Jack is 6 months

What? Our baby is already halfway through his first year of life!? Geesh time flies.

Measurements: 27 in. (70%) 17 lbs. (43%) Once again, long a leeean! haha

This month: 

- This month has gone by so fast! We have finally gotten in to a more regular schedule of still waking up, but only once a night. Which I can handle, I just wish he would sleep through the night!

- He is SUCH A WIGGLE WORM! My goodness I definitely have a boy. He would JUMP out of my arms if I let him! He thinks he can crawl, walk, and even sit up. (which he is super close to doing by the way!)

- He slobbers and drools like none other! Which has actually been going on since 4 months, I just forgot to mention it.

- He has to still put everything in his mouth. And is great with finding his binki and putting it in all by himself! He loves his binki also.

- He loves solid food! We have fed him squash, sweet potato, green beans, apples, bananas, pears, and avocado! So far sweet potato wins on his list of favs. 

- He talks up a storm! He has been doing the little "uh"s and "oh"s for a while, but now he is in to doing "ee" and "baba" its so cute to see him experiment and try to make sounds!

- He squeals with delight all the time, just out of the blue we will hear a big scream that I'm sure even scares himself :)

- He is just starting to get stranger danger, which I am so not excited about. But at the same time it makes me feel  so important when he wants me or Steve :)

Random Happenings

- He is finally done being swaddled at night. Now I know you are probably laughing to yourself thinking he was WAY too old to be swaddled but I had a little swaddle sac that velcrowed together and that was the only way he could sleep! Now he wears that little football sleep sack which he also loves.
- He is starting to sit up great! But only with a few distractions in front of him :)
- Daddy loves dressing him up in Ute gear and watching football games!
- Also, every time I look away for one minute he has something terrible in his mouth! haha this one is Daddy's computer cord... (also, why does his hair look SUPER red in some pics?) he is definitely a blonde in person.

Thanksgiving

We went to my grandparents house for Thanksgiving and had such a great time! The bottom left picture is of my two cousins Reggie and Dillon, and my brother Mitchell. They are all so tall!

We went to St. George after Thanksgiving to visit Steve's mom and we took a day trip over to Vegas! Jack loved the lights, fish and of course his great-uncle's Bellagio fountains!

We had our first Christmas party of the season! Jack sat on Santa's lap and wasn't scared at all! I don't know if he even knew he was on Santa's lap actually. haha He loved opening his first present too! The bottom left picture captures exactly his personality these days, grab everything! haha 

Just thought I'd share the funniest pictures ever. I thought he would like a little taste of my ice cream one day, but then he cried when I took it away! I finally had to eat it out of his sight because he just kept demanding more! haha We are so in trouble with this one...

Had to throw this one in. Me at 6 months, Jack at 5 months and 3 weeks, and Steve at 6 months! Everyone says he looks just like me, but I think he is a great mix of us both. :)

My camera has this setting that if it knows you took a picture of a face, it crops it up all big looking. This one melts my heart! I love the amazing quality of the pictures our camera takes! Of course I'm a terrible photographer, but it's good enough for me! 

Jack is 5 months

Wow! This has by far been the most eventful month in the life of this little babe.

This month was crazy....

Jack decided to wake up about FOUR times a night, take only 30 minute naps and drive his mother crazy!! Sheesh I got no sleep between mid October to mid November. Yet somehow, I had sooo many pictures from this time! haha go me!

This Month: 

Random happenings

- He loves sitting in his little bumbo chair! 

- He also is loving the dog now. They are so cute with each other!

- He is great with his hands and grabs anything! (even his car seat handle at the store... haha) He held on to that handle the entire time we shopped!

- Also he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth! Ugh... I'm really in trouble with this one! We have to watch everything he touches now!

- The dog has gotten interested with the empty bassinet that sits by my side of the bed and one day I caught him in the act of lounging in it! haha I was laughing so hard at this.

- He now sleeps in his own crib for naps as well as at night! I thought this could help out with his crazy waking up every 2 hours through the night phase. So far... not working!

- We went to cute Tasha's wedding and had so much fun!

