nap time & pictures...

This might do the trick! Maybe Weston will take naps in his car seat?!

I printed these contrasting black and white images from http://baby.zorger.com/ for Weston to look at. He LOVES them!

So far, so good!?

Pepper and Norma babysitting Weston as I worked on dinner.

Lately, Weston has been not wanting to sleep unless I am holding him. Sometimes I just want to pull out my hair!! Last night, Chad walked in the door as I was preparing dinner and holding Weston at the same time. Pretty talented. My arms are definitely getting stronger. Finally when Weston is asleep, I put him down and then he wakes up and starts crying. It is a constant cycle.
This morning he slept in the swing, but kept spitting out his pacifier. Ugh. I hate pacifiers. But, I also love them!! After his 2nd feeding in the morning, I put him in the bouncy. So far he has been sleeping so nicely. AND with no pacifier too!! Wahoo. We will see how long this lasts!

While he was asleep (trying to sleep) in the swing this morning, I made this Tater tot Casserole. I froze it because I forgot Chad will not be home for dinner tonight. Actually, we will not be eating it until Tuesday night. It looks pretty gross, but maybe it will be good???

Last night, I made Almond-Crusted Chicken and mashed potatoes. Mmmmmm.... it was DELICIOUS! I have never enjoyed cooking. Now that I am home with the baby, I feel like I need to be making some homemade dinners and not just heating up a Bertollis! It is pretty fun cooking. I used my chopper twice this week!! Wow. I cannot remember the last time I used that.

Click on the picture or title to see recipe!

HAPPY 1 MONTH BIRTHDAY WESTON!!!

4 weeks old

Weston is 4 weeks old!

We just started playing on our belly yesterday! Weston loves it! He is a strong boy! Chad had him on our bed last night on his belly and he rolled over onto his back 2 times! Mommy missed it!

Stay at Home Mama- 1st Day!

Today was my first day by myself with Weston! I was a little nervous… not that I was afraid to be with Weston by myself, but was afraid that I was going to be super bored! Ha. What was I thinking? Weston keeps me on my toes all day long! This is what our day looked like today:

6am- Mommy showered, ate breakfast, fed the pups

7am- Fed Weston

8am-10am- Weston played and played. 9am- fed Weston. I tried getting him to take a nap on his own without me holding him. That did not happen.

10am- Weston fell asleep on me. I took a quick nap too! While Weston was sleeping in his bouncy chair, I prepared dinner for tonight- Baked Ziti with Tomato, Mozzarella, & Sausage. Mmmm… cannot wait to eat this!

12:30pm- Weston and I both ate lunch. Then, we had our first outing together! Weston was an angel. He slept the whole time!

2:30pm- Vacuumed and organized a bit while Weston slept.

3:30pm- Fed Weston. He is fast asleep now!

Now it is 5pm and Weston is still sleeping. Chad should be walking in the door in a few minutes! I think my first day as a Stay at Home Mama went well! It is funny how it is so hard to get anything accomplished with a baby! It is so worth it though. (I am just really used to being productive, so I am going to have to get used to the change.)

*I started this Sleep Patterns Chart to keep track of when Weston sleeps. Maybe this will help us create some sort of a schedule? Well, at least it will show me how many hours of sleep he is getting each day. It is so funny. I have no clue what I am doing!

Oh and this article is great! So true. Helpful tips too. (Stressed out: Life with a newborn)

Routine

Chad and I finally feel like we are getting in some sort of a routine with Weston! Every morning closest to his 7am feeding, I hop in the shower. I am always afraid if I don’t shower in the morning, I may not get another chance to! Then, I eat breakfast and organize the first floor from the night before. Usually by the end of the day our family room looks like a tornado went through it! At this time, Weston is hopefully sleeping. Then after his next feeding, he is usually ready to play. We can lay him on his play mat and he is good to go for a while. He makes all kinds of noises. We think he is trying to find his voice.

The middle of the day is mostly eating, pooping, and sleeping. Chad and I TRY to get Weston in bed right after his feeding that is closest to 9pm. Somehow he knows and decides to stay awake the whole time until his next feeding 2-3 hours later. By then, he usually sleeps for a good 2-4 hours after that. We decided to start letting Weston sleep longer during the night and not wake him for a feeding until he wakes himself up. Last night was the longest stretch of time Weston slept- 4 hours. It was the first time I was able to sleep for 3 hours in a row! It felt great! Middle of the night feedings are so much better now that Chad got a remote for our t.v. Over the summer, I took our bedroom t.v. to Maryland with me and somehow I lost the remote. Just the other day, Chad bought and programmed a new remote! Thank goodness.

Weston is growing so much each day. Chad and I have learned so much about babies and being parents. We cannot help but just stare at him for hours. He is just so adorable.

Weston always has his hands in his face when he is sleeping.

Again, Weston LOVES his play mat!


Weston and mommy. I look a little tired!

3 weeks already!

This week has been a very hard week for Chad and me as well as all of our friends here in Charlottesville. We lost a dear friend unexpectedly on Monday. Weston has been such a comfort to all of us in this time of sadness.

Weston loves his activity mat! He turned 3 weeks old on Monday. Time is flying by!

Announcement

Today I ordered Weston's announcements! Here are the ones that I made, but ended up not using. It was so hard to decide.




This one is the same as above, but different picture and color font.

I also ordered an 8x8 photo/journal book of my pregnancy. I thought it would be neat if I wrote Weston a letter each week of my pregnancy. I would record how I was feeling, foods I craved, belly and sonogram pics, and things I made for him. Hopefully I will have time to do this with each of my pregnancies (not any time soon). It will be something neat for our children to look at when they get older.