Birthday Bash

Kirk and I took Ian to his first birthday bash today to celebrate the 4th birthday of Harris Spinks. I can't believe this kiddo is four years old already, seems like only yesterday we were going to the hospital to see his cute newborn self. Where does the time go!!??? Ian did great at the party and spent the majority of the time just hanging out and taking it all in. I didn't get any pictures of the birthday party but I did get some pictures of Ian all dressed up for it which I will post below.

Ian will be 12 weeks old on Monday. He is very alert these days and very interested in everything around him. He is holding his head up well and looking all around at everything. He's smiling all the time, "talking" up a storm, and trying out all kinds of new noises. The best part of my day hands down is getting one of those big gummy smiles so I spend the majority of my time these days doing any and everything I can to encourage one. We are having so much fun watching him grow and develop.

Unfortunately he is still not sleeping through the night. We're keeping our fingers crossed that it'll be soon but honestly I'm starting to think I will never sleep through the night again. Everyone assures me that it will happen but as of right now I'm just not convinced. Things had gotten better for awhile once Kirk and I really developed a bedtime routine and stuck to it until a few nights ago. I'm convinced the kid knows something is up (i.e. Mama starts back to work on Monday) and is trying to throw us for a loop. Here is a quick glimpse into our night here last night:

7:45pm Kirk and I eat dinner
8:00pm Kirk and I give Ian his nightly bath and get him dressed and ready for bed
8:3opm nightly nursing session
9:00pm I put Ian down for the night
10:00pm I go to bed in preparation for a long night telling Kirk that I hope this is a better night than the night before.
11:30pm Ian wakes up for his first feeding. I tell Kirk this is shaping up exactly as the night before.
1:00am Ian wakes up again and Kirk hits the vibrate function on the pack and play and thankfully he is down for the count once again.
2:30am Ian is awake yet again and this time no amount of vibrating on the pack and play will do him. He gets up for another feeding. A short time later I discover that he has blown out a diaper and will have to have a wardrobe change. I lay him on my chest and maneuver the dirty onesie over his head without smearing him with poo (a skill I have become very good at lately with all the up the back blowouts we've been having. While he is still positioned on my chest and I am attempting to get re situated I hear him "talking" and the next thing I know he is holding his head up perfectly with those big blue eyes shining and giving me that all familiar gummy grin that melts my heart every time. At this point I'm thinking it looks like this kid is now no where near going back to sleep but I have to laugh because he is so darn cute.
3:00am After getting Ian cleaned up, dressed, and fed he is back "down for the count"
6:30am Back up for yet another feeding. I'm impressed this time at the luxury of a 3.5 hr stint and am grateful that this night did indeed go better than the night before when we had several two hour stints.
8:00am Ian is awake again and ready to start his day so we get up. What an eventful night. I can't help but think of one of my coworkers telling me that her son who is over a year old is still not sleeping through the night but I reassure myself that surely this will not happen with my child and I keep my fingers crossed that maybe tonight will be "that magic night" but I don't hold my breath.

Here are some of the latest and greatest pics of our little guy:
Dressed in his party attire a Kenneth Cole Reaction outfit from his great grandparents. Too cute!!

Can you tell I love my outfit from Aunt Sue??

Put up your dukes

down for the count

Two Months

Friday we took Ian in for his two month appointment with the pediatrician and .... my big boy is now up to 13 lbs 15 ounces and 24& 3/4 inches long a far cry from the 8lbs 2 ounces and 21 inches he was at birth!!!!! The appointment proved to be a very traumatic event for the poor little guy since he recieved three immunizations. It broke my heart to hear him screaming. Luckily for me Kirk volunteered to be in the room with him and to help hold him down. After getting the shots he was beet red and cried until he fell asleep. He was so worn out from the trauma of it all that he spent most of Friday afternoon and evening sleeping.

I can't believe how big he's gotten and how much he's changed in these last couple of months. He is now "talking" to us and smiling more and more everyday. It's been so cool so far to see him become more interactive and noticing new things around him. Now if I could only get him to sleep through the night or at least a 5-6 hour stretch a night.... I'm due to go back to work in three weeks so am crossing my fingers that maybe that magical event will occur soon. Luckily for us he is starting to go longer between feedings now so we are back to doing some 3 - 3.5 hour stretches at night which has been fabulous. Getting up in the middle of the night for feedings has probably been one of the hardest parts of having a newborn for me but I'm even starting to get used to the sleep deprivation now. Once I start back to work though it may be a whole new ballgame, I may have to learn how to start sleeping with my eyes open so they won't catch on to me....

Thanks to my mom and dad who volunteered to keep Ian yet again for us, Kirk and I were able to go out on our first "date" since he was born. The other couple of times we managed to get out of the house it was to do grocery shopping or Christmas shopping so it was quite a treat for us to go to lunch and a movie yesterday afternoon. The movie of choice was Marley and Me, which was fabulous. Word of warning if you go see this movie take a box of tissue with you and wear waterproof mascara, by the end I was crying like a baby and so was the lady next to me evidently because I could hear her sniffling!!! It was so bad I was embarrassed to go out of the theater at the end of the movie because I didn't want anyone to see my red eyes.

A couple of my favorite new pics of Mr. Ian:
Two Months Old

Chillin in the swing

UnaBaby

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

This is my very first post using my brand new laptop, woohoo. Types like a champ!! :) Okay, now that I have that out of my system.

2008 was a fun and exciting year for our family and though in a lot of ways I hate to see it go I look forward to this year and all of the firsts we will get to experience with Ian. It's amazing the difference that just one year can make. I started out 08' hopeful that this would be the year my greatest wish would be full filled, I felt uncertain but kept trying, rather unsuccessfully at times, to remain hopeful and positive. Thanks to my many wonderful family, friends, and a few complete strangers I managed to keep my sanity through the most trying times. I had no idea as I rang in 2008 that this would be the year that would bring some of the greatest and happiest moments of my entire life. We experienced so many wonderful things this past year: the moment we found out we would become parents, seeing our baby and hearing his heart beating for the first time, finding out we were having a little boy, sharing our news and happiness with our friends and family, celebrating our upcoming arrival, our baby shower, setting up the nursery, experiencing pregnancy in all of its glory, the birth of our baby boy, bringing him home, his first holidays. WOW, It's going to be hard to top 08'!! Can't wait to see what 09' has in store for us.

"our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain"
- Rob Thomas - Little Wonders