Brody is 5 Months Old!

Where has my little baby gone? He's starting to look like such a little man! And so handsome :)

Brody discovers rice cereal

These pictures were taken during our 3rd attempt at rice cereal. It's pretty clear that it was a traumatic experience for him. I blame Keith, ha! :) He was getting Brody so distracted and not staying focused on actually feeding him. Either way, it made for some awesome pictures. We've moved onto veggies and are having much more luck!

"Oh, ok, I guess it's not THAT bad...."

This face says "Enough already mom!"

Taking a break to chew on their fists...see what I mean about Keith getting Brody distracted?!

Keith having a "serious" discussion with Brody about the importance of eating rice cereal

That's the face of a dog who just licked the spoon and container clean when it fell onto the ground

Brody travels to Colorado!

We recently traveled to Colorado to attend my cousin's wedding. We were in Denver for the weekend and then stayed in Estes Park for a week. What a beautiful area! We had to endure chilly weather and even a snow-storm (16" in one night!) but it was well worth it. We saw all kinds of wildlife; the elk would walk right through town -- we even had a few cross the river behind our condo and stand 10' from our balcony!

Brody did really well on the trip. We drove, so it was a loooong 20+ hours in the car. He had his moments of being fussy, but our portable DVD player and Baby Einstein DVD's were a lifesaver. Rather then type out a bunch of details, enjoy the pictures from our adventures!

Brody engrossed in Baby Einstein :)

Brody and Mommy in Iowa

Our happy little family at the rehearsal dinner

My cousin Dana and her husband JB...isn't she beautiful?

The elk was just hangin' around next the drive into the condo

This was in Rocky Mountain National Park...talk about snow!

Brody didn't mind the snow, he was all warm and cozy in the car!

It cleared up enough to get this great shot -- those are elk

Hangin' out at the condo...

The morning after the snow storm....

Brody could care less -- he wanted to show us how strong he is!

We had to stop for a photo op on the way to my aunt and uncle's house in Loveland, CO

These big horn sheep were just wandering along the road....

See that guy on the left? He kept acting like he wanted to ram our car...so we had to get out of there quickly!

With my parents on the deck at my aunt and uncle's house...that's the mountains you see over the lake. Talk about a view!

He LOVES his Davy Crockett hat Grandpa Buhler bought him! :)

Please forgive me?

I don't even want to look and see how long it's been since I posted. A few months at least. Please forgive me, my blog readers. I'm starting to dabble in photography since I have such a cute subject and thought maybe I'd turn this into a photography blog? Ok, so it'll be a Brody update / photography blog. Leave me some love if you want to see our blog continue!

Brody is doing great! He's 4 months old already..I can hardly believe it. We have his 4 month pedi appointment this afternoon and I'm not looking forward to it. I can still hear the screams from his 2 month shots -- I don't want to re-live that this afternoon. It breaks my heart seeing my little guy scream in pain like that. I'm anxious to see how much our little guy weighs. The last time I stepped on the scale with him he was just over 16lbs, and that was a few weeks ago!

He's really starting to show off his cute little personality. Brody loves to smile and giggle, especially in the morning or during diaper changes. For some reason he finds it hilarious when I tell him I'm going to eat his toes and the proceed to kiss all over his cute little feet. That one always gets a belly laugh out of him for sure! :) We put him in his new Fisher Price Rainforest jumparoo for the first time last night. It took him a few minutes to warm up to it, but once he realized he could play with the toys in front of him (instead of just staring at the blinking lights) he was all smiles and giggles. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of "bouncing" in it yet, but I'm sure that'll come as he gets older (and taller!)

He's such a good little man. He's still sleeping through the night on a regular basis. By the time we finish his bath and his evening bottle, his little eyes are so drowsy. We put him to bed with his binkie and beloved Seahorse and we don't hear a peep out of him again until we wake him up at 6:45 in the morning for day care. He'll sleep until 8am on the weekend! Keith and I are two very rested new parents :) Aside from an occasional grumpy day, Brody is a very happy baby. He really has us spoiled as first-time parents. I'm almost afraid to have another baby -- I'm worried #2 won't be nearly as easy as #1!

