the magical swing

Nate is a spoiled little man. From his birth, it seems as if someone is always holding him, so of course, that's what he prefers. He sometimes will lay on my bed for a few minutes while I get ready without crying. He lasts in his bouncy seat & car seat for about the same amount of time. I know I need to break him of this habit but he's just too little to let scream for that long when I'm standing right there. If there's something I really need to do, I let him cry for a few minutes but what can i say. I'm a softy.

However, I found something he actually enjoys! My sister Ali let me borrow her swing since she doesn't need it again for a few months. Once I got him swinging, the music going, and the birds/flowers rotating above his head, he LOVED it. I think it helps that he's starting to be able to focus on things or at least see that something is there. When I put him in the swing, he immediately turns his entire body and angles his head so he can look up and see what's going on. He's even got this inquisitive look on his face. It's quite funny. Then, after about 15 minutes of being totally mesmerized, he falls asleep with his neck sideways. It's a great thing for me in the late afternoon when he's a little fussy. It helps him calm down and I can at least get a small task done while he's in there. Thanks Ali for letting us use the swing for a while!

Addicted to 24

Wes and I just finished Season 1 of 24 and we're soooo addicted. Well, at least I am.

I knew prior to Nate being born we'd have many more nights at home on the couch than we ever have. For years, many people have said that 24 is a great show but we weren't really that interested. I thought we'd give it a try and I love it. Since there is never anything on TV, it has been nice for us to have something to watch together at night.

A few nights ago, we had the final episode left of Season 1 and we decided to stay up after we put Nate down to watch it. He was a great sleeper for us the two nights prior so we got a little cocky thinking maybe he was putting himself in to a nighttime sleep routine. Lets just say that never again will we stay up after we put him down because he quickly reminded us who is in charge. We really wanted that extra 40 minutes of sleep back!

We can't wait for Season 2 to arrive via Blockbuster Online in the mail!

Our new neice, Olivia Jane

We have another niece! Wes' brother's wife, Alyssa, had their baby girl ~ Olivia Jane ~ this morning. We're so excited that little Nate will have a cousin so close in age and can't wait for them to meet in November. Everything went well with her labor and both mom and baby are doing well. Congrats Grant and Alyssa! We're so happy for you. Welcome to the land of exhaustion! :)

Our Weekend

Nate & I always look forward to the weekends when dad is home! We had a pretty nice weekend together. Didn't do much, but it was nice. On Friday night, I went to dinner with my family for Kyle's 10th birthday. We opted for Wes to stay home with Nate since he was sleepy & his behavior is always so unpredictable. :) I wasn't even gone 2 hours and this is what I come home to. Wes is usually the best at calming him down but there's nothing he can do when the little man is hungry! You'd think I was gone for hours and hours!

Here are some pictures of my boys from this weekend....

Nate makes some very funny faces that we have yet to be able to capture on camera. However, I was able to get a picture of his one eye that he leaves open! He does it all the time & it's pretty funny. He can't miss out on anything.

We took him to church today for the first time. Nate & I only stayed for sacrament and then we came home. He actually did great! Even though he wouldn't sit in his car seat for more than 3 minutes....he did fall asleep in our arms for the entire meeting which was nice. Here's a picture of him all ready for church. He looks like he's going to a private school in a little blue/white uniform!

A couple more pictures of the weekend......

Who do I look like?

When he was born, we all thought he looked just like Wes. Now, we're not so sure. From the nose up, I think he looks like me and from the nose down, he looks like Wes. What do you think?

A few pictures of Nate....

Wes in the hospital

Me and my dad....

I don't have any pictures of Wes when he was a few months old. Doreen: Do you have any? I'd love to see some. It's always interesting to me to see what kids look like and what traits they get from each parent!

More of Nathan....

Here are a few more pictures of our little guy. He loves holding our hands....he's holding Wes' hand in the picture below. We love and adore him & we're so glad he's finally here. I look at newborn pictures of him and it's amazing how much he has changed already. I have a feeling this "growing up" thing is going to happen way too fast!

