Thanksgiving

Julian took his first big cross country trip for Thanksgiving. We flew from Arcata to Philly...a very long two plane rides. He slept on the loud little plane but didn't do so great on the big long plane ride. He did great for takeoff and landing but the middle was full of fussiness. Of course it seemed like every time we got up to walk around the seatbelt light came on! Once we got there though he was all smiles and pretty much stayed that way the whole visit.
It was Julian's Thanksgiving. Surrounded by family, he was a happy little guy. How could he not be with so much love and attention 24/7. We stayed with GranGran  and PopPop and Grandma Rachel stayed with us too. Julian got to meet his Great Aunts and Uncles and even had Great Aunt Mary and Great Uncle Joe drive down from CT to meet him! Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Jim came up from North Carolina and it was one big party! We hung out and played with all his new toys, eat lots of food, and visited the Please Touch Museum with cousin Brian. The museum was amazing...he was a little yound for it and fell asleep halfway thru but I can only wish we had one where we live. I especially loved the grocery store and kitchen. Of course, Julian wouldn't know what have the food was since he will be raised on natural food stores, lol.
The ride home was great. Waking up at 4 in the morning was miserable but it worked to our advantage. Julian slept a ton and was generally in a good mood. He had everyone entertaining him with his big grin. He even got his wings!
Thanks everyone for making his first Thanksgiving so amazing!

Julian with mom, Grandma Wendy and Grandpa Jim

Please Touch Museum

 

 

 

Cousins

Jumper

Saturday was a big day for Julian! He figured out how to jump in the jumperoo! It is no longer just a place to hang and look at the toys but now he can move. It was great to see him start moving around and them realize that he could jump in it. It had suddenly gone from a 5 minute fun spot to a 15 minute jump a thon. I guess it is time to move the swing out of the living room!

3 months

2 months

Wow, I can't believe that it has been a month since I have posted and Julian is already two months old! So much has happened in the last month. He has hit some major milestones as he smiles now, lifts his head and bats at things. He actually notices his toys and his smile will melt your heart.

Yesterday he had his first set of shots. We chose to go ahead and give him the recommended shots other than the Hep B. Luckily this meant two shots and an oral vaccine. He took it so well, only cried right when they stuck the needle in but calmed down almost immediatly. We did have a tough night though as he cried and cried and did not want to go to sleep. Then he woke up repeatedly throughout the night but I think it wasnt even the shots but gas that was bothering him..go figure. Gas has been the story of his little life so far and I hope it gets better soon. It is so sad to see his gassy face and hear his little cries in the night. We have been having a little success with the gripe water but the doctor recommended Mylicon. I guess we may need to try it though I am very wary of giving him any medicines...

Here are some pictures of the last month

Julian and Grandma

Santa Cruz for my birthday (Reading his new Spanish book with Dad)

1 month later...

Well Julian is a month old and so far we have survived...with a lot of help. Today marks the end of the round the clock help at my house but so far so good.. Thank goodness I have been getting him f sleep in the swing for the last couple of days. Mom (my mom, his grandma) just left and we were so sad to see her go. We had a really great time. I healed a ton and became much more confident about going places. I am now way better prepared to go at it alone. That said I really wish we all lived closer to one another :(

Julian is growing and growing. He eats like a little piglet and is getting chunky. The newborn clothes have officially been put away and 3 month clothes are fitting now. It feels so weird to have him growing out of stuff already!

The Briss

Yesterday was Julian's briss, a Jewish circumcision ceremony.  It was supposed to be at 10:00 am so we all got up (late since no alarms went off) scrambled ourselves together and headed off to the doctors office. An hour later and still no rabbi! We rescheduled for 3:30 and soon got a call from the Rabbi, he totally forgot. Mind you, there is about one Jewish baby born a year here ;) Since we were supposed to do it in the morning we had a reception planned at the house at 12:00. Well honestly I thought the trend was going to continue and noone was going to show but we actually ended up with quite the turn out. Friends even traveled up from the bay area and of course Uncle David flew in from LA. It was a great get together full of delicious food (thanks Rachel!) and champagne (thanks Jaime) and It's a Boy cigars (thanks Dave) We then headed out to do the ceremony. I'm glad we had that drink before since I was a bit apprehensive about them cutting my little boy but he did really really well. He pretty much slept through most of it ( from what I saw before I left) and the Rabbi blessing made a routine procedure inspiring and special. Dave did an amazing job holding him through the whole thing and while yes I botched the Hebrew a bit, we pulled it all off. Thank you everyone who was there for sharing the experience with us and Julian!

