4 babies

Tried to get a picture of the four babies last weekend. After about 50 pictures taken by several phones and cameras, this is what I ended up with:

Had our last visit with Dr. Sheffield last week. Yes, there was crying and no it wasn't Aaron. This is Aaron saying goodbye. Ann (in the blue) was telling him to eat his sweet potatoes. She is the nurse I had to call his weight into every week and any of my questions. I have talked to her ALOT in the last few months:

Saying goodbye to Alisha, his nurse. She just came back from maternity leave. She was the unlucky one that got to give him his two month vaccinations when he was just 5 lbs and skinny!

Dr. Sheffield- we will miss her! She was awesome and the most supportive of us trying to breastfeed for as long as we did. These girls took good care of Aaron and me. Forever grateful.

Nursery Pics

So I realized as I was packing Aaron's room up that I never posted pictures of his finished nursery. Here it is. Not every detail was finished but it was perfect for Aaron. He loves it and has been sleeping in there for months. Now he even plays in the floor. We will miss this room. I sat in this room very pregnant watching Stephen put the crib together. I sat in there several nights when Aaron was in the hospital, praying and begging God to heal my baby boy. I sat in there and rocked him to sleep when he was home and healthy. Many memories. We will miss this room the most.

Walking in the door. Closet and dresser:

Shelves hold things from mine and Stephen's nurseries. Also some books that our family gave to Aaron:

Changing table (that stays a mess!) and rocking chair. "Aaron" painted by Auntie Mo and the cross was his door hanger in the hospital painted by Aunt Tara:

Crib with bedding made by Mrs. Suzanne, basket of books from Aunt Sassy:

Closer look at bedding:

Love the polka dots!

Five Months

Stats: We go tomorrow for a checkup. Last week he was a little over 13 lbs and 24 inches long

Eating: He is still taking formula and now gets cereal in his bottle twice a day and then solids twice a day in addition to his bottles. So far he has tried oatmeal cereal, apple sauce, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

Sweet potatoes- he's not a fan. We tried several times:

Clothes: He has moved up to 3-6 and 6 month clothes. His three month shirts look like 3/4 sleeves. He is growing so fast these days.

Diapers: Moved up to size 2 yesterday. Boy has a booty now!

Sleeping: It has not been great this last week. He has been waking up at 5:00 am every morning!! Ughh!! We have tried keeping him up later and taking less naps and all sorts but he keeps waking up early. We are pushing his bedtime to 6:30 or 7:00 which is helping some. He is taking shorter naps now. Usually 45 min to an hour. He takes 3-4 naps a day. Every few days he will take a long nap but it is happening less and less.

Toys you love: He is in love with his exersaucer and jumparoo! He gets bored very quickly on his back now and wants to be sitting up playing.

Milestones this month: So MANY this month! He has taken off these last couple of weeks. He is holding his bottle (sometimes now). He is transferring items from hand to hand. He is turning over from his stomach to back. You cannot keep him on his tummy since he figured it out now. He is making alot more sounds. He seems to recognize his name now. When you call him, he will look. He definitely knows Stephen and I as his "people". He gets so excited when he sees us. We have a picture of us on our mantle. This week he saw it and got the biggest smile and started flapping his arms like we had just walked in the room. He knew that was his mommy and daddy. It was so cute. Then next day he found it again and did the same. He loves playing with us and will laugh and laugh and anything we do. So we act like fools and laugh right with him. He is trying very hard to sit up. This morning he was laying on me and sat up into sitting position on his own for the first time. He did it three or four times. He is trying to sit unassisted but is still a little weak. We are working on it. He wants to be mobile so badly. He gets on his belly and gets his legs to going and even tries to pull with his arms but cant quit figure it out how to crawl. He gets so frustrated that I think his stubbornness will pay of in the next couple of months and he will be on the move. He continues to meet milestones on time with his birthday which is not what his doctors expected at all. He is just determined to keep up. He gets that stubbornness from both his parents!

Activities: Talking, eating, biting Daddy's nose, throwing toys on the ground for mommy to pick up 100 times a day, blowing bubbles, smacking his lips, eating off of a spoon, taking candy canes off of the christmas tree and then dropping them on the floor over and over again.

