The past few months...

We have been very busy the past several months. Noah's colic is in full swing still but he is a very happy, fun baby most of the day. I think he doesn't get a good nap in during the day (he mostly catnaps) so that causes him to become overtired around 4 pm. That is just my theory - I really am not entirely sure. We are gearing up for summer, enjoying spending time with Daddy, the doggies, family and friends, and I have been making to the gym 3 to 4 times a week (go me)! We have a routine now, for the most part, even though Noah frequently has other plans! He sleeps from 8-1 most nights, wakes to eat, sleeps until 5, eats, sleeps, then eats again at 8. He is an AMAZING sleeper at night. Just conks right out after every feeding, which is such a blessing after his evening screaming sessions! Here are some pictures from the last few months.

1 week old.

Dukey loves his baby.

2 weeks old - getting ready for his first date with Bella.

In the Moby. He loves the wrap!

He has the funniest expressions!

In the bouncy for the first time!

First trip to the zoo!

At the fountain with Daddy.

Bathtime!

Out to eat!

Stud. Muffin.

Best daddy in the universe

It took Jason awhile to be ready to have kids. He always wanted them, but is the sort of guy that has to have his ducks in a row before making any life changing decisions. Before he proposed we had to be done with college, he had to have a good, secure job and had to own a home. I was ready for babies pretty much right after the wedding, but he wanted me to finish grad school so I could support myself should anything ever happen to him (waaaaaa). So when he was ready for babies I knew he was really, really ready.

I am glad that we waited, because he is absolutely obsessed with Noah and loves him so much. I am thankful that he is so helpful and hands-on with baby care because it makes my life so much easier. I am glad that my little man will have such a strong role model in his life to teach him how to be a kind, hard-working and loving man and devoted husband and father. The world needs more of those, right?

Best moment of a dad's life :)

Teaching Uncle Jerod how to burp.

Nap time.

Story time.

Two buds hanging out.

Daddy can't get enough of babies! He loves little cousin Isaiah!

P.S. Why am I blogging so much, you might ask? WHERE oh WHERE do I find the time? Well Noah has turned into a little screamer each and every night, so each and every morning I have no energy left for anything else but sitting on the internet while my little prince sleeps peacefully away on my chest. Good for my blog, bad for my house! Love my precious baby, though!

Noah meets the Easter Bunny

Yesterday we attended an Easter brunch at my Grandma's assisted living home. We ate delicious food and Noah got to enjoy lots of family time and even met the Easter bunny for the first time. These pictures were taken by my Aunt Jody, and I'll have to come back and add my pictures later today, when I hope to finally upload the over 3,000 pictures (for reelz!) we have taken since his birth!

I am so thankful Grandma Lou got to meet Noah. There were times where I didn't think she would get to meet my children, so it is a blessing that she is still in relatively good health at 90! She is obsessed with him (her 7th great-grandchild).

Grandma also got to meet my dad's new iPad. He is obsessed with iAnything and tries to explain the technology to her, but she just shakes her head. When you think that she was born in the early 1900's, it is amazing all the advances she has seen - no wonder it is hard to keep up with!

Everyone else observing my Dad's iPad. Lol. I would like to note that he cradled his iPad all day and didn't even hold his grandson! Hmpf!



Noah with Daddy and Mommy.

Noah with Uncle John. Uncle John had an awesome remote control helicopter to share.

Me, McSexy, Grandma, the MOOSE-O-RAMA, my dad and mom!

A sizable portion of my family - including Aunt Jody, Uncle John and Uncle Jerod! My poor attorney-in-training sister is both sick and has finals coming up, so she had to miss the gathering.

This video is of Jason dancing with the baby - a regular occurrence at our house.

Interesting week...

(Is my angel not GORGEOUS? I'll post more from his newborn shoot soon!)

