Just kidding...

our flight was canceled so we just took a joy ride to the airport and back. Hopefully we'll be able to get on the 6am flight tomorrow. I hate this snow storm!!! Merry Christmas to us!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We're off to UTAH!!!!!! (Pray our plane can still take off in this storm.)

One month ago

One month ago ( yesterday, actually but I wasn't home all day to post), I gave birth to the sweetest baby boy that changed my life forever. Graham is the best thing that has ever happened to Eric and I. We couldn't be happier with the life we have now. We truly feel so blessed to have our child in our lives. We are grateful that the Lord trusted us enough to have such a sweet spirit in our home. I am so excited to see how he grows and changes over his life. I can't believe the changes he has made already in just one month.

So far Graham can:

*Lift his head up for a few seconds if he is lying on his stomach or on my shoulder. He'll push himself back so he can see the world around him.
*He loves facing forward and seeing all that is going on.
*He recognizes Eric and I's voices and will turn his head toward us.
*He can focus on our eyes and will smile when he see our faces.
*He grasps our fingers and holds onto them when he eats.
*He'll hold onto the collar of our shirts and wrap his arms around us when we pick him up.
*He is starting to enjoy the bath more and has started kicking in the water making it splash. He doesn't cry nearly as much anymore.
*He loves to lay on the floor and kick. He will lay there and kick for hours at a time without any complaining.
*He loves to lay in his swing and will look at the animals that hang from it. The rocking usually puts him fast asleep, which is nice on those nights he wont easily go down for bed.

*He is eating 4 oz. about every 3 hours and getting pretty fat!
*He weighs probably close to 10 pounds or more right now. (He was 7lbs 11oz when he was born)
*He still has no butt and very skinny legs so he is still in newborn diapers.
*He has outgrown his first outfit length wise. He is still skinny through the body but has gotten taller that one of his outfits won't stretch enough for him.
*He is sleeping 3 to 3 1/2 hours in between feedings at night and takes about 1/2 hour to eat and fall back asleep.
*He still has deep blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. His hair is getting longer and longer everyday.
*He is starting to smile and has giggled a couple of times during his times of kicking on the floor or watching his animals.
*He loves to sit and watch TV with daddy. Jeopardy and football are his favorites (or maybe those are Eric's favorites.)

Overall, he is an awesome baby. We love him so much and can't imagine life without our little buddy.

Please pray for my Grandpa

He is having surgery on his gal bladder on Tuesday but is in so much pain right now that he can't even walk or get out of bed. I am really worried about him. Please pray for him!!

Soy milk and blue eyes

When we decided breastfeeding wasn't going to work for us, we started feeding Graham regular formula. After the many shots in the face of his projectile vomit, we decided to try soy formula and see if he could keep it down better. For 2 weeks now, he hasn't vomited and sleeps a lot better. Well, yesterday we fed Graham the last of the soy formula and only had the regular left. So, we decided to give it a try. He cried all through the night and again, vomited all over me four times this morning. I got another can of soy and have had a happy (and very tired) baby for the rest of the day. I think we will stick to soy for a while.
I don't know if any other Jacob babies had this problem. If they did, do you have any advice?? My mom said I was on soy formula as a baby so it might be from my side. Who knows...I just don't want him to have problems drinking regular cow's milk when he is older. Anyone with advice, HELP!!!

On a side note, aren't these blue eyes awesome!!! (click on the picture to see how blue they are) I have a gorgeous baby...
Graham is starting to find his personality and smile a lot. I was lucky to capture one of them.
SO CUTE!!!!

Here comes Santa Claus

Haircut

While I'm in Utah for Christmas, I am going to visit my old hair stylist and get my hair cut. I really want a change but have no idea what to do. I still want it long but it doesn't have to be super long, just not short. Any ideas of what I should do??

This is what it looks like now. Really boring!!! Give me some ideas of what I should do...
(Libby I'm counting on you to offer some advice.)

Splish Splash

Graham had his first bath the other night. I'm not sure if he liked it or not. Hopefully he learns to love it soon. We did get some pretty cute pictures though. :)
I think he was very glad when he was done and dressed. Yes, the binky soothes everything for him.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

The Christmas spirit is in the air. Last night Eric and I got the tree set up and the house decorated for Christmas. Because we are going to Utah this year for the holiday, we decided not to get a real tree and just use the fake one we had for our apartments. It's really small and well used so we call it our Charlie Brown tree. It's what we started our life together with and now it's the tree we'll start our little family with. We dressed Graham up in his "My first Christmas" outfit and put him next to the tree. He loved looking at the lights on it and stared for close to an hour. I am loving the Christmas season this year and am so excited to have our first Christmas as a little family.
Eric being funny as usual. I asked him to put the tree skirt on and this is what he does.
watching the lights

GO BIG RED!!!

Well, the Huskers might have lost the Big 12 Championship by one point but we sure had fun getting dressed up for the game.
Better luck next year boys!

Got 'em!!!

Graham finally got daddy!

I have been shot, grandma has been shot, even grandma's laptop has been shot but daddy seemed to somehow get away without being shot. Except for now.

The other night, I sent Eric to change Graham while I got ready for bed. Suddenly, I hear him gasp and then start exclaiming how gross that was to the baby. When I asked what happened, he frowned and showed me the dark spot on his shirt where Graham finally got him. Yep, that's right, Graham peed all over daddy. I thought it was hilarious but I don't think Eric was too happy. I ended up finishing up the changing while Eric quickly got to changing his shirt.

Late Late nights...

