7 weeks

Today I was looking at pictures of Richie and I can't believe how much he has changed in just 7 weeks!

 5/19/12

 6/2/12

 6/10/12

 6/16/12

 6/24/12

6/30/12

Wow! He's getting so big so fast! With each with comes an improvement/change..
I think they started around 3 weeks.. from 3-4 weeks he had a growth spurt and was nursing around the clock. At week 4 that stopped and it became a little more consistent.. about ever hour and a half. At week 5 he went from Newborn diapers to size 1 and he was introduced to his crib. He would sleep there until the first time he woke up to eat, then I put him in the swing or bassinet. At week 6 he started sleeping in his crib full time because I went back to work. I would've kept him in my room for convenience but he's such a noisy sleeper I can't do it.

We've also made some major strides in sleeping. The first night home he didn't want to be put down, he just wanted to be held. So my mom and I took shifts holding and sleeping. The second night he slept all night (11-5) with his Popeye (Jeremy's dad). Then was waking up a quite a bit to eat. I couldn't put him in the bassinet or he'd cry so he slept in the swing. I told Jeremy that I don't care how much batteries are, they are worth it if he sleeps! He used to wake up if I put him down when he fell asleep during the day, which made it really hard to eat, clean, let WallE out.. do anything! But now he will stay asleep. Also at week 6 it was no longer a procedure to put him down for bedtime. I used to have to pat his back and sway side to side. Then the patting got lighter until I stopped, but still swaying. Then I swayed him until he landed in bed where I would put my hands around him tight and slowly release one hand, then the other. And that didn't always work right away. Now I can put him down and he's out. Hallelujah! :)

We went to Texas June 22-28. It was so good to get out of the house, but I was glad to be back too! It's his norm and he wasn't ready to be out of his norm yet. He sure did love seeing his Popeye and Grandbob! I got to do some shopping so it was good :) That was my first time flying, and I did it with a newborn baby! He was so good though! On the way there he only woke up once for about 30 seconds to cry then went right back to sleep unil we landed. On the way home he slept the whole time, until we landed. He's such a good boy!!

I'm very fortunate to have a good baby and thank the Lord every day for that! It would be really hard to have a difficult baby and do it alone!

Jeremy is doing good, I think he's getting adjusted to being there finally. I think it helps that I'm back to work so he doesn't have to split up his evenings between getting off work at 6, eating, working out, talking to me and getting to sleep at a decent time to get up at 4:45.
We sure do miss him! I know WallE does. I feel bad, I never wanted to leave WallE out but I know he feels that way. It doesn't help that he wants to go outside EVERY time the neighbors come home. He acts like the sky is going to fall if he doesn't go outside. It's ridiculous and really annoying! Especially when I'm trying to nurse Richie.
I try to play with him while Richie is having tummy time.

We have had a few visitors. Elissa came up on June 1st.

Mom and Sherry came up on June 10th and left on the 12th.





















Then Janet and Luke came up on June 29th and left on July 1st. Everyone has been a really big help! When "the moms" were up we made freezer meals and that has been a HUGE help! I couldn't even open the fridge without Richie waking up.. so there wasn't any time to make more than a sandwich. A couple times I actually forgot to eat. He would wake up and I would nurse him then I was so tired I went to sleep and didn't realize that I never actually had supper until midnight when I'm nursing him and my stomach is growling.. not good!

Richie is doing good at daycare. He sleeps about 3-4 hours then wakes up for an hour and goes back to sleep. I asked them to wake him up ever 3 hours because he slept from 1040-4 on his second day! He was still tired that night but he was extra hungry but he couldn't stay awake long enough to eat, so we nursed, slept for 30 minutes, nursed for 5 minutes, slept for 30... you get the idea. That was exhausting!

Speaking of sleep.. it's time for this momma to get some! :)

Finally!!!

He's here! He's here! The biggest blessing of my life.. Richard Lee Coldwell II
Born on May 19, 2012 he weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long :)

My contractions started at 2 am but I wasn't sure if they were contractions or Braxton Hicks (because I didn't know what either felt like) so I called my mom at 3:45 and I told her that she might as well come up because if he doesn't come today he's coming tomorrow. She ended up leaving town around 6 and got here at 11:45. I called Jeremy at 4:30 (they had to go get him so they had him call me back) and he called me back shortly after. I told him that Jessica and I are headed to the hospital. I called Jeremy's dad at 6:45 to let him know what was going on.

