Video issues

Mike and I have been taking several 2 minute and less little videos of Ryan with our camera. However, I can't seem to get any videos to upload anymore to my blog. Any suggestions? I'm not sure what the problem is. Perhaps with our new camera the size comes across too large?? Anyways, after about a half hour of waiting each, I got a few uploaded on facebook- so I'm letting everyone know so they can go and check them out on my profile page. I'm just not patient enough to wait over two hours and it still not work on the blog. Hope you can enjoy him there! :)
Love,
Emily

Ryan is 4 months old

Slumping over!

He got really excited for this one, but fuzzy camera!

Something is funny!

What's going on over there??

Our little man is now officially 4 months old!! At his well child visit he checked in at 26 inches (90th%) and 16 lbs (75th%).  He is growing like a weed! He got his shots again which was sad like last time, but at least I didn't cry this time! :) The Dr gave him the okay to start baby rice cereal and oatmeal anytime between 4-6 months. I went and bought some at the grocery store yesterday, but haven't fed it to him yet.  I keep going back and forth about waiting a little bit longer. On one hand I get excited to see how he would do and try it out with him.  On the other, I've read several things about the benefits to baby of breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months. I have friends that have started cereals at 4 months and those that have started at 6 months. I am torn about what is right for us (him).  When I do start all the baby foods I'd like to make them on my own because I have heard it is very easy to do and can save you a lot of money in the long run as well as giving baby fresh veggies and fruits which means less preservatives.  What has Ryan been up to this month? Well, he loves his feet! He holds them and sometimes even puts his toes in his mouth. His new thing is also standing. He wants you to hold him standing so he can bounce and look at you right in the face all the time.  He is also consistently rolling from tummy to back in his crib and sometimes on his play mat.  He is getting so close to rolling from his back to his tummy and gets all the way on his side and you can tell he's trying to get it, but hasn't accomplished it yet.  He is wearing size two diapers and Pampers brand continues to be our favorites! He is wearing some 3-6 month outfits, but mostly getting into 6 months for the one piece outfits.  He laughs when being tickled (and he is VERY ticklish!!) and sometimes laughs in response to Mom or Dad doing something he thinks is funny! He got to go swimming on Memorial Day for the first time in the Roberts' pool.  He liked to splash, but was really only interested in the water for about 10-15 minutes then he was ready to get out. Could have also had to do with the fact that he needed a nap and was close to a feeding during his two different pool times.  I have yet to see any of his swimming pictures because I forgot my camera and so Mike took them all on my Moms and she's not yet uploaded them to her computer or Shutterfly for me to steal! :)  Ryan's sleeping much better in general approx 8:30pm-4:30/5am, feeding then generally up by 7am. The past few nights he's been a little off and I'm not sure why, but hopefully he gets back to his steady routine soon.  His eating schedule is much better too and ranging from every 3 hrs-4hrs during the day (if he gets a good nap he occasionally goes the longer time, but when he's awake it's right at 3 hrs).  He is also a little drooler for sure.  Some of this could be due to the fact that he is upright a lot more than he used to be, but we keep burp rags nearby for constant "drool-catching".  I don't think he's teething yet, but he does love munching on my fingers and puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.  He likes to play with people's faces and touch their mouth (sometimes inside), nose, cheeks, and facial hair. I'm trying to think of more of his accomplishments this month, but overall he's just becoming much more alert and active and enjoys interacting with other people.  He does get startled by loud noises sometimes after which a very sad crying spell will ensue.  I know babies are more sensitive to noise, but hopefully as we introduce him to loud things he will get more adjusted and not so scared.  He is still getting nighttime baths (almost) every night, but doesn't always get Bible stories anymore because he has started anticipated the feeding after bath time and gets very anxious and basically throws a tantrum until I go ahead and feed him and put him to bed.  I play a lullaby CD while he nurses before bed and he typically goes to sleep without a cry and when he does cry it's only for a few minutes. He has a blue bear he loves to have in his car seat with him when we go places and he also loves holding his burp cloth.  I change it everyday so it's not a specific one, just holding on to it is comforting. Attached are some of the attempts at a 4 month picture.  I have a feeling this is only going to get more and more challenging as each month passes. He is already starting to notice the "sign" and wanted to touch it when I put it down, but I distracted him from it for long enough to get a few pictures.  None of them are just perfect, but they are pretty cute. I think that's all for this month's post- Enjoy the pictures!

Ryan photos

Loving some tummy time on the Boppy pillow

Mommy's so funny- our little smiley boy

Mmm yummy fingers

Mommy trying to catch a picture of me holding my toes (a new favorite thing to do)

I love playtime!

