top 5 in the fifth (week that is)

The top 5 moments and milestons from the five weeks of Austin:

5. Visiting Baylor and getting to see the bear

Last Saturday we took Aunt Judy and Aunt Janet up to see the Baylor campus during the weekend visit. This was Austin's first ever trip to my lovely alma mater. I know he had absolutely no clue where he was and he actually slept through most of our tour; but still I had an overwhelming sense of pride and joy to share that part of my life with him. As we walked around the heart of campus using his fabulous stroller for the first time, I could just imagine him a few years down the road running around and being so excited to see the bear. As we walked around the bear pit I got to share some fond memories of my time at school with Austin, Judy, Janet and Brent. While we were there we were lucky enough for the bear to come out of his cave and pose for a few photos. For our big outing Austin even wore his Baylor Baby onesie that he got from our good friend Mac. I look forward to taking Austin many more times to campus and hopefully watching him fall in love with the school I love so much.

4. Watching Austin grow and change

It seems like this week Austin has grown so much! He is no longer my tiny little guy who I held so much those first few weeks. He is eating much more these days as well. Those 2 ounce bottles are no more, he now eats 3 and sometimes even 4 ounces at a feeding. He is even starting get little rolls on his legs, under his chin and even his tummy is much more round. No more newborn diapers for our little boy, he has made his way to size 1 already. This of course means he is starting to out grow his precious little newborn clothes. We have already had to retire two of his outfits that he got from grandma Mary and aunt Lindsay. As fun as it is to watch him grow right before our eyes it already makes me nostalgic and reminds me just how fast he will grow up.

The first outfit he outgrew, and sadly I don't have a picture of the other one...he outgrew it too fast!!

3. Swing Sweet Swing

This week we have fallen in love with our baby swing. It is like magic when Austin has those fussy moments. We put him in his swing and within in moments he is calm and almost instantly falls asleep. It has been so nice to be able to get things done around the house, make a phone call or even go to the bathroom without the baby screams in the background. In the afternoons when I am by myself the baby swing is my sanity saver for sure. I know Brent and I love the baby swing but I am pretty sure Austin enjoys it as well. We cannot thank Aunt Judy enough for the best gift ever!

Little Austin enjoying some swing time!

2. Daddy Day Care

This week I had to go to training Monday-Thursday and Brent got to stay home with Austin all by himself. It was so hard for me to leave my baby boy for the first time but I knew he was in good hands. I don't know what they did while I was gone but I loved coming home to see Austin's cute little face. Each morning when I had to get up and go all three of my boys got to stay peacefully asleep in bed. Brent even did a great job of getting Austin packed and ready to go to our friend Amanda's house when he himself had to go to work at 2. Austin had his first babysitter for those 2 hours when he stayed at Amanda's house. He did much better than I did all week. Even though it was really tough leaving each day, I am glad I got these little practice workdays before I have to head back full time. I did my best to remind myself each day that while I am gone he is really just spending most of his day sleeping. I know Brent enjoyed his special father-son time each day and really got some good bonding in while he was in charge.

1. SMILES!

The best moments of this week have to be the smiles. Austin is really starting to be more alert and awake each day. He looks at you so inquisitively when you are talking to him and responds to whoever is talking by turning his head and trying to find them. We have been so lucky to get a few sweet baby smiles when holding and loving on him. Along with with alertness he is starting to enjoy watching is mobile and listening to the soft music. Austin's favorite thing to stare at is the curtians in the living room. I think the bright red color really captures his attention. He has also spent some more time on his tummy time mat and although he is still not sure about what to do while there, he will lay there content for a few moments at a time. I have tried to introduce a few new toys and other things to stimulate his growing brain but he is still not too interested. Other items to note for the week are that Austin is still doing well with his 1 formula bottle a day and he is still spitting up quite a bit but nothing to be too alarmed about yet. We are still working quite hard at getting him to sleep more during the night and are seeing some improvements there. Most nights we have our last feeding between 11 and 12 and will get 3 hour stretches of sleep after that. He hasn't slept in his bed yet but our goal of this next week is to make that move.

Attempting to play with toys but Austin is not too into that yet.

melt my heart!!!

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!)

3 weeks!

