James' First Christmas

Christmas 2015 has come and gone and I think it's safe to say that James had a successful first Christmas! Here's the rundown of the weekend's events....

Since John and I have been married, we started a tradition of giving each other an ornament each year on Christmas Eve and this year was no exception. John had informed me on a couple of occasions that I would need to leave the house so "he and James could work on a project". :) On the evening of the 23rd John informed me that I would need to leave the house so, away to the gym I went. I came back an hour later to the sweetest ornament (given to me a day early due to the nature of the craft and drying purposes).

This is supposed to be James' footprint. Hearing John tell the story about how he and James made this was pretty funny and adorable.

John's ornament. Mine wasn't as creative. :)

Christmas Eve was pretty laid back for us. John was off work all day so we just enjoyed a laid back day. Both of us took shifts to get in a workout (temp was in the 50's!), and we enjoyed a nice family outing for lunch and a few errands. It was so nice for us all to be together. Bedtime came quickly and we let James open his Christmas jammies and a few books from mom and dad. Pajamas on Christmas Eve is Christmas Eve, we would take lots of pictures, and usually lounge in them until December 26th. So, James got his first pair (see below).

Waiting patiently to open. Love that grin!

Christmas jammies!! I think he likes them....hard to tell.

Snuggles with dad.

...and with mom.

Some more books for the collection. Hard to tell if he likes it or not.

I don't think he likes that one...

Love my boys!

Momma's boy. :)

Once James went to bed Christmas Eve John and I enjoyed time together with an adult beverage, opened our gifts to each other, and watched Christmas Vacation. It was perfect!

Christmas morning was yet another relaxing one. John and I enjoyed some coffee and homemade cinnamon rolls I had whipped up while James enjoyed a nap on his activity mat post breakfast before the Christmas madness started.

All smiles Christmas morning.

Christmas family photo shoot before heading to the designated Christmas venues.

First Christmas!

Happy boy!!

First family Christmas picture.

The Christmas festivities first started at John's dads where we had brunch and presents with his dad, step-mom, grandparents, step-sister, our nephew, and his brother.

Snuggles with Grandpa.

Sleepy boy barely staying awake for presents.

Our last stop was Grand-mommy's house. We enjoyed dinner, wine, and presents. James has no pictures opening presents at Grand-mommy's because he was busy taking a 3 hour nap!

Snuggles from Grand-mommy.

It was a great Christmas getting to celebrate with those we love. We especially loved spending it with James and look forward to more Christmas' ahead with him and as a family of 3!

To come on the blog....Christmas with the Birnbaum/Widmer/Howe/Leach clan over New Year's weekend where James will get to finally meet his 4 cousins! Stay tuned.....

"What will you call him?"

"What will you call him?"- We get this question A LOT! When we introduce James to new people, when I'm out and about shopping at the grocery store or Target, people constantly ask us how we will refer to our son. It seems that people automatically assume that if you name your child James he will/should be called "Jim or Jimmy". No, we will not call him "Jim or Jimmy", his name is "James". If later in his life he decides he wants to be called Jim or Jimmy then that is his choice. But, as his parents we will refer to him as James.

End rant. :)

Sleep

Ah, yes...the "sleep" topic. How has our little man been sleeping? Pretty darn good (as I knock on wood to not jinx us). James has been impressing us the last few nights by sleeping through the night. He has done 2, 12 hour stretches with no middle of the night feeding and 1, 10 hour stretch with no middle of the night feeding. He had been only getting up once during the night to feed, however that hasn't happened the last few nights. He will occasionally cry out during the night but, about the time I'm ready to open his door to get him out of his crib the crying stops (and there is no way I'm going to go in and wake him up to eat!). 

James- we are pretty darn impressed with your sleeping habits thus far. We beg you to please keep up this awesome routine! Especially when mommy has to go back to work in 3 weeks. :)

The Lip

This kid and his pouty lip. He has it mastered at the ripe age of 9 weeks. How are we ever going to say "no" to this face?!

