Weekend of Firsts

Ryan had a weekend full of firsts. On Friday Ryan got to spend some time at grandmas so mom and dad could go out on a date to WALL.E. Saturday we went to Kerr Lake with grandma and Uncle David. Ryan got to go on his first boat ride which was fun. He was fabulous and liked the warm weather; He loves being outside. Sunday we went to a Durham Bulls baseball game with grandma, Uncle David, Kristy and Robert. Our seats were a little scary for grandma (we were in the heart of foul ball territory) so she took Ryan to walk around the park. He liked all the people and noise and when we got in the car he was “talking” all the way home with a big smile. Mom is no fun and forgot to take pictures all weekend… So I guess you will just have to use your imagination!

Pros and Cons (Pros win)

Things I miss:
1) Eating food while it is still hot (or cold)
2) Taking a shower at will
3) Sleeping through the night
4) Fitting into my pants (hopefully this is temporary)

Things that more then make up for it:
1) When your baby smiles at you, not just because they can but because they know you are their parent
2) Snuggling with a sleepy baby
3) Watching baby discover something new
4) The look on grandma or grandpas face when they see their grandchild
5) Playing with little tiny baby toes and fingers
6) Getting a positive reaction for my singing

Mason Visit

Don's parents left yesterday but wow did we put them to work while they were here :) They built us a deck and did a few other house projects in the short time they were here. Ryan of course loved them and while he was cranky for 2 of the days (stomach issues) the rest of the time he was full of more smiles then we had seen before. How could he not like all the grandparent attention? We are going to have to make our way to MA to visit them so Ryan can meet 4 great grandparents, his cousin Kaylie and Aunt Missy and lots and lots of other family! Below is a documentation of all the work that was accomplished in just a few days. (Extreme Makeover Home Edition eat your heart out :) )

The backyard BEFORE the deck.. shockingly we didn't hang out here very often. (the "patio" was a cement slab and a rotting square of wood)



There was a lot of measuring (measure 2x, cut once)...

Finally the foundation was done, that is what took the most amount of time, it is hard to build a level deck when the ground slopes


Here is the supervisor of the whole project... so far he approves..


Getting close...

Ryan had to test out the deck to make sure it was enjoyable enough.. he approved it

Finished! It looks kinda small from this angle but it is actually pretty big.

Hanging out on the deck after a lot of work.

There were a few other projects they took on when it was dark/raining outside (ceiling fan, shower heads and faucets). Grandpa and baby, Ryan fell asleep the second he was in either grandparents arms which is a good sign he liked them. He is going to have it rough with just me at home for the rest of the week.. he is used to getting LOTS of attention from everyone.

Sad Baby Face

Ryan has the sad face MASTERED, I caught it on video.... the lower lip quiver really makes it. He is totally faking how sad he is, notice by the end of the clip he is completely over it.

No worries, my next video will be Ryan happy!

Baby Smiles

This morning after I woke up I went down stairs and Don was holding Ryan. I said good morning to them both and Ryan looked at me and gave a huge smile. Could it get better then that? there is no better way to start your day!

Bedtime

We have discovered that when we stick to a schedule at night Ryan can sleep for a very long time (for a baby… a long time for my brother is like 16 hours without moving…). We start by giving him a bath which he loves, he smiles and kicks his feet, and everything is great. It’s funny to watch because every night it’s the same reaction, it looks new and exciting to him. The fun however stops when we take him out of the water. He is silent for probably 30 seconds and then he decides he is cold and screams bloody murder. There is no way to prevent this. We turn off the AC before the bath so there is no cold air blowing, we put the towel in the dryer to it is super toasty when we wrap him in it and we change him as fast as possible into his jammies…. But NOTHING even remotely calms him down. He screams as if he is truly mad with us (yes he has an angry scream… they don’t tell you about that one in the books… they only say hungry, uncomfortable, diaper change cries… but I tell you Ryan has an angry one). We give him a bottle at this point and he falls right asleep afterwards. He has gotten to the point where he sleeps about 5 hours then wakes up to eat and will go right back to sleep. We are moving in the right direction… oh the days of sleeping through the night, how I miss you… I hold out hope they will be back soon!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Forth Of July!Ryan has his red white and blue outfit on and is ready for his first holiday! (ok I am not an “outfit” person but I couldn’t help myself… blame it on being alone in the house with him all day most days during the week). We don’t have any huge plans; I think a few people might stop over for some of Dons excellent BBQ. We are also building a deck in the backyard… and by “we” I mean Don and his dad. I will post pictures when more progress has been made. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday!

