Where does the time go?

Our baby boy is 1 month old... seriously?  When did that happen?  I thought time went quickly with Jack.

Today was his 1 month check-up.  He was 10 lbs and 22 inches long/tall... that's roughly a 3 1/2 pounds and 2 inches gained in a month!  Such a growing boy!

Yesterday, he rolled over from his tummy to his back!  I'm almost certain it was a bit of a fluke, but he has seemed motivated to move since the day he was born so maybe not!

Trying to catch the end of a smile... at least I'm pretty sure it was a smile at the nice frog that sings to him while he's sitting in the bouncy seat!

I'm 1 month old!  Like my sweet owl on my belly?

Here is Christopher with his teddy bear that Mommy, Daddy & big brother Jack made for him before he was born!

I Wore my Turkey-Eating Pants

One major benefit of having a baby just 4 weeks before Thanksgiving... two words: maternity pants!

Cloth Diapering a Newborn - The 1st Month

Have we exclusively cloth diapered so far?  No... but we have definitely used cloth for the majority of the time Christopher has been with us.

We used the disposable diapers in the hospital and we had a "back-up" package of disposable newborn diapers at home (which were used sparingly when we miscalculated laundering/drying time).  Because we started cloth diapering after Jack was over a year old I had no idea how I we would handle the diaper laundry when we were going through 8-12 diapers a day for the baby, plus about 6 for our toddler, especially when I had no idea how my labor & delivery would go.  I don't outline any of this as an "excuse" but just as a way to explain that cloth diapering for us isn't an "all or nothing" situation... I am realistic to the situation where cloth might not fit in our lives.  Luckily, that wasn't the case at all... adjusting to two in cloth diapers has been pretty easy (as easy as adjusting to having two children can be).  I should say that my wonderful husband has been a huge support for this; just last weekend he had both boys in the living room while letting me get some sleep and he managed to catch up on all of the pocket diaper stuffing that had gotten away from me in a couple of days.

I posted a few months ago on our "complete" newborn cloth diaper stash.  Well, I may have added a couple of pocket diapers & covers since that post, but not many.  I'm going to try to give an overview of our experiences so far with cloth diapering a newborn over the next few days/weeks.

Overall, our experience has been great!  I wouldn't go so far as saying "we never have a leak or poo explosion" that I've heard people say about cloth diapering, but we have had less than I remember having with Jack (or at least less severe). 

We have a dozen infant/preemie prefolds because they're the least expensive way to build a newborn stash... honestly, they're not for us.  At 3 weeks old, they were unable to be snappied around Christopher and when I just trifolded them to lay them in the cover, poo would always get on the cover (therefore I had to wash it before the cover could be used again).

My favorite combination by far has been a fitted diaper and cover!  We've had the fewest leaks and [I think] no poo leaks with this system.  As far as which fitteds and covers I've liked the best I'll break that down in a later post.

I think we will always like the pocket and all-in-one systems out there, so naturally we liked the simplicity of these diapers.  The trickiest part about these during the newborn phase has been the fit.  Christopher has kinda skinny legs with quite the belly so being able to get a good fit around both areas has not been easy.  With a few of our diapers we went through phases where they fit, then did not fit, then started fitting again... seemed kind of counter-intuitive to me, but that has been our experience!

Stay tuned for more posts with details about our experience with cloth diapering a newborn!

My Wonderful Husband!

Today's Thanksgiving post is for my amazing husband.  He does so much for me and our boys around the house and working so hard.

Just the other day, while I got to take a 2+ hour nap with Christopher while Jack also napped, Matt raked leaves, mowed the grass and cleaned out the gutters.  All of this after he wakes up in the middle of the night to help with diaper changes for our newborn son!

He is so supportive of me in everything I do in and out of the home.  He always lets me try  my "crazy" ideas (like cloth diapers) without judgement.  I am so thankful for the best husband and father to my children:

The Bonds of Brotherhood

It has been amazing to watch the love between Jack and Christopher grow over the past couple of weeks!  I am so thankful for how easy of a transition from one child to two has been... the instant connection for Jack to his baby brother has been awesome!

Jack talking to his baby brother... he loves to lay on the ground with Christopher when he's getting some "wiggle time"!

Not to say he doesn't get a little jealous, but only when Daddy's getting some Christopher time.  (Jack is a major Daddy's boy.)

Christopher "enjoying" tummy time... and though you can't tell, he's actually lifting his head a decent bit and in this picture he was actually swinging his legs as if he were trying to roll over... I know he wasn't but I wouldn't be surprised if he did it earlier than we expect!

A quick weight stat from Christopher's 12 day check-up (it was just a weight check even though he was already over his birth-weight at 5 days), he was at 7 pounds 6.5 ounces which is 13 ounces in one week!  He seems to be a very "efficient" nurser... he doesn't nurse very long, but he's obviously gaining a lot plenty of weight so he's getting what he needs!  It seems kind of strange to me simply because Jack was still nursing for nearly 40 minutes every 2 hours at this point... just goes to show how different babies can be!

Thank you Veterans!

Today's thanksgiving post is for all of those who have ever or are currently serving in the armed forces!

A special thank you goes to my cousin and his wife who are currently serving our country!

Welcome Christopher!

Well, it has definitely been a while since I've posted... things have been a bit busy around here! 

Christopher joined our family (well, outside of my womb) last Thursday, October 27th at 7:44 p.m.

Christopher warming up in our labor & delivery room.

Getting some skin-to-skin snuggles in with the little man!

He weighed in at a peanut size 6 pounds 8 ounces (the exact weight I was at birth), which is substantially less than I expected after his big brother was 8 pounds 2 ounces.  (It's also more in line with what size baby I thought I would have before Jack was born.)  He is 20 inches long and his head is 13 inches in circumference.  He also has a full head of DARK hair... I think the first thing I said when they put him on my chest was "Look at all that hair!"

He's breastfeeding like a champ, everywhere from 1 to 3 hours between feedings. (I'm sure we can all guess when he decides to eat more frequently, *hint* the sun is not up when this happens.)  We had his 5 day check-up with our pediatrician today and he was already back over his birth weight at 6 pounds 9.5 ounces.  Granted, he was weighed and then decided to poop... so he's approximately over his birth weight.

Jack peeking at his baby brother after Christopher's bath... he was already in love!

Holding his baby brother, with a bit of help.  The hospital setting was a bit overwhelming for Jack and he wasn't so sure about everything while we were there.  Plus, he was really interested in all of the new things to look at!  (You can also see Christopher's dark hair!)

"Baby's nose" - Jack loves to play name-that-part on Christopher... its quite adorable.  You can also see Christopher's beautiful baby blanket crocheted by my mother-in-law.

Jack with his big brother present, a real digital camera!  He took pictures of everybody and everything while we were in the hospital... including the IV stand and himself.

Jack is a wonderful big brother!  He loves to "help" with diaper changes by showing Christopher toys and has only had a few moments of acting out.  I can't say that the acting out is really because of his new baby brother though, it is all pretty standard 2 year old behavior!

Christopher in his first cloth diaper as we were getting ready to go home... if I knew I was going to have more of a peanut I probably would've gotten more of these Rumparooz Lil Joey's.  So far, they're Matt's favorite!

My beautiful family!

I thought it would be appropriate to make my first "thanksgiving" post in November about Christopher... I am so blessed to have a second little boy to love!