When we got there they check to see how dilated I was. I was dilated to 5 and they told me I could either go home or stay but if I go home I'd be back shortly after. I asked if they were going to let me eat if I stayed and they said no so I told them I'd be back. It was early and I hadn't eaten anything yet! So we came home and I tried to take a bath, that helped for a short period so I got out and had some breakfast while using the massage pillow on my back. I decided I couldn't take it any more so we headed back to the hospital at 8.

When we got there they checked me again, still only dilated to 5 so I got in the whirlpool bath and it was awesome! I was falling asleep in there (remember I had been up since 2!) until it stopped (it was on a timer) and that made me wake right up and my contractions got worse so I got out and we got going on the epidural. My contractions were one right after another.. no break in between. The nurse told me I was doing a good job considering they are strong contractions with no break. When the anesthesiologist came in I felt like the heavens opened up! I was really happy to see him! He was funny, he asked me if my tattoo hurt worse than getting the epidural put it. I told him that considering my tattoo took and hour and 45 minutes, it hurt worse. He said that his record for an epidural is only an hour. I told him it better not take that long to put it in!

Once that kicked in, all was right with the world again! Meanwhile Jessica is keeping my mom and Jeremy in the loop. They broke my water at 11:30 and my mom got there at 11:45. So it was just breathing through the contractions and once it started wearing off they gave me a little extra which all went to my right side. So I asked the nurse why and she told me to just lay on my left side so the medicine will go to that side. It worked and it was awesome! I was trying to fall asleep but my phone kept ringing, my voicemail alarm kept going off and I kept getting text messages. Needless to say my phone was driving me CRAZY!

The doctor(s) (1 doctor and 2 residents) came in and they said we were going to start slowly pushing so things could slowly stretch out. That started at 2:15 and well Richard Lee Coldwell II was born at 2:29! Jeremy got to be there for all of it, helping me breathe through the contractions and encouraging me. I was so grateful that it was easy to get ahold of him and he had a good internet connection.

When they put Richie on me he peed (there wasn't any gusto behind it thank goodness)! It was amazing. He's such a blessing to us!

WallE and Richie meeting for the first time!

5 days old!

7 days old! He loves sleeping on his belly!

8 days old and definitely looks like daddy!

10 days old!

We LOVE snuggling! 

April

Wow! April has really brought some changes! I'll just start from the beginning..
I believe it was March 8th when we found out that Jeremy is being deployed. We had the 27th in mind as his leave date.
Sherry came to visit on the 1st for a couple days. We had a doctors appointment on April 4th, everything is going good! Then we really got our butts in gear to get Jeremy ready to leave. He took leave from the 11th through the 18th. He did some golfing and got stuff marked off his to-do list, given to him by me.
On April 11th my work threw me a baby shower. It was great! We got so much stuff and even got stuff that we didn't think about! They all pitched in and got us a high chair too! We love it! That was really really nice of them! It's times like those that make the stressful days bearable. I could easily quit and go work somewhere for more money but I wouldn't get that close, family feeling like I have there. Everyone is understanding and helps each other out. I know how lucky I am to have these ladies (and Stuart) as coworkers.

Friday the 13th- we toured Bellevue Medical Center. We found out that in order to Skype the birth we just have to bring our own device (laptop or iPad) to use. The hospital is really nice, we know we will be in good hands.

On Thursday the 19th we found out that Jeremy leaves MONDAY! All tears aside.. It's time to buck up and deal with it. We had another doctors appointment on the 20th. Everything is still going great! We asked questions about inducing and they said they don't like to induce but if it's after the 24th and my cervix has started thinning then we can talk about it. Ugh! That wasn't what I wanted to hear but it's not that big of a deal. After we got home we just waited for Luke and Janet to arrive! I was really glad they came up, it kept my mind off of the sadness. We always have a great time with them! Janet and I went for pedicures while the boys went golfing. Then Janet and I did a little shopping and found my newest guilty pleasure.. Orange Leaf!! It's the best frozen yogurt ever!

Then comes the dreaded MONDAY. Jeremy and I just hung out and talked. We both hated this feeling but knew that the sooner he leaves, the sooner he comes back! Eddie, Brittney, Chris and us all rode to the airport together. Their flight was delayed but we were able to go past security and sit with them until they left. It was a sad goodbye. I tried everything to keep Jeremy there. I threatened to push him down the stairs, break his leg or even fake my water breaking. He wasn't going for any of my ideas so I let him get on the plane.

