Mother’s Day and Colton’s Dedication

I’m a little late getting this posted but things have been pretty busy. I wanted to share some photos from my first Mother’s Day which was also Colton’s dedication. As you can imagine, it was perfect. We had both of our parents in town for the dedication. We woke up Sunday morning and Josh and my dad cooked my mom and me a yummy breakfast. We got ready for church and all headed over to First Baptist Church of High Springs for the dedication. There were quite a few babies being dedicated, including two babies that belong to our friends (baby Adelle and Titus). It was a great service and having our family there made it so much more special. We absolutely love our church and our parents do as well which is nice. We have made so many friends there and it makes getting up early on a weekend so easy (well, maybe not easy, but definitely worthwhile). Colton loves to visit the nursery, the ladies there just adore him and he’s always happy and smiling when we pick him up. We’ve taken him to the service before and he seems to like the music but it’s hard for Josh and I to pay attention because we’re always so paranoid that he’s going to get fussy. He was great during the dedication although at one point he actually lunged for my Mother’s Day corsage, assumingly to eat it.

After church we went back to our house and I prepared lunch for everyone. I made a honey glazed ham, homemade biscuits, corn on the cob, yummy onion cheese dip and a chocolate chip pound cake. A few things to make note of for our next gathering….more food! I was worried about making too much and having tons of leftovers and instead we had just enough. My favorite was the pound cake. I got the recipe from Southern Living and it was DELICIOUS!

Oh, and for Mother’s Day Colton made me a handmade apron with his handprints and some great fridge art. When I picked him up from daycare on Friday I cried, I couldn’t believe I was receiving my first homemade Mother’s Day gifts!! I also got two beautiful cards (one from my hubby and one from Colton) and beautiful, gorgeous….not sure yet! Josh ordered me something that I’m sure is wonderful and he even paid for expedited shipping, but what he didn’t realize was that production takes weeks! Honestly, I could have cared less that I didn’t have a gift to open, which is saying a lot for an only child, all I needed was one look into the eyes of the most amazing gift ever.

All in all it was a perfect weekend. We discovered the next day (Monday) that Colton actually was suffering from an ear infection and had ruptured his ear drum. Amazing because that little guy never even let on that he was sick. Of course we felt horrible that he was in pain and we didn’t realize it, but we now know that we have one tough little bugger and we need to keep an eye on him for signs of illness!

Enjoy the photos!

Love,
Jenny

Mother's Day

Catching Up: 4 months & Rice Cereal

So I'm long overdo in posting some recent photos. My mom has been asking to see these so Im getting them up finally! Back on April 12 we had Colton's 4 month check-up (he's now almost 5 months already!) and we had a great report. I can't recall the measurements off the top of my head but still on the larger side of the scale but slowing down a bit, not quite 90th percentiles like before. He is sitting up really well although not completely on his own just yet. If we let go he'll eventually fall forward. He's rolling over on occasion, both from back to front and front to back. He doesn't do it all the time, just when he's in the mood.

He's starting to hold on to his bottle and will try to put it his mouth. He usually gets his forehead! He also will hold his paci and has put it back in a few times. We're looking forward to that milestone! He says dadadadadada all day long. He doesn't know he's saying dada yet but he's at least got the sound down pat.

He started sleeping through the night from about 7-8 p.m. until about 4-6 a.m. but unfortunately he's not doing that anymore. We reintroduced a regular formula (instead of the soy) and it seems like he's still a bit intolerant to dairy. We're going to put him back on soy (but I don't have to stop eating dairy again, woo hoo) and hopefully that will go back to normal. Poor little guy is very regular with his "movements" which means that his gassy period (at night) is consistent as well. No fun!

Introducing rice cereal was so much fun! He loves it, no big surprise. Of course he gets it all over himself. Josh will hand him a rag and since he loves to chew on things he ends up cleaning off his face and hands all by himself, it's pretty funny.

Things in our house have settled down quite a bit. We've finally worked out a good routine for getting everyone to work and school on time and we're starting to pick back up some of the house projects we had been working on. We FINALLY got our dining room table. We've been so excited about this and we've waited a while to make the big purchase. For almost two years we've lived without one and I'm a believer in family meals at the dinner table (no tv, no phone calls, no interruptions) even for just Josh and me. I just know this table will be in our lives for a long time and will see many family meals :)

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beautiful spring weather!

