Henry: 1 Month

Our little guy turns one month today!  I can't believe how fast time has gone.  Each day is super long but time as a whole has gone by so fast.  Henry had his one month appointment today.  The doctor said he is perfect, but we sort of knew that.  He gained almost 2 pounds since his last appointment three weeks ago so he weighed in at 8 pounds 14.5 ounces.  He is almost 21 inches long (the hospital and doctors' office measure length differently; he hasn't gotten shorter since birth).  At his last appointment, he was in the 10th percentile in weight and length, but now he's in the 25th.  His head circumference is also in the 25th. 

Thanks Tara and Trey for the month tags! I'll remove the flash next time.

These past couple of weeks have been pretty difficult for me.  If you follow me on social media, you know that the kid doesn't like to sleep.  One day this week, he only took two one-hour naps between 9:30 am and midnight.  The mornings and afternoons normally aren't too bad, but the evenings are pretty trying.  He typically wakes up from a nap around 5 and then doesn't go to sleep until between 11 pm and midnight, with maybe a 10 minute nap somewhere in there.  He cries A LOT during this time. We know he's tired, and sometimes he'll fall asleep, but as soon as we put him down, he's wide awake.  He can't seem to stay asleep until he's down for the count.

During this time, he likes to cluster feed.  The doctor actually mentioned that Henry may like his stomach extremely full before falling asleep, instead of the amount normal babies prefer.  Milk supply naturally depletes in the evening, so that may be the cause of his fussiness.  I'm going to load up on water to see if it helps in the evenings.  However, the doctor said he may be slightly colicky too, given that he typically settles down a bit when we walk, bounce, or take him outside.

In the beginning, he liked to be swaddled.  About two weeks ago, he decided he was done with the swaddles.  He would grunt and squirm until he broke free of the Swaddle Me.  The kid is strong-willed.  Now, he normally sleeps with his hands next to his face or straight above his head.  It's pretty cute.

Aside from his sleeping patterns, he LOVES LOVES LOVES to be outside.  I think part of it is the heat, but he also likes the sun on him.  If the wind blows, he starts to move his head like "Ah, that feels good."  His eyes almost instantly close, and his body goes limp.  This has been a life saver in the evenings, although as soon as we walk inside, he's fussy again.  He'd probably like if we set his sleeper up outside and let him sleep there. 

He is extremely alert.  Brett and I have noticed that he is starting to focus on things like our faces when we talk to him.  He used to look past us, but now it seems like he's looking at us.  According to the doctor, around one month, infants can begin to see outlines of faces, as opposed to being legally blind.  Around two months, their vision drastically improves. 

We learned that Henry likes music.  In the beginning, the King (George Strait) would calm him down.  Now it's just any type of music.  He seems to like when I sing Victory in Jesus so that has become his nightly song.  Brett says we have to start him early on those good ole Southern Baptist hymns. 

Here are some pictures from his first month.

The best daddy

The look of love and exhaustion

Piper has become really attached to him.  When he cries, she runs to check on him.  If I'm not in the room, she'll come over to me and look at me like, "Is he ok?"  When I'm nursing, she typically comes and lays right under his feet or his head so he props up on her.  Whenever we change him, Piper follows us into the room and lays down at our feet.  The other day, I leaned Henry against her stomach while she was laying down (don't worry, I was still holding him), and she just put her head on the couch and fell back asleep.  Henry seemed to be intrigued by the feel of her fur, but the coldness of her nose startled him.  It warms my heart and eases my mind to know Piper does well with him.  I was really nervous about that.

Henry got to meet one of his great grandparents this month too.  Mom and Dad braved the trip and brought Oba to our house.  Oba was enamored by him.  She kept saying, "I take him home" and "He such good baby."  When Mom went to take Henry so she could hold him, Oba said, "No," and gave Mom the stink face.  She just loves him.  With my grandparents getting old, I'm really glad he was able to meet Oba.  Next week, he'll get to meet Mimi and Pappaw!

Her first time holding him. I love her face here.

One of my favorite pictures. So much history in this picture.

Well, I think that's a good recap of his first month.  I have learned a lot and plan to write a post about some of the things people didn't tell me or things that I would stress with my vast amount of experience. Ha. Hope you enjoyed learning about our little guy!

Henry's Sports-Themed Baby Shower

On March 28th, my best friends and sisters-in-love threw me a wonderful shower.  I had mentioned that a sports-themed shower would be really neat and had pinned a couple of things on Pinterest to give them an idea.  Wow. They did not disappoint. Below are some of the amazing details.

Megan made this cute little banner. I love the colors.

Kelci had this sweet and creative cookie cake made.

I think Maggie made this banner for by the food.

Jessica and Meesh made diaper cakes! So fun.

Gail knows how much I love cupcakes from Ocean Isle, so she brought them as favors.

Because Brett's parents live pretty far from us and I would be doing the driving by myself with spring practice in gear (hello being a coach's wife), we decided to do one joint shower with my friends and family, my parents' friends, and Brett's parents' friends.  Needless to say, a ton of people were invited.  We ended up with around 25, which was a great number.  

The thing I loved most about this shower was that most of my extended family came!  We had family flying or driving from Connecticut, Boston, D.C., South Carolina, Alabama, and Florida.  It made me feel so loved that they would take the time out of their busy schedule to shower Henry and me with gifts, fellowship, and love.  Here are some pictures from before the shower.