Wake Time / Play Time

What are you supposed to do with a newborn during their wake/play time? What kinds of activities will stimulate his brain without making him so stimulated that he won't sleep? He loves to be held....he's usually pretty happy if he's in someone's arms...but I'm trying to think of things to do with him while he's awake. He loves to stretch his arms and legs and just look around but that only lasts for about 3 minutes unless I'm right there giving him my undivided attention. :)

All of you have had a newborn at one point....what are some "activities" we can do in the next 3 months while he's so little that will help with brain development & have it be something he actually enjoys while he's awake and alert?

I spoke too soon

Our four hour sleeper is not a consistent 4 hour sleeper. Last night, he preferred 2 hours. :) I guess I should be glad he's at least sleeping and not wide awake!

Our Chunk Can Sleep......sometimes

Last night was a good night in the Griffeth household. Nate slept for 4 hours straight...was up for an hour to eat and a diaper change.....slept for 3.5 more hours.....was up to eat......slept again for 2 hours. It was HEAVENLY and much needed. He's a good sleeper once he's asleep. We're crossing our fingers for tonight but I might have just jinxed us.

I took him to the doc today for his circ check-up. Everything looks good and they also weighed him. Our little man is turning in to a CHUNK! He's now 8 pounds 9 ounces! He gained half a pound in 4 days. I was worried because he really doesn't eat for very long. It's a MIRACLE if I can get him to eat for 10 minutes on one side but he poops & pees all day and is gaining weight so the doc says he's doing great! His face has filled out a little and his thighs now have a roll. I love it.

We took him on his first walk tonight. He really does enjoy being outside but it's so hot during the day, that we're pretty cooped up. The nights aren't too bad though so we took him on a short walk tonight. It was nice to get out with the three of us and enjoy some fresh air and each other's company.

My tooting machine

Nate's cousin Abbie brought him a onesie from her recent trip to Park City. It says "I love big dumps." Little did Abbie know how true this is! He is constantly pooping and tooting! He doesn't act gassy at all...he just loves to fart. I can see it now....sitting in church with my little tooting machine.

It's been nice having Wes home today. I even got out of the house without Nate! My friend Anya invited me to a Stampin Up party and I was thrilled to go. Laurel gave me some stamps for my birthday and I've been needing to get some other stuff so I can use them more! It was nice to get out and feel "normal" again....even if it was only for a few hours. Thanks Anya for getting me out of the house and thanks to Wes for hanging out with Nate.

Today we had to take off Nate's circumcison bandage. Talk about traumatizing! It was kind of stuck so we had to keep soaking it to try to get it off without causing extreme pain. I was SHOCKED to see how raw his poor little thing is! With the bandage on, you didn't get the full effect of how raw his poor skin is down there. They say it can take up to 2 weeks to heal...poor little guy! I can't wait until I can just change his diaper without fear of really hurting him. He also got his second PKU done today so he's had a rough day but is doing a little better now.

Here are more pictures of the little guy. Notice a trend of his eyes ALWAYS being open?!?!?

We're Better Together

In one of Keith Urban's songs, he talks about being "better together". Everytime I hear the song I think about Wes....we are definitely better together. Today is our 4 year anniversary and I've been thinking a lot about my life since I met Weston R. We've been able to do so much together and now that we've officially started a family ~ it's only going to get better from here.

I know I talk about how wonderful Wes is all of the time, but I can't help it. He truly is my better half and is such an amazing person. Although last week was one of the most overwhelming weeks of my life, it was also one of the best and that is because I got to spend the entire week with pretty much just Wes. The last time that happened was 4 years ago on our honeymoon. We grew closer last week than I ever thought possible as we were able to get to know our son together. It is a week I will always cherish.

My mom came over this afternoon and she was here when Wes got home from work. She stayed with Nate as Wes & I went on a half hour date to Golden Spoon to celebrate our anniversary. Earlier today, Nate was circumcised. Oh man, what a procedure! Our doctor didn't want us to come back with him so we just got to hear him scream from the exam room. Luckily, when they brought him back to us, he was calm as can be wrapped in his little blanket. I'm terrified everytime I change his diaper....it looks so incredibly painful and tender. He doesn't seem to be too affected by it yet so we're hoping that it heals quickly without any infection. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Happy Anniversary, Wes. I love and appreciate all you do for me!

