to take her word for it but she showed me the bladder, both kidneys and the stomach. Sometimes I wonder if the sonographers are just teasing us sometimes when they tell us what we are looking at because honestly sometimes it just looks like shades of grey.

My mom went with Paul and I to the ultrasound, with Jacob my mom didn't go until the summer when I was 30+ weeks pregnant. If any of you have ever had an ultrasound in the 8th and 9th month the baby is so cramped that you can barely tell it is a baby. So this pregnancy we planned on my mom coming to an early ultrasound where the baby is small enough but formed enough that she would get some good pics.

So you are all probably wondering if we found out what gender of the new baby is......

When I first asked the sonographer to see if she could tell us what the gender of the baby was she said yes, but that is was early and she made me promise that I wouldn't start decorating the room until after the next ultrasound at 21 weeks. Well here it was the moment I had been waiting for for well.....17 weeks for.....there's the bootie, there's the legs....and there is an unmistakable......BOY!!!!!!!!!

Yep my spidey senses must have been on the fritz with this baby cause I have been calling girl from day one. But you know what? Now that I know we are having a boy I am really really really excited! I think this will be great. Jacob will always have a playmate and although I am not delusional in thinking that they will always get along I do hope that they will be close.

After the sonographer saw the image of this baby spread eagle for us to see the goods, she looked at Paul and I and said that basically we could decorate the room because this baby was not shy and she was 100% sure that this baby was a boy!!!

So now that I don't have to buy tons of girl stuff I will be able to focus on the new babies room and how to decorate it!!! YIPPIE!! My favorite thing to do!!!

More tests, UGH!

2009-03-12T13:04:00.000-04:00

More tests, UGH!

Just got back from the doctors and I am 16 weeks preggo! I got what they told me was the last blood test for this pregnancy which is great! I have horrible veins and the phlebotomist told me how horrible my veins were as she wiggled the needle in my arm and then got mad at me when I flinched in pain....what nerve I have!!!!

I am now one week away from the ultrasound that could tell Paul and I what gender our new baby is. Of course as I said in a previous post I have a feeling I am having a girl but who knows!!! The doctor today listened to the heartbeat and said....."hhhmmmmm I think you are having a girl!" when I asked him why he said that he said that in his 30 years of experience he has found that most girls have a faster hearbeat than boys. This really shocked me because usually doctors are so "by the book" that they never give in to old wives tales. I don't really believe the whole heartbeat thing because if you research it on the good old Internet it says anything over 140+ is a girl.....well someone should tell my bug picking, dirt loving, vroom vroom truck playing boy that he is a girl because his heartbeat was always in the 160's the whole pregnancy. But we will see what this baby is, I am praying he or she doesn't have their legs crossed next week.

I still can't sleep very well, like the cartoon above if I am not having weird strange dreams of what this kid is going to look like then I am awake because I am worried about having another kid and how Jacob is going to react and what I need to buy if we have a boy versus having a girl (which would be CLOTHES!). My mind just doesn't seem to turn off anymore. What kind of minivan should we buy, how much is that going to cost, can we afford it, why is my belly as big at 4 months as it was at 5 1/2 months with Jacob.....HOLY COW! if my belly is this big now what the HELL am I going to look like at 9 months pregnant!!! AAAAHHHHHHHH

Well I am off to try and take a nap which I am sure will only be in vain!

Second Trimester Here I Come!!

2009-02-21T08:44:00.000-05:00

Second Trimester Here I Come!

Well I have officially made it to my second trimester so I am hoping that some of my pregnancy symptoms start to go away. Actually I shouldn't say symptomS because I honestly only have one real symptom and that is not being able to sleep. For some reason with this pregnancy I can't sleep. I am up around 1:30-2:00 EVERY night and usually can't get back to sleep until between 4:00-5:00 in the morning. Then of course Jacob gets up between 7-7:30 so the hours aren't long between getting back to sleep and having to wake up with a raring to go 1 1/2 year old!

The doctors appointment went well this week. We got our "First Trimester Screening" test done which measures this pocket of fluid behind the babies neck to see if it is too big. I have researched this process and the have found that over the past 10 years or so they have determined that children with Down Syndrome have common characteristics even during the early stages of pregnancy. One of them being excess fluid behind the neck and also the absence or malformed nasal bone. They also take a small finger prick of blood and check protein levels and when they take all of the measurements they can give you a "percentage" chance of your baby having chromosomal abnormalities. Before the blood work came back we were in a 1 in 1200 range which is great, but after the bloodwork comes back the doctor feel we will be even better. The baby has a great nasal bone and with the measurement of the fluid behind the neck we shouldn't have anything to worry about.