- Jack tried his first taste of cereal this month! He wasn't such a neat eater in the beginning. haha

- Halloween was the best part about this month! We had so much fun celebrating it with family parties and a fun night at the symphony where they played spooky music. We also went to Gardner Village with my mom as well as took some cute pictures on Halloween night with our friend James who lives upstairs. We all dressed up as a family of supers! Steve as Clark Kent, I as Wonder Woman, Baby as Batman and Winston as Super dog. We had such a fun holiday!

On November 2 my dad got married to his girlfriend of 2 years! We were so excited for them and they had the sweetest little wedding at the Lion House. We love Connie and are so glad to have her as a part of our family!

 Fall is our favorite time of year and we had so much fun getting in the fall season with walks in the park and amateur photo shots of the fam :)

Love those little shoes :)

Our little guy is surely getting big! I am so glad we have lots of pictures to look back on! He is getting to be so fun and has the sweetest little personality.

Wouldn't be a post about Jack if I didn't leave you with a little something to make you smile :)

Jack is 4 months

Well hello all! We are still alive and still trying to keep up on this blog. I just am so busy now and  blogging is the last thing on my mind! Anyway...

Measurements: 26 in. (85%) 15.4 lbs. (50%) This little guy is long and lean :)

This month:

Random Happenings

 

- He got his first haircut! It wasn't in a salon with my camera in hand, instead it was me cutting off all of his wispy newborn hair on top of his head. haha In the words of Steve it was his "Skeleton Hair"

- He got his first cold this month :( it was the saddest thing not being able to help him! and him getting so mad and screaming about me suctioning snot from his nose :(

- The next one is with Jack and his cute cousin Lexi. She is 1 year old in this pic! They are about the same size.

- We went to the State Fair this month! Of course the only picture I took was of Jack. haha

- Jack with... you ready for this?.... Poppa Wheeler..... Yeah that's what my dad wants to be called. haha you want to know why? Because he loves riding motorcycles and he likes to do wheelies. haha yep. My dad is still a kid.

- Jack is still not sleeping through the night but only wakes up once which isn't terrible. 

- He is always so happy and never in a bad mood! 

- He can sure ham it up for the camera now and I absolutely love it!

- He pretty much only smiles for me and Steve at this point. But you better believe my mom is working on changing that! 

- He has found his hands and tries to use them all the time! He is still pretty terrible at holding things but he is still learning! 

We went to San Francisco this month! It was Jack's first vacation and plane ride!

We had a blast! We went to visit family and have a little reunion. I was meeting some of Steve's family for the first time here! We were total tourists and did everything you could do as tourists! This was my first time in San Fran and Steve's second, but he hadn't been in a long time. We chose San Fran because Steve's aunt Suesan and uncle Barr live there as well as her daughter Megan with her husband Adam and their too cute twin girls Dillon and Aza. Here is some pictures with us and Steve's mom, Step dad, Chris and his cousin Megan.

Here is some other random pictures from the trip. Baby loved the crazy bread shaped like sea creatures at Boudin Bakery! We of course had clam chowder in a bread bowl :) We saw the beach (Jack's first time!) and of course the cute seals on the docks! There is also the cutest picture of Jack with his only cousins Parker, Emmie and Lexi!

This is a picture of all of us having a picnic at the coolest park in California! Golden Gate Park.

Oh this picture kills me. Such a happy baby! We are truly blessed!

Jack is 3 months

  

Measurements: 13 lbs. (this is after I weighed him myself) 23 in. (just a guess)

