A Festive Season

We had an incredibly special Christmas season with the new baby. I loved cuddling in with him during my last month of maternity leave.  Our days were spent playing & prepping for all of the parties. It was so fun to decorate the house, cook, do Christmas shopping and wrap the presents.  We had constant Christmas songs streaming, candles lit, a fire in the fireplace and love in the air!

Of course, I felt that I was constantaly thinking of loved ones & praying as well.  From the tragedy in Newtown, to my dad's first Christmas after the stroke, our loss of beloved Uncle Terry along with our friend Robert still in the hospital after his 8/4/12 accident...  It was a incredibly difficult December for some and, even during our best days, we had others on our minds.

What some of that tragedy taught us is that life is incredibly fragile and needs to be cherished as much as possible.  I feel we had a lot of those moments this month.  Dom had his first visit with Santa!  I was glad we had Omi with us at the mall because we didn't know that parents showed up at 7am to get a spot for when it opened at 11am.  Ugh!  When  my (gasp) bribery didn't work, Omi & I befriended the line manager and he snuck us in after our yummy lunch at Corner Bakery.

Dom thought it was a good idea to spread the holiday joy, so visited Brenda & Robert in the hospital.  Even though he got VERY loud & hungry at one moment, little Dom was the light of the room.  We could tell that Robert genuinely enjoyed seeing him.  For me, it felt so great to give Bren a hug. They have been through so much these last 5 months. We pray for a strong recovery.

We threw a pot luck & Toys for Tots drive at our house for friends. Everyone brought a toy -- the tree was packed with presents -- thanks everyone!  We had a fun kids craft table set up where they could decorate a tree with stickers & crayons. The kids all got a little bag full of candy, stickers & crayons.  The adults all received a Christmas CD party favor with our favorite songs.  

We also went to a really fun sausage party & present exchange at Brian & Terra's.  The gifts Nick & I brought were stolen a few times, proof that they were a hit!  Mine was a faux fur blanket & Nick brought a mini keg of German beer.   What we came home with:  cute kitchen stuff & a set of grilling tools.  We were happy with the trade ;)

Our Christmas Eve was amazing.  The fam all came over for fondue dinner.  We did filet mignon, Hawaiian Marinaded Chicken, Onion/Garlic/Herb marinated chicken, shrimp & cocktail smokies. We had tempura batter for dipping before frying & 4 different sauces: horseradish sour cream, sweet & sour, honey mustard & bernaise. We also had veggies and apples for dipping. And who can forget the champagne & swiss cheese fondue AND Nick's handmade Italian Cream Cake with homemade frosting.  Yum!!!  The conversation was fun, the candlelight in the dinig rroom felt special. All-in-all it was a wonderful evening.   

On Christmas Day, Omi & Granddad (Mike & Terry) came over for brunch & presents.  We had eggnog, mimosas, egg casserole, bacon and fruit. We then went over to Aunt Leslee's in the evening with the rest of the fan for more amazing presents and a great prime rib dinner. Can you tell I loved all of the FOOD this holiday?! 

"Over the River and Through The Woods to Aunt Leslee's House We Go."  Christmas Day SNOW!

Merry Christmas to All!

 

This Christmas Season, I also really cherished the time home with Nick & the baby. We had a fun week full of fun things like a trip to the art museum & a day where we stayed in PJs and watched SEVEN movies including the Toy Story Trilogy.  Now, after the new year, it will be the start of a new endeavor for us... mom heads to work & well be a busy fam of 3! 

"ANOTHER photo mom?!"  

3 months old

Dear Dom,

Mommy & Daddy love you SO much.  With every day that passes, you show us something new.  We find so much joy with you in our lives & can't imagine a world without you. You are such a lovey snuggler. You're my munchie, my bubba and my sweet, sweet little boy.  You're on the cusp of laughing and we're waiting with anticipation to hear that awesome sound.  Here are some updates in the world of you!

