Final Cardiologist Visit

No one knows the agony you go through when you worry about what might be wrong with your beautiful baby. Everyone hopes that their child is born healthy, happy, and can go home with no worries. This was not our case.

From the day that Dr. Stone examined Christopher at the hospital he was concerned about a "whooshing" sound in Christopher's heart. We were told it was a completely normal murmur from Dr. Pastorek (an infant Cardiologist) but that he also had another murmur that needed to be watched because it could be something worse. After almost 3 months of absolute terror wondering what could be wrong with Christopher we got to see the Cardiologist again. After a few tests and an hour wait we found out that our little boy's heart is fine. He will probably have this particular murmur until he is an adult but there is nothing to worry about because over half of the children in America have this same murmur. A LARGE weight was lifted off of our shoulders this morning.

While we were there I got a few shots of Christopher getting his tests and hanging out in his "twinky" hospital gown. I also took a video of him scooting across the exam table... Check out the videos above (two of them are from Christmas with Grandpa Will entertaining Christopher).

We also found out that in the last 14 days Christopher has gained 6 oz and has stayed the same in his length. His blood pressure was a normal 98/45 and his temp. was 98.1 (A clean bill of health was granted to our little papoose).

Mom Accessories

I have discovered over the past three months of being a mom that you acquire new accessories. No longer do I wear my nice jewelry, for fear of it being riped unexpectedly from my body, but instead have found myself adorned with a "new" form of jewels. I have dubbed them the "Mom Accessories". They include:

- A diaper bag filled with enough diapers, wipes, bottles and formula to last for at least 8 hours because you never know what might happen.

-Another "take-a-long" bag with extra clothes, toys, burp cloths, and anything else you deem as important for that particular day (in my case camera and batteries).

-I have found myself to have on my pointer finger an extra Binky just in case I'm driving and Christopher's falls out.

-If I know I'm going somewhere that I might need it, the stroller.

-I usually end up with at least one formula stain on my shirt throughout the day

-A tide-to-go pen for the moments mentioned above

-Some extra blankets because you never know when you might break-down and be without heat

And my favorite and most precious accessory......

MY BABY BOY!

Twas The Night Before Christmas....

...and all through our house a few people were stirring, let's all hope that there is no mouse!

Daddy was reading Christopher his Christmas Eve book and Momma was praying for a silent night (that didn't happen by the way). Although no snow or colder weather was present we enjoyed our evening just as well. We watched a few Christmas shows and spent some time at mom's before heading home to put Christopher to bed. We took Jacob out to look at Christmas lights while Will, Bob, and Jeff put together his dune buggy. When daddy woke up this morning (seeing as how I was already awake with my sleepless little one) we opened our gifts and got ready to head over here to moms for Christmas din din. We miss everyone up home so much and I hope you're Christmas is filled with as much blessings as we are experiencing here this year!

Who Wants Snow.... NOT ME!

I am fairly confident that Jeff and Christopher are content as well with skipping the -2 degree weather up home. It makes me shiver just thinking about it. It did get cold enough down here today for Christopher to wear his flannel shirt that Mimi had gotten him (Even if it was only for an hour... he wasn't to thrilled about it). It is going to be another warm Christmas, Jeff and I are probably going back out to the beach again this year and share our new tradition with Christopher. While y'all enjoy the snow and freezing temperatures we will be basking in the sunshine and 80 degree weather. Don't get me wrong if you would like to join us in the non- winter like weather feel free ( I don't mind sharing). In the meantime I'll share the pictures of Christopher in his flannel shirt and send you some from the beach later ;)

