Three Months Old!!

The biggest thing that happened between months two and three was that Ryan started smiling  A LOT! He loves to smile and coo and sometimes even laugh! He took the cutest 3 month pictures and smiled for most of them!  Ryan had a lot of firsts this month, but mostly first visits to all our favorite places!

Cousins! Rebekah (4 months), Reese (2)

First trip to the zoo with mommy!

First time in the pool...for about 2 minutes. The pool water isn't quite bathtub temperature yet!

First time at Kaleidoscope! 

Enjoying some porch time with Meemaw Leslie.

Courtney loves to read to Ryan. It is funny that he can be a part of the the summer reading program at the library as a listener. I get sing-songy books that Courtney would know so she can read to him, too. 

I thought with Courtney we didn't set her in the bumbo until 4 months, but shortly after Ryan was 2 months, we tried it and it worked! He does a decent job of holding his head up, but will only stay happy (as seen here) for a few minutes. 

A visit to the farm.

Still sleeping in the basket (for naps) with the swaddle!

Ryan really loves his play mat and toys. He likes to bat and grab at things!

We didn't forget about Courtney!

Playing with daddy at Dave and Busters!

Even though life feels like it's all about Ryan lately, Dan and I have tried to be very mindful of our other love, Courtney.We have each done mommy and Courtney days or daddy and Courtney days. We try to take time to play with just her. She LOVES her baby brother and wants to love on him all the time and give kisses and hold him with the boppy. She also knows all the things that make him happy when he cries. "I think he needs his gigi (pacifier)." "Maybe he needs to be swaddled".  She is a great helper and even better big sister.

Meemaw Jody took Courtney to see Disney on Ice at the Sprint Center about a
 week after Ryan was born. She loved it!

Dan and Courtney have season passes to Worlds of Fun. She was SO EXCITED when
 she came home from their first time.  It will be so fun to go with her some day!

Courtney went to her friend Mallory's birthday party at HyVee. It was a cooking party. All the kids wore chef hats, Hyvee name tags and made pizza and cookies. So fun!

T-Rex Cafe

Feeding the goats at Deanna Rose Farm.

Planting flowers with mommy for Mother's Day.

Zoo trip!

We spent a day at my parent's farm and Courtney found this camera.
She wanted to come outside and take pictures like mommy!

Courtney LOVES to do the dishes when she is at my mom's house.
 I love this picture of both of them!

Two Months Old

 Ryan had a lot going one between months one and two! Most important was that he started sleeping through the night!! At 6 weeks old, this kid slept from 10pm to 7am without waking up to eat! Yay! He has kept that up every night since. He sometimes needs his pacifier, but usually not until 5 or 6am. He started holding his head up well during tummy time and SMILING! We noticed that he would only smile when he had locked eyes with you. He had his first trip to Deanna Rose farm (and slept most of that). We had him blessed at our church by two of his grandpas and we celebrated our first Mother's Day together. What a busy month for my tiny guy!

We went on a walk on a trail by our house for Mother's Day!

First picnic at Deanna Rose Farm!

One Month Old!

Ryan took the cutest one month pictures! 

For Ryan's first Easter, we went to my parents house in Stewartsville. Ryan was only 3 weeks old, so he slept the day away! We did get some family pictures later in the afternoon. We didn't get the best of both kids looking, but that will probably be the story of family photo shoots for years to come!

We took Ryan and Courtney to Legends to T-Rex and Dave & Busters.
Courtney loved both. Ryan slept well! 

My friend Katy made these little nests for Ryan.  I totally underestimated his size and around 3 weeks I put him in it and he was almost too big! So, I didn't get the best pictures, but Ryan is just cute in anything!