• Milestones: You now visibly recognize us & can track us as we walk across the room.  You debuted the wonderful pterodactyl screech during church one morning. Hey, who can blame you... you wanted to keep eating your bottle instead of burping ;)   You still LOVE lights and now you are really enjoying your toys that have lights & mirrors
• Smiles: You love to smile and give us huge grins from your crib as we greet you in the mornings.  I also perfected a voice that can make you smile -- I feel so lucky that we have that connection.
• Hands!  You found your hands & are obsessed with them. You suck on them, clasp them, grasp them, wave them, fling them (sometimes into your own face -- ouch!)  It's really funny to watch you grow & learn. You will be VERY good at the itsie bitsie spider one of these days. We have been practicing! 
• Legs!  You are a standing machine. You love to stand up with mom & dad there to help you balance. You have super strong legs and a strong neck. It's fun to watch you move your hips.  We can tell that you are very proud of yourself.  It's also fun to see your neck. Until now your head has rested on your shoulders. Now that you're stronger, you hold your head up independently and show off that cute, strong neck!
• Lots of travel firsts! You went on your first airplane ride, visited 2 new states (WI, IL) and mommy learned how to install your carseat base in many cars.
• Weight:  you are now 13 pounds!  That's double your birth weight, big boy!  
• Debuts:  On your 3-month birthday you debuted both your bumbo chair and tummy time via the boppy. You loved both (well, the lifespan of love for the boppy tummy time is only about 2-3 minutes.)
• Dislikes:  Things that you aren't such a big fan of include coming out of the bath, switching sides during a feeding and waiting to eat.  Oh and you are also not a fan of tummy time unless it's on daddy's chest.  Hey, though, that is a very small list of "dislikes". You are SUCH a good, sweet baby :)
• Talkative!  When we got home from Thanksgiving a few days after Nick, I could tell that you missed seeing your dad.  You were talking up a storm with him the night we got home & the next morning. The two of you have conversations that no one can rival.  One day I will get it on videotape because it's just about the cutest thing ever!
• Sleep:  We started keeping your daytime naps to 2-2.5 hours & it infinitely helped your nighttime sleep schedule.  In the past you slept from 1-5pm but now you only go down for a few hours, which has improved the nighttime!  Our trip to Wisconsin also actually helped your sleep schedule. You went down around 10 or 10:30pm and slept until about 5am, then fell asleep again until 8am.  Now that we're back home you usually fall asleep around 6 or 7 pm and wake for a small 10pm feeding, or sometimes you go down for the night around 8 or 9pm.  Occasionally you'll wake for a 3:30am feeding but lots of nights you stay asleep until around 5:30 am.  Now that dad is studying for his CFA exam before work in the mornings, he will change your diaper and bring you into me in bed for what dad calls, "Dom's breakfast in bed."  I'm so glad I learned how to nurse you laying down while we were in WI.  That was soooo nice to learn, though I do have to set my sleep timer for 15 mins when we begin feeding or you & I will fall asleep. I wouldn't want to roll onto you - eeek!  
• A Typical Day:   You wake up around 5-6am and daddy brings you in for a feeding. Sometimes we'll fall back asleep but usually we wake up & start our day.  I will do stuff on the computer with my coffee for awhile while you take a little snooze.  I also try to get a little housework done in the morning (and sometimes a shower.)  When you wake up around 8-9am, we play a bit, get dressed & head out for errands around 10am. We love Central Market but we also do baby yoga, Target, the mall, etc. You're a very good shopping buddy. You usually fall asleep on the way there & will snooze for some of it.  We come home around 1-2pm for your feeding. After that you're wide awake for awhile & we do tummy time, standing exercises and read books before your nap. You sometimes get a little fussy in the late afternoons so I've started carrying you around the house in the Bjorn.  It settles you down a lot (usually) unless you're hungry & then it just makes you fiercely mad!  We give you your bath around 5-6pm. Then you have dinner & fall asleep pretty quickly after that.  
• Ticking clock: This is our last month together before I go back to work. It breaks my heart into a million pieces to think that our days together like this are limited. Maternity leave has been the best 3 months of my life. I love cuddling in with you, running errands, baby yoga, naps together and so much more.  However, people who love you VERY much are going to be watching you, including Grandma Terry (Omi) who is child-develepment extraordinaire! 

