Tummy time!

Mom makes me do tummy-time every day. I like it for a little while but after a few minutes I get tired. So I cry to let Mom know I've had enough. For some reason she likes to take pictures of me doing tummy time (I don't know why), here are some of me doing tummy time last week:

See I'm happy here, and might I add, I look darn cute, right?!




Then here I am a minute later:




Then I start to get tired, but Mom still doesn't move me:



So to get my point across I have to cry:



By then I'm really tired, so this is what I do:
I have to give mom the stink-eye sometimes, I don't understand why she has to take so many pictures of me:



Here I am the next day, I used all my strength and lifted my head quite high:
And then I got tired again, so I let mom know I was done:


So she picked me up and tried to get me to smile but I don't like to smile for the camera...

But I still am really cute...
Oh and here I am with my fist, I really love my fist, it is sooo fun to chew and suck on!

Anyway, here are a few other of my favorite pictures from another day last week. When mom gets ready I sit in the bouncer in the bathroom and play with my giraffe and lion. I like to take my favorite fist and hit them, they move around a lot when I do that. Other times I just like to look at them.


And one last picture of my adorable, chubby feet! They peeked out from my blanket when I was napping last week and, of course, mom took a picture of them!




That's all, I'm off to play with mom!

Caleb

A mother's love

You know you love your child when you are willing to get rid of this (did not kill it!):




To protect this sleeping beauty:







**And yes I acknowledge that it is completely gross to have such a big bug in my house. We have had the worst problem with spiders, mosquitos and other weird bugs (see above) this summer! While I hate winter I do look forward to it getting rid of our bug problem!

[Virginia] Beach Bums

Seeing as how Caleb is only 2 months, there are a lot of 'firsts' that he is experiencing right now. We planned as a family to go to Virginia Beach to visit family and be there for my Mom's birthday (it was a mile-marker birthday but I won't say the age lol). So here are some of the 'firsts' Caleb experienced:

~First flight on an airplane (and got his first Delta wings). Altogether there were 4 flights we were on and Caleb did great on each one. He slept most of the time. And when the loud speakers would come on with the flight attendants making an announcement and wake up Caleb, Justin had the perfect solution:
Flying with a plush blanket, a comfy bobby pillow and getting to wear Bose headphones...that beats first class flying! No wonder he slept so soundly :-)

~First encounter with the beach! Unfortunately Caleb was too young to really enjoy how fun the beach is. Instead of digging in the sand, he stayed under the tent, in the shade, and slept most the time. Next year will be more fun :-)
Our Chubby beach bunny:

~This was a first for Caleb, Justin and myself: First time being in a hurricane! We had impeccable timing for this trip, right when Hurricane Irene was hitting Virginia Beach. It also hit the same day as my Mom's birthday. It wasn't too bad, just rained all Saturday and was a bit windy. It somehow managed to knock the power out almost immediately Saturday morning. But it was fun being stuck inside with all our family for my Mom's birthday, we played games, had cake, and still celebrated. Plus having a generator made it much better :-)
(One of the houses boarded up, ready for the hurricane. Good thing they boarded up too, this place-Sandbridge Island-got hit harder by the storm, including two tornadoes)

~First trip to the zoo! We went to he Norfolk Zoo and it was really neat! I have been to several zoos but this one you actually felt like you were in the habitat with the animals and you could get really close to them too. I didn't get any pictures of Caleb at the zoo, but he did great in his stroller.


We ate some great food, got to see family we haven't been able to see in far too long, and enjoyed soaking up some sun. We were mostly excited for Caleb to meet his Aunt Angel, Uncle Donnovan, cousin Jasmine and great-Aunts Betty and Brenda. It was an especially great trip for Caleb and really fun me for me and Justin as well!

2 month check up

A couple weeks ago Caleb went in for his 2 month check up. He looked great! He weighed in at 12 lbs (68th percentile) and 23 inches (60th percentile). He also got several vaccinations, surprisingly he really didn't like the oral vaccination, which we knew if he didn't like that he probably wasn't going to like the shots at all! And we were right, poor guy cried and seemed shocked by the pain but was back to happy within a couple minutes. Our little Caleb is growing up right before our eyes. We can definitely see the weight gain and his increase in length. He is starting to coo constantly and is quite the smiler. We have a few games we play with him that involves him moving his arms and they are guaranteed smile-makers. He really is a happy child, only crying when he is hungry or fighting sleep. He is starting to grab on to things too! There have been a few instances when he has been in his carseat that he has picked up his pacifier on his own. He loves this colorful rattle he has and will reach for it as well. He is a dream to put down at night, we will say prayers then sing a song and place him down in his crib awake and he goes to sleep almost instantly. Now if we could just get to sleep longer stretches at night! He will go about 6-7 hours in between feedings but since he goes to bed around 8pm that means I am up at 3 or so then again at 6ish (usually his wake up time is 6:30 which really needs to be later!) lol . But we really love this guy, he is so fun to see learn and grow and such a sweet boy. Here he is after his 2 month checkup:

Pregnancy pictures!

