Escape!

We're escaping! I know every new mother feels the same way after a few weeks of in-home captivity. I'm getting cabin fever!! I'm loving every minute with my two kiddos, but the walls of this house are starting to close in! I'm starting to really enjoy trips to the gas station to fill up the car and errands to the pharmacy to pick up thank you notes. That's when you know that you've been out of it for too long! On Sunday, I had the opportunity to really escape the confines of the house. Our church held a pig roast on the farm of one of the elders. It was a nice day and I figured that most people would be outside, so we decided to take Tristan and go! I'm so glad we did. I really enjoyed the fellowship and the chance to show Tristan off. So many people have been anxious to meet him. We kept him in the car seat most of the time so that no one would feel inclined to touch him and everyone was respectful of that. I loved our little "first outing."

Maura really enjoyed the pig roast, and especially the buffet table. She kept running back to it to check out her other options. I think the chips were her favorite. She's a great eater and she loves variety! I'm not sure how much I got to eat between policing her and keeping Tristan from fussing! I didn't care--I was out of the house!

Maura was so proud to show off her baby brother. She kept climbing up on the stroller to give him kisses, I think mostly to show off!

Can you tell that we stayed till the very end? Tristan got VERY hungry and as I took care of that, everyone left to go outside and they took down all the tables and chairs. I hope we didn't overstay our welcome!

The Allen family of four's first picture out and about. First of many, I'd say!

Monday was my first day home alone with both kids. I was a little apprehensive, but everything went fine. We didn't make it downstairs until almost 10:00, but that was OK. Maura was more interested in reading books than eating breakfast and I didn't argue. We just took our time and enjoyed our morning. I took both kids out for a walk in our new double stroller and LOVE it. I can actually steer it one handed, something I can't even say for my single stroller. I think both kiddos enjoyed the fresh air! I managed to get both kids to take naps at the same time when we got back and I actually got a leisurely shower. My friend Rachel made dinner for us, so we didn't have to worry about that, but Maura and I even made a cake together in the afternoon. All in all, it was a great day and I hope we have many more relaxed days just like it!

Happy Two Week Birthday little one! It's so hard to believe he's already been here for two whole weeks. We realize how truly blessed we are to be entrusted with this little man. We love him so much already and can hardly wait to enjoy every minute with him as he grows. As if I don't already document every moment of my children's life on film, I got my sister to come today to take two week photos of him. I'll post them tomorrow when I've had a chance to crop and fix them so that we're not exposing a little too much!


Today we caught Tristan sucking his thumb. I wondered if he had sucked his thumb in the womb because he loves having his hands up by his face all the time. Only a few times since birth, though, has he found his thumb. I think it's so cute, although I still think I'd rather have him sucking on a paci. I can throw away a paci when we get ready to wean it, I can't throw away a thumb!




Not the most flattering picture of me taken recently, but I guess it's worthwhile to remember how tired you are in the first few weeks. I'm really lucky to have a super supportive husband who does a lot to help out around the house and with the kids. Brent has actually been doing the first night feeding for me. He's been staying up until 12 or 1 in the morning and waiting for Tristan to wake up for his feeding. He gives him a bottle and then brings him to bed. If he didn't do that, I'm not sure if I'd still be standing. More than two feedings a night is too much for me!! I think it makes me a better mommy to have a little more rest! I really appreciate my man! Thanks honey!

We did take Tristan to the doctor today for his first well baby check up. He's doing well, starting to regain his weight. Optimally, he would be back up to his birth weight today, but he only weighed 9'2". He's gaining, so the doctor isn't too worried, but I do have to take him back for a weight check on Friday. I talked with the lactation consultant today too, so we have some new strategies to try. Otherwise, he's a very healthy little guy! We're proud of our little man.

First Bath!

Wednesday was a big day for Tristan. It was the day we gave him his first bath. He lost his umbilical cord on Tuesday, so I was so excited to put him in his bathtub the next day. Mom was there to give me a hand and to keep Maura occupied while I got my boy squeaky clean. Mom snapped a few pictures and filmed for me to document this monumental occasion. Tristan cried for a minute while I got him undressed, but he seemed to like it after he settled down.

Mr. Fussypants is just MAD about being undressed. Notice that he's covered for modesty!

Suddenly, he got really quiet and felt the water all around him. He closed his eyes and stayed that way for the rest of the bath. I'm sure that it reminds them of the womb. It's probably familiar and relaxing to them to feel submerged in warm water.


My little man in double! He still looks pretty fat and sassy in these pictures, but let me say, the fat rolls that were there on the day he was born are all but gone. How sad!

