First Family Night

Friday night we out for our first family night. We went out to eat and then stopped in at babiesrus to get Kerrick a playmat. Kerrick of course did great and slept the whole time we were out. Here is a pic of Kerrick and Jason before we went out on Friday night. Then the the one his playmat was after church last night. That was the first time he got to "play" and he just layed and looked around - so he seemed to like it! Last night was our church anniversary so we were there for a bit afterwards celebrating. Quite amazing to see how much our church has grown. They celebrated their 4 year anniversary and we have been part of it for 2.5 years and have been so blessed!
In other news...my mom is doing great and sounds really good on the phone. I spoke with her this morning and she states she is a bit sore but not in too much pain. She had to start her home exercises yesterday and said that is going well. Then she will start her PT tomorrow afternoon. Praise God for a good recovery thus far!!

Update on Mom B's surgery

I talked to my dad this morning and Mom's surgery went well. My dad called when they were leaving. After going in they saw she had a lot of scar tissue and then they found a huge bone spur. So they have cleaned up the scar tissue and removed the bone spur. While in recovery her bp dropped way down so they kept her a bit longer to monitor and pump her with some fluids and meds to try to get her bp back up. So she is now home recovering. She will start PT on Monday and go everyday next week and then follow up with the doctor in a week and then go from there. I will try to call them later on to see how she is doing since the local anesthetic will have worn off. I will keep you posted.

Prayer for MomB

I forgot to post this last night....but my mom went in for surgery this morning at 0600. She is having surgery on her shoulder. Please keep her in your prayers today and in the days to come. I will put an update up once I hear from my dad after the surgery is completed.

8 pounder

Kerrick and I went up to my job for our weekly visit to see my buddies up there. So of course I took the chance to weigh him and he has crossed over the 8 pound mark. Last Thursday at the doctor he was 7pounds 14 ounces (no clothes/diaper) and today he was 8pounds 10 ounces (with clothes and diaper.) I left his diaper bag in the car and was too lazy to go out and get it so I weighed him with everything on - so with that in consideration he should be over the 8 pound mark now.

Just Pics

Two nights this week Kerrick has slept from 10-3 and last night from 10-4, so that has been nice. I hope it is just not because he is sick but something he continues to keep up. So we shall see.
Here are a few pics from yesterday....Kerrick was wide eyed and just a "talking." And he has just in the past day or started noticing the mobile on his swing. He was looking at the one in his crib when he slept in it last week. We have since moved him back to his packnplay. We had to move him out of his room as we are having to re-paint the room this week. We accidentally used exterior paint in his room and fumes still seem to be lingering around. So we are starting tonight to repaint in hopes it will cover up the fumes. So we shall see!!

Another First of Many

We finally were able to make it to church last night since Kerrick was born. Service was cancelled for 2 Saturdays and Jason was a bit sick last Saturday - so Kerrick finally got to go to church for the first time last night. He slept like a champ through the whole service. I knew he was going to wake up at some point to eat but he never did. He ate at 130 and we left at 3 to head to church in which he fell asleep and did not wake up until 730. I know he is still not feeling good (as we think he got the cold Jason had) but he went 6 hours without even eating. I rode in the backseat on the way home from church with bottle in hand ready for him to wake up screaming but he still slept on. So we got home and as soon as we got him out of his car seat, he woke up ready to eat. But it was a great message and you can go here to check it out by downloading the podcast. Our pastor is out of town and a good friend of ours preached. GOOD Stuff.
And today marks Kerrick being 5 weeks old...WOW is the time flying by! We went out for a walk this afternoon around the neighborhood as it was finally warm enough to do so!
The pic of Kerrick is him napping before we started getting ready for church - he knew it was going to be a big day and had to get a few z's in!
And then the other pic is of a plate I painted at a Ladies night out with our church ladies - that is the first time I had done anything like it and will definitely be making a trip back.

THANKS!!

Auntie Jay, Uncle Mike and Cousin Caden sent Kerrick these gifts. Thanks so much for the gifts - you guys are always so thoughtful and generous!! Can't wait to see you guys when Jamilia gets home!!
*Look at the clock on the wall in the plate - too cute of gifts!!