This month...
- He now holds his head up perfectly and tries to lift it up even when he is laying down.
- He loves  tummy time and always grunts while he is on his belly
- He laughed for the first time this month! He laughs a lot now and it just melts my heart each time he does! He mostly laughs when he gets scared and he just opens his mouth real big and has a cute tiny laugh :)
- He ROLLED OVER for the first time just a few days ago!!! I couldn't even believe it when I saw it so I made him do it again, and sure enough... He's got it down!
- He of course smiles a lot now that he is laughing. He smiles most for mommy and daddy but the occasional stranger will make him smile too.
- He sat in his Bumbo seat for the first time this month. When he does he still just wobbles his head all over the place.
- We finally have a routine! He eats every 3 hours on the dot and sleeps between 8pm and 8am! He is only waking up once a night and that is perfectly enough for me!
- He still loves his binki and it's a disaster if we leave the house without it
- He tasted his first sucker and Popsicle this month both thanks to daddy....
- He is getting too big for his bassinet :( and we have no other place to put him! (in our room that is)
- He now takes naps in his big boy crib and looks so tiny sleeping in there.
- He likes taking walks and babbles the whole time, but hates being in the car and usually cries the whole time. haha
- He can now grab things in front of him but it takes concentration and dedication. haha
- He went to the pool for the first time this month! We dipped his toes in.

- He went to his first sporting event/Ute game this month and his daddy couldn't be any prouder. We only stayed for the first half though because he hated it so much he screamed the whole time! Until he cried himself to sleep...

He is growing up so fast! I'm sad to see him change but I am so excited about each new stage! He is becoming so much fun now that he can interact with us!

I may be partial, but I think he is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Who doesn't get a big smile after seeing this darling face?

I love being a mommy :)

Jack is 2 months old

Measurements: 12 lbs. (yes he has already gained 4 pounds in 2 months...) 23 in.

This month...

Lots of fun times with Daddy, Grandpa Reed, and Mommy. Also the bottom corner was of him sleeping in the hospital bed with me when I had my unexpected surgery. Poor little guy only had one change of clothes! We were unprepared.. And he loves to wiggle his arms out of this swaddle wrap, but I refuse to put him to bed without it!

-He never stops eating! That's why he has gained so much weight!

-He he now will smile at you if he wants to, some days that means it's a lot and some days he just stares at you.

-He already looks like a little man. The newborn stage lasted for a day and now he his too big and grown up!
-The only way he will sleep is in the swing. We are definitely in trouble with this one! Luckily he sleeps well at night in his bassinet. Still waking up twice a night too!

-For a while he was still wearing newborn diapers and onesies because he was so skinny! He didn't start wearing 0-3 month clothes until about the middle of his second month!

-He is starting to get a little personality and I just die every time he shows it.

-He had his second holiday, the 24th of July. We got to go to the parade and a Bee's game that night!

In his cute little Bee's outfit my sweet Grandpa Fletcher gave to him. (pictured with my grandma on the right)

-He just loves hanging out with Daddy and already knows he'll be "the fun one" :)

-He got to go on his very first boat ride and camping trip all in the same weekend! We didn't sleep over so it kinda wasn't really camping... haha

He was talking up a storm on the boat ride. He just melts my heart! I love him so much!

Jack is 1 month

I'm back to blogging! haha it's about time...

I'm starting from the beginning but I'm planning to be all caught up today! So here is what you all have missed...

So this first month isn't that great and a little different than the rest of the months. I blame myself and the fact that I was so out of sorts for so many weeks that I don't quite know what I was doing as far as monthly picture taking goes. But lets learn all about baby J in his first month!

Measurements: 9.5 lbs. 21 in.

This month...

- He started to focus on faces and would just stare into our eyes

- He already started lifting his head off our shoulder! We couldn't believe it, so we made him stop. haha
- He has become obsessed with eating and also his binki. He always has to have something in his mouth!
- He only wakes up twice a night which I think is awesome! We still don't have a routine but we are working on it!

- He got to experience his first holiday and one of my favorites!

 Him in his (too big) 4th of July outfit! We took the dog to the Park City parade with us and had a blast with the Ouzounians!

couldn't resist a little patriotic photo shoot :)

-He had to endure the endless picture taking from his mama :) 

Here we see the first family outing to Auntie Halle's baptism, the dog loving to cuddle up right next to baby, and him starting to smile in his sleep! Also the car seat pic was on a walk the day he turned 1 month. 

-He had so many wonderful people come to visit him!

Aunt Brooklyn, Great grandma Mimi, Daddy, Great Aunt Jamie, Grandma Shelly, Aunt Halle and Grandma and mama.

