They Grow so Fast

Last night Jeff and I were looking at some pictures of Ryan from when he was less than one month old.  We realized then that Ryan is growing at lightning speed and will be running around here before we know it.  

Look at how much our baby has grown in just a few short weeks:

Ryan 2 weeks old:

Ryan 4 weeks old:

Ryan 15 weeks old:

Ryan and the Jumperoo!

One of the first gifts we received was the Fisher Price Jumperoo.  We received it from a friend of the family who has a couple of little boys of her own.  I figured since it came from her that her boys must have loved it too.  Last night we finally assembled the Jumperoo and let Ryan try it out.  We think he is going to like this toy for quite a while. 

The Big Apple

This past weekend we took our first road trip with Ryan.  We headed off to NYC on Thursday evening.  It took forever to get there due to construction on 95 (go figure).  Ryan did great in the car though.  He is such a great baby.  

We played around in NJ near Grandpa's hotel all day Friday waiting for Brandon to arrive.  On Saturday we headed into the city to do a tour of NYC.  It was HOT and when it wasn't hot it was raining.  Ryan did not seem to mind though.  He was rather content riding along in his stroller although a stroller in NYC is not all that fun to try and maneuver.  Jeff and I are looking forward to visiting NYC again...but hopefully with a much smaller stroller and when it is not so hot.  

When we left NYC I realized that we didn't really get any pictures of Ryan in the city.  This is because he was asleep or it was pouring rain when we were ready for a photo op.  Maybe next time.  :) 

Ryan & Grandpa at the park:

Ryan & Mommy on the train to NYC

Ryan chilled in his stroller the majority of the day:

We had to shield Ryan from the rain with a blanket...Times Square:

My Photo Shoot

A few months ago I convinced Jeff to get me a nice camera.  Then a couple weeks ago I convinced him that I needed Photoshop.  I have always enjoyed photography but I can't say that I am all that great at it.  Since Ryan has been here I have been taking more pictures than I have ever taken in my entire life!  I brought out the manual to my camera last week and have been trying to figure out how to take the best pictures (not just putting it into the manual mode).  

Here are a few pictures taken yesterday during our make shift photo-shoot.  Not bad for a beginner.  

Ryan in his chair (he is wearing a diaper):

A day at the Park

Yesterday we took Ryan out for his first picnic lunch.  He had a bottle while Mom and Dad enjoyed a yummy lunch that Mom made.  Ryan loves being outside and the weather yesterday was just perfect.  

Ryan's first time in the grass!!!

    

He did it!!

According to just about every "baby expert" sleeping through the night is official when a baby sleeps a 5 hour stretch at one time.  Going off of that definition of sleeping through the night, Ryan has been doing so since about 6 or 7 weeks.  He has been improving the length of his sleeps at night almost weekly.  His typical routine is as follows:  asleep in crib at 8:00 pm, up somewhere between 2-4 am for a quick feeding and then back to sleep until around 6 am.   This was up until last night.  

Last night Ryan went to bed around 7:45 pm and kinda stirred a little around 11pm but did not need us to help him go back to sleep.  He didn't wake up again until right after 6:00 am!  We made it a full night!  My definition of sleeping through the night is not getting up at 2, 3, or 4 am! I am so happy that I finally got a full-nights sleep. 

Hopefully I am not totally jinxing myself and we can have a repeat performance tonight!

Summer Gear

A couple of weeks ago we bought Ryan some more summer hats (which he doesn't really seem to mind wearing) and a cool pair of shades from Gymboree.  The shades are hit or miss.  He doesn't really seem to like them a whole lot but cooperated and let us take a couple pictures of him wearing them.  Enjoy.  

Two Arms Free at Last!

