Rolly Polly

Brody can officially roll from tummy to back.  I saw it for the first time yesterday!

2 month check up

We are (or shall I say I am) a little late in posting about Mr. Brody's 2 month check up at the doctors, but in my defense the appointment was 6 days after his official 2 month birthday, if you want to get all technical... :) We did not enjoy the shots, but glad Gabe was there to comfort us. Although I didn't want to cry until I held Brody post-shots while he was upset. I just wanted to make it all better for him. He was definitely a trooper!

His 2 month stats are as follows:

Weight: 10 lbs 8.5 oz - 20%tile

Height: 23.25" - 53%tile

Head Circ.: 15.50" - 30%tile

He is definitely a little guy! I was thinking he would be more in the 12 pound range...boy, was I way off! Brody and Rocky are now the same weights. I know it will not last long, probably a day or so. My sweet baby is smiling so much now, it is the most precious thing I have ever seen in my 25 (almost 26 -- tomorrow's my bday) years. He is in the process of beginning to roll over, which is awesome and scary at the same time!

He went "swimming" for the first time yesterday! More like, Gabe was holding him in the warm water of the hot tub. He loved it. See pics below.

I am so anxious to get to spend every moment with Brody in just seven short school days! We are both extremely anxious about our big move back to McKinney on the 9th. It is amazing the day is almost here!

Memorial Day

What a perfect day to blog about my grandpa.  My grandpa passed away from brain cancer on May 9th and we attended the funeral last week in Seward, NE (the greatest small town in the world!).  We drove up on Sunday with Brody, who did AWESOME in the car both ways, and made the drive home again Wednesday.  It is always so nice to see family and friends you do not see often enough, but we all knew why we were brought together...an extremely sad and emotional day.  My grandpa, who is actually my step-grandpa, but the only grandpa I have ever known since my 'real' grandpa passed before my sister was born.  To some people he is remembered as one of the POWs from Vietnam, but I remember him as a rough-around-the-edges guy with a kind and gentle heart.  During his Navy days, his plane was shot down and he ended up being captured and tortured for 7 years in Hanoi.  My grandpa Wendy (short for Wendell) had the most amazing stories and would tell them with such detail that is was almost as if these events happened a few days ago, when in fact it happened many years ago.  We (Gabe and I) had never attended a military funeral before and let me tell you how amazing it was. Grandpa totally deserved all of the wonderful things the US Navy provided at his funeral.  Of course, they draped the coffin with a US flag which they folded and passed to my grandma, 2 Navy jets did a fly over, and also a 21 gun salute.  Just amazing, simply incredible to witness for someone who gave so much for our country.  He is definitely a hero in all sorts of the word.  

Captain Wendell B. Rivers

Earthquake, What?!?!

DFW had an earthquake today.  Yes, you read that correctly but just in case you can read it again. DFW had an earthquake today and Gabe and I totally felt it.  It was a 3.3 on the Richter scale and the center of it was about 4 miles south of Euless, which pretty much borders Colleyville!  We were upstairs getting ready and the whole house shook pretty hard.  We turned to each other and were so confused on what just happened.  An hour or so later, we heard it was an earthquake. Can you believe it?  I still can't.  Here is an article to prove I am not koo-koo bananas!

Earthquake Article

Picture Updates

Here are 2 recent pictures from this week, his 7th week of life.

7 weeks

(This was actually taken last Monday, 6 weeks, but this is the most recent pic we have of Brody)

Our baby is getting so big!  He is having fussy fits lately but we are thinking it is due to having tummy aches.  The doctor says its normal for breast fed babies to go 6-7 days without pooping, I am not sure its normal for any one, ever!  Anywho, we ended up having to give the little guy a suppository one evening.  A few hours later, we had a messy diaper.  Four days later, he pooped on his own..yea :)  well that was last Monday.  We have not had a dirty diaper since, until yesterday afternoon poor baby Brody received his second suppository and again, a few hours later, we had a dirty diaper.  Gabe and I had left to go get the groceries/ingredients for taco salad so unfortunately mom (grandma) was left with the mess.  This morning, Brody seemed a little uncomfortable so I called the nurse and asked if this is normal.  She told me to give him a 3rd suppository and I might could try pear juice.  At this point, I am thinking I am pretty much refusing to give another suppository unless it is absolutely necessary.  After discussing my options with my mom, I ran up to Market Street and picked up a few 4 oz jars of Gerber Pear Juice.  The nurse said to give 1 1/2 oz in the morning and evening.  This was about 9:30 am and Brody was OUT!  He slept until about noonish and was given the pear juice as well as a bottle of milk.  I had to go take a test and when I got home at 3, I walked in the door and a minute or two later, we had another dirty diaper.  I am glad this seemed to work and I am anxious to see what the next few days ahead have in store for us.  So if you know anyone who is having the same baby pooping problems, please share this info.  The babies will LOVE the juice and it is so much for comfy for the babies to drink juice rather than have something shoved up their tiny booty.  

