We've been busy visiting with family and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, so an update is coming once the little guy goes down for a nap. In the meantime, we got the pictures back from our photo session 2 weeks ago... here they are!


www.stlphotography.com/portraitshows/joe

Happy Anniversary

Somehow four years have gone by, as today is Joe and my wedding anniversary. Oh, how time flies!

Last night was the first night in almost two weeks that we had a slight variation from Joseph's new sleeping/feeding schedule, which required an additional very early morning feeding.... not too bad though, all things considered. He's really becoming a happy morning baby, comfortable with spending some time by himself in the crib just checking things out. He seems to "talk" more, giggle and smile and waits for one of us to come get him for his feeding.

This morning was no exception, as we hung out and cuddled before and after his feeding. Mid morning Jennifer came over (she's in town for a couple of days during her Spring Break) and watched Joseph for me so I could go out on my first run since October! I wasn't planning on taking the dogs, but they saw me lace up my running shoes and eagerly ran to the front door, so I gave in. We did our normal 3 mile loop, of which I ran about half. Although I was slow, it felt amazing to be running again! The dogs seemed to enjoy it a lot too.

I also had another milestone day - I was able to zip up and button my pre-pregnancy "fat" jeans! Granted, I could hardly move and would never consider leaving the house with the enormous muffin top I had hanging out over the waistband. However, a few weeks ago, I was multiple inches away from being able to button the jeans, so I know I'm making progress! Just in time, too, because my skinniest pair of maternity jeans are getting scary loose - another week or two, and they may just fall down if I bend over or jump.

Tonight, Ashley and Jen babysat Joseph so Joe and I could go out to dinner and a movie for our anniversary. We wanted to see Shutter Island, but the timing didn't end up working out, so we enjoyed our dinner, ended up getting ice cream at Murray's (only single scoops on basic cones... we're cutting back, since it's the year of the abs :) ) and picked up a redbox movie to watch. I'll still probably fall asleep while watching the movie, as frequently happens, but the few hours off for a date night was really nice.

Tomorrow I have some deep cleaning planned, and then we're off to the Lake of the Ozarks for the weekend, as soon as Joe gets home - should be a fun weekend!

One Month Stats

We had Joseph's one month checkup yesterday. Everything looks good, the doctor agreed he's growing well and he's still the cutest baby around!:) He now weighs 10 lbs, 11oz, so up almost 2 lbs from his birth weight, which puts him in the 75% percentile. He grew 2 1/4 inches, so he's now 22 1/4 inches long, which also is 75% percentile. His head circumference is 15 inches, and 50% percentile.

He's smiling at us daily and giggling frequently. They aren't always in response to anything, but still adorable. And last night he went 6 hours between feedings - a first! If things just get easier and more fun from here, I'm excited - the newborn phase hasn't been nearly as bad as it could have been, especially because he's usually so calm and easy. We're having lots of fun!

Giggling Little Boy

It's amazing how alert Joseph is becoming. He makes definite eye contact much more, and when he hears my voice or Joe's, he tries to look around to see where it's coming from. He also gets a kick out of the "how big is baby" game, and giggles pretty frequently when Joe plays with him. Friday night I managed to catch a few big grins and laughs on the camera, and a few cute video clips (which I'll post once I figure out how to do that!)

So without further adieu, here's our giggling little man, on his 1 month old birthday! We go to the doctor for his 4 week checkup on Monday (tomorrow) so we'll find out just how much he's grown.

Tummy Time

New this week, tummy time success! I've tried tummy time previously with Joseph and he screamed bloody murder within 15 seconds of me putting him on his belly. Jennifer gave us this adorable playmat, so I figured I'd pull it out and see if it got us anywhere. The first time I put him down, he was nice and calm!

He seemed to be enjoying laying there, so I actually took the time to assemble the crossbars while he hung out on the mat! I still need to add batteries, but didn't want to leave him alone or push my luck by pulling him off and putting him back down.

We've done a few minutes on the mat every morning since pulling it out on Wednesday, and he hasn't fussed once! I don't know whether he's just getting used to it, or if the playmat is magical, but it's great regardless! It's fun watching him be calm and allowing me to show him himself in the mirror, play with the rattle and crinkle the noise-making leaves while he takes it all in. Great toy, Jen!

