Where has this year gone!?!

4 months...

4 Months have sped past at lightening speeds. It's hard to believe how pregnancy can go so extremely slow but once the baby arrives, time flies so quickly. Colin is changing every day - especially over the last two weeks or so. He is really developing a personality! He is such a smiley boy and is more and more interactive every day. He nurses every 2-3 hours during the day still but sleeps through the night most of the time so I can handle that. He still sleeps a lot during the day but I think it is time to start transitioning him to fewer, longer naps rather than the frequent, shorter ones.  He now weighs 11 lbs 12 oz. and is 23 inches tall! What a big boy!!

5.11.2012 - 4 months exactly

• Let's see, this past month Colin has become a rolling machine! He has been rolling from his tummy to back consistently since he was only 7 days old but now he is much better and faster at it. He can roll from his back to his tummy some now too.
• We had to retire his bassinet and move him into a pack n play to sleep :( He can still fit into his bassinet but he is moving WAY too much to stay in there. Now that he is in the pnp he moves all over the place in it. I never know where I'll find him in there or what goofy position he will end up in!
• When he is laying on his stomach (assuming he doesn't flip immediately over) he can scoot all over the place. He lays his head down, puts his hiney in the air with his knees under him and propels himself forward with his legs. He looks like a little inchworm.
•  Just this past week or so he has really started reaching for and grabbing toys. He would hold on to things that I would hand him before but now he is doing it on purpose and all by himself. It's so cute!

• He is now officially a chatterbox! This child talks ALL. THE. TIME. Sometimes he even "talks" himself to sleep. I love standing in my room listening to him. He sure does love the sound of his voice (and we do too)!

Colin has also developed some traits that are not so awesome but I know it's only temporary!

• He has decided that there are two people in the world: The Momma (me obviously) and NOT The Momma (everyone else he comes into contact with). He has become quite attached and will often start screaming as loud as he can if I pass him off to someone else. Athough I am so extremely proud that my boy loves me so much, it would be nice if he would let someone else hold him so I could have a break every once in a while! Besides, I think he has hurt some people's feelings when he doesn't want them :(.

*Everytime I think of Colin's apparent view of everyone else (not the momma!), it makes me think of this clip from the TV series Dinosaurs...

• He REFUSES a bottle if we are out in public. Just picture the loudest, angriest baby you can imagine. This is what he becomes when we attempt to stick a bottle in his mouth. I normally nurse him but I have a stash of milk in my freezer and when I go out it would be really convenient to feed him a bottle. Nope, not gonna happen! He used to take it without a fuss but now it just makes him mad. Oddly enough, he WILL take the bottle if we are at home or in the car. As long as he can't see any strangers he drinks the bottle right up. Maybe it's a security thing for him to nurse when he is in an unfamiliar place, I don't know...

Well, that is my Colin update :) Now it's time for an update on the first born...

• Aidan is just being as goofy as ever. He is definitely his father's son. He says so many things that have us laughing (and sometimes shocked) constantly. I really need to be better at writing the things that he says down... I'll work on that...
• He absouletly loves playing soccer and has really improved his skills. It is adorable watching all of those 4 year olds trying to figure out the right way to run and steal the ball from their own team members. Too funny.
• Also, Aidan is officially signed up for preschool for the fall. What happened to my little 5.6 lb squishy newborn that I had just 4 years ago!?! He is very excited about school and I think he is really going to enjoy it. He's ready to go now! Me... Not so much :)

 I probably need to have a separate blog post about how I'm doing at this point. Things definitley aren't great. I am having a lot of lingering problems related to my difficult pregnancy and I'm having a hard time knowing what to do about everything. I wish that things had just resolved immediately when Colin was born but they did not and now I need to figure everything out...

Here are some pictures that were taken over the past month. I FINALLY have some pictures of me and the boys! Alex isn't in any of them but I'm working on that.

4.14.2012

4.14.2012

He's going after the ball!!

4.14.2012 - My sweet little soccer player!