He Loves his Arms and Legs

Nate absolutely loves his arms and legs. He's constantly kicking his legs, stretching his arms, grabbing things with his hands, etc. His latest thing is he loves to take his binky out of his mouth so he can hold it....but then quickly gets mad that he doesn't have his binky in his mouth anymore. He doesn't realize that he took it out. :)

At least one of my college roommates (Laurel, Laurel & Trisha) used to make fun of me because I always had my right arm in the air. I can't remember which one specifically, but I think it was Trisha. I could be asleep or reading/watching TV on the couch and for some reason I found it comfortable to have my arm straight up in the air. Nate is the same way. He loves both arms straight up in the air so I thought I'd post this picture for them.





He's getting circumcised tomorrow so wish me luck.

"See you when you get home"

Today is the day I dreaded all last week ~ the day Wes went back to work. Little Nate is now all up to me during the day. Some of you might think this wouldn't be a very big transition but when you see how much Wes does for me and this little guy, you'd understand that today is definitely a day of transition for me. My mom came over this afternoon and she was a great help with cleaning up the house and just holding Nate. I think that's the most exhausting part of the day for me....trying to figure out how to satisfy him. As of yesterday, he's been a little harder to please than he was the first 5 days of his life so it's nice to have someone here to just hold him and keep him content when he's awake. She also took me to Target since I can't drive for at least another week.

Overall, things are still going pretty well. Although, I've discovered something about this whole "becoming a mom" process. Everyone warns you about labor & we all know that it can potentially be a very long, difficult & painful process. Some have it easy but there's a good chance that labor will be rough. However, how often do you hear about after labor? Of course, you hear that you will be absolutely exhausted but what about the rest of it? The fact that the mom is recovering from a major procedure herself, that breastfeeding HURTS at first...especially when your milk comes in, that your uterus contracts every time your child breastfeeds so you feel like you're back in early stages of labor, that your hormone levels are even more out of whack than when you were pregnant so emotional breakdowns are very likely and sometimes uncontrollable, and the list goes on. It's been whirlwind of a week for me ~ I love having our little man here but it has definitely been a week I will never forget. I have a feeling we have a few more of these weeks.

Luckily, I get to look at this perfect little being pretty much all day and it's a constant reminder of how blessed we are to have him. He truly is wonderful.

As far as sleeping in his crib, we've had two successful nights in a row! While we still don't get very much sleep, at least the sleep we do get is in our own bed without him. As long as he is swaddled and has his noise machine on, he sleeps great in there. I even got a 3 hour stretch this morning so we're hoping and praying that he continues to like his own bed. This way dad can get some solid sleep instead of holding him all night long.

I appreciate all of the "how are you doing" phone calls, emails & posts. Sorry if I don't get back to you right away. For doing "nothing" all day, the day sure flies by. I welcome ALL advice so please never feel like I won't want to hear any tips you can offer about being a mom. I had a good first day at home....thanks to my mom! She was a great help driving me to Target and holding Nate all afternoon while I got a few things done and relaxed. She's coming back tomorrow morning. It's SO nice living near family at a time like this.

Here are some more pictures of the little man.

So far, I like the car.

Nate holding mom's finger and putting it in his mouth to suck on.

I like my own bed!

Our new life with Nate

I don’t even know where to begin about our new life with our little man. I have to say that I totally agree with Katie’s comment on our blog about this time being filled with every possibly emotion….excitement, adoration, exhaustion, frustration, love, appreciation and more.
Our first night at home was rough but it’s gotten a little better every day and every night. We finally got enough sleep last night to be a “tolerable exhausted” instead of miserably exhausted. The interesting thing about becoming a parent is that all of a sudden everything you do is for your child and everything you go through is totally worth it when you see this little person that is yours. We find ourselves forgetting to do basic things for ourselves because we’re so focused on our little man.

Here are a few things about Nate that we’ve learned in the last few days:

He hates being alone. We’re not sure how, but regardless of how deep of a sleep he is in, he knows when we’re not there. We did make some progress last night when he slept in his crib for a little over an hour without waking up. We’re working on getting him to like his bed.

He is a content, happy baby. He really doesn’t cry much unless he’s getting his diaper changed, when we change his clothes or when we leave him alone. He just hangs out and is extremely happy when he’s in either one of our arms. Luckily, he likes us both.