He of course changed so much in those first few weeks, but luckily I captured all of those perfect little features of his! 

My favorite is his perfect little belly button once his umbilical cord fell off. 

Well there you have it! a whole month of visitors and us never leaving the house. But it was great! We got to enjoy becoming new parents and that whole process of learning how to take care of a newborn! 

Unexpected Surgergy

I'm sure the word has gotten out that I had an unexpected surgery happen this week and I just wanted to tell the story for all to know what really happened.

I'll keep it kinda vague and a bit PG because it was a pretty personal experience, but I am happy to share the story so we can remember exactly what happened as well.

Over the weekend I wasn't feeling my normal self and had pretty bad bleeding. I called in to the doctor on Monday and they wanted to see me immediately. I rushed up to the clinic to find out that my normal doctor was gone for the entire week on vaca, so I had to see his nurse practitioner. She was stumped as to why I was bleeding and even had another OB/GYN come in to take a look. Because I lost so much blood I almost passed out, they decided to send me to the ER. 

The ER was the most ridiculous part of the stay because I spent about 8 hours there and saw 4 separate doctors. They came to the conclusion that there was something on my cervix and it needed to come out. Nobody was able to actually identify what it was though. One of the OB/GYNs actually asked me to take a picture for her collegue because she was so stumped as to what it was. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!! They kept thinking they might have to surgically remove it so I couldn't eat anything. I ate lunch at 1 and didn't eat again until midnight! They decided yes it needed to be surgically removed and luckily they got me a room in the labor recovery part so I got to be where all the new moms and babies were! We were not prepared to spend the night though. We had 3 diapers for Jack and no pajamas! We had no toothbrushes or a change of clothes! It was bad...

The next morning I was woken up by two new doctors who wanted to take another look at the mysterious thing inside of me. I was checked for a 5th time (which by the way was the most painful experience ever!) and they said they would put me under and surgically remove it and hopefully it would be done that day. So once again I wasn't allowed to eat until after the procedure. They finally got me ready go to and started the surgery around 4 pm. The doctor actually performing the surgery was doctor number 9 to look at it. Yep you got it, 9 doctors!!! If my original doctor would have been here then it probably would have been like two!

The surgery went well and I was back in the recovery room in no time. After I recovered from the anesthesia and was able to speak in coherent sentences, the doctor who performed the surgery came to speak with us and said they removed a piece of placenta that was stuck to my cervix and it was a size of a lime. Also my cervix was completely dilated to a 10! (Now if you remember my cervix never actually dilated on it's own, even after going a week over my due date) So that was obviously where all of my pain was coming from! They said this was  such an unusual case and most retained placenta's are found within days after delivery, not 5 weeks later! They said my body was trying everything it could to get rid of it but it was not coming out on its own.

Needless to say I feel soooo much better now that the surgery has happened! I am off the anesthesia and back to normal. There is no longer any pain and I am once again a normal person! I couldn't believe that this wasn't found sooner, but with this being my first baby I didn't know what was normal and ok. I am just so thankful for family and my sweet husband for helping take care of me and completely taking over the parenting for about 3 whole days! Everything is great now and I also have to thank our wonderful friends and family for their thoughts and prayers. We are truly blessed!

Newborn Pictures

Wow baby Jack is already 3 weeks old today! Time goes by so fast. and being a new mom is crazy! I feel like I get two things done in an entire day... haha I hear it gets better though once they start sleeping through the night and I stop napping during the day. Parenthood is a blast though and we are having so much fun!

I took some of my own pictures on his one week mark as well as our friend Mike took some cute pics of the  family when he was about 17 days old. I wanted to share all of them so there is going to be a lot of pictures!

 I wanted to get up close on that precious face!

 His eyes are so beautiful. I'm sure the color will change, but for now I am enjoying the blue.

These were the pictures that Mike took.

He did such an amazing job! I am so glad we got to capture his newborness before it is gone forever! And I may be biased, but I think he is the cutest baby I have ever seen! :)

This pic was taken at the end of the shoot when Jack was STARVING haha I think it's hilarious a newborn can hold his head up like that!