A visit to the Easter Bunny!

We took Donnie to the mall today to get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny. With this being our first baby we (well maybe more myself) was looking forward to this! I remember watching parents in line with their children to take pictures with the bunny or santa thinking to myself one day I'll be doing the same thing! The line was long considering it was 1:00  o'clock in the afternoon so hubs and I talked to make it go by faster as Donnie slept (he was getting his energy up for the bunny). Once we got our turn, I was steady brushing the little hair he had, adjusting his clothes and making sure he was perfect as possible. Literally three snaps later and we were finished! Apparently there is a max to the number of shots taken, which is understandable otherwise you'd have mothers like me taking all day wanting the perfect picture. So we waited about five minutes and received our pictures and cd for any other additional prints. Overall the experience was great, I do wish I would have realize at some point during one of those three snaps that his pants was hiked up but oh well!

Someone's Not Feeling Well...Am I to Blame?

Donnie has had a bad case of diarreha since Friday afternoon. Of course I have been a wreck! It started after we left the pedi's office to check on his eye (he had a popped blood vessel). On our way up to the office this little old lady stopped us to see him. Now I'm a very friendly person and being a first time mommy I wasn't prepared for what happened next. Well at first she was just looking at him saying how cute he was then she reached down (he was in his stroller) and rubbed his cheek saying "doesn't he have the cutest smile)? I was totally caught off guard, didn't know if I should shew her hand away or what, I mean it happend soo fast!

Now usually I always go out with hubs when I have the baby and Donnie rarely goes out so I just didn't know what to do. I kindly said thank you and left. I then wiped his face with a baby wipe hoping she didn't have any germs. Then we headed home and it started, seriously he went from pooping once a day to every 1-3 hours. It hadn't gotten any better on Saturday so I went to get pedialyte because I didn't want him to get dehydrated. I called the on call pedi and she instructed me to just watch him over the next few hours. Well early Sunday morning he was still pooping, had threw up once and was a little warm. I decided to take him to the E.R. to make sure everything was okay.

When we got there he pooped again, and had a temp of 100.1. They checked him and said everything was fine, he wasn't dehydrated but to continue to give him the pedialyte and follow up with his pedi on Tuesday. So fast forward to yesterday hubs took him into the office to get checked on. He's doing fine but the pooping is still there! It has slown down a lot though so that's good news, but you wouldn't believe what the hubs told me when they got back from the appointment.

A old couple and their granddaughter were heading to the doctor and stopped to see the baby (doesn't this seem all too familiar?) and hubs said the grandma was bending down to touch Donnie when hubs moved his carseat and said I'm sorry I don't know where your hands have been. I was in total disbelief! I'm always so worried about what others think of me (a major problem of mines) so I was proud and a little upset that he stood up and said something. I was upset because I feel like I should have done the same thing and just maybe my son wouldn't be over here pooping his guts out. I know him getting sick could have been from anything (according to the E.R. doc) but I just can't help but think that he was fine until that lady touched his face. Perhaps she had something on her hand that he breathed in and that's what got him sick.

Nevertheless I'm feeling a little crappy because I didn't protect him like I should have. I know now that If I don't know you, you CAN NOT touch my child! Me being somewhat rude, doesn't matter because I've changed over 20 poopy diapers in the past four days and it's not fun!

Happy Four Months- WAY OVERDUE!

I'm totally slacking with my posts! Donnie has been 4 months for about two weeks now so this post is way overdue! He has totally changed and advanced since three months! Here's what he's doing!

Weight : 15 lbs .5 ounces
Length : 24 1/2 inches
Clothing: 3-6 months
Diapers: Size 3
Drinks 5-6 ounces every 4 hrs

- Donnie has discovered coughing and just LOVES doing it! He coughs just to hear himself  and to get my attention when I'm doing something, he knows Mama will always stop what she's doing to check on him, it's soo funny!

- He now laughs, and any and everything cracks him up. The first time I heard it my heart melted!

- He has the Fischer Price learn and play dog who he adores and plays with him daily

- Our favorite game is seeing how "strong" he is, I lay him down and he tries to pull himself up when I tug his hands.

