4 months

Ace,

As I sit here trying to remember all of the wonderful highlights of your fourth month, I can hardly come to terms with the fact that four months of time have passed since you entered our lives. You continue to amaze me everyday with your evolving little personality.

Sadly, you have been sick for most of your fourth month of life. You had a cold and we thought it went away. Then, you got sent home from daycare because your eyes were a total mess and you were extra fussy. I took you to see Dr. Stone and he determined that you had a sinus infection. We got you some meds and you started to get better. Then, the meds caused you to have thursh so we went back to Dr. Stone. You also got new symptoms of a new cold! More medicine! I have to say though, you remained quite happy through the whole process and being sick didn't really seem to bother you.

Ashley, Lyla and Neil came to visit us at the house one afternoon. You loved all of the attention! You also started a new daycare at the Y with mommy this month. Now you come to work with me everyday and your little classroom is right down the hall. This last week was the first week that room was open and you LOVE it! You came home so tired every night and were in bed before 6:15! Your teachers, Miss Krista and Miss Andrea are great and I am so happy that you are in the building! I even rocked you to sleep one afternoon and then went back to working on my reports. We are really blessed.

You are still nursing and taking a bottle at most feedings. Your bottles are 6oz now though! You are a very hungry little boy and you are not afraid to tell us! You are even beginning to try to hold your bottle on your own. Your sleep schedule is AMAZING. We put you down around 7:00 pm each night and you sleep straight through to the morning with just a little wakeup for a late night bottle.

Daddy and I bought you a jump jump this month and you LOVE it. You love to jump up and down and get quite excited when the music plays. I noticied the other day that you are now noticing how the different toys on the jump jump operate too! You also love your play mat and play very nicely on your own for quite awhile when we put you down to play. You can grab toys and shake them too!

Ace, this was the month that you started to laugh out loud and what a joy that brought to Mommy and Daddy. You laugh at yourself in the mirror, at the funny faces mommy and daddy make and often times at nothing! You are such a happy little boy! Everyone at the Y comments on how social you are too! Daddy and I call you the Mayor of the Y. Dad thinks you are going to be a politician because you like to give little speeches to anyone who will listen to you talk.

This month you have been in LOVE with your hands. They are always in your mouth and you are always chewing on them. You love love love your hands. Your feet are also becoming a favorite. One night in the bath tub you were sitting leaning forward trying your hardest to figure out exactly what your feet were. So cute! You can roll from your back to your side but are not quite rolling over yet. Ace, you still really hate tummy time but we do our best to get some in everyday. Your teachers at daycare have been working on it with you too. Sometimes we fly you around the house like an airplane and do tummy time that way.  You blow raspberries and bubbles and are generally happy all day long.

You are learning and changing more and more everyday. I love to watch the world through your eyes because you are seeing so many things for the very first time. I feel so lucky to be your mom and thank God for you every night before I close my eyes.

I love you little buddy!

Love,

Mommy

3 months = 1 year

Ace,

You are three months old! I can't even believe it. I feel like I just blinked my eyes and time flew by. You are getting bigger and bigger by the day. Putting you down to sleep at night I find myself wondering if you will look different in the morning.

At three months old you are more talkative then ever. You spend a lot of  your time awake talking away. Sometimes the sounds are more like cooing and sometimes they have definite meaning and purpose to you. Robert at my office has a granddaughter who is two months older then you. He has a video on his cell phone of her talking in her crib and when he plays it for you, you talk back! I guess you get the drift of what she is saying.

You are a very social little person. I can hand you off to anyone at work and you don't cry or fuss. You especially love Susan and she spends a lot of time talking  with you. I suspect this social behavior comes as a result of your time at daycare. I want you to be aware of strangers but not be afraid of other people and we seem to be headed in the right direction on this.

You have a little yellow blanket that you have grown very fond of. You love to pull it up to your face and then pull it back down over and over again. It is the only "toy" that you are playing with. Your eye and hand coordination are really starting to develop now and I don't think it will be long before you are shaking toys and holding on to things. In the morning before we leave you do like to grab on to my hair and my clothing while you are laying on your changing table.

Sleep is one thing that you are very good at and we could not be happier. We have you on a pretty good sleep schedule and I think that helps. You go down for the night every evening between 7:30 and 8:00. Most mornings I have to wake you up between 5:45-6:00 and I usually have to go in and wake you up. The only time you don't like to sleep is during the day. We struggle with you to to take naps but the teachers at day care get you to sleep for close to 3 hours most days. You really are a puzzling little person.

You got sick for the very first time this month too. We took you to the doctor for a checkup on your neck and you were running a little fever. That was on a Thursday and then over the weekend you developed a cough. The cough was terrible and when you cough it effects your whole little body. It has been about three weeks since the cough first started and it is just now starting to get better. You were a little trooper through the whole illness which  Dr. Stone said was just a little cold.

Ace, you  had a really great third month. Spencer and Aunt Stef came down from Charleston for a sleepover. You went over to Lila and Duke's for a cookout. We watched the 10 year anniversary of the September 11th attacks on television. I hope you never have to experience something like that in your lifetime. We went on walks because the temperature is finally starting to cool down. And, you spend a lot time smiling.

