Dog Gone Days

I am practicing so that I can eventually ride Thor around

Do you have any leftovers in there?

Let's wake Thor up to play.

Oh my, big kiss from Jasmine!!

I don't think Thor minds if I play here.

Thank goodness we have such wonderful dogs. They really do love Kristopher and I think they would do whatever they needed to do to protect him.

1st Sick Day

Well today I had to take my first sick day due to Kristopher vomiting 3 times this morning. Poor little guy. He has never been a spitter so to see him doing that was really scary for me. So I had to wake up the poor Dr on call but she was very nice and made me feel better by saying that a lot of children have had this and that hopefully by treating it early he won't get it full blown. Well I hope she's right.

So being home and not being sick is something new for me and I don't know quite what to do. I can clean. Oh goodie, my poor house has been neglected for let's say the past 8 months. : ) Oh well, I have had better things to do recently. So I'm off to clean house and hopefully give our dogs a bath too. It's sunny out so I won't feel too bad getting them wet in 50 degree weather.

So until next time let's hope Kristopher does not get too sick.

Visiting Santa

Breakfast with Santa was fun. Grammy, Daddy and Mommy were there to share the experience and the photos will say it all.

Another Update

I know I have not been doing very well in keeping everyone posted but I have been super busy. Kristopher is now a professional at the combat crawl and has decided to try to use his hands and knees. He has managed to get up on his hands and knees but has not mastered that one goes in front of the other and that is another mode of movement from point A to point B. I'm not in too much of a hurry for him to figure it out either as I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with him now. Kristopher also has professed his love for electrical cords. I don't know if all babies do this or not but if there is a cord anywhere within eyesight Kristopher lets me know where it is.

We put our Christmas tree up Friday night and what excitement that was. I now have something else I have to keep an eye on. I think he likes the lights more than anything. We also put up our Christmas decorations but I guess that goes hand in hand with putting the Christmas tree up. So Saturday afternoon in the cold again we put up our lights. They are really neat. I will post a picture when I get a chance to take one. So today we are going to work on cleaning out the garage so I can put my car inside. How nice will that be that I won't have start my car to warm it up, it will already be warm.

Another milestone accomplished, pulling himself up to a standstill. In helping Mommy with the laundry Kristopher has managed to pull himself up to a standing position. He started by pulling himself to his knees but has not mastered up to a stand. I know he will be walking soon but it just seems too soon for me. I can remember so clearly like it was yesterday being in the hospital. It is so strange how when we were kids we couldn't wait to grow up and now that we are grown up you want to be a kid again. It also seemed like when we were so excited for an exciting day to come it would never come fast enough. Now being a parent, time is going too fast and you just want things to slow down so you can enjoy your child growing up. You want to enjoy every little accomplishment they achieve. The little things they do are sometimes the greatest for a parent to see. I only hope that Kristopher keeps developing the way he does, into a sweet perfect little boy. Boy isn't that the most biased statement I have ever made. : )

Well I hope everyone enjoyed today's post because I enjoyed writing it. Until next time : )

Hectic Holidays

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. The holidays were nice, it was the first time Kristopher met his Uncle Andrew. I am pretty sure they liked each other and it was nice to see Kristopher socialized with his family. His also met his Great Grandpa and his Great Grandma on his Daddy's side. I think the best part of the holidays is not having to work and I can spend whole days with my beautiful son. He is really starting to be on the move. I shampooed our carpet again in preparation for the days that are coming soon of chasing Kristopher around. I think baby proofing also takes on a whole new meaning when you actually have to do it.

I did not brave the Black Friday sales. I know I should have, being a new mom and trying to pinch every penny possible. I just couldn't get up and I couldn't imagine dragging Kristopher around to all the stores when I really didn't know what I was looking for. We did go out later that afternoon and got a few things, tools for Daddy and a coffee grinder for Mommy. I think they are set for Christmas. : ) Oh well, maybe next year.

I hate the fact that we can't spend any more time with Kristopher than we do. I'm so ready for our vacation!! December 29 - January 6, we are also taking the dogs so it will be the whole family and it will be a lot of fun. I am going to get a good night sleep tonight. Oh and one more thing, the Bengals won. They don't have a playoff chance but it is still nice to see them win. So until next time, enjoy!!

