Blake is One Month!

Wow! I can't believe it's been one month already! The fog of the first few weeks is finally starting to lift and we are starting to feel more normal every day. Luckily the weather has been beautiful so we get out of the house almost every day. Isn't he just the cutest baby in the whole world? Yes, I'm biased. #sorryimnotsorry

 Memories from weeks 3-4 of your little life:

-We took our first big trip and headed to Wisconsin for Uncle Chris's wedding. You were such a good baby and had lots of fun! 

The car was packed full!

Chilling in the hotel room. :)

You visited your first museum, the Civil War museum! 

You also got to eat on the shores of Lake Michigan ;).

We visited the Cheese Castle with Grandma and Opa and mom threatened to become a Packer's fan to scare daddy!

Opa and Grandma had so much fun with you! 

And you looked so handsome for the wedding!

And you finally met Uncle Neil! :)

More memories... 

-You have a pretty consistent sleeping schedule now. You go to bed around 11 or 11:30 and typically will sleep until 5 AM. Then you go back down until 8:30ish. You also sleep a good chunk of the afternoon. You are the most awake and alert in the morning and in the evening, but you do get pretty fussy before bedtime. We're not complaining though; look at that cute face!

-You slept in your crib for the first time on April 26 for half a night. It was only half the night because we put you up there after your middle of the night feeding so that daddy wouldn't wake you up while he was getting ready for work in the morning. Speaking of which, daddy went back to work this week. Sad day for me!

-Your yawns and sneezes are the cutest thing in the world! When you sneeze, you almost always sneeze in pairs. Zoey always thinks your playing!

-We introduced the pacifier and it has been a lifesaver. It soothes you when you need to suck but are not hungry.

-We love going to the breast-feeding support group every week where we get to hang out with lots of other little babies and moms. Last week we sat by Max who was born the same day as you!

-We tried putting you in the water for your baths now that your belly button is healed but you did not like it very much. So for now, we will stick with sponge baths. I feel like I can clean you better that way anyways. I can't wait until you enjoy bathtime though.

-You love it when mommy and daddy sing to you. Some favorites are Jesus Loves Me and My God is so Big!

-You also like when we say our prayers, it seems to calm you. So cool!

-You're a great shopper! And you're already a pro at going out to eat! A couple of weeks ago we went out to lunch and to the mall with grandma and then we met dad and grandpa for supper. You were a good baby the whole time! We've also gone out to eat with lots of friends and as a family of three. :) And you visited your first Cheeseecake Factory with mom and dad on the way home from Wisconsin. That's a milestone for sure, ha ha! 

-You have gone on lots of walks with mom and dad and Zoey around town. You like chilling in your pram and always seem quite cozy even though mom and dad try to avoid every bump :). You're precious cargo!

-You've started following things with your eyes recently which is pretty cool.

-You have lots of smiles, but we are still waiting to see intentional smiles. We can't wait!

-And one more thing, you met your Great Grandma for the first time! She loved you!

We love you Blake and can't wait to make many more memories with you! You get bigger every day and we are cherishing every moment with you.

One Month Favorites

This post is mostly for future reference but some of my expecting friends may like some ideas too...who knows?! 

Here is a list of things that we loved having and/or could not live without this first month. I'm not including necessities like diapers, wipes, car seat, etc. :)

Month One Favorites:

Lanolin and Nursing Pads

Obviously this one is for me. I am exclusively nursing right now so I don't have any advice on bottles yet, however, I literally could not live without tubes and TUBES of lanolin and nursing pads. :) Too much information? You'll thank me if your about to start nursing! (Trust me, tubes and tubes!) Brandon already knows where to find these things in the store without me. :)

Boppy Pillow

The boppy. Some mom's love them, some moms don't. I love it. This pillow helps me support Blake while I'm nursing and Brandon loves using it for added support when he's holding him. 

1. Hats. We need to keep our little man warm and so we have lots of fun hats for him. Right now, his newborn ones fit the best.

2. Plain Onesies (for under clothes). We go through lots of onesies, sometimes more than 1-2 a day! Because the weather is warm and cold right now depending on the hour, we rotate between long and short sleeve onesies. 

3. A good diaper rash cream. Our favorite right now is Arbonne's diaper rash cream. Blake used Huggies newborn diapers but is now in Pampers and when we switched he got a little rash, poor guy. It's all better now though!

4. Aden and Anais burpy bibs. Seriously, these are my favorite! Luckily we got a ton of them as gifts. They are the best burp cloths (I love them even more than the cloth diaper 'burp clothes' that I have as well) and I love that I can snap them around his neck like a bib!

5. Boppy changing pads. This is not the whole changing pad cover but the little pad that sits on top. I bought a pack of these thinking they might be nice to have and I'm so glad I did. Most of the time these little guys catch the poo and pee when mom and dad aren't ready! They are a little chintzy, but they do the trick and save you from washing your changing pad cover all of the time.

Food(!) and Water

Nursing has made me incredibly hungry (It's way worse than pregnancy) and thirsty all the time. I would suggest a ginormous water bottle and bowl of candy nearby for nourishment, ha ha!

Changing Table

Many people don't use changing tables anymore, but for us this is a must-have. Blake's nursery is upstairs and we don't use it yet so this is grand central station in our house (even though it's not the most attractive area!). We change him and keep all of his clothes, diapers, and bath supplies here. Also note the hamper, definite must-have!

Bassinet

Again, because Blake's nursery is upstairs, he sleeps in the living room. We splurged on the 4moms Breeze playard and we love it. The bassinet is his crib for now and I know we will love having this for the cottage this summer. It is literally a 'breeze' to set up! :)

Rockaroo 

We also love the 4moms Rockaroo! First of all it's size is perfect for our house. Standard swings are way too big for our living room. Blake loves to rock and often naps here during the day.

