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!

3rd Trimester!

I haven't done as much posting here lately because I've been using my Totsite alot. But we are very excited that I'm now in the 3rd trimester and only have 90 days left until Colton's due date! Exciting but crazy! I'm so excited to meet him but trying to remind myself that life is going to change alot and focus on enjoying my time with just Bobby and I and sleeping, which isn't as good as it used to be with hip pain and having to pee every 2 hours but atleast I can go back to sleep or take a nap which I'm guessing will be much more challenging once he's here! If anyone wants to check out our totsite it is http://totsites.com/tot/babygift

Updates

I haven't done so well at keeping up lately. I read everyone else's blogs but feel like I can't keep up with my life. I don't know how you mom's do pregnancy with a toddler! It's all I can do to make it through work, cook, grocery shop, do laundry and sleep and I didn't get enought of that this week. Tandy made me laugh at not having a DVR but I sympothize, ours broke a couple weeks ago and so we lost all of what we'd taped. They said they were sending us a new one and then a week later when I called they didn't have any record of me calling before, great! They did finally send us a new one and we got it hooked up last night, just in time for new shows, I'm very excited!

I'm feeling the strong desire to get my house cleaned, organized and ready for baby but not the energy to do it and I suddenly have no fun lower back and hip pain which really doesn't encourage all the stuff I need to do around here!

Today I got my hair cut and had lunch with my dad and now I think I'm ready for a nap, maybe then I'll get some stuff done around the house:)