Love,
Jenny

4 Months

Easter Weekend

We had a jam packed weekend for Easter! On Saturday we woke up bright and early and got on the road for Tampa. We had forgotten to take Darby to the boarding facility the night before (apparently these things happen when you’re focused on a baby) so we dropped him off first. We made the two hour drive south without any problems. We stopped once for Colton to eat and other than that he was a great traveler. He is really not a fan of the car seat because it is so constricting. He tries to sit up while he’s in it and when he realizes he can’t he makes sure we know he’s unhappy. So, we arrive in Tampa and had a quick bite to eat with our friends Brian and Stephanie Barrow. Everything took a bit longer than we expected because of traffic so by the time we got back on the road we were behind schedule.

We arrived in Ft. Myers at the hotel at 4:55 p.m. and we had to leave by 5:40 p.m. in order to get to the ceremony site by 6 p.m. YIKES! We still had to hand-off Colton to my parents and shower. They met us at the drive for the hotel and helped us unload. In record time Josh and I cleaned up and got ready for the wedding. I managed to write instructions for Colton while still in the car so I gave those to Grammy and asked her to read and let me know if she had any questions before we left. Definitely not the way I wanted to leave my baby on our first night away!

We made it to the ceremony on time, phew! We had a great time celebrating Mike and Karla’s wedding and catching up with lots of my old Tridelt friends from college. We did really well with leaving Colton. I think because we were so rushed it didn’t give us time to dwell on it. I did catch Josh scrolling through Colton’s photos on his cell phone though and I had to pull him out on the dance floor to distract him  We had a great time and when I woke up the next morning I immediately headed next door to my parents room to see my little man. They said he did well and probably would have done just fine sleeping through the night in his little pack and play but my mom did pick him up to change his diaper because she said she could smell pee.

Anyway, Sunday morning we celebrated Easter in the hotel lobby. A little strange, well a lot strange, but it was worth it to spend the evening with Karla and Mike. Colton got his Easter baskets and he also got to meet all my friends. Harmony is 17 weeks pregnant (hard to tell in the photos) so it was fun to see her and Kyle and remember back to how Josh and I felt around babies just before Colton arrived. It’s a whole new world, that’s for sure!

After visiting for a bit we all said our goodbye’s and Josh and I got back on the road. We stopped again in Tampa because Colton was waking up and we wanted him to be able to stretch out a bit and play. We decided to stop at IKEA and it was the first trip for either of us. GOOD GRACIOUS that place is just nuts. It’s not that it was all that busy since it was Easter it’s just that there was so much going on and so many things to look at. We found the two chairs we wanted but unfortunately we didn’t have enough room in our car to get them home. They are not flat packed like 99% of the other stuff in the store. Colton loved IKEA though, he was talking VERY loudly as we walked around and he loved when Josh set him in the bin of stuffed animals to pick out his toy. We left with two stuffed animals for Colton, a seagrass flower pot and some basil seedlings. Random! The rest of the trip home kind of stunk, Colton wasn’t ready for another nap and was just so miserable in the car seat. I’m hoping he grows out of it otherwise we will only travel at night from now on.

Well that’s the update for now. Pictures are below. This weekend is Caitlin’s wedding so we’ll be sharing some photos after that.

Love you all and hope you had a wonderful and blessed Easter holiday.

Jenny

Easter Weekend

Colton Rolls Over...Again!

If you remember way back to when Colton was 3 weeks old, he rolled over more than 5 times on Christmas Day. We were all amazed but as we suspected, it wasn't something he continued to do. We think he just wanted to give us a taste of his smartness and then he went back to being a regular baby.

Well, the time has come again for Colton to show us his skills! He rolled over yesterday a couple of times for us. He did it as if it was no big deal. I will just assume that he doesn't do this at daycare yet and that we witnessed it for the first time ;)

Colton is also sitting up on his own. If we have him propped on our lap he will sit himself upright and he'll do the same if we lean him back on a pillow. He seems to prefer sitting and standing and gets cranky when you hold him like a baby or even sometimes when you lay him on his back. He's got things to see and be a part of apparently!!