Grandparents visit

Tomorrow Ryan is going to meet his grandma and grandpa from Massachusetts. They haven’t had a chance to meet him yet but Don tells me they are very excited. They have seen his pictures through this blog, and next week they will be on it! (If they let me get in at least one or two pictures).
Also, we have finally pulled out the video camera so I will try and figure out how to put some of the clips on here so you can see him in action. I caught his very sad face, you will be impressed; he is a PRO.

New Pictures

Ryan looking out the window of the car

Footie PJ's

Anyone need a hug?

Caught the smile!

It is SO hard being a baby

Popular baby

Sarah Cate came to visit from Louisiana this weekend! Ryan was a huge fan, he found someone else that was willing to hold him for HOURS at a time. We have voted and think that she should stay :) Ryan got a lot of attention this weekend... Uncle David also came over to hang out Saturday, we went to the mall and then to an outdoor concert.

Expressions

I have been told that I have a very expressive face which can be good and bad.. the good is that people know that I am listening to them because my face is reacting. The bad is that I have trouble hiding what I am thinking... Ryan is starting to develop the same sort of expressive face… Here are some examples:

Sad

Skeptical (I get this one A LOT)

Tired

Freaked out

I will post more as he develops them, it is hard to catch a smile (they are open mouth so it is sometimes hard to tell they are smiles)

Pregnancy Weight

Pregnancy weight is an interesting thing. You gain weight for 9+ months (mine was a few days shy of 10) eating almost anything (no beer or sushi but all the butter you could want). Then you work really hard to get the baby out and your body is tired, not only from pushing but from giving all the good nutrients in your body to the baby. So you lose the initial baby weight and some of the liquid weight right away but then you are stuck with what is left. Let me begin by saying it is 100% worth it… but who wants to be left with 20 extra pounds?
I wouldn’t mind so much if I fit into a single pair of shorts, with it being 100 degrees outside it seems like a necessity. So when you have a baby you are left with a stretched out body and zero muscles, starting to exercise is easier said then done. Add that to the fact that 99% of your time is spent taking care of the baby so you have to exercise you can do with him.
All that said… I am now motivated to lose the weight. Besides the shorts issue, I am going to the beach in August and while it seems like a while away, there are bathing suits involved in beach trips… I will need all the time I can get. Also, one of my friends has posted her weight on her blog in order to motivate herself to lose some weight. While I am not even close to as brave, I figured if she could do that I could give the whole weight loss thing a try.
Ryan and I now start our day by going on a long walk. We try and go for an hour. (I have also limited the number of cookies I eat). So far so good, Ryan likes to get out of the house and while he is sitting in the stroller so not getting much physical exercise, it does give him new sights and sounds which helps his mental development. I have lost 3 pounds so far which leaves about 12 to go to get to my pre-pregnancy weight and about 20 until my goal weight. If you don’t hear me talk about weight loss again it is because it isn’t going well, so hope for more posts like this for my sake!

Ladies Man

Ryan and I adventured out into the world today to attend a baby shower. The whole morning Ryan was… how do I put this nicely? … fussy. He was not dealing with life well and hadn’t been since the moment he woke up. Well, before I went upstairs to get ready I told him that if he didn’t calm down he was going to have to stay at the house and he would miss the shower. I am not kidding, he stopped crying immediately. Not only did he stop, he didn’t start again, so I told him we could go. The baby shower was about 2 hours and he didn’t fuss once, he was looking around at everyone but no crying. When we left he got fussy again. I think he liked getting all the attention and hearing all the new voices. He is already a ladies man; he wanted to be with the large group of women and when I took him away he got mad at me. He has been fussy since we got home. Conclusion, when Ryan is inconsolable invite a bunch of women over, I hope this doesn’t continue into his teenage years!

insecurities

The development of babies is an interesting process, it seems that they can’t do something at all and then the next day it has all changed and they act as though they have always been able to do it. I understand that this is a unique and exciting time in life for Ryan, he is developing faster then he will at any other time in his life… it is also kind of stressful if you allow it be. The thing about being a first time parent that they seem to forget to tell you is you have no idea what you are doing or what to expect (even when you read all the books.. sometimes BECAUSE you read ALL the books). I am a go with the flow kinda girl (ok that isn’t always true but I’m trying to be that sort of girl). There is however this underlying worry that something is wrong, especially when you are witnessing other babies around the same age develop differently then your own. So when you see Little Billy lifting his head and looking around, or Little Suzy smile at her mom and you don’t see your own doing it, it flashes through your mind that something could be wrong. It is an irrational fear at this point, but it is there, and then your morning comes where you look over your babies crib and he/she gives you a huge smile… and then it is off to worry about the next thing.
On another note, I have been a little slack in my blog entries because I am trying to get my 20 page paper done (which is always interesting with a baby in my arms so I have to type with one finger) it is due Tuesday then I will have a little bit more freedom and a little less of a feeling of being totally overwhelmed.