In love

I am completely and totally in love with my little tiny guy and his daddy!  I feel so blessed to have such a fantastic and supportive husband and healthy happy little boy.

 

Mom and I are having a nice time.  We went to the mall today with Noah and he did very well in his sling.  We had to stop for a little breastfeeding session, but then we were on our way again.  Tomorrow we are going to meet daddy for lunch at the park.  Noah was kind enough to take a nap with mommy today for an hour or so…I just love laying next to him and feeling his little feet snuggle next to me and he lays his hands on my chest.  So precious.

 

I officially quit my job today.  I have been on maternity leave since I had him and just decided that my new job of mommy is the most important job of all.  Gary and I are so fortunate that I am able to stay home and raise our son.  I can’t imagine any job that is more important.  I can’t thank Gary enough for holding down the work front so that I can stay home with Noah.

 

I hope you all are having a great week so far!!

Wonderful Weekend!

It was a busy weekend, but full of fun! 

 

Mom arrived in town Friday night safe and sound.  She was so excited to see Noah at the airport!  Then Gary’s parents and his sister’s family came to visit Saturday.  It is so great to have everyone around.  Noah is so lucky to have such loving grandparents and aunts and uncles.  Gary and I even had a date night.  We left Noah home with the grandparents and went to Red Lobster for dinner.  It was nice to get out and have time to ourselves, but of course we talked about the baby almost the entire time!

 

Noah continues to sleep like a champ!  We are still doing the co-sleeping.  I nurse him to sleep and he is now going for 3-4 hours of sleep at a time!  Last night I only got up with him one time to change him!!  Gary and I even enjoyed a 3 hour nap yesterday with him!  Getting more sleep has made such a difference for mommy and daddy and and happier baby!  I have to admit that even if he was able to sleep in his own bed I would still have him sleep with us!  I just love the closeness of having him near us and snuggling with him.  Soon he will be a big boy and won’t want to snuggle with mommy and daddy…so we are making the most of it now!

 

Noah is starting to smile more and almost seems to be smiling in response to us.  He is such a mild mannered baby and has really taken to being in the sling.  Mommy and Noah went for a long 40 minute walk Sunday morning and he slept almost the whole time in the sling. 

 

Mom and I are headed out to do some clothes shopping.  Unfortunately my post pregnancy body doesn’t want to fit in my pre pregnancy clothes, so I need to go get a few things to wear until I get back to a normal size.  The joys of having a baby!  I tell Gary that I have earned this body and the reason for my body being this way is laying in my arms.  It is worth it!  Gary always answers the way a loving husband would…"you had a baby only 5 weeks ago".  I love him for this.

 

 

One Month ALREADY!

Noah has his one month check up yesterday!  I can’t believe it’s already been a month!  He is getting so big and Gary and I were excited to see how much he had gained and grown.  He is now 8 lbs 10 oz and 21 1/4 inches long!  He is growing like a weed but still is only in the 25th percentile for his age…so he has some growing to do. He did very well at his appt and we really love his pediatrician.  He didn’t have any immunization shots yet, that will happen at the 2 month appt.  Mommy was happy about that!  We did get scolded for having him sleep in our bed…but we really don’t care since it is allowing mommy, daddy and Noah some great sleep!  of course, we certainly are being as careful as possible with him in our bed.

 

Noah did show off for the pediatrician and rolled from his front to his back!  She seemed impressed saying that this doesn’t usually happen until 4 months.  We are going to have a genius 🙂

 

Noah and mommy had their first grocery shopping excursion today!  Noah did VERY well and slept the entire time in his sling.  He really seems to love the sling, I wear it all the time around the house and in fact yesterday was able to finish all laundry, put new sheets on the bed, vacuum, clean the kitchen floor AND make a pie all with him in the sling!  He falls asleep almost immediately when in it and gives mommy two free hands!  I hate putting him down away from me so the sling has been great for keeping him close but also alows me to be free to get things done.

