It's a girl!

On Monday, May 11th at 2:14 p.m. Christianne and Brian were blessed with another little girl - Lola Jane Jones. She weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 20.25 inches. Nolan and I took a trip to Mankato to meet her yesterday. Boy, is she tiny - especially compared to Nolan! And so cute. She looks a lot like Lalayna did when she was born. Christianne is doing really well and will be home from the hospital on Thursday. Adam and I, along with Brian's brother Mike, are the godparents. We can't wait to watch her grow up!

Nolan is changing almost every day. We recently bumped him up to 5 oz. of formula in hopes it will satisfy him for a longer period of time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I think that's the hardest part of being a parent, the trial and error. All kids are not made equal, so what works for one will not work for another one. Right now we're just trying to get better at anticipating his hunger. If you don't catch it right away he goes from 0 to 60 in about a half second. It's a lot more stressful making a bottle with a kid screaming in your ear!

It's been fun to watch Nolan find his voice. He coos and talks all the time. So far it sounds like he'll have a pleasant little voice! He still loves his activity mat and will lay there and bat at the toys for long periods of time, up to a half hour or so. He also started grabbing on to toys this week and holds on to them. I'm not sure if he realizes what he's doing, but it's fun to watch him do it. He's still sleeping in his car seat 99% of the time. I've heard it's pretty common for kids to not like their cribs right away, so I'm not too worried yet.

This last weekend we made our first road trip to Browerville to visit my parents. We had a great time. Adam went fishing with his dad on Saturday and came home with a 30" and 25" northern. We had a delicious meal on Mother's Day! Mom, Nolan and I went to Alex on Saturday to do a little shopping. Sunday was Mother's Day, and Nolan suprised me with a new pair of slippers! It's weird to think there's a whole day devoted to mothers and that I'm one of then now!

Nolan has now survived 2 restaurant adventures. He did really well for Greg's birthday last week, and on Monday we celebrated Anna's 30th birthday at Old Chicago. He didn't sleep the whole time, but he wasn't crying either, so I'd say it was a success. We were supposed to go to Adam's first softball game last Wednesday, but it was raining and chilly at our house when he had to leave. How were we supposed to know it would clear up and be beautiful in Chaska? We're going to miss tonight's game, too. We're meeting my friends from my days at the Monticello hospital for dinner in Rogers. Maybe next week we'll make it to a game!

I was hoping today would be sunny so Nolan and I could to on our 4 mile walk, but it doesn't look like the weather will cooperate. I guess we'll have to keep ourselves entertained inside today!

This weekend we're looking forward to celebrating Adam's cousin Gina's wedding in Hector. Aunt Elaine and Uncle Jay are going to watch Nolan for us so we can really enjoy the day. Not that we wouldn't have fun with him, but we'll be able to cut loose a little more without him:)

Adam and I are both very thankful that we have survived the downsizing that's happened at Park Nicollet since last December. It sounds like all the cuts have been made, so we can breathe a sigh of relief for now. We both feel so bad for those who have lost their jobs, especially in this economy. EWe have both had co-workers and friends affected by the changes. Hopefully things will start to turn around again soon and we can start to see the positive signs of recovery!

Oh deer!

Nolan and I were walking around the house yesterday afternoon, minding our own business. We headed downstairs, and when we turned the corner and looked out our walkout sliding glass door there was a huge doe staring at us! I was a little surprised, to say the least. It must have just been having a mid-day snack at our bird feeder. Nolan and I watched it graze around the backyard for about 10 minutes. As soon as I saw her head to our firepit I knew she was after our hostas. I had to take action to save our poor hostas (they really took a beating from the deer last year), so I quickly went outside and shooed her away. There were at least 2 other does waiting for her at the bottom of the hill. Later yesterday evening I was sitting on our deck talking to Gina, and I saw another doe at the far end of our property, down the hill. I watched her for a while, and then all of a sudden she started snorting at me and kicking her leg back and forth. She did that for about 15or 20 minutes, and I couldn't figure out why. When Adam and Nolan got back from Ellen and Greg's house I told Adam about the snorting deer. He reminded me that he had just put a small salt block by the firepit in the lower backyard, and the deer was probably mad because I was too close to it! Ahhhh, nature in the suburbs.