First St. Patrick's Day

Joseph's first St. Patrick's Day was quite fun filled, although he managed to sleep through most of it. Joe worked Wednesday morning, and came home around 2pm. I got Joseph all ready to go out in all of his green - green diaper cover, green onesie, green and white striped sleeper, and to top it all off, the green monster/dinosaur/lizard/whatever the heck the fleece costume we found after Halloween last year is (it was about $2 on sale, and we figured it would be cute on him someday... we were so right! :))

We started off going to get a late lunch, and after a pit stop at home for feeding and diaper changing, headed to Westport to get some ice cream at Murray's. They chose St. Pat's as their opening day for the season, and we didn't want to miss it! We put Joseph in the Baby Bjorn, as we figured it would be easier to keep him close to us and save us the hassle of navigating any crowds with the stroller. He slept through the whole experience.

After Murray's we wanted to go run some errands, and headed up north so we could hit a strip with Target (a few returns), Kohls (a few things to exchange) and Babies R'Us (a few more things to exchange). Joe wore Joseph the whole time, and he stayed asleep for the vast majority of the errand-running. By about 6pm it was getting to be feeding time again, and Joseph was definitely starting to get fussy, so we strapped him into his car seat and headed for home.

The hood was a little large, and kept slipping down over his forehead on the way home. It didn't seem to bother Joseph at all!

We're not really sure if Joseph enjoyed his monster suit, but we sure did! It was great having Joe available to hang out, and take advantage of the nice weather with us. What a fun day!

First Out of Town Trip

Sorry for the delay in posts... it's been a busy few days for us! Joseph is still an incredible baby - hardly ever cries or fusses, and lately we've been making strides toward sleeping longer stretches at night. I'll detail what's been going on since my last post to catch up...

Last Thursday Joe and I decided to try and run a few errands with the baby. Joseph had other ideas.  I fed him, burped and changed him, and handed him off to Joe to put in his car seat. Joseph enjoys the pacifier, but is pretty good about spitting it out when he doesn't need/want it, or refusing it. This night, he was not happy to be put in his car seat, so Joe tried to comfort with the pacifier. As you'll see in the picture below, 7 convinced 6 he didn't want it, so we had a little role reversal...

After struggling to get him comforted, we called Ashley and Mikael, who were thrilled at the idea of watching Joseph so we could get out of the house. It's so nice having them so close! They managed to get him calmed down, and he soon fell asleep. They babysat for about 3 hours - Joe and I got our first dinner alone since 7's birth! Of course, it was a quick, 30 minute meal at Ponak's, and I was thrilled at getting to have a margarita again. Ahhh... :)

When we got back home, Ashley and Mikael hung around to watch us give the baby a bath, and then Aunt Ashley got to give Joseph her first bottle.

Friday I was going to head to St. Louis with Joseph for his first trip to the grandparents'. I had a bridal shower and bachlorette party for a sorority sister, and my parents were happy to babysit. Getting everything ready took a while, as I had to pack and clean in between feedings and naps, but I managed to get the car almost entirely packed Friday morning. My good childhood friend Christa was coming to KC for the weekend and was able to stop by, so she got to meet Joseph and visit for a little bit before we had to head to St. Louis.


While we were waiting for Christa's arrival, I managed to capture some cute almost smiles on the camera for the first time! Joseph's been smiling a lot more, but I still don't think it's in response to anything yet. He also giggles while falling asleep - it's about the cutest thing I've heard him do yet!

The trip to St. Louis was actually not as bad as I was expecting. It was just the two of us, and we managed to leave right at 5pm, so we had to sit through about 40 minutes of rush hour traffic before getting across the city. He hung out in the carseat quite well, and managed to go about 3 1/2 hours before wanting to bed fed. So we had a quick gas stop, mommy bathroom break, baby feeding in the car and baby changing in McDonalds session before getting back on the road. The entire trip took about 4 1/2 hours, which is about an hour longer than normal - not too shabby!

My mom was thrilled to see the baby and have the chance to babysit. Saturday & Sunday Joseph got to meet his Great Grandparents (my mom's parents), along with some family friends. My mom also helped take over the bath routine, which Joseph didn't seem to mind at all....