This weekend we're heading to Ft. Myers for a wedding and Easter with my parents. More pictures soon...

Here is the video -

Cool Dude

We went down to South Florida to visit my family this past weekend. We had a great visit and Colton loved meeting all his other relatives. We had fun hanging by the pool and visiting with Grammy and Grampy.

Also, you'll notice my mom holding a strange contraption up to his nose. That's the nosefrida. You can find it here: www.nosefrida.com It's an amazing little Swedish invention that has saved our lives! If you've ever tried to use a nasal aspirator you know they don't work worth a darn. This "snot sucker" is the only thing that we've found that works. For $15, it's worth every single penny. Colton isn't totally thrilled with it but he doesn't cry (usually) and he can breathe again after we use it!

Visiting South Florida

Supporting our friends!

A good friend of ours has a web site for his flooring business and I wanted to share: www.floorsandmoreremodeling.com

Jason is the husband of Kristin and daddy of Annabelle (all of whom have been in several pictures on my blog at one point or another). He's a great guy, very trustworthy, professional and he also happens to be great at what he does. He has a degree in building construction as well. If you live anywhere near the Orlando/Gainesville area (basically North Central Florida) and you need help with a project or know of anyone that does, please consider Jason!

Full disclosure - we really want them to stay in Gainesville so we're doing whatever we can to drum up business in the area!!

Here is a photo of Annabelle, isn't she the cutest!

Shake Your Shamrocks

I wanted to share a few photos and give a quick update on Colton. He celebrated his very first St. Patrick’s Day last week. He’s got quite a bit of Irish blood running through him so it was only appropriate that he get decked out in Green and bring green cupcakes to his teachers. He also wore a sticker that said “Shake your Shamrocks.” Unfortunately he didn’t arrive home in the same out which is par for the course. He manages to “blow out” a diaper on a daily basis. He even decided to share with his teacher one day, thus the cupcakes. They were really a peace offering!

He’s 17 lbs now and 15 weeks old! Next Sunday we celebrate the 16 week mark which is another big milestone. He’ll probably have another little growth spurt here in the next few days which means we’ll have a hungry boy on our hands. It’s hard to believe he could get hungrier, he eats about 35-40 ounces a day which is quite a bit for his size/age. At his four month check-up we’ll discuss rice cereal and when to start it. I have a feeling we’ll be doing it sooner rather than later. I had planned to wait until 6 months but it appears he may need it sooner. Side note, before Colton arrived I had a lot of preconceived notions about how this was all going to work. I was going to breastfeed for a year, keep him on a schedule so my life would be easier, wait six months to introduce solids, etc etc etc. Then life happens and I woke up and realized that every baby is different and none of the books were written about Colton Highlander, nor has anyone else raised my baby before me. While I have appreciated all the advice and have certainly been thankful for the reference the books have provided, we now know firsthand that what is best for other babies may not be best for Colton (and vice versa). I will never again think badly about how parents choose to do things with their baby (unless of course it’s abuse or blatantly wrong). And Josh would have you know that he knew this all along, he was just waiting on me to figure it out!

Daycare is going very well and so is my return to full-time work. I’m so thankful to have a job I love and work with people that I enjoy spending my day with, that makes such a huge difference. It was incredibly hard to leave him that first day but we know he is in good hands. He does so many exciting things at daycare – they read, do finger-painting, motor skills activities and lots of other fun stuff like animal sounds. He loves watching the other babies, especially the older kids that are just starting to walk. He sits in a bumbo chair during circle time so he’s always part of the group. He’s the youngest but only by a month. Since he’s been at daycare he’s started picking up toys and will move them from one hand to the other. He “talks” to us A LOT. He’ll have conversations with you and then sometimes he just talks to himself or to his toys. He smiles and giggles and is generally a very happy baby. He is so aware of his surroundings now. He watches as we get his bottle ready and he loves to watch Darby, he’s just fascinated by him. Darby in return thinks Colton is rather tasty and loves to lick him.

Okay, enough updating. We have a fun next few weeks with Colton’s first Easter, my good friend Karla’s wedding, a trip to South Florida to meet my family and finally Caitlin’s wedding.