Funny Incident

I know, I know another week has gone by. I have been very busy and I know I will only get busier. So I'm going to start off with a funny story, last week Daddy was giving Kristopher a bath, or at least entertaining him until I could get there to finish the bath. I got the water running and measured to the right amount since he's taking big boy baths now and leave the undressing and undiapering to Dad. Well a few minutes later I hear this muffled yell. I can't quite understand if James is talking to the baby or yelling for me so I go investigate. I open the door and I see the funniest thing I have ever seen, Kristopher is laying belly down across Daddy's lap with his poopy butt towards the door and Dad is trying hard not to throw up with a poopy diaper laying on the floor between Daddy's legs. I am laughing hysterically as I go and get wipes to rescue Kristopher from the lap and possibly getting vomited on. I got Kristopher cleaned off and into the tub, still laughing mind you and Daddy hightailed it on out of the bathroom. I think that incident officially scared James from ever taking the diaper off without checking first.

Quick Update

I know it has been a week since I've posted and I apologize. I've been super busy at work and when I get home I am just so worn out. I'm tired but I want to be well awake for Kristopher and enjoy the couple hours with him that he is awake. Then by the time he goes to sleep I still have to get everything ready for him tomorrow to go to the babysitter. So I can try to recap the week as best as I can but my memory is a bit hazy.

So Kristopher is now wobbling on all fours. He is definitely more active and is ready to crawl. I am in trouble because as he is scooting, he is already into everything. He wants into our wires to our surround sound and TV, (which is not good). He also loves the vent covers, I'll hear him banging on them with his hands and I know right where he is. We are mostly babyproofed, gate and outlet covers. I guess we need to get the cabinet locks out since I'm sure he'll be interested in opening our cabinets.

Monday, he took his first Big Boy Bath. A bath with no seat but just 2-3 inches of water in the tub. I was having such a hard time keeping him leaning back in the seat that I thought maybe he is ready to sit up in the water. What do you know, he loves it and is able to play and splash. After a week he is already getting on his belly and going after the many tub toys we have for him. It scares me some that he is so fearless of the water. Was everyone else's babies like this? I just pray he doesn't slip and his head go under the water and it scare him. Of course, I never leave him alone when he is in the tub. I don't even like getting into the vanity which is right next to the tub when he is taking his bath.

I am having to get out the next size up clothes 6-9 months, which is about right since yesterday was his 7 month birthday and he was 17 pounds 6 ounces. I just can't believe it, 10 pounds in 7 months is how much he has gained. His weight gain shows his love for food. He has had now Squash, Carrots, Green Beans, Peas and his all time favorite Sweet Potatoes, all the veggies. So tonight I started him on Bananas. I figured they are the most bland of the fruits and it would be the easiest transition. Of course, he loved it. So far Kristopher has liked everything I've given him. He's also very good at letting you know when he is finished. If he's having a bottle, he just turns his head and refuses to drink any more. If I'm feeding him food, he'll bunch up his bib and start rubbing it all over his face usually succeeding in getting all of the dropped food back on his face. At that point, he's finished.

The pictures are random but are so cute and wanted everyone to see them. I hope everyone is doing well and I just want to warn everyone, with the holidays coming up I may be so busy that I won't be able to post or I may have a lot of down time that I will be able to keep everyone up to date. Well tomorrow is Monday, the beginning of a 3 day work week and then 5 whole days with Kristopher. I can't wait.

Good Ole Sundays

So our Sundays we try to relax and hang around the house and spend time with our little one. Yesterday we or should I say James worked on the backyard. Since our dogs are 300 pounds combined weight, run over the yard constantly the grass has been worn down to nothing. So James tilled the yard in the bare spots and I picked up the rocks that surfaced. We figured out why the grass is so bad too, we have more rocks in our soil than we do soil!! It's awful, our home builder did not take care of the yard at all but oh well. So after our morning of hard work we were able to relax and watch it rain while we waited for our beloved Bengals play. We were kind of dreaded the game but were still hopeful. It proved to be a faithful fan since they beat the Baltimore Ravens 21-7. While we were watching the game we were able to play with our adorable son that continues to amaze us everyday. We read books, played with our toys, gave our dogs a massage and even helped Mommy fold laundry. He's good at folding laundry.

Some of his favorite books are "The Wheels on the Bus", "Baby Baluga" and "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." I think at this point he likes to eat the books rather than read them but I think it is good for him to hear my voice and hopefully it will develop his speech and grammar.

