Bath Time

Tummy Time

Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day we decided to dress Nathaniel up in his Valentine's outfit that my mom got him and prop him next to his teddy bear that my mom-n-love got him. I think they turned out cute!

I believe he weighs some where in between 8-10 lbs. I tried weighing him on our scale but it wasn't very accurate. I guess I'll have to wait until his next trip to the doctor which isn't until next month.

Now I haven't posted on my blog page in 2 weeks! You ask why? Well, the work of a mommy is never done! Especially when you have a newborn. This transition has been a little difficult for me. One, because I had a little bit of the baby blues- crying for no reason. Friends tell me this is normal as my hormones are re stabilizing. I didn't realize how out of control my emotions would be. Two, I am adjusting to being at home alone. I'm used to being around tons of women who talk all the time- teachers. I was never alone at work.

What I love is being with Nathaniel and hearing him coo, feeding him and just snuggling up to his tiny body. I love holding him on my chest and my hand hold up his little bottom. I love looking at his blue eyes, his long tiny fingers and toes. I love waking him up from his naps and seeing him stretch out and open his mouth as wide as possible yawning. I love hearing his grunting noises when he is trying to eat or dirty his diaper. I love how God gave Lesh and I this perfect gift from heaven. It is awesome to know that God has a wonderful plan for his life. Lesh and I can't wait to see how God will use Nathaniel in other peoples lives. He has changed ours already in only 3 weeks. Thank you God for Nathaniel!

Nathaniel's First Week

What a week! Lesh and I have been totally blown away with the blessing that Nathaniel has been. I don't even have the words to express what joy I feel in my heart, but the tears that fall down my face say it all. I walked into his nursery last night while he was asleep and just stared at him, amazed by God's gift to us, and cried some more (although some of this is probably hormonal fluctuations). Lesh and I never knew we could love so much and we've enjoyed every minute spent with him.

Lesh took two weeks off from work to spend with us and this has been the greatest thing ever. Lesh is the awesomest dad in the whole wide world. Lesh's favorite thing to call Nathaniel is "li'l bud". It is so rewarding watching Lesh have "wake time" with Nathaniel. Lesh has explained to him Einstein's Theory of Relativity, reads books to him, and enjoys diaper changing time. In fact, I think Nathaniel enjoys it even more because he's peed on Lesh not once, but twice! I laughed my head off, but I do have to say that he did get me once today too. Lesh was amazed by how high his stream was.

I've enjoyed the bonding that is feeding time and Nathaniel has done a great job breastfeeding. So well in fact that he's almost back up to his birth weight. At the doctor's office today he was up to 6 pounds, 8.4 ounces. The doctor said that Nathaniel is doing great and what most babies do in 10 days, he's done in 4. Nathaniel is GT already! His jaundice is gone, although we're going to keep sunning him a bit just to be safe. He said that he's extraordinarily wiggly, able to turn from side to side already. I could have told you that from how much he moved in my belly! He's also got a great shaped head, the doctor said he gets that from his dad.

These are a few of his favorite things:

Nathaniel loves his time in the sun!

Look Mom and Dad, baby fish mouth!

During "wake time" Nathaniel spends time in his "my little lamb" swing.

Another precious "wake time" activity is Space Adventure! He's just like his dad.

So maybe bath time is not one of his favorites, but he'll grow to love it! This is his first bath.

Nathaniel loved being in his lion towell better than being bathed. Isn't he the cutest cub ever?

Thank you everyone for praying for us, we have surely felt your prayers! It has been wonderful having friends and family come visit us this week. We hope to be seeing a lot more of you! Check back soon for week two!

Nathaniel's Birthday

Yesterday was the best day ever! I had a wonderful labor experience, nothing like what I thought it would be. The second Nathaniel came out, my world changed forever. Daddy got to hold Nathaniel first after they cleaned him up and took prints of his feet. I was able to breastfeed him and he did great.

Lesh and I spent an hour alone with Nathaniel before our families met him for the first time. Everyone was taken aback by how beautiful he was. Throughout the night, they brought him back so I could feed him and he's done a wonderful job. Thank you God for this precious gift!

For you statisticians out there, he was 6lbs 9oz, 19 inches, and he was born at 6:48pm, Jan 27. Lesly was in labor for 12 hours and 8 minutes. Here are some pictures of his first day of life.

Nathaniel's First Picture... He wasn't happy!

He was wide awake right after coming out!

Daddy got to hold him almost immediately while they were getting mom taken care of.

Before Dr. Patronella headed off, we got a picture with her and Nathaniel.

His first picture with mom. This makes it all worth it!

Our first family picture. He stayed awake for a long time after coming out!


Lesly's parents got to come in before he headed off to the nursery to get checked out.

Lesh's mom and sister were also there for the happy event.

One last pic of the cutest baby ever!

1 MORE DAY!!!!!

Last night I woke up every 2 hours to use the bathroom and kept thinking to myself, I will need to get used to this because I'm going to be doing this for a while with Nathaniel! Today is my last day with out a child, well at least until we are empty nesters... HA! Even then they never go away do they. I'm one of them! A parent's job is never over. Lesh and have looked forward to having children since we got married and I can't believe that tomorrow that dream will become realized. I praise God for Nathaniel and the gift he is and will be in our lives. I know that God has used us to sharpen each other these past 5 years of our marriage and will continue to sharpen us with Nathaniel. There will be tons of laughter, frustration and joy and I know that it will all be worth it.
So tomorrow I go in to the hospital at 5:30 to check into the hospital for my induction. Lesh's brothers are so excited that they keep saying they are going to skip school so they can be there when Nathaniel's born, but they didn't understand that most labors last at least 12 hours. It was too cute, especially Bennett last night was like, I'm coming to the hospital at 6am to say hi and then I'll come right after school to see you. He kept on and on and my mom-in-love was, Lesly- don't worry, he won't be going to see you at that time. It was pretty funny. Last night Lesh's parents invited us over for a prayer night where they prayed over us and our future with Nathaniel. I couldn't be more blessed to know that this is Nathaniel's heritage. A heritage of Christ followers. It is such a blessing to have both sides of the family love the Lord with all their hearts.
Please be praying tomorrow for Lesh and I as I experience labor for the first time. I know all you mommies are saying ouch!! Believe me, I'll be asking for the candy man (anesthesiologist)pretty quickly. We appreciate your prayers!

Maternity Pics

Lesh was so sweet! We were just sitting around on Saturday and Lesh was like why don't you get all dressed up and lets go take some maternity pictures. I was like... Sure!!! Fun!!! So I did. We got up early Sunday and went to our neighborhood lake to take a few shots. We got a new camera for Christmas so we have been having fun playing with it. These are some of the shots we took.