The Makings of an Ostie Family-Est. 2006

9 Month Pictures

2011-08-12T07:56:00.001-07:00

9 Months Old

2011-07-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

Experiencing very hot weather for the first time, in the 90's; wearing sunscreen for the first time

Showing signs of getting excited by stiffening up and waving his arms up and down; showing signs of excitement with food

Friday, June 10th, using a sippy cup really well for the first time!

First foods, watermelon, tried some pistachio dessert which was just little licks of pistachio pudding and whipped cream (he really liked it, lol.)

Last week we went for the longest bike ride yet which was a little over 12 miles and he did great! During the ride he took about a one hour nap.

He is getting really good at "hugging."

Still eating the same amount of food.

Is obsessed with trying to play with the metal thing that turns to plug the bathtub while he is taking a bath!
Still loves to watch his ceiling fan.

Attended his Great Grandparents 65th Anniversary party.

Went to his first official cookout!
Played with Mommy in a hammock.

Mid June Graydon all of sudden started doing so many new things. All of a sudden he could sit up on his own. Totally freaked me out. A couple hours later and I walk out of the room and walk back in and he is standing along the couch.
Then he starts to creep on the floor. By Father's Day, June 19th, he officially crawled for the first time. He is all over the place now. It is hilarious because he only really crawls with his left knee and then walks with his right foot. He is getting quite the little rug burn on his left leg. About a week later he started pulling himself up on everything and now he is a pro. He is crawling all over the house, exploring and getting into everything. He likes to be near us though, in the same room. He has gotten good at crawling up to you and pulling himself up on your legs, it is cute.
The second he start sitting up on his own and we realized he could pull himself up, we moved his crib all the way down the very next day.

He is sleeping well at night but still gets up one time for a quick diaper change and feeding, usually about 4-5 oz.

Not sure how much he weighs but is wearing 9 month clothing, fitting perfectly. 12-18 month pajamas fit him best.

Size 4 diapers

Went to the zoo in Lansing with his cousins, and sat on a giraffe statue. It was so cute.

Tried his first "teething biscuit" and really liked it.

Attending cousin Adam and Nataleigh's Dedication.

He loves to play with the dog bowls and has even tried putting a piece of dog food in his mouth.

Loves to stand and look out the window.

Played in the kiddy pool this month! Hot weather!

Stayed a couple nights at Grandpa Bob and Grandma Jeanne's over 4th of July weekend!

Loves his Gerber Puffs, any flavor.

8 Month Pictures

2011-06-10T19:57:00.001-07:00

Chubby lil man!

Happy boy, love the camera!

Trying to pull the giraffe's ears off....haha!!

What is this cute face?!! I love it!!

7.5 Month Pics

2011-06-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

These are a few professional pictures that we had taken this past month! They were supposed to be 6 month pictures, but between all of our traveling to Kansas, sickness, and just plain trying to find a date that worked for both parties we ended up settling on a date a couple weeks after Graydon turned 7 months. They turned out great, as always! *Photog Props*

Sweet little man.

Love that dimple so much!

This is my favorite one of all of us.

One of the cute little faces he always makes.

He makes this face when he is "mad" and babbling.

Tired boy has had enough!

Graydon and some of his many giraffes.

8 Months Old

2011-06-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Now that Graydon is 8 months old he is weighing about 19.5 lbs. He is getting heavier by the minute. He seems so long and people who haven't seen him in a while are always saying, "Wow he is a chunker!" or "Wow he has really filled out!"

We still have him in his Graco Snugride but his feet are over the edge. We will need to get the next seat soon.

Graydon is eating a lot these days. He drinks about 8 oz. in the morning. Has some cereal and a 4 oz. container of some sort of fruit mid morning. Another bottle around noon, 5-6 oz. Another bottle around 4, 5 oz. About 6 oz. of solids for dinner. And then another 8 oz. bottle at bedtime. He still usually wakes up once during the night, and has a 5 or 6 oz. bottle then as well. He is a a great eater!
He likes all fruit so it seems. I think it is his favorite. In the evenings I try to always feed him 2 oz. of Earth's Best Sweet Potato and Chicken dinner, or the Turkey and Vegetable dinner, along with a green vegetable and an orange vegetable. His favorites are sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots. He is not a huge fan of green beans or peas but I try to get him to eat them anyways and he usually does, just much slower than the others. He also really likes the Apple Butternut Squash mixture.
This month for the first time he has tried mashed potatoes, sweet potato and regular fries (just gnawing on them) and little bits of chicken. He is also doing much better eating little chunks of avocado and bananas without gagging, and love his puffs.

He has also starting taking little sips of water. I have tried to get him to use the Sippy Cup but he really didn't understand how to do it and wouldn't suck, so I just started using the cup itself and he has been doing well.

Graydon finally got some teeth this past month! I was especially excited with the fact that on both little "toofers" as we like to call them, I was the first one to feel them coming through. On Friday, May 6th, I felt the first tooth coming through his gums. It was on the bottom middle left. The second tooth started to come through on Friday, May 27th, and was the bottom middle right. I probably check about every other day for the top middle ones that will most likely come next....but you have to be careful. If you stick your finger in his mouth, he is quick to bite! :)

Graydon has especially hated getting dressed this past month. He instantly starts to fuss when you lay him down and try to take his clothes off. It is mostly when you are trying to put a shirt on/off.
He isn't too bad when getting his diaper changed, which he is still wearing Size 3 Disposables, and I love the Costco/Kirkland diapers. We did try to start cloth diapering again for about a week, but I just could not handle it. Graydon's poops are just disgusting now and it is just a pain with the cloth. Not to mention that we have 2 toilets in our house, and do you think that the Bum G Diaper Sprayer will hook up to either one of them...?? Nope! I am so bummed, what a waste of $50 for the sprayer and I do not even want to think about how much spent on the cloth. I want to invest in those little tissue inserts for the poop, and then would like to try again.

Anyways, back to being on the changing table....something that I always notice is that he will grab my Pandora bracelet and try to play with it, it is so cute! He also does this throughout the day while I am carrying him etc. along with trying to play with my rings.
He especially loves to play/pull my hair (I try not to let him pull it) and also touch/pull my earrings and or necklaces.

Graydon is wearing 6-9 month clothing mostly. 9 month onesies fit him the best. 9 month pants are still a little big. 12 month pajamas fit him perfectly/on the verge of being small and he can also fit into 18 month PJs pretty well.

We start Graydon's bedtime routine around 7ish. He is usually pretty tired at this point and ready to eat and get to bed! He is usually sleeping by 7:30, 8 at the latest. He is still sleeping on his stomach sometimes but not as much as last month, he is sleeping on his back a little more. He usually wakes up once a night, for about 15-20 minutes. We quick change his diaper, he eats, and goes right back to sleep. He typically wakes up around 6 am and will play in his crib with some toys that we keep at the other end. Usually about 30-45 minutes later he is fussing and ready to get up! He typically has had a big poop by then. And if he did sleep all night long, his diaper and huge and most likely his PJs are soaked too. Sleeping through the night is totally sporadic though. Chris and I take turns every other evening on who gets up with him. I usually put him to bed though, and Chris usually gets up with him, as he goes to work a little later than I do. He moves all around in the crib now too. Sometimes we will find him sleeping sideways, which he is a little too long for that, but sometimes he manages to get his feet in between the rails...
We are still working on his naps. When he is home I try to get him to nap in either his crib, his pack n play or in our bed (I usually take a nap too at this point.) His swing or carseat is last resort, but sometimes cannot be helped if we are driving etc.

Graydon isn't crawling yet. He hasn't really been scooching backward much either. He has hated being on his stomach lately. He does get up on all fours sometimes. I am thinking that maybe he will be crawling right before he turns 9 months. We will see I guess!
He still loves to stand and sway, as always. And we practice walking with him sometimes.

He doesn't really like his jumpy anymore either. He might be content in it for like 15 minutes at the most and then he wants out. Sometimes he only lasts like two minutes, it just depends. I try not to put him in it unless I am desperate, but Chris likes to put him in that or his swing especially if he needs to get ready for work.

Graydon has been experiencing what I think is separation anxiety this past month. He has been super fussy especially in the evening. He either wants you to be holding him or right down there on the floor playing with him. If he IS content and sees you walk by the room and hears you he is instantly crying. The last couple of weeks have been rough and sometimes it has been hard to get things done around the house but it is OK. We make it work! Usually one of us will stay in the room with him while the other is doing stuff and take turns.

