Colton's Dedication

Sunday during our regular church service Colton had his dedication ceremony. Some good friends of ours Tracy and Tara gave us the cutest little suit and Bobby's mom helped with some minor alterations. A big thank you to all of you. Colton was so cute in his suit and slept through almost the entire ceremony. He gave pastor Phil a couple of squeaks at the end but overall did very well.  Bobby grew up in this church and I have been attending with him for quite a while now so it was nice to share this with Colton and have the congregation support us and Colton in our spiritual journey.  

Ahhh, sleep!

For about the last week, my dear sweet baby has not been sleeping. The nighttime difficulties are expected but he has been going on sprees of awakeness for as many as 8-10 hours during the day with no nap no matter what I do. For the most part he is happy and doesn't want to miss anything but by the end of the day is grumpy and so tired it makes me sad for him. Car rides have helped at times but not always.  So the fabulous news is that yesterday and today he has taken naps, been very happy and last night slept for a couple of 4 hour stretches, which is a record!  He is currently sleeping in his swing, which is this picture and I pray for continued good rest for my little guy! So I'm off to get a few things done while he is sleeping!

Smiles

I love it!!! Colton flashed me his gummy, crooked smile for the first time last week and I could only catch it on my cell phone. As soon as I got out my camera he would look serious, we'll have to work on that with all the pictures I like to take and scrapbooks he is going to have about him!  This picture just melts my heart, not to mention when he does it in person.  I love my days with him and the nights too, he's going through a phase this week of not sleeping much in the day or night, so hopefully he gets better at that soon. 

Time is flying

I can't believe Colton will be 4 weeks tomorrow and month old on Tuesday! I want to hold on to every cuddly little moment with him. It's fun to watch him become more alert and take everything in but I don't want it to fly by and especially my time off from work. I'm already sad at the idea of leaving him. My mother in law is talking about whether it could be possible for her to keep him when I go back to work. I would love this but she's not sure if it can work. I've found an in home day care in town that is my other option and it seems nice but he'll have to be there so much and not with me:( He's now a pro at breastfeeding and we're working on the sleeping schedule. Bobby and I have been sleeping on the couch because he only wants to sleep in his swing but we are happy to get some precious sleep the past few nights so tonight we are going to start working on moving back to the crib and hopefully we'll be able to sleep in our bed again at some point! I spend a lot of time just sitting and watching him, it's still so amazing to me that he is here and is ours.

Colton's Arrival

Colton Robert Gift arrived Saturday December 13th at 8:59pm weighing 7 pounds and 19 1/4 inches long. I had contractions most of the day Friday and my water broke about midnight Friday night so it was a long labor and much more challenging than I anticipated but sooo worth it when I got to meet our little guy. Bobby was an incredible coach through the labor and delivery and is so proud of and in love with Colton. It's been really fun to watch. Colton spent 5 days in the NICU which was hard to not have him with us but the hospital let us stay for free after I was discharged so we could be with him and work on breastfeeding which was a challenge as he had to be under th billiruben lights as much as possible. We are home and doing well now, made it through Christmas without everyone thinking I'm a completely overprotective mom, but I didn't let everyone hold him at Christmas gatherings because I don't want him to get sick and then Bobby and I ended up with the stomach flu the week of Christmas. Colton is doing well though, he is very sweet, pretty laid back and soothes himself most of the time but he has a fiesty temper when it comes to eating. He wants it immediately and is not always patient enough to nurse, but we're working on this. As soon as he gets to eat he's happy and laid back again. Bobby and I, mostly me, are trying to adjust to very little sleep but I love my time just snuggling with Colton and bonding. It is an amazing feeling that he is ours. We have alreay taken more than 200 pictures so here are just a few:)

Mr. and Mrs. Gift

Well we finally did it! Bobby proposed two weeks ago and we got married on Friday! It was a very simple ceremony but very nice, we had two of our friends and my sister come with us and we'll plan a bigger ceremony/reception next year for all of our friends and family to come celebrate with us. In some ways it seems strange to change my name, I've had it a really long time but I'm so excited to have his name and the same name as Colton.

I'm 35 weeks today so we only have two weeks until we're full term! Amazing! I feel like we still have lots to do to be ready but I'm not sure everything can ever be completely done. My poor kitty had to have surger this week but is finally home and recovering. He has to wear one of those plastic cones on his head and has a respiratory infection also so he sounds and looks pathetic but I think he's glad to be home. I'm relieved to have him home and hope his recovery continues to go smoothly.

Baby Shower

It seems very surreal to be having a baby shower for me and my baby but the time is here and I had so much fun thanks to my dear friends Sandy and Jenni for hosting. It was so good to see my friends and celebrate our little guy coming soon. And almost all of them are mommies already so I got lots of good advice and stories. Next weekend is our family shower and then there will be one at my office and at school! That's a lot of showering! We feel so blessed to have the support system we do and that so many people are as excited about Colton's arrival as we are! It was fun to bring everything home and show Bobby and plan for the fun moments of using it. Bobby is excited about the Johnny Jump Up and the onesies with "Gone Fishin" and cars and trucks on it, it must be a guy thing!