The baby was moving around like crazy and as you can see from the ultrasound photos the difference in just three weeks in amazing. We actually saw all five fingers on one hand and saw two little feet as well. The baby is about 3 inches long right now and it still amazes me that it can be formed so perfectly and be so small.

We don't have another ultrasound for 4 weeks but should find out what we are having at the next appointment!

A face only a mother can love!

2009-01-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

A face only a mother can love!
(January 30, 2009)

OK first let me say that I know that 99.9% of the people that read this blog will have no clue what the heck they are looking at in the above sonogram even with the labels, but I wanted to post our latest picture. It still amazes me even though I have now gone through a pregnancy how quickly a baby grows and changes. Just two weeks ago my ultrasound looked so completely different my baby was just a blob (literally) with a heartbeat. Now just two weeks later you have arms, hands, legs, feet, and a definite head on a short body. There is still a huge proportion problem but all of the major parts are there. The baby was even moving (twitching) and during the moments of movement you could really see the arms and legs very clearly. Of course ultrasound pictures are always easier to see when you were there and not seeing them scanned into a computer and posted online....but hopefully some of you will be able to see what I see in the image above!

The baby is now a little over an inch long and has all of its major organs and a 4 chamber heart....CRAZY!

Everything is going smoothly and other than the fact that this pregnancy is keeping me up at night, making me feel nauseous, and overall has me feeling different than I did with Jacob there isn't anything wrong with the baby in terms of my scan and with a heartbeat of 176 and a measurement coming in at 10 weeks 3 days when I am 10 weeks 1 day is very exciting!

We are due back for another scan at 13 weeks and by then look out I should have some awesome pics of an almost perfectly formed little baby!

Mothers Intuition

2009-01-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

Mothers Intuition
January 21, 2009

When I was pregnant with Jacob I remember having this overwhelming feeling that I was having a boy. So much so that when ever someone would ask me I would immediately say "I think I am having a boy". Lucky for me that is what I had, but now that I am pregnant again and am starting to have those same "feelings" I wonder if Jacob was just luck....I mean hey I have a 50/50 shot at guessing right. Or do women really have "a feeling" on the gender of their babies?

This time around I am having the feeling that I am going to have a girl. I could honestly care less, on one hand having another boy would be great because I already have EVERYTHING for a boy and know how to work having a boy. But of course being able to have one of each would be great too, and we all know that little girls clothes are sooooo much cuter than boys clothes!

I am curious if I will be 2 for 2 on the "mommy intuition" this go around, and am curious how often mommies-to-be have these intuitions and how often they are right....let me know!

My little bean!

2009-01-13T20:34:00.000-05:00

My little bean!
(January 13, 2009)

Today Paul and I had our first ultrasound for the new baby. Since I am considered High Risk we will get an ultrasound at 8 weeks (which I am), 10 weeks, 12 weeks, and then every 4 weeks after that. I have a whole book of ultrasounds for Jacob and it was great being able to see him every few weeks. Since losing a few pregnancies it is nice to be able to have my stress relieved every 2-4 weeks by seeing a heartbeat or seeing a little moving baby.

My next appointment is in two weeks and by then maybe my ultrasound will actually look like a little baby, it was kind of a blob today so I am not going to be posting the ultrasound picture this week. But my little bean had a heartbeat of 167 and was measuring right at the proper length.

Paul and I will be finding out the sex of the baby because honestly I am HORRIBLE with surprises and with having an ultrasound every 2-4 weeks even the best person would be hard pressed not to sneak a peek at the "unmentionables".

I am having different feelings with this pregnancy that I didn't have with Jacob. With Jacob I had ZERO morning sickness (thanks mom for the great pregnancy genes) but I have noticed with this pregnancy if I have an empty stomach I will be extremely nauseous. I also have gotten my "bloodhound nose" (as Paul calls it) back. I can smell smells a mile away. I remember once when I was pregnant with Jacob that Paul came to bed one night and the smell of oranges was so strong that it actually woke me up, when I asked him if he was eating an orange he informed me that he had eaten one over 2 hours before but I could smell it as if he was holding it under my nose. I am DEFINITELY getting that particular symptom back!!!

The new baby is due on August 27, 2009 so Jacob and his little brother or sister will be exactly two years apart. That is a really good age difference so I am happy about that. One really neat thing that we found out today at the doctors is that we got our very first ultrasound of Jacob at 8 weeks on January 12, 2007 and got this babies first ultrasound at 8 weeks on January 13, 2009....pretty cool!!!

I will be documenting this pregnancy as things come up and trying to keep up with Jacob's blog too! Happy reading!