We are doing fairly well over here. Noah has been on exclusive breast milk (mixture of bottle and nursing) since we got the okay to do so at 2 weeks (he is a big MOOSE, is what our lactation consultant says!) and I am proud that I worked so hard to get him off formula through pumping and sheer determination. Most preemies are still on a mixture until they reach term (because of supply issues with momma and latching issues with baby), which for him will be this Sunday. He still sleeps most of all day and all night and Jason and I have finally figured out a schedule that works for us most of the time (shifts during the night so we each get a chunk of sleep). In some ways, being forced on formula bottles has helped us in the long run, because he doesn't have nipple confusion and will take most anything you give him - breast, bottle or binky. He gets about two bottles of breast milk a day (3-4 oz a pop!) and the rest he is on the boob. Jason loves feeding him and it gives me a bit of a break, so for that I am thankful. He was 6 lb 10 oz at birth, 6 lbs 4 oz after we left the hospital, and on Monday he was up to 8 lbs. He will also sleep pretty much anywhere - I carry him in a wrap most of the day, so he sleeps on me, but he also switches between the family bed and co-sleeper just fine, as well as in our Rock 'N Play sleeper and swing. He is very flexible and easygoing (knock on wood) which I secretly think I deserve after my hellish pregnancy. I just stare at him and whisper, "I love you, Baby - you are the best thing that I have ever done." I repeat that to him all day, every day, so that he knows how cherished he is. It is shocking how one tiny little guy can so drastically change a person, and I seriously don't know what I did to deserve him.

That he, and every child, is a true miracle was brought home swiftly and strongly this week. One of my closest friends from college, indeed still one of my dearest friends, experienced a still birth this week. She is one of the strongest, most beautiful women I know, and her loss grieves and physically pains me. Baby William was due just a few weeks after Noah's original March 20th birthday. I cannot imagine the devastation her family is going through - to carry a child to term, to plan his room, organize his clothes, feel him kick and punch for months, see his tiny fists on the ultrasound screen, his heartbeat - my loss crushed me, and hers must be paralyzing. It is every mother's worst nightmare and a scenario I often envisioned during my long, isolating nights in the hospital. It is upsetting that I cannot fly up there to be with her as she plans the funeral and somehow has to continue caring for her toddler and make it through breathing and waking up and surviving each day. She is amazing though and so strong and 500 times the woman I am, so I try to let that comfort me as I pray for her and her family. I know that God is stronger than anything that can happen to us and somehow through his Mercy and Grace they will survive. Please pray for them, and sweet baby William, as they make it through these first weeks and months.

Finally over...

and so, so worth it!

While I don't have time for a long post, I thought y'all deserved a quick update (I apologize for the delay)!

On Sunday, February 20th at 9:04 am, we welcomed Noah Jackson into our family. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was only in the NICU for a couple days. He is the sweetest, most precious baby and I could not have asked for anything more.

Night before c-section. So freaked out!

First moments!

So happy that it it is over and I have my little man!

Daddy is so happy! He gasped when he saw Noah come out. I have never seen my hubby so happy.

With Daddy in the NICU. First feeding.

Bonding with my baby in the NICU.

Finally he is brought to us to stay!

Daddy loves his baby boy. McSexy is a total rockstar dad.

Awkward is putting it lightly...

So we are not doing pregnancy photos. I thought that I might want to, but at this point I am just trying to make it through this pregnancy without consuming to constant exhaustion/pain and with a healthy, relatively normal sized baby. Both are taking all my energy. This has also been a very nerve-wracking, stressful experience for me and while I REALLY want my baby, I don't exactly want to remember the pregnancy. Plus I feel fat. Plus I am too lazy. My brother-in-law suggested family photos and I about hit the roof. McSexy hurriedly squelched the proposal while I screeched in the background (while I stomped my feet - not my finest moment), "HE HAS GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME WHY THE #$%^ WOULD HE PICK THE FATTEST TIME OF MY LIFE TO DO PHOTOS WHEN I AM PALE AND LOOK LIKE A HAG AND BARELY SHOWER AND CAN'T STAND FOR MORE THAN 5 MINUTES WITHOUT THROBBING THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL YOU BETTER PUT AN END TO THAT IDEA I AM HAVING ENOUGH OF A PROBLEM INCUBATING THIS BABY! $%#^ NO!" And then I started crying. Luckily, my mother-in-law backed me up and was just as horrified - "Leave Katie alone!" were her exact words. There was no way. So, I don't really feel like doing pregnancy photos, but I wish I did. Please don't hate me, Noah. I really love you, just not the process of getting you!

BUT, I am able to appreciate the beautiful pregnancy photos that others do, including these gems...


Enjoy.