 

Noah continues to sleep well with mommy and daddy at night.  Last night he slept for 3 hours straight and then another 2 straight!  It has been wonderful!  Mommy and Noah even took a 2 hour nap today in preparation for a late night (my mom comes into town tonight rather late).

 

Overall we have had a wonderful week!!  We have enjoyed seeing him smile and change every day.   He is cooing more and focusing on faces much more intently.  He is rolling from his front to his back and lifting his head higher and higher.  He is such a sweet boy, very mild mannered unless of course he is hungry or poopy!

 

It should be a fun week ahead.  My mom is coming to visit for the week and Gary’s parents are coming this weekend to visit.  We love having gramma’s and grampa’s here!

Proud Sister

I am a proud sister and just have to share!

 

My brother Michael, a sophmore at the University of Arizona, sold his first photograph!  For the past year he has really taken to photography and has taken some beautiful pictures!  He really has a great eye for taking unique photographs and really enjoys looking for that perfect shot!  A gallery offered to put up a couple of his pictures a few months ago and this past week he sold his first print!  Very exciting!!  I am so proud of him! 

 

I am not only proud of his photography but proud of the person he has become over the past year.  Not only is he taking a full load of classes at the University of Arizona, but he works two jobs and has been offering to take wedding photographs FOR FREE on the weekends.  He’s a great kid.

 

Good job little bro!  Here’s to selling more prints!!

 

 

Another great day

Last night Noah slept well again next to mommy and daddy in bed.  He slept from 10:00 to 1:00 and then until 3:30-4:00 and was ready to get up.  After we got up and played a little he went back to sleep with mommy and let mommy sleep from 7:00 to 10:30 this morning!!  It was great!  I finally feel good during the day and not completely exhausted.  We had a little outting today to run some errands and he did as well as you could expect.  He did cry a bit in the car, but we headed home so he could eat.  He has been in such great spirits since getting better sleep.  He is so alert these days looking around at his surroundings and taking things in.  He loves looking at lights and windows.

 

I am really enjoying my days with him and just melt every time I pick up his little body!  I am wearing the sling more these days and he enjoys doing housework with mommy while in the sling!  He usually falls asleep to the sound of the vacuum cleaner!  Gary and I are both getting more and more comfortable with him and we are better able to read what he needs now.  He is growing like crazy!  We have his one month check up Thursday so it will be interesting to see how much he has grown.

 

Thank you for all your continued prayers.

Life is GOOD!!!

I must say that things at the Rice household are wonderful these days!  First off I believe the medication I am on for the Post Partum Depression is a life saver!  I feel so much better and am HAPPY and JOYFUL for the first time since we brought him home!  I wake up everyday now happy and excited about our day together.  I am more patient and just so peaceful about everything.  Also, we have been trying different things to work out the sleep issues in our house.  We started co-sleeping this weekend and it is WONDERFUL!!!  I would have never been open to this idea before Noah arrived, but after 4 weeks of no substancial sleep, we were open to new things.  I nurse him to sleep in our bed and we have been all sleeping 3 hours at a time!!  I only have been getting up with him 2 times at night and he is so much more peaceful while sleeping!!  I have even noticed that his daytime awake time is so different since starting the co-sleeping.  He is more alert and has been smiling at me on purpose!!  Mommy and daddy are getting regular sleep and everyone is so much happier!!  We have been reading about co-sleeping and it’s benefits for the baby and it is definitely worth it for us!  Plus Gary and I have been able to sleep in the same bed, which is very nice.

 

Noah and I went to visit my work today and we had a very nice outting.  We also went to the grocery store and to run some errands…it is exciting to be out of the house for a little bit.  This weekend Gary and I ventured out to Babies R Us with him and then even went out to lunch and he did so well!!  He slept through the entire afternoon.  It was a wonderful weekend.

 

My mom is coming into town this weekend and we are so excited!  I am especially happy that she is coming into a household that is happy and peaceful rather than how it was a few weeks ago.