3 months old!

My favorite photos of you this month

Your first day in the Bumbo chair. You love the snail which plays music, lights up and has a mirror.

Where did November Go??

What a blur the month of November was for us! It's December 4th, and while I should be putting up a post with Dominic's 4-month photos, I feel that I need to get Thanksgiving up first!  We had a wonderful time in Lake Geneva. Dom & I went for 8 nights. It was absolute heaven to be with my mom for a long visit. She just loves our little baby so much & it's wonderful to see them together.  It was also good to see my dad's progress after the stroke.  Out of everyone, his funny faces & loud voice make Dom smile the most.  Dominic also met his great grandma Lydia for this first time which was so special.  Thanksgiving with all of the aunts, uncles, cousins was so warm & cozy -- it made me miss everyone up there so much.  Dance parties, grandma throwing her hilarious Christmas goods auction (with auctioneer Nick), photo albums being passed during dinner... so many good memories were made this year.   Also, big news!  Cameron and Rich got engaged so it was wonderful to have another soon-to-be family member hanging around all weekend.

Dominic was everyones' little buddy. He got passed from one person to the next the entire weekend. Some babies would get frustrated by that, but our little guy did so well (thankfully!)  His car seat went in & out of many different cars over the course of the week. He came wedding dress shopping in Chicago.  He traveled up to Madison to see my best friend, Kim, and her boys. We also had a wonderful baby shower/sip & see thrown for us by my mom's friends. It was a wonderful night filled with love & good friends! Perhaps the most important event of the week was that he was BAPTIZED!  It was such an incredible day. More to come on that in a later post :)

SOLO TRAVEL:  I have to admit that I was nervous about traveling with the baby alone due to Nick's work schedule.  It turns out that Dom was a travel angel.  On our way to Wisconsin,  our travel day lasted from 6:15am to 3:30pm.  I was armed with a bottle & paci for takeoff & landing but he slept almost the entire time.  What a sweetie.  Our trip back to Texas was very drama-filled, though the baby caused none of it.   First, American wouldn't let me board early with the baby. Yes, Seriously. They said, "we now charge for early boarding."  Single traveling mom with a baby, stroller, car seat, car seat base, and 2 bags.  Thank you lovely gate agent for having compassion (NOT!)  oh well!  Then, I sat us in the wrong seats and only found out after I had belted us both in & the plane was almost full. d'oh! Then, I FELL DOWN on the jetway, stroller and all. Thankfully the baby was fine because as I went down I was able to keep the stroller from falling all the way over.  How I managed that embarrassing moment is a story for another day!  

Here are lots of photos from our wonderful week.  The pics came from lots of different cameras & phones with good & bad lighting.  It's the memories that matter, so here they are!

Our First Travel Day

Meeting the family our first day in Wisconsin

Thanksgiving Brunch with Bourbon Bubbly (so yummy!)

Thanksgiving portraits

Thanksgiving dance parties, cuddles & Makers

Sip & See

Snuggles at home 

Cheers to the God parents (left) and bundled up (right) 

2-month check -up

Oh what a day yesterday... Dominic went in for his 2-month check-up.  I'm happy (or is it sad??) that the baby did a lot better than I did. Dom handled his shots like a champ.  He turned red & angry but was happy the instant the nursed picked him up to cuddle him.  I had a list of about 10 questions for our pediatrician.  Can you tell I'm a new mom?? ;)  

NC realized that Dom has been favoring on the left side of his head when sleeping.  The pediatrician agreed & told us the "gentle slope" of his head is very mild. We will need to move the head to the right when he sleeps & hangs out in his swing.  I will also need to increase the amount of tummy time in the day so that he can strengthen and loosen the muscles on both sides of his neck.  She said that the neck muscles should be good in 2-3 weeks if we are diligent.  She gave me the name of a therapy place that sells sleep wedges (so he leans to one side) and gives neck exercises. I will be calling them. They are also the company that makes the little baby helmets, though I'm hoping we can correct Dom's habits so that he won't need the helmet.  The helmet thing, along with the shots & the fact that I feel bad I didn't notice his head shape, is part of the reason that yesterday was so tough on me. However, I need to keep everything in perspective.  We are SO happy that we have a healthy baby boy.  The doc did say that this "head slope" thing happens to a lot of babies.  She also mentioned that we caught it early & within a few weeks Dom should no longer favor a side.  Fingers crossed! 

