January 2014

We have been living in Texas since late October and we're LOVING it! Richie had a great time trick-or-treating! We pushed him in his car and he had a great time picking out candy. He was the cutest monkey in Texas!
We went to Kansas for Thanksgiving and ended up staying all of December. We got really good bonding time with Rylea. She started cruising furniture shortly after seeing Richie walking all over the place. They love each other. Richie woke up every morning saying "Sissy?" It was cute, they wore each other out! Richie was sleeping until 8:30!

He had a great Christmas! We woke up and had Christmas with Janet, Luke and Rylea. Then headed to Wichita, we were only there a short while before we had to leave but I'd drive all that way just to get a hug from everyone! Then we went to Bucka and Papa's. There was a TON of people there and we had a TON of fun!! It was so good to see everyone! I love our families! We got to see grandma Karen quite a bit too! Richie has a new friend... Uncle Donald! He loved playing with him! The Tickle Mouse was his favorite!! And bouncing on the air mattress!

We came back to Texas on the 3rd. Richie got sick in the car on the way back, and after a hot mess on the Braum's bathroom floor, twice, we finally made it back safe and sound! Richie was very very happy to see his Bob Bob!! He wouldn't leave her side!

Have a happy New Year everyone!!

Goodbye Nebraska

Today we said our goodbyes. I said goodbye to my co-workers also known as my friends. Then Richie said goodbye to his teachers. They took him in when we needed them and have loved him ever since! We all agree that it seems like just yesterday but if definitely wasn't because in the past 5 months they've taught him sign language and put him in a schedule. I don't like the old daycare, at all. At. All. But I'm grateful for my experience because otherwise I wouldn't know what a great daycare Kathy's Kids is! Richie loved his teachers and his friends :)

A week from today we will begin our journey to Texas! We're staying the night in Kansas then getting up and continuing the journey. We're so so excited about this move!! Richie is going to be S-P-O-I-L-E-D by Grandbob and Popeye! I can't wait to be a Texan! It's sad leaving Nebraska because of the friends that we've made but that's what Facebook is for ;)

I'm going to get better about blogging since I won't be working. I'm going to find a lot of activities for Richie and I to do. I'm hoping to teach him a lot of sign language but that means I need to learn too!!

Next week is going to be very busy! Clean.... Pack.... Clean... Clean..... Move!!

Adios Nebraska!

Aaaa!!!!

I'm realizing that I need to be blogging and keeping the memories of Richie! So- Richie is still swaddling. He's only slept one night not swaddled and that was in December. I try every once in a while but he only lasts a few hours before I have to go in there and swaddle him.
He still isn't crawling. He's trying and he's so close but still not doing it! He did pull himself up on Sunday (2/3/13). He's been so fun lately! He is so smiley! He had a couple ear infections that was really rough for momma to get through! He didn't have any trouble until it was bed time. He didn't like laying flat because of the pressure. On January 20th he woke up every thirty minutes.. Needless to say the next day at work was really rough!
Starting today were going to start giving him 3 meals a day. We started weaning this week. I don't want to but it's time. He's getting too attached to his momma and I can't even walk to the other side of the room without him crying for me. So we are weaning. I'll miss it but that just means we will have to have another ;)

11 weeks

Well ever since our little accident Richie has been so active.. talking, sitting up (not on his own), starting to stand (not on his own) and be even more CUTE!! :)
He is such a good boy, I can't get enough of him!!
On Wednesday we went to "Grandma Jayna's" and hung out with Britni and Miss Emma Jay! They are SO cute together!! She was born three weeks after him.

Friday night I was talking to Jeremy and Richie was starting to talk and he really let Jeremy have it one time. It was hilarious. Daddy is ready to get his hands on Richie and watch some football together! :)
That's all we did this week. See ya next week!

10 weeks

Well Our 10th week was pretty exciting. On Monday Richie had a fever that got up to 101.3 at daycare and his pediatrician told me when he was born to take him to the ER for anything over 101, so I did. They didn't get that high of a temp, they got 100.3 which is what I got that morning. They drew blood, got a urine sample, swabbed his throat and did a chest x-ray and nothing came back positive so they said its probably just a virus and told me to keep giving him Tylenol. So he spent the rest of the day sleeping. He wasn't throwing up or anything, just had a fever, thank goodness! He got rid of his fever and was back to normal in a couple days.
Him having it and me cuddling him, made me have it! Mine was a little worse though. I left work early on Friday to go home and rest before I had to tend to Richie, so I slept only for an hour before I woke up sweating and just couldn't get comfortable enough to get back to sleep. So I got a few things done around the house and went and got him. He was really good for me (like always) and he was asleep by 830 so that's when I went to bed too. He woke up in the middle of the night so I fed him and he went back to sleep until 6:15. So I went in to get him and when I was changing his diaper I felt light headed so I sat on the floor. He didn't have a diaper on so I got on my knees to finish putting it on him. I don't remember the next part but I fainted and apparently tried to catch myself by grabbing the changing table (stupid!) and I took it with me (with him on it). I woke up (immediately after falling) to him crying above my head and the changing table on top of me. I don't know why my initial reaction was to feed him but I grabbed the bottle that he didn't quite finish a few hours prior and gave it to him and he stopped crying, so I knew he was okay. I took him into my room and put him on my bed and he was waiving his arms, kicking his legs and smiling so I knew for sure he was okay but I was scared to death still. I tried calling almost everyone I know up here. Okay not quite everyone but at the time it seemed like it. No one was answering. I can't say I blame them.. It was 6:30 on a Saturday morning! Finally someone called me back and she said she would take us to the ER. We went and they asked me if he cried right away and I said yes and that's about all they did for him. They were concerned about me so they hooked me up to an IV and did an EKG, they also swabbed my throat and drew my blood looking for a reason for my fever of 101.9. Nothing came back positive for me either. So I asked why I fainted and he said not enough blood to my brain.
I know happens when you stand up too fast but I've rolled out of bed a lot faster than that before and from a dead sleep (I was awake already when he started crying because I heard him making noise but I was waiting to see if he'd go back to sleep) but I guess with the addition of my fever it wasn't good. 
That has happened to me a couple times before but It was probably 10 years ago. It was really scary this time because I have a baby and I could've hurt him! Luckily we're both okay. 

