Our Adventure into... The Church Nursery.

Well... today was our first time that we left Caden in our church nursery. Up until now, from the time he was 5 weeks and first brought him to church until last week we had been bringing Caden into worship with us. Well, recently Caden has been super chatty "ooooh"ing and "aahhh"ing all over the place... which is not quite so amazing while the sermon is going on. Soooo... we decided it was time.

So this morning after Sunday school we gathered all of our stuff and went to the nursery. Now, let me just say, they were amazing. However, overall, our first church nursery trip was An. Epic. Failure. How, you may ask, does one FAIL at dropping their child off at the nursery? Well... allow me to explain.

It all starts off great. Thinking everything is there. And then you and your darling husband go and sit with your mother in church. Who is sitting in THE MIDDLE of the pew. Four people to crawl over on either side if I have to get out (which as soon as I realize this I am now CERTAIN it will - that is just my luck - right?!)

It was about six or seven minutes into the sermon that I realize - there is NO bottle in the diaper bag. Three servings of formula - enough to last him all day long -but NO bottle. That is in the car. Hmmmm... what to do.... We're in the middle of prayer and I am pondering my strategy. Then it occurs to me... I will let my sweet husband go. He only has TWO people to climb over, and this is something he can handle. So I write him a note:

"No bottle in the diaper bag. During the offering go and either see if the nursery has extras and make a bottle or go to the car and get it." Sweet Christopher gets all of this message and nods and off he goes. I think - man I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband.

And then my beeper vibrates in my pocket. If you're dropping a baby off in the nursery they give you a beeper (like what you have in restaurants) in case your baby is in distress - and apparently - as my beeper vibrates - mine is. ::Sigh:: Here I go... four minutes into the sermon... climbing over the people who chose to share a row with us (that are now regretting the choice)... heading to the nursery.

I get there, and see my sweet husband, and my (now crying baby - bless his heart). The conversation goes something like this:

My sweet amazing husband: "I had them page you - they don't have bottles - what do you want me to do?"
Me: "Oh, it's okay, just go to the car and get it - like the note said"
Husband: "The note said that? I didn't read that part..."
Me: "Haha... it's okay... just go get it now, I'll hold Caden"
Husband: "I can't... the keys are in my jacket" (STILL IN THE CHURCH PEW!)

Epic. Fail.

There is no way at this point that either of us are climbing BACK over poor Jim, Susan, and Robbie to get the keys in what is now the MIDDLE of the sermon. So now I am holding the crying baby (who I attempted to nurse - which he wants nothing to do with - another post in itself)... and I continue to hold him, until he cries himself to sleep. Both Chris and I missed the sermon, and we wound up at the church until the last people were leaving because we had to feed him AFTER the service ended.

Sigh. The adventures of being new parents. Here's to hoping next week is a LITTLE more successful. :)

THREE months!

This post can serve as a testiment to how NOTHING in my life seems to get done on time these days. I was telling someone the other day that I feel like I am never on time anymore. For most of you who know me well, you know this is something that makes me feel QUITE uneasy. I frequently find myself either 20 minutes early or 20 minutes late - and these days it tends to (almost always) be on the late side. All I can say is that there is a LOT involved with getting our little man ready to roll out the door. But alas, no excuses, it is something I am aware of and working on.

Caden turned 3 months old on January 12th (meaning that I am going to be writing his 4 month post here shortly...) but I did want to do a brief recap on life during his third month. It is hard to believe that my sweet little baby is THREE months old. I mean, seriously, I look at his in the pictures of his first few months - and check out the differences. Holy cow.

Three months old - December 24, 2010

It. Blows. My. Mind.

In the third month he is:

1. Best estimate is that he is about 11 or 12 pounds. He still eats every 3 hours... and is eating 4.5 ounces at a time. BF is still going on, but has become much more difficult since going back to work... ::sigh::
2. Wearing mainly 0-3 month clothes. But they are starting to get TIGHT because of length. He is grooooooooooooowing. Man.
3. Talking up a storm. "Ooooohhh... Ahhhhh.... Oooohaahhh..." - such a precious sound (except when it is going on during church services or other QUIET events!)
4. Pushing up and starting to enjoy tummy time (which is better than before when he would scream when placed on his stomach).
5. Finally enjoying bathtime - which is a delight. He coos and splashes (sometimes) and just seems overall content. MUCH better than the SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAMING that previously occurred.
6. Recognizing who we are and smiles BIG BIG smiles at us when we come into the room. Probably the best part of my day is when I first come to his crib in the morning and he smiles up at me... and then when I get home from work in the afternoon and he comes to my arms from the sitter. I. Love. It.

Each day with him is more precious than the day before. I love it. Can't wait to keep updating you all! :) But for now, this mommy MUST sleep.

Three months old - January 12, 2011

AMAZING (long lost) FRIENDS

Christopher and I will be the first to tell you how lucky we are to have the friends that we do. Having Caden has been such a blessing in so many ways - but one of the most fun ways is that all of the people that we love most have come to meet him! November and December were filled with LOTS of people that we LOOOOOVE.

The week before Thanksgiving Heather and Matt came into town and stayed with us for several days. I can not begin to describe how AMAZING they were. Aunt Heather and Uncle Matt TOTALLY spoiled Caden (and his mommy and daddy!) The best house guests we could ask for. It was SO SO FUN.

Over Thanksgiving my dear sweet friends Jeanne and Chris came into town and got to meet Caden for the first time. It was SO fun to have them here - and extra special to have Jeanne - since we've been so close for so long (and she was unable to make it to my wedding because she was serving in the Peace Corps). It was so incredible to spend time with her and Chris and Caden got lots and lots of hugs!

The week after Thanksgiving sweet Cathleen came into town and kept me company while Chris was at work. It was so great to have her here and get to catch up and visit for such an extended period of time. Plus Caden got lots of love! :)

TWO months! (a month late)

So on December 12th Caden was TWO months old. In the midst of the holiday season updating the blog fell completely to the wayside and so we are going to do a little back-tracking. Some EXCITING things happened during his 2nd month. One of the most enjoyable- he started smiling! Just this little thing makes him really feel more like a little person instead of just a baby!

Caden at TWO months was:

• According to his 2 month checkup he was 10lbs 2ounces (30%) and 23 inches (50%) long.
  
• Still wearing newborn clothes, but was able to start wearing more of his 0-3 months.
  
• Still wearing only cloth diapers (take that you cloth diapering doubters! haha!)
  
• SLEEPING THROGH THE NIGHT! (don't you hear the angels singing?!?!) That's right! This was another AMAZING trick he learned this month! One random Tuesday (November 30th - to be exact) he just did it. We put him down at 11pm and he didn't wake up until 6:30am. After checking to make sure he was still breathing - I could have done a happy dance! And ever since he has remained consistant - 7 hours at a time. :)
  
• Still eating every 3 hours and we were still nursing and supplementing at every feeding.
  
• Starting to be able to "play" with his toys and respond to them as they made noise or sound! This has been really fun! Suddenly all of those toys we've had have come alive. He is busy watching them - completely alert most of the time he is awake!


• We started to get out and about more this month (and even got to take him to church for the first time - sleeping through the whole service!) Overall - we are still completely amazed by what a happy baby he is.