- He likes splashing during bath time

- He's beginning to squirm during diaper changes, which is become that more harder and longer to change

- He doesn't like anything over his face, whenever we go out and cover him with his BundleMe he pulls it down

- Stays up the whole time when we are in the car, hasn't fussed yet while mommy is driving alone (lets hope it stays this way)

- LOVES the TV at my fathers house, I try not to let him watch tv but when he sees it he's totally amazed!

- Can't keep his hands out his mouth and loves sucking his thumb, we constantly battle as I try to take it out and he put it back in..usually he wins :)

-Getting stronger during tummy time but has yet to roll over consistently.

I can't think of anything else, I do write down his big milestones down so I can put them in his baby book but that's all I have for now!

Sunday Service

We took Donnie to church for the very first time this past Sunday. I was great finally letting him make his debut to the family! Saturday night I got a head start on getting our clothes together and packing his diaper bag, I wanted it to be as smooth as possible for getting ready. Luckily my mother was over for the weekend so we gave Donnie a bath and groomed him for the next day. Then I picked out his outfit for church. I wanted to keep him somewhat casual and most of his "church" clothes are still too big. So I picked out his baby Gap jeans (which are soo soft and cute I might add), a button up sweater that I had purchased from Children's Place back when I was pregnant and his Old Navy loafers. I just couldn't wait to see him all dressed up the next day.

Then I moved on to packing his diaper bag, which I seriously think I always over do! I packed a change of clothes (jammies) and an extra shirt just in case he spit up, along with all the other necessities. One thing that I had to do differently was pack his bottles. He used to use Playtex Drop-ins but I came to find out that it was making him gassy and excess spit up so we recently switched to Dr. Browns bottles which I LOVE! The first time we took the bottles outside the house I packed chilled milk in one of those insulated bottle bags. Well by the time we got to our destination ALL the milk had leaked through the bag and over everything in his diaper bag.

So this time I used the Dr. B's travel caps and kept them upright on the sides of the diaper bag, I had to pack the straw vent and topper thingy (I don't know what they are called) along with the ring and nipples in a ziplock bag. Sure it required a little extra packing but it wasn't too bad. Anyways so the morning of we got dressed as usual, fed and dressed Donnie last to avoid having to change him before we headed out the door.

When we arrived at church most of my family was there (my uncle is the pastor) so many of them got to see him for the very first time. My grandpa (donnies great-grandpa) had came to visit our church this week so Donnie got to get a picture with him at the end of service. I was soo proud of how good Donnie was during church, he didn't cry or fuss! He was trying to "talk" and we had to give him his paci to stop him from having a full on conversation lol! My uncle introduced the church to Donnie and put us on the spotlight a little asking "How's parent hood" lol! It's not that I don't like answering that question but I just hate being put on the spot in front of tons of people!

Here's a picture of the hubs with Donnie before we left for church, I just love how alert he is and his smile is contagious! I hope you had a great weekend! Happy Springtime!

God Parents

When I was pregnant, hubs and I discussed this quite often. Who would we want to be Donnie's (at the time Gumdrop's) God Parents? We went through our list of friends (which is very small I might add) and shared why each one would/wouldn't be a great choice. For me my Maid of Honor Karrah was my first and really only pick. Hubs on the other hand was a little in limbo about his decision. So we left it alone for a while thinking that we would have plenty of time before Donnie came...WRONG! By him coming early we didn't even have a name picked out let alone God Parents. Next thing you know the months started to go by and he was still God Parent less. Finally hubs chose his co-worker Dr. West and I was set on my first choice Karrah. Now the asking began.

Dr. West was excited and said it was a honor, but honestly I was a little apprehensive about him because he's much older than us, he works a TON (he's a top cardio doctor here ) and he commutes between here and Chicago. Donnie is three months old and he has YET to even see him! So yeah I don't know how this is going to turn out. Well this past Saturday I finally asked my BFF/MOH Karrah. She was in town (she too lives in Chicago) and I just thought asking her in person would be the best way instead of over the phone (I love to see people's reactions). We went to dinner and I asked her if she would be my son's God Mommy, when I say she teared up,which made me tear up it was just perfect! She even revealed that she was kinda waiting for me to ask her but figured that since so much time had passed that I had chose someone else.

