Graydens first bottle

So we decided to give Grayden his first pumped bottle today. He is almost 5 weeks and breastfeeding is well enough established that I figured we could try and see what happened. It was pretty cute. Daddy fed him his bottle and he took too it right away. He took a couple seconds to get used to it but no problems what so ever...I figured he would have a hard time because he doesn't like his pacifier one little bit....He chokes on it a lets out a holler if you stick it in his mouth, but other times he takes it when he really needs to sooth himself but you always have to hold it for him or it falls out. Anyway I heard with the bottle they usually choke a bit the first few times because it comes out much faster, but in our case I think My milk comes just as fast so he was used to it and didn't choke at all. It will definitely take a few more practices before I am willing to leave him with a bottle, but I am glad to know one would go down in case of emergency. Here's a couple pics of Grayden's first bottle.

Graydens First Easter

Grayden had his first real holiday...HIS FIRST EASTER! We went to Grandma Beechers for a yummy turkey dinner and hunted for our easter baskets. Grayden got a cute iittle tigger outfit from grandma and a hopping duck. Pappa and Nanna Prete sent him a cute little outfit as well and a cuddly easter bunny (Thankyou) He slept almost the entire time at Grandmas but it was nice to have his first holiday on such a special day and to celebrate the true meaning behind it.

Here are a few photos of Grayden's first Easter !


Grayden and his cousin Madison

Graydens ONE month old Today!!!

Wow...Grayden turned one month old today and I can't believe how much he has already grown and changed! Where did the time go? Our days seem to go by so fast since he's arrived. I guess we've just never been so busy and constantly needing to do this or that or be here or there. It's so hard to find time to do anything when he's this little and so dependent upon me. I try to take advantage of his 2-3 hour naps during the day but I find all I want to do is cuddle him and stare. When I do really need to get things done the swing is a life saver. I just hook his video monitor up and I can get my laundry done or whatever else and still watch him/hear him the whole time. The video monitor is also LIFESAVER!! We seem to be quite the picture freaks and have taken a few pictures of Grayden EVERDAY since he's been born. I was looking through his photo ALBUMS (yes he already has two) and we have over 300 pictures already!! I can't seem to put the camera down. I just want to capture every moment so we can hold onto it forever. Im going to have to slow down because we're going to run out of room for all these photo albums but I just love capturing those precious moments as much as I can right now. I think we'll have to box up some of his newborn clothes this week. His legs are too long for a couple of his sleepers already :( And last week we put him in size 1 diapers he's too big for the newborns now :( He's growing Way too fast!

I think we are starting to get into the swing of things around here and we seem to be getting the whole bedtime routine down.
He is sleeping between 3 and 4 hour stretches, but doing 2-3 of them in a row. So if we go to bed at 11:30 he gets up around 3ish and then again around 6 ish and up for the day around 10 am. He actually slept through the night for the first time last night!!! We went to bed a little late around 1:30am and he didn't wake up until 7am. It was amazing and I hope that happens more often. Grayden isn't in his own crib yet, he actually sleeps with me. I was totally against having him sleep with me at first because I was scared .... but it seems to be the only thing that works for him right now. Im not comfortable leaving him in another room just yet so we tryed putting him in the bassinet beside our bed but he didn't like that at all.....we tryed leaving him in his bouncy chair but he didn't like that either and would wake up every hour...... I decided to try having him sleep with me and he slept for 4 hours........I love sleeping with him and I know its going to be a hard habbit to break for him AND for me but its what works for now AND I JUST LOVE IT........ Anyway we are both getting lots of sleep which makes me so happy. I had heard sleep deprivation was one of the hardest parts and I haven't had to experience much of that yet, (knock on wood). Grayden really is a good baby.

He is getting more alert of his surroundings and loves to stare at moving objects for as long as his eyes stay open. He loves to sit in his swing and stare into the mirror at himself or watch the little butterflys spin around, Its so cute!! Isn't it funny how the littlest things are so exciting for a new mom and dad. Like when he needs to be burped and he FINALLY lets it out.... you just feel like Supermom. LoL He also does the cutest thing after a feed when he starts to fall asleep. He lets out the biggest smile and sometimes a little giggle. I've been trying to capture it on camera but I have a hard time looking away let alone reaching for the camera... but Im really going to try and capture that because its just so precious.

This last month has been amazing and we've had many precious moments with Grayden. I can't believe how much we fall in love with him more and more EVERYDAY. Out of all the blessings in my life, he is by far the greatest. I now understand all the parents who warned me about how "they grow so fast". This last month has just flown by and I sometimes look at him and cannot believe how much he has grown. I get all teary eyed looking at pictures of him the first week thinking how little he was. And it seems like yesterday. I just remind myself that these are the moments I will cherish for the rest of my life and to just take it all in.