He has also been starting to get a little bit of stranger anxiety, but I feel he has been handling it well. I have just recently noticed that when he doesn't know someone he just kind of looks at them. It takes him a couple minutes to warm up and then he will finally start to be his happy self and smile and be cute. It is good though.....he is around a lot of different people regularly and handles it well, which I like!

Graydon has been doing really well in the jogging stroller this month and seems to enjoy it. He usually takes a nap while I am running unless he had recently had one.
Another first this month was taking a ride in the new Bike Trailer that I got on Craigslist. It is an In-Step trailer that can fit two children. We tried it for the first time over Memorial Day weekend and he slept the entire ride! (It was about 9 miles.)

Da Da Da is still his favorite words to say, but he finally started to say Ma Ma this past month! I was pretty excited about it. :)

Graydon loves to hum his lips and tongue and blow spit all over, especially when he is upset. There were a couple of days this month that he started making this popping noise with his lips and he thought that he was so funny....also, if we did it to him, he would mimic us and pretty much do it on demand, it was hilarious!

One of my favorite things this past month was getting to experience my very first Mother's Day with my little man (and family of course!) It was great. Chris got me the little baby carriage Pandora bead for my bracelet and we went out to eat at Electric Cheetah. I also got a sweet little E-card from "Graydon" aka sneaky Daddy Chris. :) Being blessed with having Graydon in my life is just an overwhelming, unexplainable feeling, and even though I am reminded of that daily, it was awesome to celebrate a day that recognizes me as his Mother! How lucky am I?? So lucky!

We also traveled to Vassar this month for a couple of days. We went shopping with Aunt Megan, cousin Amelia and Grandma Dottie at the outlets and just got to have some quality time! It is great to see Amelia and Graydon together and how much they are growing.

Graydon went to the zoo for the first time this month. Unfortunately I did not get to be there with him. He went with his daycare family!

Another favorite part of this month was Memorial Day weekend. I got to have 4 days off with the little man! We went to Muskegon and spent most of it at Chris's parents house. Graydon did decently well for being somewhere different for a couple days. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the greater for our little vacation away from home but we made the best of it, and visited family and just hung out. On Monday, Memorial Day, the weather was awesome. Graydon also took a ride in a little infant swing for the first time! At first it seemed like he wasn't sure what to think about it but he ended up liking it. I think that his Daddy was just pushing him too fast... (typical paranoid Mommy, right?) :)

Graydon has gotten very observative. He loves to look over your shoulder, or look around and see what is going on, especially wondering with the dogs are up to. He is very easily distracted especially if he is in his high chair eating and the dogs come in to the room. He is so curious, it is so cute!
We have to be careful when we are carrying him too because sometimes it seems like he is going to leap right out of our arms, especially if he is "looking" for something.
Another thing we noticed is that he is always crossing his ankles....in his carseat, swing, when he is sleeping etc. It is so cute! I do this all the time as well, so I think he got it from me. :)

7 Month Pictures

2011-05-25T20:02:00.001-07:00

Month 7

Such a happy boy!

Visiting Abraham Lincoln's Tomb

Graydon and his cousin Ayden

Trying out the walker

Graydon's 1st Easter

Baby push-ups! And check out my cool slippers!

Graydon and his Uncle Joe (my brother)

Visiting the Easter Bunny

Graydon and Sage

Getting stuck under the couch....!

Check out my cool shades!

I can sit up in the bath like a big boy now.

7 Months Old

2011-05-25T13:03:00.001-07:00

*This is 3 weeks late, yikes!*

7 months old. Time is flying by, as usual.

Not too much has changed since last month, except he is sitting up completely unassisted now and also can roll over with no problems.He is also sitting up by himself in the bathtub now, and loves to splash and play with his toys.

He is not crawling yet but definitely moves around a little bit. We have seen him kinda scootch backwards a couple of times, and one time he even got his legs stuck under the couch when we left the room for 2 minutes. He was not happy but it was so cute at the same time! We have also put him in a walker that Chris's mom got for their house but he doesn't quite understand what to do yet. His favorite thing is still to stand up while you are holding him and jump up and down or sway back and forth and "dance."

I think he weighs over 18 lbs. not but not for sure.

One of our favorite things to do is blow on his belly while getting him dressed. I also always say “Peek a boo!” when I pull his shirt over his head. He is soo ticklish!

I think that he is going to be getting a tooth soon, although I say this every month!

Graydon still likes his jumpy but I try not to put him in it too much anymore since he is sitting up well now and playing with his toys.

He is still standing like a champ while we hold him and whatnot. Everyone always comments about how he sways back and forth, it is so funny!

Like I said before, he is rolling over from his back to his stomach now and once he figured it out now he does it all the time. It sort of seemed to happen all the time! But now it’s like he forgot how to roll back over the other way. He “gets stuck” on his stomach and doesn’t like it, and then gets all mad. It is sort of cute though. J

He is still napping a lot in his carseat at daycare, especially if they are running errands and his swing at home. I want to break this next month!

Graydon is still fitting into Carter’s 6 month onesies, but fits best into 9-12 month pajamas. Summer is coming soon so I cannot wait to get him into all of his cute shorts and little t-shirts!

Still wearing Size 3 diapers.

Graydon has tried some more foods since last month. Altogether now he has now tried: sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, apples, peaches, peas, carrots, pears, and green beans. He has also eaten a few puffs here and there (sweet potato flavored.) He eats solids once during the day and once in the evening.

He usually eats around 6 oz. bottles now, about 4-5 during the day and one at night, depending. He is such a good little eater and getting so big!

His favorite words to say over and over and over are Dada da da da. He hasn’t been saying ba ba ba much lately.

Graydon saw the Easter Bunny this month as well! That was of course more fun for Mommy, as he didn't know much of what was going on. I also made the mistake of not letting him sleep long enough so when the picture was taken he had just woke up and wasn't too smiley yet. Oh well, it is still cute!

Graydon has been feeling better somewhat this month but then he caught his cousin’s cold. He has been sniffling and coughing a lot again lately, and then we all got sick as well. Compared to the RSV though, this has been easy.

One big thing that has happened this month is Graydon has officially taken his first big trip and traveled out of state! We went to Olathe, Kansas for my brother’s wedding. We left on Wednesday, April 27^th and drove straight through the night. I figured that it would be easier because then hopefully Graydon would sleep most of the time. He did so well! He woke up a lot when we stopped to get gas and use the bathrooms. I would take that opportunity to change his diaper, feed him quick if he needed it and usually he would go right back to sleep! We drove though Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and then on into Kansas. It was difficult to get him to sleep well there but we made it work. Usually he would sleep for a couple of hours in his crib, wake up, we would feed him and then he would sleep the rest of the night with us in the bed. That seemed to work well. And it was so warm down there! It was like his first little taste of summer. It got so hot after the wedding on Saturday and into the reception he spent the evening wearing just a onesie and the poor little man was still sweating like crazy! The ride home was a whole other story. We left early Sunday morning a little after 7 and didn’t get home until after 9 pm. It was such a LONG drive! Graydon was ok at first but after a couple hours in that carseat he wanted out! I tried my best to entertain him with toys, puffs and anything else I could think of. On the way home Chris wanted to stop in Springfield, IL and see Abraham Lincoln’s tomb.I will post a picture of Graydon visiting his first National Monument...of many I am sure!

Graydon has been going to sleep around 8-8:30 most nights. It seems that he is getting more tired earlier and earlier. He also sleeps mostly on his stomach now that he has learned that he can flip over. At first I did not like it AT ALL. But, then I realized that he was doing it every night and there was no way that we could prevent it from happening. I guess he is more comfortable that way! Ever since he started doing this it seems like he has been sleeping better. Some nights he will sleep all the way through, but usually he wakes up right around 3-4 am and will eat about 5 oz. It has also been getting easier to get him to sleep, but some nights he still fights it. He loves to lay in his crib and look up at his mobile.

I think that is about all for now!

Update

2011-04-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Graydon had his 6 month appointment. He was 27.5 weeks old.
He now weighs 17 lbs 1 oz. and is in the 40% for his weight.
He is 27 3/4 inches long and is in the 75% for height.
His head is 17 1/4 inches around and that is in the 50%.