Ryan Christopher

Ryan Christopher was born on March 14, 2012. He weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. I knew that I would have to be induced unless Ryan came on his own. My OB, Dr. Cobbinaugh, didn't want me to go over my due date because of my arthritis. My due date was March 22 and she was going to be out of town starting on March 15. I let her know I REALLY wanted her to deliver Ryan, so she set up my induction on March 14 (38 weeks and 6 days).  So, on March 13, my mom came to stay with Courtney.  We got to the hospital at 7:00 am. I had already braced myself for a lllooooonnnggg day. I had a really long labor and 3 hours of pushing with Courtney, so I assumed it would be the same (even though EVERYONE told me second babies were faster and easier, I just wanted to be prepared for anything).  The nurse assigned to us met us at the front desk with a college-aged student. She asked if it would be okay if she observed my delivery. I was a little shocked, but jokingly said, "Sure, let's show her how fast this can be done."  Little did I know I would show her a fast delivery!! I got started on pitocin and a few hours later got my epidural. I was starting to feel some pretty strong contractions. After that I napped a little and tried to relax. Around noon, Dr. Doan (the doctor on call that day) came to check on me. My doctor would be in around 5:00 and was certain, she would deliver.  Dr. Doan checked me and I was progressing well...a shocking statement to me since my induction with Courtney went so slow.  Around 2:00 I was checked again and I was at a 7 or 8. Immediately after I started feeling a lot of pressure and wanted to push. Dan quickly brought the nurses back in, I was checked again and was a 10 in no time! Within minutes things got serious, people were coming in, setting things up and scrubbing up! I started pushing and after ONE push, Dr. Doan told me the baby was almost out. I COULD NOT BELIEVE HER. She told me after another push, I might have a baby. She was almost right! After 3 fierce pushes, Ryan was born! In that moment, with how easy it was, I thought that I could do this again and again! That feeling has passed :) I was handed my warm, sweet boy to love on. He nursed well right away.  This whole "second time around" feeling was wonderful. Everything seemed easier and more laid back.  Later that afternoon, Dr. Cobbinaugh came to laugh with me about scheduling my induction to have her there and then delivering too quickly for her to be there!

We wanted Courtney to be the first to meet Ryan. My mom brought her to the hospital and she was so sweet! She got a present from Ryan and from day one has adjusted AWESOME to her new little brother.  My mom came in to meet Ryan as well as other proud grandparents: Papa Steve and Meemaw Leslie, Meemaw Jody and Tpa! My dad came a few days later once we were at home.

Time at the hospital is always long, so we were very excited for our homecoming! The first night at home is always a worry, but with Dan as my partner in parenting, everything was calm, easy and stress-free. Knowing someone will be right there with you in the middle of the night made things very worry free for me. This part was THE WORST with Courtney. I was always so scared before I would go to bed, not knowing how much she would wake up, etc. But, from the first night of his life, Ryan only ever woke up to eat 2 times at night. He quickly cut that down to one time a night (usually around 2:00 - 4:00).

My mom stayed with Courtney while we were at the hospital and then continued to stay at our house for 10 days.  She cooked, watched a lot of March Madness, rocked the baby, played princesses, went to Walmart, bought groceries and was overall a great nanny! Growing up and having an "older" mom, I always worried about not having her around for these kind of things. Maybe it was silly, but I am still very thankful for all the moments I have with my parents and the moments they have with my kids.

Well, that pretty much sums up Ryan's first 2 weeks of life. He was cuddly, easy and the most wonderful completion to our family!

We're back!!

After almost 2 years, I have decided to fire up the 'ole blog again.  Dan and I keep talking about how much Ryan looks like Courtney, so I went back to the blog to take a look.  I loved going back 4 years to see all the little stories and memories I wrote down. I loved all the little Courtney stories and just the narrative that I wrote with all the pictures. I stopped 2 years ago because I felt like I was putting pictures on the blog then putting all the same pictures on facebook.  What is missing from facebook is the story. I may only keep it up for a few years with Ryan, but I will treasure looking back at all the memories that facebook, my scrapbook and my brain can't hold.