4.23.2012 - this boy has killer blue eyes :)

4.24.2012 - Snuggling with one of his aunts!

4.30.2012

5.4.2012

5.5.2012

5.7.2012

5.11.2012

My sweet 4 month old...

5.11.2012

Yay for sleep and soccer games!!

Colin slept through the night for the first time last night!! Who hoo!!!!! It was amazing :) He went to bed at 8:15 pm, got up to eat and 5:30 am and then went back to sleep until 8:15. This makes for one happy baby and mommy!!! I hope he keeps this up...

In other news, Aidan had a soccer game today and he did very well. This is his first time playing a team sport and the first couple of games he was a little scared to go after the ball but not anymore! He played the entire game and even scored 3 goals. Go Aidan!!!

It's so cute watching these little guys play

This is right after he scored one of his goals. He was so proud!

sweet boy

3 months...

Well, it's been 3 months already since our precious little baby came into the world. He is getting bigger and stronger every day and is quite the cutie. He now weighs 10 lbs 2 oz and has finally out grown newborn diapers! He still fits in newborn clothes (most go up to 12 lbs) but he is also starting to fit into size 0-3 months clothes. This past month he strarted smiling ALL THE TIME! Just in the past week or two he also started "talking". It is the cutest thing ever. He has other new tricks too! When I lay him down on a blanket he can scoot across the floor. Craziest thing ever but he does it. He has fallen in love with an elephant blankie that he has and he MUST have it to go to sleep. I keep saying I'm going to buy a back up but I haven't done it yet. Another new thing that he is doing is blowing bubbles and chewing on everything he can get his hands on. He also loves to lick things - my arm, my shirt, my sister's finger, ANYTHING!

Colin is still sleeping about 16 hours every day and even though he isn't sleeping through the night yet, I think we are close. He typically goes to bed around 8:00 pm, wakes up to eat at 3:00 and 6:00 and and then wakes up for the day at 8:00 am. Not too bad at all!

Aidan is getting so old! He seems to grow up and do something new every week. He now takes showers all by himself and everything. He's growing into such a big boy! He is still enjoying his brother but it feels like we are constantly reminding him not to kiss him too much and to stay out of his face. He just can't seem to remember on his own. If that is the biggest problem we have though I am very thankful.

I went with both boys and Alex's parents to Lego Land this month. I was a little concerned how Colin would do because he was just 10 weeks old and it was over a 3.5 hour drive each way but he did amazing and Aidan had the best time. I was so glad to be able to spend that special time with Aidan. I feel like I missed so much with him while I was so sick. Last summer was a time that I hope I don't need to remember and I want this one to be the opposite. I'm not going to let having a baby stop me. Colin will just come along for the ride. Aidan is growing up so fast and I don't want to miss any more!

Here are some pictures from the past month!

3.14.2012

3.19.2012

3.23.2012

4.4.2012 ~ Big big smiles!

I love his baby blues!!

Colin loves when his big brother talks to him!

I'm so blessed :)

two of my handsome boys (3.18.12)

Little piggies! (3.20.12)

Daddy was teaching him everything he needs to know about cars... (3.22.12)

3.24.12

Just me and my little bit - there aren't many pictures of the two of us because I am always the one taking the picures! I need to work on that.... (3.30.12)

Just Chillin' with my Peeps!

Happy Easter to all of our "peeps"!

Just wanted to say a quick "Happy Easter" to everyone and leave you with a few pictures. We are spending the day at church and with family today! I'll also post some pictures that were taken at our church's Easter egg hunt last week. Aidan loved it and came home with way too much candy :)

This is our very first picture that was taken of all four of us.... It's about time!

At the Easter Eggstravaganza!!

BFFs!!!

My sweet boy gathering his loot...



LEGO land!!

We went to Legoland yesterday for the first time! It was a blast. Aidan loves everything LEGO so it was really awesome to see it all through his little boy eyes. The weather was perfect, Colin did great for such a little guy, and we all just had a great day. The only thing that could have made it better was if Alex could have joined us but he had to work.

