Tribute to Cute Babies :)

I was watching videos of Caleb the other night and started crying...couldn't believe how he's growing! I told Marc, "I forget already!" He is so precious to us and is doing much better with eating! There was a lot of blood, but he recovered quickly, and he seems to be getting much more to eat. I will be visiting a lactation consultant soon to work on his latch...he still has some bad habits.:) There is a sore of sorts underneath his tongue...it's white and looks like a blister from what we can see. I'll be calling the dentist tomorrow to see what they think. He is such a happy little guy, evidenced by the photo below. He could care less about his tongue!



There are some other precious babies in our lives that I want to write about. We are so blessed to have three nieces and a nephew who are happy and healthy! They are so dear to us, and I treasure the recent videos we have of our visits with them. My sister, Rachel, has two sweeties. First, there's Aubrey, she is three and quite the talker! She is very sweet and gentle with Caleb and her new baby sister, Anna! Anna is a month younger than Caleb and is growing so fast too! I love her spikey hair. :) Marc's brother, Mike, has two sweeties as well! Ruby is two and a half and is very musical and joyful. Burke is almost one and is very pleasant and quiet-spirited. He also loves music as you can see by his dance moves! :)

Frenulum Fun

Aren't my boys handsome? I am such a blessed mommy! This is mainly a post asking for prayer. :) As you can probably see from the photo, Caleb is tongue-tied. While he is super cute not being able to stick out his tongue, we think it is causing his current feeding issues. He has always been decent at nursing, but lately he has struggled more, resulting in my supply getting dangerously low, and Caleb not gaining weight the last two weeks. Thank God we went in to see the pediatrician periodically for Caleb's skin and recent diarrhea. Luckily, the lack of weight gain hasn't gone on too long. I take back what I said in the previous post about breastfeeding being easy.:)

We are blessed to have a wonderful private lactation consultant nearby who advised me on how to get my supply back up and gave us the name of a dentist who clips frenulums for free. It is super easy to do and causes little trauma to the baby...the sooner the better. Here's how you can pray:

*Pray for the appointment tomorrow @1. That I will be calm and that Caleb will recover quickly.
*Pray that Caleb won't be too distressed and can continue to nurse.
*Pray that I will not put too much pressure on myself to magically produce more milk and make Caleb nurse. It can get emotional for sure.
*Pray for discernment. I want to continue nursing, but I want Caleb to be healthy.
*Pray that his diarrhea will clear up and low-grade fever will go away, and that if his being tongue-tied is not the issue with eating, that we will know.

WHEW! That's a lot, but I love my sweet boy and know you all who read this do too! We'll keep you updated!

Reflections on 3 Months of Parenthood

So many people have been asking me what's been easier and harder about parenting, and it got me thinking.:)I've been a mom a wopping 3 months, but it already seems natural. God is cool like that! However, I will NEVER claim to have it all together...some of my struggles have been a bit of a surprise. So, here it is:

Things That Have Been Easier Than Expected

*Childbirth...did it for 15 hours on 1 hour of sleep with a faulty epidural!
*Breastfeeding...no infections, little pain, got a good latcher despite being tongue-tied
*Sleeping in separate rooms...Caleb was in his own room within a week of coming home from the NICU. We couldn't stand his little noises!...cute, but didn't help us sleep!
*Leaving him...I have NO problem leaving him with a trusted sitter or family member. At first I worried it was too easy and that I wasn't bonded with him, but now I realize I just need a break!
*Sleep deprivation...Granted Caleb has almost always just woken up once during the night, but I still find I require a LOT less sleep.
*Losing the baby weight...NO credit to me...all breastfeeding!
*Taking Caleb places...It's definitely getting harder as he sleeps less during the day, and I haven't been brave enough to take him grocery shopping yet.

Things That Have Been Harder

*Dealing with vomit...This is DEFINITELY better than it was. I was just really surprised at how traumatized I was considering I saw MAJOR throw up as a teacher, this was just milk. When Caleb projectile vomits I don't panic, it's afterward that I replay it in my mind. I think it's just the thought that he wasn't feeling good that made me sad. I have definitely got to get used to him being sick...I'm working on it!
*Comparing him to the "norm"...This is mainly just a struggle with eating issues. Breastfeeding is tricky because I don't always know if he's getting enough, especially as he grows, becomes more efficient, leading to nursing less often and for shorter amounts of time. Sometimes I read too much online or on message boards instead of just trusting God and Caleb's cues.
*Mourning "kidlessness"...Sometimes I get really sad that we can't do stuff we used to do, like hang out with friends until really late, etc. This too is better, and I am starting to focus on what I CAN do now that I couldn't before. :)
*Loneliness...Even though factually I know I have lots of ladies to hang out with during the day, I get lonely, and sometimes I'm okay with being alone. Lately I feel like everyone is too busy, so I just don't bother to call. I need to buck up and get over it, and just reach out more!

There you have it! Mommies who read this, what about you?

Cutie Patootie

Here are some recent videos of Caleb with some commentary. I sound so annoying on the videos...try to tune me out. =)

Caleb slept through the night, meaning at least 6 hours straight, at around 8 weeks, and has started to do it more regularly now. He sleeps usually until at least 3, eats, and then goes back to sleep until 7 or 7:30. This is how we usually find him at 7. =)


He almost never takes a pacifier anymore. Instead, he has found his fingers! It gets a little annoying at times, like when I'm trying to feed him, but overall his fingers have helped him nap better during the day. =) I'm not worried about him getting hooked yet.


Caleb LOVES playing in his bouncy seat, with or without the toy bar. This day, I had his bouncy moved in a different position for some reason, and he became fixated on the television which had HSM on it. That is so rare for him as he is almost always disinterested in the television. He also always stares at the camera, to the point where he'll stop the cute thing he's doing just in time to stare at the camera when I turn it on...not this day!


He loves reading with us. He looks like such a big boy in this video! He's a lot easier to hold now that he can hold his head up most of the time.

Washing Feet...and Bottles, and Pooped-On Clothes...

Stephanie and I have been spending time in the Word together the last few weeks instead of as individuals, and it's been great! We've been in the gospel of John. And one passage that's been a huge help to us in recent days is John's account of Jesus washing the disciples feet in the Upper Room (John 13).

After Jesus washed the disciples' feet--including Judas'--He said this:

"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." -John 13:14 (ESV)

Steph and I discussed how we need to be humble servants in our church and also in our family. Being new parents, at times, we're tempted to get frustrated and tired and worn out. Sometimes we feel like throwing in the towel temporarily. But numerous times in the last few weeks we've been able to say, "we're washing feet, right?" And suddenly we remember that if our Savior humbled Himself to the point of washing feet like a slave and, more importantly, dying in our place, then we need to follow His example of humility in trying times. What an encouraging text when we're having to wash bottles, clean up throw-up, wake up in the middle of the night, or put Spray 'N Wash on pooped-on onesies.

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Caleb is such a blessing to us! He is growing very quickly--and at a healthy pace from all we are told. Not a day goes by that we don't remember to thank God for our little guy. He can hold his head up on his own now pretty much all the time. He sleeps through the night regularly--usually for about six hours straight. He coos and smiles very often. He kicks a ton and will be a crawling machine once he figures out how to prop himself up with his arms. He loves reading books with us. And he's found out that his fingers are a good pacifier :) We have several videos to share very soon hopefully.