One month and double digits

Yep, Mad Max is a month old already! Hard to believe. We're through the growth spurt and the every-hour feedings, thankfully. For Max's birthday, he gave me a present - two days in a row of 5 hour sleep nights! What a world of difference that makes!

Max also lost his cord stump this week, which is nice, since that thing was pretty nasty! He also officially hit double digits, 10.1 lbs at the doc's office. I do think that his weight gain helps with his sleeping, as even the nurses agreed that the 11 lb. rule was not a wives tale. 11 lbs. seems to be the magic number for when they can sleep through the night, so we'll soon see.

More pictures on the way. I can't find my converter and my big memory card in my good camera doesn't plug directly into the computer!

A weekend of firsts.

So we had a big weekend around here. Max had his first meal out, lunch at Genghis Grill with mom and dad. Of course, he was a total champ, awake and alert and well behaved the entire time! He did so well in fact, we decided to take him out to dinner. We decided on Henk's European Cafe, one of our favorites - for their brats and beer! Saturday was a good evening for that, because it's generally much less busy and they don't have live music like Fridays (the awesome accordian or tuba players) plus the weather was bad so we figured it would be quiet, a good first test. Well we figured wrong, place was packed and the accordian player was in full swing. Well Mad Max was once again a champ! He snoozed the entire time, garnering him many "Oh he's so cute and what a good baby!"'s throughout the evening. Then we went for our first walk yesterday, the whole family enjoyed an unseasonably cool evening stroll. Once again he snoozed and didn't make a peep. What a great kiddo. I can't really be surprised, he is advanced after all...
XOXO!

Three Weeks!

Yep it's been three weeks already. Though I can't believe it, the bags under my eyes surely give me away. No matter what anyone says, no one can really REALLY prepare you for how much work a newborn is. And what a joy he is too! The sleepless nights are worth it, Max is a great kiddo (so far :). We are (hopefully) at the end of a growth spurt, quite literally. I didn't realize babies had these intense spurts but they do, around 3 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 months I'm told. Basically it just means he wants to eat pretty much all the time. So it made for a few rough nights but he's starting to go more than an hour before he gets hungry again! And I'm healing well too. If you didn't know I ended up having a c-section unexpectedly, though it wasn't an emergency. After about 7 hours of labor, my contractions were getting pretty hairy and causing Max's heartrate distress, it crashed hard and scared us for a minute there. So my doc decided it was best for both of us to go get him.

But now he's a big healthy boy, I think around 9 lbs now. At his 2 week check last week, he was back up to 8 lbs. 3 oz. and up to 22 inches - an inch an a half longer! That put him in the 91st percentile for height, clearly something he gets from his Mom.

Grandma and Grandpa Glen got to come spend a week getting to know their newest (fourth!) grandson last week. It was great to have them here, I didn't realize how much help I could really use. James had gone back to work just one day after we got home from the hospital so it was tough going for a while. Grandpa even found time to paint all our house trim and front door! He sure does hate to sit around :) And of course having Grandma and Grandpa Parker just around the corner is just invaluable to us. They always make sure we have everything we need around here! And Grandma came and sat with Max for me while I went and had a fun-filled root canal yesterday. At least with the nitrous and movie (installed in the ceiling, very cool) it wasn't as bad as childbirth!

I'll try to keep up with current pictures but believe it or not it's hard to find the time. Love to you all!


Napping in his favorite position. Of course in this BYOB outfit (thanks Aunt Kristi!) he looks like he's taking up mom and dad's habits :)

Our little family!

This one's actually from his first week home, but he's too cute in his Longhorn jammies.

Meet Max!

Our sweet baby boy, Maximilian James Parker was born April 9, 2009 at 9:22am. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He joined us via c-section after Mom's contractions were causing his heart rate distress, which was scary for a minute. But surgery was without incident and we both came through really well. He's a beautiful boy, in my completely unbiased Mom opinion, we are blessed. We can't thank our wonderful family and friends enough, for your love and support, we are inundated with gifts, cards and well wishes. Here are a few photos from Max's first days in our lives.

The Nursery

So here are some photos of the nursery, before and after. We are thrilled with the outcome, I didn't ever want it to be too babyish and thought the stripes and white furniture were a little cleaner of a look - since really this is my room for the next year or two til the little man takes it over. It's more or less done, with some accessories yet to go in there. Our bedding is planes, so you'll see some other plane accessories on the shelves and in the mobile. Yep, that's Bruce's bed below the window - which he is already using! And yes, that is the new tv with cable and dvd. What can I say, we need something to do during those midnight feedings! And this is US we're talking about!

I am 38 weeks tomorrow and had a doctor's appt this week. Suffice to say he won't be arriving anytime too early, that's for sure. No dilation yet and he seems to have dropped a little but not all that much yet. I guess he figures he needs a little more basting in the oven, even if he is fully cooked!

XOXO


Before....


And After!








Miraculously, that weekend I also caught this close up of the elusive and rarely seen Spotted Labrador Retriever! (Told you - he LOVES his Grandpa and was always under foot, even for painting!)

You asked for it

Here are a few of the shots we took with Brenda a couple of weeks ago.

Our Baby Shower

So Ilene & Chris hosted at their home (along with cohosts Monica & Storm and Connie & Rob) a shower for us while Mom & Dad were in town a couple of weeks ago. Yes, I said a couple of weeks ago, but I just now got some photos from it so I just now mention it. Of course, it was a great party and fun was had by all. Our pals were way too generous and we left with a criminal amount of loot! But it sure was appreciated, because I'm certain I don't know the half of what-all a baby needs yet! So to everyone who came to help us celebrate - THANKS! And to those who couldn't make it (esp family far away) - we missed you! We really did have a great time - it was more of a bbq for friends who brought us gifts than a traditional shower. I am NOT a fan of the silly games you often have to play at showers and mercifully Ilene didn't make us do any. Good times!

So yes, I also said "while Mom & Dad were here". They came in for that long weekend to help us do the nursery. I'd like to say "finish" the nursery but really aside from cleaning out the room, we started and finished that weekend. Something about having a set amount of time to have the help really kicks ya into gear. Plus Dad is not exactly known for leaving projects half done! Dad did all the painting and such (hardware, curtains, lights) for both the nursery and bathroom, James did most all the furniture-putting-together and Mom and I mostly did the shopping and accessorizing. Bruce of course supervised - MAN does he love his Grandpa Glen, "me and my shadow" kind of thing! Quite the team effort if I do say so. But we're thrilled with the result and super relieved it's done, since we're getting down to the wire, only about 4+ weeks to go! We have a few finishing touches to put in there so I should have pix up this weekend. But I leave you with a few from the shower (yes, of course I wore black - but it's a funny t-shirt!). The "pretty" shots still aren't done yet, don't hound me!


Mom and Dad enjoying the gift opening.

Me and a couch full o' loot!

James and I opening a gift.

Pat and Jennifer posing.

James opening Phyllis' gift.

Lisa and John and baby Jordan (Zy's older-woman-to-be!)

Monica, Aaron, Kristi, Alex and baby Jordan - she's the life of the party.

Mom, Dad and me

Ilene, Connie and Monica