Luckily the rain has held off today. Nolan and I were able to take a nice long walk earlier. He is so good in the stroller - probably because he's sitting in his car seat, which he loves! He was really good for about 20 minutes after our walk, and since then has had a tough couple hours. He's finally sleeping - yeah! He just seems to get himself so worked up when he's overtired that he can't calm down and just fall asleep. I'm sure this gets better with time! I do have to say that the overnight sleeping is going really well. He's only getting up once a night, sometime between 2 and 3. His bedtime has been around 9:45, and he's been waking up between 6 and 7 in the morning. It can only continue to improve, right??

Tonight we're headed over to a Mexican restaurant in Shakopee for Greg's birthday dinner, a day early. I'm sure it will be busy since it's Cinco de Mayo! This will be Nolan's first time at a restaurant, so hopefully it goes okay. We're going to be there during his fussy time. Wish us luck!

4 in a row

As all new parents know, the lack of sleep that comes with having a newborn is one of the hardest things to adjust to. Adam and I are now almost 6 weeks in to our new life with Nolan and have had many, many sleepless nights. But, starting mid-week last week, Nolan has had 3 nights where he has slept at least 4 hours in one stretch. Hallelujah! I feel like a whole new person with all the sleep I'm getting now! I think part of his new sleeping pattern is a growth spurt. He is getting so big! By my estimate he is probably pushing 9 1/2 lbs - and you can tell by the multiple chins he is now sporting, as well as the rolls he's getting on his legs.

This weekend was busy, but super fun. My highlight was Saturday, which was a designated girls day with 5 of my girlfriends. Our husbands took care of the kids, and we enjoyed an entire day of fun! We started at Lifetime in Chan, where I enjoyed a pedicure and everyone else enjoyed facials or massages. From there we headed over to St. Paul to Mosaic on a Stick, a place where you can make mosaic art. We weren't really sure what to expect, so we brought some wine and snacks and had a great time. None of us are real creative, so we were pleasantly surprised when all of our picture frames and mirrors turned out great! I still have to grout the frame, but I think I convinced Adam and help me. Our next and final stop was dinner at Salut on Grand in St. Paul. We had a fantastic server, fabulous drinks and a good dinner. For me it was the perfect way to re-energize! Plus, Adam got to spend a whole day with Nolan - almost 12 hours! The picture attached is of me, Kate, Nikki, Lori, Becky and Tammy at Salut.

Nolan has become a very good walking partner, so last week I tested him and took him to the mall a few times for a shopping adventure. He is a shopping rock star! Yesterday we were at Ridgedale with Jackie and he slept the whole time we were out. Nice!

This week is going to be busy. We're celebrating Greg's birthday tomorrow evening, and Wednesday is the start of softball season. I can't wait to take Nolan down to the fields to watch Adam and the boys play, and to hang out with the girls and all the kids. Hopefully the weather will be nice! I also really start my new exercise program tonight, so that will keep me busy 3 nights/week.

There are a lot of fun events coming up in the next few weeks that I'm really looking forward to. The most exciting is the upcoming arrival of a new niece or nephew next Monday, the 11th. One week left Christianne! If it's another girl Nolan will be outnumbered 4 to 1:)

Third time is the charm

I feel like it's been a while since I've written - and it has! I'm not sure where the days go anymore, but they are flying by. Hard to believe it's been 5 weeks since Nolan was born! He is doing really well, and it appears that we may have found the right formula for him - Similac Sensitive. We're going to give it another week, but so far so good. He's gaining weHight, and I'd say he's close to 9 lbs now. He's sleeping between 2 1/2 and 3 hours at night, which is fabulous! He's also found his voice, which is really fun. He coos and squeaks quite a bit. Good thing his voice is cute, so far! He's smiling a lot more, too.