On Thursday morning, our friends Amy and Liam stopped by to see the baby and bring us some gifts. It was fun to visit with them. They're going to be moving in right up the street from us, so I'm looking forward to having some great neighbors. I'm sure we'll see a lot of each other this summer.

Tristan at 10 days old. This was Friday, and I took him back up to the doctor to weigh. I was so excited to see that he weighed nine pounds exactly. We're heading back up. Our next doctor visit is on Tuesday. Hopefully, he'll be even closer to his birth weight then. Babies are supposed to regain their birth weight by two weeks. I don't think we'll quite make it, but it should be reasonably close. Maura didn't regain her birth weight until one month. I think I was giving her skim milk!

Maura giving her baby brother some loving. She is really great with him and gives him kisses all the time.

My sweet girl giving me cuddles. I take every opportunity to cuddle her because she's otherwise in perpetual motion.

Brent's coworkers had a "shower" for him on Friday morning. It was a little cake and punch affair in the faculty break room and Tristan and I went up at lunchtime to show him off for the occasion. Believe it or not, I had my camera and completely forgot to take pictures. I'm so mad at myself! Thankfully, one of the teachers took pictures of the cake before it got devoured, so I can get that from her. It was a really nice shower and we loved showing off our little man. I was so busy talking to all the teachers that we really didn't have time to open gifts, so Brent brought them all home and we opened them that afternoon. It was so much fun!

Maura is always into gift opening, although she could really care less about what is actually in the present! She just loves tearing out the tissue paper. She calls it "toilet paper." Notice that she then throws it all around the room and stomps on it. So much for saving it!

Some big boy sleepers. I'm concerned that he's going to grow out of a lot of his 0-3 month clothes before he ever wears them just because he's so huge. I've been going through his closet and pulling out the tiniest clothes to wear first so that he can at least wear them once. It's been so cool here, too, that I can't put any of his summer clothes on him. Oh well, it won't be the first time a child grew out of clothes without wearing them.

Maura is fascinated with Tristan's pacifiers. I'm so glad that I didn't work hard at weaning her from her paci, because I know that this would have caused problems when she saw him using one. Every time she sees his paci, so feels that she MUST jam it into his mouth. Well, that's what SHE would do if she found her own paci lying around. I'm still trying to convince her that he doesn't need to suck his paci all the time.

Aunt Lorie stopped by yesterday for a quick visit. Maura just loves playing with her aunts and lights up every time one of them walks in. I just thought this picture was precious. I'm really enjoying sharing my kiddos with my family. Having them close is a blessing that I'm really going to miss with the mobilization. We did just find out, though, that Brent is probably not due to report to Fort Benning until July 11th now. We're still waiting for orders to confirm that, but it made me so happy that we can enjoy the summer together. What a blessing!

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother's day everyone!! I know I'm a little behind. I planned on blogging this on Sunday, but babies tend to ruin plans! I've been so tired lately because Tristan has his days and nights a little mixed up. I've been spending every spare moment that they're both down for naps taking a nap myself. I remember trying to keep my house clean in the moments that Maura slept as an infant and later regretting that I didn't sleep myself, so I'm not making that mistake this time. My mom has been here with me all week long and she's doing most of the housekeeping and cooking duties, so I've been trying to relax and rest. I've really appreciated her help and my house, including my pantry and laundry room has never been cleaner!! Mom has even been spending the night, so I can hand off the baby to her after a particularly bad night and head back to bed. Thanks Mom!! You're the best! I guess it's fitting that I thank you in my Mother's day post!


We celebrated Mother's Day at our house this year. We figured that it would just be easier to do it at our house so that I could put Maura and Tristan down for naps when they needed them. Everyone came over after church and brought part of the meal so that I didn't have to cook, other than to marinate some chicken. It was nice just to have a laid back Mother's Day. The weather was really crummy, so we all pretty much just visited and relaxed on the couches! Here I am with my sweet babies. I love being a mommy to two kids. I'm so blessed by them and they bring joy to my life every single day. I really enjoyed my first Mother's Day as a mommy of two.

The ONLY picture I took of my mom on Mother's Day. It would have made sense to take a picture of the two of us together, but NO, didn't even occur to me! Happy Mother's Day, mom!

The whole crew. Katie's boyfriend, Scott, and Emily's boyfriend, Brad, both came, so we had a pretty full house. Brent regaled us with stories about life out in the field with the Army, so it was an interesting dinner conversation!

