3 Months Old!

This past month of Baby Boy's life has maybe been my favorite... of the whole whoppin' 3 to choose from :)

He has made so many progressions: laughing out loud, smiling when he sees us, discovering his hands and fingers, better head control- even attempting to sit (with lots of assistance of course!) Maybe my favorite one though, is that he started cutting out middle of the night feedings. We started with the occasional 10 to 3. Then he started doing 11 to 5 pretty consistently, and last night he slept from 11 until I got him up at 7:15 this morning! Hallelujah! It was amazing, I feel like a totally new (and sane) person :)

Kaymond is such a joy to us. He is a super happy, smiley baby. It makes this whole transition to parenting much easier! Who knows if we'll ever get this lucky again, so we're enjoying every second.

One of our favorite things from this month was finding onesies on sale at the Disney Store. We bought him a Dumbo onesie that came with a hat with the big floppy ears, and a Mickey Mouse onesie, again with a hat complete with iconic ears. They're just silly, but we had so much fun dressing him up in the Dumbo outfit when Ray's dad and stepmom came to visit.

He's pretty much the cutest baby ever.

Thanks for visiting Grandpa & Mimi! Also- can you see the adorable little tail on Baby Boy's outfit?!

Seriously. Be still my heart!

He gives us this look a lot. 

"Ah-CHOO!"

Love.

Check that double chin!

His legs look crazy long in this picture. He still doesn't straighten them out frequently- only when he's stretching after he wakes up, which is again: ADORABLE!

I went back to work this month, so Baby Boy stays home with Ray in the mornings. We're so blessed that Ray can work from home and I can continue my job which I love. I love that my boys get to spend so much time together, and that Kaymond will always have a special bond with his daddy because of it. Life is good over here!

2 Months

Ray and I just finished looking at these 2 month pictures and then comparing them to the 1 month pictures- we couldn't believe how much he's grown in one month! He has chunked up a lot and grown what seems like a foot. According to his check up this morning he is now 22 inches and 12 lbs. 4 oz.

Baby Boy is talking all the time these days. We can sit for 20 minutes straight with him just "oo-ing" and "ahh-ing". It's pretty much the cutest thing in the world. He still loves bath time but *hates* when it's time to get out. He has the cutest smile ever and graces us with it each time we pick him up from his naps. He also loves to smile when Ray and I are laughing with him- his own laugh should be on the way soon!

He doesn't nap too well during the day, but we finally had the night I've been waiting for: I fed him at 10, he woke up at 3 to eat, and then he woke up at 7 to eat and start our day. Only one feeding in the night! Here's hoping that continues, but I've already learned that as soon as you get used to something with a baby, it immediately changes. :|

Baby Boy and I go out on walks almost each day now that the weather is better. He loves riding in his stroller and sometimes that's the only way I can get him to nap. We've taken more car rides (short and long) and he always sleeps right through them. Over the weekend we took a day trip to SLC and spent the whole day downtown. Not a peep from him! When he wasn't sleeping or eating his eyes were wide open taking in the new sights.

He loves when Ray is whistling to him, he stares and smiles and coos the whole time. Whenever I sing to him he joins in with his babbling. He loves being the center of attention and will always let us know when he is not getting enough of it! It is definitely safe to say this little boy has us easily wrapped around his adorably chubby little fingers.

The Nursery

I finally got around to putting everything away in Baby Boy's nursery. It's still missing a couple things here and there- but really he isn't even sleeping in here yet so I am alright waiting to finish! 

Since before a baby was even in the plans, I've known I wanted a classic Peter Pan nursery. There are some small details in here that I'm really in love with. Also some artwork- the paintings in the nursery were a surprise from Ray when we found out I was pregnant. He commissioned his friend from college to do them and I am absolutely in love with them! They really are the highlight of the room- and Baby Boy loves when we hold him in front of them so he can quietly stare at them. I hope they spark his imagination to have as many adventures as Peter in Neverland!

 If you love these paintings as much as us (which is impossible because we love them the most!) you should definitely check out her other incredible pieces here. 