My favorite part of your third month was the smiles.When you smile, you smile with your entire face. You open you mouth really wide and even smile with your eyes. I find you smiling in the morning when I go to get you out of your bed. I find you smiling when I check on you after I get out of the shower. You smile when I pick you up from daycare, change your diaper, and put you in your car seat. You are such a happy baby!

We celebrated your three month birthday with a little birthday party. We adopted and adapted a Korean tradition to celebrate because you are not technically a year old. I can't believe that a year ago you were the size of a grain of rice and growing quietly in my tummy. We took three envelopes and put money, ribbon and paper each in an envelope. We let you choose with your little hands and the envelope you picked had a ribbon in it. This represents a long life. What more could a mama ask for!

I love you so much, Ace! Here we go to month 4!

Love,

Mom

my little guy

my little guy is so sweet! this morning i got him out of the car when we got to the Y and he was sound asleep. i took him inside to his little classroom and he was still sleeping. i handed off his bottles, diapers, bag, paci and instructions for the day. i looked down at him and he was staring up at me and smiling. MELTING MY HEART!

two months old.

ace,

time is getting away from mama so quickly. it seems like i blinked my eyes and here you are, 10 weeks old. your second month of life was so much fun and i want to make sure that we take a second to remember all of the little things about two month old you.

you are an all business baby. from smiles to serious faces, you change in the blink of an eye. you really started to smile while we were on our trip home to Michigan and Indiana. I can't think of a better time for you to have started with your extreme cuteness. you greet mommy in the morning with a face full of smiles but are all business when it is time to eat or hang out in your swing.

we spent two weeks up north when you were five and six weeks old. you were such a trooper! the car ride was your favorite part and you travelled over 2500 miles in a two week time period. mountain pressure change didn't even bother your little ears. you slept the majority of the trip waking only to eat or have your diaper changed. you were so lucky to spend time with all of your great grandparents, hang out with lots of aunts and uncles, meet your GRAMPY and aunt biz, take a big over night trip to Mackinac Island and have two parties that were all about you. daddy and i decided that we will try hard to take you home every summer because summer time in the Midwest is the place to be!

it was when we were home that you started sleeping through the night too. you take a bottle and nurse around 9:00 pm and then sleep all the way until 6:00 am! the parents of your other little buddies are jealous. you are such a good sleeper! you are still sleeping in your little bassinet but i think you will be heading to your crib soon. i am just not ready to let you go yet!

one of the biggest adventures of your second month was going to work with mommy! after eight weeks of mama and ace time, we had to venture out and rejoin the real world again. you go to mother's morning out in the morning from 8-1 and then hang out with mommy in the afternoon. you have been such a trooper! you hardly ever cry and are very social. two to three days a week i have been taking you to full day day care at the west chatham ymca. i miss you terribly while you are away but you seem to be adjusting well. you were to tired the first few days i took you out there that you could barely stay awake to eat at 6:00!

we went to your two month appointment last week with Dr. Stone. you now weight 12 pounds 10 ounces and are 24 inches long! Dr. Stone said you are very healthy and growing nicely. You are in the 66% percentile for weight and the 80% percentile for height. When Nurse Lynn came to give you your shots you were just talking away. As soon as she jabbed you with the first needle you let out a huge scream but she was quick. As soon as she finished, I picked you up and you were all done crying. So brave!  I think it might be from the orange socks I put on you to give you super powers.

ace, you are such a joy! daddy and i love you more and more and more each day. we are eating up everything little thing you do. you get more and more independent every day but you still love to snuggle and love on us whenever we want!

month three will surely be packed full of great adventures!

i love you!

mommy

ace..how are you a month old already?

ace,

how can you possibly be one month old? you are growing up too fast already! every day we learn more and more about each other. not knowing this kind of love was even possible, my love for you grows bigger and bigger with each passing day.

you are so independent! you want to help hold your bottle, put your paci in and hold it by yourself and even try to get your arms through your onesies. i see so much of my independent spirit in you already! i love to watch you figure things out and take charge considering that you are still so brand new and teeny tiny!

temper and impatience are also two words that describe your one month old personality. if there is something that you want but are having a hard time getting, you have no problem screaming and grunting to let us know. you have a distinct "i want something and i want it now" scream. same goes for when you need your diaper changed. the minute the deed occurs, you scream bloody murder until you are dry.this includes turning completely red and gasping for air. your lungs are FULLY developed and work very well! i guess you get that from both mommy and daddy.

you have a million faces. there is that adorable little bird face you make after eating. the wide eyed good morning look. the sweet little smiles during bath time and tummy time. gosh, there are so many. don't worry though, mommy takes about 60 pictures of you a day so i am sure all of these faces are documented. your sweet little personality is really starting to shine through. as much as i don't want you to change and grow, i can't wait to watch this personality evolve. i wonder so much about what you are thinking.