Monday Joe took a super early flight in to St. Louis, after getting bumped from his flight Sunday afternoon. Although getting up at 5am to fly isn't fun, we did get the flight paid for, along with $200 in travel vouchers, which will certainly come in handy for our trips to LA and Phoenix in a few months! We met with our wedding photographer to do Joseph's newborn photo session. I can't wait to see how they turned out. Tim is an incredible photographer, and Joseph managed to stay awake and mostly alert and calm for the shoot. We only had a few fussy times, and had to stop to eat once in the 2 hour session. Unfortunately, it will probably take 2 weeks to get the proofs... we'll be counting the days and will post the link to the slideshow here once we get it. We hit the road at 3pm, and managed to get home right around 7pm. Ashley and Mikael came over for a quick visit, and then it was bedtime for the Jeppsons - we were all quite tired. Joseph's been getting a 4-5 hour stretch between feedings at night, which continued last night, and he's been sleeping most of the day so far... I think he's exhausted from his first out of town trip and meeting everyone. It was a fun trip!

We're definitely getting spoiled by the nice weather here in KC! It feels like spring already, which can't be here soon enough. Today after feeding Joseph lunch, we (the baby, dogs and I) all took a nice, hour long walk. The forecast is for the temperatures to sink back into the 40s starting tomorrow, so I doubt we'll be able to get out for our daily walks. :(

The little guy is still doing great. I never really got into using the boppy pillow for breastfeeding, but discovered that he loves being propped up in it. I'm sure it's nice and cozy, and allows him to look around, which he's doing a lot more of these days. Right now he's relaxing on the couch next to me in the pillow, sucking away on his pacifier and totally content.

We are also venturing back into the world of cloth diapers, at least during the day for now. Yesterday he spent the day wearing the new "Flip" system, which is basically a one-sized diaper cover with a microfiber insert. When he's dirty, you just swap out the insert, as long as the cover isn't messy. Unlike the old style cloth diapers, the insert stays dry when he pees, and holds quite a bit - he seemed to adjust just fine to wearing them! I was really impressed with them, and since they are adjustable to fit babies from 8-35 lbs, will probably pick up a few more covers and inserts, as I only bought enough to get us through 6 diaper changes to start.

Today he's been wearing the BumGenius sized pocket diapers, which are about as close to disposables as they get. They are the most trim option we've tried, and seem to hold up well too. I'm looking forward to spending a few days trying this all out, getting used to the extra laundry and seeing which works best for us. Down the road we'll probably switch to cloth full time, but for now I like the convenience of the disposables at night and when we're traveling.

This weekend we've done a lot of hanging out with Nana and Papa. Saturday morning we all got up and took the baby to Sharp's for breakfast. He did great; slept through the whole trip while we enjoyed a great meal.  After breakfast, Joe had to go in to the office, so the 4 of us just relaxed at home. Jill made a great dinner of chicken and dumplings, and we spent the evening watching a variety of movies.

Sunday Jill's sister Julie amd her daughter Cayleigh came over to meet Joseph and see Jill and Gary while they are in town. We spent some time outside enjoying the gorgeous 60 degree and sunny day. Sunday night we turned on the Oscars, and Joseph decided to stay awake and alert for the whole first hour of the show. It was the most quiet, calm and alert he's been so far, although there was plenty of yawning mixed in.

Since his umbilical cord is gone, Joe decided to pull out Joseph's baby bathtub for his bath. Seven really seemed to enjoy sitting in the warm water; Six didn't enjoy how much more difficult it was to wash and hold Seven upright, so he went back to getting a sponge bath. We'll pull the tub back out when he's a little bigger with more neck control.

Today Jill went in to work with Joe, and Gary stayed at home with me. After Joseph's lunch feeding, Gary graciously agreed to watch him so I could go run some errands. Today was another beautiful day, so I enjoyed driving around with the sunroof open as I dashed to the bank, Target and Babies'r Us before heading back home.

