The family he started

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Mdfrisco

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my family recently lost my grandfather. I talked about how my grandpa always used to say how blessed we were to have the family that we do. I always replied to him that we had this family because of him (and grandma!) They both are an amazing example of the kind of people to be, how to treat others and how to live life. My grandpa was part of the greatest generation that served our country and that alone made him a pretty remarkable person. Some of the best memories I have of grandpa are from all of our travels together. He was a planner and you could always count on him to have a detailed itinerary to follow and a video camera in hand. We traveled Europe visiting relatives and learning about our family heritage, we took many RV trips around the United States and spent countless weekends boating at the river. I’ll always remember grandpa’s hugs. He would come up to me at any given time and give me a hug and tell me he loved me and that he was proud of me, not just for hello or goodbye, but just because. On top of the hugs he would also randomly start massaging my shoulders, not because I asked him to, but just because he knew it felt good. He did this to everyone in the family, he was a strong man with a huge heart for his loved ones.

The family got together the night before the funeral at my aunt and uncle’s house for a German feast. My grandpa was born in Germany and we have always enjoyed family recipes of delicious German dishes. It was hard since it was the first family gathering without grandpa, but in keeping with his passion for family it was exactly what he would have wanted. On the other hand, it was also a fun night since Jacob got to meet the extended family for the first time! He has so many aunts, uncles & cousins who adore him and little cousins to run around with when he gets older.

The next day was the service at the church my grandparents belonged to for years. It was a really nice service filled with family and friends, some who we have not seen in a long time. The service was followed by a reception where we were able to visit with everyone. It was so great hearing all the stories about grandpa and seeing all the people there who loved him. Jacob was a trouper and let everyone pass him around and get their turn to hold him.

First up was Justin’s sister Stacey

Then my brother and his family
My parents with all 3 of their grandsons
My best friend Stacey
My cousin Mark has 2 little boys of his own, it has been a while since they were as little as Jacob

After the reception was the grave site burial. The grandsons and the husbands of the granddaughters were the pallbearers.

There was a beautiful flag presentation done by the Air Force.

It was a day of celebrating Grandpa and family. Thank you Grandpa for the example you were, for creating this family, your hugs, massages and memories. We love you and miss you.

9 weeks

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Our baby boy is 9 weeks old!

We had his 2 month well child check up with his pediatrician last Thursday.
Here’s the run down:

He now weighs 12 lbs 13 oz (64th Percentile)
He’s 24 inches long (90th Percentile)
The circumference of his head is 15.25 inches (39th Percentile)
He got his shots and did cry while he was getting them but stopped right when the nurse finished. He slept the rest of the day afterwards and didn’t even flinch when I took off his band aids the next morning. He handled it like a champ!
The doctor said that Jacob is now big enough to start sleeping through the night so we should start to see some improvement in that area. He has been bouncing around these last few weeks going from 5 to 7.5 hours between feedings which was great! But this past week he has been going 3 to 4 hours between feedings, which makes this mamma (and daddy) tired! I am hoping this is a growth spurt and that we will get back on the 7.5 hour stretches soon. Any moms out there with advice?
Overall his pediatrician is very pleased with his progress and told us to keep up the good work! Jacob is in great shape!

Spoiled

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Jacob is 8 weeks old…2 months! Wow!

A friend of mine forwarded me a coupon for 16 x 20 canvas prints from Canvas on Demand for $40. I couldn’t pass up on that deal! So I purchased 4 of them and uploaded some of Jacob’s newborn pictures. They arrived last week and Justin hung them up in Jacob’s room. I love the way they came out!

Later that day Justin and I were talking about what a great deal they were and how pleased we were with how they came out. He said, “what are we going to do with them when he’s older and doesn’t want them in his room anymore?” I said “we can move them to another place in the house”, he replied with “well…I don’t want his little brother to get jealous!” Implying that (1) we are having another boy when we have our second child and (2) we have set the bar pretty high with Jacob. I gave him one of my famous looks. Yes, I know we are setting the bar high with Jacob, he is our firstborn and we worked so hard for him and I am spoiling him. That’s okay, I am his mom and I am allowed. It doesn’t mean I am not going to love our second child (boy or girl) just as much, besides Jacob could care less that his room is nicer than our bedroom or if he has four 16 x 20 canvas prints of himself on the wall, it’s really all for me!