He is also now rolling over and sitting up unassisted like a pro!

Adam David

2011-04-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

I have to introduce my new little nephew!

On Thursday, March 10th at 7:43 a.m. my SIL Emileigh gave birth to this little sweet pea.

He was all of 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 20 3/4 inches long.

He is so such a cutie and we cannot wait to see him again!
*He was about 1.5 days old in these pictures.*

6 Month Comparison

2011-04-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Quite the change, that is for sure.
In my opinion, he just keeps getting cuter and cuter! :)

Month 5-6 Pictures

2011-04-08T09:53:00.000-07:00

Taking a snooze together. My favorite!

First St. Patty's Day

Standing like a big boy.

4 Generations

Hanging out with Grandma

First walk of the season!

Loves playtime!

My MOST favorite new picture...!

6 months old! Such a big boy.

Come here you!

Hi Mom

I can sit now!

6 Months Old!

2011-04-08T07:24:00.001-07:00

*I wrote this last week, on Graydon's 6 month Birthday.*

I cannot believe that our sweet little man if half a year old already! Where has the time gone? He is doing so many new things, it just amazes us. Each day we are like hmm...he was not doing that yesterday?

He goes Mmmmm a lot, and sucks on his bottom lip.
He also started shrieking a couple weeks ago!! It is so cute. He is becoming quite vocal. His main thing that he says a lot is Da da da da da. I try to get him to say Ma ma, but not yet. :)
Graydon is so interactive. He smiles and giggles all the time, and if you are laughing he thinks it is funny and will laugh too! I also got him to belly laugh the other day. He will also giggle sometimes when we are changing him.

Speaking of changing him/dressing him, depending on his mood sometime it is way harder than others. He likes to arch his back, kick down his feet really hard (not good if you have a poopy diaper lying there), or try to roll over. Anything to escape putting clothes on! You have to be quick with the diaper too so he doesn't pee everywhere. He doesn't do it often but once in a while.....
He also likes to grab our arms when we are changing him and hold on to them, it is cute. I just asked Chris today if he did that to him too. I guess that he grabs his arm hair and pulls it, lol.

He likes to grab at my hair and pull it as well. Sometimes it seems like he is using them as reins! He will also grab for my necklaces or earrings if I am wearing them. Also peoples faces, he likes to touch them and pinch.
He is grabbing at everything now and can hold on to things really well. He is becoming quite curious! Along with feeling different textures and whatnot.
He can also pick up his pacifier by himself now if he sees it, and put it into his mouth.

Anything you hand to him goes straight into his mouth and he is drooling everywhere.

He is super ticklish on his legs by his thighs, loooves to be thrown up into the air. Also play airplane and peek-a-boo.

His hair is getting blonder and blonder. Chris was super blond when he was little so it does not surprise me.

Both of his feet touch the ground now in his jumpy. That kid is such a mover and a shaker! Still everyone's main comment regarding him is how strong he is.

He can sit up by himself, but will topple over. He is getting better at it though! For some reason he likes to fall forward. He has hit his face a couple times. We are working at it!

He still prefers to stand. We mostly just hold him by his armpits for balance. He likes to "dance" as we call it, and rock back and forth constantly. It is like he wants to just take off running! He will stand against things for quite some time and his balance is improving.

He has rolled over from his back to his stomach, but Heidi, our daycare provider, and us have yet to see it. He has been soooo close numerous times. It will happen soon I just know it!

He doesn't have any teeth coming through yet.

Still loves his bath time soo much and getting better at sitting in the tub. He loves to splash all around. We use Aveeno soap and lotion for him. It seems to work well and does not dry his skin out. It is moisturizing and has oatmeal in it.

He loves his swing for taking naps, but I am wanting to break that habit soon. We will see how naps go in his crib soon!

I believe that Graydon weighs around 16.5 lbs. according to our scale at home. He is growing out of 6 month clothes already. He is so tall! All of his pajamas that fit him are either 9 or 12 month sizes, it is crazy. Otherwise his little toes are just about to poke through anything else! 6 month pants fit him best, but are still a little big in the waste, unless he is wearing a cloth diaper.

We were bad about cloth diapering this past month and mostly used disposables, which is wears a size 3 in now.
His poops are getting stiiiinky by the way. I am sure because of eating solids.

He just recently started eating them more frequently. He has some in the morning and in the evening. He has now tried: sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, apples, and peaches. He always has a little bit with some rice cereal. He is a great eater, will open his mouth and pushes it down well with his tongue.

WOW. As I am sitting here typing I just heard him say Ma ma! Yay! :)
He also says ba ba ba a lot. So we call his bottle his "Ba Ba".

This past month Graydon was sick for a week around St. Patty's Day and got RSV. That was not fun at all. His temperature got up to over 103 degrees, and he was coughing like crazy. We could barely get him to eat. I know he lost some weight that week. When he would eat from the bottle he would maybe eat 1 ounce, and then he would cough and gag so hard that he would vomit it back up. He had to sleep by us in our room upright in his swing, and we had a vaporizer going. The day I took him to the doctor they gave him a breathing treatment right there at the office and then made us take him to get a chest x-ray. He also ended up having an ear infection in one ear and was put on amoxicillin. Thankfully it only lasted a week though! We felt so bad for him...he just seemed so helpless. He just was not himself!

Graydon is getting more cuddly, mostly when he is tired. Sometimes it feels like he is hugging you...I love it.
He is still happiest in the morning and a little grumpy butt in the evening. I just honestly think that he is so tired from playing all day. I guess that he loves to watch the other little boys run around and play when he is at daycare, and he loves his jumpy there too. By the time we get him home he is a tired boy, not to mention I think that he just gets bored with us! We are not as entertaining. :)

I think that is all for now. He is just changing so much every day, I am sure that I will have a lot more to write next month!

5 Month Pictures

2011-04-01T15:37:00.000-07:00

Cheesy smile! What a little ham. It looks like he is trying to pose, lol.

Full out giggle!

Mmmm...my awesome new MAM teething toy.

Hehe! I am so cute.

Ok...I think I want to be done now...

*Pout* I am gonna just pull off my sticker then...

Five Months Old

2011-04-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is a little late as well, but that is OK! This is mostly to recap things for us, so we do not forget. :)

Graydon is doing more and more every month and these are the changes up to month 5.

He has really eaten rice cereal for the first time. He is a great eater! (Do not mind this terrible picture of me!!)

Graydon attended his first birthday party for his cousin Camden. He loooved watching the fireplace. He also really likes to look at ceiling fans.

Hanging out with Grandma Jeanne, and wearing his first little Birthday hat! First of many I am sure.

I can't help but kiss those squishy little cheeks all the time!

He is enjoying sitting in his bumbo now once and a while, he still does not like it too much though, and would prefer to stand up.

We started feeding Graydon solids this month, almost right as he turned 5 months. So far he has tried sweet potatoes, squash and bananas. He loves them all!

After eating, it is bath time!

He is getting better about playing on his stomach! And we are still using cloth diapers mostly.

Naked baby is so cute!! :) I like to let him do that once in a while after bath time.

He LOVES his jumpy. Only one foot touches the ground though.

Graydon and his little girlfriend Sage! She was totally trying to hold his hand, and he was digging it. Haha!

They are also wearing matching onesies from our friend Jill.

He looooved Sages bouncy. That thing is so cute, I would looove to get one. It makes the Tigger sound, so when he would move around you would hear "boing boing boing".

He took a little ride in Sage's backpack that Chris was trying out.

Graydon is still wearing 3-6 month clothes but they are getting pretty small. If it is a 3 month size alone, it will not fit him. Only the pants in the waste, but not in the length. And definitely not onesies! 6 month sizes are fitting perfectly right now.

He does not fit into his little brown size 1 shoes anymore, so he is always wearing his Tevas now, which are awesome because they are adjustable. He will be able to wear them for a long time.

Peoples main comments to him lately are still about how strong he is.

He started blowing his lips this month and does it all the time now, especially if he is mad!

He is "talking" a little bit more.

Still wearing size 2 diapers if we use disposable.

Not sure how much he weighs this month, but he is getting heavy!

He typically eats about 5 oz. every 4 hours or so. Sometimes he still wakes up in the night, usually about 2 am. Then he wakes up for the day around 5-6 am. If we feed him solids, which is totally sporadic at this point, he has a little bit with some rice cereal around dinnertime. Then his last feeding right before bedtime.