Gary and I took the dogs and the baby for another walk, and this time I decided to try putting Joseph in his bunting suit to keep warm, even though it's about 60 degrees again. It says it's a newborn, but I'd like to see the giant newborn this was designed for! At least this time we could get his legs to fit partially down; his arms were another story. He definitely didn't seem to mind as he quickly passed out as we left the house and stayed asleep literally until the moment we pulled the stroller into the house. I walked Molly on the leash while pushing the stroller - she did really well and didn't pull too much. I figured it'll be me walking the dogs and baby soon enough, so it was nice to get some practice.

Gary and I are sitting here, waiting for Jill and Joe to get home from work. This is their last night here; we'll be sad to see them leave tomorrow morning - it's been a fun visit!

Warmer weather brings outside time

Yesterday morning Joseph's umbilical cord stump finally fell off. There's a little bit still left in his belly button, but all in all it looks like it's healing nicely. He and I had a very lazy day, trying to recover from the rough night. I napped when he napped for most of the morning, and then got up in the early afternoon to do some cleaning before Jill and Gary arrived.

Joe picked them up from the airport mid afternoon, and they got to the house around 4:15pm. After spending some time enjoying Joseph, Joe and Gary ran to get dinner while Jill enjoyed holding Joseph. We had a nice dinner (and actually ate at the dining room table!) and then decided to go ahead and take advantage of the warmer (50ish) weather we are starting to enjoy. We leashed up the dogs, who were thrilled at getting to go on a walk, and Joe put Joseph in his car seat in the running stroller, having installed the car seat adapter the night before. Joseph had been hanging out in his swing while we ate, and we had to wake him somewhat to put him in the car seat. This was a slightly risky move, as we were within the "witching hour" for him wanting to eat, but we figured we could probably get through a quick walk, and could always head home if he woke up crying.

We bundled up and headed out, quite the group! As soon as Joe started pushing the stroller, the baby was out. We didn't bring a separate blanket, relying on the BundleMe to keep Joseph warm. I'm not sure that it worked entirely, as about halfway around the block he started fussing. Joe covered the entire car seat up, and that seemed to calm him down for a few minutes. I'm sure we probably should have added more layers, but since we're so used to the freezing temperatures, the slight chill in the air didn't feel as cold to us as I'm sure it did to him.

We managed to get about 20 minutes in before hurrying up to get home to feed Joseph, who was growing fussy. Of course, once we got home, he was sound asleep again...

Once we got him out of the stroller, though, he woke right up and wanted to eat. Afterwards, he fell back asleep, and gave Joe and me the chance to let Jill and Gary babysit so we could run to the grocery store and Wal-mart... such exciting times!

Joe fed Joseph a bottle around 10pm after we all finished watching The Office and Grey's Anatomy, and we headed to bed. Jill was kind enough to stay up with the baby and volunteered to put him to sleep when she was headed to bed, and we quickly took her up on the offer. Luckily, the growth spurt seems to have subsided, as Joseph was back on his "old" routine, eating about every 3-3 1/2 hours through the night.

I woke this morning feeling much more rested, and managed to get more cleaning done, ran a few loads of laundry, and even baked Joe's peanut butter cookies for the first time in a while! The weather is still gorgeous, so I'm hoping that once Jill and Joe get home from his office and Gary gets back from Clinton, we can take another walk, hopefully longer this time. If the weather holds out tomorrow, we may spend even more time outside - spring is going to be here soon!

Rough Night

I think we've hit our first big growth spurt. Normally, Joseph is quite content, nursing every 2-3 1/2 hours, and napping most of the time in between. He's typically really good about going 3-3 1/2 hours at night, which I really have appreciated. Until recently. Tuesday night he was a little harder to calm during his middle of the night feedings, and they were closer to 2 - 2 1/2 hours apart. Not a big deal, but made for a tired Mommy Wednesday morning. Joseph seemed to return to "normal" (is there a normal for an infant? I don't think so), but still feeding a little closer together.

