Big News!!

Our Little Man is sleeping through the night!! I didn't want to post this earlier this week in fear that it was a fluke, but since moving the 10:00 feeding to 10:30, he is sleeping until 7:00! Twice this week he didn't even wake up in the middle and need his paci!! He slept straight through! I told Jeff it makes me so proud of him, and I'm sure he doesn't even know what he's doing!! Last night he woke up at 4:45, Jeff went in there and gave him his paci and he went right back to sleep. When Jeff came back to bed, I think we were both holding our breath to see if he would cry again, but nope!! Not until 6:45. (I let him cry until 7, is that bad?)

We're still working on naptime. Whew. That's the worst! Especially when he cries all through a nap, then he won't eat at the next feeding because he's so sleepy! And then we get off of our 'schedule', if you know what I mean! I try to let him cry it out, but it's hard to do doing the day. At night time, I don't worry about it (mainly because he doesn't cry much at nighttime) but when I'm in the next room it really gets to me!!

The only problem we have now, is that at 10:30, sometimes he's still sleepy and won't eat very much. Any suggestions for that?

7 Weeks Old!!

This week has been a fun one! Brady is starting to be so alert and so smiley!! The trouble is that sometimes when he cries at nighttime, we think it's just for us to come in there and see him smiling! This morning was the first morning that he smiled BACK at me when I went to go get him though. What a special treat!



I guess we've "officially" dropped our middle of the night feeding. Brady has started to sleep from 10 until right around 6. Since we're trying to get him to go until 7, I'm trying to pacify him until then... but this one has been a little trouble. I'm not quite sure how to go about getting him to 7, so tonight we are going to push our 10:00 feeding back to 10:30. He's been so sleepy at 10:00 for the past few nights that he won't finish his bottle, and we think that if he finishes his bottle then maybe he'll get to 7?! Ha. The joys of sleep 'training'.



Our little Man has also started taking 5 ounces in his bottle at every feeding! He is almost consistently finishing them already! He loves to eat, but he's still so tiny!! I know that he's getting bigger for sure, but whenever anyone sees him, their first comment is always "He's so little!" But, I think he'll make up for it in the long run.... and remember, we're going for a quarterback, not a linebacker.



He LOVES to stretch out, especially when we're changing him. We call it his "superman" move because it looks like he's flying!! The other morning I came in to get him from his crib and he had come out of his swaddle and all I could see were his arms straight up in the air! I hope he doesn't think he's just going to take off without a running start!



I also think that he's now discovered Georgia. He looks at her now when she sits next to him and if she moves, he'll follow her with his eyes and move his head. It's so interesting to watch him discover the world around him. It makes me realize how many little things I take for granted!



Yesterday, for Memorial Day, we swam at my parents' house. My dad warmed up the spa just so that it was like his bathtub water and he LOVED it. After he was in the spa he did not want to go back to colder water in the pool! Georgia had fun with the beach ball and was mourning the loss of it after she killed it. (See picture below... notice that she's wet? She slipped in when she was trying to get the ball out of the pool). We're looking so forward to what God has in store for our little Brady Bug this week!







P.S. If you have an extra hour in your day (Yeah, I know... what am I thinking?) take a look at this blog. Make sure you have some kleenex handy and start from the bottom up. She is such a beautiful writer and is so honest about her faith. It may take you a few sittings, but it is totally worth it and God has taught me so much through her writing. I hope you are blessed by her transparency as much as I have been.

Big People Clothes

So today, we tried on what I like to call "Big People Clothes" from our closet. See how cute he looks in this little Polo One Piece? He's finally filling out something other than a onesie!! (I didn't get too many pictures without his bib on!!) Don't you just want to eat him up?!

p.s. That's another new thing this week... we've recently discovered the bib! I usually keep it on him for 10 minutes or so after he eats because you never know when a little dribble is going to come out!!

The End is Here.

So today is the Grand Finale of American Idol. I cannot tell you how much I look forward to this day every year. (I know, that's totally weird, but it's true). And especially this year. Jeff and I both really got into this year and we have not missed a night. (Even in the hospital we watched it, but not as intensely as we usually did). We each had favorites from the beginning and I have to say that none of our favorites are in the finale. Jeff and I kind of have a competition as to who can pick the winner the earliest... he probably doesn't know that I think of it as a competition, but if I ever picked the winner from the beginning, he would know it and be reminded of it every day!