Of course the next day I ended up tripping. I landed on my hip but still went in to Labor & Delivery to get checked out. Jessica (my neighbor) went with me, bless her heart. She's so sweet. Everything was fine but protocol is to keep me there until 4 hours after the fall so we ended up leaving at 12:30 am!

All of Jeremy's flights were delayed but after all that with no sleep he made it to his final destination on Thursday night/early Friday morning our time. He is 9 hours ahead of us. He had his first shift yesterday. Sounds like its slow there but I think he'll live.

WallE has seen/heard him on FaceTime (it's like Skype but only for apple products). It's so cute to see WallE respond to Jeremy saying his name. He sure does miss his daddy!

Baby Richards room is all ready so now we sit and wait for this hiccup-filled baby to arrive!

March 30, 2012

April 4, 2012

April 14, 2012

 

April 19, 2012

(I'm wearing a 'belly band'. I wear them under my scrubs to make it look like a tank top so my belly isn't hanging out underneath of my shirt)

April 27th (ever since Jeremy left baby Richard has been all about my right side, can you tell?)

WallE is laying his head on momma's belly :) He's ready for him to be here too!

WallE is ready for Richie to get here for other reasons... for example so that he can play with his toys!! That sock monkey was upstairs in Richie's room. WallE brought it downstairs and upstairs twice. He's such a turd!

I know that he doesn't need any more clothes but this is one that HAD to be gotten! Jeremy's dad call's Jeremy 'Big Man' so this was just perfect! It's size 6 months so he'll be wearing it when daddy gets back home :)

Busy March

I didn't realize that I went so long without taking any pictures until now! I've been taking a lot lately so hopefully that makes up for it!

2/19/12



2/24/12

2/25/12

3/4/12 (laying down on the floor, look how much it shrunk!)



3/8/12



3/12/12

WallE has been so darn cute lately! Today we were sitting on the couch and I was watching my belly and so was Walle. Then I put my my hand on my belly and Walle put his paw on it :) It was just too cute!
He has really been enjoying the weather lately too! It's been beautiful out!! His favorite thing to do is face the wind and just let it blow through his hair.



Last weekend (March 3) was my baby shower. It was a wonderful time! I got to see our family and my church family! We are so lucky to have such loving people in our lives! We went home with the car packed! On the way back to Nebraska WallE helped me break in the boppy and I put it in my lap and he layed on it. Again.. SO cute!

We also got to stop and see baby Jack! He's a cute, chunky monkey!

I've been working on Richie's room/stuff. I got his 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes washed and put in the closet. I keep fidgeting and moving stuff around. I think I finally have the 6-9, 9-12, 12-18 & 18-24 month clothes sorted and put away! Tonight I sorted stuff from the guest room closet and threw a bunch away. We're slowly getting ready! I also put together the pack n play already. I couldn't help it, I'm just so anxious!

While we were home, Aunt Brandi took some maternity pictures for us! We got them back today and she did a GREAT job (like always!!). She's awesome! Here are just a few of them. Enjoy :-)

BUMP!

Here is all of my 'growing' pictures so far! :) The first one makes me laugh really hard.. what exactly was I taking a picture of?? hehe

11-6-11

 11-21-11

12-2-11

12-12-11

12-20-11

1-3-12

1-5-12

1-10-12

1-30-12

I better start taking more pictures!!

Baby Boy!!

It's a BOY!!!! Jeremy is SO excited! While I don't think that he "thinks" about the baby, I'm sure that he has all these plans of teaching him things (including that Coldwell charm). I tell him that he doesn't think about the baby, what I mean by this is that when I asked him what kind of wood he wanted to nursery furniture to be he looked at me like I told him our baby is a monkey! I also asked if he had been thinking about Godparents for baby and I got the "monkey" look again. I guess it's just on my mind 24/7 because I'm the one walking around with the nausea, the big belly and the "is she fat or is she pregnant" looks that come along with the belly. I can say that I wouldn't trade any of those things for the world. I'm beyond excited about our baby boy on the way!!

When I went to Kansas for Danielle's baby shower, Jeremy was busy in the nursery!

To be honest I was surprised that it isn't burnt orange! We had actually talked about doing a Longhorns themed nursery but Daddy did it in blue so now it's just a blue/sports themed nursery. :) I'm just glad that we're actually moving along the process!