One HUGE milestone with Graydon this month is that we transitioned him downstairs into his nursery and into his crib. We did it over a weekend because we didn't know how hard it would be, and he did sooo incredibly well. It was like he didn't even notice. We have a video monitor that we use since we are upstairs, so we can see what is going on and what he is doing.
He looooves the mobile in his crib. When we turn it on it is like he is in absolute awe. It is the Fisher Price Precious Planet mobile and I highly recommend it to anyone. He will watch that for a little while and then go to sleep!

He is still playing with his feet a lot!
He will roll from his stomach to back, but not back to stomach yet.
He also loves his MAM pacifiers. I found some teething ones and one had a giraffe on it, I just had to get it!
Still no teeth yet, but I think soon!

He also scratched him self a good one this month, on his left cheek. He has a scar from it. :(

Graydon likes to watch the television sometimes. Also the monitor on the computer if the screensaver comes on. He likes the moving colors!
He does not mind his car seat at all, and will fall right asleep in it.

Graydon will be 6 months tomorrow, and is doing so many more new things. I can't wait to write about it! :)

4 Month Pictures

2011-04-01T11:10:00.000-07:00

You know what they say...better late than never right?!

Here are some pictures back from February, when Graydon turned 4 months old.

We had a blizzard here that day, so I stayed home from work. Here is Chris trying to shovel some snow out of the walkway!

Graydon in the Moby.

We decided to try pulling Graydon around in the sled. He wasn't too huge of a fan yet, plus it was really cold, but it was so cute!

There's a smile!

Graydon and one of his many giraffes.

I like to stand!

Hi Giraffe!

Standing again.

Four Months Old

2011-01-31T13:33:00.000-08:00

Time is flying by!

Mr. Graydon is getting so big, right before our eyes. Every day I am in awe over how fast this child is developing, and we are loving every stage of it.

We think that Graydon weighs around 13 lbs. but we will find out next week at his 4 month appointment. I am guessing that he is still in a really low percentile for his weight, but I am not concerned because I know that he is growing and healthy. I am also guessing that his length has also grown. He is so tall! I can tell when I am holding him and trying to nurse him that he is longer.

*We have now had his 4 month appt. since I originally started to write this.*

Graydon weighs 13 lbs. 11.5 oz. He is in the 25th percentile for he weight, but we are not concerned because you can tell he is a healthy boy! The doctor also said that they are less concerned about "skinny babies" these days, because over time they have shown to become healthier adults. Also because Chris and I are both tall and slender, that is how Graydon will most likely be.
He is 26.5 inches long, which is the 80th percentile, and his head is 16 1/4 inches, which is also in the 25th percentile, but they said that was fine.

He is still nursing and eating from a bottle at daycare, and sometimes a bottle at home too. Sometimes he just prefers it, which makes me sad, but doesn't surprise me. I guess it just depends on his mood!

We definitely have a mover on our hands! He is never in the same place that we left him. Lately we will walk out of the room for a second and when we come back in he is almost off his play mat and onto our hardwood floors. Also when we go to get him out of his pack n' play his head is all the way up to the top of one side.

One new thing is that over the past couple of weeks he has discovered his feet. They are like permanent toys attached to his legs, it is hilarious! If he is on his back, his feet are instantly in the air and he is playing with them, trying to pull his socks off and then it causes him to roll over. This has been interesting at bedtime and we think causes him to stay awake longer. He thinks it is playtime at first.

Lately when we try to put him to bed he has been struggling. I have been trying to move his bedtime up to 8 pm, and so far he doesn't like it. He is a stubborn little guy! He likes to be held and rocked to sleep and it is so hard not to make a habit of it. He definitely likes to be awake and where the action is.

We are still cloth diapering most of the time and using disposables once in a while. He is still wearing size 1-2 in the Costco diapers, which I love! Size 2 pampers are still too big on his skinny little butt. :)

Graydon is still wearing 3-6 month clothing, but a lot of the onesies that are 3 month size are too small on him now, especially if he is wearing the bulky cloth diapers. 6 month sizes fit him perfectly most of the time. 3 month pants are getting too short but are still too big in the waste...they need to make pants for smaller wastes with longer legs. He is also still wearing size 1 shoes.

Graydon is drooling a lot more so we tend to put a bib on him a lot now. The doctor also said that he should get his bottom two teeth within the next couple of months.

He still is rolling from his stomach to his back, but hasn't the other way yet.

We started putting him in his jumpy this month which has been awesome and he LOVES it! His feet doesn't touch the ground yet but I think that they will soon. He loves to roll the beads around and push the sun around, it's so cute.

He also loves his swing, especially for nap time, or his car seat, which I guess he naps a lot in while at daycare.

Graydon is such a smiley boy and if he is in a good mood, will never hesitate to flash a big smile and show off his cute little dimple.

He also loves to stand up, and lately we have been leaning him against stuff and he will stand there for a while before he loses balance and starts to topple over. Of course we are right there to catch him.

We are absolutely loving the stage that he is in right now...he is such a happy boy. We love him SO much!

Pictures to come!

3 Month Photos

2011-01-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Graydon's 3 month photo shoot with Bryan and Mae! We had them taken on January 2nd, right on his 3 month birthday. I always just want to post a couple of my favorites, but can never choose. Here are bunch that we love!

I love his sweet little faces that he makes.

Smiley man!

Love!

I absolutely LOVE his eyes in this one!

Some urban family shots-

It was SO cold outside and he was such a trooper!

Three Months Old

2011-01-05T11:34:00.000-08:00

Once again, I am a little behind on my blogging.
Ok, who am I kidding, I am WAY behind!
I still have pictures to post from Halloween for Pete's sake! But that is OK. :)
I am a full-time working Mom, and I need to embrace the fact that we are insanely busy. I already feel like I do not see Graydon enough in the evening as it is, let alone try to fit some blogging in. :) I miss it though, and I also miss keeping up on what is going on with other people and comment on their blogs. So if I haven't stopped by in a while, I am truly sorry!

Graydon is over 3 months now. I cannot believe how much he is changing so quickly! I know I keep saying that but it is true.

At his "2 month appointment" which he was actually 10 weeks at the time, Graydon weighed 11 lbs. He had only gained 2 lbs. in 8 weeks and was only in the 25th percentile for his weight. BUT he was in the 85th percentile for his height. I am pretty sure that he has definitely gained some more weight and gotten bigger in the past couple of weeks.

We are mostly cloth diapering now 100% of the time. Once in a while we will use a disposable if we are going somewhere or are in a hurry. They fit him very well now on the smallest setting. I am thinking that soon though we will have to move him up a size. He is still in size 1's for disposables. He can fit into size 2's but they are still a little big.

Graydon is mostly wearing 3-6 month clothing. Once again, he is soooo long that his pants get short. Today I put him in a 6 month outfit and it fit him perfectly! Then again, it was this Jumping Beans brand from Kohls, and I have never used their outfits on him before. Add in his cloth diaper fluffy butt and he REALLY needs bigger pants, haha!

He is sleeping SO well for the most part. We feel insanely lucky! Once he hit 12 weeks it was like he flipped a switch. He is sleeping every night by 10 pm, and usually wakes up right around 5 am. Thank you Graydon for 7 hours of sleep! He has been doing this for almost two weeks now and since we both work early it has been terrific. He also naps throughout the day pretty well most of the time.

He is slowly but surely starting to be more of a snuggler and I love love LOVE it. When he is tired and puts his head on my shoulder, it is one of the best feelings.

He is of course, getting stronger and stronger. He has been able to hold his head up for a while now but he does sooo great during tummy time and is starting to push himself up on his arms. After a couple minutes of it he still gets frustrated though! Usually he will just roll over onto his back.

Graydon had his first bath in the sink this past week! He did pretty well since he holds his head up, but obviously he cannot sit on his own yet so he kept slipping down. It worked out OK though. His little mohawk cracks me up...

I love that cute little baby butt! :)

He has also found his hands and is reallllllly intrigued by them. He stares at them all the time and is constantly playing with them. He also loves to put them into his mouth, especially his middle three fingers on his right hand. He tends to suck on those if he is crying and trying to soothe himself, if he doesn't have his pacifier.