He is either dead asleep or wide awake. There really isn’t an in-between. If he’s asleep, it is nearly impossible to get him to wake up and when he’s awake, we’ve learned just to enjoy his company instead of trying to get him to sleep.

He found his hands & he loves them. He loves to play with his own ears and touch his face. The best was yesterday when he found my hand with his and grabbed on to it. Anytime he has access to either Wes or my hands he loves to hold them. He has really long fingers ~ Wes already has bets on when he will be able to palm a basketball.

We were warned that when boys get freedom….they like to pee. Boy is this statement true. We always seem to catch him when he’s pooping so we go change his diaper only to realize that he wasn’t even close to being done so we get to experience the blowout firsthand. Then, before we know it he has peed everywhere. It’s pretty funny. The one time we had him in a Huggies diaper it got all over everything. We’ll stick to Pampers where his blowouts have yet to escape the diaper.

We went to the pediatrician today and she says he’s doing well. He gained 2 ounces so he’s now at 7 lbs 7 ounces. He lost 7 ounces at the hospital so we’re working on getting him back to his birth weight. So far, so good.

He can roll over. I put him in his crib this afternoon for a little nap and seeing as how he hates his crib, Wes thought something was up when he was in there for longer than 30 minutes. He went to check on him and he had rolled completely over, was up against the side of the crib on his stomach. He looked like a little frog. This one scared us! Now I really won’t be able to sleep at night b/c I’ll be wondering if he rolled over again. He also has great control of his neck already! He literally holds his head up and just looks around at everything. He doesn't want to miss out on anything.

This was probably more information than you wanted to know but we’ve got Grandma and Grandpa G and the rest of the Griffeth family out on the east coast & this is the easiest way for them to get to know about their grandson & nephew!

We are doing well & can't say enough of how grateful we are for such great friends and family. We are enjoying our time at home ~ I'm dreading Wes going back to work next week. He is such a great dad and husband & I've LOVED being able to spend a week with my two boys.

introducing....

Nathan M. Griffeth

Yep, we finally decided on Nathan "Nate" for our little man. The M. is a tradition in the Griffeth family that has been going on for generations. It stands for my maiden name....Marz. Wes' middle name is R., standing for his mom's maiden name of Rogers. So, we not only kept the tradition alive but Nate is the first boy Griffeth to be born so he's carrying on the Griffeth name, too.

We've had lots of requests for pictures so here we go!

Nate literally right after he was born

I had to put him in his delivered onesie :)

Nate a few hours after he was born

Nate hanging out with his dad

Nate sleeping in mom's arms

Nate and his cousin, Abbie. Abbie looks like a giant compared to Nate! She wasn't sure about him at first but by the end of their visit, she was very intrigued by this little person and wanted to touch him and play with him. I'm excited for them to become friends!

Nate sleeping, again.

As Ali mentioned, everything went very well and pretty quick in the delivery room. It took a while until I was dilated to a five but by then I had an epidural and life was great. I only had about 2 hours of intense contractions so I can't complain about that! Before we knew it they were calling the doctor and a few pushes later he was here!

Our first night at the hospital was a sleepless one. Nate HATED his little bed and basically insisted on being held all night. So, Wes and I rotated who held him & who got to sleep. While I was exhausted, it was actually kinda nice to be able to just hold and stare at him for a few hours. Wes had his finger in Nate's mouth yesterday and that's when he realized how strong Nate's sucking sensation is! He is a natural so we gave him a binky and that solved our sleeping problem! He no longer needed mom and dad near....the binky comforts him, too which was a relief. We couldn't hold him all night long for many nights!

Nate & I are slowly but surely getting the hang of breastfeeding. So far he is doing OK and seems to be getting enough food. It's hard to tell but we're getting a little better at every feeding.

We opted to stay for two nights at the hospital. Well, let me re-phrase that. I wanted to stay another night and Wes supported me in my decision. :) We came home today around noon and we enjoyed an hour or two of sleep while Nate took a nap. It still hasn't set in that my son has been born and that we're already home with him. This whole thing has been so surreal!

Thanks to everyone for your phone calls, posts, thoughts & prayers. We appreciate it and love you all.

It's a boy!!!!!!