I just want Donnie to have a relationship with his God Parents unlike myself or hubs did. I never met my god mother and can hardly remember my god father. So given the fact that my god parents weren't apart of my life I wanted to go about this as best as possible. I chose Karrah for the right reasons, like if something was to ever happen to hubs and I (god forbid) I know that she would step in and help raise our son (along with the grandparents). I don't care if she spoils him or not but rather that she spend some quality time with him is what I'm hoping for. I know she's the right match and I couldn't see anyone else filling that role.

So that was my weekend! Donnie has a God Mommy now and I established a lifelong bond with my best friend!

Pics of us over the years

 

Happy 3 Months!!!

Donnie turned three months last Thursday! We had a doctor's appointment that day so I was able to get some update stats.

• Weighs 13 lbs 8.5 oz
• 23 cm long
• Drinks 5-6 oz every 3-4 hours
• Can fit 3-6 month clothes depending on the brand
• No sure about shoes as he hardly wears them (mostly booties)
• Has the most contagious smile ever.
• Is "talking" so much now, he loves to hold conversations
• Love his play mat, he reaches and grabs onto the toys while kicking his feet like crazy!
• Has rolled over from tummy to back once
• Tolerates his bumbo for limited amounts of time
• Sleeps about 5-7 hours at night! (I'm taking what I can get)
• Loves looking at himself in the mirror
• Follows objects and people really well
• Sits "patiently" in his bouncer so that I can get things done

That's about all I can think of right now, maybe I should start writing these things down more! Next month he gets his 4 month shots and once again I think I may not be ready for them!

What Works for You

Doesn't necessarily work for me! My aunt who I love dearly has been telling my mother that I need to get Donovan on a schedule and stop letting him run my house so he can sleep through the night. Background, my aunt has a friend who she treats more like her daughter who recently had a baby. Her baby Caleb is three weeks younger than Donnie and he's sttn..so she thinks my son should be doing the same thing. She says they keep him up during the day so he can sleep at night. Now I'll explain why that's not the case for my household.

First off Caleb's Mom has help from her husband and her mother who lives with them where as my hubs works the night shift so I don't have the extra help to try to establish a routine just yet. Seriously I have Donnie anywhere from 13-20 hours a day depending on if the hubs is working a 12 or 16 hr shift. He has to sleep and include travel time so I may get about 2-3 hours for myself a day. Now I understand that plenty of people raise babies alone so it can be done but I'm just sharing my situation.

Second my son has just gotten over a bout of colic and wanting to be held constantly and only falling asleep on our chests (which may not be the safest but it was the ONLY way he would sleep and it kept me sane.) He has just started back sleeping in his Fischer Price rock and play. So I've finally gotten some freedom to use the bathroom and quickly scarf down a meal. I would seriously go without eating until 7:00 pm from just dealing with him and not being able to put him down. When it gets really bad I do break out the Sleepy Wrap to get somethings done.

Third I'm a night owl, I like being up at night so I guess when I see the clock roll around to 10-11pm and Donnie is up eating or playing with me it doesn't bother me.

Finally the biggest reason is because EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT. Donnie sleeps fine throughout the day, he takes plenty of naps and can do some 3-5 hour stretches, just because it may not always be at night does that make me a bad Mommy?

I plan to implement some type of routine with Donnie within the next month but a full on schedule I think (and have read to confirm) is too soon. My mother who has been over here with us for a few days has agreed to come and help out 1-2 days during the week, which I think KNOW will make a world of difference with getting things done and allow me to establish a nightly routine with my son. Until then...let me do what works for ME!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

This is Donnies first valentines day! Of course I had to dress him accordingly. As for me hubs has to work tonight (bummer) but we are going to celebrate this weekend. We did exchange gifts. I got a dozen red roses, a gift card to Macys and a lovely card with more cash in it! I'm going to keep it short today (as usual) but just wanted to stop by and say HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to my readers!!!

Will You Be My Valentine?!!!

Happy 2 Months!

Okay I know this post is like 10 days overdue but bare with me people :) I'm amazed at how fast time is going and watching my little man grow each day is truly a blessing! Donnie is totally developing his own personality and it's the funniest thing ever. I have one particular baby on my hands. This is what he's doing this month:

• Weight : 11 lbs 14.5oz
• Height: 21.5 inches
• Eats every 3-4 hours
• Only sleeps on our chests or his Fischer price sleep and play rocker
• Fits size 0-3 month clothes
• Size 1-2 diapers
• Coos
• Follows mommy & daddy's movement with his eyes
• Loves when mommy sings the ABC song
• No longer sleeps during car rides
• Hates tummy time (probably because we don't do it often)
• Smiled 3x's so far (social smiles) - YES THIS HAPPEN TWO DAYS AFTER MY LAST POST!
• Fusses (which I think is him telling us off)
• Pouts his lip when mad (the cutest thing ever)
• Curls his toes when he eats

That's it for now. I have to keep this short, he's woke and fussy again...gotta love motherhood!