I got very car sick on the way there so that was really rough. It was like being in the midst of my pregnancy all over again so mentally it was really hard to handle. Blah... I felt better once we got there though and the drive home wasn't as bad thanfully. Here are some pictures of our day!

Kennedy Space Center!!

Las Vegas strip

Aidan loved looking at all of the legos

This is what we saw of Colin most of the day :) He slept in the stroller so peacefully...
such a good baby!

He earned his driver's license!! lol

:)

Going to a theme park is completely exhausting!

It was a very exhausting day and I could barely move by the time I came home but we had a great time :)

Two months already come and gone...

Colin has been here for two months already! Life just seems to go faster and faster as time goes on. Colin is growing like a weed! He weighed 8.13 lbs at his two month check up and has outgrown most of his preemie clothes. He is now wearing newborn diapers and clothes. He still rolls over whenever we lay him on his stomach and he is becoming more amd more observant every day. He loves mommy (although I am his sole food source so I wouldn't expect anything different!) but he absolutely loves listening to his daddy amd brother talk too. He has started social smiling but only every once in a while. He still makes us work for it! Aidan was smiling constantly by this point so I am getting impatient but his pediatrician reminded me that we need to go by his adjusted age for milestones (when he was supposed to be born) instead of his actual age so at this point he is only about 3 weeks old. He is an old pro at nursing and he absolutely loves his bed. He still wakes up to eat at night but he is doing very well for his size amd adjusted age. He sleeps an average of 16-17 hours every day (12 of those hours are at night). He does have a fussy time every evening but I think most babies do so we just deal with it. Giving him a bath during this time really helps keep him calm though...

My health update:
Every week since Colin was born I have had weekly (and sometimes twice weekly) appointments to my hematologist to follow up on my blood clots and monitor my blood levels because I am still on blood thinners. I have been receiving twice daily injections of Lovenox into my stomach since my clots were discovered in November 2011 and was also placed on Coumadin after Colin was born. My levels have FINALLY reached a level the doctors are happy with so just this week I was able to stop the Lovenox injections. My sore stomach is VERY thankful! I will be on Coumadin for a while longer to make sure I do not develop any more clots but that's much better that two shots a day! My hematologist wants me to go see a couple of other doctors but I have been putting it off because I am so DONE with doctors!! I know I need to go, and I will. I just need more time. My right arm still turns a lovely shade of purple and goes numb which is the reason I need to make an appointment with my vascular surgeon and some of my blood work came back abnormal so I am supposed to go to a rheumatologist for that. Anyway, enough about all of that. I'd rather not think about it... I am still dealing with the emotional toll that HG took on me as well as the physical toll. I wish I could just forget it all happened but it's not that easy. Just thinking about the past year gives me feelings of anxiety and makes me sad for all that I missed. My body is a mess from being depleted of nutrients for so long and then spending so much time in bed at the hospital and with all of the aches and pains I have I sometimes feel like I'm 80 years old rather than 25. Don't get me wrong, I am SO thankful to be feeling so much better that I did when I was pregnant and SO thankful to have two amazing healthy sons and my husband. I just think that God is trying to work on my patience and it is HARD! It's a process and I need to get through it...

Aidan has been as cute as ever and loves his little brother so much! He prayed the other day and thanked God for giving him the "right" brother. I am so glad Aidan doesn't have any issues with jealousy towards Colin. I think part of it is the fact that he is older and is taking on more of a "helper" role. In fact, Aidan loves his brother so much that he unfortunately "shared" his cold with Colin despite our efforts to keep them separate. Because Colin's little lungs are weaker he ended up with pneumonia from his cold but he doing well now. I'm looking forward to watching my boys grow up (but hopefully not too fast!).

That's all of the main updates for this month so it's on to another explosion of photos! I will try to start updating more frequently so I won't need to cram so much into the monthly updates but for now, this is what there is...

Spending time in the Emergency room for pneumonia at 5 weeks old. He cried himself to sleep :(

just hanging out with daddy