Kristopher is definitely getting around now, as he scoots from one end of the room to another. He is curious about everything and I think it's time to put the baby gate up to block off the stairs. It will be a pain to have to open and close the gate but it will be a must do safety feature. So here is a video of Kristopher crawling or "scooting" rather. He didn't crawl very much but a little. He actually balanced up on his hands and knees this morning. So it won't be long before he gets the hang of actually crawling.

So does everyone remember when I mentioned that Kristopher was a model? I finally got his pictures back and I purchased the DVD so I could share some of the pictures with everyone. There are a quite a few but I wanted everyone to see them.

So I hope everyone likes these pictures. A friend of ours has just opened up her own photography studio, RC Photography at http://www.rc-photos.com/ If anyone lives in the area I'm sure she would love for you to come see her if you would like to get your kids photo taken or even your family portrait.

Well I hope everyone enjoyed this post and more will come soon.

Another Milestone

So Kristopher made Daddy's week by "Dada" as his first word. : ) He said it Monday and now won't stop saying it. Everything is Dada, Dada. He's so funny. He's also decided that he's going to scoot everywhere and be into everything. I know this is only the beginning and it only gets

worse but I'm glad that he's slowly preparing me for the days ahead when I will not be able to keep up with him.

We have also introduced the sippy cup with just a tiny bit of Mommy's Milk but I don't think he got any of it. I think he just chewed on it mostly. He is chewing on everything and rubbing is against his gums. I'll be glad when his first tooth breaks through because I know that's the hard part and it will be over with. I'm sure Kristopher is ready for some chewable food. He's always reaching for Mom and Dad's food whenever we're eating. Well I have been busy this week so I will try to post more in the next couple days. As always, enjoy.

More Updates

So I know I have left a lot of things out since I just started this and Kristopher is 6 months old so I'm going to continue to back track. Kristopher was born at 9:26 am on April 17, 2007. He was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. It is so hard to believe that he used to be so little. He was also 10 early due to my complication. For the women who may still have children, don't every let anyone tell you that bed rest is a great thing. I was on bed rest for 10 days and I could not take it anymore. Being so active made it very hard to sit still and I was supposed to keep my feet up when I was off too. The reason I was put on bed rest was to keep me from going into labor. This would minimize the complications that could happen if I was to start delivering Kristopher and we were unable to get him out immediately or I started bleeding internally. But I am ok now and I have the most beautiful son, I hope I don't sound biased or anything. : ) The picture to the right was taken in the hospital.

He is doing great now and is so funny. He is eating Stage 1 food now and I think he is getting the hang of the whole spoon to mouth thing. To date, he has tried rice cereal (he loves), oatmeal, squash, carrots, and peas. I am only introducing 1 new food every 4-5 days as to see if he has any food allergies. I hope he doesn't develop any because I have a hard time keeping up with his sensitive skin. He has a mild case of eczema. Another day, another story. The next food I will probably introduce will be sweet potatoes and then green beans. He is supposed to try all of the vegetables first before any of the fruits so that he will eat the vegetables and not just fruit due to it's sweetness.

So, his feeding schedule right now is a 6 1/2 ounce bottle about 8:30, cereal and 6 1/2 ounce bottle about 10 or 10:30, a food and bottle at 12 or 12:30 and then another bottle at about 3:30 or 4. The babysitter may then give him another bottle at 5 depending on when she last fed him. Speaking of babysitter, Kristopher's babysitter is the best. He absolutely loves her and it makes me feel good knowing that I am leaving him with someone he feels comfortable with and that I can trust. It's hard bringing a child into the world these days. I will worry everyday he goes to school or anytime he has to ride with someone else besides myself. Today is not the same as when I was growing up. I will not even be able to let him play in the backyard without a fear that a stranger may come into the yard, (we live in a subdivision, which I dislike). It is so scary. So I'm going off talking about nothing. I think that's the point of this though. I hope at least. So Gail, Kristopher's babysitter is wonderful. She also babysits 3-4 other boys depending on the day and yes ALL boys. She reads to them, sings songs with them and is even teaching them sign language. I guess I better brush up on my sign language since I thankfully have not had to use it, yet at least. I could not imagine doing what she does. For a person to babysit out of their home and love it so much is a really special person. I know Kristopher is learning a lot and really enjoys being with Gail and the other boys. Here is a picture of her.