No don't worry, I'm not pregnant again! To back-track in time just a little bit, when I was about 37 weeks pregnant, my good friend, Kayla, was sweet enough to do a photo shoot so I could have some pictures to remember my huge belly by (is that something that I want to remember though...jk). Here are some of my favorites (they photography was excellent for all of them but I wasn't the best looking in all of them haha).

The last 6 weeks

Our sweet Caleb is already almost 8 weeks old! (And it is taking some willpower to use the word 'sweet'...he has been crying nonstop today, bless his heart)

Caleb is growing, although it seems like slow growth to us, those who haven't seem him very often say he is starting to pack on the chub. I hope so, I want him to be a super chubby, cuddly baby.

Our nights are starting to take on a real routine, thank goodness! I'll feed him between 9pm-10pm and then he will wake up between 3-4am and again at 5-6am. Not the greatest but since he has started to eat super fast and fall asleep very quickly after eating it makes the nights bearable. My favorite days are those when I wake up in the morning and don't feel like I need to immediately take a nap, haha.

He is still eating around every 2 hours during the day. I can't speak much for his daytime naps because those are totally unpredictable. The only way I know when he is ready to take a nap is when he starts getting fussy, which will usually occur about an hour after eating, if he is actually tired. Often times he will stay happily awake between feedings. With the exception of today, where the only time he isn't crying is when he is nursing, again, bless his heart.

Caleb is becoming more and more smiley. He used to only smile during his sleep but now he will smile either spontaneously, when we tickle his cheek, or when we are smiling at him. He is most smiley in the morning.

He barely squeezes into newborn clothes, 0-3 month clothes are just about right (depending on the brand) and he can wear some 3 month clothes.

He is starting to discover his fist and his tongue. He spent 30 minutes yesterday just sticking his tongue in and out of his mouth. He will wave his right fist around his head and stare at it intensely. We aren't sure if he is trying to will his fist to move to his mouth or if he just likes looking at it wave around. He sometimes will lick his fist once it actually finds his mouth.

As far as being a mom, I am getting more and more used to sleep deprivation haha. Even still, you don't want to cross my path between 6am-9am. Poor Justin :-( . I have realized two things about being a stay-at-home mom (that apply to me at least) 1. I like staying home pretty much all day because it allows me to feed whenever Caleb needs it (immediate feeding = happy baby = happy mom). This isn't to say I haven't gone out at all but my outings with just me and Caleb are few so far. 2. I thought I was being lazy for the last 7 weeks but today proved to me why I don't try to get much done during the day. If I do have something I really want to get done and my baby is crying non-stop then I get really frustrated and impatient that I can't get my task accomplished. Ere go, by not having any tasks on my plate I can cater to my baby and not get frustrated (or as frustrated). Now I say these two things with the caveat that I know this has got to change. I can't be chained to my house forever and I can't always wait until the evenings to get anything done. I am hoping with a little more time and a better established eating/sleeping schedule, I will go out and get more done each day!

Justin is still a great dad, he helps out when I really need him to during the nights and he is good to give Caleb and me a break from each other in the evenings. I think Caleb likes his dad bonding time in the evening. Caleb better soak it all up now because Justin starts back to his MBA program in a couple of weeks and there will be very little dad time :-( and husband time for that matter! Now that's something I could cry about!

We blessed Caleb on July 31st. Justin gave him a beautiful blessing, it was a very special day. We are so blessed to have the Priesthood in our home, it is something I am so grateful for!





That same day we also started the Blackham family reunion in Heber. The reunion went from Sunday-Wednesday. We stayed at a beautiful cabin, played games and ate lots of great food! We look forward to the future Blackham reunions!

The details!

Justin was great to post below about our sweet baby boy so soon. If I would have had to do it then it wouldn't be getting done until now...two weeks later! But I thought I would make a record of how our adorable baby came into our family. *Sorry if this has too much detail but I wanted to make sure I recorded the details of delivering of our first baby*

Friday, June 17th (my due date), my parents were in town. We went (along with my sister and her kids) to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point with the dual purpose of taking my mind off the fact it was my due date and to walk around ... a lot. It was fun seeing my niece and nephew be so intrigued by the exhibits there. Afterward that we went out to lunch then back to my apartment until Justin came home. We all went to the Pleasant Grove Strawberry Days fair that evening. That was fun! I love our small town and the unique feeling it has. Although I had some contractions that day/night, they weren't long-lasting. I was surprisingly okay with the fact I didn't go into labor on my due date.