Ryan's Surgery

Yesterday our little cutie had surgery. After he was born when they were planning to perform his circumcision they discovered he had a type of hypospadias. There are several types and the Dr said 1 in 20 male babies is born with some form. His particular type was where the tube of the urethra didn't close all the way up to the tip of the penis. So basically, it was like a longer opening for pee which could cause him trouble down the road.  They don't do the procedure before 3 months of age because he had to go under anesthesia. So, we went to USMD hospital at 6am yesterday and his surgery was scheduled for 8am.  The Dr was right on time and it lasted about 30 minutes.  Dr. Pinto was Ryan's urologist and did a nice job and I even overheard the nurses praising him on being on schedule and "whipping in and out of each surgery". Ryan couldn't eat after 4am so of course he was starving and probably scared right after because he was as mad as a hornet when we got to see him in recovery.  The nurse was holding him and trying to console him. He was crying and it was very sad, but I was able to nurse him right away in the recovery area.  He threw up a little bit of mucous and blood right after, but it was likely from having been intubated during the surgery. While he ate he kept trying to cough and clear his throat.  The nurse said his throat probably hurt, but he just didn't have any way of telling us. It was pretty pitiful. After that we checked him out and he slept on the way back to my parents. We had decided to spend the night at their house in FW since it would be an early morning and they live down the street from the hospital.  I filled his Tylenol-Codeine prescription that afternoon because he seemed to finally be in a lot of pain.  He seemed pretty zoned for awhile as I had placed him in Mom's swing for him to rest and eventually it pretty much knocked him out and he slept for an hour and a half. (he never takes long naps) Mike went back to work around lunchtime and Ryan and I headed home at 2pm. He nursed at 3pm and slept again right after feeding until 5pm (2 hrs!) I gave Ryan his medicine one more time in the evening and even when he was awake he was so quiet and would just sit and stare at things so Mike and I decided we didn't like the way the medicine seemed to make him feel.  I was nervous if he would sleep well or not after all the naps or if he would be in pain last night, but he went down after eating at 7:45pm and would've been able to have more medicine at 9:30pm.  However, he didn't wake up until 4am to feed. I gave him regular infant Tylenol after his feeding just to make sure he was comfortable as he went back to sleep.  Then he slept until 7am and has now been up for the day.  He seems much more comfortable today although every now and then he lifts up his legs and kind of makes a face or fusses, but it's not crazy crying.  I held him a lot yesterday to comfort him and plan to continue through today if he needs me to just because after a procedure like that I think a little spoiling is okay. :)
~Emily

My first Mother's Day and Ryan's Dedication

This past Sunday I was able to celebrate my very first Mother's Day! It was a very special day. It started off with my sweet husband making me breakfast in bed of open faced fried eggs and cheese on toast with grapes and a glass of orange juice.  Ryan woke up and helped me open my gift of a new watch and an adorable Precious Moments card that Mike had helped Ryan to sign his name in. After breakfast Mike entertained Ryan while I got ready for church, then I fed Ryan and got him ready while Mike got ready. Ryan had his church dedication at the 10:30 service along with 3 other families who were dedicating their babies that day (and a few older children as well).  After his dedication they took us out in the hallway to have family photos taken and unfortunately the photographer was in the band so it took awhile before we were able to re-join the service.  Ryan had 23 relatives attend the service to show their love and support of him.  The pictures are listed below, but the color is funny due to the lighting on stage. 

Following service we had 19 join us at our house for a Mother's Day lunch.  We enjoyed Chicken Spaghetti casserole, salad, garlic bread, fruit, & cheesecake for lunch.  It was very tasty!! Thanks to everyone who helped to prepare a great meal.  Mike and I entertained guests until around 3:30pm on Sunday and then just relaxed the rest of the evening.

Ryan's schedule is working out so well these days. He has bath time at 7:30pm and is usually in bed asleep by 8:30pm.  He has been sleeping until 4:30-5:30am and then goes back to bed after eating until 8am.  It's amazing to get this amount of sleep again and makes my days a lot easier and more productive.  I've started making lists and schedules again because I realize that is how I function the best and get the most things done instead of continuing to put things off for "another day".  Ryan is so active and really seems to be learning a lot about his world these days.  It's so cute to see him concentrate on different things.  We had his professional 3 month pictures taken the other day and they were absolutely adorable. I can't wait to get the pictures I ordered back and framed and (be patient grandma's/great-grandma's) some even given away as gifts. ;) Hope all the Mommy's out there had a great Mother's Day. We are very thankful for both of our Moms and Grandmoms.

~Emily

Ryan helping me open my card

Ryan's gift to me a new watch!

My breakfast

Ryan in his dedication outfit

He looked so cute! I wish the collar would've stayed down for pictures

Family photo before the service

His name and photos are on the screen behind us- hoping someone got a picture of that

The message theme is Good, Bad, and the Ugly- hence the lighting and decor

Ryan is 3 months old!