Last night around 9pm we gave him a bath, dressed him for bed, nursed him and assumed he'd fall right to sleep, like he's done after every other bath. Nope. Wide awake. I was exhausted, so Joe cuddled with him, which I don't think he minded too much. :) At 10:30, he was hungry. I woke up, fed him, gave him back to Joe to be changed and put to bed. By about 12:15, he was hungry again, and I was officially on the worst night shift yet. From 12:15 to 4:15am, Joseph nursed 3 times, would start to doze off and then wake himself back up crying. Our night feeding "routine" typically takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, from the time he first starts eating, to diaper change, soothed and back asleep in his crib again, so this was completely new. I kept checking the diaper, checking his temperature, and discovered that no, all he really wanted was to eat. Finally by 4:15, I was able to calm him so that he fell asleep for more than 15 minutes - we made it to about 6:15am before it was time to feed again! That feeding took our typical 45 minutes, and he was wide awake... Knowing that Joe's alarm was going to go off at 7ish, I decided it was time for him to take over, because I was beat. They cuddled for a little bit, until Joe had to shower. 8:15am, Joseph's crying to be fed again. At this point, I dragged myself out of bed, brought Joseph back into our room and managed to feed him two more times between then and now, 11am local time. Right now he's sleeping in his swing, and I'm about to doze off trying to catch up on some sleep before Jill and Gary get here this afternoon.

The doctor said he should be eating 8-12 times in a 24 hour period. Right now for today, I think we're at 11 times in 12 hours.... if this isn't a growth spurt, I don't want to see what that'll be like!

More firsts

Sunday afternoon my dad came up to KC to deliver a couple of kayaks, and pick my mom up before heading to the lake for the rest of the weekend. After visiting with grandpa for a bit, Joseph went down for a nap and the grandparents headed out. We were officially on our own (at least until Jill and Gary arrive on Thursday for their visit!). Joe and I spent the afternoon relaxing, and decided that since I was feeling much more like normal and needed a few supplies, we had Ashley and Mikael down to "babysit" Joseph while we took the dogs and walked up to Walgreens, which is a block away. The first official babysitting session was a success - we left them a sleeping baby, and he was still asleep when we got back about 30 minutes later! :)

Shortly after getting back home, it was time for another feeding. I started pumping breastmilk the day before, so that Joe could start taking a night feeding, and to make sure we don't have problems with the baby taking a bottle down the road. Breast feeding has been going really well - absolutely no issues whatsoever, but I was still a little nervous about this big step. Joe took the feeding while I pumped, and Joseph took about 3 oz. in no time at all! The next feeding we were back to business and he didn't seem to have any issues, so although he's only had one bottle of breastmilk so far, we're ready to call it a success.

That night, we decided to try putting Joseph in his crib to sleep, as opposed to having him stay in his pack and play in our room. Thanks to Mike and Linda, we have a monitor that has a voice-activated feature, so it only turns on when there's new noise - backround noise, and little squeaks don't activate it. Joseph didn't seem to have any trouble sleeping in his crib at all - still averaging 3 hour stretches. It took me a bit to fall asleep and wake back up, but I think this system will work well in letting Joe get more sleep during the week since he isn't really able to take any time off.

Yesterday (Monday) Joseph and I settled into our new routine. We spend some time cuddling after his 7-8am feeding while Joe is getting ready for work. By about 10am it's time for another feeding, then down for a nap. I spent most of the "off" time relaxing, playing online and doing some light cleaning. Around 1pm, it's lunch for Joseph, then a nap in his swing, which is still a hit - and he hasn't even figured out the mobile above it yet! 4pm-ish, another feeding, then nap, and I wait for the call from Joe regarding when he'll be home from work and when to start dinner. Last night, Joe was working a little late, so Joseph helped me get dinner ready after his 7pm-ish feeding. By 8pm Joe was home, we ate dinner, and I was in bed by 9pm while Joe spent some cuddle time with Joseph. 10:30pm, another feeding, then attempts to get some sleep before the 1am, 4am and 6:30-7am feedings.

You'll notice I refer to the baby mostly as Joseph. I alternate between calling him Joseph and 7, although Joe mainly calls him 7. I don't know what will stick.

And here are the photo "sessions" from yesterday and today... enjoy!

Cuddling with the blanket great-grandpa Joe sent him!

This morning after our time cuddling.

A common look we get from the little guy.

Enough with the pictures already, mom!

Sound asleep after his mid-morning feeding - check out that perfectly shaped head!

Yet another common "I'm plotting against you while I sleep" look. Still waiting for the umbilical cord to fall off - should be soon!

Back in his swing. I think he may have noticed the mobile, but it certainly didn't hold his attention for longer than this picture!