Medical: We saw the cardiologist last week. He is beyond pleased! Aaron's echo was perfect! His aorta is now growing with his body. Dr. A said he doesn't think Aaron will ever need another procedure. I can now see how much his doctors were worried about him before. They get so excited to see how well he is doing and progressing. We see his pediatrician tomorrow for a check up and then we don't have another appointment until FEBRUARY!! That is crazy to me!! And a little scary. This will be the longest he has gone without a doctor laying eyes on him.

Family: Family update- we are moving! Yep! Hello Louisiana! Here comes the Richards! So Aaron's next monthly pictures will be in our new house and taken one day before I start my new job. So excited to learn a new area of nursing but not excited to leave Aaron. I have so enjoyed this time home with him. It was not planned at all for me to be home this long but I'm very glad that I got the opportunity. Now I have to quit tying cause its making me cry :(. Pray for our family as we transition into our new home, state, and jobs during the next month. We are excited but nervous. We have added alot of new things into our lives this year. Why not add a move into the mix, right!?

Aaron's First Christmas Tree

We went ahead and put up our tree today. Needed to check something off of the list. Stephen put the tree together and "fluffed" the limbs last night after Aaron went to bed. He was so excited to show it to Aaron this morning when he woke up. Aaron loves the lights and just squealed and squealed while we decorated it.

Walking into the den this morning:

"Dad, where did this come from?!"

Pretty lights:

We put an ornament on his swing while we decorated. He loved it and started fussing when I took it off to put on the tree:

We have a tradition in my family to fight (I mean alternated in a perfect schedule) over who puts the Bible ornament on the tree. Its a tiny little bible that the print is so small you can't even read it. When I got married, Mom bought one for our tree. I decided to be the adult and let Aaron put it on this year since its his first year and all. Man, I am so nice :)

All the decorating, tree watching, singing and dancing to Christmas music wore him out! We took a little nap in the recliner and enjoyed our hard work:

Roll Tide

Last weekend we decided to dress Aaron for that other school we like to watch on Saturdays. Stephen has been waiting for Aaron to fit into his Alabama polo. We put him in it, it lasted about 5 minutes. Turns out when you don't have much of a neck, polo collars are not very comfortable.

Nom nom chewing on Daddy's fingers:

Since the polo wasn't working we changed him into this shirt:

He wore it to Nonna and Pops for his first sleep over! Such a big boy! Mommy and Daddy celebrated by sleeping 10 hours! But we missed him terribly:

4 Month Check Up

Yesterday we went for Aaron's four month check up. First we stopped by to see Dr. Otey. He could not believe how big Aaron has gotten. Then we headed over to Dr. Sheffield's office. He was excited for about five minutes then he was over it.

Waiting to see Dr. S:

Waiting for his shots. Poor baby had to get five!

Sticker with his stats. So excited to see how much he has grown this month:

On the way home, we stopped by to see Stephen at work since we missed lunch with him.

He had to show Aaron off to everyone at the office:

Aaron checking out Daddy's cubical. "Hey is that my picture over there?"

Four Months

Stats: 11 lb 8 oz and 23.5 inches long today at Dr. Sheffield's office. Which means he passed the 10 lb mark this month! That happened on 10/21/11 (picture below):

Eating: Still taking formula like a champ. Reflux does not seem to bother him much but he is still on his tagamet. He was taking 4 oz of formula every three hours before his heart cath. Now he wants to drink 1 oz and play. Then drink a little more. Its so frustrating and takes all day to get him to eat! Hoping this is just a phase and he gets over it very quickly! We are starting on rice cereal in his bottle tonight! woohoo!

Clothes: He has outgrown almost all of his newborn shirts. His pant still fit around the waist but are too short. We wear them anyway since most of the 3 month pants are way too big. He can wear two pairs of 0-3 pants that Nonna bought him. They are prefect. Narrow in the waist but plenty long. Will have to go to Kolhs soon and see what else they have in that brand. He wears almost all 3 month shirts. Carter's 3 month seems to fit great right now. Its always the smallest so he will outgrow it first. Hope not before Thanksgiving because I got him a cute Carter's outfit. There was one week this month that he outgrew everything! One day it all fit and the next I was getting him dressed and nothing fit. His overalls were two inches above his ankles and when he pushed his belly out the side snaps popped open! He's a growing boy!