Squeaker

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Whoever coined the phrase “sleeping like a baby” has obviously never heard a baby sleep. Babies are noisy sleepers! Sure there are times when they are sleeping peacefully and quietly but there are also grunts, squeaks, farts and other noises that they make thrown in the mix. Jacob does them all. Hence the title of this post my nickname for Jacob is squeaker. He doesn’t only squeak when he is sleeping, he does it when he is playing, when he finishes eating, when he is waking up, when he starts to get fussy and at other random times throughout the day. I love that sound it is so cute! My mom did mention to me one day that I am going to eventually have to start calling him by his name otherwise he will think his name is squeaker 🙂

I am a little late in posting Jacob’s 7 week picture but here it is

A few things about Jacob…

I weighed him last Friday and he was 11 lbs 14 oz, so I’m sure he is 12 lbs by now!
He has started going 6 hours between feedings the last 2 nights so mom has gotten a good 4.5 – 5 hours of sleep!
He has always loved his changing table and that is still the case, every time I lay him down to change him he immediately starts cooing and looking around, smiling and is just an overall happy baby.
He is wearing his 3 month clothes already and has been for a while!
All the baby books I’ve read talk about how after a feeding there should be some wake/play time before going down for a nap, Jacob does the exact opposite. After eating he takes a nap then wakes up about an hour before his next feeding, I kind of agree with his method, a nap after a meal is always a good idea.

Newborn photos

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Mdfrisco

We had the same photographer who did our maternity pictures come over to do Jacob’s newborn photos when he was 9 days old. He was so good and slept through the whole thing.

I found this hat when we were visiting my parents in Oregon. I had been looking online and in stores for one of these knit hats and I loved the colors in this one. The day before the photo shoot I put the hat on him and was surprised to find that it was slightly too small! So we stretched it out a bit and made it work.

This one is my absolute favorite one!!

I found this idea on Pinterest and loved it! Since Justin wears a suit and tie to work everyday it was the perfect touch to these photos.

Sleepy boy

Bittersweet

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Today is a bittersweet day…my grandpa passed away last night, our family gained another guardian angel to watch over us. I am so thankful that I had all 4 of my grandparents at my wedding and that I knew them all well into my adulthood, since then we’ve lost 3 of them. It is hard when you have to say good bye but I cherish the memories I have with them. I remember praying over the years that my grandparents would be around to meet our kids and I am so grateful that my dad brought my grandma and grandpa over to meet Jacob that first week after he was born. When we were coming up with names for Jacob we wanted his middle name to tie in both sides of our family, Carl is Justin’s middle name, his grandfathers name and my grandpa’s middle name. My grandpa was a wonderful man who served our country, worked hard and together with my grandma created an amazing family. He always talked about how lucky we were to have the family we did and I always told him that we had this family because of him. We love you grandpa and you will be missed.
On another note, Jacob is now 6 weeks old!
In Jacob’s 5 week post I mentioned that he had been fussy for a while and thanks to some advice from seasoned momma friends and a book I am reading, I learned that during weeks 5 and 6 fussiness and crying peaks. Whew, I was so glad to hear that! I kept wondering what was going on, was I eating something that bothered him, was something wrong with him, should I call the doctor, did we have a colicky baby on our hands??? It was exhausting, if he wasn’t sleeping or eating he was crying and it was almost impossible to soothe him. He wanted to eat much more frequently, I was feeling like an open bar! With the exception of nighttime sleep, he wanted to take all of his naps on me, which meant I wore him in the Moby wrap everyday so he could do so. Truthfully, I really didn’t mind that part, I love the Moby and it is a great way to snuggle with him without putting the stress on your arms or back from holding him for hours on end and it made me feel like I was pregnant again (as much as I love having Jacob here, I do miss being pregnant). This phase went on for 4 days, then it was like a light switch, he woke up happy, smiling and back to his normal self, and so far so good (at least until we hit the next growth spurt). I am hoping I haven’t spoken too soon 🙂