Saturday was another story. Justin and I woke up early and walked to our garden behind our church (pretty good distance to walk). I think we did some general errands then my parents came down in the evening. We went out to dinner then came home. I was having more intense and consistent contractions Saturday afternoon into evening. I had my parents go back to my sister's so Justin and I could go to the hospital. This would be the time to confess that I was incredibly impatient. I wanted to have our baby so badly that I am sure I convinced myself I was in labor. Now convincing Justin that it was time to go to the hospital was not nearly as easy as convincing myself! I had an inkling that if we went we would be sent home but I just had to go. I was put in a triage room and monitored for an hour. The contractions were very consistent and intense. I went in dilated at a two and after half an hour I was maybe a 2 1/2. So the nurse had me walk around the hospital for another hour. Good thing it was late at night because I had to walk around in the lovely hospital gowns. Even though it was 10pm or so I still ran into someone I knew...what are the odds?! After walking around I was monitored again, no change. The nurse called my doctor that was on call and they suggested I just go home, after taking some pain killers, and rest through the night. Slightly bummed but not surprised, we did just that. I was able to sleep through the night and the contractions seemed to dissipate by morning.

Sunday, Father's day, June 19th. I had attended church the previous Sunday (all 3 hours) and was quite miserable sitting the whole time. I had thought it would be my last Sunday for a few weeks..but nope! I decided to attend Sacrament meeting, which started at 10:20am. It was drizzling that morning but the contractions were back in full force so even though Justin dropped me off at the church doors, I couldn't walk fast enough to avoid getting rained on. By the time I found the closest seat in the chapel, I was out of breath and in pain! A sister on the compassionate service committee has been checking up on my through the pregnancy and came up and said she was surprised to see me there. I responded with, "Yeah, I think I'm in labor now". lol. She was shocked and said if I needed it she had a blanket in the car. Yikes! I didn't intend on having our baby at church! We began timing my contractions once church started. This entailed me squirming around in my seat trying to get comfortable, with my arm around Justin's shoulder. Whenever a contraction would begin I would start digging my nails into his shoulder, harder and harder to match the pain I was feeling (poor Justin). He knew that was his cue and pressed start on his phone's stopwatch. The contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and very painful! A friend in the ward came by to check on me during the meeting and I just fell apart. She had a baby just a few months ago so the labor experience was fresh on her mind. I told her I was in so much pain but didn't know if I should go back to the hospital yet. She said I absolutely needed to go and right then. Justin saw me crying so we left and came back home. I sat on my yoga ball for a while through the contractions, Justin would rub my back, but no matter what the pain was nearly unbearable. This time I wasn't convinced it was time to go to the hospital but Justin really wanted to go. I finally conceded and we left at 12:30 for the hospital.

When we got to the hospital the admitting nurse for labor and delivery took me into a triage room and I got in one of the lovely gowns again. She said something shocking though... she told me they weren't going to hook me up to the monitors in that room, that she could tell I was in labor so they were going ahead and admitting me. She said she would have an epidural ready for me soon. I was totally surprised...she hadn't even checked me yet but is offering an epidural?! I guess between the look of pure torture on my face and the fact I was two days past due was enough to convince her that it was time. We were put in our delivery room and my family made their way down from South Jordan to keep up company. About an hour after being in the room the anesthesiologist (Brian, the best person in the world at the time) came in an administered the epidural. This was the first hurdle of the labor process that I knew I was going to face. I have this strange issue with my spine...just don't touch it and we can be best friends. If you touch it I get really bugged/grossed out/uncomfortable. So how will it be getting a huge needle in my spine, hunched over, so each vertebrae is sticking out big time...?! I still get queasy at the thought. But it really wasn't a bad process at all. I felt the pinch from needle that gave me the numbing medicine then I felt the pressure in my spine from the actual epidural but it wasn't painful from what I can remember. At first the numb sensation only was felt through my left leg. So they had my roll on my right side for gravity to help the medicine and soon enough the contractions were no longer being felt at all! It was a great epidural though, just enough so I didn't feel the pain but I could still move my toes and legs. I could also feel pressure when my legs were touched. My heart rate did decrease slightly after the epidural was given, which isn't all that uncommon. Caleb's heart rate likewise decreased down to the 90's (should be between 110-160 if I remember correctly). It wasn't a huge issue but they still had me put on an oxygen mask. Soon his heart rate was up in the target range again.

