1 Month!!

Warning- this is a long one!!

It is hard to believe that a month has already passed since Austin's birth. I cannot imagine or even remember life without him. He has brought so much joy to our lives and we are completely in love!! The first month with Austin seems like it has flown by but yet somehow it seems like he has always been part of our family. We have tremendously enjoyed watching him grow and change in the last 4 weeks. This fourth week has been a biggie and brought some major milestones for Austin. The biggest has to be that Austin finally got to and surpassed his birth weight. At his weekly weight check on Wednesday Austin weighed a whopping 8 pounds 10 ounces!!! What a chunky little monkey we have on our hands! At the beginning of the week his umbilical stump finally fell off and we got to see his cute little belly button. That of course meant he could have a real bath! Austin really enjoyed his big boy bath and getting to sit in the warm water. During his bath Austin did not cry at all; he just sat back and relaxed. This week also included many more outings for Austin. We have been to of course more doctors appointments for me and my wound. But we have also been to a few more restaurants including Ninfa's, Poppa Rollo's (a Waco must!!), Chipotle (daddy's favorite), and of course another trip to Chick-fil-a. This week Austin also went on his first shopping trip to Target where we had to buy more pacifiers (since we had lost 1 already) and baby wipes. During this week Austin even had his first visit to my school. I had to go talk to my principal and I got to show Austin off to the office staff.  Austin also had his first bottle of formula this week. He did very well with it and will hopefully continue to do so seeing as how he has to be a complete formula fed baby by the time school starts in 4 weeks. All I can say is that formula may be easier but it is much stinkier! Austin still seems to have his days and nights confused as far as sleeping goes but we are trying to be patient and work our way through it. We had 2 nights during this fourth week in which Austin stayed up crying until 5am!! Luckily Brent and I make a good team and can take turns with the late night holding and swinging. These late night screaming and crying adventures are what helped us decide to break down and get a baby swing.  As Austin neared the 1 month mark I finally was able to get the birth announcements finished and mailed out.  It took quite a few shots to get a sweet naked baby picture but we finally got one that would work and the announcements looked adorable!

The first outfit he has already outgrown!  I can't believe he is growing so fast!  Goodbye newborn clothes.

1st shot of Austin's belly button without his cord.

1st time on his tummy time mat.

The photo we used on his birth announcements.

This week also brought a few more visitors to meet little Austin including 3 of his wonderful great-aunts. Aunt Janet and Aunt Judy made a very special trip from Tulsa to meet Austin! They both loved holding and cuddling our sweet little boy all day. They also enjoyed taking tons of pictures of both Austin and Elliott, who loved getting some special attention of his own! Austin was definitely a star in their eyes just like he is in ours everyday. During their visit they helped us pick out and get a baby swing. A BIG thank you goes to Aunt Judy for that sleep-saver for us and I am sure Austin will enjoy it almost as much and Brent and I will. (He is peacefully sleeping in his swing as I write right now!!) We all loved having Janet and Judy here and hate that they live so far away. Janet and Judy weren't the only great aunts that came this week, Valerie also made a surprise visit meet Mr. Austin! My mom and aunt Val drove up on Sunday to help us celebrate Austin's 1 month birthday. We all enjoyed sitting around, talking and admiring Austin. They were even sweet enough to hold Austin while Brent and I enjoyed a much needed nap. We want to thank all our aunts for visiting and sharing our joy with us this weekend.

   Aunt Janet & Aunt Judy

Janet, Judy and Brent putting together the swing.  Austin, Elliott and I helping.  Austin in his swing for the 1st time.  It worked like a charm!!

Aunt Valerie

As for an update for me and my wound care this week, I got to take off my wound vac!! This week included another visit to wound care and 2 visits from my home health care nurse Rick. On Wednesday, after 2 weeks of having to tote around the wound vac, I finally got rid of it. Rick decided that was time for it to go and I was free again. The removal of the vac meant that I had to go back to twice daily wound dressing changes but that is better than being attached to a pump 24/7! In happier wound news; I finally was cleared to drive. It had been weeks since I had driven myself anywhere and it was really nice to get out on my own again. Who knows how much longer I have until I am completely healed but at least I am making some progress.

To my Austin:

You are the joy and light of my life. I am madly in love with you more and more each day. I love getting to know you and share each day with you. You have changed my life completely and I wouldn't want it any other way. I love getting to hold you and look into your sweet big blue eyes. You have the most precious little hands and feet I have ever seen and your little thighs and cheeks are getting chubbier everyday. Even when you cry I can't help but love that lower lip of yours that pouts and quivers. I am trying my hardest to hold onto every moment with you in this special newborn phase but can't wait to see how you will grow and change and find out if that hair is going to be red or not!!

~ love you always and forever~ your mommy

Every month I plan to post the "official" picture of Austin in his nursery chair.  This month he wore one of my favorite outfits; a gemini onesie from baby gap. (As you can tell he is impressed!)