 

What can I say, I love this little guy and his daddy more than anything in the whole world!!!

Technical Difficulties

It appears that Microsoft has been making some changes to its "Spaces" over the weekend, and to date we are no longer able to upload new pictures to our space.  Hopefully this will be fixed in the next few days, but we don’t really know for sure.  We are still able to Blog, though, so Noah updates (is there anything else going on in our lives!?) will continue.

Thanks for keeping up with the Blog!

 

Gary, Aubre, Noah, Ebony & Daisy

Not too bad….

The last couple of nights have not been too bad.  Gary has been taking the 8-11PM shift so I can try and get a couple hours of sleep and then I take over for the rest of the night.  Noah has been sleeping pretty well the last couple of nights giving me at least an hour (sometimes 2) of sleep in between feedings.  Last night he was extremely hungry and gave Gary a hard time before I took over….he downed 2 bottles of breastmilk in no time!  I think he might be going through a growth spurt.

 

He is asleep in his swing right now, so I better hurry and get some sleep in.

Doctor update

I have returned from my doctor appt.  First off, this was Noah’s second outting and he did such a good job!  He was a good boy and all the nurses and doctors were going crazy about how cute he is!  He has been so much more mild mannered than yesterday.  He has been sleeping between every feeding which is good for mommy’s sanity…but maybe not good for sleeping tonight!

 

The doctor talked with me for awhile and asked me about how I was feeling.  She proceeded to confirm that everything I was feeling was normal especially for a first time mom in the "hell month" (as she called it) with a new baby.  She said that I was not losing my mind, which was nice to hear 🙂  She did confirm that I might have some post partum depression but said she didn’t like to label new mom’s because every woman has these feelings to a degree.  She did give me a prescription for an antidepressent that is safe for me and Noah while I am breastfeeding.  She said it would help me feel much better, and that it would take the edge off my anxiousness and feelings of being overwhelmed.  She said I will only need to take it for 6 weeks for now, and then she will re-evaluate me after 6 weeks and see how I am doing.  She said that she actually had to take it herself with her new baby.

 

The doctor also checked my incision and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic since I have a small area that is still open.  She did say though that it is healing nicely.

 

So, all in all I am feeling much better that I am "normal".  I know that everyone keeps telling me that but it is nice to hear it from my doctor.  I feel better just telling someone how I was feeling, even though it is embarrasing to feel so upset during such a happy time! 

 

Noah and I are having a good day today.  He is such a sweet boy.  I really just want to be a good mommy and wife…that’s my focus everyday.

Long day!!

Yesterday was a long day for mommy, daddy and Noah.  Noah had a very fussy day, his first really difficult day….and hopefully not a snapshot of what is to come.  He was hungry every hour and was fussy in between feedings fighting sleep all day long.  After 4 hours of sleep the night before, you can imagine I was about to lose my mind!  After Gary got home in the evening Noah was extremely fussy and Gary was kind enough to take him out of the house so I could get some much needed rest for a couple hours.  I took over at 11 PM so Gary to get to bed and I have to say that the night wasn’t so bad!  I slept on the couch while Noah ate (not ideal, but hey sleep is sleep) and we both slept that way for 3 hours!  Then this morning Noah let mommy sleep for an hour while sleeping in his swing.

 

I am hoping today will be a better day for all of us.  I am headed to my OB/GYN this morning for a check up.  I have noticed that the baby blues are sticking around a bit long and don’t seem to be getting better, in fact often I feel like they are getting worse.  So, I am going to check in with the doctor to make sure it isn’t post partum depression.  Gary thought this would be a good idea too since I have been so upset lately.  I don’t know if it’s just from being overwhelmed and completely sleep deprived or something more serious….so we figured better safe than sorry.  I will let you all know how the appt goes when I return.

 

Please continue to pray for all of us.

 

Noah and I are headed out for a walk….it is a beautiful morning here and he really enjoys being outside!  I hope you all have a wonderful day!