Graydon is still using the MAM pacifiers, he loves those. He is also drooling a lot more. Especially if he shirt is anywhere near is mouth, he likes to suck on it and bite on it, and then it gets completely wet. I am trying to remember to use bibs more but sometimes we forget still since he doesn't do it all the time.
The past couple of days when I am holding him he loves to gnaw away on my hand. I am guessing this is a normal part of the process leading into when they start to suck and chew on everything and start teething.

Chris is in the process of putting together his Baby Einstein bouncy entertainer thing. When we hold him he doesn't like to sit long...he likes to "stand up" so we figured it was time to get him in there! *edit* Chris tried to put him in it today and it is still WAY too big for him...his feet are still like 6 inches off the ground, I am so bummed! I know he will love it eventually though!

Graydon drinks around 5 oz. per feeding, at least from his bottles that he gets during Daycare anyways. He has been on "strike" lately though, periodically. Sometimes he will not take his first bottle of the day, according to Heidi, who watches him for us. Then when I try to nurse him during the evening, he gets super frustrated. I thought maybe it was my milk supply at first, but when I am persistent then eventually he eats. I think at first he doesn't want the bottle, he wants me, but then being spoiled all day and not having to work so hard to get his food, he comes home at night and gets lazy trying to eat from me. It was a pretty "trying" week last week, but we hung in there and the past couple days have been OK again thank goodness!
Another thing he has been doing lately is getting easily distracted while eating. He will keep popping off and looking up at me, and then he will start smiling. It is so cute...he is a little stinker! :)

Graydon will watch TV with us sometimes. He just sits there really contently and stares at the TV, I think it is pretty funny! I want to invest in some Baby Einstein type DVDs or something since he seems to sort of like it. I think that he probably likes the brightness of it and watching things move etc. Here is a picture of him watching TV at my in-laws house over Christmas....it was early one morning right after I fed him and Chris was still sleeping. He is just chilling out, haha!

He has also been "talking" sooo much lately! He will have a little conversation with you.
He started laughing a little last week. Chris kept telling me that he had heard it a couple of times and then finally a couple days later I got to hear it, it is so cute. It is very low and not really very loud and noticeable unless you are paying attention but he is definitely doing it. Chris has also been spending a lot of time playing with him and blowing his lips at him, and Graydon has been mimicking him the past couple of days. He is a little smartie pants!

Well I guess that is about all for now. I am just so amazed at how he continues to grow and learn new things every day!

Michigan State

2011-01-05T11:32:00.001-08:00

We are big State fans around my house. Well, I am anyways. Chris is a fan because he has to be... ;) But anyways, I figured that I might as well groom Graydon right from the start! State was well into their football season when I had him, so every Saturday that there was a game and we were home and available, I would try to put some State gear on him and take a picture! It is crazy to look back and see how much he has changed in the past 3 months.

My favorite so far is absolutely this first picture that I took of him, when he was only one week old. He was such a little peanut! And you will notice that in the most current picture, he still has this same, serious face, haha!

3 weeks old

4 weeks old

13 weeks old

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

Two Months Old

2010-12-17T12:31:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late. I am pretty busy these days, especially since I went back to work! There are so many things I want to blog about and I am so behind!

(Isn't this such a cool blanket? We received it as a gift, and it is from www.theblanketlady.com. I love it so much!)

Graydon is getting so much stronger. He continues to do such a great job holding his head up and he is always trying to "stand up" when we are holding him. I also have a hard time nursing him sometimes because he is a wiggle worm, and always kicking his legs out. I am wondering if he will be an early crawler/walker!

His acne cleared up around between 6-8 weeks. He still will get a couple pimples here or there but his skin looks a lot better now!

Graydon mostly wears size 1 diapers. Sometimes I will put a size 2 on him, but they are still too big. We mostly cloth diaper now, except for at nighttime, or if we are going out for an extended period of time, or if someone else is watching him.

This picture cracks me up. He kept looking down and sucking on the sticker on his shirt and the ink got all over his chin and around his mouth!

He is really sucking on his hands and fingers a lot lately too!
We finally found a pacifier that he likes, the Mam brand. Thank goodness! They have been awesome for him, especially while being soothed.

I had to go back to work right before Graydon turned 2 months old. This was my 3rd day back here.

While I am at work, Graydon gets 3- 4 oz. bottles at Daycare. He has done really awesome going between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding and has no trouble switching between the two. We use most the glass Born Free bottles and some Tommee Tippee bottles.

Around 6 weeks we started doing started doing the Parent-Directed Babywise schedule. Basically every 2.5-3 hours he eats, plays and then naps. Every since we started doing this Graydon has been a totally different baby! He is much happier now and not as fussy. Looking back at his first month, I believe that maybe he was tired and we just did not know it, because he didn't sleep very often. Now he is a great sleeper most of the time. He usually sleeps from 10 pm-3:30-4:30 am. He still gets up around that time for one feeding, and then goes back to sleep until I wake him up again around 6:30 to feed him one last time before I go to work.

Graydon is very long and slender. He was fitting in 3 month clothing around 5-6 weeks. The pants fit him perfect length wise, but are still big in the waist.

People are still commenting on how alert he always is, and how long he is. Also on his hair, which has mostly rubbed off on both sides so now it really looks like he has a little mohawk, it is so cute!

Graydon loves his bath time (until we take him out and he gets cold) but while he is in the water he is all smiles.

He also LOVES his playmat! He will lay under it for an hour at a time and just smile and coo away, and bat at his little toys that hang down. He is really figuring out that he is part of the world and able to affect it!
He still isn't a huge fan of tummy time, so we only do that once and a while, but he gets plenty of other exercise to strengthen his neck so I am not too worried about it.

He also does not mind his carseat now. He usually almost falls asleep right away, or likes to stare up at his toys hanging down from the handle.
We are still traveling all over Michigan with him, and he usually does a great job in the car. He is such a good baby.

We really love our sweet little man! It has been hard going back to work and leaving him during the day, but I take it day by day and try to make the best of the situation. I cannot wait to get home to see him at night and play with him.

More posts to come soon! :)

Pregnancy Journey

2010-11-23T16:13:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Postpartum Survey-1 Month

2010-11-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

How far along were you when you had your baby? 40 weeks and 3 days.
How long was labor? About 8.5 hours...pretty good for a first baby; it seemed to happen so fast.
Total weight gain: 41 lbs. when I last weighed myself 3 days prior to Graydon's birth.
Total weight loss since: 30 lbs. 11 more to go! I need to stop eating all the yummy Fall treats I keep indulging in!
Back into your own clothes yet? For the most part except most of my pants do not fit yet.
Did you get stretch marks? Yes but they are not that bad. They did not become visible until after I had Graydon and my stomach went down.
Did you deliver vaginally or by c-section? Vaginally with no epidural. I am thankful that I was able to have an all-natural, med-free birth.
Best moment this week: Graydon smiling at us more and more.
What I miss about being pregnant: Feeling him moving inside me.
How big is baby: He was 8 lbs. 7 oz. at birth and a little over 9 lbs. now.
Baby's temperament? He is only content if he is dry and just ate...he likes to fuss a lot.
What I am looking forward to: Graydon becoming more interactive and sleeping more at night. Fitting into all of my pants. To be healed up, stop bleeding, and feeling normal down there. And sex. You know, all of the usual. :) OH and being able to start working out and start running again!

One month later!

One Month Old!

2010-11-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

Graydon is already one month old today! I can barely believe it. He is changing so much, and so quickly.
It is hard for me to keep up my blog lately, because we are so busy, and when he is sleeping I am typically trying to keep stuff up around the house, or we are running errands. We have kept pretty busy this past month and went somewhere almost every day since we have been home from the hospital.

When Gray was first born, he weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. He was 22.5 inches long, but also had quite the cone head from being born. :)
At his first doctor's appt. when he was 4 days old, he weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. losing a total of 6 ounces.
At his 2 week appt. when he was 18 days old, his weight went up to 8 lbs. 15 oz. He gained 14 oz. in two weeks, and his pediatrician seemed to be pretty happy with that. At that point he was only 21.5 inches long, so he lost an inch when his cone head went down.
Yesterday we had an appt. with a lactation consultant. When we first arrived he weighed 9 lbs. 1 oz. and ate 2.7 oz. during his feeding while we were there. The nurse told me that he is doing great and eating well, and should be eating around 29 oz. per day. He loves to eat! We nurse on demand and he typically eats every 1.5-3 hours. Sometimes he will go longer if he is napping or happens to sleep like a 4-5 hour stretch during the night, which doesn't happen too often right now.