As most of you know, my absolute favorite contestant was the cute Michael Johns. (I've added some of his songs to my playlist). And although I don't think he ever really came into his own, I think he's going to be big. I also like that he's married and his wife was always there cheering him on. (I've noticed that I really like the married contestants... i.e. Chris Daughtry and Carly Smithson). Michael Johns is neck and neck with my favorite A.I. contestant ever... Chris Daughtry. I truly think that if this had been any other season, that Michael would have definitely gone farther than he did... mainly because I was in the hospital the week he got kicked off and I didn't get a chance to vote as much as I usually do! :)

Jeff's favorites from the beginning were Brooke White and Kristy Lee Cook. Now I totally get the Brooke White thing, but not the Kristy thing. I mean, what's the deal with her? I never thought she was THAT great.... I truly didn't even think she'd make it to the top 12!! And Michael got kicked off before her! I know if you're honest with yourself, that you KNOW that wasn't right!

Anyway, I have to say that I love David Cook and I'm totally done with David Archueleta (or however you spell it). I think he has an incredible voice, don't get me wrong, but he's so incredibly awkward. Joanna pointed out how weird it was when he sang "My Boo" last week... and I have to totally agree. He's awkward. And even though the judges didn't particualary like David Cook last night, I have to say I loved every one of his songs... especially the last one. I thought it was beautiful. He has an incredible voice. So I'm still predicting him to win!!

So, tonight will be bittersweet for me in the land of television. I'm so glad it's two hours long, so I can savor every last moment of it. I don't remember if it was last year or the year before that Prince made a surprise visit and it was an absolutely AWESOME finale!! I hope this one does the greatest season ever justice! I really don't know what I'm going to do with myself once I have Tuesday and Wednesday nights free again!! How great is reality television? (Oh, and did anyone notice that the playbacks at the end last night did NOT match their performances? Go back and watch it if you have it recorded and you'll see what I mean!! They both sounded 'off' in their playbacks, but they weren't at all in their performances... hmmmmm...... is this a lawsuit waiting to happen???) :)

6 Weeks

We're already at 6 weeks! I can't believe it! We've had a lot of new experiences this week and we've started to take up walking in the afternoons! It's kind of a big feat for me to take him in the stroller and to walk Georgia at the same time... but Brady seems to LOVE going on walks. If it's not too sunny, I'll leave the stroller open and he just looks around and grins. Georgia, on the other hand, hates the stroller. I've run over her twice with it already and she hates walking in the street, so we have to make room on the sidewalk for all of us. She will now either walk in front or behind the stroller but not next to it. (Some might ask why she doesn't just walk in the grass, but she only does that when she has to go to the potty.)

So, these pictures are from when I we were getting ready to go on a walk. I decided to change the scenery from my usual pictures on our beautiful striped blanket. Do you think he's getting bigger? I definitely think he's getting bigger. He is definitely filling out in his face a lot more.

He pretty much sleeps for 6 to 6 1/2 hours during his long stretch at night now, and we're hoping to stretch that to 7 by next week! He's been doing a LOT better at naptime, he's become pretty content in his crib, even if he's not sleeping. We stopped swaddling him the other night and have just started putting him in jammies and tucking the blanket in under him like a burrito baby. He seems to not have a problem with it at all, now that he's used to it.

He's a pretty laid back baby... he drinks his bottles straight from the fridge, he doesn't fuss too much (unless he's gassy) and he smiles REALLY big for his daddy. He's started to enjoy his bathtimes instead of screaming like he used to. He goes down GREAT at nighttime and he's been finishing all four ounces of his bottle pretty consistently. He also is a real trooper when I lug him around to lunch, dinner and running errands. I wonder how long he'll stay that way!?! :)

Congratulations Uncle Bubba!!

Today we went to Ryan's graduation. (He is also known as "Uncle Bubba"). We had such a wonderful time, and Ryan of course did great!! We had Brady in the ceremony and he didn't really make any noise and then Jeff took him into the hall to feed him after he saw Ryan walk across the stage!!

Congratulations Ryan!! We love you!

Jammies.

So last night was the first night we tried to put Brady in some jammies. They have been too big for them (or they were when he was born) so I had never tried them on him before. But last night, we decided we wanted to put them on and they fit! Not only did they fit, but doesn't he look absolutely precious? He seemed to really like them, and he looked so cute. It made me want to have some jammies that had feets on them!

I hate to say this, but I'm kind of sad that he's almost 6 weeks old. I've been so focused on getting him to 'do' more and sleep more that I feel like I didn't enjoy the first 6 weeks as much as I could have! I know it's extremely hard and it's a huge adjustment for all of us here at home, but I didn't really take it to heart when people would say "Enjoy this time, it goes so quickly!" I would be like "What are you talking about? I'm done with this stage... I'm ready for him to 'do' more!" But guess what, he already is.