Two Months

James Michael,

You are 2 months old today. TWO. MONTHS! I think this last month flew by faster than the first. How is that possible?! Your daddy and I are sure smitten with you and we think life with you is so fun. Some things about YOU at this age....

• You are charming. You've started to develop your little personality and it is simply charming. You're always happy and smiley (unless of course you're over-tired or hungry). We absolutely love this about you and hope this continues.
• You have started rolling over from your belly to your back! I have no doubt you'll be an early mover and I think I should probably start baby proofing now.
• You have suddenly figured out how to suck your thumb. It's pretty cute and we laugh at how aggressive you get with it at times.  :)
• You still LOVE to eat! You are a breastfeeding champ and have now worked your way up to 4, sometimes 5 ounce meals at a time. You are also a rockstar with your bottle, which will make the daycare transition easier.
• Sleep- I would consider you to be a good sleeper for such a little guy. You usually go to bed between 7:30-9pm and are ready to get up for the day anywhere between 6-7am. You typically only wake once in the night (sometimes 2), to eat. You are also good at soothing yourself to sleep, whether it's on your activity mat, in your rock 'n play, or in your crib. PLEASE keep up these awesome habits!!
• You love, love, LOVE bath time! As soon as you are old enough your father and I will be putting you on a swim team. You've really discovered how to kick and splash in your whale tub. You must think it's fun because you smile and coo the entire time. Your bath is part of your bedtime routine and it's obvious you look forward to it every day.
• Speaking of routine....bedtime. We typically start the bedtime process around 7ish. You get a bath, fresh jammies, we try to read (if you're not screaming for food), mommy nurses and rocks you, and then off to sleep you go. Nursing and rocking you at night is probably my favorite. You are so calm and snuggly. I just sit there admiring you and pray to God to always keep you safe and healthy.
• You LOVE your daddy. It's obvious the 2 of you will be best buds for many years to come. Whenever he comes in the room to see you, you light up with the biggest smile and coo as if you want to talk to him. He is so in love with you and cherishes all of the time he gets to spend with you.

Happy 2 months, sweet boy! You are the light and love of our lives and we cannot imagine what life would be like without you. Thank you for making our lives so much fun!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy 

Two Month Check-up

James had his 2 month check-up was Tuesday the 15th. How is it that this child is already 2 months?!?! Time, please slow down!

I had been dreading this appointment for a while now as I knew he would be getting shots. Why wouldn't I be ok with shots since I'm a nurse you ask? It's not that I'm not ok with it, because I am....it's just totally different being on the other side. It's different watching your own kid get poked versus being the mean nurse doing the poking. :( I digress....

The appointment went great. James is growing like a weed (see his report card pictured below). Dr. D was pretty impressed with his weight gain (2lbs in 1 month). We survived shots, although it wasn't pretty. James cried so much he wore himself out and fell asleep. 

His growth stats.

Pre- shots

Waiting for shots..... :(

After shots. All tuckered out from crying hysterically.

Adults Only

Mommy and Daddy had their first outings since you were born. Although we were SO nervous to leave you, we are pleased to report that we did in fact survive. The first outing we attended a Chiefs game while your Grandmommy watched you. We were gone for what seemed like the longest 3 hours of my life. But, you were a rockstar the entire time!

A few days later we had a daddy's holiday party and a birthday party to attend for friends. This time we were gone for 6 hours! Mommy and Daddy survived again and Grandmommy took good care of you.

It's definitely not easy for us to go somewhere without you, but it was good for mommy and daddy to have adult time. :)

Visiting Grammy & Grandad

John has been traveling a lot with work since James' arrival. Luckily the timing has been ok with me being on maternity leave to hold down the fort at home. Last week John was scheduled to be gone the whole week (which later changed as soon as I entered the Des Moines city limits) so James and I loaded up to head north to see Grammy and Grandad. Grandad hadn't seen James since we were in the hospital and Grammy hadn't seen him since week 2 of life.

We got to Des Moines Monday afternoon and posted up until Thursday afternoon. It was great to be at my parents to have the extra help and James sure loved getting extra love and attention. I think it's safe to say that his Grammy and Grandad are pretty smitten with him. :)