I suppose it is true what they say about babies changing drastically once they hit the 3 month mark.  This week Ryan has started to take his naps in his crib!!  It may not sound like a big deal, but for us it has been a HUGE deal.  Up until now Ryan has usually taken one nap a day in his swing and the others in my arms.  I have loved the cuddle time with my little boy, but at the same time longed to put him down.  I have been able to get laundry done, wash dishes, and just take a little time out for myself this week while Ryan peacefully napped in his crib.  

On a sad note, I am going to miss those naps with Ryan snuggled up against my chest.  Hopefully he will still like to cuddle with his Momma for a little while longer.  

All that time I have spent holding him the past 3 months has given me some fabulous arm muscles though. :) 

3 Months!

Ryan is 3 months old!!

This past Saturday Ryan officially hit 3 months.  People always tell you that time flies but I don't think you really realize what they mean until you have a child.  Ryan is meeting all of his developmental milestones and is getting so big.  I haven't tried to weigh him lately (mainly because I don't want to get on the scale myself), but I am guessing he is well over 15 pounds by now.  He is eating really well to say the least.  

Ryan is starting to grab his toys.  He really likes to shake his rattle.  Everything has started finding its way to Ryan's mouth in the past week or so.  Perhaps the thing he enjoys the most is kicking his legs.  He has a toy that plays music and lights up when he kicks it. Ryan kicks that toy so much that Jeff and I have memorized the songs (there are several).  Ryan is smiling more and more and has tried to giggle a few times but he is not consistent with it yet.  Ryan's "vocabulary" is expanding as well.  He tries so hard to actually talk that sometimes it actually does sound like words.  He loves to have conversations with his Mommy and Daddy all day long.  

getting pretty good at sitting up!

Happy Father's Day

Ryan and Jeff --- the first day at home

Sunday we celebrated Jeff's first Father's Day!  It was truly wonderful.  Jeff started the day off by making yummy pancakes.  (I know I should have cooked for him but he wanted to cook so I let him) We had lunch out and enjoyed the wonderful weather.  Then we headed down for a walk in the park.  I got freaked out because there was a huge SNAKE in the creek and I was ready to get the heck out of there.  The only thing that would have made the day better would have been to spend time with our Dads too.  

Jeff is an awesome Dad!  Ryan lights up every day when he sees his Da-da.  Jeff is able to get some of the biggest grins ever out of Ryan.  The most wonderful moments of my life are now spent watching my husband interact with our son.   It is truly amazing.  God is so good!!  

Here's to great Dads!!!  

Shannon's Dad -  Jerry

Jeff's Dad -  Paul

First picture as Father & Son

Getting cozy with Daddy

I don't know if this is "normal" or not, but when I went to go pick out a Father's Day card for Jeff I was standing in the aisles of Hallmark with tears coming to my eyes as I read all of the different card.  

Heelarious!!

It is probably a good thing I didn't have a girl. I received a link for these today and well...if Ryan was a girl, I probably would have ordered them! Baby's first high heels. What will they come up with next? In all seriousness though they are quite cute.



Want your own? www.heelarious.com

Mommy Boot Camp

On Friday my friend Annie and I decided to try out Mommy Boot Camp. There were lots of Mommies there with babies of all ages. I loved it. Lucky for me Ryan wasn't that happy about half way through so I did get to skip one set of push-ups. I think I made up for it by doing walking lunges while holding a 15 pound baby though. I did not really know what to expect, but I was not anticipating it to be too difficult because you are working out with your child there. Boy was I ever wrong. The workout was excellent and I cannot wait to go again to try it next week!

For more information about MBC, click here.

Since I didn't actually post this until Sunday...I can admit that I have been sore for the past two days. I am going again tomorrow!!!!

Babies, Babies and more babies!

The hospital where we had Ryan is awesome!  Not only do they have wonderful nurses, they also have great classes for expectant and new parents alike.  Today I decided to try out their new moms group for the first time.  The class is for Moms of babies from birth to 4 months.  They have another class that is for 4-8 month olds.  Anyway I loved it!  It was great to get out of the house and meet a lot of other mothers that have babies the same age as Ryan.  