I've noticed this week that he likes to hold his head up A LOT when he's on my shoulder. He's a curious little boy and I can already tell that as soon as he's mobile he will not want to be held like he does now.... He is such a boy. I call him my little wiggle worm. He loves to stretch and wiggle, and when he stretches he makes this little scrunched up face that I'm STILL trying to get a picture of.

Anyway, I wanted to let those of you who told me that it would go by so fast know, that you were right. I can't believe it. Yet, I'm so looking forward to what he will do next that it's hard to even miss what's gone by!

Spit Up and Smiles!

Yesterday we decided to get the Activity Mat out because we are definitely looking for new things to do besides tummy time and our swing now that we're awake more. He is definitely 'focusing' on the toys hanging off of the mat... its amazing what excites me these days! But today when we got on the mat, Brady decided to be Mr. Spit Up!!

This is how our afternoon went: spit up, wipe it off, turn around, look back, repeat. Even when he went down for his nap! He would be doing fine, talking to himself, and then all of a sudden I would hear on the monitor I shocking wail! I knew that was him spitting up and kind of surprising himself. He was spitting up his bottle so much this afternoon that I think he probably spit up the whole thing! No one tells you how often you're going to be changing the sheets and washing the mattress pad, or you probably wouldn't even mess with buying a bumper pad! :)

But other than that, we've been moving toward a new development... SMILING! I was thinking today about that Look Who's Talking movie where the baby is talking... and I was thinking of what Brady must be saying in his head when I'm trying to get him to smile. Today when I was in his face, making goo goo eyes and weird noises trying to get him to smile, all I was saying was "Do you think Mommy's silly, Brady? Aren't I so silly?" If he could talk, I bet he was saying.. "Oh my gosh, you are such an idiot, Mom. I'll smile when I want to, K?" (Can't you tell I am already looking ahead to the teenage years!)

But he is starting to smile, even at me when I kind of get in his face, or when Georgia does! It's not a full on smile yet, it's more like a mouth open smile. I got some pictures of it, but they're kind of hard to get, so they aren't so good. I'm sorry about the one with the spit up in his mouth... you can tell I had just gotten done with the "wiping" portion of the cycle. (Oh, and I must post a disclaimer that these pictures were shot with our "old" camera, so they didn't turn out as well.)

Brady is a growing boy, too! Last night in the middle of the night, he finished his 4 ounces that we usually give him and he was still hungry, so I fixed 2 more and he ate it all and then fell right asleep! I am not expecting that to be a usual thing, but who knows? He also has slept from 10 until 4 the past two nights, and on Mother's Day he slept until 5:45! We're getting there, slowly but surely, we're getting there! Now, if I could just learn to sleep through all of that instead of wake up every five minutes and wonder if I hear him crying! Any tips on that, or will I just get used to it and eventually sleep through it all?

Best Friends

Sorry, I had to add this to my long list of posts for the day. I was cleaning the floors and Brady was sound asleep in his boppy on the floor... so like any good mother would do, I picked up the boppy and him in one scoop and placed him soundly in the arm chair. I left the room to get the mop and came back and this is what I found. She wasn't bothering him, she just wanted to be right next to him! I think she may want her own boppy.

5 Weeks Old!

So we're now at 5 weeks! Not much development except that our hearts grow with love for our Baby Boy every day. Yesterday, on Mother's Day, Brady, Jeff and Georgia made me pancakes for breakfast! Brady also gave me a beautiful photobook that his daddy helped him make!

So, new things at the Leach house... Brady has started to recognize himself in the mirror. I'm not sure what he thinks he's seeing, but he definitely stares at himself in the mirror and it catches his attention for some time (and then he'll get distracted again by the lights). We put a little rattle on his carseat and he has started to notice it and focus on it more... even though he completely looks cross-eyed when he does it! :) He LOVES tummy time and sometimes when he's fussy I'll put him on the blanket for tummy time and he'll quiet down... for a while at least. He's starting to push with his feet more and his arms. He has started to hold his head up a little bit when we put him on our shoulder. He is starting to smile... we haven't got a full-on smile (except for when he's asleep and he's dreaming I can see a big smile sometimes) but we get the corners of his mouth to curve up a bit. (I've posted a couple of pics of it.) I think his first big smile is going to be at Georgia... he's already starting to smile at her when she gets close up to his face! (Look real close at the picture of them together... do we have a smile?) He also LOVES to watch his Baby Einstein videos... we'll be needing more of those soon!