I can't believe our precious little boy is 3 months old! (I think I say this every month) People really aren't kidding when they say that time passes by so quickly. Here are some of the latest achievements for little Ryan. He laughed for the first time on April 15th, but had a much longer laughing time on May 1st that was hysterical!! He is making more and more precious oogly googly noises that are so much fun! He really enjoys "talking". He loves to hold my hand, clothes, or chest when feeding and really enjoys grabbing at almost anything now. (Including my hair- hope I don't go bald from him pulling it out!!) He now hits the music mirror on his activity center to make it sing and pulls down the froggy for it to sing on his bouncer. He is wearing size 1-2 diapers, but we will probably start putting him in size twos in the next week or two after I use the 1-2 Pampers from a Diaper cake (thanks Mar!!). He is just starting to wear 3-6 month clothing, but still fits in some 3 month outfits. We don't have a Dr's appointment this month so we don't know his weight and length, but he is getting so tall and probably weighs around 13-14lbs. He's just growing like a weed! :) He has much better head control and I even tried putting him in the Bumbo chair once- not quite ready for that, but cute! He LOVES his exersaucer that his Aunt Vivian and Uncle Matt bought for him. He has to lean forward in it, but he grabs and pulls at all the toys and it is so cute! His eating schedule is also getting soooo much better! He eats every 3 hours during the day, goes down to bed around 8-8:30pm after a bath, Bible story-read by Dad, and feeding.  He sleeps 7 or 8 hours and wakes up at either 3 or 4am for a feeding then usually back to bed until around 7am.  He is taking 3 naps during the day- two hours after each feeding. They generally last from 45min-1 hr.  His newest thing is really enjoying standing- not on his own of course.  He just locks out his legs and is so strong and just needs to be supported, but he loves it. He will look around at everything and just "talk" and grin. It is precious! He also enjoys sitting and facing out to see things and has started noticing the TV so we have to turn him away so he doesn't just sit and watch it.  Anyways, I think that's most of his newest achievements.

Also, we are happy to announce that Mike's brother Matt and sister-in-law Vivian are expecting a baby BOY around September 23rd!! We are so thrilled for them and excited that now Ryan will have a girl cousin AND a boy cousin close to his age! It sure will make for fun family get togethers over the next several years. Matt and Vivian revealed the gender to the family yesterday (on Ryan's 3 mo bday) by opening a gift that would be either blue or pink.  At their sonogram appointment they had the tech write down the gender on a card and they picked a pink and a blue outfit at Zoe and Jack's and gave the card to the salesperson who secretly read the card and wrapped which one it was. How fun!! I couldn't have waited as long as they did to find out, but it was neat being revealed with the family altogether.  After the big reveal we enjoyed a yummy salad, pizza, and cupcakes (some said boy some said girl).

Hope everyone has a great start to May! The weather is finally warming up and feeling more like Texas around here. This weekend Ryan will be having his child dedication at our church- and on my first Mother's Day- how special!! The family will then gather back at our home for lunch- we will be bringing 21 extra people to church with us this week!!  We sure are looking forward to it! Best wishes for a Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!!

~Emily

Back to Work

Well, this is my last week of maternity leave. It is crazy to think that on Saturday it will be 12 weeks since our little guy was brought into this world. We just love him so much!! Anyways, that means back to work for me. Luckily, I will only be working 16 hrs. a week and from home. I think it will be a little challenging initially with Ryan's schedule varying, but if he does as well as he's done this weekend and today with napping everything should work out just fine. I plan on him staying home with me, but having my Mom or sister, Maggie to come over occasionally when I have important demos/calls, etc. I will try to group them together for everyone's convenience. I think it's a great opportunity that I've been given and I will do my best to make it work out, but I'm being open-minded and realizing flexibility will be a must. If things don't go well then I will ask to take extended time until Ryan is a little bit older.

The weather has been getting much nicer lately and Ryan and I have taken a few walks around the neighborhood. I'm also getting braver about taking him out on my own for errands, grocery runs, etc. (I found this to be a little intimidating at first- esp with his 2hr feeding schedule- sheesh!) He has a very nice 3hr sometimes more between feedings now and is generally waking up once during the night to feed (although sometimes twice). I'm hoping this stays consistent or gets even better!! Ryan's been eyeing his feet and hands a lot lately and even grabbed onto his foot for a minute during bath time last night. It was so cute- he was very happy about it! Which reminds me, Moms- do you typically bathe your little babies at night or in the morning?? Up until now I've always bathed Ryan in the morning sometime after his first feeding. However, last night I bathed him before bed and then rubbed Johnson's Bedtime lotion all over him, fed him and put him to bed. He seemed to sleep really soundly and very well. Not sure if these factors had anything to do with it or not, or if he was just tired. I do plan to repeat it tomorrow night and see if the results are the same. I wonder if you could comment on any of your experiences- pros/cons. Thanks!!

~Emily