I'm starting to get a little concerned about the shape of Brody's head. It's kind of flat in the back -- we've started making more of an effort to turn his head to the side once he's asleep (and to the opposite side the next night). We've also purchased a Noggin Nest (by Boppy) to use when he's in the carseat, bouncy seat or swing. It looks like an infant head support, but the back of it has a large hole cut out so there's no pressure on the back of the head. I sent one with him to day care for them to use as well, so we'll see if there's any improvement. I'm planning on discussing this with our pedi this afternoon and see if he has any other suggestions. I know that if the problem doesn't correct itself by the time Brody is 6 months, we might have to explore other avenues to fix the problem (ala helmet). Fingers crossed his little noggin rounds out the way it's supposed to! Other wise I'll have to change the name of this blog to Fixin' a Flat! :)

Here are some pictures of our little man that I've captured on my fancy-dancy Nikon D3000. I'm trying to convince Keith I need to upgrade from my standard 18-55mm kit lens, but I don't think it's working....

Brody at 2 months old

Brody at 3 months old

Brody at 4 months old (and my first photo editing experiences....)

One Month Old!

It's so hard to believe our little man is already a month old! It feels like time is flying by. We went for Brody's one month doctor appointment and all is well. He's 100% healthy and growing by leaps and bounds! He's up to 22.5" long and 10lbs 8oz. He's grown an inch and a half and gained 2lbs 4oz since birth. It's amazing that I'm already having to pack away a lot of his newborn clothes...some of his 0-3 month clothes are getting a little snug too!

Keith and I are so grateful to have such a laid back little man. Since nearly his first week home, Brody has been on a great sleeping schedule. He'll have his last feeding around 9-10pm, fall asleep by 11pm and then wake around 2-3am for a feeding. He'll be up again around 6-7am, depending on when his middle of the night feeding was. Since I'm still on maternity leave I do the middle of the night feedings during the week and Keith handles them on the weekend. Either way, I'm not going to complain about getting 4 hour blocks of sleep with a newborn! I know it could be much, much worse.

Brody is starting to have longer awake periods and I'm loving it. We've seen a few glimpses of a smile, but we're still waiting for the real thing. He's cooing a lot more and "talking" to the toys on the mobile on his bouncy seat. He loves his tummy-time mat too...he'll lay there kicking his legs and trying to push himself up with his arms. He has great head control for a 5 week old baby. So strong! :)

While it definitely has its challenging moments, we're loving parenthood. There's nothing better then a good cuddle with our little man, giving him kisses knowing nobody loves him more than we do. We're excited about what the future holds for our family.

Brody's Birth Story

I'm a mom -- I can hardly believe it! Brody David Hayes has finally made his appearance into the world and into our lives. We love him so much already...I can't wait to see what he brings into our lives and the little person he becomes.

I had a fairly easy pregnancy, all things considered. I never got the dreaded morning sickness and never had any complications. I suffered from all the "normal" aches and pains of being pregnant in the third trimester, but carpal tunnel was my worst symptom.

Once I hit the 37 week mark I started to freak out a little bit. It was such a surreal thought knowing that Brody could arrive at any time. By my 38 week appointment I was convinced I'd be going past my due date. I was only 1cm dilated and wasn't having any Braxton Hicks contractions or anything. I hadn't seen my mucus plug either (sorry, but I'm keeping this post candid and honest). My 39 week appointment confirmed my suspicions -- I was still only 1cm dilated.

I had just gotten home from my appointment when my water broke. This was around 10:30am. I had three gushes of fluid -- I wasn't sure if it was my water just because I had never experienced it before. On the other hand, I never had experience the pregnancy bladder control issues that some women mistake as their water breaking either. As I walked around the house (calmly, believe it or not) I called my doctors office. They told me to lay down for 30 minutes and if more fluid came out when I stood up, to head to the hospital. I didn't even need to do the 30 minute test...the fluid just kept coming. I called Keith and finished packing my hospital bag while I waited for him to get home. I wasn't in a big hurry; I knew it could be hours before anything happened. I began to have mild, mild contractions that were about 7 minutes apart. Keith came home about 30 minutes later and off to the hospital we went!

I was admitted around 12:30pm and checked at 1:00pm. I was expecting to hear I was 2, maybe 3cm dilated. Come to find out, I was already at 5cm! Holy crap, this was happening fast. When Keith heard I was already at 5cm, he had to sit down...it was all getting to be real for him. I was still having mild contractions and they were about 5 minutes apart at this point. My nurse asked if I was ready for my epidural and called for the doctor. Going into it, I wasn't 100% sold on getting an epidural. I always said that if the pain got bad enough I'd get one. Since my labor was progressing so quickly, I didn't want to reach the "point of no return" where my contractions were so bad that I wouldn't be able to sit still through them while getting the epidural. Long story short, NINE attempts and two doctors later, I was still epidural-less. Both doctors said there wasn't any problem with my back, they just couldn't get the positioning right. I don't know which hurt worse, the zinging pain down my legs when they hit my spine, or the countless local anestetic shots they kept giving me. After an hour of being all hunched over trying to breathe through my contractions (which were getting stronger) without moving, I threw in the towel. I had enough.

