Six weeks

Reid hit the 6-week mark yesterday and I feel like we've turned a corner! A lot of people (and literature) will say that fussiness tends to peak right around six weeks, but I think it's been a magic number with this kiddo. Of course, I could be way off, but his fussiness has decreased significantly recently and he has many pleasant, content awake moments. And we've seen some intentional smiles, which is such a blessing!


There isn't too much to report, but I wanted to document some things for my personal journal. Two nights ago, Reid did a 6+ hour sleep stretch! In general, he is doing 4 hours stretches at night, but goes right back to sleep after he nurses. I can even put him down while he is still awake (but I know he is sleepy) and he'll drift off to sleep. There was one night last week, that he did one wake-up in a 9 hour period. It was glorious!

Over the past several weeks, Reid's biggest fussy period has been between 8 and 10ish in the evening. This has been difficult for me because it's such a treasured time of the day when Pierce is down and I can relax. It is getting better, though and we're hoping to get Reid into the habit of going down at the same time that Pierce does.

Reid is a much faster nurser than Pierce at this age (I compare everything to how Pierce was!). He nurses 10 minutes on each side and we're done in just about 20 minutes. That means at night, I'm up for no longer than 30 minutes and can hop back in bed!



Life is definitely getting back to normal for us and it feels good. We've been back to our Thursday morning Bible study the past two weeks and it's been so great. Pierce just LOVES his little classroom and I so enjoy the fellowship and time studying God's Word. We also did our little gymnastics class on Monday morning for the first time since Reid was born. It was so nice to be back. I feel very accomplished when we're able to get out the door and to these things on time!

I'm feeling more rested these days and it has really helped my patience level and my energy is coming back. It's been a long time!! Pierce and I have been able to spend some nice one on one time while Reid is sleeping and I think it really helps us both feel like we've had a successful day and makes things peaceful in our home.

God's grace has been abundant during these past few weeks and I am so grateful for how He has blessed my little family!

Up a tree

This is how Shaun and Pierce spend a beautiful Saturday morning. Daddy is teaching this overly cautious kiddo not to fear certain things... such as climbing trees. Oh, boy!

Fun Fall Pictures

Reid - 1 Month Old

Reid is 1 month old!!

I'm not going to sugar-coat and say that it's all been wonderful this past month. In some ways, it has gone by very fast and in others, it hasn't. Overall, I'd say it's been a pretty tough month! Just being real, folks. The upside is that Reid seems to be regulating and evening out a bit (aside from the screaming bloody murder for over an hour last night...ugh!). He has cried less and been less fussy this past week than he had been for the 3 weeks prior.

Shaun has been asking me to get all of this down in writing so that we "remember" for the future. It has occurred to me this past week that I would usually tell my new mom friends and family that the first 6 weeks is the hardest. Even though I seemed to have suppressed those memories, I'm sure that was true with Pierce and Reid has not been different. The good news is that we're more than half-way there!!

Pierce is a great big brother and has adjusted really well. He wants to watch me with every diaper change...even gets teary if I do it without telling him. He sweetly doles out hugs and kisses regularly and is not affected by the crying. The hardest thing for me is my patience with Pierce during the day when I'm going on little sleep. He wants my attention and so much of the time I am nursing or holding a fussy baby. I know that Reid will continue to get easier and we will strike a balance. Sleep deprivation has been the hardest thing for me. I can endure intense labor without pain relief, but going days on end with so little sleep has taken its toll on me. Thankfully, I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel!


At Reid's appointment this past Tuesday (4 weeks), he weighed in at 9lbs, 15 oz. He's gained over 2 pounds in a month! He's a great eater and wants to nurse every 2-3 hours. He has suffered from a lot of gas the past few weeks, which I know is a big contributor to his fussiness. I'd say he's an average spitter, about the same as Pierce was.

Right now, we're just going with the flow as far as his sleep goes. Some nights are really good with 3-4 hour stretches of sleep, and others, we're up for 2 hours because he's fussy/gassy after he eats. He's been in his crib at night since our first day home from the hospital (we did this with Pierce as well) and I am trying to get him napping in the crib more during the day (as opposed to the swing, which he loves!). I have also started putting him down drowsy, but awake and he is learning to put himself to sleep. I know this will be key when we really get down to strict sleep training.



I forgot how much there is to teach a new baby, like sleeping on their backs in a big, cold crib. They just don't like it! He'd much rather be sleeping on/next to me or in my arms and will often wake up from a deep sleep as soon as I put him down. And his little body is so new and just trying to get used to everything. We have had some really sweet moments when he's awake and content. Those have been happening more lately and I think he's on the verge of smiling, which I'm really looking forward to!