2 Month Checkup

Today was Christopher's 2 month check up and as you know it involves getting shots. I was so upset this morning just thinking about it that I gave myself a migraine. I was hoping to get into the doctors office, get the shots out of the way, and be on our by home shortly after but today was the "everyone decided to visit the doctor" day. We got in very quickly as usual but after seeing Dr. Stone we had to wait for about 45 minutes for Christopher's shots. Evidently there were a lot of little kids getting the flu vaccine today and it slowed down the progress of moving to the next patient quickly. There were twins next door and they SCREAMED like you would not believe. It actually made Christopher upset just hearing them. It was like he sensed that he was next. I had to wait outside because I couldn't handle seeing him get the shots so daddy stepped in to help out. We also found out that Christopher does have Colic. We were pretty sure he did have it but we just wanted Dr. Stone to confirm it. Every night at exactly 7:30 he screams like a banshee. It's hard not to get frustrated when there is nothing you can do to make him feel better especially when it usually lasts until 11 at night. Dr. Stone did prescribe him some medicine that might work although it usually only helps 30% of colic babies. We hope that it helps. He now weighs 12.5 lbs and is 23.5 in. Our little boy is growing very fast!

2 Months Old

Someone turned 2 months old today and while it doesn't seem like it has been that long ago I feel like Christopher has always been here. In the last month he has experienced so many new things and accomplished what some babies don't for several months.

He went on his first overnight road trip to Uncle Bill and Aunt Marie's house, started sleeping through the night in his glider (were working on the bed battle now), has grown leaps and bounds, and is already holding his head up on his own. Jeff and I are so blessed to have him here and even if he were an unexpected surprise we wouldn't have changed one moment of it. Every day we get to wake up to the most precious gift that anyone could ask for and it is heartbreaking for me to think about those who will never be able to experience this level of joy. The changes that we have made, and those still to come, we welcome whole-heartedly. We can't wait for everyone in our family's to meet, and get to know Christopher. Until we get that chance we will continue to share his pictures and our memories on our blog so everyone can see his progress.

Love Jeff, Sara, and Christopher

Changing Table Talk Time

While Mimi and Grandpa were here for Thanksgiving we started a nightly tradition called "Changing Table Talk Time". After his last bottle of the night we go to the changing table to put on a clean diaper before bed and Christopher decides that this would be the perfect time to discuss whatever 2 month old babies think about. I don't know why he cant talk to us during the day but hey it's cute and I'm not going to complain. I managed to get a little of his chatter before he saw the camera and went blank.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=48219844

(The blog site is being silly so this is a link to it on my myspace page, hopefully i can get it up here soon!)

He has also been giving us A LOT of smiles lately and I hope they continue but here is the latest snap shot of his little dimples.

Christmas Tree

Last night while I was waiting to pick up Jeff I started playing around with the features on our new camera (OH MY, there are a LOT!). When I was trying out the video mode I thought, "Hey why not take a video of our tree so everyone can see it SPARKLE". So here is a short 9 second clip of how our tree looks at night.

New Camera and A GREAT Nights Rest

Last night was wonderful! Jeff ended up working "Jingle Bell" overtime and got home around 10. Christopher was eating his last bottle of the night and was getting very sleepy so we decided we would read him a story and put him to bed a little earlier than usual. After head-butting Jeff in the mouth and getting his little bottom changed we put him in his own bed for the first time since the week he came home. I have to admit I was a little skeptical about how long he would stay there but within 15 minutes he was out! I went to bed early as well since Jeff was home and I didn’t have to go get him from work. Amazingly enough I woke up at 5, which is when Christopher normally gets up but, bless his little heart, he slept until 6 this morning. He ate his morning bottle and got his bottom changed again and went right back to sleep in his bed. I wanted to jump for joy when Jeff and I woke up at 9 and he was still asleep. Even if it is a fluke and doesn’t happen again tonight (although we are praying it will) it was a much need complete night of rest.

Jeff and I also got one of our Christmas presents a little early. Mom got us a new digital camera and it came in today. The only reason we got to open it was because it was a little more expensive then what she was going to pay so we said that we would give her some money to get the better camera. I was really excited to use it today and it takes a lot better quality pictures then what our old camera did. Here is a picture I got of Christopher today. His smile just keeps getting bigger every day!

Cutest Outfit EVER!