After the epidural they popped my water and monitored my progress. Soon after they gave me pitocin to induce labor. I was checked periodically throughout the rest of the afternoon into the evening. My family was all in the room visiting so the time when by quickly. By 8:30 when I was checked I was at 9 cm dilated and was told we would start pushing at 9:30. It was actually around 9:45 when I started pushing. (Justin and I hadn't attended any prenatal classes, we tried to but it was canceled, so we watched some videos. The videos didn't prepare us on how the actual delivery process would be, how to push etc, so we just did what the nurse told us to). Which was weird in of itself, all of a sudden the nurse said with your next contraction, hold your legs and bear down... I was taken off guard... is this it really? Is this the beginning of the pushing? It seemed too casual to be the start of such a monumental event. This started the second hurdle... and this hurdle I was absolutely not prepared for! I had no idea how intense the process would be. For the first hour or so (really I had no concept of time) Caleb's head was turned to the side, which made it nearly impossible to get where it needed to be. With one good push though his head was turned face down and he was in position to be born. Unfortunately it still took a long time after that. By the last 45 minutes (I'm guessing) I was completely worn out. I kept hearing positive comments from Justin and the nurse and expecting Caleb to be born any minute but push after push and no baby made it so I began losing hope. I really didn't think Caleb was going to make his appearance. The doctor finally came in, which meant things were really getting close, but it still took a while after that. All I can say is that when he finally was born I was completely relieved but also completely wiped out. I wished I had had more energy so I could have really soaked up my sweet baby and enjoyed my first time holding him. Since there meconium in my amniotic fluid, they whisked Caleb off to the baby bed and began sucking the meconium out of his lungs. He had a very healthy cry and was weighed in at 8 lb 2 oz and 19 inches long. He was officially born at 12:24 am...just shy of Father's Day. But it still makes for a good first Father's Day for Justin I think.

After delivery they took Caleb down to the nursery for his bath and a few tests and Justin went with him. I was wheeled down to our room on the mother & baby floor. I was so tired I hardly remember anything after Caleb was born. Monday was likewise a blur, after having gotten hardly any sleep and still being extremely fatigued. By Tuesday I was feeling better and really enjoying my time with Caleb. I felt an immediate bond with him and mothering instincts seemed pretty innate. I usually am not super comfortable handling newborns (they break easy right??) but with Caleb there wasn't any hesitancy, he was our baby and he is perfect!

The time in the hospital was nice but it was great getting home and being in a normal environment. I am so thankful my mom was out here...having the care of a newborn be in your hands solely is a scary thing at first. I was a worried mess the first night Caleb slept in his pack n' play by our bed.. is he breathing? Is he comfortable? What do I do if...? I'm relieved to say that I have gotten much more comfortable with the nighttime routine.

That's another thing about being a mom... I am surprised how quickly I can read Caleb. I know his hungry cry, his tired cry, his funny faces and movements and when something is okay or not. I know the sounds of his different breathing routines and all of this has made me a much less worried mom. He is eating great and he is definitely not having any problems with going potty (yesh, the diaper usage!), he sleeps great at night and has already developed a very consistent nighttime routine (eat at 9:30, 1:45, and 4:45). Unfortunately he doesn't do down very well after the 4:45 feeding so that makes for little sleep for both me and him.

At first recovery was hard, I could barely walk, even when I was home. Then it was the energy level, where in the world did all my energy go?! I'm thrilled to say the human body has an incredible bounce-back time frame and at 2 weeks I feel like myself (assuming I get my daily nap in :-) ). The hardest part right now is after his early morning feeding when I see the sun coming up and realize that my chances for more sleep are dwindling by each minute that passes. I almost need the nights to be longer so I have more opportunities to sleep. I think I average about 5 hours a night. But it really isn't that bad..again, assuming I get a nap at least every other day.

Justin has been so incredible with Caleb...and me and my emotions lol. Justin used to make frequent comments about kids/babies that made me a little nervous about how well he would be able to handle Caleb but I am seeing a completely different side of him. I try to make it so he doesn't get up much during the night with Caleb but if I do need him to get up he doesn't hesitate. He does a much better job at getting Caleb to sleep than I do. I love seeing Justin and Caleb together, especially since Caleb looks so much like Justin. It is so cute to see Caleb's eyes look up at me and know that they are Justin's-shaped eyes. I still can't believe that we made this beautiful little babe.

My overall thoughts at this time.. it is getting better and better everyday. Having a newborn and recovering at the same time was not easy. But having Caleb in our lives is the sweetest blessing.
He is such a sweet baby and so perfect...dirty diapers and all. I love watching him, either awake or asleep, he is so precious. I want to post more pictures soon, its crazy how much he has changed since birth. He gets cuter every day and more filled out too, he is up to 8 lb 8 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. (39th percentile for height and weight). I sure hope he has his dad's height and not mine! We love our sweet baby boy!