Hope this finds everyone doing well!

Love,

Jenny

PS – I updated the look of our blog so if you’re reading this in a reader or email make sure you click through and check it out.

Videos Not Working

Apparently Blogger is having issues with videos playing so you'll see an error when you try and watch them. From what I understand they are working on it, I won't be posting anymore videos until they get it fixed, hopefully soon. Sorry you have to miss Colton's giggles, they sure are cute!

Giggles and Grins

Since my last post was a more serious one I decided we needed to add something more fun. Here is a video clip of Colton and his new giggle. I can usually get him to do it when he's laying on his changing pad. He was hysterical laughing at the ceiling fan the other day with Josh, wish I had been there for that! It's the most amazing sound in the world. We make fools of ourselves trying to get him to do it again and again...

Bless His Little Heart

When Colton was born one of the first things we did was look at every little inch of his body. We counted fingers and toes, looked for birthmarks and inquired about the bump on his head (a hematoma formed by the way he was laying in my belly) and then thanked God for our perfect healthy boy. When you’re pregnant you’re constantly bombarded with all the things that can go wrong and you’re on guard making sure not to eat or drink the wrong thing for fear it might harm your baby. So when they arrive and they are healthy you definitely give thanks. A few days after Colton was born we were driving him to his first pediatricians visit. I’ll never forget the day, for many reasons. On the way there we talked about how blessed we were to have such a perfect little baby. He had already regained his birth weight (a whopping 8 lbs 14 oz) and he had managed to avoid jaundice and lots of the other little baby issues that often arise. Now we had our fair share of difficulties but those were more of our own and not really Colton (he could care less about how much and when he was sleeping!).

Fast forward to the doctors visit. His pediatrician is wonderful and we were so lucky to get her. She hasn’t been accepting new patients for quite a while but a friend of mine has taken his kids to her for 15 years so he went in personally and requested that she accept us and she agreed. After our initial meeting and “my you have a big baby!” she started to listen to his heart. I remember thinking she seems to really be concentrating so when she stopped and took off her stethoscope and turned to face us I knew something was wrong. She very directly looked at us and said “I hear a murmur, it sounds like it could be a small defect or hole in his heart.” Ugh, what? All of the pride in our little perfect baby immediately turned to fear. The tears started welling and she quickly told us that this was common, it probably was nothing to worry about, but she was sending us immediately to the Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease Center at Shands. That drive was the longest and hardest drive ever. Our only experience with anything like this was when friends of ours had a baby that shortly after birth had heart complications and ended up needing emergency care and open heart surgery. Now Evan is a happy and healthy little boy but I remember all that his parents went through and how scary and touch and go it was for a while.

We arrived at Shands and let me tell you, it got even scarier! The waiting room was full of kids that were very sick and many were wheelchair bound. It was also the waiting room for the pediatric cancer center. What in the world are we doing here with our 4 day old healthy little boy!?!? Long story short, they did an EKG and an ultrasound of his heart and then we met with the doctor. The whole process took several hours during which we had no idea what was going on! Finally the doctor came in and met with us and explained that Colton had a ventricular septal defect or VSD. About 1 percent of babies are born with this and it has varying degrees of complexity. Colton’s was so small that he felt confident in telling us that it would probably close on its own and even if it never did it would NOT (not now or ever) impact his life. What an enormous sigh of relief.

Since that day we have continued to check in with his pediatrician for his normal visits and each time she tells us it sounds like it’s getting smaller and smaller. Today was a 3 month follow-up with the cardiologist and the report was even better. It’s still there but it’s so small that they could barely even find it. They absolutely believe it will be gone before he is one.

I decided to post about this for a few reasons. First of all, we hadn’t told any of our family or friends because we didn’t want anyone to worry. Secondly, because I’m using this blog to document the first years of Colton’s life and I want him to know about this one day. I want him to know what he put his mommy and daddy through even at just a few days old :-) and I want him to know how much we love him and how every single day that we get to share with him means the world to us.

I’m including a few photos from today’s visit. That last photo just cracks me up. That's typical Colton, he MUST be standing (which he does nearly on his own) and he loves to smile and jump up and down.

Love always,

Jenny