Baptism went really well. After 2 failed attempts to attend church as a family (one of us had to take Nolan out due to him crying!) he made it through an entire service without crying! Nolan puts on a great show whenever we have company over -he was perfect the whole day. He didn't make a sound, even when the pastor poured water on his head. It was pround moment for both me and Adam! After baptism both our families came over to our house for a little lunch and socializing. Good thing our garage is heated because it was very chilly outside and we couldn't fit all 24 members of our family comfortably inside our house. Our nieces had fun running in and out between the house and the garage. I'm glad we have a basement where they can scream and run around to their hearts content, because all 4 of them can now scream really well! Adam and I both really enjoyed the day.

Last Tuesday Nolan officially turned 1 month old. It's pretty amazing to look at his pictures from when he was born and compare them to how he looks now. He has changed so much! We decided that in order to properly track his growth and changes we're going to take a picture on his monthly birthdate with him and his Curious George stuffed animal. It will be fun to compare those pictures next year!

My friends and co-workers hosted a baby shower for us last Wednesday at McCoy's in St. Louis Park. It was so fun to be able to bring Nolan and show him off! Again, he was a perfect little baby, just sleeping away in everyones arms. I have the best girlfriends who put on a great shower. We received so many nice gifts are thankful to have such good friends.

To end the week Adam and I attended a prom party. Yes, your read it correctly, a prom party. Our friends Kirk and Kate had a great idea to host a prom, circa 1987, so we joined them and formed a prom planning committee. The big event was Saturday, and it was awesome! All our friends took the theme and ran with it, so we had a great looking group of people. We even had a grand march and crowned a king and queen - congrats to Justin and Lori! It was super nice to be able to leave Nolan in the capable hands of Jackie and Melissa. Again, I can not stress how important it is to have great friends to help out!

Today I decided it was time to start really exercising, so in addition to my own ab workouts and power walks I'm going to start attending formal classes a few days a week, sponsored through our community ed. I know it takes 9 months to gain all the weight, but I'm really ready for it all to come off, especially before swimsuit season! Wish me luck!

He did it!

Today was a big day for Nolan. He accomplished what he's been working so hard to do all week - smile! He's always in such a good mood after he wakes up from his cat naps, as long as I put him on his changing table. I had the camera ready just in case he decided to break out his gummy smile, and low and behold he did! It was pretty funny watching him figure it out. Once he did he couldn't stop! Adam hasn't gotten to see him do it yet, so hopefully he'll be willing to break it out again tomorrow.

One reason he was probably smiling is because we finally made another trip back to the clinic to discuss a few lingering issues. For the last week or so his belly button has been bleeding a little bit each day. Apparantley this is rather common, which seems odd to me. It's caused by babies crying so hard during their fussy times (especially in the evening) that they case some fluid to leak out their still healing belly button. There's nothing we can do for that, other than watch it for the next few weeks to make sure it stops.

I also talked with the Nurse Practitioner about Nolan's reflux and gas issues. He is so uncomfortable all day long, and it's the main reason why he's not sleeping - he wakes himself up because of his discomfort. I left the clinic with a prescription for Zantac and two new kinds of formula to try - hypoallergenic and sensitive stomach. I can already tell it's helping him feel better. He napped really well all day! We'll see what happens tonight, though. The NP said Nolan should be sleeping about 4 hours straight, based on his age and weight (a whopping 8 lbs 2 oz!) It's Adam's turn to take the night shift, and he'll probably luck out with Nolan sleeping well for more than an hour and half!

I'm continually learning new things about being a parent, and feel like I'm starting to be able to figure out what Nolan needs. And when I can't figure it out I have to tell myself to take a deep breath, because I know he can't cry forever!

I just can't seem to find the time!

Well, we're at week 3.5 with Nolan, and the biggest surprise for me so far (besides the complete lack of sleep) is that even though I'm home all day I can't seem to find the time to get on the computer for more than 5 minutes! I actually started an entry last Thursday, but I haven't gotten back to it. So, here is an update of the last few weeks.

Adam and I are still adjusting to having our new addition around. It's amazing how quickly you realize that this little baby has taken over your life - and schedule! Nolan's reflux is getting better, although he is still pretty uncomfortable. We're just keeping an eye on it at this point and continuing to keep him upright after eating.