Graydon has rolled over 3 times now, and did it for the first time when he was only 14 days old. I even caught it on video. Every time he did it, he started out on his stomach and rolled onto his back, and was completely content.

He has held his head up very well from day 1! He doesn't really like to be held in the "cradle position" (unless I am feeding him) and likes to be held with his head up on your shoulder where he can look all around. He is constantly moving and so squirmy. We call him a little wiggle worm or a bobble-head, lol.

Within the past week or so I have noticed that he blows a lot of spit bubbles, it is cute.

I got him to smile for the first time for me while I was trying to take his picture when he was exactly 4 weeks old. He has smiled on and off for a while but it is usually when he is passing gas, it is still super cute though.

He looooves to kick. Also when he moves his arms around, it looks like he is a little boxer. He has socked me in the face a couple times now.

He got baby acne at 2.5 weeks. He still has it pretty badly. It looks sort of painful, I feel so bad for him! Chris and I both have oily skin and I already notice it with him.

Graydon is a really strong sucker. The nurses in the hospital convinced us to let him have a pacifier, even though I wanted to wait a couple of weeks. We used an orange soothie style one, and he liked it for the first couple of days but it didn't last long. Since then we bought some Nuks and he seemed to like those better but is still not a big fan. He will just spit it out continuously...once in a while he will keep it in but it is rare.

He has only had a couple of bottles that I have pumped. He doesn't really like that either but took them. So far we have only tried the Tommee Tippee bottles. We also have Born Free bottles so will be trying one of those soon. Chris will usually feed him from the bottle if we use one. I tried to give him one today and he would not take it. He is a smarty pants!

This is a given with all babies, but Graydon gets so many comments from people.
First people always comment on how cute his little shoes are.
And then they comment on how long he is, he is soooo long! He will be tall like his Daddy I think! Chris is tall and slender, and around 6 ft. I am around 5'7.
Other comments that we receive are about how alert he is (all the time! he doesn't like to sleep, seriously....lol) and how big his eyes are. And also about his dark hair. I love his hair so much, it looks like a little mohawk!

Right now he can still fit into newborn sized clothes, but the pants are a little short. We are trying some 0-3 month stuff but sometimes it is still too big, he is still pretty skinny, just very long. He can still fit into newborn diapers, but I prefer the size 1's. They seem to contain his poops much better. We used a couple of cloth diapers tonight for the first time, and that seemed to go well so far. Tomorrow will be our first full day of using them so we will see how it goes! Some of them are still pretty big on him.

When Graydon first come home he slept in his pack'n'play for two nights, and then we started co-sleeping. At first we realized that we were both getting much more sleep this way. We were not swaddling him then, which about a week ago we started doing and realized we should have been doing it from the start. Sometimes the only way I can get him to sleep is by nursing him. The past couple days we have been trying to transition him back to the pack'n'play and it is going OK so far.

Graydon likes to be pretty fussy a lot. Chris and I joke around about "how he is angry all the time." We give him gas drops a couple times a day to help. He does NOT like it if his diaper is dirty, and he also likes to fight going to sleep. Sometimes he will cry and cry and I know he is tired, and he will finally go to sleep. He has been getting more content though over the past week or so.
He also really seems to like his swing, unless he is hungry and has a dirty diaper. Otherwise he is usually fine hanging out in there. Sometimes he likes his bouncy chair too, but only if he is totally full and dry, otherwise he is not having it at all! He likes to be pretty dramatic sometimes. I think it might just be a newborn thing though! :)

He is also "talking" and cooing more lately, it is sooo cute! :)
And usually when he smiles, he does this little thing with his tongue, I love it.

Graydon has been holding his head up so well that we tried out his Bumbo already and he really seemed to like it! We did this at 4 weeks old.

When he gets really upset, he tends to scratch his face pretty good...I like to put those little mittens on him sometimes.

He also tends to suck on his hands, especially when he is trying to soothe himself. He has almost found his thumb, but not yet!

Sometimes when he cries or is fussing, his little lip quivers. Once again, sooo stinkin cute.

Graydon did not like his first couple sponge bathes while his umbilical cord was still on, but now loves his bathes. He only starts to cry when he is cold when taking him out of the water!

He is not yet a huge fan of his car seat and likes to fuss or cry when we put him in it, but as soon as we pick it up and walk around, or start driving he usually stops right away. He likes motion!

Gray also lets out some REALLY good burps. I always tease Chris that he burps like his Dad, haha.

Well that is about all I can think of for now! I am really looking forward to what the next month holds. I am really excited to see him start smiling more and being more interactive. And also start sleeping more during the night!

Newborn Photos

2010-11-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be able to post these pictures on my blog and share them with everyone. Graydon was not even 5 full days old when we had these pictures taken. They are so precious to me, and I cannot even express how much I absolutely love them. Bryan and Mae did a fantastic job, and I feel that they pretty much captured everything I could have possibly wanted them to in able to remember this time in our lives. It is amazing how quickly his sweet little face has changed, so I will hold these pictures dear for forever. It was hard to choose which ones I wanted to post without making this entry too long, so I tried to pick my very favorites. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Sweet sleepy boy.

Don't you just want to kiss his little face? Poor guy!

So in love.

These are two of my very favorites. His eyes are incredible.

So wide awake!

Love this owl hat that his Auntie Megan got for him on Etsy. Sooo cute!

Love his little lip here!!

Trying to get a "family pic" with the pups...it was pretty comical to say the least.

I loooove this picture of him and Chris.

Birth Story!

2010-10-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, I never thought it would be so hard to get my blog updated once and a while after Graydon was born! Hopefully I will get better at it over the next couple of weeks before I go back to work, I am so behind.

Anyways, on with the story!