So everyday now there's a little bit more expression... either he looks at me longer than he did the day before, he smiles longer or he makes a new sound. I've heard that in the next few weeks it should get really fun! I'm so excited for his first real smile and even more excited about laughter! How fun?!

Baby Pictures!

Our friend, Matt Davis, is a photographer and came over to our house a few weeks ago to get some pictures of our Little Man. He got some wonderful shots and I'm so excited with how they turned out. Matt did a wonderful job!! Take a look at his website www.818images.com. I've picked out a few of my favorites to put here!

Peace and Quiet

I never knew how much I appreciated quietness until recently. (I am sure most moms can agree!) On Thursday, Brady was extra fussy and extra needy. He wouldn't stop crying unless I was holding him. He didn't take a nap all day and he kept pumping his little legs up and down! I did some research on that little "move" that he was doing and found out that is how they try to get gas bubbles out. And then when I started to think about it, I realized that I hadn't heard him 'toot' in a while. So I bit the bullet and headed off to the store to get Mylicon (the gas drops!).

There is a CVS right around the corner from our house, so I thought that this would be an extra easy outing for us. I was still in my PJ's since I hadn't been able to put him down for more than a few minutes without him absolutely screaming, and I thought that CVS wouldn't be too offended, as I'm sure they see people dressed like me all the time. But when I drove up, there are 3 police cars at the entrance, and the automatic doors were stuck open. There were customers still going in and out but I was sitting there in my car for about 5 minutes, surveying the situation and deciding whether or not to take Brady inside. (Remember, that while I'm "surveying" the situation, Brady's in the backseat crying....).

So I opted out of going to the drugstore and decided to go ahead and head to Target, even though it would be a longer trip. We get to Target and I put Brady, who is in his carrier, in the grocery cart (still crying, but I'm trying to hold his pacifier in his mouth as I walk so it's not as loud...). As I walked into the store, I completely hit a lady in front of me with my grocery cart. Yep, that's right, I ran into a PERSON... not a car, a PERSON. She wasn't very understanding either. I really almost burst into tears right there on the spot and I really wanted to say "I'm so sorry, but please understand... I just had a baby and he's been crying all morning and I'm just trying to make it stop and this is my first time with a grocery cart by myself and I am doing the best I can!!"

But this only lasted for a moment, I breezed right past her after saying 'I'm sorry' a total of 15 times, got my drops and got out of there!! Immediately after I got home I gave Brady the drops and he started 'tooting' 10 minutes later!! Still fussy, but now it's probably because he's so tired!! When he finally went to sleep I still heard the crying in my head!! Every time I made a move, I thought.. "Wait, is that him crying?" But thankfully he is fine now, and asleep!! YAY! So like I said, I never knew how much I liked the quietness of the morning until I didn't have it anymore!!

A 4 Week Old Cutie Patootie....

So my Little Man is 4 Weeks Old today!! He's getting heavier everytime I pick him up (although not heavy) and Jeff and I decided we were going to try to weigh him on our scale at home (which is NOT a baby scale) to see how much he weighs now. So once he wakes up tonight we're going to try that! :)

Supplemental Information

Okay, I just had to add this, because today has been a crazy, fun, mess of a day for us at the Leach Household (see previous post)... and one more crazy, fun, messy thing JUST happened that I find completely humorous. Sometimes I wish that God would spread out his humor, but on a day like today, I have to be thankful for the extra dose of laughter that He has so wonderfully bestowed upon us.

While I was writing the previous post, Jeff was in the living room watching the Stars game and feeding Brady. (Yes, it seems like that is all we do right now because it IS all that we do right now!) :) He hollered at me that he was so proud because again, Brady finished his bottle! (Our boy is getting so big!!) A few minutes later, I hear "Um, I need help... he spit it all up!" Of course, it probably wasn't all of the bottle, but it was definitely a lot and it was all over Brady, Jeff and the sofa. So I grabbed a couple of towels, went in there and helped all of them to get cleaned up.

Jeff went into Brady's room to wash him off and get him dry, while I cleaned the sofa. (This is ALL of course after I had given Brady a real bath this afternoon after the whole car fiasco...). I went into Brady's room while Jeff was cleaning up to say goodnight and Jeff was starting to change his diaper. As I left the room, I nonchalantly told him to not keep the diaper off too long, or he may get sprayed! Right when I sat back down, I hear... "Oh my gosh. He peed on me!" I can't believe. I went in there and of course, it's everywhere!! Jeff had been putting baby powder on Brady's bottom I guess and dropped the bottle when the Fountain began!