We bought this changing cabinet from a woman who repurposed it. Although it was just a little too small to use as a changing table I still love the colors and theme it brings into the nursery.

So much magic is expressed in this picture. Sabrina read J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan in preparation for these paintings and did an amazing job illustrating his timeless work. 

This painting is my favorite. It perfectly captures the major characters in their never ending circling of Neverland.

You can't have Peter Pan or Neverland without the Jolly Roger and the mermaids in their lovely lagoon.

This quote and the one above were decorations at my baby shower that co-workers threw for me. Too cute!

I crocheted this crocodile for Baby Boy. I can't wait for him to get big enough to play with it!

Michael's teddy

These beautiful stars were also from my work baby shower. They make the perfect mobile for Baby Boy's crib.

The top two books are collectible Peter Pan books that Ray and I bought on Portobello Road in London.

1 Month Old!

We can't believe Kaymond is already 1 month old. I guess between countless diapers and lack of sleep, time just slips away from you.

Baby Boy is an absolute delight. He loves holding his head up and staring at things- mostly one particular shelf in the living room, he's obsessed with it! He does great with tummy time and has even rolled from his stomach to his back a couple of times. He is sleeping awesome- which we are so grateful for! Sometimes he takes a while to fall asleep at naps, but at night he only wakes up one or two times to eat- yay!

We weighed him yesterday and he is a whopping 10 pounds, which means he has gained just about 3 pounds since we left the hospital. Way to go kid :) He's still wearing a lot of newborn clothes, but is slowly filling out the 0-3 month onesies I put him in. The newborn hats stopped fitting probably around week 2, he has a giant noggin.

We sure love our Baby Boy!

The Day(s) We Became Three

He is here! I've been slow getting this up, because quite honestly- my baby is just too cute to spend time on anything other than him. So, sorry not sorry?

Right though? I think I've made my point. 

Baby Kaymond was born on January 1, 2016 at 12:31 AM. He weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was 19 inches long. He was and is the model of a perfectly healthy little baby- for which we are so grateful!

His name came from combining our own names: Raymond with a 'K' for Kailin. It took us the first full day at the hospital to finally decide on that name, but we're so happy now that we did. It just fits him perfectly.

At 8 o'clock on the 31st, I finally insisted we go to the hospital. I called my midwife again and let her know we were on our way there. I couldn't easily walk or talk through the contractions at this point.

I was worried they were going to turn me away at this point when we got to the hospital because my water hadn't broken. They got me into a room and were all pleasant about getting me comfy and set up. Then one nurse finally checked me to see how I was dilating- 8 cm! Suddenly they kicked into gear and quickly got me hooked up to an IV and called my midwife to hurry up a little. My midwife got there around 8:45 (she got a flat tire on the way there!) and I had already had my epidural (hallelujah!) even though the nurses told me I'd probably be fine without one. Haha, still makes me laugh. I don't think I've ever been more comfortable than when that finally kicked in and I had a warm blanket over me... *sigh*

Labor progressed easily from then on and the only question was whether we'd have a 2015 or a 2016 baby. At 11:35 I started pushing, and by 12:31 he was here. Our perfect little man. Everything said and done, it was mostly painless and a great experience. I had 5 minutes left of epidural medication when he arrived so the timing worked out perfectly. :)

He was the first baby of 2016 at our hospital, and he got royally spoiled because of it. While I was still on the delivery table doing skin-to-skin, the L&D nurses brought in a huge bouquet of flowers for me, a big balloon for him, and a giant gift basket full of clothes, blankets and other cute baby items. Then when we got to the Mother & Baby floor his first nurse crocheted him an adorable snowman hat. When our first shift of nurses was about to leave they brought us another huge gift basket full of clothes, blankets and fun stuff. On top of all of it, my midwife gave us a blanket she made him- he loves it!

Ever since then we've just been soaking up the goodness that is our new baby. Now the important stuff- pictures!!!

Dad holding Baby Boy for the first time.

Being wheeled down to Mom & Baby

We made it home!