We took Kerrick to the doctor yesterday afternoon due to him being a big extra fussy and some gagging/coughing spells he has been having. I was thinking it could possible be reflux and the doctor had said the same thing. Although all babies have some degree of reflux we are going to try some meds to see if it helps him some. And if that does not work then we will try a new formula in a week or so...I am nursing but still having to supplement due to a low supply thus is why the formula change. So we shall see what happens.
This is a pic I took yesterday morning during his tummy time...as you can see he had found his thumb again and gave up on building up his neck muscles, just working on the jaw muscles with the thumb in his mouth!

Da Thumb

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Vannessa, our pastors wife stopped by Monday night to drop off some dinner for us and Kerrick had just woke up and was hungry. So we postponed him eating for a few minutes so we could chat with Vannessa and this what he found for the time being....his thumb! He was "going to town" on his thumb!

Movin' on Up!

On Sunday night we started putting Kerrick in his crib to sleep and he did great! Not that I thought he would have a problem, I think it was more that I would have a problem with it. I had said before he was born that we would not use pacifiers nor let him sleep in our room - well both of those were broke! And I am sure there are more things we will do that we said we would not - oh well, we are constantly learning with this wonderful thing called parenthood! Not to mention it has only began! Kerrick is still only sleeping 3-4 hours (usually closer to the 3 hour mark) at a time but we are trying to work on that too. And I know he is only a month old and this is all normal, but we are trying to see if we can help him get on a routine especially for when I go back to work! He seems to sleep better in his crib but it may be that I do not hear every single noise he makes now, so I do not jump up out of bed with every noise - so sleep is better all around for us all! LOL
Also, Jason and I want to say a HUGE thanks to our TCLC family for all the fabulous meals you guys have provided for us! They have brought us meals every other night for the past 2 weeks and what a tremendous blessing it has been. And did I say how awesome all the food was - we need to get a church cookbook going! Now I have to get back in the routine of cooking again, it has been a month since I have done so! I am going to attempt a menu planning deal (and I will say again, attempt to) I have attempted this many times and barely even make it past a week! So we shall see.
Jason is feeling better, just still a bit congested...but was able to get out yesterday in the garage and work on putting his stereo system in his truck. So hopefully tonight he can finish it up or be about finished with it. I know he is excited to finally get it all in and enjoy it as the parts have been sitting in our living room since Christmas! Soon he and Kerrick will jamming their way to work everyday!

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my parents anniversary! Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom! What a wonderful example of what marriage is and the grand parenthood! We hope you guys have a wonderful day today and many more years of hanging out with your best friend!! Love you guys!
*Sorry about the pic...due to dad always being behind the camera, I did not have too many with just him and mom - note to self, take camera away from dad sometimes to get him in the shots!*

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a little shout out to my Homie, Jason - Happy Valentine's Day! I truly could not have blessed more with such an awesome husband! It is so wonderful to get to spend every single day with my best friend! And now the Lord has blessed us with Kerrick, we can not explain that parent kind of love! And J, you are such a wonderful daddy to our little man and I excited for all the memories we will all share! Love ya Bud!
Not only is it Valentine's Day but Kerrick is one month old today...WOW the time has surely flown by sooo fast already!
We hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day! (Thanks Gimma for my cute outfit!)

A Visit with Great Friends!

My parents were to come this weekend and bring Nanny up to meet Kerrick, but unfortunately could not make it due to all the snow they got back home. Of all weekends it had to be a big snow this weekend. So it was a bittersweet deal, everyone was excited to see the snow yet I am selfish and wanted the snow to be postponed so we could see them. But on a happier note for the weekend one of my best friends, Donna and her family was in town this weekend and were able to stop by for a visit yesterday. I have known Donna since elementary school and she is now living in Pennsylvania with her very cute family, Hubby Angelo, and kiddos, Jasmine and Isiah - which were too sweet with Kerrick. They kept holding him and kissig him and he would just look at them contently - too adorable. It was so good to see them!
Unfortunately, Jason has been a bit sick all weekend so he has been keeping his distance from us :( So we are praying he gets to feeling better soon.

Nap Time

Here are a couple of pics from earlier this week. This was Jason's last night of studying before his big test on Wednesday. I know he was glad it is finally over with and now anxiously awaiting results which will not be until June.
Also, here is a pic of Kerrick on Friday...usually when I am getting ready he gets to hang out on Mommy and Daddy's bed while I shower and what not. And of course falls asleep! Too Cute!

Our Superstar!!

Check out Kerrick on our photographers blog....http://annecompanion.typepad.com/
Happy Hump Day!

