Clayton Rolls Over!

We hired a nanny for nanny share named Nora. I'm excited to have that complete, but not too excited to have to leave him with someone. We did a trial run with Nora last Monday December 15. Nora watched him for 3 hours while I met the super siete group of girls out at Barcelona for dinner. When I arrived home Clayton was cooing and playing with her. Nora said everything went perfectly and she gave me the run down of all their activities. She said she wanted him to play with this toy below but he "kept rolling over." I said, "What? He's never rolled over before!"

So of course, I am with him ALWAYS and the only 3 hours I was away, he rolls over! I guess that is one thing I will have to get used to when we have nanny Nora. I tried all week to get him to do it again and I never saw him do it. UNTIL, Sunday at my mom's house. We are back for Christmas and while playing with this toy below, he rolled over for me, Matt, and my mom. So we all witnessed his first roll over on December 21 at 10 weeks old. Way to go Clayton!

My Doula

Here's my doula during the birth. Julie Guttman

Daddy time

I love this picture of Clayton while spending time with his dad.

The Doc

Here's a picture of Clayton with Dr. Forseter who delivered him. We forgot to take their photo together on his birthday. Dr. Forseter did a great job. He was there for the entire 2.5 hours of pushing (most doctors only show up to catch the baby). We had an awesome birth with no drugs and not even an IV which Dr. Forseter was suportive of.

Dr. Forseter just had his first baby boy this month as well. Congrats Dr. Forseter!

Clayton's First Bath

We gave Clayton his first full bath last week. Yes, at over 8 weeks old can you believe it? You are supposed to wait until their belly button falls off. Clayton just loved me so much he didn't want to let go :) , and his belly button didn't fall off until we walked into the pediatrician appointment at 8 weeks old. The doctor said that is the longest he had ever seen one stay on. His little belly button is perfect!

He loved the bath. The first few seconds he fussed but after that he was cooing and smiling and loving it. Afterwards we wrapped him in his "Clayton" towel and his crazy hair got even crazier with wild curls.

Taking Clayton's 2 Month Old photos

Big Baby!

He is 8 weeks old and the pediatrician says we are growing a very big boy. He is 24.5 inches long, 13lbs 2 oz, and 13 inch head which puts him in the 95th percentile for height, 90th for weight, and 75th for head circum. He did catch a cold of some sort over Thanksgiving and still has it. The doctor thinks it is a sinus infection and prescribed antibiotics. Due to him being sick, he did not get any shots today and the doctor wants him to come back when he feels better to get the vaccinations. I hope he feels better soon. He has had this darn cold for 8 days now.

Turning 30!

I'm 30 years old this week. Yes, the black doom and gloom ballons say it all - well, not really, because my 30's are great so far. My friends sent me this giant pointsetta and balloons on my birthday. It was a huge surprise. I had a great birthday hanging out with my 2 favorite guys having a low key night. Here's to my next 30 years...

Where there is a baby bear, there is a...

MAMA BEAR! so be careful! Yes, this is my little baby bear but watch out because I am mama bear and definitely have felt like motherhood makes me feel like an animal watching out for my young. I have this strange animal instinct to take care of him and protect him and I can't control it sometimes. I can't help but guard him and keep a constant eye on him when someone wants to hold him. It takes me awhile to feel comfortable enough to be able to leave the room when someone else is holding him. I feel like he always needs to be in my line of sight.

Baby bear is 7.5 weeks old. I can't believe how quickly it is going by and how fast he is growing. I'm worried about having to go back to work after the new year and leave baby bear with someone else, but I am sure I will survive.

Hiding in Camo

Here's Clayton testing out a toddler camoflauge chair at Cabella's. Matt thinks it's fun to let Clayton sit there by himself. I think it's dangerous since he falls over. He sat there for a few seconds before toppling over though. With his cam outfit you almost can't see him!

Matt playing with Clayton

Here's Matt's idea of entertaining Clayton. My personal opinion is that it was a bit of over stimulation that the baby books say could make a baby cry, but Clayton did seem to be having fun and didn't cry. He was in a vibrating chair, inside of the pack n play that was also vibrating and playing music while tugging on the toys in the entertaining chair.

One Month Old Statistics

Here's a pic we took at Forest Park last week. I think he looks exactly like Matt and in this pic he almost looks like a toy doll!

We went to the pediatrician for his 1 month appt yesterday and he is growing very fast. Here are his stats:

Weight - 10lbs 15oz in the 75th percentile
Height - 23.5 inches in the 90th percentile.
Head Circumference - 15 inches in the 50th percentile

So he is a very tall guy compared to other 1 month old babies, of course we expect that to even out. The doctor was impressed with how alert he was and that he was already smiling back at us. He did say the baby acne Clayton has is from the estrogen in my breastmilk and probably won't go away until he is about 3 months old. Next month he will get shots for vaccines - yikes!

Here is his one month old (Nov 12) photo with all his camo gear. He is getting ready to help his dad get a big buck to hang on the wall of his nursery.

4 weeks old

I can't believe he's already 4 weeks old. Crystal and Kelly came to visit him. He welcomed the girls properly with the largest poop I've ever seen. It blew out is diaper and up the back of his shirt. I wasn't sure if the poo would come out of the white onesie that he was wearing but luckily we got it out. We mostly just hung out all weekend. He was good and impressed them with his pooping and eating abilities.