Happy One month Birthday Grayden. Mommy and Daddy love you more than you could ever know and we can't wait to watch you grow more and more everyday.

Here are some photos of Graydens on his One month old birthday!!

Every once in a while just before Grayden's about to wake up he will start making sad faces and wimper almost like he's having a sad dream. It's so cute but it breaks my heart to see those sad faces and I just want to wake him up from whatever sad dream he's having....Its so precious...anyway heres a little video I caught the other day of Graydens SAD dream!!

Grayden's SAD dream :(

Hungry cry

Bath Time

Trying to get a smile

Graydens two weeks old!!!!

....and what an amazing 2 weeks it has been. Grayden turned two weeks old today and I can't believe how fast time is flying by already. I have such a hard time putting him down in his swing or anywhere else because I just dont want to miss anything, and he's growing so fast. Hence why I haven't updated in a while. Im going to miss this stage of his life so much. I love how he's so dependent upon me, although Im sure I will love every stage of his life I will probably miss this one the most. Breast feeding has gone so well right from the beginning. It is one of the true miracles and joys of motherhood.

So what has Grayden's first two weeks been like? The first week was so nice because we had the help of my mom and dad all the time. I would feed him around 11pm or 12 and mom and dad would take him until about 3am so we could catch up on some much needed sleep. I don't think they know how much we appreciated and loved having them around. They cooked, cleaned, bought groceries.....just everything....THANKS MOM AND DAD, YOUR AMAZING AND WE MISS YOU!! Mom and Dad flew back to Vancouver last monday, It was a pretty emotional day for them and me as well. I know it was so hard for them to leave their grandson, they have fallen so in love with him, but also hard to leave me as well. This is all so new to me and it has been so great having them here to help. I have to say that this week has given me a whole new love for my own mom and dad. One could never know just how much their parents love them until they become a parent themselves. It became so clear to me this week, and I am so grateful to have had those two weeks to spend with my mom and dad and realize just how deeply they love me.

So we were on our own...... as nice as it was to have mom and dad around and get all the help we needed, it was nice to be on our own and experience this new life of ours, and be our own little family. I can't believe how good of a sleeper Grayden is. We get ready for bed around 1030pm, I feed him around 11 and were in bed by 1130pm he sleeps until 3:30-4am for a feed and a diaper change and then were back to bed around 430-5am. He'll sleep for another 3-4 hours. We are very lucky!!!! He hardly ever cries except for when he needs a diaper change or just wants to be cuddled. We had our first ruff day with Grayden on wednesday. He has a little diaper rash so we decided to wash his bum and have him air dry without a diaper for about 20 minutes. Well He was pooping and peeing EVERYWHERE!! LOL He seriously pooped atleast every 5 minutes......most of them were just dripps but we had a few good squirters as well and peed all over himself a couple times aiming right for his face :( He loved being out of his diaper but he was just messing everywhere and got pretty upset....I called my dad to see if this was normal to be pooping this much and we realized it was probably my green drink thats making him so runny and causing the diaper rash. It must be too rich for him and passing right through him.......that was a ruff day for Grayden and for us......So NO MORE GREEN DRINK FOR ME.

Grayden's umbilical cord fell out last tuesday March 4th. He was 11 days old. We've been to the doctors quite a bit these last couple of weeks...Grayden had a bit of Jaundice so they wanted to keep an eye on him. He's all better now thank goodness....I thought I worried enough just being pregnant and couldn't wait to have him here and not have to worry anymore!! Boy was I wrong.....the worrying doesn't go away especially now that he's here!

Grayden is so perfect, I had no idea I could love somthing so MUCH! Its a love I have never known before and I can't imagine my life without him. I get all choked up just thinking about him. Grayden is such a joy in our lives. We are so blessed and thank Heavenly Father everyday for such a perfect gift. It has been so wonderful to have Cody home with us for the last couple of weeks and we are dreading Monday when he has to go back to work. We love having daddy around 24/7. Watching him with Grayden together the last couple of weeks has been just beautiful. I knew having a child together would change things for us, but I had no idea all the new ways I would fall in love with him.

Well Happy Two Week Birthday Grayden! Thank you so much for the most amazing weeks of my life so far. We love being your Mommy and daddy, you are just sweet perfection. Thank you for showing me what the word Mommy really means. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I am loving every minute of it!

A few pics of Grayden .....