Richie really started talking that morning at the ER. I just couldn't believe how much he was talking! He's been doing it ever since! :) and, not that I want to, but I can't get him to stop smiling! He got "grounded" from his mobile the other night because he was smiling at it instead of sleeping! Hehe which is my fault because I play it in the morning to wake him up while I'm getting his clothes and diaper ready for the day. So I moved it to the changing table and he's loving it! 

He really likes to sit up. Not that he can do it on his own or anything but he doesn't like to lay down, just wants to sit. I've also been working with him on standing. He's getting the hang of it and loving that also. He's soo sweet, he knows he's doing good and just smiles! 

This weeks started out a little strange, he wouldn't put himself to sleep. He would wake up and cry instead, but if I picked him up he would go right to sleep. I eventually put a blanket under one side and under his head so he wasn't just laying flat and that did the trick.

That's about all I've got for this week!

9 weeks

This is silly but I can't believe he's only 9 weeks old. 9 seems like a small number, and it seems like he's been melting my heart for a lot longer than that!
He's such a good boy! I couldn't ask for anything more! There aren't any significant milestones for this week. Just a happy happy boy!

He's getting SO big! He's just as adorable as can be! On the 19th he had his 2 month appointment. He weighed 12 pounds, 6 ounces (67 percentile) he was 22 3/4 inches long (45%) and his head was 15 3/4 inches (64%)! Above average. He's getting more and more rolls every day!
He had to get shots after his appointment. He did pretty well with them, luckily she was quick. He cried a cry I'd never heard before but he stopped when I was able to pick him up (which melted my heart!).
He wore a daddy shirt on Jeremy's birthday

He sleeps almost all day at daycare. I drop him off around 7:15 each day and pick him up at 5. He is awake about 3 hours the whole day. I don't think it's anything to be concerned about, but I do joke about him being narcoleptic. He rarely spits up, only when he gets laid down after eating. And he is a good burper, when he wants to. Sometimes he doesn't burp right away but if you walk and carry him on your shoulder he'll let out a really good burp. He gets the hiccups every few days, which has significantly decreased from every day!

The chair in my bedroom that I nurse him in is right beside the tall dresser that has the TV on it, and when he's nursing he watches the TV. Sometimes he forgets why he's there and I have to put my hand between his eyes and the TV :)

Everything he does is SO CUTE! I just love him!

8 weeks

Richie is getting so chunky! I love it!! It gives me a huge feeling of accomplishment! It's a great feeling knowing that I did that!
Daycare has been going good. The girls all love him! They are always calling him handsome. I can't call them liars! He's such a good boy! They were pretty concerned that he didn't poop very often. By very often I mean every 5 days. But I think he's starting to go back to "normal", even though it is normal for breast fed babies to go up to 10 days without pooping. I had to educate them of that :P

He goes to bed around 8-8:30 then wakes up around 2 then again in a couple hours but usually not to eat, just to get cuddled by momma. If he does wake up to eat around 4 then he wakes up after he hears me and WallE up and getting around. Otherwise he will wake up around 5 to eat then go back to sleep until I wake him up to get ready for school. He's such a good boy. I really can't complain, AT ALL! .. Well about him anyways! WallE has been acting out lately. It's a lot to take in so I'm trying to remember his feelings. I'm hoping that it turns around for him soon. I know he misses his daddy.

I'm trying to keep us normal every evening. When we get home I only have about 15-20 minutes to get something to eat and then eat before Richie is done being in the bouncy seat. It's not that he wants anything but he is in the swing and bouncy seat all day at school so he doesn't want to come home to be in them too. I get that so I try not to but sometimes I just have no other choice. I'll be glad when Jeremy gets home so I don't have to tip toe around or carry him just to do laundry so he's not crying. I never thought I would be that type of mom. I thought I would just let them cry. Until I'm in that position. There's no reason a baby should cry and not be comforted. A baby is looking for comfort, trust and love. It's stressful if they feel like they need to scream just to feel loved. If he gets older and doesn't want to sleep through the night, we might try the cry it out method by going in after 5 minutes of crying to pat his back and comfort him, then 6 minutes later, then 7 minutes later.. you get the idea.

We are continuing to learn from each other and work around each other. He has stolen my heart and I absolutely LOVE being a mom!

7/14/12 8 Weeks!!

 He is leaning against 2 boppys and he fell asleep watching me do the laundry :) I had to snap a picture before putting him in the swing

 SMILE!! I LOVE his smile!

Big boy!! He's so precious! He has had a strong neck since he was born

June

On June 4th he had his 2 week Well Baby Visit.. he weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces (19th percentile), he was 19.6 inches long (13th percentile) and his head size was 14.6 inches (48th percentile)! Hadn't grown much since he was born, except in his weight since he dropped down to 6 pounds 7 ounces.

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!