Jeremy has been on C-shift (11pm-7am) for 2 weeks now and just like everyone on C-shift, he is a zombie! He's trying to keep his sleeping schedule the same on the weekend as it is on the weekdays. It's boring for me, but I can't complain because I would be much worse if it were me on C-shift.
This is how it goes around here...

Daddy and WallE sleeping the day away

I went and checked out a couple daycares on Thursday. I had already been to one by my work after my eye exam one day, and yes I was dilated but I don't care for that place. She has been open since '98 and the place was kinda dumpy and it was $189/week. The ones I looked at this week are by our house. One is 2 blocks North and one is 5 blocks South. I went to the one that's 2 blocks away and I love it! Everyone was very nice, I got a tour of the whole building, they are very organized and the location is right on my way to work. The best part is that they have cameras so I can log on and see what the little guy is up to! Which is also nice because I can see that if he is screaming all day, I will be prepared for his mood when I pick him up!

The one that's 6 blocks away stressed me out while I was there. The walls aren't all the way to the ceiling, so if someone is screaming in one classroom, the whole building is going to hear it and that seems really stressful to me. Both of these ones are $135/week, but every time I think about it, I just love the 2-blocks-away daycare more and more.

I'm pretty sure I ruined the secret so I can announce it.... baby boy is being named after his Grandpa.. RICHARD LEE!!!

I reminded Jeremy yesterday that in 2 weeks we will be "mourning" our 3 year mark in NEBRASKA. WOW! THREE years!! That's insane! I say "mourning" it, but we are lucky to have been so close to our family for these past few years, but then again we've been close to them for 20 and 22 years before that! We are keeping our fingers crossed for the opportunity to go somewhere else before his enlistment is up. We'll see how that goes, we only have 2 1/2 years left!

Stay warm everyone (not like that's been very hard this winter)

Talk soon!

2011 coming to an end

I can hardly believe that 2011 is over. It has flown by! 2012 is going to be a great year!
January 13th we will find out what we're having.. baby boy or baby girl.  I think it's a boy so we'll see how my 'mother's inuition' is! That weekend is also Danielle's baby shower. Then we will be in BUY BUY BUY, PREPARE PREPARE PREPARE mode! We don't have much yet, for the baby. I'm really starting to show!

Christmas was very busy! December 22nd I had a dentist appointment and after that we headed to Ark City! We hung out with Luke and Janet for a little while, before visiting with Pops and Bobs. On the 23rd we had lunch with Danielle and Pat at Neives'. That evening we went to have Christmas with my mom, Elissa, Aunt Susan and Terry. We made our own pizzas and enjoyed visiting. The 24th included more visiting with Luke and Janet then we went to The Regency Hotel to have a pool party with Pops, Bobs, Courtney, Glen, Misty, Kenny and Kolby Lee! We had an early morning on the 25th in order to see everyone. So we went to Grandpa's to see Sherry, Courtney, Glen, Aunt Debbie and Kelsey. It was really good to see them! It had been 3 years since we last saw the Mullins'. Then we went to Maize to see The Dunbars, Olsons, and Wilsons. That was a lot of fun. I believe it was the beginning of a new tradition. Then we went back to Ark City to see the rest of the Coldwell's. Dirty Santa was fun as usual! Then it was bed time! I was so exhausted! On the 26th we got up and headed back to Nebraska. It was a good trip but we were glad to be back. And now we're back and we both have colds! Tis the season!

Elissa, Belle, Terry, Mom, Me, WallE and Jeremy

This isn't the best picture that we got, but I love that WallE is sticking his tongue out! Jeremy wanted to be doing that too!

Grandpa at Christmas

Kolby isn't camera shy at all! Just let him see it and he's smiling and saying CHEEEESE!

Uncle Chris, Brian, Jeremy, Jennifer, Brenden, Jordan, Me, WallE, Aunt Lori, Aunt Susan, Uncle Mike, Aunt Shirley, Elissa, Grandma, Ryan, Grandpa and Dad

I got a promotion at work, December 1st. I'm doing the same thing, I'm also now the supervisor. I could say that this causes more stress but I think it actually relieves stress. Before I would feel like I couldn't say something just because other people had been there longer than me. I am going to start a suggestion box, just for this reason. I really want people to utilize it.

I'll keep you posted on how our Daycare hunting goes!