I will start things off on Friday, October 1st. After I ate lunch that day at work I did not really feel right. I just sort of felt like I could throw up at any moment. As the afternoon went on I became SO tired. I was just sitting at my desk feeling like I could call asleep right then and there. I finally decided that I was going to tell my boss that I wanted to go home. Chris and I had a friend's wedding/reception to go to that night, and I knew that if I didn't go home and get some rest that there was no way I was going to be able to make it through the night, and I wanted to have a good evening out with my husband! When I got home half an hour later I went straight upstairs and went to bed. I slept SO hard for about two hours, it felt awesome. When I woke up I felt a ton better, quick changed and freshened up, and then we went to the wedding. It was hilarious because people kept asking me when I was due, and when I would tell them this past Wednesday they just got that bewildered look on their face like they couldn't believe it; I also got a lot of "wow I hope your water doesn't break on the dance floor ha ha ha" comments. It was pretty funny. Anyways, we had a great time. I told Chris that we were going to "dance the baby out." I even had a few sips of wine with dinner, trying to get relaxed. We got home before midnight. I got online for a while and Chris's sister had sent me a message that I needed to rest and go to sleep because she had a feeling that my labor would start soon. I slept sooooo good that night.
Saturday morning I woke up sometime after 8 am feeling super rested and really refreshed. We did the deed, because I was still trying to do anything I could to get things going. After that I guess you could say that I got my little "burst of energy". I got some cinnamon rolls going in the oven and started cleaning the house like crazy. Chris was like what the heck are you doing?! I just could not sit still. Around 10ish I started feeling some contractions but told Chris jokingly because I still did not want to get my hopes up or believe that things could really be starting! I decided to take a shower and get completely ready. When I was finished I told Chris that he had better get ready too, and he just gave me this look like really?!! At this point my contractions were 10-15 minutes apart consistently for over an hour. I could tell they were for real too because there were a lot more intense than anything I had felt prior. I called Andrea, our Doula, and canceled the massage that I had scheduled for that day, and told her to get prepared because we would call her when we felt like things really got going. Then I told Chris, we HAVE to go grocery shopping!! So we quick ate lunch and took off. It was hard to eat because the contractions were making me feel a little nauseous but all I had had that morning was some cinnamon rolls and orange juice, and I definitely wanted something with a little more sustenance in me for the energy. I ended up eating some oatmeal with an apple cut up into it. Then off to the store... I just wanted to pick up some things for after the baby was born so we didn't have to go out for a while. This was around 1ish. So we took off and went to Meijer. Needless to say we were not there for too long! I was definitely having some trouble getting through the contractions and wanted to get back home asap. By the time we left my contractions were about 5-6 minutes apart and I was having trouble breathing through them. On the ride home my SIL Emileigh called and every time I would have a contraction I would have to throw the phone to Chris to talk with her.
When we got back home I started to finish packing my bag right away and Chris got everything in the car. We called Andrea to tell her that she needed to get over soon and made phone calls to parents. Every time I had a contraction I had to squat down and hang on to something to get through it. They were getting SO strong! Then I got upset because I realized that we had not been using the olive oil and trying to "stretch" me and I had wanted to do this for a while to try to prevent tearing. We tried to do it once but things just were NOT working out, and with my contractions happening I just couldn't get comfortable enough to keep trying so we gave it up. Shortly after I told Chris that we needed to get to the hospital. I could just feel that things were progressing quickly and felt that we really needed to leave. We called Andrea in the car and just told her to meet us there. We started driving and I realized that I had not called my doctor's office! The OB on call was not my doctor, but the other female doctor at the practice I go to. I was happy that it would not have to be a male physician who would deliver. When I talked to her she acted so nonchalant about everything. I told her I thought things were happening fast but when she asked if it was my first baby, she acted like things would take a while and that the hospital would call her. I told Chris that I did NOT want to have any more contractions in the car and to get us there asap!! We only live like 5 miles from the hospital thankfully. BUT...the ramp to get there was closed. So we took a different way through the city. And the road in front was completely closed for construction. I was freaking out. I was feeling tons of pressure and felt like I could start pushing soon. Chris was doing illegal U-turns and almost going the wrong way down one-ways. ArtPrize was going on downtown, and there were people everywhere. We were hitting every single red light. It was like a bad scene out of a movie or something, I was like AHHH!!! I remember thinking oh my gosh...we waited too long. I am going to have this baby in the car!! Finally we got there and got to the Emergency room. I couldn't get out of the car right away because of the contraction that was happening. The security guard was by my door with the wheelchair and goes to my husband: "Is it her leg?" I wanted to scream at him..lol. I was like uhh I am in labor!!! It was hard to sit in the chair. Once he got me inside I immediately stood up and they told me someone was coming from the Triage area right away to get me. Chris was parking the car and I was just trying to get through each contraction. At this point it was about 3 pm and my contractions were about 3 minutes apart. Everyone in the ER waiting room was staring at me because I was squatting down and moaning. Another male nurse came up from behind me and asked if I was OK and once again I had to tell him I was in labor (HELLO!! Couldn't these people see my huge stomach?! Looking back I find this all pretty funny.) Then Chris came him and found me around the corner by following my sounds...he said he could hear me when he came in but didn't see me at first, lol. The nurse came down and got us and made me ride in the wheel chair again. I just remember being so incredibly uncomfortable. They got us into the Triage room and another nurse came in and told me to change, push the call light and get up on the bed and then left the room. I was like freaking out at this point and just wanted the nurse to come and check me. Chris kept trying to reason with me to take my clothes off and change but I was NOT having it. Finally he literally ended up ripping my clothes off of me and helped me get the robe on. He pushed the button and I finally got up on the bed. My vitals were fine and when she checked me I was already 7-8 cm. dilated. This explained why I was being so uncooperative...I was already in transition! I was sooo happy that I was that far along because the contractions were so intense. But it was so painful. I kept telling them that I thought I wanted an epidural but I wasn't sure. Chris kept saying are you sure? I just did not know what I wanted. All I knew was that I was in A LOT of pain and wanted it gone fast, but kept going back and forth. The nurse told me that I would need an IV first and I was like uhhh NO I do NOT want an IV and she was like Well then you can't have an epidural because you need fluids first so your blood pressure doesn't drop. I just kept looking at Chris, crying on and off and telling him that I did not know what to do. The anesthesia people came in and I signed the form, but she reminded me that I was progressing fast and there probably wouldn't be time. I signed it, but told her that I didn't know what I wanted. The nurse once again was like things are happening so fast.... I pretty much knew that I wouldn't get one, but in my weakness at the moment it just felt good to express how much pain I was in and that I wanted one to let people know how bad it hurt. I knew that there wouldn't be time, things were just happening too fast. I also kept telling them that I was feeling tons of pressure and that I felt like I maybe needed to push. They kept referring to me as "feeling pushy" and kept telling me to wait because I wasn't full dilated. They quickly got me over to the Birthing Suite. I went into the bathroom to go pee because I had realized it had been a while. Once again I was completely uncooperative and didn't want to listen to anyone! Ahh the joys of transitioning. :) I sat on the toilet and did not want to move for anyone and anything. Chris was getting so frustrated and at just the right moment Andrea finally arrived! She does not live right in the city like we do so she didn't know the streets as well and had trouble getting around all the construction. She was lost for over an hour and so worried that she was going to miss the birth, but she made it right on time! She came down to my level and talked directly at me and was able to talk some sense into me and finally I got off the toilet and back to the bed. I remember the nurse saying " Has anyone got a hold of the doctor to tell her that this is happening now?!" The male doctor on call at the hospital had come in and was just hanging out until she got there and I remember saying I do not care, you can deliver me!! Once you are in labor and in so much pain, I just really didn't care about any of that.
At one point I got on my hands and knees and my water broke. It was full of thick, dark meconium. The nurse told me that we would not be able to wait for the cord to stop pulsating when we cut it, because they would have to take the baby to make sure he was OK. Once again, I got over it quickly because I didn't care anymore. They also kept monitoring him with the external fetal monitor, which I only wanted that intermittently but was so out of it, I just kept it on. It was annoying though because it kept moving and they kept picking up my heart rate instead of his and they kept freaking out but every time, he was totally fine. He handled it like a champ!
Finally I was fully dilated. This was around 5ish. I tried squatting for a while but that didn't seem to be working too well. The nurse kept wanting me to put my feet in the stirrups but I wasn't having it. I was determined to not push just laying on my back. We ended up putting a towel around the squatting bar and every time I had a contraction I would pull on that and for some reason this is what was helping me make the most progress! I remember getting mad because I thought that once I started pushing he would crown very soon but this was not the case. I ended up pushing for about an hour and a half. Andrea and Chris were awesome. They talked with me, gave me drinks of water, and cold wash clothes. Andrea also did hot compresses to help me not tear, which didn't work completely but still, it felt good when I would push. Once his head was finally coming down and you could see it we started using the mirror. It was really encouraging because I could see my progress and it made me want to push harder to get him out quick. You could see that he had a ton of dark hair, I was so happy!! Grandma Dottie, Grandma Jeanne, Chris and Andrea were all in the room with me. I did not mind at all. But then again I was so out of it and focused on pushing that I didn't really care at that point. A lot of nurses came in and out, and the Neo-natal people were right there too waiting because of the whole meconium thing. The doctor did end up getting there shortly after I started pushing too. She was surprised....I told her things were happening quick! Anyways, when I was crowning, I guess she kept playing with his hair. Like making it into a little mohawk. Weird, I know, lol. At one point, his head was just sticking out of me like two inches. I remember looking into the mirror and thinking WOW...wow...this hurts.....lol. And then I was like Ok, I know what people are talking about when they say that you can feel the "ring of fire!" Everyone just sort of laughed. Once his head was out completely they started suctioning him right away. A couple more big pushes and he was out! He was born at 6:38 pm and weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. I pushed for about an hour and a half and it definitely felt that long! I only got to see him for a couple seconds and they took him away to get him cleaned up and suctioned. They worked on him for quite some time, but it worked out because all the while they were working on me. I kept asking is he ok? Is he alright? They assured me things were fine. We also got it all on video. Not something that I go around showing random people, but I like to have it for me to watch. It was just a special moment for us! I ended up bleeding pretty badly and the OB had some trouble getting it to stop. They kept pushing on me which wasn't fun since I could feel EVERYTHING. They ended up giving me a shot of pitocin in my thigh which I fought at first because I didn't want it, but then realized how bad the bleeding was once Chris gave me this UHH you need it NOW look. She also shoved a Cytotec up my butt. Yeah, I am scarred for life because of that. Chris said she stuck her finger up there pretty far (OWW!!) Anyways, it all helped because finally the bleeding stopped. I guess people were starting to get a little freaked out. I had a 2nd degree tear on bottom and also tore a little on the top so I got some stitches. Like I said, none of this was fun, but I just kept focusing on the baby and asking if I could have him soon. Finally they were all done and they gave him to me! He was sooo awake and so alert. His eyes were huge. Chris was like, he looks just like you! I couldn't tell who he looked like yet, but I was happy he was finally here, and that my labor was all over with. They told me that he was totally fine and not to worry about the whole meconium thing. I had planned on keeping the placenta to encapsulate it but it was covered with the meconium inside and out so we ended up just throwing it away.
The nurses were really great. They let me take a shower pretty much right away. I was surprised that I didn't feel faint at all when I walked to the bathroom. I was just super shakey, which I guess is normal! I was pretty emotional in the shower. I was just so happy that our little guy had finally arrived, and was totally healthy. Also that I had had a pretty good labor, just like how I had wanted. I just felt incredibly thankful and kept thanking God!
I got to eat dinner pretty much right away too, I was hungry! After a while everyone left and I just spent some time alone with Graydon. He was hungry right away and latched right now. I was also thankful about this, I had prayed that our baby wouldn't have issues with latching on or nursing. He was a strong sucker, and the nurses convinced us to let him have a pacifier even though I didn't really want him too, but it wasn't even an issue. I felt so blessed. Overall my labor was only about 8 1/2 hours. Not too bad at all for a first baby!
Around 10 pm we finally got moved into our room that we would stay in for the rest of the stay at the hospital. Chris was exhausted, but I was so high on adrenaline, I could barely get myself to sleep. Graydon was sleeping and so I got right online and posted some pictures and an update right away!
We finally named him the next evening. We had been going between Collin and Graydon, and finally settled on Graydon. That name was Chris's idea, and now I love it!!
The first couple days were rough. I was really sore and it hurt to sit down. Thank goodness for ice packs and Dermaplast! Also every time Gray nursed the cramps were not too fun, but I just kept reminding myself that compared to the contractions I had felt that it was nothing!
We finally got to go home early Monday afternoon. Thankfully things have come pretty naturally since then. We have had our rough moments here and there, but things have been good and we are happy.