We are so very thankful for this precious gift from God and rely on Him for grace as we all get used to this new normal!!

Family Weekend

We were in Richmond this past weekend visiting family. It's a whole new adventure packing for another whole person, especially a baby who goes through A LOT of clothes, diapers, wipes, burp cloths, etc., but we really enjoyed our time away.

On Saturday, we were with Shaun's family and had all planned to go to the Frog Level Parade and Fall Festival (a local fundraiser for the volunteer fire dept. of which Shaun was once a part). Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative and Reid and I had to stay back. Pierce really enjoyed the firetrucks, horses, candy and time with his grandparents and uncle. We only got a couple of pictures.




On Saturday evening, we headed over to my parents' house to spend time with my family. We chose, once again, to forgo dressing Pierce up and doing the trick-or-treating thing. Each year, I am more and more confident about our decision in this regard. Pierce got plenty of treats and Halloween is just not a "holiday" that we want to make a big deal about (I've blogged about this before). We helped pass out candy at Mimi & Papa's house and there were plenty of scary costumes -- one of my very least favorite things about this cultural tradition -- that even had Pierce mostly choosing to be inside.


Aunt Karen and Sierra picked out pumpkins for S & P and he had a blast painting it...very pensive!


On Sunday, my nephew, Jacob, was baptized and then, we spent the rainy afternoon resting, watching football and enjoying Mimi's Sunday spaghetti. We were all pretty beat by the time we got home!

On our own

We were blessed with my grandmother's (Nana) company and help for three weeks following Reid's birth. She headed back home yesterday and were sad to see her go. She was an amazing help while she was with us and we miss her already!!

She was the most helpful with playing with Pierce...reading, doing puzzles and building train tracks inside as well as lots of fun play outside (when the weather allowed). She was also a great help with things around the house such as folding laundry (I've never been so on top of my laundry! :), cooking delicious meals and allowing me to get a shower! I didn't get too many pictures, mostly because I was tending to Reid (usually nursing!) a lot of the time that she was busy playing with Pierce.

Oh, and she definitely has the touch with calming a screaming, uncomfortable baby. Her arms were a GREAT help so that I could do things like bathe Pierce, change diapers, put him down for naps, etc. (Shaun continues to work many hours making for long days away from home).

And she even did some gardening for me! :)

I was a bit anxious about not having the help once she left because I haven't really been on my own since Reid was born. So far, so good, though! Yesterday, we hosted playgroup and had a great day. This morning, I was able to get us all out the door for Reid's 1-month check-up (and a flu shot for Pierce).

I think that Nana was here at the most perfect time because in the last few days, Reid's temperament has gotten better. He's less fussy and has pleasant, contented awake periods (of which we did not see much in his first few weeks ... when he was awake, he was usually crying!!). I really needed her help precisely when she was here and thank God for it. I just wish she didn't live 500 miles away!!

I am still quite sleep deprived (probably got about 5 hours of broken sleep last night...kind of a rough night) and trying to catch a nap in the afternoon if both kiddos are sleeping at the same time. But, I do hope to get to some other blog posts this week and especially a one-month post for Reid in order to share his stats from today. He's doing great!!!

All Aboard!

This past Saturday we took the boys on a train ride. I have been wanting to do this with Pierce for some time and was too late back in the spring. So, when I saw the flyer for this fall train ride, we decided to go for it. We bought our tickets way back during the summer and picked the very last date they were offering...wanting to make sure that the baby was as old as possible. At the time, I thought that he was going to come earlier and would have been older than just shy of 3 weeks, but I was wrong!

We had to be up and at 'em early in order to make the 45 minute drive and be there 45 minutes before departure (9:30) to get decent seats. Even getting there that early, we stood in a long line and didn't get the *best* seats, but we made do. Unfortunately, we had seats that were back-to-back, but I had 2 seats to myself and the baby (even though we hadn't paid for that extra seat). That made nursing easier and I had enough room for our stuff and the baby carrier.

Boy, do I look tired!

Snug as a bug in a rug. Reid slept for about the first hour and did very well overall.

The scenery was beautiful!

I feel like I was pretty useless on the trip as I didn't move from my seat at all and just tended to Reid. Back when we booked the trip, we talked about just Shaun and Pierce going, but Shaun felt like he wanted us all to go. It went well and I'm glad that we got to do this as a family. And the kids and I took great naps on Saturday afternoon! :)