Gavin James is 1 Month Old!

Sweet little Gavin turned one month on Friday, October 28!  I can't believe our nugget is a month old.  These past few weeks have gone by so fast and we feel like we've been in a bubble of babies.  But we're starting to come out of the fog and life is slowly getting back to normal...or at least a new normal for our little family. 

Gavin is such a precious little pea.  He's very alert now and stays awake for longer stretches of time.  He loves to cuddle and I can tell he's starting to make connections with us.  He loves to lay on his changing table and just stare at us when we talk to him. I feel like he's going to smile at us any day now.  Thankfully, his tummy issues have settled down so he's a lot more calm and sleeps a lot better now.  So as long as he's fed and rested, he's a very chill and relaxed baby.  He still gets up twice at night so we're working on getting him on a better schedule.  I can't wait until we all get more sleep in the house!

He eats a lot and is really starting to fill out and get chubby - I love it!  We don't know his exact weight but we estimate it to be about 10 1/2 - 11 pounds.  Jack was 12 pounds at this stage so Gav is slowly catching up.  Jack continues to be so sweet with him.  He tells us he loves Gavin at least 5 times a day.  I feel so blessed to have to these two beautiful boys who love each other and will one day be best buddies.  I'm making a real effort to see only he good in my chaotic life, rather that complain about the difficult parts.  The positive outlook has really helped me to be happier and less stressed.

I've also done a better job of taking a lot more pictures of Gavin, so I have a lot of cute ones to share.  Here are some from Gavin's 4th week of life...

Big Bro Jack getting in on the picture action...

 

Mom and Gav are snuggle buddies...

 What a precious face...

Already enamored with my big brother...

A visit from Gigi and Papa...

Sweet dreams...

My favorite place in the whole wide world...



Big Brother Jack!

With all the talk about Gavin, I wanted to take a minute to update everyone on our little man Jack.  So far Jack has been an AWESOME big brother! He's so sweet and nice to Gavin. He always hugs him and tells him he loves him. And when Gav cries, Jack tries to calm him down by playing music on his swing or rubbing his head. Jack is dying for Gav to be big enough to play with him - he always gives the baby his cars and toys and he says that they like to watch TV together.

I've been pleasantly surprised at how well Jack is handling it all. Now don't get me wrong, Jack is still a typical 2 year old so we are still dealing with the defiance and fits. Every once in a while he'll get jealous and tell us to put the baby down but that's to be expected. I think the biggest problem is school - Jack still cries when we take him.  I think because he wants to be home with me and Gav.  But once we leave he's great and has fun there. We're just trying to be as patient as possible because we know the little guy has been through a lot of change these past few months.

Overall he's such an amazing and well-adjusted kid.  He still loves his CARS and anything Toy Story.  And his new thing is jumping off EVERYTHING!  I see a few trips to he ER in our future because this boy is fearless.  He's getting so big and now that we have the little nugget in the house, Jack seems like such a big kid now.  And he's growing to be such a handsome fella and looks so much like his daddy. We try to give him as much attention as we can so that he knows we still love him just the same, even though Gavin here. Christian and I know we are so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy boys.  Here are a few pictures of Mr. Jack just being Jack...

In his new playroom...

 Hanging with mom at Amelie's 1st Birthday...

Loving his cousin Marseille...

He was pretty tame with the pinata...

Riding the carousel at the Fall Festival...

Ready to jump off the hay...

Navigating the hay maze...



Life with Gavin!

It's been 3 weeks since we brought our little Gav home from the hospital....and man what a crazy 3 weeks it's been.  As you can imagine (and some of you know from experience), caring for 2 little ones can be very hectic.  I wouldn't say it's harder with 2, it's just more time consuming.  I swear if I could just have 2 more hours in the day I could get it all done...and maybe squeeze in a shower here and there! Christian and I have little time together and are a bit loopy from the lack of sleep.  But we know this time is short so we are trying to soak in every moment and enjoy it as much as we can...in between newborn puke and 2 year old tantrums.  Sometimes we just have to look each other and laugh about it all.  But ultimately we both know we are truly blessed and we wouldn't trade our lives for anything! We love our boys!

The great part about being a mom for the second time is that I have so much more patience.  I'm not as stressed out over the little details. So aside from the lack of sleep, I am really enjoying caring for Gavin.  He's such a sweet baby.  He loves to be held....the nape of my neck is probably his favorite place to be and I love cuddling him there.  If I didn't have a thousand other things to do I would keep him there all day!

