New Hair Curt

My Birthday Weekend.

Sunday I celebrated my 27th birthday. We had a pretty low key weekend since Elliott is still pretty demanding, but my friends and family managed to make me feel special. On Friday, my Mom came and stayed with Elliott so I could go do some birthday shopping and redeem my Christmas present: a massage at Massage Envy. I hit up Target and Anthropologie for a new "post baby" wardrobe. It feels so good to be out of the same few maternity outfits, and back in normal clothes. We used this "Mother's day out" as a trail run for Mom and Elliott since I go back to work Wednesday and she'll be keeping him 3 days a week until April when he starts daycare. It was a success, he ate expressed breast milk from a bottle, and I practiced pumping in the car (since there will be no good place for me to do it when I'm at work). I feel confident that he'll be just fine without me come Wednesday.

Other birthday highlights include Tate coming in town from Texas to meet Elliott and celebrate with me, having pizza and Laura's homemade pumpkin chocolate chip pie with friends at our house on Friday night, and dinner and cupcakes with my family tonight. I got lots of calls, gifts, cards, facebook well wishes and Twitter shout outs. I am so very blessed!

Life lately, according to my iPhone.

[1.] Spending time with Dad after work.

[2.] Saturday morning. [3.] Surprise Valentine breakfast.

[4.] My Valentine from Elliott. [5.] My little Valentine.

[6.] Smirk. [7.] Play time. [8.] Sweet baby bum.

Our Big Weekend Out.

Elliott is just over 5 weeks old now, and he and I have hardly left the house this first 5 weeks. I feel like I have spent my entire maternity leave in my pajamas. So, this weekend we decided to venture out and get some fresh air.

This is a scary thing for the nursing mother. My pumped milk is like liquid gold, I try to preserve it for emergency use only, so I'll have enough when I go back to work. (It's hard to pump extra when you are nursing every two and a half hours.) So, when baby gets hungry or fussy in public, pulling a bottle out of the diaper bag to soothe him is just not an option, and I'm not too keen on nursing in public yet. This means we have to time our outings just right; nursing right before we walk out the door so we'll have a two hour time block before we need to be at a place where we can nurse again.

However, Elliott surprised me on our first big weekend out, keeping his fussiness to a minimum, and my stress level down. We managed to time everything just right, and had a nice time catching up with friends and family.

Bundled up for our outing.

Saturday we went to lunch with 7 of my fellow "Aqua Moms" and their new babies. (While I was pregnant I took a water aerobics class at Baptist Hospital, Aqua Moms.) It was quite a sight. We had a table for 16, with 8 women and 8 baby carriers holding babies from 3 weeks to 3 months old. Everyone in the restaurant had to get a peek at all the little ones.

It was so nice to see these girls and meet the babies from the bellies in class. The conversation with these fellow Mommies was much needed. We swapped stories and shared tips on everything from nursing to where to get the best deals on cute baby clothes.

After our lunch, we loaded up and headed to a baby shower for a friend from church. Melanie is expecting her first son, Bennett, in April. Elliott enjoyed being passed around the room, while I enjoyed some down time catching up with my church friends, some of whom I had not seen since before Christmas.

On Sunday morning, we loaded up the car again and headed to Arkadelphia so Elliott could meet his great grandparents on the Grant side. While we were there, Gary's Aunt and Uncle (Elliott's great Aunt and Uncle), who also live in Arkadelphia, stopped by to visit too. We had a good lunch and about a three hour visit, and we got some priceless pictures that I'm sure Elliott will cherish some day.

After our visit with "Meemaw and Pawpaw" we stopped by our Alma Mater, to visit my brother before heading home. This was Elliott's first time on Ouachita's campus, but we hope it will be the first of many.

With the Tiger at OBU.

I felt like my old self again, getting dressed and getting out. Elliott was such a good sport, that I now feel more confident going out with him. Things are slowly getting back to normal... our new normal that is. Elliott had such a big weekend, he slept though the night for the first time last night, 10:30pm to 6am. I guess that means we should do this more often!

Elliott's sweet little baby smile!

Elliott flashed us his first smile this week. We still have to really work to get one out of him, but I managed to catch him in the act yesterday. Hope it makes you smile too!

Life lately, according to my iPhone.

[1] Our first walk- with Natalie and Audrey at the Big Dam Bridge.

[2] Maggie enjoying some "tummy time" in the sunroom.

[3] Who's this handsome stranger? [4] Super Bowl party at the Hayes'

[5] Momma's boy :) [6] Mom brought us dinner.

[7] Working on transitioning to the crib. [8] Lauren and E go on a Sonic date.

Elliott's first month birthday.

Elliott:

We have loved every minute of our first month with you. It has been a true learning experience for us, but in such a wonderful way. Here are some milestones from your first month of life:

-At one month old you weigh 9 pounds, 1 ounce, measure 21 inches long and have a head circumference of 14 and a half inches. That puts you in the 25th percentile for weight, 25-50th percentile for height, and 10-20th percentile for the size of your head.

-It took us 3 and a half weeks to get you back to your birth weight after your weight dropped from 8 pounds 11 ounces to 7 pounds 14 ounces.

-You still wear newborn clothes and diapers.

-You had to be readmitted to the hospital the day after our discharge for 24 hours of phototherapy because your bilirubin levels were so high.

-You love sleeping in your swing, in fact you refused to sleep flat on your back in your cradle, so you slept in your swing the first 2 weeks home.

-You now sleep in your Nap Nanny in your cradle in our room.

-You want to be swaddled all the time, day and night, or you fuss and cry. I've wondered if you can be swaddled too much, but I figure you'll let me know when you're ready to explore your arms and legs more.

-You're nursing every 2 hours during the day for 45 minutes, and every 3-4 hours at night. We were supplementing 4 oz of formula a day to get you to your birth weight, but now that you're there we've cut that out and your strictly on breast milk.

-You have slept for 5 hour stretches several nights already. This makes momma very happy!

-You have been trying to hold your head up since the day after you were born. We don't think it will be long before you're strong enough to keep it up.

-You don't like bath time, you scream until you are dressed and nursing.

-You love music- especially any kind of loud rock. It stops your crying and puts you to sleep.

-If you're awake, you want to be held, rocked and/or bounced. You're already a Momma's boy :)

-You haven't mastered the pacifier yet, but you're getting close.

-You've had lots of visitors this month, everyone thinks you are a good mix of both your mom and dad.

We love you more than words can say. You are already growing way too fast for me. I love to just stare at your little features while you sleep, trying to soak it all in, because I know you'll be a teenager in the blink of an eye. We're looking forward to watching you grow and seeing your personality develop. We still pray for you every night. We pray that you will grow into a kind, hard working man who loves the Lord. But, for now we're just enjoying every minute of your baby days.

Happy one month birthday sweet boy,
Momma