Dom's stats:  10.8 pounds (25th %).  He was 15th percentile at his 2-wk checkup and 7th percentile at his 2-day checkup.  Good job growing, little man!  

Ready for his big appointment!

big boy!

Happy mom & baby (haha - pre shots!)

sweet little one getting cuddled after his shots

fell asleep after a good nursing session, post shot

"take me home mommy, I've had enough of this place."

so happy to see daddy

2 months old!

Dear Dominic,

It's been the most memorable 2 months of our lives. Thanks for the love, little man!

Eating:  We have a hungry dude on our hands.  You sometimes eats up to 6-7oz in your nighttime feeding with dad (and dad does follow all of the feeding "rules" like feeding slow, burping mid-feed, feeding you on an incline, etc.)  I'm still breast feeding & it's going very well.  God bless the lactation consultants - they were so wonderful & helped me thoroughly enjoy breastfeeding. I introduced the pump so it's very nice to have dad help with the feedings. I know you & dad love the time together. It's also nice for mom to be able to leave for a solo errand or date night with dad.  

Schedule & Sleeping:  We don't have a "routine" per se, though we are settling in.   You wake up anytime between 5-7am, depending on when your last feeding was.  We'll change you & feed you first thing -- you're always VERY hungry when you wake up at that time! You usually fall back asleep for a little morning nap & then eat again around 9am.  Then, it's easiest to do our errands in the morning.  We'll head out around 10am and get a lot done!  Sometimes we'll stop to feed you around 11 or noon and other times you'll sleep peacefully until 1pm or so.  You are always hungry by 1pm though!  After that feeding you'll stay awake for a bit but then fall back asleep until 3-4pm.  Another nap!  Then you're up to eat around mom & dad's dinner time (haha - perfect timing.)  You like smaller, frequent (cluster) feedings between 7-10pm. YOu'll eat a tiny bit & then fall asleep in my arms. If I don't move, you'll stay sleeping peacefully. However, if anyone else takes you or if we try to put you down, you'll wake up ready to eat again ;)   While this is sometimes "tough on mommy" as dad likes to say to you, it's also very special for me. You are such a cute, snuggle bug. I also take a lot of happiness & pride in that I can help make you so peaceful and happy.  You'll usually go down around 10pm and sleep until anywhere from 12-2am.  After that, it's a guessing game. You've slept from 1am until 5-6am but then you also like to wake up a lot for a 3:30 feeding.   I'd say your typical nighttime eating routine would be this:  10pm, 1am, 3:30am and 7am.  Dad usually takes that 1am shift so mom can get a good chunk of sleep.  Mom does really well with the 3:30 feeding but that 1am is just tough!  Mom & dad are planning to work on your sleep habits as you grow to 3 and 4 months old to prepare for when mom (sigh) goes back to work.

Likes: The lights (nick calls you our little moth). If there is a window in the room, you'll be staring at it. You also LOVE to eat. I'd say it's your favorite thing.  You also love playing in the bath with warm water. Right around 2 months you've also started paying attention to the mirrors on your toys. You will stare into it & make faces.

Dislikes:  Still the same as last month!  You HIGHLY dislike when you have to wait to eat. I call it "Mach 3" when we really get to hear those lungs!  Getting out of the bathtub is also not a favorite of yours.  While we are working on tummy time, you don't seem to like it at all. 

Milestones:  We had our first smile at 7 weeks! It was marvelous.  You went to the bathroom all over your changing mat & made the funniest face. My laughter caused you to break into an ear-to-ear grin. Since then we've had a few grins & lots of little smiles. You melt my heart. 