you love to swing right now more than anything. the first few weeks of your life you loved to sit in your lamb seat with the vibrations. i am sure this will continue to change but the second you get in your swing, you fall asleep. you are also a great night sleeper. you will even go down in your bassinet and fall asleep on your own. such a big boy!

you eat between 2-4 ounces each time you eat. lately that has been almost every 1.5 hours. you have been going through a growth spurt for a couple of weeks! but, you are boy and i guess later in life you will be eating us out of house and home! you are nursing and taking a bottle at each feeding and do a great job going between the two. when you are hungry you let mommy know!

when daddy comes home from work, you hear his voice and turn to look for him. it makes me remember being little and waiting for my daddy to get home from work. you love your daddy! he can get you to do anything!

ace, you are such a wonderful little boy! your first month of life has been such a treat for us. i have enjoyed every moment of being home with you and watching you grow. i will miss your first month of life now that it is over but i am working so hard to cherish every moment, the quiet ones and the the moments you are screaming! basically, you rock my face off! here we go to month two!

i love you!

mommy

Baby B is Wallace Rudolph

i need to spend some time writing about baby b's arrival. the wonderful care we received at candler hospital in savannah, ga, the tremendous support from family and friends, baby b's entry into the world and the first wonderful days of life. but, i am afraid i am going to forget all of the other things that have happened in the past month. so, i want to write down all of the things i want to remember from baby b's first month of life.

i want to remember...

-the moment my water broke in the hospital and i thought i wet the bed and didn't know what really happened.
-the granola bar i threw at aaron during a contraction when he was snoring.
-the benadryl nap...best nap ever!
-the patience and support of aaron while i labored. he sat at the foot of my bed and watched me sleep. i would open my eyes and he was there just waiting.
-the moment the nurse said "you are complete" and i asked, "now what?"
-those final moments with aaron. just rachel and aaron. you know, before our lives changed forever.
-the songs that were playing on the ipod when it was time to push...world on fire, how to save a life, grace is gone.
-asking the doctor if i was actually pushing.
-the moment when dr. smith said "ok,one more half push"
-the hand squeeze from aaron.
-dr. smith pulling out baby b...and aaron announcing..."Its A BOY!!!"
-the first time they laid the baby on my chest. the proudest moment of my life.
-the moment baby's looked into mine and his little hand grabbed my finger. breathtaking.
-the excitement in aaron's eyes as he became a daddy.
-our first moments as a family.
-telling dr. smith that the labor and delivery wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it was going to be.
-breastfeeding for the very first time.
-the ride down the hallway in the bed because my legs were so numb and heavy from the epidural
-the first few hours in the hospital, so full of excitement.
-the wonderful support from family and friends on ace's birth day!
-the diaper incident with stefani
-our first night together as a family. watching aaron rock Ace to sleep.
-watching aaron watch ace. he waited so long to meet him!
-holding my sweet baby close to me. listening to him breathe. the shallow little breaths he was taking almost like sighs of relief that his delivery was over.
-the look on my mom's face when she got to the hospital door.
-the moment we got ace home.
-the first night. sleeping in our monster of a bed with such a tiny little person in my arms.
-the second night....the long long second night.
-the first time we realized little boys pee a lot!
-the devastation  of knowing that i have chronic low milk supply and can not exclusively my son . the victory of knowing that i still have a nursing relationship with my baby and the victory of pumping two ounces up from just 1/4 of an ounce the first week.
-the sweet little faces ace makes after he eats and when he wakes up. kind of like a little bird.
-how curled up ace is when i get him out of his car seat and how he stays in a little ball for awhile afterwards.
-watching ace stretch out completely, arms and legs, like he is going to do a pin drop off a diving board.
-the quiet moments when we rest together in the afternoons.
-our first day home together when i had no idea what to do.
-the first time ace really noticed my face and locked in on it.
-the independence of ace at two weeks old. holding his own bottle with his hands cupped around the top. holding his pacifier with his hand.
-the sweet sounds ace makes while he is eating and when he is falling asleep.
-the lump i have to swallow every time i look at my son and realize that he is the miracle that aaron and i made out of love.

i almost wish i could have video taped the whole first month. i never want to forget these days. the love that i have for Ace is unlike anything i could have ever imagined. i love him more with every passing second. my tummy feels so strange without him in it and i still can't believe he was actually in there for nine months. the shock of his gender has still not worn off!

my life is truly blessed. i have never been happier in my whole life.

our last weekend as two

it's our last weekend as two. seems weird that we know we will be having a baby on monday. i hoped it would just happen because the schedule is a bit tough on me. but...so is life.

so it is our last weekend as two.

we went out to dinner at 7:30 last night. got home at close to 11. stayed up watching tv until after midnight.

slept in until 11:00 a.m.

sunbathed and read trash magazines in the backyard all afternoon. swam in the little pool.

took a nap in the middle of the day.

went to a movie.

wasted time walking around the store.

let's put it this way. this mama is somewhat of an emotional wreck at this point. i am all over the place. i can't stop cleaning. how am i ever going to be able to sleep tonight? what are we going to do until 2:45 p.m. tomorrow?

goodness!