We've covered a lot of the firsts in the last week or so - first dr. appointment, first bath, first holiday (Easter), first walk around the neighborhood, first visit to see Adam at work, first trip to Target, first time away from Nolan to attend the Twin's home opener, and first time trimming Nolan's nails! Most things have gone really well. Nolan is still struggling to sleep. His favorite place to sleep is in the arms of either me or Adam, which is okay during day hours but rather difficult at night. His current schedule is to sleep for 2 hours at night and then be up for an hour or two to eat and hang out. Needless to say I'm walking around in a bit of a fog most days! Nolan is gaining quite a bit of weight though, and he's up to eating almost 4 oz. at each feeding, so more sleep has to be on the way! Nolan has recently discovered that he enjoys spending time on his activity mat, which is fun. He's also getting really close to smiling on his own - maybe by next week we'll be able to report on that!

I've been doing my best to nap when Nolan is napping to make up for my lack of sleep. Most days I'm able to get about an hour and half nap, which helps me get through the rest of the day. I've also been trying to get outside whenever I can. Adam has been great about taking Nolan when he gets home from work so I can get out and get some fresh air on a nice long walk! Speaking of firsts, how could I forget about my big first this week? Adam and I have a huge squirrel and chipmunk problem in our backyard. The chipmunks are trying to burrow under our hot tub, which is a problem. Yesterday I saw a chipmunk eating beneath the birdfeeder, so I took a shot at it with Greg's borrowed BB gun. Well, the chipmunk never saw it coming. I only meant to scare it with a shot in the butt but ended up killing it! Good thing Adam was around to clean up my mess!

This upcoming weekend we're looking forward to celebrating Nolan's baptism. The rest of this week will be spent getting ready for company. Hope everyone is enjoying the nice spring weather - we all deserve it after the long winter!

The blog entry that's long overdue

So, as all good intentioned things begin, we have an idea (keeping up to date with this blog) which then becomes reality and finally the you-know-what hits the fan! I'm writing this as a representative of two new parents who are learning on the fly and between the two of us have shed tears basically everyday since Nolan was born. (Both of shear excitment and the "what the hell do I do now.") As soon as I read the last blog post I told Tricia that she had cursed us by saying it was going so well with Nolan.

Sure enough, the last entry was a week ago Saturday morning. At that point he was spitting up small amounts of yellow bile-looking stuff about 1/2 hour to an hour after he'd eat-no big deal we thought. Well that evening, he got really sick, plugged his nasal passage ways when he got sick, started choking, and turned a color of purple I will never ever forget. As a parent, to see you kid choking and feel almost helpless it was a huge kick in the gut. After calling 911, and some help from a RN neighbor, he eventually cleared a large amount of banana yogurt looking stuff on his own. By the time the paramedics showed up he was doing much better. As a precaution we took him to Methodist and exactly one week after he was born we were back on the 3rd floor anxiously hovering over Nolan until Monday. Since the "big incident" he hasn't had another episode. We went to Children's last Wednesday for a procedure called an Upper G.I. where they watched Nolan's digestive tract in hopes to find what had caused "the incident." Low and behold, he's got a serious case of reflux and that's about it. So now we make sure to keep him upright as long as he'll let us after he eats and try to burp him more.
Last Friday he had his first "official" Dr. appointment and his weight had jumped to 6.9, which was a 7-ounce gain from his birth wieght. So, he's now eating 3 ounces every 2-3 hours and it's coming out the back-end like it's supposed to... He's really begun to change, in his cheeks and face particularly. It's still amazes me how awesome this whole thing is!

Finally, as a new father, I have begun to feel a unique sense of pride with Nolan. When we went back into the hospital I had to introduce myself to 10 different nurses and each time I got to say "I'm Adam, Nolan's dad." How cool is that? And, this past Sunday at church I was able to get Nolan quite enough for the 3 minutes where I could sneak in the communion line behind Tricia-when Pastor Ed made the sign of the cross on his forehead it felt really great to be his Dad.

So, with all that being said... We defintely have appreciated all the support from our families so far, and even with its' ups and downs have Nolan is pretty much the coolest thing ever. More to come soon-hopefully about how much more he's sleeping at night!