January 2011

Joseph will be 4 months old in 2 weeks and January was full of exciting developments for him!

He began sleeping in his crib at night on Ruggs' birthday (not planned). He had been napping in his crib and he decided he'd move into an earlier bedtime (between 7-8pm) that night so he just stayed there! He's been there at night every since. We have good nights (where he goes to sleep between 7-8pm and then wakes up at 12/1am and 4/5am and then it up for the day between 7-8am) ... and we have bad nights (where I'm up every hour or two). He's now sleeping with a lovey and he LOVES it. I think he likes it because it's snugly and easy to hold onto.

We're still working on napping. He's moving himself into an older baby nap time of having 3 longer naps per day rather than sleeping every 2 hours. Most of his naps are 30-40 mins. We've tried extending them by taking him on car rides, holding him, putting him outside the bathroom in his carseat with the shower running (see pic below - nice so I can shower after Stroller Class!!) and a variety of other techniques, but they're all hit or miss in getting him to sleep longer.

We went on our first walk outside in the carrier last month! It was finally sunny, but it was also windy so we wore a hat.

He also had his first trip to the mountains! We took a little trip to Breckenridge to see the Int'l Ice Sculpting Championship. Thankfully it was a balmy 40 degrees up there that day! We did have to put him in his bunting suit (super cute) and buy him a pair of sunglasses.

He's grabbing things with both hands. He concentrates very hard when he's moving for something and gets an adorable determined look on his face.

He like to sit upright! He can even sit in his Bumbo assisted for short periods of time.

He's not a fan of tummy time, but I try to have him do it a few minutes each day. He's not rolling over consistently, but he does on occasion.

A video of tummy time!

He's sucking on his hands and fingers. His pointer and middle finger are his favorite to stick on his mouth. Of course he loves to put EVERYTHING in his mouth now!!

He's started grabbing his feet. If he does this multiple times while on a blanket on the floor he'll spin counter-clockwise all the way around!

He still loves bath time! We do it every night as part of our bedtime routine.

---------------------------------------other updates---------------------------------------
Ruggs had his 40th birthday in January. We celebrated on his birth date by having a nice dinner at home with the kids. The following Friday, we rented out a room at a local restaurant and had friends and family join us for food and drinks. I think he has a pretty good birthday!

Darren is attending Front Range and seems to be doing pretty well! We're very proud of him for getting back in school! :) He also has a girlfriend named Julia who we've been able to spend some time with over the holidays. She's a sweet girl and seems to be good for D.

Sydney is in the second semester of her junior year and is starting to have to seriously consider colleges. She's planning on staying in-state, but is still turmoiling over which school to attend and which degree to get. She also has to register for next year in the next few days. Being the over achiever she is, she wants to take 3 AP classes next year! Ruggs and I are discouraging it because we want her to be able to enjoy her senior year and balance school with work.We'll see what she finally decides to do.

Jud is wrapping up his 8th grade year and will be attending a Legacy High School preview night next week! It's hard to believe little Jud will be in high school next year! Jud participated in a spelling bee last month. He didn't get very far, but we were proud that he was chosen to participate.

I'm still going to Stroller Class 3 days a week with J.T. and I'm thinking of going to a Baby & Me Water Aerobics class in a couple of weeks when Joseph is old enough to swim. I'm definitely in the full swing with baby and love waking up every morning to his smiling face and rocking him to sleep every night. We're super in love with each other! I've also put together a New Mom's Group. We met for the first time in January and are having our next meeting next weekend. It seems like a long time since I've seen my new mom friends and I'm looking forward to it! Now that we have a night-time schedule I'm ready for a part time work I can do from home. Still searching for something that will fill the need... hopefully a door will open this month.

Christmas at the Kochevar's

Christmas came and went and we're now staring down the barrel of 2011! We had a wonderful holiday! Ruggs took a couple of weeks off from work and we all got some great loot. It seems the last month or so we've been busy, busy until a couple of days ago and we finally had a couple of days to relax. It was a welcome change of pace!

Christmas morning at our house.

 

Darren, Syd and Jud @ Grandma Shirley's on Christmas Day.

J.T. and his new rocking horse.

 

Sydney with her new slippers. 

 

Jud with his new Xbox.