Showing off the first day he wore a 3 month shirt and pants:

Showing off his first winter coat:

Diapers: He is in size 1 now. We go between Luvs, Huggies, and pampers. We have them all from showers so use whatever is closest during diaper change. This was the first time to use Luvs and I really liked them. They fit well and we have not had any accidents with them. Plus they are way cheaper than Huggies or Pampers.

Sleeping: Was going great before we went to Jackson for his cath. He was going to bed at 6:00. Sleeping until 7:30 or 8:00. Still waking up twice to eat. He was taking some good naps. At least two a day. Since we came home. He still wants to go to bed by 5:30 or 6:00 but isnt sleeping as sound and wakes up more to eat. Plus he is not napping very well. Ready to get back on a schedule. Hope the cereal in the bottle will help.

Toys you love: All things that make noise, hand/foot rattles, Sophie, Clifford but Mommy and Daddy are his favorite toys right now. He loves when we talk and make faces. He never gets tired of it. He started sitting in his bumbo this month. He loves it. I put him in it in front of the glass door and he watches outside.

Milestones this month: Still HATES tummy time (that hasn't changed). Is doing some better. Used my yoga mat recently and he did better on it. Still have to try anything we can think of and keep changing it up to surprise him. He "talks" all the time now. Squeals, babbles, and makes all kinds of noise. He loves if you listen and talk back. He is sitting up much better and requires even less support. His head control has really improved. He moves it with purpose now and can really control when he turns it much better. He also started trying to hold his bottle some. He doesn't fully support it but does put his hands on either side to help you. He will knock it out of his mouth when he is done though. His personality is really starting to show. He's so funny and loves when you laugh at him. He is also becoming a little flirt. We noticed he has two dimples coming in that I'm sure will only help with his flirting. He also seems to be starting to teeth now. Yea! Lots of drooling and biting on anything he can get in his mouth. He also is starting to show interest in rolling over. He goes to his side. Only rolls all the way over if you give him a little push. But he will stay on his side and play and looks at you like "thats enough for now". I bet it will happen soon.

Activities: "talking" to mommy and daddy, reading books, playing on activity mat, sitting in his bumbo. He had a busy month with a trip to Baton Rouge and a couple trips to Jackson. Good thing he likes to ride in the car.

When is he the happiest: Still is happiest in the mornings or right after his morning naps. Especially when Stephen and I are both near by. He just looks back and forth between us and smiles and giggles. Its so cute!

Medical: Had heart cath on 11/1/11. We go back on 12/2/11 to see Dr. A for a check up. We saw Dr. Sheffield today for our very first well baby visit. It's so nice to go for a check up and get all good news! I could get used to this. He got four vaccinations and his first Synagist shot (to prevent RSV)

Heart Cath 11/1/11

We headed to Jackson last week for Aaron's heart cath. Dr. A said this may be his last procedure if it went well, but we would just have to see. Here he was in the car on the trip down. Happy as could be. He had no idea, poor thing:

He had to have his last bottle before midnight the night before. We woke him up a couple times before that to feed him. Here he is with Sassy eating one of his last meals of the night:

He ended up sleeping until 5:30 even without eating! We could not believe it! He got to hang out with Cap that morning while we got ready to go to the hosptial. He laughed and played and had a great time. Did not even fuss for a bottle:

Why are we all up at 5:30!? Why am I getting all this attention?!

Nonna, Pops and Auntie Mo met us at the hospital. (T was sick and could not come. Uncle Chase had to work). The procedure last just about an hour. They walked him right into the waiting room and handed him to us. He was so out of it and so fussy and rolling all over the place. I don't know how else to describe it. He was so hard to hold. So strong! I was afraid I was going to drop him. He did this for probably about an hour then he fell back asleep on his dad:

Headed to the floor to our room after the cath:

Relief that it was over!

Sleeping peacefully on Daddy. He wanted out of that hospital gown and to be held up right. He slept like this with mouth open for a couple hours before he decided he was ready to eat:

This was the next morning before we were discharged. We got a great report. They were able to stretch his aorta to three times its original size! They were very pleased with the results. Dr. A said we are now done with this point in our lives and can move on with our healthy baby. Still holding my breath that that is true. Think I always will after what we have been through.

He has been home for three days now. His sleep and eating patterns are still off. He loved all the attention he got in Jackson and is not thrilled that we wont hold him constantly now that we are home. Taking a few days to get him to adjust back to normal life at home. Can't believe he will be 4 months old this week! Lots of pictures from this month to come.