Someone's Fussy!

This week has seriously gotten away from me. Everyday that I attempt to update my blog something always comes up. Well Monday Donnie got his 2 month shots, the nurse said he may be fussy for 48 hrs but man I didn't expect for it to be this bad! Tuesday he was fine, slept a lot and was "normal" but when Wednesday rolled around it was like a nightmare. He wouldn't sleep and literally fussed for 3 hours straight. Luckily hubs was off that day but man were we exhausted. I was soo tired that I slept through my doctor's appointment and had to reschedule it for Friday. I seriously tried everything I could think of, rocking him, putting him in his swing, singing to him, walking around the house with him and nothing worked. Today has been a little better but he's still fussy. I sometimes feel like a bad mom because he doesn't seem happy. Somebody tell me that it's just a phase! When does the happy baby stage begin or am I out of luck?

When we went to his 2 month well visit the pediatrician said he was doing fine but I told him he hasn't had a social smile yet. He said it'll probably happen in the next two weeks but since he's a preemie to give him another month for milestones. Sometimes I forget he's considered a preemie, I guess because of his weight but it makes me sad that my baby is considered behind and I equate that with it being my fault. I know him having to come early was out of my control but sometimes I can't help how I feel.

As for his official two month post I plan on doing that asap and I will get it done, given how he's been feeling I haven't had the time nor energy to take his picture in his two month sticky shirt.

Annoucement Cards

I'm finally sending mines out! Donnie will be two months on Monday (where has the time gone?!) and I think it's about time that I send them out to family and friends. I received some "giftcards" when I purchased something from Motherhood Maternity that could be redeemed at Shutterfly.com. Well it was more like you have to spend $20 to get that amount off. I figured I'd use them to order some annoucements. I only ordered about 15 to start because I wanted to see the quality of the cards. So after shipping I only ended up spending $10 (score!). Overall I am pleased with the results, I wanted the annoucement to be simple and modern. I'm pleased with the results, but honestly I think it all comes to the quality of the photo that you use. The picture for the annoucements is from his newborn photoshoot. Okay I kinda find myself rambling lol! I'll be back for his two month post next week!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Okay maybe a few words! Here's some photos from Donnie's newborn shoot. He was 18 days old!

Christmas Weekend

Happy Monday! Is it just me or does it seem as though xmas went by really fast? This holiday was like no other because we got to share it with our baby. When I was pregnant I wondered if he'd make his appearance before the holiday and he surely did. Donnie turned 1 month on Christmas Eve and I swear that month flew by so fast! Christmas was great for us this year we took Donnie over his Nana and Papa's house (my parents) for xmas dinner and to open presents. For someone who wasn't supposed to arrive until New Years Eve he made out really well with xmas gifts! Then Sunday was the hubs birthday. We kept it pretty simple and just ordered take out and chilled. It was really our first night by ourselves with just the baby so it was nice to bond with my husband taking care of our son. My hubs finally got to see the personality that I keep saying Donnie has, he was a hand full (but what new baby isn't?). It was nice when my husband said "I have so much respect for you and what you do" and he went on to say he doesn't know how a person could do this alone. It felt good for him to finally understand that taking care of a new baby isn't a easy task but I wouldn't have it any other way. I just wanted to pop in with a quick post! I hope your holiday was a great one! I leave you with a picture of Donnie in his Santa Suit that he wore on Christmas...it's it the cutest thing ever?

Wordless Wednesday

I've seen these on other blogs so I thought it would be nice to take part in it. I plan to post pictures of the baby every week because what mama doesn't love to show off her baby?! So besides this brief introduction, my blog posts on Wednesday will be of pictures and few (if any) words. Now to kick off the first week of "Wordless Wednesday" I want to share pictures of Donnie taken at the hospital when he was three days old. Enjoy!!