After the 2 hour meeting, several of us went to lunch.  It was just what I was needing.  We haven't gotten out of the house much in the past few days since it has been over 100 degrees outside.  

Ryan got to meet lots of other babies.  I would say that there was around 15 or 20 babies there.  There was one that was only 2 days older than Ryan.  It was neat to see the moms that have newborns as well.  It was fascinating to me to realize how fast babies go from teeny tiny to little Gerber babies.  

My biggest regret about the class is that I didn't start going sooner!   All the moms were awesome!  I am looking forward to next Wednesday already!!

Happy Anniversary!

Saturday was Mommy and Daddy's 6th Anniversary!  My Grandpa Jerry came to stay with us for the weekend (he is in New York City for the summer).  Anyway, Grandpa Jerry stayed at home with me while my Mommy and Daddy went out for a celebratory dinner.  I had a really wonderful time cuddling with my Grandpa.  He is great! 

Mom's turn:

I am the luckiest girl in the world.  I have been married to my best friend for 6 wonderful years.  This past year has certainly brought many changes to our lives.  We feel truly blessed by the gifts that we have been given.  Here's to many, many more wonderful years with my fabulous husband!  

Ryan's First Swim

My friend Emily gave me a really cool swim suit and matching hat and Mommy and Daddy wanted me to try it out.  They decided it had finally gotten warm enough and I was big enough to try out swimming for the first time. 

 

Daddy got into the kiddie pool with me.  It was nice and warm because it was such a hot day outside.  I just wanted to lay back and relax in the water.  It felt so good on my skin!  I know that I am going to love this swimming thing for years to come.  I can't wait til I can go swimming again!  

We think Ryan enjoyed the pool...what do you think?

12 weeks

Ryan won't officially be 3 months until next Saturday 3/14 but today marks 12 weeks since he was born!  This morning I got to thinking about how much my life has changed in the past 12 weeks and what I have learned since becoming a Mom.  Here are a few examples of what I came up with.

In 12 weeks I have learned: 

• 4 consecutive hours of sleep is perhaps one of the most wonderful gifts in the first few weeks.
• You never wake a sleeping baby. 
• One smile can bring tears to your eyes. 
• It is possible to carry on a conversation with no "real" words. 
• I love someone in a way that I never knew existed until I was a Mom. 
• I strangely miss getting up every 2-3 hours at night.  That was our special time just Ryan and Mommy (he is now sleeping about 8 hours straight every night).
• I am doing a great job!!
• A daily shower is both a challenge to get in and one of the things I look forward to most.

Now to toot my own horn...I have been breast feeding for 12 weeks!!  I am so proud of myself for making it this far.  When I first started I didn't even think I could make it past the first few days.  I really did not enjoy it at all.  I would tell everyone that I did not feel the "bond" that mothers talk about.  I felt a bigger bond when I was rocking him to sleep or when Ryan would sleep on my chest.  It has taken 12 weeks but this morning I realized that I really do like breast feeding.  I am doing the most natural thing in the world, giving him all of the nutrition that he needs, comforting and soothing him.  Last night someone asked me how long I would keep breast feeding for.  My answer, I don't know.  I started out making goals just to get through each day.  Now I am not sure when I will quit.  I know this...I will not have a 3 year-old tugging on my shirt wanting to nurse! LOL

I watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 the other night (you know..the lady had twins then a couple years later sextuplets!).  I am so very thankful that we just had one baby.  I can't imagine having two newborns at once, let alone 6!  If you have not seen the show make sure to tune in to TLC on Monday nights to catch a quick glimpse.  

 

I am worth what??

My sister-in-law sent me this article from CNN this morning.  It states that a Stay at Home Mommy is worth approximately $117,000 per year.  For the article click here.

I guess being a house keeper, day care and never having any time off really is worth quite a large sum of money.