I am sure Brody would be mortified if he knew I was blogging about his bodily functions, so Brody I am apologizing.  I am hoping this is informational to other mommies and daddies.

Almost Done

Here is the outside of our house.  It is almost done and we are getting more and more excited with each passing day.  Our closing date is June 11th.

Busy Bees

My goodness things have been so crazy busy lately, we have barely had time to breathe and now we are all 3 sick!  On Sunday, I noticed Brody started sneezing a little and had a slight cough and my throat started to hurt.  I woke up Monday morning not feeling well, went to school, was freezing, throat hurting, fever increasing throughout the day, headache and lower back ache.  I called the doctor, went to the doctor, was tested for strep and flu (both came back negative) and was diagnosed with a upper resipitory infection and have had an extremely scratchy voice since Tuesday.  I am now on the biggest pill I have ever seen in my life, amoxicillin. Gabe started feeling bad the next day, his symptoms are blocked ears, sore throat and congestion.  We called the pedi yesterday since Brody has been having a lot of yuckiness in his nose.  He is now on saline drops to help with that, along with a vitamin drop.  Needless to say, I have let my work pile up and now have 2 weeks worth of papers to grade.  My class is starting a novel next week, and I will be spending part of my weekend reading, A Tale of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  Please, be jealous!!  ;)  

Speaking of my sweet baby boy, he has started tearing up when he cries so that means his tear ducts are developing.  He will sometimes grab the bottle when he feeds, and is smiling so much!  Brody is loving his tummy time and loves to stare at himself in the mirror.  He will be in the pack and play downstairs napping and when you go over to check on him or see if he is still sleeping, sometimes he is just laying there wide awake staring at himself in the mirror, sucking on his paci.  He kicks his legs like crazy, and they are some strong legs!  Ok, enough bragging!!  I just am amazed he is almost 7 weeks old!

Since the last post, I was thrown a WONDERFUL sip and see by some dear friends.  Thank you to everyone who came.  It meant a lot to me.  You all continue to spoil Brody with the fabulous gifts, which are sincerely appreciated.  I loved visiting with my far away friend Kelly who I don't get to see very often.  Kelly, Allison and I had a lovely dinner at PF Changs in order to spend more time together and catch up since the last time we were together in December.  I love you both and thanks so much for everything!  (And my sister too, who helped out so much).  

The following weekend, I co-hostessed a baby shower for my great friend, Amber, who is due with baby Teagan in June!  It turned out great and Teagan received some adorable gifts.  We are so anxious to meet her little girl.  Amber looks amazing and her belly grows so much everytime I see her.  Gabe and I already have Brody and Teagan paired up as BF/GF!  It's going to be fun to have a girl thrown in the mix.  

Look at her tiny shoe collection!

My mom has been spending a lot of time in San Antonio lately, due to some unfortunate news.  My step-grandpa (the only grandpa I have ever known on my moms side of the family) was diagnosed with brain tumors which have caused him to lose the ability to speak and swallow.  It is the saddest news since it all happened so quickly.  My grandma noticed his speech beginning to slur a little, so they made an appointment for a CT-scan.  Then they did a biopsy, and ever since he has not spoken or swallowed.  We just visited him in January and he was completely normal.  He has been given 1-2 months, but you just never know how long with cancer which is the scary thing.  I think the saddest part of all is that he was a POW in Vietnam for 7 years and  this man has the most incredible, amazing stories (some of which make you cry) and he will never be able to tell them again.  I feel so lucky to have heard some of the many he has to tell. Gabe and I are hoping to go down to SA as soon as we can to visit him and introduce him to Brody.  If you could just pray for my grandmas strength to get through this tough time and that he is comfortable. I think my sister said it best "We know that we cannot save him so I just pray that God will wrap his arms around everyone close to him and comfort them as much as possible."  

Any prayer would be appreciated.