 Darren with his new jacket.

---------- Baby J.T. update -----------

 Joseph on Christmas Day 12.25.10

J.T. is changing weekly. I think he's actually getting cuter every day (if that's possible). He's very interactive and alert. He loves our daily conversations, playtime, and tubby time. He's learning to grasp things with his hands. He's become very interested in learning about what he's touching.  He'll grab hold of his own hands and pull with one hand and tug with the other (Like he's trying to get away from himself). It's hilarious.

He got a play mat for Christmas and loves to look at the lights!

He also had his first round of vaccinations on Monday and did pretty well. He didn't cry long, but had two very sore legs and a little temperature afterward. When we got home from the Dr's office I held him while he napped since he wasn't feeling well. While he was sleeping he was dreaming of what we had done that day. He was smiling and making silly faces (as he sometimes does when he sleeps). Then, he started going WAAAAAA, WAAAAAA, WAAAAAAA... but it was in a whisper. It was SO adorable. I wish I would've had the camera handy to video it. I felt bad for him, but he is doing just fine now.

 ---------------------

My New Years Resolution is to get in better shape than I was before I had Joseph. I'm going start going to a stroller-exercise class on Monday. It's an hour 3 days a week. I have a friend who already went once and she said she was sore! Hopefully it'll be the solution to my workout-with-baby dilemma. Now that J.T. is napping better, I'm also looking at ways to work from home doing more than freelance graphic design. I'm excited to see what 2011 brings!

We made it 6 weeks!

It took some adjusting, but were finally settling in! Joseph will be 7 weeks this Tuesday and it's been an exciting 6 weeks in our family! ...

We had family pictures taken. Here's a preview. We're still waiting on the rest of the photos...

Sydney turned 16 November 28. She was excited to get a Tulo jersey! She also got her license on December 1st and is officially on the road by herself!

Jud got glasses! We had his eyes tested a few years ago, but he was complaining of not being able to see far away. He looks pretty dapper!

JT LOVES Tubby time! (Careful there's baby boy parts in this video!) ...

He smiles and talks to us...

He's also starting to sleep a little longer so we get 3-5 hours of sleep at a time now! We don't really have a schedule down yet, but he recognizes night time as a time for sleeping. He'll stay in night time-mode for up to 12 hours. He still has a lot of gas, but it seems to be getting better. Laying on his tummy helps when it's keeping him from sleeping. He also likes the Christmas lights! We'll have lots of fun video and picture of the kids to come for Christmas....

Baby-Time Vortex

Baby Chic Blue Birth Announcement

Make a statement with Shutterfly birth announcement cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

It's been almost 3 weeks since Joseph was born and it's been a whirl wind! We've been in a "Baby-Time Vortex" where time just seems to slip away. Our days are spent holding, kissing, feeding and changing diapers. We've had lots of visitors and are now trying to establish a schedule of some kind (which is currently dictated by JT, not us). I will try to keep up the blog as much as I can, but I'm afraid that my days of being organized and always on top my to-do list are numbered. 

I wish I would've had the time to sit down and journal about my labor and delivery because it's slipping away from me. At the time, I remembering saying that I could've broken both my legs and it would've been less painful. Now, it doesn't seem all that bad. It's easy to see how women so easily forget after a few months... especially when you have such a wonderful gift afterward.

JT's birth was such an intense experience. There's no anyone could've prepared me! My water broke at 2am on Tuesday morning, we arrived at the hospital at 2pm Tuesday afternoon and Joseph was born at 9:34pm. At first the contractions were painful, but no more so than an intestinal cramp. After we arrived at the hospital they became much more intense. I dealt with each contraction by counting (it made me feel like I had some control). I counted each and every second of my contractions for 20 hours and when it was over I couldn't stop counting. I counted when I ate, slept... anytime I was focused on doing something for about 24 hours after he was born. I felt really silly each time I caught myself doing it.