Is there really a way to get your baby to recognize that we sleep at night, not all day??? Graham has his nights and days so mixed up! Last night, he woke up at 2:30am and stayed up till 6am!!!!! No amount of changing him, feeding, burping, rocking, singing or swaddling would get this kid to sleep. Poor Eric only got 3 1/2 hours of sleep before he had to go to work. What do we do?!?!?!?!?

The first week

Our first week was actually pretty easy because we had so much help. My mom came to stay with me for a week to help with the laundry and cooking. She also helped me learn how to take care of my baby boy. Mid week, my sisters came out to see their nephew. Because we moved away, they won't get to see Graham as much. It makes them pretty sad. They were really looking forward to babysitting him and playing with him as he gets older. My grandparents came out on Thanksgiving to see their great grandson. Not only is Graham the first grand-baby to my mom, he is also the first great grand-baby in the family. Everyone is really excited to have him here. My step-dad Steve came out Saturday after work and went to dinner with us. Unfortunately, he only got to see him for a few hours because everyone had to fly home Sunday at 6 a.m. Luckily, everyone can fly free because my mom works at the airport so they can come out whenever they want to see us. It was nice having the help and the many hands to take the baby so I could recover. Now, they are all gone and I'm starting to wonder if I can really do it on my own. I'm starting to get really nervous about it. Wish me luck!!!

aunt Holly and Morgan
Grandpa Steve
Grandma Denise
Great grandma JoAnn
Great grandpa George

with mommy

so thankful...

Whoever thought at 22 years old, I would have the perfect life?

I am so thankful for everything I have. My husband is the most amazing man in the world. He does everything for me and never complains. He still looks at me like I am his world, even though I walk around in baggy pj's with my hair in a messy bun and no makeup on these days. He works hard everyday to provide for us and then stays up at night to help with the feedings. He never says how tired he is or what he rather be doing. He is so supportive and loving. I can't believe how lucky I was to get him. The Lord truly blessed me with an amazing husband who I can spend eternity with and never think that is enough time. I love him so much!
I've never seen a man who loves his child so much. Eric can't stop looking at Graham and kissing him and wanting to hold him as much as he can. He tries to do everything for him and is constantly taking him from me and my mom, just so he can be with him. While I was pregnant, he said the only thing he couldn't wait to do was fall asleep with the baby. He finally got that opportunity and I've never seen a bigger smile on his face after waking up. I sure do love my boys.

Just have to share a funny story of coming home from the hospital. Eric was so anxious to get him home that he offered to get him in his car seat while I got ready. I hear him grunting and muttering under his breath so I asked him if I could help. He then expressed his confusion of how the straps on the car seat would grow enough with the baby as he got older. "They are already so tight, I just don't understand how they will be big enough as he grows." I casually answered, "we'll just adjust the straps, don't worry." I then look at our baby to see how he is taking to the car seat. Eric has put the straps under Graham's arms instead of over his shoulders. "No wonder you don't think they'll grow with him. The straps go over the shoulders, not under his arms," I tell him, laughing. "Oh, I was wondering why the car seat didn't make any sense." :) We got Graham all buckled in correctly after a good laugh by me, Eric and the nurses, and got our little guy in the car to go home.
Eric concentrating really hard to get the baby in his seat.
You can kind of see how the straps are under his arms...
Graham's first car ride home...

I am so thankful for my beautiful baby. He is so cute and so precious that every time I look at him, I get the chills to think he is mine and that the Lord trusted me enough to be the parent to one of his special spirits. This baby has brought more tears, exhaustion, poop and pee, laundry loads, smiles, giggles, love, cuddles, kisses and absolute thankfulness into our lives. He is such a miracle and I truly believe he has been a blessing in not only Eric and I's life, but in those around us. He has brought family together and grudges to be let go of. He is such a special little guy and I am so thankful to have and love him.
Graham's future basketball or football hands...
Too bad mom and dad both have huge feet. The kid was doomed...

I am so thankful for my family. For the support they have given me through my pregnancy and now the birth of my son. Without my mom staying with me for the first little while, I probably would have melted down a long time ago. Because of her willingness to get up at 3am to take him from me so I can sleep, or giving up the only bed she has here (the couch) so I can have the back support to sleep through the pain of the C-Section, I have been able to get through some hard times and find ways to make it better. She has been working hard to make sure Eric and I are fed, the baby has clean clothes (since he goes through 3 outfits a day right now), trying to get the baby to recognize he can't sleep all day and be wide awake all night, taking me out of the house for some fresh air and still giving Eric and I the quality time we need with the baby. She is such an amazing woman and I don't know what I would do without her. I love my mom and sisters so much for the willingness to help me out. My grandparents for their support and efforts to do whatever they can for me. My aunts, Uncles, and cousins for their phone calls and many voice-mails (since i rarely pick up the phone) and everyone else for their love, support and prayers. Thank you to everyone!
This has been a great Thanksgiving so far and has had the most things in it to be thankful for. And to top it all off, I got to sleep in today!!! My mom took the baby this morning for me so I could have the gift of sleeping in on my birthday. THANK YOU MOM!!! I never thought sleep would be the gift I was most grateful for. :)
This is one of the only pics I have of me sleeping with him. Sorry it's while we are still in the hospital. I love sleeping with Graham. For the first couple of days home, Graham just slept in my arms because I was too tired to put him back in bed after feeding. Now, we are trying to get him to sleep in his bed. He seems to be enjoying it. He hated the bassinet but loves his crib. I'm just grateful I'm starting to get some more sleep now.

Life is awesome!!!