Family Portraits

We finally got a tripod and decided to test it out and take our first family portrait. I used the remote for my camera so we could just sit and click away, fingers crossed for at least one decent shot. Stoli and AJ always seemed to be looking in the same direction:
First, it was look left...

next it was look right...

then came, let's look at each other...

and finally, the winning picture!

Christmas cards were much more fun, but I will save that post for later!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Although November has not been the best of months for us, there is so much to be thankful for, especially this little man...

AJ did not get to eat any Thanksgiving dinner, but he had a very nice 1st Thanksgiving and looks forward to next year when he can actually try a few things. Unfortunately, he is now sick with his first cold. My poor little baby is so congested and there is not much we can do for him. Being first time parents, we called the pediatrician and she told us to put a cool mist humidifier in his room and use saline nose drops (both of which we were already doing). But she also told us what to look out for and when to call again, and that he could sleep in his swing to help keep him upright for the congestion. He slept much better in his swing than he did the previous night in his crib. So, hopefully this cold will not last too long and I can have my happy baby again. Moving on with good news, Stoli has a great follow up appointment and has been enjoying his kitchen and even some play time. He is doing so much better and we are glad he has recovered.

4 Months Old!

I cannot believe how big my little man is getting! At 4 months old he is 16 1/2 pounds and 26 1/4" inches long. He is growing out of his 3-6 month clothes and has started to giggle and try to roll over. AJ can get all the way up on his side and he almost goes over, but then rolls back down. I think AJ knew I would be blogging today, because he gave me something to write about...he slept 7 hours last night, woke up to eat, and then went back to bed for another 2 1/2 hours!! WOO-HOO! Now, hopefully this was not a one shot deal, because I could certainly get used to that sleep schedule! My other son, Stoli, is recovering well. He is not happy he has to be caged up and is not allowed to run or play, but he goes for his surgery follow-up appointment on Wednesday, so hopefully then he can at least have the kitchen back.

Joey and Jen came for a visit. AJ and Joey enjoyed some cousin time together.

Art got me and AJ a new car. A 2010 Ford Expedition, Eddie Bauer. It is the first time Art has ever bought a brand new car and we just picked it up last Monday. We LOVE it and have had fun playing with all the gadgets. It has a navigation system that is voice activated, Microsoft Sync, DVD player for AJ, and the navigation screen turns into the backup camera when I am in reverse.

Unfortunately, my poor new car now has a big boo-boo. On our way home from a 30th birthday party on Saturday night, I hit a deer going 65 mph on I-195. :-( Luckily we were all okay (AJ was with us) and the airbags did not go off, but my poor new car was not even drivable. We had to be towed home, and then today Ford came and picked it up to take to the collision center for repairs. Good thing for insurance!

Playing Catch-up!

So much to write about so little time. I guess I will start with Halloween, AJ was a monkey and Stoli was the banana. We did not get any pictures on Halloween, because it was 75 degrees outside and AJ was not very comfortable in his heavy costume. But here are a couple I took on a happy morning. AJ wore his skeleton outfit all day and I think he enjoyed looking like the snoopy skeleton his Great Grandma and Great Granddad sent him.

This past week, we have all been worrying about our Stoli dog. On Tuesday morning he was throwing up, nothing too out of normal, but then by lunchtime he was vomiting bright red blood and had bloody diarrhea. I called his vet and she said get him to the ER right away. Luckily, there is a new animal hospital only 15 minutes away from us, so we went there instead of Red Bank. He was admitted right away and given the initial diagnosis of severe pancreatitis. They did not how if he would pull through and we were very scared. The next day he had 2 plasma transfusions and more tests. In addition to his pancreatitis and gastroenteritis, they thought he may have intestinal blockage. They kept monitoring him by ultrasound and x-ray. By Thursday, he had stopped having stools, and the tests were more supportive of blockage. We went and met with the surgeon and he told us there is a 25% chance there is no blockage, but they needed to go in to see and if there is not blockage to biopsy his organs. Well, there was no blockage. They biopsied 5 organs and we are hoping they all come back normal and it would have just been a severe case of pancreatitis and gastroenteritis. Stoli came home Saturday and is resting at home. He is not allowed to run, play, or jump for 2 weeks! Poor poochie!

AJ had his 4 month pediatrician appointment of Thursday, he did well and I will write about that when I upload his 4 month pictures.

3 Months and AJ's Moving out!

I am a little behind in the 3 month post, but here it is: on October 10, 2009 AJ weighed in at 15 pounds 2 1/2 ounces and measured 25 1/2 inches. My boy is growing! He is all smiles now and loves to babble and make noises. On the eve of his 3 month birthday, AJ moved into his bedroom and spent his first night in his crib. I was not ready to make the move, but his bassinet has a 15 pound weight limit and we were forced to the crib. He did not go alone though, I inflated the air-mattress and slept in AJ's room for his first two nights. He is doing well, and while I miss just grabbing him and feeding him in my bed in the middle of the night, we are adjusting to feeding in the rocking chair. Since I never posted pictures of his nursery, I added some to this post. Enjoy!

What's that you said AJ?

I am a little behind on AJ's 3 month post, but after I upload the pictures I will be right on it. Until then, here is a little video I took of AJ last night while we were watching the Phillies beat the Rockies. Enjoy!

Go Phillies!