You probably knew that but you might not know that baby Griffeth has arrived! I was texting with Lindsay and she was relaxing (epidural already in place) reading a book and dilated to a five...about an hour later she calls and Wes is holding the baby. She went from a five to delivering in less than an hour and with four pushes he arrived.

I'm in Utah right now so I don't have photos to share but Sam sent me some cell phone photos and he is quite handsome. No wrinkly, cone-head for Lindsay's son. No word on a name yet but I do know that he is 7 lbs., 12 oz. and 20 inches long. As soon as I hear a name or other news, I'll let you know.

Ali

My Water Broke

Yes, it absolutely broke this morning and luckily it wasn't in public. I had somewhat of a hint this morning that something was going on and it kind of just came in spurts. I was at my doctor's appointment and she confirmed that I did in fact break my water and so we're headed to the hospital.

I'm at home grabbing the bags and waiting for Wes to get here from work (so of course, I had to update the blog!) and then we're headed to the hospital! My mom is actually in Utah today for a funeral. She kept going on and on on Saturday afternoon that if this baby was born the one day she was out of town she was going to die. I think she jinxed us. :)

I can't believe that it's happening now! It's so strange to think that in a matter of a day, our lives are about to totally change.

I'll have Ali update you all when he's born!

My Favorite Treat - A Homemade Slush

I love any kind of slush ~ slurpees, Sonic slushes & limeades, Icees, or even a slush from the gas station. Every summer I use my snowcone/slush maker but for some reason I kinda forgot about it this summer until last week. We found it buried in a cupboard and I swear I've made at least 3 a day since I found it.

We don't use traditional snowcone syrup....we either use lemonade or juice. Wes found a great guava pineapple juice that is so tasty. I even just have water as a slush.

I highly recommend getting one of your own if you enjoy a good summer slush. It is as simple as putting ice in the machine & within 30 seconds you have a homemade slush. Yum.

3.....2......1.....

Yep, I have one week left until my due date.

Physically, I am so ready to have this baby. But on the other hand, I’ve really enjoyed having this week for me. Being able to be at home without much responsibility has been heavenly. I love how much I can get done at home when I’m here during the day! So, as ready as I am to deliver this child, part of me hopes I have another week at home before he comes. Only time will tell!

I’ve had many people ask if “anything is going on” and I have to say that the answer is no. I go to the doctor every Monday & at this past appointment I was dilated to a 1. Until a few days ago, I hadn’t felt anything different but on Wednesday afternoon I started getting these pains that would last for about 15 minutes or so and then they’d go away for a short while and then they’d be back. It was a lot worse on Wednesday than yesterday or today. This is definitely one of those things that regardless of how many labor stories you hear, you’ll never know what your story will be until it happens to you. So, we just wait and see!

We will definitely keep you posted. For now, we wait.

A week to myself & a pretty cool boss

I've been working from home this week ~ sort of as a mini-transition to my new life at home. It is definitely a different lifestyle than getting up and going straight to work and getting home around 6. It's also unique because I can do whatever I want since I'm not tied to a computer since my email is on my phone. I'm not a "stay at home" mom yet so I still have absolute freedom. I was supposed to take this week to relax, but I really have a hard time sitting still unless it's on a raft in the pool. I've been able to get quite a bit done around the house, what seems like endless errands done, & a little bit of relaxing. I would be in the pool every afternoon but our weather is not allowing me to do so. Lots of rain and lightning!

I have to say that I've been pretty lucky for the last 2+ years. I've been able to work side by side with my dad who is so incredibly good at what he does. It's been the ultimate learning experience for me & I got to spend priceless time with my dad. While I'll still be working with him after maternity leave, it won't be the same since I won' t be in the office all the time. He's been such an awesome boss. He not only agreed to let me take some time before the baby comes, but he encouraged me to do so. I know me not being in the office is hard on him. He loves spending time with his daughters and the fact that he could have at least one of them with him almost every day for the last two years was ideal for him. I guess you can say we're both adjusting to this change. However, he loves nothing more than his grandkids so he's thrilled to have another one.

I'm hoping to be able to relax a little more on Thursday and Friday to take advantage of the last few days of "Lindsay time." Once the kiddo comes, I'll never have a week to myself again so I'm definitely taking advantage of it!