6 week checkup!!

Malachi is now 6 weeks old! I know, I can't believe it either! It's crazy that it's been that long already! But, each day we are having more and more fun with him! As you can see from the latest slideshow, he still sleeps a lot, but he's starting to wake up a LOT more! We've gotten into a routine, finally! Thomas and I get him up in the morning (whenever he wakes up for his morning bottle) and it depends on what time it is as to who feeds him. If it's early enough, I get to feed and change him in the mornings and get him ready for daycare. However, after about 6:30, it's Daddy time since mommy has to be at work at 8:00. Then daddy gets his bottles ready and we usually leave the house around 7:30. This morning we woke up in SUCH a good mood. Last night, Malachi had a bottle at 5:00, slept until 11:30, (I know...it was HEAVEN) woke up, ate, went back to sleep until 3:30, woke up, ate, went back to sleep until around 7:00. We've bumped him up to 4 oz bottles, so he's lasting a little longer between feedings! It was so nice to actually sleep with my husband in bed beside me last night. We are finally settling into being parents with a newborn and are loving it!

We went to 2 Dr.'s appointments today. The first was Dr. Hopkins, my doctor for MY 6 week checkup! Everything went well, he put us BACK on birth control (YEA FOR US) and said unless something "happens" he won't see us for another year or so. Which we are PRAYING for. We know we want at least 1 more child, but we want Malachi to be potty-trained by the time that happens. So, for everyone who's wondering, we'll probably start "trying" again around a year and a half to 2 years from now. As long as it took us to get pregnant with Malachi, we don't want to wait too long to number 2 to come along!

Malachi had his 6 week shots today also. He weighs 8lbs 12 oz (meaning he's gained 3 lbs in 6 weeks) and he's probably somewhere around 22 in long! Strange to think my little brother was 8lbs 12 oz and 25 in long, AT BIRTH!!! My poor mother, I have a whole new respect for her now! haha But the Dr. is happy, he's had his shots (not as bad as I thought it would be) and we're moving right along! Our next appt is 7/24 and we'll update on the progress then! Other than that, there are no new developments. We're just having a GREAT time being parents! It's true what they say, you never know how much love you REALLY have until you have a child. It's incredible!!!

On the job front, I got a promotion yesterday and as of July 1st I will be the City Manager for the villages of Lake Tanglewood and Timbercreek Canyon. I know, it's not like I'm the City Manager of Dallas or anything, but it's the first chance I've gotten to use my degree. Our office is contracted out to do the City Management for these villages and I have been chosen to take that position. So I have moved from Program Specialist to Coordinator in a year (which usually takes at least 5 years before management will consider that) and I am very excited about the challenges I'm about to face!

P.S. For those of you who haven't yet, please check out our video!

4 1/2 Weeks down!!

4 1/2 weeks ago, I could never have imagined what my life is like now! We have been struggling with Colic and it's been pretty tough. He's had such bad tummy problems and just wasn't sleeping at night. So, last Friday, we went to the Dr. He had been REALLY uncomfortable at daycare all day and hadn't been resting well for a few nights. When we got to the Dr.'s office, we stripped him down and the nurse weighed him. Drumroll please...He's gained 2 whole pounds and grown 2 inches in just 4 weeks! YEA! (Insert Fireworks Graphic here) He was 7lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches!! So, we figured that's right about where he would've been if he would've been born on his due date. The Dr. was thrilled! We also discussed what Malachi had been going through over the past few days. My last post, I mentioned that we had changed formulas and apparently it was the new formula that was upsetting his tummy, even though it's supposed to be more gentle on his system. So, the Dr. put him on Nutramigen, made by Enfamil, which is supposed to be much easier for them to digest. He also said we could give him 1cc Maalox or Mylanta 3 times a day and that might help. As for the crying every night, he said that's Colic and there's really nothing we can do but ride out the storm. My mom kept him Monday night until about 3:00 in the morning so we could get some sleep and that's SO what we did. We were asleep by 8:15pm and slept until 3:00. It was great. Then, last night, Mal went to sleep around 8:00 and stayed asleep until 12:00 when Thomas had to wake him up to feed him. From now on, if he's asleep, he'll stay that way. But, then he went back to sleep until around 3:15, ate and went back to sleep until 6:15. NO COLIC!!! Does that mean every night will be this good? Probably not, but last night was great! His tummy seems to be MUCH calmer and he is resting really well! He's also starting to go bald! It's hilarious. He looks like a little old man. But, I can't wait to see when his "real" hair comes in!! He's just such a blessing from God and we are having such a good time being parents. We did introduce him at church on Sunday, Father's Day, and that was really neat! Thomas was so excited to introduce his baby boy on his first Father's Day! I was excited that he was able to do that. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. God is SO Good!!

Almost 1 Month Old!! :(

Wow!! I can't believe it's already been 1 whole month since our sweet baby boy made his grand appearance! It's so funny to think that 1 month ago Malachi was still inside my tummy! I've actually woken up a few times thinking I felt him move inside me, and then, I put my hand on my tummy instinctively and remember he's not there anymore. You know, they say when people are missing a limb like an arm or a leg, they can still feel pain sometimes. I guess that's kinda what I feel like. I sure am glad to be fitting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes though! Some of them are still a little snug, so I'll have to wait a little longer to get into those. But, I've gotten back into some of my 10s and I even bought a new dress yesterday! YEA ME!!