AJ went to his first Phillies game last Saturday and even though his dad was very nervous, we all did just fine. I fed him in the car before we went into the game and then around the 5th inning he was hungry, so we went to the family bathroom and I fed him in there. He was very happy and had fun chatting with his Grandma during the game. Around the 8th inning he started to get tired and fuss, so I decided to stand for the last inning and AJ went right to sleep

Mmmmm...Phillies game and cold Bud!

We gave Grandma and Grandpa tickets for their birthdays

Goooooo Phillies!

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J! E! T! S!

JETS! JETS! JETS! With a 3-0 start, Sundays have been good in our house.

AJ really enjoyed the game but throwing the flag really wore him out and he slept through the win. We will be sure to let him catch the highlights on E S P N.

AJ wasn't the only one enjoying a lazy Sunday; Stoli took his Dad's chair, fluffed the pillow, and snoozed away.

2 Months Old!

Hard to believe my little man is 2 months old! He went for his 2 month check-up at the pediatrician on Monday the 14th and weighed in at 12 pounds, 12.5 ounces with a length of 24 inches. He has grown so much! The 12 pounds 8.5 ounces in the picture was his weight on the actual 2 month date of September 10th. He has grown a little more than the average 1/2 pound a week, and he is 75th percentile for weight and 90th for length. AJ loves to smile (just not for the camera) and he babbles to us all the time. Mornings are still his favorite time of day, and the little bugger has learned to bust out of his swaddle at night, so he has moved on to blanket sleep sacks. I think he enjoys having his arms free at night so he can put them over his head, but now that he is not swaddled he is waking up more often from his startle reflex. I am going to give it a few nights to see if he gets used to it and adjusts, if not then I am going to buy some bigger swaddle blankets and go back to wrapping him at night. He was sleeping for a 5 hour block, waking to eat, then sleeping for 2-3 more hours. Now he is up every 1.5-3 hours. Not fun! Poor little AJ had to get his 2 month vaccinations at this last appointment. He did really well and calmed right down when I picked him up to comfort him after the shots. There were 2 needles, one in each leg, and an oral rotovirus. He loved the oral and sucked it right down, unfortunately his poor little legs did not like the needles. He has bruises and lumps at each injection site and it makes us so sad to see. AJ has been a little fussy the last 2 days, but nothing unbearable. Luckily, no more needles or doctor's appointments for 2 more months. I think it will give us all a little time to heal from the trauma. Here are some pictures taken on his 2 month birthday, enjoy!

All Smiles!

Was my last post really almost a month ago?!? Where has the time gone? So much has happened in the past month, AJ is growing big and strong and he is all smiles and baby coos now. Morning is his favorite time of day. He wakes up and babbles to himself in the bassinet, then when I go to get him out of bed and change him, he gives me the biggest good morning smile. AJ took his first trip to Ocean City over Labor Day weekend, where he met more of the family. We had a great time and even went for a nice stroll on the boardwalk, AJ really seemed to enjoy it. As nice as it is to be away, I think he was glad to be home in his own bed again. At the beach he was waking up after 2 hours of sleep and on our first night home he was back into his 5 hour sleep. A big relief for Mommy and Daddy! AJ goes to the pediatrician for his 2 month check-up in a couple days and the poor thing doesn't know what's coming! He will get his first big round of shots and I am trying to prepare myself for the tears, both mine and his. He has already gotten 2 Hep B shots, but they were small and do not cause a lingering pain or fever. The shots he gets this week will make his little leg sore and may cause a fever, so we will be sure to have some children's tylenol on hand before he goes to the doctor.

First stroll on the boardwalk

With Grandma and Grandpa

Art fed AJ boobie in a bottle so I could get my hair done :)

Sleeping in the big boy crib at Grandma's house

1 Month Old!

AJ is one month old today, man does time fly! He has gotten so big in the past month. He was down to 6 pounds 14 ounces a couple days after birth, and now my little man is up to 9 pounds 8 1/2 ounces! He is doing really well and getting cuter by the day. I don't want to jinx myself, but the past few nights, AJ has even been letting us get some sleep. He will usually sleep for about 4 hours, wake up and eat, then go back to bed for another 2-3 hours. So Art and I have been getting about 6-7 hours of (broken) sleep. Can't complain about that and I hope it keeps up! AJ has moved up in diapers, he went from newborn to size 1. He is also able to fit into his 0-3 month clothes now (although they are quite baggy on his skinny little body). Here are some pictures taken this morning.

Happy Birthday, Stoli!

Yesterday was Stoli's 5th birthday. It is so hard to believe we have had the little furball for almost 5 years now (we got him as a puppy in October 2004). Since Sunday's forecast was not favorable for swimming, we took Stoli to his Grandma Bev's house to swim and celebrate on Saturday. She even cooked him a lobster dinner. (Well, okay technically the lobster dinner was for us, but we did give Stoli a couple bites and he really enjoyed it!) On Stoli's actual birthday he was given lots of play time, attention, and presents. Happy 5th Birthday, Stoli!

Growing boy!

Hard to believe AJ will be 3 weeks old tomorrow! He is doing really well and is right on track with his weight gain. Now that he has reached his birth weight again, he should be gaining about 1/2 pound a week. And being the nervous new mom that I am, I bought a baby scale so I can weigh him each week between doctor visits. Last Friday, at the pediatrician, he weighed 8 pounds 1/2 ounce. As of this morning, AJ is up to 8 pounds 8 1/2 ounces. He is a really good eater and his weight gain is showing it!

Hanging out in the party chair!

It's tough work being a newborn!