Visit with Grandpa

Well, Grandpa just left this last week and we sure do miss him already. He accomplished more things at the house in a week than I could have imagined in a month! The wall in the garage has been completed, the deck has steps, I have a garden and there is a fence in the front! Whew.. The fence is especially awesome since  now everyone who stops to turn in front of my house can't see me breastfeeding on the couch :) We had a really great time having him here and wish he lived A LOT closer. Well, maybe we can get summers or something...

Thank you dad so much for being here. I am really glad you were able to be here for the birth and meet Julian right after he was born. Thanks so much for all the things you did around the house and thanks for being you! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful dad and Julian is stoked to have the best granddad ever!

First doctors visit

Our first doctors visit was today. Not only was it our first doctor visit but our very first outing too. So we got ready to go, fed Julian, changed his diaper, packed up the diaper bag and headed out the door. He was great in the car and getting in the car seat is a breeze. Of course as soon as we got into the office he got fussy but dad did a great job of keeping him calm while I filled out paperwork. Then the inevitable...he pooped his diaper and through to the onesie and the pants. Good thing we remembered an extra outfit...but we did forget a bag for dirty ones, eww. Then his ferocious appetite kicked in and..another first- breastfeeding in public :)

The visit went great, the doctor didn't seem concerned about the little bit of jaundice and his weight has only gone down a little from 7 lbs 11 oz to 7 lbs 4 oz. Julian doesn't even need to go back until he is 2 months old.

That little outing really took it out of us though and we are very happy to be home. Julian passed out pretty much the minute we got here and I think I am in need of a nap now too...

Milk time

So today is an exciting day, my milk has officially come in! Little Julian is getting the real thing now and my boobs are enormous. I am so glad that I got some great nursing gear because there is no way I would fit in to any of my old bras now. Julian is so stoked he ate all night and all morning and is now asleep on my lap in a milk comatose. Of course along with the milk comes the poop. We now have poopy diapers to change multiple times a day. Daddy even got to change two last night, lucky guy :)

Pictures

He is here!

My beautiful boy is finally here. He arrived at 11:30 pm on June 16. He weighed 7 lbs and 11 oz and was 21 inches long. This picture is just minutes after his birth. I will update more soon but right now I am typing slowly with one hand while he feeds away. For now enjoy the pics!

39 weeks

Well, I have made it to 39 weeks. Julie, my doula is finally here and the countdown has begun. I think that he is slowly dropping...I have been feeling it a little bit for the last couple of days... Maybe he is starting to get ready to go. Doctor's appt today so maybe I will know for sure later. It is really hard for me to tell. He is feeling super heavy and strong now.
His daddy will be here soon and I know he is just waiting. Once doula and daddy are here..then we will be ready for real. I've become pretty slow and tired. Little bits of work punctuated by little bits on the couch is about all I can handle. Of course I'm trying to relax while I can because I know it is gonna get crazy. A baby, friends, relatives, and 2 more dogs are all coming soon into my life and I am very used to it just being me and Elijah. This quiet house will be quiet no more!

38 weeks belly photo

38 weeks

Wow, two weeks have passed since I have blogged and I was doing so good before! Oh well, here I am at 38 weeks and Tired. I have been doing so good this entire time but I am feeling it now. Time to just hang out on the couch and wait it out. Yeah right, I wish. I would love to feel ready but really are you ever ready? Thankfully Julian does not seem to be in a hurry. He has not dropped at all and I am not dilating. I do think however that I have started feeling some little contractions in the last couple of days and my legs got swollen for the first time (and I thought it wasn't gonna happen to me :) Sleep is sporadic, I mean I sleep, between 12 and 4 anyway, and sometimes between 6 and 9....

Julie, my doula, gets here in 3 days! yay! I am going to feel so much better about things once she is here. I will have help around the house and know that at least half of my birth team will absolutely for sure be here with me when it is labor time. I'm getting pretty excited. Julian feels so big now, he moves around and I can feel his feet and knees. Sometimes it hurts he presses so hard. I will take official 38 week photos soon but for now, here is a day at the beach a week ago...

36 weeks

I can't believe that I am at 36 weeks already! Only 4 more weeks to go.. I've been nesting away and his nursery is finally almost done. I need to finish with the wall decorations and I still need to complete his bedding and I would love some more accessories but it is already pretty functional. I know he will not even be sleeping in there at first anyway but I would like it to be more or less done. My list is getting shorter. I think he still needs a few things but it is not overwhelming anymore.

