Letter to my two year old

Mason is two years old!  Where has the time gone?  We waited so long for you and you were our little miracle when you arrived.  We see more of your personality every day and I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming.  You are so much fun to be around and you never ever sit still unless you are asleep or strapped into your carseat.  You are very social and love going to school every day to play with your friends and teachers.  You are very smart and I am amazed at how quickly you are learning new things.  You are also very affectionate and love to give hugs and kisses, although I can hardly get you to cuddle with me anymore.  You love Elmo, Little Einstein's, puzzles, books, animals, BALLS and keeping your toys neat and put away (kind of an obsession right now).  You are very stubborn (just like mom and dad) and you do not like it when you don't get your way.  We're working on that :-).  You'd stay outside all day long if we let you - especially swimming or playing on your water table.  I am so proud of the big brother you are to Matthew and I can't wait to see you both grow up together.  I am so blessed to be your mommy! 

Happy Birthday sweet baby boy - we love you so much!!

One Month Old

I cannot believe that a whole month has gone by since Matthew was born.  Time is flying by and I wish it would slow down!  He weighed in at 10 lbs, 1 oz at his doctor's appointment yesterday.  He's eating very well.  Unfortunately, he's not sleeping very well at all.  We finally got some medicine for the reflux, so hopefully it will start working soon.

Here's my sweet boy on his one month birthday.  So in love with this little guy (even at 3 am).

Life with two!

We are adjusting to life with 2 boys under the age of 2 (at least for a few more days - I can't believe my 'baby' is almost 2!). It is hectic at times, but we're doing OK.  We're lucky that Mason recently entered a very independent phase and has only had a few instances of jealously over the baby.  He has reverted a little bit into the 'baby' stage.  He always wants to play with anything for the baby (playmat, swing, carseat, etc), wants to be held all the time now and keeps stealing all of Matthew's pacifiers (nevermind that fact that Mason wanted nothing to do with them as a baby).  Matthew is a pretty good baby, but we are dealing with a little reflux (at least that's what I think it is).  He is obviously uncomfortable after feedings, so some nights it is very difficult to get him back to sleep.  Despite the reflux, he is eating like a champ and has earned the nickname of 'Chunk' because of his significant weight gain his first few weeks.  Here are some cute pictures from the past few weeks.

No, he's not anywhere near potty trained, but we're trying to get him used to the potty.

 

We went to get ice cream at the Frosty Caboose on Memorial Day weekend.  It was a hit!

 

This cracked me up.  One afternoon he packed his 'bags' and told me 'bye'.  I have no idea where he was going.  Perhaps he had enough of baby brother?

He loves his new wagon from Aunt Donna.  He puts his favorite toys in it and pulls them around the house.

 

 Baby Matthew at 2 weeks old after a bath.  He's still not quite sure about this bath thing.

And our 'Chunk' on his due date (3.5 weeks old) weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs (I'm glad he was early).

Love that pout!  This is about one week old.

Matthew - 1 day old

They have a photographer on staff at Northside that will come to your room and take pictures of your baby at one day old.  We were lucky enough to get a few good shots of Matthew and his Nana bought us the digital prints as a gift (thanks Nana!). I wanted to share them here. I love the one where you can see his dimple.

Most Awesome Big Brother

That's what his shirt says if you can't see it.  I have to admit, I was concerned about how Mason would react to having to 'share' mommy and daddy.  We talked about it before Matthew was born, but I don't think Mason 'got it' until he arrived.  I am so proud of what a wonderful big brother Mason has been so far!  At first, he wasn't really interested and kind of ignored the baby, but he quickly took the role of protective big brother.  He's very gentle and he wants to help with anything and everything.  Matthew and I pick up Mason every day at school and Mason is more excited to see the baby than me.  He considers it his 'job' to push the stroller back to the car and his teachers say he talks about 'baby brover Maffew' all day.  It melts my heart!  Unfortunately, Mason hasn't stayed still long enough to get a decent picture of the two of them yet.  Here's the best I could do - Mason is giving him 'kisses' on his feet.

A very special Mother's Day

I am very blessed on my first Mother's Day as a mommy of two.  Mason made me breakfast in bed and now I'm enjoying a lazy, rainy day with all three of my boys and my mom.  Mason loves having his Mimi here and I am so thankful to have her helping us out.  I am getting stronger every day and Matthew's gift to me was a decent night's sleep!  We're still adjusting to the newborn thing.  Since Mason came home from the NICU at 2 months old, he was already on a good schedule and sleeping much longer at night.  The picture above is me with Matthew at 6 days old (before my Mother's Day dinner).  Mason was already in bed, but I can't wait to get a good picture of me with my sweet boys.

We are also very blessed to have the best Mimi and Nana to Mason and Matthew.  The past month has been very difficult with me in the hospital and both of them have stayed with us for extended periods to help out.  We couldn't have done it without them!  Happy Mother's Day from all of us!!

Here are pictures of baby Matthew with his Mimi and Nana on his birthday.  We love you both very much!

We're Home!

Despite mommy having a few complications, the doctor let us both go home on Tuesday.  It's been a long week of recovering and taking care of a newborn, but we're finally getting some sleep and I'm starting to feel better.  I had some severe bleeding after Matthew's birth that took a while to get under control.  I'm very anemic from losing so much blood (in addition to the regular childbirth recovery), which has made me very weak.  I'm under strict doctors orders to take it easy, which isn't exactly easy with a toddler and newborn.  My mom has been here doing everything and forcing me to rest. I seriously would not have survived the week without her! 

Here are some pictures from Matthew's birth and first few days at home.