We're still struggling to settle into a routine with Malachi! He was waking up from about 10:00pm to 3:00am. Last night, however, he woke up around 8:00 and was fussy until about midnight. However, at midnight, I finally laid him down beside me in bed and wrapped him up nice and snug. I let him lay on his tummy since his tummy seemed to be bothering him and he slept so well until about 2:30. But, it had been 5 hours since his last bottle, so he was allowed to cry for that! haha, just kidding Thomas got up and fed him at 2:30 and then he slept until about 6:30 this morning! I saw a different formula, still the brand our Dr. recommended, but, this "formula" of the "formula" is specially made for fussy and/or gassy babies. So, Lolli is going to watch today to see if his gas seems to be getting better. We are also considering taking him to a chiropractor. Yes, we will make sure he/she is a good chiropractor and we will check references. But, a friend of ours has a 7 month old and she struggled for a few weeks with colic. Then, she took her son to the chiropractor and IMMEDIATELY saw an improvement. At this point, my frazzled nerves are ABOUT ready to try most anything.

It is the most frustrating thing to know that your child is uncomfortable, but not know how to comfort him. It makes you feel like such a failure sometimes. Thankfully, I have the support of Thomas who has taken such an incredible role in our lives. He is so strong, and I think God is giving him the special ability to calm ME down just as much as he can calm Malachi down. He keeps telling me I'm doing a good job, and that babies just cry sometimes. What would I do without him? He's incredible. I always thought he would be a good dad, but it's just amazing to see HOW good he is. God has blessed me with an incredible husband and Malachi with an incredible father!

This Sunday we get to introduce him at church, and that is SUPER exciting. I'm so happy that Thomas gets to introduce his son on Father's Day! I'm working hard on getting his FIRST Father's Day present together, but I can't tell you what it is until AFTER he gets it. He reads this blog a LOT!! I'll be sure and post pictures of the special event next week!!

In the meantime, I also had my showers this past weekend. My work shower was Friday and my family shower was Saturday. Saturday was INCREDIBLE!!! We had SUCH a good time. The hostesses were all SO sweet and worked SO hard to make my day special, and it SO WAS!! My cookies were adorable, the safari theme was SO FUN and the decorations were very cute! I can tell that the ladies put a LOT of work into the shower and it showed. I could not have asked for a more special day and could not have celebrated with more special people! A BIG thanks goes out to Aunt Gradena, Morgan, Hannah, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Bubzees, Aunt Donna and Aunt Barbara. Without all of your love and hard work, my shower wouldn't have been NEAR as exciting and fun! Hopefully I'll get pictures soon so I can post all the fun we had!

The time is drawing near for Malachi's cousin, Elliot, to make her debut. We're praying for Jennie and Jordan and hoping their delivery goes smoothly and Elli comes quickly and easily!! We can't wait to meet her and have a playdate!

HI HO...HI HO...It's Back to Work I Go!!

Yesterday was my first official day back at work! Yes, Malachi is only 2 weeks old. BUT...Keep in mind, he's at daycare with Lolli all day, so I don't have anything to worry about! Actually, I'm only working part time this week. I'm coming in from 8:00-12:00 this week just to try to get used to being back and getting back into a routine! It's been nice to get up and put make-up on for a reason and get out of the house! We both needed me to get out for our sanity!

I think we may be figuring out Malachi's routine (which will have to change soon...) He seems to get fussy every night around 10:00 and stays fussy until around 1:00. So, last night we tried feeding him a really good bottle at about 9:30. He ate about 2 1/2 oz (1/2 oz more than normal) and STILL kept Thomas up until 1:00. (It was his night to stay up) So, tonight, we're going to try to feed him and then give him a bath to see if that calms him down and relaxes him. I think we'll just keep trying different combinations until we can get him straightened out!

He's staying awake for a lot longer now, so we're having a lot of fun watching him and interacting with him. I read yesterday that babies will mimic even at this early age. So, last night while he was awake, but really quiet, I sat down with my legs up and put him on my thighs so he was sitting up looking at me. I stuck my tongue out for a while just to see if he would get it, and sure enough, he finally figured out what he was looking at and his tongue started moving in and out of his mouth. It was pretty neat. I find it absolutely incredible that God has created such complex creatures and chosen to give them to us in such perfect little packages!

Our showers are this weekend and we're super excited! I have a shower for work on Friday and Thomas gets to come to it (since a lot of the people there will be men anyway.) Then, Saturday, my Aunt Gradena, along with Malachi's loving aunts and cousins have planned what I have heard is going to be a BLOWOUT! I don't know any details, but I know that I'm going to have a BLAST!!! Thanks to Aunt Gradena, by the way, for watching Malachi Sunday night so Thomas and I could go to Logan's graduation ceremony at church!

I also have to congratulate my little brother on his high school graduation! I'm so proud of him! Logan is planning on going to AC and then WT and wants to pursue a degree in criminal justice. He's looking to go into Federal Law Enforcement. While part of me could not be more proud of him, part of me is scared for him since I've worked with Federal Law Enforcement and I know it's a rough rough crowd! But, if that's the path that God has chosen for him, I will support him 100%!