Gavin looks and acts so much like his big brother did when he was a baby - it's crazy.  He's just a little more chill than Jack was.  But he's every bit as strong, demanding and alert.  And, unfortunately he has the same tummy issues as Jack so he cries a lot.  We're hoping the medication helps and that he won't be in so much pain...which means he can also start sleeping a little better at night....which means a much more rested mom and dad!  But he just has the most precious little face we have ever seen so we don't mind the crying...most of the time. 
 
Despite his reflux and gas, Gavin is a piggy and is growing like a little weed.  He takes his time eating but man can he pack it in.  He started out a little runt...well, in my family where the women have all produced 8+ pound babies, Gav was considered a runt.  I call him my little nugget. So we're very proud of the progress he has made to catch up to the rest of his cousins. He's been gaining about a pound a week since we brought him home.  Here are his stats so far...

Birth - 7 lbs 12 oz
Left the Hospital at - 7 lbs, 4 oz
Week 1 - 7 lbs, 13 oz
Week 2 - 8 lbs, 13 oz
Week 3 - 9 lbs, 13 oz

I apologize for the long post, but I felt like I had to cram it all in since I never have time to blog.  It's tough getting time on the computer so I imagine I will be blogging a little less these days, or at least until we all get on a better schedule.  My goal is to post once a week but we'll see about that.  To be honest, I never even have time to take pictures - it's so true what they say about the first born getting all the pictures! By this time with Jack I had hundreds of pictures.  I'll try to get better about it with Gav but in the meantime, here are a few photos of the little nugget I have taken in the last 3 weeks....

Just a few days old...

"Playing" with Jack...

Stretch it out...

Tired but happy mommy...

Peek-a-boo...

LOVE my bathtime...

My favorite way to sleep...

Rockstar...

I love my daddy...

 Mommy love...

Introducing...Gavin James!!

I want to "officially" introduce the newest addition to our little family....Gavin James David was born on September 28 at 10:05 am.  He was a bit smaller than we expected at 7 lbs, 12 oz and 20 inches long (we were all expecting a 9 pounder!).  He seems like a little peanut compared to his big brother Jack but they look so much alike.  He's definitely a David!  He has a full head of dark brown hair and dark blue eyes.  He's so precious and sweet! Jack is awesome with him and we just couldn't be happier with our 2 boys!

(Warning - delivery story detailed below.  It's not graphic at all but if you really don't care then skip it and go directly to the pictures at the bottom.)

I have to say it was the easiest delivery ever.  We thought Jack was quick at 8 hours total.  But Gavin blew that away at only about 5 hours.  As I mentioned in my last blog post, we had an induction scheduled for Sept 28 at 5am. I woke up that morning wondering if it was the right thing to do and secretly wished he had come on his own before then.  But despite my hesitations, we left for the hospital at 4:15 am and on the way there I had a few contractions, but nothing painful.  I didn't think anything of it since I had been having mild contractions for months.  When we finally got settled in my room the nurse checked me at 5:30 am and told me I was already in labor and dilated 6 centimeters!  Christian and I were in shock.  I honestly never felt any pain at all and I had no idea I was in labor or when it even started.  But I was so happy that Gav had his own plans and that we didn't need to induce!!  I truly believe God had a hand in this one.

The next few hours literally flew by.  We called my mom and Joey (who were already up since they planned to be there anyway) and they high-tailed it to the hospital.  At about 7 centimeters I decided to get an epidural to avoid any major pain.  So I never felt any labor pain at all. After about an hour with no progress the doc gave me a slight dose of pitocin and whammo, I was at 10 cm in no time.  With my mom and Christian by my side coaching me, I pushed for about 35 minutes and that was it, we had our boy at 10:05 am!  So after all the pregnancy drama, fear of pre-term labor, bed rest, etc, Gavin came into the world quickly and peacefully.  It was a beautiful day!  We are blessed yet again with a healthy baby boy.

Two weeks later, we're all settling in nicely and just trying to figure out how to parent 2 small children. It's not always easy but it's definitely an extraordinary experience. Despite the lack of sleep, I wouldn't trade this time for anything...I am so in love with Gav! We have his 2 week check-up tomorrow so I will be back to post his stats and maybe some new pictures of the little nugget. I know that everyone has probably already seen these pictures of Gavin, but I must post them for prosperity sake. And I have added a few new ones of us in the hospital and Gavin at home meeting his family.