Well we have "Fallen Back" this morning and I still need to get Kristopher's bottles ready for tomorrow so I better get going. So until next time, Enjoy and happy reading!!

1st Halloween

Last night was Kristopher's first Halloween. I know he didn't understand what was going on but he certainly enjoyed looking at all of the kids dressed up when they came to get candy. I was suprised he actually kept his costume on for 1 and 1/2 hours. He was so cute and everyone thought he looked so great. Well we passed out quite a bit of candy but of course still had some left over. That's ok though.

I got his picture taken yesterday in his costume so hopefully that will turn out. He was actually able to sit up in it. I will add more pictures as soon as I get them onto my computer. The pictures were taken by a lady that also used Kristopher as a model. Those pictures turned out great too. I don't know when she will put them on her website but I'll let you know when she does so everyone can see them. He did a great job when he was modeling. Hopefully she will keep us in mind in the future and he can go back and keep getting his picture taken.

Speaking of pictures, I want to thank my cousin Laura for a really great present she gave us. It was a two year membership to JC Penney's Photo Club. It's wonderful, we get his picture taken every 3 months. I figured there is not much change from month to month but every three months you can notice a change. Plus, by the time I get the pictures back from 1 month it's time to get the next month taken. Working full-time does not permit me much time to do that. I'm barely able to do everything I need to do everyday. I'm not going to complain though because having Kristopher was the best thing that ever happened to me. Sorry this is such a short post but I haven't quite gotten the hang of this blogging thing yet. Hopefully I will soon though.

Weekends

So it is now Saturday and I have the whole day with my son. It is wonderful. I really miss him during the week and I miss not having Friday off. I definitely appreciate time now I can never get enough with him. It also makes me thank my parents for all the time they spent with me as well as kept the house clean and then find time to take me and be there for all my extra curricular activities. Wow, Thank you, Mom and Dad. I hope Kristopher looks back on me one day and thanks me for everything I did.

So let's backtrack some more. So you never know what it is like to be a parent until you actually are one. You also never know feelings so strong for someone until you have a child. You love your spouse very much but it is really not the same. You love your child so much because they are your own flesh and blood and you made them and now you have to attend to their every need because they cannot yet take care of themselves. It is so powerful.

I think I realized this when Kristopher had to have surgery when he was 3 months old. He was born with a hydrocele which occurs in 10% of all male babies that are born. A hydrocele is a collection of watery fluid around the testicles. Most often just one and the fluid normally dissolves on it's own. Kristopher of course had a communicating hydrocele which means that is path to the testie is open and fluid continues to gather in the sack. His kept getting bigger and bigger to where we could feel it through the diaper. Normally doctors do not like to do surgery on this type of condition until the baby is at least 6 months old. So in short, I took Kristopher to the pediatrician, Dr. Bosley, and he said to keep an eye on it and it got so large that I couldn't wait and the pediatrician scheduled an appointment with the pediatric urologist, Dr. Defoor, which then told me I couldn't get the surgery for 2-3 months. I was not a very happy mother. Hydroceles are not painful to the child but definitely painful for the mother. : ( So Children's Hospital had a cancellation of a surgery and Dr. Defoor called me and we made the appointment. This all transpired over the course of about 1 month. Which goes to show the doctors thought Kristopher's condition was severe. I felt so bad for him. So since I was still on maternity leave it did not matter when the surgery was, I just wanted it done. So Wednesday, August 11. I picked James up and we went to Children's. Come to find out the surgery wasn't scheduled until Friday after I had not slept all night for being so worried.


Friday August 13th, let's try this again. So now this time it is for real, I pick James up and since we know where we are going we head up to Children's knowing he is going to have the surgery. Keep in mind Kristopher has not had anything to eat all morning since he was to go under anesthesia. The surgery was scheduled for 1:30. Can you imagine? I couldn't feed my child and he didn't understand why because I can't tell him. It was awful because not only had he not eaten since 8 am, they were running an hour behind. I was so upset, Kristopher was upset and James was upset since he didn't know how to comfort Kristopher or I. By the time they came for him I was in tears. We were allowed to walk him down to the door before he went into surgery and then the nurse came and got him. Kristopher was screaming because he was so hungry and didn't understand why come strange person was taking him. I just wanted the surgery over with and to be able to feed him. The procedure only took about 1 hour but it seemed like forever. I was finally able to see him again and feed him. He still had his IVs in and it looked so painful on his tiny little hands. I cried but I was so relieved that it was finally over and he made it through without any problems. The doctors had gotten over 2 ounces of fluid out. It was bigger than I thought, wow. So I go Wednesday for the follow up appointment with the doctor and I will let you know how he does. Sorry for the long post but it was a traumatic experience in my eyes and I don't think it phased Kristopher. Let's hope not at least. So until next time - Happy reading.