It was around 4pm by this point and my nurse checked me again. I was expecting to hear I was 6cm or so...again, not the case. I was nearly 8cm dilated, 100% effaced and Brody was at a -1 station. Holy crap! By this point, my contractions were coming 2-3 minutes apart and were getting really strong. It was getting harder and harder to breathe through them. When I felt like I wanted to push, my doctors told me I was at 9.5cm and I still had a "lip" on one side of my cervix, so no pushing for me. The pressure was so intense, I can't even describe it. Keith was such a trooper during all of this. He kept putting cold washcloths on my forehead and let me squeeze the crap out of his hand if I needed to. He was so encouraging.

Before I knew it, it was time to start pushing. Keith and I gave each other a look that said "Ok, this is it!" I pushed for about an hour before the doctors came in. By this point I was yelling out in pain and I'm sure I scared any other women in labor who could hear me. I was making noises that I didn't even know was possible. All I know is that what I was doing HURT like nothing I've ever felt before. They were telling me to push through the pain and pressure, but what really kept me motivated was Keith telling me how he could see Brody and that he was right there. The doctors were ready for me to deliver Brody, so I gave it everything I had and before I knew it they were putting him on my chest. What an amazing moment! He came out screaming and kicking his little legs around. I remember looking into his little face and looking up at Keith and just being in pure awe. I didn't care that the doctors were pressing on my stomach to get everything else out of me or that they were stitching up my 2nd degree tears -- I finally had my son and that was the only thing that mattered.

Brody was born at 6:34pm on 12/31/09, weighing in at 8lbs 7oz and 21" long. He was born nearly exactly 8 hours after my water broke.

30 weeks down - 10 more to go!

I've been a bad blogger, but to be honest, nothing has really happened in our lives to post about. Since I'm entering the (long) home-stretch of this pregnancy I thought I'd post an update.

Yesterday I hit the 30 week mark -- with 10 more weeks to go! Even though 10 weeks is technically a long time, I feel like it'll be here before we know it. And to think that Brody could come early makes it even scarier. All these people at work say they're convinced I'll have him early, but I'm leaning towards going past my due date. Not sure why I feel that way, but we'll see!

I feel like I'm running out of room for this boy to grow! Every day things have gotten increasingly difficult. I get winded when I bend over in my attempt to put on socks or tie my shoes, I toss and turn several times in an effort to get comfortable in bed (sorry Keith!) and by the end of the day I feel like there's a 15lb bowling ball in my stomach. I've also developed carpal tunnel in both of my wrists. My doctor said it will more than likely go away 4-6 weeks after I deliver. Let's keep our fingers crossed! It's extremely painful to pick up objects while turning my wrist (like doing the dishes) or even to put weight on my wrists. I've been wearing splints at night and it helps, but the pain is still a constant thing.

On a more exciting note, my shower is this coming weekend! My wonderful mother-in-law and sister-in-law are hosting it with a little help from my mom. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone from both sides of the family...and I won't lie, I'm excited to oooh and ahhh over baby things :)

We've done a little work on the nursery, but not a whole lot. We put the rest of the bedding on the crib and assembled our changing table.

I'll be getting a glider rocker/ottoman for my birthday this month and then we can buy a small end table for next to it. I'm still looking for the perfect window coverings; I can't decide if I want to shell out $17 per valance for the ones that match the bedding or if I just want to find light sage green valances somewhere. After my showers (I also have a work shower a week after my family shower) and we know what we have, I'll be shopping for the rest of the nursery decor. I found these on Etsy and am in love with them!

Overall I've enjoyed this pregnancy. We've truly been blessed with the gift of Brody and I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it. Aches and pains aside, Brody has been very very active lately and I'm loving it. It's so much fun to sit and watch my stomch move like there's an alien in there. We have a BebeSounds Heart Listener and Keith has enjoyed listening to Brody move around. We don't have much luck finding the heartbeat (the Listener isn't the greatest) but it's fun hearing him kick and punch at the dopplar on my belly. Keith also likes to blow "raspberries" on my stomach to get Brody to push out back at him...and he sure does! It's not the most comfortable feeling, but Keith gets such a kick out of feeling Brody's butt or foot (who knows what it is!) that I just put up with it :)

We're in the homestretch and we can't wait to meet our son!