I am so excited that daddy is coming to help out with some stuff tomorrow. We need a little daddy time, it has been a while. It will also be great to do something about the tree that fell during the windstorm. I am afraid the fence is gonna fall down. I'm bummed that I am losing one of my trees but it is pretty much dead already :( so sad.

Doctors visit went well today. I have to go every week from now on. He is about six pounds now, right on schedule but hasn't dropped at all. The doc said to expect him to within the next couple of weeks. Great, then I will have to pee even more often! Mom said I didn't drop until late so maybe I will be the same way. Who knows. I'm not in any hurry to have this baby. I really am looking forward to meeting him but I hope he knows we need to wait for our doula and daddy to be up here before he makes an appearance.

Thank you cards

Well, I'm sure everyone has received their thank you cards by now so I thought I would post them. I'm pretty proud of myself for sitting down and making all the cards (and envelopes) from scratch. To make the cards I just cut out balloon shapes from scrapbook paper, printed Thank you off word and added some embroidery thread for the strings. I used a glue stick to put it all together and they turned out great! I almost couldn't mail them because they were too small ( which I didn't even realize could happen) but thankfully they just barely fit into the size requirements. I hope everyone enjoyed them!

Pack n Play sheet

Today I made my first pack n play sheet! I got the pack n play for my shower and although I am supposed to be borrowing a co sleeper from a friend we are having a hard time coordinating. This means it is entirely possible that this will be where he sleeps at first so I needed to figure out a sheet for it. I used some cute striped fabric and it turned out pretty good and only cost about $5. I used this tutorial at Prudent Baby http://www.prudentbaby.com/2010/02/diy-fitted-sheet-for-pack-n-play.html

I didn't put the elastic all the way through since that is my least favorite part but used the 8" pieces in the corners. It works well though I think it would fit a lot tighter with the elastic all the way around. I may make the next one a little smaller to allow for a snugger fit. All in all, I'm very happy with it and so glad I didn't spend $15 or more on a solid colored one from the store. I am really loving all this sewing and will post pictures of more projects soon!

Hospital Bag

Well, seeing as how I have 5 more weeks to go, I figured I should at least start packing my hospital bag. This seems to be a very popular subject in the world of baby blogs. First time mamas apparently always pack too much but oh well. I will try to reach some sort of in between.

My bag so far:

- coconut water 

- toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash

- body wash and shampoo

- lip balm

- maxi pads

- nipple pads and cream

- cheap underwear

- extra contacts, solution and case

- Boppy pillow

Things I plan on adding to my bag

- robe

- socks

- slippers

- going home outfit for me

- going home outfit for Julian

- music

- magazines

- baby book page for footprint

- snacks

- pillow

What am I forgetting? 

Getting crafty

I broke out the sewing machine a few days ago and I have been going at it! Now that I am able to put things in his room I am feeling so motivated to create create create. I prettied up some burp cloths and made a changing pad cover...and it fit! I am so proud of myself. It has been a while since I sewed. Before I moved back up north I'm not sure my sewing machine saw any use other than a hem here and there. I am just so much more motivated to be creative when I live here and being pregnant provides even more motivation. I can't wait to put the crib together and start working on the bedding. Still need to find fabric for the quilt though. I really wish finding affordable organic fabric wasn't so difficult. Future projects: Quilt, bedskirt, sheets for crib and pack n play, more burp cloths, and changing pad cover and maybe curtains? I also need to make some wall decorations.... Staying busy!

Check out this link for a great tutorial on making the changing pad cover. Works like a charm.

http://www.prudentbaby.com/2009/12/diy-changing-pad-cover-tutorial.html

The nursery is finally painted!

Well those of you who helped or heard about my nursery painting know that it has taken a long time but the nursery paint job is finally finished! Thank you so much to the 4 people who spent multiple days helping me make this room perfect. Of course I had to go all complicated with 3 colors and stripes and we had to cover up the dark turquoise that was in there but the end result is totally worth it. Now that the paint job is done, I have been able to start bringing baby stuff out of the cluttered living room too. yay!

I have been in total baby world lately as the due date is getting closer and closer. I've been putting together baby toys, washing clothes, taking inventory and making lists. I'm getting so excited to meet my sweet baby Julian!

A little preview...more pix to come soon