Thankfully, we are now all cleaned up and Brady is sound asleep. I can't wait to tell this story at his rehearsal dinner, amongst others, I'm sure!

So here's to having Boys... and the humor that God gives us as parents!

Uh-Oh....

So, I could NOT wait to get home to write this post and share our little adventure from today... and it's 10:30 and I'm just now posting, if that gives you an idea of how the day went.

This morning started off pretty well, except the past two nights I haven't been sleeping well. I don't mind the interrupted sleep, and so far I've been going back to sleep pretty well after we feed Brady, but these past two nights I haven't been able to get comfy for some reason... so after we feed him at 7:00, I put him in his boppy next to me on the bed so I can keep resting. Anyway, so that's how this morning started off too.

After I put Brady down for his morning nap, (that's right, he wakes up at 7, then eats and then goes down for a nap about an hour later... what a life...) I got ready for the day. I took a shower and put my makeup on before getting him back up at 10 to start the cycle again. Usually, I wait until after 10 to get "ready" for the whatever the day might hold, but today was special because we were meeting Miss Kate for lunch. So, I was more than ready when the day started to unfold with a little more humor in it than expected.

After feeding Brady at ten, I changed him and put him in his swing. I even went to the extra trouble of putting pants on him for our little outing today. (We were also going to see my doctor in the afternoon.) I went to make sure I had everything I needed in my diaper bag for the day. (Which you will need to know for later on in the story.) I made sure I had an extra onesie for the spit ups that happen, an extra diaper for his changing at 1, a burp cloth and a blanket. Oh, and wipes. When I came back to get Brady out of swing and put him in his car seat, low and behold... spit up everywhere! Everywhere on him and everywhere on the swing and of course, everywhere on his clothes. Not to mention his little "whoopie-cushion tooting" had already soiled his clean diaper THOROUGHLY! So I changed him really quickly (a little frustrated, I have to say, that I had to change him out of his 'perfect outfit') and got out the door in time to meet Kate for lunch and not be too late.

After a wonderful lunch with Kate (and running into some HKS-ers as well), it was off to Plano for Brady and I. I had decided that I was going to enjoy the nice day and find a nice spot for us to park so that I could feed him (a bottle) and then we'd go to Old Navy to find something to wear for Baby Dedication next week. We get to the Old Navy parking lot and I find a perfect shady parking spot, turn on the Ticket and get Brady out of his car seat... I shake up the bottle and it doesn't take him long to get down to business. He takes the whole bottle! 4 ounces! Yay for our growing boy... he's been doing that a LOT lately! I burp him and he has a few little burps, but not too many. I'm really enjoying my little setup I have made here in my car. I take him to the backseat and start to change his diaper.

Here's where the story gets interesting. Picture this... I'm changing my little man's diaper on his little changing pad in my back seat. I have all of my "supplies" handy, as I have prepared this beforehand and am ready for anything that may come my way (or so I think.) Right as I go to grab the clean diaper, here it comes... the "Fountain of Urine" as I like to call it. If you have not experienced, please do not think this is a little "tinkle" because it is called a Fountain for a reason. It seriously went on for like three minutes... and it went EVERYWHERE. I attempted to stop it by putting his diaper on top of it. (Remember, I only have one extra diaper and it's definitely the one I grabbed.) He then started wailing because he was soaking wet and of course shooting himself in the face as well. I'm frantically trying to clean him up, my car up, and myself up and I just crack up laughing at the situation and can't stop! I really wish there had been a video camera to get it all on tape. My description does not do it justice!

So, I finally get him dry by using his blanket, my burp cloth and ALL of my wipes, and I change his clothes. I then put him in his car seat to keep him occupied and DRY... and then attempt to clean up my car.... but what do I have left to clean up with? Nothing! Luckily I found some Armor All wipes in my trunk, so I cleaned up with those. BUT, what about me? I have to go to a doctor's appointment in an hour, I'm an hour away from my house, and I'm covered in urine. I decided that this is a mom's destiny. Either I accept it and embrace it, or I fight it and it gets worse. Luckily, his tee tee is clear and it doesn't smell yet. When I got the hospital, I went to the bathroom and tried to clean up as much as I could, but the moral of the story is that I'm going to keep a change of MY clothes with me at all times as well!!!

I hope you enjoyed our little adventure for the day! Next time, I promise to keep my camera with me and will get the mess on tape!!