Looking for an elf outfit for Christmas is not an easy task! Everywhere you go they have Santa, Reindeer, or Snowmen... no Elf's. I've been so frustrated trying to find an outfit for Christopher for Christmas because everyone else has their little ones in the Santa and Reindeer. While Lou (Mimi) was down we found an elf hat and I managed to sew it up to fit Christopher's head (it was an adult hat) but still no baby elf costumes. Finally while we were down in Florida we saw it, Henry ( Jeff's cousins baby) had a sleeper from Osh Kosh and it said "Little Elf" on a butt flap. It was so adorable Mimi decided to get one for Christopher and Aiden. The only problem left was the Elf slippers, I just happened to find some last night and took a few pictures of Christopher so enjoy!

We also went and got his picture taken with Santa while Mimi was here and since I have been slacking on blog duties I'll add it to these pictures ;)

Afternoon Chat With Daddy!

After a WONDERFUL 6 hours and 45 minutes of sleep last night Christopher got his morning bottle and went back to sleep for another hour or so. He is finally getting his schedule which makes Jeff and I thrilled. When he woke back up at 8:15 this morning he was all smiles and giggles. We let daddy sleep in for a little bit longer since he did the 6 o'clock feeding. While we waited on daddy I gave Christopher his morning bath and played with him a little before Daddy got up.

When daddy came out to see what all the commotion was (because Christopher was having a giggle fit FINALLY) he decided he wanted to play with Christopher for a while. They sat on the couch and as you can see Christopher was very intrigued by Jeff. Every time Jeff would make a weird face or even stick out his tongue Christopher couldn't hold back his giggles and eventually gave himself the hiccups because of it. I'm so excited for him to be communicating more. I can hardly wait to see what he will be doing a few months from now.

p.s. He found his toes this morning and was attempting to roll over.... our big achiever!

Fun with Mimi

Mimi and Grandpa left this morning on their return trip to Ohio. They plan on stopping off in North Carolina for tonight and tomorrow then finish the drive on Sunday. I must say we had a blast while they were here. We really don't get to see them enough but since we live 800 miles away it's hard to visit more often. They won't be coming back down until April and we will be making a trip to Ohio in July.

While they were here we took a short trip to Jacksonville to visit with Uncle Bill and Aunt Marie. It was an eventful two days as Christopher did not want to settle down. I think he realized we weren't at home and was a little apprehensive. We did go to the beach and take some very cute pictures as well as at their house. Christopher really enjoyed the bear skin rug in front of the fire place (so much so he tinkled on it). The last night we were there some of Jeff's cousins came over and we all had a fabulous dinner followed by a lot of laughs and giggles (that's when we were doing the pictures by the fire). One of Jeff's cousins 15 month old Henry was strolling around there playing and having a blast. He didn't really like the animated Christmas decorations but it was cute watching him try to avoid all of them.

Christopher is getting bigger everyday and his personality is expanding almost twice as fast. While Mimi and Grandpa were here we started "Changing Table Talk Time". After his last bottle of the night we would go to change him and we would just laugh and talk back. We tried to get it on camera but every time he saw the camera come out he shut down. Anyhow when we get them edited I will put the best one up here. Enjoy!

2 Month Pictures

On a whim we decided to go and have Christopher's 2 Month pictures taken at Sears. They did a RELLY nice job considering that Christopher was tired and hungry. He didn't seem to want his pictures taken but we managed to get a few awesome shots. I also finally found the program that I wanted that does the color enhancements for pictures. It popped into my head this morning that it was a funky name for a dog... gimp. It's really awesome for editing pictures too. Anyway, these are a few of the pictures and when they come back in from Sears we'll get them sent out.

Christmas With Mimi and Grandpa

Today began with a lot of smiles and talking to a green and yellow monkey. We decided that today would be our Christmas day with Mimi and Grandpa because we're going to spend a good portion of next week in Florida. We got a lot of great pictures for Christopher's book and even a few to put up on the wall. After his morning bottle and opening (or actually watching us open) his presents Christopher went into his glider to watch his Saturday morning cartoons. Now we are over at Grandma's house washing his new clothes and hoping that the rain will hold off so we can go later to watch the Riverboat Parade Of Lights.