Baby-sitters: It's a family affair! So far you have only been left with Grand Sam, Aunt Lydi, Omi & Granddad.  Aunt Leslee is next up for some baby-sitting time so that mom & dad can go to a movie!

Mom & Dad's Favorite:   Hands down, smiles are the best.  We both love the smiles.  I also cherish our time together in the day.  I feel like we have such a special bond & I'm getting-to-know your awesome little personality. You are really such a sweet, good-natured baby.  It's wonderful being your mom.  Oh & dressing you for Halloween was also a favorite for me!  You looked so adorable as a little cow. You can thank your Aunt Cami for the cute costume!

Just A Walk In The Park

We had a great Saturday. It started with breakfast at Cindy's, our favorite neighborhood joint, followed by an OU win!  We then met Matt & Danielle at the new Kyle Warren Park in downtown Dallas. The park is located above Woodall Rogers Freeway & connects the Arts District with uptown Dallas. It's crazy to think that the park is built on an overpass. Impressive!  There's a dog park, free fitness classes, a childrens' park, croquet, ping pong tables, a putting green, a reading "room,"  a giant chess board & live music.  Tonight Nick has made pizza & we're about to settle in with a movie & sleepy baby.  Mark this down for a great day :)

touchdown!

3 weeks makes a big difference. Look at that face filling out!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our adorable little heifer!

Busy Boy

Dom has been a busy boy these days!  On Friday Daphne came over to meet Dom & have some lunch. It was so nice to catch up. I'm glad we live in the same city again!  

Dom & I took a looong nap on Friday afternoon and woke in enough time to throw our Jersey Shore costumes for Jen & Kent's Halloween party. Their new house is awesome - congrats to the new homeowners!  Dominic loved Jen's Halloween mix, mainly the Monster Mash and Day-O.  I now sing them both to him as he bounces on my lap.  

On Saturday, while Dave & Nick went golfing, Dom & I bundled up & headed to Lori's baby shower. We celebrated Baby Axel (due 12-15.) It was fun to see Lori, meet her mom & catch up with Natalie.  The hostess's house was beautiful. I absolutely loved that there was a fire burning in the fireplace. Fall is upon us!

On Sunday we headed over to the McDonoughs for a pumpkin carving party. We missed last year because we were busy moving in. Michele is the ultimate hostess with her great decorations, pretty labeled food & plenty of beer/wine on hand ;)  While everything was beautiful, the atmosphere was totally casual & comfortable. Parties with kids are new to Nick & I, so on the drive home we agreed that it's a fun new scene to be in :)

Family shot (top-left).  Michele & I with the babies (bottom-left.) Michele's decorations (right.)

Nick carved a family pumpkin (top-left), Dom & Grayson were born just 1 day apart - aren't they cute!? (bottom-middle).  Mary cuddling Dom (bottom-right.)

 On Monday Melissa threw a mommy & me Halloween gathering. She, too, had great decorations & was quite the hostess. She also had plenty of crafts & a bounce house for the (oodles) of toddlers running around. It was very impressive for a gal due with baby #2 in just over a month.  Everyone loved Dom's little cow costume! He was such a cutie.

Kendall & Dominic with the mommies (top-left.)  Pumpkin butter party favors (bottom-left.)  Melissa & Dom (bottom-right.)

Growing with the Nap Nanny

In a few days, Dominic will be 8 weeks. It's crazy how time flies. Here are some shots in the Nap Nanny. I like how it shows how much he has grown!

Dom & Mom

Every now & then Dominic makes expressions that reminded me of my baby pictures. This morning I found the photos.  Funny the resemblance!

Newborn Photo Shoot

We had a great photo shoot with Double Take Photography when Dominic was 10 days old (mid-September).  I'm excited to get a few of these blown up onto canvas & hung in his nursery! Sweet Dom gave us a great smile for his birth announcement. Thanks to Aunt Lydi for being a great photo assistant (not to mention getting peed & pooped on!) Now THAT'S Auntie love!