Pacifier

We didn't use a pacifier for about a week and then the pediatrician suggested one and we haven't looked back. He does not seem to have latch confusion so the pacifier has been our best friend at times. When he just wants to suck but not nurse, we pop in the paci! Mam has been the only brand we've used so far and he likes it.

Activity Playmat

He loves looking at all of the toys on this when he is awake. Look at this cute face!

Sound Spa

We have this one by the bassinet and a 'stuffed animal' one upstairs. I swear the heartbeat sound helps him sleep.

I don't have a picture, but we also use Velcro swaddles for bedtime. He hates being put in them but it does help him sleep. We've used sleep sacks as well but sometimes his startle reflex wakes him up so we're sticking to the swaddles as long as we can.

And last but not least...

Baby Book

(Sorry for the sideways picture) There are so many precious moments to record in these first few weeks and having a book where you can keep it all together is wonderful.

What else have my mom friends loved having the first month?

Baby B has arrived!

We welcomed a healthy baby boy, Blake Tyler, into the world on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 3:23 pm! He was 9 lbs even and 21 inches long. 

A lot of people have asked about my labor and delivery. I was convinced that I would not go into labor until my due date or later. However on Wednesday morning, I woke up having what were  clearly contractions. They were very sporadic and approximately 10 to 20 minutes apart. Brandon wanted me to stay home from work but I figured I may as well distract myself just in case it was false labor so I went into work anyways. At work I tried to time contractions but it was difficult because I was teaching. They were anywhere from 5 to 10 to 15 minutes apart. My long-term sub had a meeting before lunch so I wanted to stay to teach class for her. By lunch time my contractions were strong enough to make me sweat so I decided I should go home. :) I called Brandon and he was about to head home for lunch so he asked if he should put his "away" messages on his phone and computer. I wasn't sure but he did anyways and good thing he did. :-) I had called the doctor but they were on lunch and the emergency nurse operator said they would call me back but to go to the hospital if I needed to. When I originally called at 12:30 my contractions were anywhere from 4 to 8 minutes apart. By the time Brandon got home at one they were about three minutes apart. He quickly ate lunch, packed the remaining stuff for our bathroom bag and then we headed to the hospital. We got to the hospital at 2 o'clock and they very quickly discovered how far along I was and rushed me up to a labor and delivery room. My doctor had the day off and the backup doctor was in surgery so Brandon said they were scrambling to find a doctor to deliver the baby. I was pretty unaware and focused on having the baby. :-) Finally a doctor arrived just in time because I was ready to push. At 3:23 PM, Blake Tyler arrived. The nurses joked that next time I may want to just head to the hospital as soon as I start having contractions, haha! A lot of other people have wondered if I used any pain medicine and no I didn't. There's no way I could've sat still to receive an epidural and I didn't plan on using one anyways. I spent most of the first day in shock that I had just had a baby!

Daddy holding Blake for the first time and doing skin to skin.

Little Blake (a bit swollen) looking like a little gnome ;). Our stuff in the background is literally thrown all over because everything happened in such a rush!

Grandma holding Blake for the first time. :) 

My parents were in the waiting room and didn't even know that I had had the baby. However my mom suspected that I had. They love him so much!

Later that night Blake got to meet Uncle Tyler for the first time. :)

Sleeping like an angel (during the day of course!).

Meeting Grandma and Opa Beukema for the first time. :)

Blake with Colleen

Meeting Uncle Chris

Meeting Aunt Billi and Maddie

Second cousin love :)

Becky and Blake

Little buddy all set to go home!

Meeting Zoey for the first time. So far, Zoey has done pretty well with the baby. She seems half afraid of him and half super curious. Right now she likes to sniff him a lot, tries to give him kisses (if we let her near him), and thinks he wants to play whenever he sneezes, haha!

Here are some pictures from his first two weeks home:

Chillin' in his swing.

Satisfied after a feeding (almost caught a smile here)

First doctors appointment.

Snuggling with daddy :)

Snuggling with mommy :)

Meeting Aunt Judy for the first time!

"Hey mom, can you quit taking pictures and feed me now?"

This next part is for me, but feel free to read along and laugh at me ;)

Memories from the first couple of weeks:

-Your first couple of days home you were stuffy and snorted like a pig!

-When you are done feeding you let me know by puckering your lips, it's hilarious :)

-Your favorite feeding time (when you like to eat a lot) is from 9 pm to 1 am followed by prime awake time of midnight -3 am. This is getting better though. You are starting to figure out day and night.

-You are exceptionally strong. You could hold your head up immediately after being born and you like to do push-ups on my chest.

-In typical boy fashion you have caught mommy and daddy off guard multiple times with your "fountain of urine" though we always try to be ready... You've had quite the aim, hitting the walls multiple times, the piano, and yourself (should I even be admitting this? #parentsoftheyear haha!) You also pooped once mid diaper change and made mommy scream, much to daddy's amusement!

-There are a few things in life that you do not like, anything that restricts you from moving. We have to sneak you into your swaddle when you're too sleepy to notice, you hate diaper changes because your legs are pinned, and you hate being strapped into your car seat but will fall asleep soon after. 

-You do much better for daddy going back to sleep after night feedings than mommy.

-You hated having your newborn pictures taken and peed all over mommy to let her know. Eventually you fell asleep and became quite the model. :) 

-Surprisingly you still wear newborn size clothes however you moved up to size 1 diapers after only a few days.

-You enjoy passing gas a lot. It is one of your immense pleasures in life and will often bring a smile to your face. ;)

We love you so much Blake Tyler and treasure all of the little baby snuggles we share!