Gobble Gobble...(Translation: Happy Thanksgiving)

Oooohhhh am I stuffed. We've had a great day, great food, and great memories today. Mimi and Grandpa are down visiting again, Jeff and I couldn't be more thrilled! They arrived Tuesday afternoon and are staying until next Friday. We've already seen Christopher having a great time with them. This morning after his bottle he and Grandpa were sitting on the floor watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Christopher was giving some of his biggest smiles ever. Grandpa would talk to him and Christopher would coo and smile, it made a few really great pictures.

We also stopped off on the way to Mom's to get a few family photos since we haven't gotten any yet. They ended up being quick snap shots because the warm weather brought out the sand gnats (If you haven't experienced them yet be grateful... they bite). I can't wait to see what the rest of next week will bring since Christopher is going on his first road trip next Tuesday through Thursday to Jacksonville.

O-H-I-O

We're so excited for the big game tomorrow! Even though we are a little over 800 miles away from our buckeye state we still plan on showing our support. Even Christopher is getting in the spirit. I went to get him dressed this morning and discovered that my little boy, who is not even 2 months old yet, has outgrown the only two buckeyes outfits that he had. Needless to say we had to improvise. I'm hoping that the game will be televised down here but chances are that it won't and we will miss out on all of the exciting O.S.U. bum kicking action. Just know that even deep in Georgia Bulldogs territory Jeff and I meet more O.S.U fans than anyone else. It really must be true what they say, we do have the best fans in the land!

Random Day

Jeff and I are so pleased with our little boy today, he gave us a much needed night of sleep. I know everyone says it will get better with time and soon he will sleep through the night every night, but it is hard to see the end of the tunnel with only a few hours of sleep each night. Last night however was a godsend. Jeff really needed a few extra hours of sleep and I cant complain because when I got up to take over at 6 he went right back to sleep after he ate. Today we were in such awesome spirits that we went out and about running a lot of errands and just spending some quality time together. I took a movie of Christopher in his glider and a few pictures of him today in his bouncy seat (He LOVES the starfish that spins in circles, I'm waiting every day for his first giggle). Enjoy!

One Month Doctors Visit

It's official Christopher has begun to grow up without me even noticing. We went to see Dr. Stone this morning and found out that our little boy is taking leaps and bounds in all categories. He is 4 weeks and 6 days old and already holding his head up on his own (which according to Dr. Stone is astonishing). His weight, height, and head circumference have all grown as well. His weight went from 7 lb 7 oz at his first doctor visit to 10 lb 8 oz which puts him in the 63%. Length-wise he had grown almost 3 in. (78%) and head circumference has grown almost an inch and a half (63%).

We also got a few items from family up home. Aunt Janet sent Christopher a bouncy seat that vibrates (He LOVES to sit in it and watch whats going on) and Aunt Vickie sent down a glider that moves back and forth to help put him to sleep, he just happens to be in it now ;). Jeff has been enjoying some quality time as well, I can't believe how alike they are (personality and physically). So it has been an eventful first month and I cant wait to see everything he learns over the next month.

Artic Weather and a Birthday (somewhat)

The weather decided last night that it was time for a change. We had an artic front come through at about 5:30 last night and it brought with it the cold weather from up north. I can say we won’t be getting any snow (mostly because it hasn’t snowed here in almost 100 years), which is a big blessing. We may miss Ohio but I don’t think I will ever miss the snow and ice. So in preparation for taking Christopher out to the stores today we broke out his pram outer suit. I absolutely love this thing; it’s warm and adorable at the same time. It is a teddy bear suit and I just had to take a few pictures to show him in it. We also had our first milestone yesterday; Christopher turned a whole month old. We didn’t really do much as he slept the whole day but I celebrated for the both of us by getting the house all cleaned up and then taking a relaxing bubble bath (considering I can get in and out of the tub without help now) while he slept. I’m not so sure however if Belle has enjoyed the last month she keeps giving us evil looks every time we bring Christopher home as if saying “Oohhhh he’s still here”!