I successfully had a natural birth, but almost gave up near the end and asked for medication. Thankfully Ruggs was able to keep me on track. Ruggs was such a big part of the labor and delivery. I literally wouldn't have been able to do it without him. He helped me change positions frequently and gave me drink or a cold wash cloth or O2 when I needed it. I'd never felt so simultaneously out of control and oddly in control at the same time. I knew what I had learned in class, but my body was really in charge and I was just along for the ride. :)

When we finally saw our little guy it was love at first sight. It's amazing! We're both infatuated with him and every noise or face he makes. I cherish each day because I know he'll only be that old 1 day. Each day I tell him, "Welcome to Day X" (today would be 19). When I was pregnant I told myself, "Be sure to tell him you love him everyday." It's hard not to tell him I love him 100 times a day! Funny how a baby changes you. I knew it would, but I it's better than I'd dreamed.

Tik Tok

Ruggs and I have been playing the waiting game since he returned from his trip a couple of weeks ago. We feel like we're ready and excited to move into the next phase.

We took some pregnancy pictures a couple of weeks ago and they turned out pretty good! We didn't want to spend the money on a professional photographer, but we tried to mimic some of the poses. I'm a little embarrassed to share them since they were really just meant for us, but they turned out so well I decided to share a couple...

We have our last Bradley class this coming Monday, but we've covered all the stages of labor so if I do go into labor I don't think we'll feel ill prepared. We've really enjoyed the classes and I found them extremely helpful. They also helped pass the time since I've felt like we've just been waiting around since we got the nursery put together. 

I estimate Baby J.T. is about 8 lbs now (since he's gaining 1/2 lb per week and he was 7 lbs 2 weeks ago). There's not much room in there for him to wiggle or kick, so a lot of what I'm feeling is just movement (he'll turn from side to side and reposition occasionally). He's full term and ready to come at any time. I feel like he dropped last weekend and I'm starting to have Braxton Hicks (practice contractions), though it took Dr Huynh telling me what it was I was feeling.

At my check up last week, Dr Huynh asked me to start walking to start helping my body progress towards labor. So everyday I've been on the treadmill for 1/2 hour. I don't usually feel like doing it, but it's gotten a little easier each time. I'm also sitting on the ball, stretching and doing stair stretches everyday.

I went in for a check up yesterday and there's been some progress! I'm dilated 1 cm and 70% effaced. (Effacement is when the cervix gradually softens, shortens and becomes thinner. When you are 100% effaced, your cervix is paper-thin and labor is right around the corner. For first time moms, your cervix will usually efface before it dilates. Second time moms will usually dilate before effacement.) It could take another week or 2 for things to progress or I could go into labor this weekend. It really just depends on how active I am and how my body responds - everyone is different. Ruggs and I are ready so we're hoping it's sooner than later!

Sneak Peak

We had our 36 week appt today with Dr Huynh. She scheduled an ultrasound to see how big he is since my fundal height jumped at my last appt. We still measured 3cm ahead or 39cm, but we didn't have another big jump. She did an ultrasound and he's about 7lbs right now, so he may be as big as 8 something when he's born. She says she thinks it's doable for me. He is floating in quite a bit of amniotic fluid, but it's not excessive so she wasn't worried. PHEW! Looks like everything is ok and I should be able to proceed with having him naturally. I haven't started dilating yet so the full moon tomorrow shouldn't mean an early surprise from our little guy. :)

I've been having quite a bit of pain in my wrists and knuckles caused from Carpel Tunnel. I guess it's pretty common in pregnancy and should go away after the baby is born. It's intense and they get very stiff at night. I feel like paws would be more useful.

I've also been having a little cramping in my lower abdomen and what I've been calling "stitches" in my abdomen. Dr Huynh says all of those are Braxton Hicks. Ha! Who knew? Not I. I was expecting something much more dramatic.

I've been quite a bit more irritable and can't get the dog or the cat to give me any personal space. It's driving me crazy. I guess this easy pregnancy couldn't last forever. The irritability and fatigue I've had for the last 10 days has me more and more ready for the baby to come every day.

The ultrasound gave me a sneak peak at our little guy! Ruggs didn't want to share, but he's so adorable I can't resist! I didn't think I wanted to know what he looked like before he was born, but now that I've seen him I'm very excited. It may have given me the extra boost I needed to get through the next couple of weeks.

Nursery

We finally finished the nursery this weekend and we're feeling ready for Baby J.T.  Putting all the stuff together was exciting for Ruggs and he's a pro at putting on the vinyl wall decals. It's hard to believe we'll have a little guy in this room within the month!