Pray for Jason

Tomorrow morning at 0730 Jason will be taking his big test for promotion. He has been studying so hard for this and for a while. Please pray for calm nerves and of course that he passes. Unfortunately he has to wait until June to see if he passes or not, but I know he is anxious just to get the test over with and not have to study any more.
THANKS for the prayers and we will keep you posted on the outcome!

First Bath

Thursday night Kerrick's umbilical cord finally fell off! We have been waiting for this so he can get his first bath! Sponge baths just were not getting it....so last night he finally got his first official tub bath. Maybe it was a coincidence or all in my head, but he seemed to sleep better last night. He loved his bath and did not cry one bit during the whole thing.
Also last night another family, The Jones fam, brought us another fabulous dinner! WOW, instead of losing the weight, I think I may be gaining it from all the good food our church family is bringing us. If I was crafty enough and new how to do it, I would recommend getting a church cookbook together because these ladies can cook some good stuff! Praise God for our church family and a huge Thanks to Alicia and Andrew for the awesome dinner last night!
As for the good ol weather here, the wind blew like crazy last night and we got a ton of rain which finished melting all the snow that was left from last weekend. When we woke this morning the rain has since turned into snow and it has been snowing all day...so we have a new covering of snow on the ground. J just measured it and we are up to 3 inches now (all new snow!) Craziness, but I am loving the snow! At least I do not feel too bad having to stay indoors as I have finally began Kerrick's scrapbook today!

2 week appointment

We went yesterday for Kerrick's 2 week well child appointment. Due to the weather and everything being closed around here he was a bit late for the 2 week mark. But all went well and he checked out healthy! Kerrick is now a whopping 7 lbs 2 oz and is 20 inches long now. He is one fast growing boy! He is still doing well and sleeping anywhere from 2-4 hour stretches. As we have been told by several people (not just the grandparents) that he is a mellow baby! So Praise God for that! :)
After his visit at the doctors he had his first trip to the mall afterwards. We had to run in fast to get Jason a few things. He slept through it all, so he must have "loved" it!
We then made it home in time for him to get a quick sip to eat and then he went to the gym with me. I started going back Tuesday night and I got fussed at for not bringing him with me, so I tool him with me last night for all the girls in the pregnancy aerobics class to meet him. He of course slept through it all so I did not get him out to exercise but there will be plenty of time for him to be my "weights!"
Other than that, not too much going on. Jason has been getting a lot of study time in as he test in 6 days. I know he will be glad for the test to be over and done with and he can use some of his time off for other things than studying. Studying definitely gets old really fast, but is oh so worth it in the end. Thankfully it will be a rainy weekend so he will not have the itch to be outside if it were nice out. But please do keep him in your prayers these next few days as he gets the last minute studying in!

Welcome to Parenthood!

So you know you are in the parenthood when you get ecstatic over a poopy diaper!! LOL:) This may be a little TMI, but Kerrick has not had a bm in like 6-7 days and the past 2 days you could tell it was finally bothering him - not sleeping as well, a bit fussy (and he has proved so far to not be a fussy baby at all, so when he does you know something is up!) Anyhooo...when he woke up at 2am he had diaper slammed full and then some! I had never been so happy to clean up poop before and believe me in nursing school I have cleaned up a lot of dirty bottoms (adult ones, but nevertheless!) So after that one Kerrick was back to his normal sleeping of longer hours. Unfortunatley we had to wake him up at 0700 to get him ready to head to base for an 830 appointment to get him enrolled in all the military systems and such. But he of course was great all morning while we were out an about.
After coming home we had some friends from church come over for a visit, Kim and Katy. Katy is Kim's daughter and will be Kerricks future babysitter for our date nights. And then our church has organized meals to be brought to us for the next weeks. So Su from church bought over a fabulous dinner - lasagna, salad, rolls and homemade cookies! WHOA our tummies are full! We have been blessed beyond words with our friends and church the Lord has placed us in!!
Tomorrow Kerrick has his 2 week wcc appointment (it has been delayed due to the weather) so we will post his appointment "stats" tomorrow!!
Here are some pics from today....Kerrick thinks he is all grown and wants to hold his bottle himself (little did we notice until after the pic was taken that it looks like he is giving us the "birdie.")

Gramm's Visit

Gramm's visit had to come to an end today...she left just a bit ago:( Thankfully the snow kept her here a few extra days!! Oh it was sooo hard to say goodbye but thankfully she will be back in a few weeks to bring Nanny up here to meet Kerrick.
THANKS Gramm's for staying with us and all the help you gave us!! Can't wait to see you again soon!!