Happy Mother's day to me!! I got some movies from the kids and some new pajamas from my parents. Brent had just bought me some beautiful earrings to celebrate Tristan's birth, so I told him not to get me anything else. My new earrings are Sapphire set into white gold. They match the ring, necklace and bracelet that he's bought me on other occasions, so now I have a complete set. It was a great Mother's Day and I really enjoyed it, especially the nap that I got to take late in the afternoon!

Last weekend, Maura and I made Big Girl cupcakes together. I'm trying to do things with her that make her feel really special because I know that a lot of the attention has been focused on Tristan. So, Maura got to come stand at the counter with me and pour in all the ingredients and help mix them up. She loved it! Later on, we decorated them together too. I did all the icing, but she applied all the sprinkles. I think she ate about half the sprinkles too, but in the end they all got decorated.

Maura REALLY enjoyed her cupcake!

My sister Emily had been in South Carolina last week when I had Tristan, so she didn't get to meet him until Saturday. After she finished work on Saturday afternoon, she came by to meet her new nephew. It was so fun to get to introduce Tristan to his Auntie. Of course he slept through it! Emily thought he was adorable.


Her boyfriend Brad stopped by to visit too. His mom sent a present for the baby, which I thought was really sweet. I've never even met her!

On Saturday morning, our friends Rachel and Avery Franklin came to meet Tristan. I didn't take any pictures of Rachel with the baby, but we did lay the little guys down on a blanket for some sweet pictures. Avery was born at the end of November, making him almost six months older than Tristan, but we know they'll grow up to be good buddies. We figured that we'll have to show this picture at their high school graduation!

Maura loves to get up on the counter to be next to Tristan's seat. She thinks she's such a big girl.

She's so interested in the baby and continually asks, "What's he doin'?

Giving Tristan kisses. She loves kissing her baby brother and stops the swing all the time to give him a kiss. I encourage any and all displays of affection toward the baby because I think they're so sweet!

Maura in her "nest." I can hardly get the Boppy away to nurse the baby.

Tristan's first walk. It was so nice on Monday evening that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out and walk. I tried getting the double stroller out so the kids could ride together, but it stuck and defeated me. I'll have to spend a little more time working with it and figuring how to open it! Tristan didn't mind--he just slept and slept in his car seat.

My sweet boy smiling. I love the faces that newborns make while they sleep, and I especially love the little smiles he makes. How adorable!

Our friends Angie and Sarah stopped by on Tuesday for a visit. Angie got to meet Tristan in the hospital, but children aren't allowed to visit. Sarah has been so excited to meet Tristan, probably more so than Maura. Angie says she talks about holding Tristan and kissing him all the time. She loved him!

Sweet Tristan, one week old. I realized at about 11pm that I hadn't taken a close up shot of him on his one week birthday, so I snapped this one. Like always, he was asleep!
Today, though, Tristan had a good awake time in the afternoon. About the time Brent got home, he woke up and spent a lot of time looking around. I wanted to get some pictures of him with his eyes open for once! I love my boys!

What a nice family. They make me so happy.

My handsome boy. When he's awake I think he looks like Brent in his eyes and lips. The nose is definitely mine!

Oh, so this is what the world looks like during the daytime!!

I just loved this little smirk. We're just having so much fun with our little boy. What a precious addition to our family.

Tristan's first days at home.

We're really enjoying having our two kiddos home to enjoy "normal" life together. Brent took the rest of the week off last week to spend it with me and the kids. I really needed him to be home just to make sure things ran smoothly while Tristan and I worked on getting in a good nursing groove! It's so hard to remember how many hours you sit and nurse at first with a newborn. I forgot how long it takes them to eat, and then how you have to turn around and do it again in just another hour or so! Tristan and I have gotten to be good friends with the Boppy, when we can get it away from Maura, who loves it and calls it her "blue nest." Brent says we're just going to have to get her one of her own to avoid conflict! I don't think that's entirely necessary, being that we currently own five(yes, five) Boppies!(obsessive anyone??) Anyway, Tristan is getting the hang of nursing pretty well, we just have difficulty trying to keep him awake while eating. I took him to the doctor's just to weigh him today and he's lost weight down to eight pounds, fifteen ounces. It bothers me to no end that he's losing weight, even though I know it's going to happen. I plan on taking him back on Wednesday to weigh again and I'd be very surprised if he's still losing. He really does still look like a BIG baby, despite losing almost a pound!!

I wanted to post a picture of Maura at the same age as Tristan. This photo was taken on Day 3 for each of them. I really think that Maura and Tristan look a lot alike. You can certainly see a family resemblance, although I think that Maura had prettier girl features and Tristan is definitely boyish looking. I think they both have my nose and Brent's mouth and both look like Brent around the eyes. Tristan has Brent's hairline, which I think is hilarious. It's kind of hard to see on the photo, but Tristan has a widow's peak!