Piper has learned what an Oba massage is from watching Sierra

Daniella and Mimi reading Goodnight Moon.

Uncle Rich and Aunt Nan seeing me with a belly for the first time. Love the reactions.

Our family patriarch. Oh, how I love him so.

Oba, because of her dementia, forgot Chris was coming. Her reaction was priceless.

The "kids" table. Just missing Brett, Kyle, Sam, Adrian, and Cassy.

My baby girl and my men, minus Brett.

Most of my family came in before lunch so I was able to hang out with them before the shower.  After lunch, most of the guys went to take naps since a lot of them had to get up early to make it by lunch time, while the women attended the shower.  The shower was so much fun!  Laura had planned a game where people filled out if Brett or I would want Henry to have an attribute from Brett or me.  For example, who did we want Henry to get his personality from?  Daddy. How about teeth?  Mommy.  Brett and I had filled out the answer key together.  There were some things where we said, "Oh definitely not Daddy" or "Definitely not Mommy."  We had a lot of laughs and fun thinking about what our little guy is going to look and be like.

There was also a there was a present with multiple layers of wrapping.  Each layer had a phrase from a poem that described a person in the room, like who has on clothing with the most buttons.  The person that matched the description would tear off one layer of wrapping, read the next line, and pass the gift to the person it matched.  At the end, the gift came back to me.  Inside was an NFL football that became the guest book!  I loved it.  The football, with names that would mean so much to Henry throughout his life, is sitting on his dresser in his nursery.  I'll treasure it forever. 

Guests also filled out little silver stars where they wrote wishes for me.  I've been a little anxious recently so reading them has given me a lot of encouragement.  They also wrote funny things on some diapers for some comic relief for me during those middle-of-the-night changings.  I haven't looked at those yet, as I want them to be a surprise.

Then came the gifts, which were more than I ever dreamed.  There were some really practical gifts, and also some really creative and heartfelt gifts.  After the gifts, we got some group pictures.

Me with the hostesses: Henry's aunts and honorary aunts (my besties)

Hickman women (and two little Hickman fellas too)

Fantastic four

Girl cousins!

The cousins that made the trek to Mom and Dad's

Silly picture

Grandchildren with Mimi and Pappaw

Henry and his great grandmothers. Such a special moment to treasure in my heart.

Laura and Weston. Me and Henry.

Henry with his Grammy (my mom) and Nana (Brett's mom).

My family stayed until the next morning, since we don't get to see each other much.  We just enjoyed each other's company and ate more food.  Isn't that what happens when all families get together?  One cute moment was when Mimi and Pappaw gave Daniella an Easter dress.  Daniella loved it!  She kept twirling around.  Growing up, Mimi always bought me a birthday dress for my birthday pictures. She still had great taste in little girl clothes. 

My bro

Daniella modeling her new dress

Excuse the tired looks. This was early in the morning.

Henry's first Easter basket (and some candy for Brett and me)

Thank you Megan, Meesh, Jessica, Laura, Maggie, and Kelci for hosting an amazing shower, and to my family and friends who made the weekend unforgettable.  I love y'all!

July = Weddings and Birthdays

July started out with two weekends of traveling, but they were worth it.  The first weekend, we came home from our week-long vacation with Brett's family.  The next weekend, we headed to Raleigh for Greg and Emily's wedding.  Greg and Brett met while working a football camp and have been friends ever since.  Greg was actually a groomsman in our wedding so Brett repaid the favor.  Issac, one of the other coaches at GWU, was also a groomsman, which made all of the wedding festivities easier for me since Quanza and Sydnei were there.

Greg and Emily's wedding was full of a ton of sweet moments.  At the rehearsal dinner, Greg's two sisters told Emily the top things she needed to know about living with Greg.  The points were full of football lingo, and had us all in stitches.  At the wedding, Greg and Emily had a sweet, choreographed first dance.  I also loved watching Issac dance with Sydnei.  The love between a daddy and his only baby girl is truly something special and to be cherished.  Greg and Emily's wedding day finished with a sparkler exit on the lovely cobblestone road in downtown Raleigh.  What a perfect wedding day for two dear friends.  Thanks for including us in your special day!

Handsome groomsman before rehearsal dinner

Thankful for her friendship

The last night as an engaged couple!

Coaches' wives. So true.

Another Piper and Aunt Sierra picture

Glad my parents could watch Piper while we were at the wedding.

Tug-of-war

My family before the wedding.

Coaching buddies.

One of the kindest, most welcoming families I've ever met.

For once, he was in the wedding!

Adorable first dance

A love between the daddy and his daughter is so special.

Get it Quanza!

Welcome to the married coaches club

My favorite picture from Greg and Emily's wedding day.

Thankfully, Greg and Emily's wedding fell on the same weekend as my birthday, so I was able to celebrate my birthday with my parents.  My parents made my favorite meal: Dad's bbq chicken with cheese potatoes, watermelon, rolls, and Mom's 1-2-3- cake (thanks to Aunt Tricia's mom for the recipe).  After we ate lunch, we headed out to the pool, where Sierra and Piper swam and later played fetch.  I'm glad we got to wear Piper out before we headed home.

Of course Dad had to be funny and say I was 72.

Pretty girl loves the water

Action shot of Piper chasing the ball

My sweet little Asian lady. Love her with all my heart.

The parents and me on my birthday.  Love you!

After Greg and Emily's wedding, we started gearing up for visitors and football season.  Stay tuned for our first football function of the year!