I know this is a long story, and I do not really expect anyone to read all of it. It is for my benefit so I can hopefully remember everything and look back on this when I want to!
And that was how baby Gray came into the world. :) Love that little guy.

Graydon Robert Ostrander

2010-10-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

Graydon is here! He was born on Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 at 6:38 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 22.5 inches long. He is our little October pumpkin. :)

Getting all cleaned up!

So happy to finally be able to hold him.

Proud Daddy!

Just a couple hours old.

First full day in the Hospital. He is so snuggley.

Looooove the little pumpkin hat that they gave us for him!

Happy family.

Time to go home!

I hope to post the Birth Story soon. I did not think it would be this hard to keep my blog updated since I am home every day, but this little man takes up a lot of time! :) Not that I am complaining...!

A Lesson in Patience.

2010-09-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

So I am officially overdue today.

When I got up this morning I had this awesome comment in my blog from my amazing Doula, Andrea (she is also a massage therapist.) It was just what I needed to hear today! So here is what she wrote:

Let me know if you need a massage Saturday afternoon - one o'clock is open ;) A lot of moms go into labor once they finally get mad and let go of deadlines and timetables. At this stage of the game we give it to God and take it back for awhile. Back and forth. It's almost torture. Once you surrender, you're there. God's lesson in parenting. Complete surrender to Him so that you can experience his love and comfort and compassion and be so grateful when this baby comes, giving glory to the proper place. You can do all things through Him who strengthens you, Anne!

It sort of made me want to cry, because she is right! I am trying to just control this whole situation. Really what it comes down to is that I am just anxious and want to meet our baby, but I have no control, God has a plan, and he will come when he is supposed to come.

So anyways....that is that!

And the wait continues.

Just a little more patiently now, that is all. :)

40 Week Pics

2010-09-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

Bare belly pic comparison from last week: I def. think I look bigger this week!

I also think it is funny how my ticker from The Bump says Congratulations on it, and how my other ticker says that "my baby is 1 day old." hahaha.....
It is sort of sad though.
Come out baby!!!!

40 Week Survey

2010-09-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

How far along? 40 Weeks. Holy. Moly.
Total weight gain/loss: +0.5 lbs. this weeks. 41 lbs. total.
How big is baby? According to Baby Center, 7.5 lbs. and 20 in. long. My doctor guess 7 3/4 lbs. last night.
Maternity clothes? Yes please.
Sleep: Pretty good, just wake up to use the bathroom and whatnot.
Best moment this week: Well, I guess I am still hoping that that will still happen. But nothing exciting has happened this week yet unfortunately!
Movement: Yeah actually, and I do not think he is slowing down. His movements are really hurting me lately. Especially when he is punching me in the bladder repeatedly. Time to come out little man!!!
Food cravings: Water, juice, apples
Gender: Little man
Labor Signs: **Ok, this is from last week**: According to my OB from my appt. on Monday, I am 2 cm. dilated, 70% effaced and ever since then I am pretty sure I have slowly but surely been losing my mucus plug.

**Now for this week**
So I go in last night and when she checks me she goes Uhhh I'm going to say about 1.5 cm. and 40.....and then she was like Wait, what did I tell you last week? And glances down at my chart.... Oh, 2 and 70...ummm...ok, well there isn't any further progress. Sorry, I know that is not what you wanted to hear!! Uhhh....you think?

Ummm ok?? So which is it? I doubt my cervix "un-effaced" lol. Seriously though, they check you SO fast....so I think maybe last week she was just guessing? Who knows. But I was honestly expecting to be more dilated at least, so this was a huge disappointment to me. Nothing I can do about it though, so oh well.
OH and not to mention that afterward, I felt nothing. No cramping, no discharge, nothing. Last week I thought maybe she had put me into labor!! Anyways, I guess that just surprised me a little. Obviously my body just is not ready yet.
Belly Button in or out? Definitely an outtie
Stretchmarks? Yep, I keep getting more of them. And they are all in the same spot, right around my belly button where his butt always sticks out. Go figure.
How are you feeling? I am feeling Ok. Ready to have this baby, that is for sure but trying to be content about the situation. My feet, ankles and lower shins are really swollen. I cannot believe how much water I am retaining.
What I am looking forward to: Going into labor. For realz.
What I miss: The usual. Sleeping on my back and stomach, and not being all swollen.
Weekly Wisdom: Don't get any sort of "date" in your head about when you "think" you will have the baby, and don't listen to people when everyone tells you they think you are going to have the baby early...haha.
Milestones: Reaching complete full term. I still cannot believe it!!

My doctor also made me schedule an appt. for next week. It is on Wednesday morning at 9:30. They will want to do an ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid and then do the NST test to make sure the babe isn't stressing out. I am seriously praying that something happens before then so I can cancel that appointment. I would hate for something to be up, and then have them try to force me to go in to be induced. :( She also pretty much told me that once I hit 42 weeks they will want to induce me as well.
Please Lord let me have this baby soon!!!

*I will post pictures later. Hopefully I have dropped a little bit more?

The Makings of an Ostie Family-Est. 2006

9 Month Pictures

9 Months Old

8 Month Pictures

7.5 Month Pics

8 Months Old

7 Month Pictures

7 Months Old

Update

Adam David

6 Month Comparison

Month 5-6 Pictures

6 Months Old!

5 Month Pictures

Five Months Old

4 Month Pictures

Four Months Old

3 Month Photos

Three Months Old

Michigan State

Wordless Wednesday

Two Months Old

Pregnancy Journey

Postpartum Survey-1 Month

One Month Old!

Newborn Photos

Birth Story!

Graydon Robert Ostrander

A Lesson in Patience.

40 Week Pics

40 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

Are we there yet???

Blog

Amelia Rose!

39 Week Pictures

39 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

More Nursery Progress!

38 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

Maternity Pics

37 Weeks!

How your baby's growing:

36 Week Survey!

How your baby's growing:

Nursery Progress

From bump to bump...

35/35!!!!!!!!

How your baby's growing:

My final shower ever!

Birthday Fun

34 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

Weekend Wedding Fun!

Baby Shower

33 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

I won!!!

32 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

Ostrander Shower

31 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

30 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

Work Baby Shower

29 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

28 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

My First Shower

4th of July Weekend!

On the way to Auntie Barb's.

New Baby

27 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

26 Week Survey

How your baby's growing:

Thanks!