Hard to believe that our little boy is already 3 weeks old!! Austin has changed our lives so much in such a short time. Everyday we get to know him better and are trying to quickly learn his likes and dislikes. As for now it is very obvious that Austin prefers to be held-ALWAYS! He is such a sweet little cuddler and sleeper while in your arms but the moment you lay him in his bed, bassinet or bouncer he wakes up in a huff. We have also learned that Austin hates to have his diaper changed. The second that diaper is off he starts crying so hard that he loses his breath. It is such a heartbreaking cry but just cannot be avoided. Both Brent and I are getting much better at quick diaper changes to avoid the infamous fountain that comes with little boys. (But I will admit, we have each gotten hit by our fair share.) Austin also doesn't like to be covered up, just like his daddy.  Every time I try to cover his feet or legs, he kicks off the covers to leave his little feet exposed.  During this third week we have even been lucky enough to have 1 night with a five hour sleep stretch and 1 night with a six hour sleep stretch!! Of course that isn't the norm yet but it does give us hope that one day we will sleep again. Austin continues spend more time awake as the days progress and is so fun to watch as he looks around. Austin makes some of the cutest faces I have ever seen! Some of my favorites are his little smirk right after a feeding, his pouty lower lip when he is upset and those random grins. Of course I like to think that he is grinning at me and the funny things I say but that is probably not the case. This week also had some milestones for us. This week Austin went on his first real outing to Chick-fil-a. Everyone that works there was so happy to see him and they all oohed and ahhed over him. He even got his own little stuffed cow from the super sweet greeter. To all those who know our family well, you know what a big deal this is for our little family. This week we also had a big outing to dinner with all the couples from our bible study group. It was such a wonderful treat for me to get to hang out and talk with friends and just to be out of the house for something other than a doctor's appointment. Austin did very well at dinner both times, he slept nice and quietly in his car seat! This week has also been a week full of hiccups and spit-ups for little Austin. I finally finished all my antibiotics so hopefully the spitting up and throwing up will decrease soon.

 Austin's 1st trip to Chick-fil-a!!

Some random pictures of Austin this week in my two favorite onesies.

(Disclaimer: this part is more graphic!!)

As for me this week, it started with of course another trip to wound care but this week they put on a wound vac. So all week I got to be hooked up to a vaccuum that is supposed to be helping my incision heal faster by using negative pressure. This vaccuum includes foam placed inside the wound, a suction cup, LOTS of tape, nearly 2 feet of tubing and a lovely 3lb. battery pack that I get to carry with me 24/7!! It has been such a pain to deal with and a gigantic obstacle in caring for a newborn. You never really realize how much you get up and move around until you have something tethered too you!! The wound vac also meant that I now had to have home health care nurses come out every other day to clean and change the dressing. And although the nurses have been very kind and it has been nice to have to not get Austin all packed up, it still is not much fun at all. I go back to the doctor at wound care on Monday and hopefully I will only have to have this wound vac for another week.

Me with my wound vac and battery pack.  This is what I get to carry around everywhere I go!!

2 weeks!

Austin is now 2 weeks old!  I can't believe how much he has changed in such a short time.  He is starting to gain weight and even has the beginnings of a double chin.  We went to the doctor today for his 2 week weight check and blood work.  He hasn't made back to birth weight yet but he is getting closer at 7lbs 14 ozs. Austin's second week has been mostly a week at home.  Unfortunately the week started with my c-section incision getting infected and opening up.  I will spare the rest of the information and details since many think it is "disgusting".  But needless to say, we have been to many doctor's appointments and not been able to do much else.  We only had one outing this week and that was to get photos developed and order his birth announcements but other than that we have been home bodies.  

Other developments for the week are that Austin is starting to be awake just a little more during the day and spend some time looking around.  We are all still working on sleeping more in the night time.  As of right now we only make it in 2-3 hour stretches.  Austin has even had 2 bottles this week and did very well with both of them and Dad really enjoyed getting in on the feedings.  Austin had his first manicure this week and I was able to cut and file his nails without any injuries.  It did take some time since he would clench his fist almost every time I would grab one of his little fingers.  This week has also included much more fussy-ness for little Austin.  Due to my unfortunate infection and need for very strong antibiotics; Austin has quite the upset stomach.  The medicine I have to take is so strong that it makes him throw up and not feel well at all, but hopefully after the required 10 days it will pass and he will return to a less fussy little boy.  This week also brought a return visit from Grandma Karen and a few other visitors including Carrie, Jeanette and Anna.  Austin's second week ended with his first holiday at home- the 4th of July!  We didn't go anywhere since he is still so young and I had my open wound.  We instead had some family and a few friends over for some hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill.  Austin wore his new Old Navy flag onesie but that was pretty much the extent of his celebrating since he slept through most of the "party".  

 

Austin wearing his "baylor baby" onesie that Mac got him!!

Our "All- American Cutie" on the 4th of July & family photo