I forgot to take a picture of Kelly before she left, but did get this pic of Crystal and Clayton as we got ready to take her to the airport.

Matt testing out the stroller.

Here's Clayton's first stroller ride. Yes, I am surprised that he survived it. I am sure that Matt will be testing the limits on the stroller when we are able to actually go jogging with it.

Of course, I'm the cautious mommy!

Clayton didn't seem to mind either method of riding.

First trip to Cabella's with Dad

On Saturday Oct 25, we took Clayton on his first trip to Cabella's with dad. Matt showed him around and took pics by the huge display of dead animals. Matt said Clayton tried to buy a firearm and some bullets but got denied when they asked for his ID and he didn't have one. He told them his social security card should be arriving in the mail any day, but they would not sell him the weapons.

The Pediatrician

Clayton met his pediatrician in the hospital where Dr. Laycob checked him over. He said he was doing so great he didn't need to see him until 2 weeks, but as a nervous first time mom, I took him in last Monday at 1 week old. He was doing fabulous and had gained lots of weight. They said he was right on track. I think Clayton likes him because he pee'd all over 2 of the exam rooms and all over Dr. Laycob. He likes to mark his territory!

First trip out of the house

On Oct 18, almost one week old, we took our first trip out of the house to Babies R Us for some diapers and supplies. I was nervous to go but Matt thought we could do it no problem. Thanks to Matt, we did make it succesfully and have made a little bigger and longer trips every couple of days. We even changed his poopy diaper in the parking lot of St. Louis Bread Co. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was a big accomplishment for me since I was so nervous.

Clayton's Photo Shoot

Matt took some awesome pics of Clayton. I was the assistant photographer. It's not too hard to get a good shot though when he's busy being so cute and adorable. Click below to see the photos.

0810 clayton photo shhot

Visitors - Shelley and Elliot

We had visitors yesterday. Shelley and Elliot came and brought some really cool shoes too. Shelley had some ideas I had not thought of and an idea on my search for a baby wrap. I can't believe how big Elliot has gotten. I'm sure we'll blink and Clayton will be that big.

He's Here!

Well, I did not get a chance to complete my pregnancy posts, so we are skipping ahead now. You've all heard that he arrived on Oct 12. It was the best! I would not change a thing. It is so amazing to finally meet him. Now onto posting some photos as we get to know each other during maternity leave.

The places we've gone together...

So baby, these are some of the places you went with me in the womb...


We took pics of the pregnancy test result but I can not find them anywhere so maybe they were deleted. We basically found out we were pregnant with you when I was 3 days late and we took a home test on Jan 25th, a Friday night.

We were not telling people yet, but here we are in early February at a sales meeting I attended in Kansas City. There was a terrible ice and snow storm while I was there. Everyone at the meeting was drinking a lot of alcohol, but I drank water. This is when I first started to feel a little icky and very very tired. I did not feel like entertaining customers. I was there for a few days giving presentations, going to meals, and below I am pictured on their bowling night out. I think I threw one or two balls down the lane.

Below is March 14 at the March "Girls Night Dinner." Every month I go to dinner with the Super Siete chicas. It was Liz's turn to choose and we went to Robust Wine Bar in Webster Groves. Of course, a wine bar! I let the girls pour me a glass of wine but let it sit in front of me. I had told the girls I had a funny story about a threesome to tell them. When we get together everyone talks so much it is sometimes difficult to get through a sentence. So I told them to listen to my threesome story and that seemed to get everyone's attention. They were very quiet and excited to listen. They leaned in close as I told them that Matt and I were strictly having a threesome from here on out - me, Matt, and baby! They were all really excited and had huge congrats for us.

Here's Matt and I in Iowa over Easter. I was extremely tired, with nausea all day, and throwing up at least once a day until about week 16 or 17. Below we have just finished announcing to the Miller family about the pregnancy. I am about 12 weeks along here and not feeling so great. Cousin Brooke proclaims out loud "I won't be far behind you," and that turned out to be very true.

Before baby was conceived, the Super Siete had planned a trip to Florida in April. Michelle had the hook up with a very nice Florida home close to the beach in Jupiter, FL. Everyone was glad I would be prego so I could be the designated driver. We had a lot of fun and I think this was what started to cure my morning sickness. It was the first time I felt rested, relaxed, and started feeling a ton better.

The belly on the beach.

The super siete.

I stayed out of the sun and mostly hid under the umbrella the whole time, but the weather and beach were gorgeous.

Below is the volleyball team I played on called "Dig Dug" in April and May. We weren't very good or maybe the competition was tough? We didn't win any games but had a good time.

In June, Jade and I went to the Shakespeare festival at Forest Park and saw King Richard the III. It was the most boring of all the plays we had seen there, but still nice to go and relax in the park.

In late June, Iowa was hit by the big 500 year flood. Below is a pic of my drive up hwy 61 "Avenue of the Saints" which was about to flood. Cedar Rapids had just started clean up. I was there for KC and Raymond's wedding.

Me, KC, and Kelly

Hwy 61 sandbagged.

June, 2008 - Yuka's birthday

Here I am attempting to play Mario Kart on Yukari's Wii. It's tougher than it looks when you've never played before. I think I was only able to beat Yukari's mom who was visiting from Japan.

Yukari and I at her birthday party.