New Chair (and a half)

When we bought our couches, we also got a big, comfy chair and a half. We originally had it in the bedroom, then pulled it out to the living room over Christmas.
We always intended to get another chair for the living room and put the leather one back in the bedroom. With Cason's arrival looming, we wanted to get that new chair sooner rather than later so we could have a chair for nursing, etc in the bedroom. We really became accustomed to the big chair in the living room so we went in search of basically the fabric version of the one we had. We found an almost identical chair with tons of fabric choices and after a few days of fabric-choice-decision-making (I am SOOO not good at this stuff) we ordered the chair with an April 30 delivery date. Little did we know how early Cason would arrive. :)
Here is the before with all the leather.
 
And the new chair that was delivered this week!


Ryan and Cason give it the seal of approval!!!

Two Weeks Old

Today is Cason’s Two Week Birthday.  Sometimes it feels like we were just arriving at the hospital but at the same time it’s hard to imagine life without him (though we can still remember life BEFORE him… like when we used to sleep for 8 hours, go out to eat on a whim, etc…haha).  It’s amazing how drastically our lives changed in a matter of 12 hours but we wouldn’t trade him for the world.  We spend hours just sitting and staring at him.

He had his two week check up with Dr. B yesterday and everything was great.  He weighed 6lbs 10oz and was 20.5 inches long.  That’s 2oz less than his birth weight.  As a true member of Ryan’s family, he’s already grown an inch.  His weight is in the 5th percentile and his height is the 25th.  The doctor would have liked to have seen him be back to 6lb 12 oz but wasn’t too concerned and I’m not either.  He’s eating good and often so I’m sure he'll start packing on the pounds (okay, ounces) soon. 

Here are a few more pictures from our 2 week photo shoot. 

Ok Mom, this is BORING Enough is Enough… he definitely lets me know when he is done with pictures  :)

And this one was just too good to pass up. 

First Nap in Crib

I guess I am one of “those” Moms.  I take pictures of everything.  I know I’ll never keep up at real “baby book” considering I’ve never finished my wedding book.  It’s just not my thing.  But I really enjoy updating the blog… guess its the “computer nerd” in me. 

We started Cason in the pack-n-play in our room.  I didn’t really want to but with my blood pressure issues the first week home we decided it was best.  I’d like to get him upstairs in his crib full time soon.  So today I put him in his bed for a nap.  Cason will sleep anywhere right now so its not like I was worried he wouldn’t sleep.  But, hey, I have to document everything, right?  :)

Bitten by a Snake

My fear since moving into the new house has been that we’d see a snake on the porch or that worse, Admiral would get bitten.  I really mostly feared it when we let him swim in the pond out front.  
We brought Cason home from the hospital on a Monday afternoon.  On Tuesday night, I was feeding him around 9:00pm and Ryan came in the room and said “something’s wrong with Admiral”.  Ryan looked really upset and that of course freaked me out.  Admirals snout was huge and you could see two small punctures so we knew it had to be a snake.  He was drooling really bad (worse than normal) and you could tell he was in pain.  I called the emergency vet and they told us to call a different one as they had a 2+ hour wait.  Ryan and my dad loaded him into the car and off they went. 
While they were gone, I of course was “Googling” snakebites to see what to expect.  Most of the websites made me feel better but confirmed that Admiral was likely in a lot of pain.
The vet gave him several different medicines and sent him home with anti-biotics.  He said it was the 4th snake bite that night and that he was fairly sure it was a copperhead.  He also said that April is bad for copperheads… we assume this is mating season or something?  Who knows. 
Here are pictures I took trying to show the swelling (these were when he got home from the vet).

And this one is two days later.

He was pretty groggy and whiney for a couple of days.  Add that to having the new baby at home and he was a sad sight to see.  But, he’s back to his normal self, hopping up every time he hears paper/plastic rustling.  It was a scary night for the new mom and dad… not exactly what we wanted to be dealing with a day two home with baby.  It sure makes you realize how much a part of the family our four legged friends are when they are sick. 
We all survived the ordeal and Admiral is definitely warming up to his baby brother.

First Pediatrician Visit

I was supposed to have met and interviewed two pediatricians tomorrow (Monday, April 26th).  When I got to the hospital several of the nurses asked who we had picked as a pediatrician.  I gave them the two names we were looking at and they all had glowing reviews for one of them who is also Luke and Hudson’s pediatrician.  So once Cason was born when they asked who the pediatrician was I just went ahead and picked Dr B. 

He came to visit us in the hospital 3 times and we joked that we were supposed to be meeting in a week.  We liked him right away and feel good about our rushed decision.

Cason had his first visit to Dr. B’s office on Thursday.  Everything looked great.  He’d gained 2 ounces from when he left the hospital (he was born at 6lb 12oz, left the hospital at 6lb 4oz and weighed in at 6lb 6oz on Thursday).  His coloring was great (he was a little yellow at the hospital) so no worries about jaundice.  Dr. B said we were doing great.  We go back on Thursday for the 2 week check up. 

First Days at Home

After our extended stay at the hospital, we were so ready to bring Cason home and start getting settled.  Since he came so early, there were lots of little errands we had planned to run in the weeks before his due date.  Neanie and Grandpa ran most of those errands for us… they were a huge help while they were here.  We were sad to see them leave today.

We are settling into a routine but still feel  frazzled at times as we figure out where everything should go and how to live our new lives.  I think my blood pressure is finally getting under control and I’m generally feeling okay.   But most importantly, we are enjoying getting to know our little man.

Pictures from the first few days at home.

Finally Home!!!

First bath

Lots of cuddling with Neanie and Grandpa

And cuddling with Mommy and Daddy

We ventured out of the house for Mexican Food on Saturday night.  I think he really liked it! ;)

And we watched some basketball. Cason decided he needed to be dressed for the occasion.

Cason has gotten lots of sniffs and kisses from his big brother.

And a little time outside for a family picture.

Potential Career…

I think he makes a great foot model. 

One Week Old

I can’t believe Cason is already 1 week old.   I’m going to try to take this same picture every week for a while to see how he has grown. 

And I can’t post these pictures without giving a “shout out” to my Mom, Cason’s “Neanie” for the awesome blanket that she made for him.  She’s been knitting for a couple of years with some ladies at the church but this was her first blanket and her first project that was FOR someone… her first Grandson!  I’m so proud and know Cason will love this blanket!

He wasn’t very happy with me taking these pictures.  For one, he was hungry and then I put the blanket right under the overhead light and you could tell he didn’t like that bright light.  He’s definitely got long legs and long arms and when he’s awake, they are moving non-stop!  Very reminiscent of all the kicks and punches I felt while pregnant! 

Here are the rest of the pictures from our photo shoot showing some of his other favorite facial expressions.

At this point he was DONE taking pictures and had kicked so much his sock was coming off.

First Playdate

Suz, Luke and Hudson came over to meet Cason today – the first of many playdates to come!  Ryan and Brandon are waiting for the day that the boys play in their first little basketball league and Suz and I are planning to bring the Capri Sun’s. :)

BFF’s -- Luke, Cason, Hudson

It’s hard to believe that Hudson and Luke were ever as small as Cason when they were born.  They grow up so fast!  Thanks for coming to visit!!!