First Post

So my cousins have recruited another blogger!! Just kidding Kate and Laura, I needed a little motivation and push to do this. The more I thought about it the more I was convinced I needed to do this. Laura's comparison of the Scrapbook vs Blog really won me over. I mean it is so easy to create, edit and change a blog and it's so easy for everyone to see it, no matter where you are. So this is it, the beginning of my blogging days. (Hopefully, I stay with it. I'm sure I will with the support I will get.)

So what do I say in my first blog entrance. Kristopher you are now 6 months old, yes your mother is behind in times. You can roll over, sit up on your own (you just learned how to do this) and you can definitely bring a smile to your mommy and daddy's faces.

I have to say Kristopher is a very happy baby and he is very easy to read. You know when he is hungry, he lets you know when he is tired and he has gotten the hang of letting us know he does not want to be held anymore. He had his 6 month check up last Thursday and he is now 27.5" and 15 lbs. 9 ounces. He is in the 82% for height and 20% for weight. It's okay though the doctor said long and lean is okay. He then received 3 shots and he cried. He is so funny when he puckers up and cries. I feel so bad for him because there is nothing he can do about it. So I then comforted him the best way I know how to, with my Mommy equipment. Hehe. That is going to be one of the hardest things to stop doing. I am hoping to continue until he is 1 year old, but who knows anything can happen between now and then. He has been eating cereal since he was 4 months old since he wanted to nurse or have a bottle every 2 hours, we decided he was ready. He is now at the beginning stages of introducing food. He has had squash and today is his first day for carrots. I hope he likes carrots as much as he liked squash. He finished a container of squash in 3 days. I'm so proud of him. I'll attach some pictures to show some of his feedings.

So let me backtrack some, back to when Kristopher was born, April 17, 2007. We actually got to determine Kristopher's birthday because I had to have a scheduled c-section. I went for my final ultrasound before the birth and that's when they told me I had to have a c-section. I guess normally they do not perform an ultra sound as close to the due date as they had me go for mine but the doctors needed to make sure that Kristopher was not breeched anymore and that I could attempt to deliver normally. Well he was turned but then I had complete placenta previa. The technical definition from Wikipedia is "Placenta praevia (placenta previa AE) is an obstetric complication that can occur in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. It can some times occur in the latter part of the first trimester. It is a leading cause of antepartum haemorrhage (vaginal bleeding) and is characterised by the implantation of the placenta over or near the top of the cervix. It affects approximately 0.5% of all labours." Basically if I was to deliver the baby I could bleed out and/or lose the baby due to loss of it's food and air supply. There was a huge risk that was eliminated by surgery. Please correct me though if I'm wrong. So in hearing that I needed to have a c-section was dissapointing because I felt that I was cheating somewhat. I did not have to wait and guess or wonder when we would be able to meet Kristopher, we knew it was going to be April 17 at 9:00 am. I did not have to go through labor and the screaming and pushing. I had a baby in a total of 2 hours. I did feel cheated but then when I look back, I realize how lucky I was not to have to go through labor and to have have to guess as to when my water broke or if what I was feeling was a contraction. So in conclusion, I am going to have my next child delivered by c-section too. Hopefully it won't be for the same reason.

So Kristopher finally came to meet his mommy and daddy and it was the greatest feeling in the world. To think that I made a baby is hard to fathom. To this day it is still hard to comprehend the miracle of life. It is so precious and so amazing. No one can ever come close to describing the feeling of becoming a parent. Your whole life changes, your priorities change, your focus changes and you change as a person. You become a better person inside and out. To feel so strong about something is not a learned emotion, it is buried somewhere deep inside our hearts until the situation occurs and then the feeling comes out. I was so relieved when the surgery was finally over and that Kristopher was ok and then of course that I was going to be ok.

So, this is just my first entry and I will continue to go back and write about the first 6 months of Kristopher's life as well as keep everyone updated.