Sweet Maura, three days old.

Handsome Tristan Wesley, Day 3. This boy is LOVING his swing. He's been sleeping in either his swing or bouncy seat for the past two days. Mommy has to get some sleep sometime. Last night, I got a grand total of two hours of sleep by 6am. At that point, I handed the baby off to my mom and laid down for some real, uninterrupted sleep. Thank God for my mom!!

Friday was a big day for Tristan. We gave him his first sponge bath at home, which he hated! I can't say I blame him. I don't think it would be comfortable to just be sponged all over and not get to sit in the bathtub. I gave it to him in the morning, mistakenly thinking that it would wake him up for his next feeding. Instead, he cried so hard that I think it wore him out and he slept solid for the next six hours. Oh, how I would have loved for those six hours to have been at nighttime.

Maura "helped" give the baby a bath, which meant that she touched everything in the bathroom while we bathed him. I drew the line at her picking up the toilet brush and attempting to scrub the sink with it. Yuck!!

What a huge yawn! Like I said, he was worn out after the bath, and once I had him dressed in his stinkin' cute giraffe outfit, he was ready to drift off to dreamland.

Sleepy boy. I put him in his crib for the first time, thinking he'd be back up in a few minutes, but six hours later, I finally had to scrub him down with a cold washcloth to wake him. We've been a little more alert since, but nights and days are still a little mixed up. I'll post some more pictures of him tomorrow.

Homecoming

Thursday May 8th was homecoming day for us. I am always SOOOOO glad to get out of the hospital. Two and a half days of almost complete inactivity is enough to drive me insane. I know you're supposed to be resting and regaining your strength while you're there, but I usually feel pretty good by day two and I'm ready to begin my life with my new little one. I couldn't get out of there fast enough on Tuesday. I know the nurses thought I was a little insane. As soon as we had seen all the doctors, I started hounding them about starting our discharge. I think they would have been content to let us stay all day. They just didn't seem to be accustomed to someone as anxious to leave as me. I actually walked down the hall and parked myself at the nurses station to alert them to the fact that I was serious about getting the discharge done! We managed to get out the doors by 11. Not bad for a day where I had showered, talked to three different doctors, Tristan had his circumcision and took fabulous pictures. We were happy to be heading home.


My handsome little man. He had his circumcision first thing in the morning and I felt so sorry for him. The doctor said he didn't cry, but he looked pitiful when they brought him back to me, so I have my doubts. He looked so cute in his going home outfit. I'm so glad I didn't buy the newborn size!

Ready to head home. This blanket was made by Brent's great-grandmother and it's the one that Brent came home from the hospital in.

Getting ready to head out with little man. I had the nurse take it--she already thought I was a little ridiculous, why not?!?

First ride in a car! We were so happy to get him in the car and jet out of there for the LONG ride home.(It took us about three minutes to get home.)

Maura checking out baby brother. I don't know that she understood the reality of baby brother until he actually came home.

Giving sweet sister kisses. I think she understands now that brother is here to stay!

Outside our home. Welcome home little one.


What a big happy family. I can't believe I have two kids. That's just too wild!

Maura enjoying some good jumping time with daddy. She was WILD when we got home, which I thought was acting out about the new baby, but I think it really was just fatigue from a couple of big days. She's been fine since.

Grammy was there to meet us too and love on sweet Tristan. She brought us dinner too! Thanks Mom!

Our neighbor, Shauna, came over to meet Tristan. She had come to the hospital too, but the mean nurses wouldn't let him come out of the nursery to play. Something about his temperature being low--couldn't understand why it would make any difference if he was in the nursery covered in blankets as opposed to being held covered in blankets, but the nurses would not be moved. Oh, well.

Enjoying his swing. Two baby items that I simply could not do without are the swing and the bouncy seat. Tristan loves the bouncy seat so much that sometimes he'll calm down better in that than he will being held. We're going to try letting him sleep in it later tonight--it's gotta work better than the bassinet, right? Our sleep deprived brains are grasping at straws. This little one has his days and nights mixed up! He sleeps until 2 or 3 in the morning, then he's ready to rock and roll. We've gotta figure out something soon! Any suggestions?...

Also, if you're interested in looking at his hospital picture, you can view it now on the web nursery. It's http://www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits You just have to type in our town, Georgetown and the first three letters of our last name and it'll take you there. Enjoy!