Kaymond loves spending time playing with Daddy

Thanks for visiting Uncle Dan & Aunt Camilla!

Welcome New Year's Baby 2016!

Little snowman cap 

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

Thanks for visiting Grandma & Grandpa!

We love our bundle. We especially love that he was born on New Years. It perfectly upholds our tradition of having big events happen on NYE.
2010/11- Ray and I got engaged
2011/12- We spent in Disneyland
2012/13- We partied in Taipei, Taiwan
2013/14- We played in London, England
2014/15- We enjoyed our home town in Germany
2015/16- We welcomed the newest, cutest member of our Family of Three!

Family Baby Shower & Babymoon

I am so behind the times. Nothing like an easy Sunday morning to catch up on your memories!

A few weeks ago, two of my dear sisters-in-law threw me a beautiful baby shower. It was absolutely beautiful, and we had so much fun! I don't know how I got so lucky with my in-laws, they are all the greatest. Here are some pictures that Ray's cousin took before everybody started showing up.

Maritza, Camilla and me. Thanks for the gorgeous shower, guys!

My mom flew in from Denver and my Grandma was able to be there too.

This was maybe my favorite shower game! Everyone wrote Ray and I late night diaper changing messages. Anything from advice, to encouragement, to "Toxic Waste" warnings of what awaits us inside those 3AM diapers!

I'm having this baby in 8 weeks (so I was 30 weeks in this picture) and people are still way surprised when I tell them that. On the one hand it's nice to hear "you look great!" from people, on the other- it's just a reminder that I have a gigantic rib cage that provides plenty of space for this squirt to hide out in. Bitter-sweet.

We had a delicious lunch and played a couple really great games.  Ray and I received some really nice, sweet gifts for Baby Boy- thank you so much to everyone who came! 

Since then I've been organizing baby clothes, running endless loads of laundry (I can already tell that baby socks are going to be the bane of my existence), and trying to prep as much as humanly possible! I still have bags to pack, the nursery to set up,  a car seat to buy. Yikes! There is still tons left to do. But this is the fun part, right? 

This weekend Ray and I took an overnight vacation up in Park City. It was our Babymoon, our final stay away without any kids to look after or little ones at home to worry about with a sitter. We took complete advantage of just having us time. There was a great deal of snuggling and watching the Food Network (our all-time favorite). For dinner we went to a local Italian restaurant. Our hotel stay came with a $50 gift card to the restaurant, and the concierge also provided us with a two-for-one coupon. We got an appetizer, a decadent chocolate cake dessert and we each had a fabulous filet mignon. On Saturday morning we went slow. We went to Great Harvest Bread for breakfast where I had the best pancakes of my life (for reals) and then we went to the outlets to walk around a bit. There were so many cute baby clothes I wanted! But we're really pretty much set on clothes thanks to the hand-me-downs of Baby Boy's numerous cousins. Thanks guys!

In the next week we have two more baby showers- one from my friends and one from my co-workers. We feel so blessed to be back in Utah right now. I knew I couldn't have a baby without a strong support group and that's exactly what we have now that we are back. So many blessings!

Baby Boy is getting big enough to wreak a little more havoc on my system each time he moves, and I've definitely experienced Braxton Hicks contractions at this point. Things continue to go smoothly and as planned though, with my midwife reassuring me that these new aches and pains are just my welcoming to the 3rd Trimester. 

I forgot between these things we had Halloween! It was really pretty uneventful. I know for myself I was just thinking to next year when we'd have a little boy to dress up and take to parties and it'd be a bit more fun to get into. This year we stayed home and handed out candy to a just a few trick or treaters. I ran to the store last minute and put together a Halloween themed dinner. We had Frankenstein Skin, Goblin Snot, and Zombie Guts with a Skeletal Dessert at the end. Any guesses as to what we ate? ...(Salad, zucchini soup, spaghetti and apple slices with caramel for dessert). We then watched Gremlins which neither of us had ever seen- turns out it's kind of another Christmas horror story- woops! We still had fun :)