Another thing we did this past week is bottle feeding. We got a bottle ready with a number 1 nipple (the smallest size) and Justin and Jacob got comfortable and Justin started feeding him. Jacob took the bottle really well and ate the first two ounces without any problems, then…he started crying and fussing and wouldn’t take any more. So Justin stopped, calmed him down and I was racking my brain trying to think of why in the world would he freak out like that, I knew he was still hungry because I know he takes way more than 2 ounces when he nurses. At first I just figured it was part of his fussy phase, then I thought, maybe we should try a bigger nipple. So we put on the number 2 size and Justin tried again. Problem solved! Jacob ate the rest like a champ. The next time we tried we started with the number 2 nipple and he took the whole bottle with no problem. It was so sweet to see the bonding between Jacob and Justin as they were feeding, Jacob was gazing up at Justin and it warmed my heart! At the same time it made me sad that I was not feeding him, that is such a special time and I love it. But I do want Justin to have that connection too and I want to be able to get away or enjoy a glass of wine once in a while and this way someone else can feed him when needed.

A whole nother kind of love

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Mdfrisco

When we were trying to get pregnant, I was dreaming of a family and hoped that someday I would have some kids of my own to love. Then once we did get pregnant, I was elated and immediately felt a bond with the life growing inside of me and that bond grew stronger with each ultrasound picture and kick, roll and hiccup from within. Even though I already loved our little guy before he arrived, nothing prepared me for the intensity of the love I feel for him.

Sometimes I catch myself looking at him and thinking, is this real? Is this really our baby, our son! Yes, indeed he is and I would do anything for him. How could I not when he looks at me like this and counts on me for his every need.
I mean, I am willing to give up a good nights sleep so I can sing and whisper in his ear while rocking him back to sleep

I give up the life that guarantees a shower every morning to make sure he is clean, dressed and his little toes are covered to keep warm

I’ve learned to enjoy my meals cold instead of warm and whenever I have a minute to shove the food in my mouth instead of eating when I am actually hungry, so I can ensure that he is fed when he is hungry and falls into a milk coma

The piles of paperwork, bills, housecleaning and laundry get put off because I can’t stop kissing this belly button

And I will drop everything to soothe his cries because it breaks my heart to think that he may be unhappy about something
I can’t tell you what day of the week it is, or where the hours in the day go, but I can tell you he is by far my favorite snuggle buddy and there is nothing else I would rather do all day long

Our Valentine

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Happy Valentines Day from our little heart breaker!

Hope you have a lovely day!

5 Weeks

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Mdfrisco

Jacob is 5 weeks old today!

And he is doing great! He’s been sleeping in his crib since 3 weeks and is now going 4.5 hours between feedings at night so mom gets about 3 hours during that stretch. He’s currently going through a growth spurt and has had a few fussy days so we are hoping this passes soon. We are getting a routine down with starting the day and going to bed at night, but his biggest obstacle is fighting sleep during his daytime naps, he doesn’t want to miss out on anything! He continues to grow like crazy and no longer fits into most of his newborn clothes, we are moving up to the 0-3 month drawer. Grandma was here for a few days this past week so Justin and I got a sushi date night and I was able to get a pedicure! It was lovely!

Tummy time

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Mdfrisco

At our last pediatrician appointment he told us that we should do a few minutes of tummy times a few times a day so Jacob can start working on strengthening his upper body and neck. Sometimes he takes it in stride and works hard, sometimes he just falls asleep, other times he screams the entire time.

His favorite kind of tummy time is when we lay him on our chest on the couch and he looks up at the lamp or out the window behind us. But we also get down on the floor and play and encourage him when he is on his activity mat.

Here’s one time when he was being a sport and working hard at it. He is looking up at the giraffe hanging down trying to determine how he can get to it
He pushes up and tries
Then falls down in frustration with his legs in the air
One time I put him on a blanket from his great great Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Miney and encouraged him to push himself up, he was a bit mad at me for making him do such a thing.