Say Cheese!

Our little man is getting so good at smiling and "talking" to us. We just love it! But it is so dang hard to catch that on camera. It seems like everytime I run for the camera he becomes shy. The smiling stops, and he's done being cheerful. Until now.....

Brody's Perspective

Can you believe it? I am six weeks old today! I can still remember contorting mommy's belly to unimaginable things just by simply trying to stretch out. Now I can stretch as much as I want. Speaking of stretching, I just didn't have enough room to grow anymore in mom's belly and after coming out I have just been growing like crazy. At two weeks I had already grown an inch, and it's probably more by now. I also haven't been weighed since then, but mom and dad both seem to think that I am pushing close to 12 pounds by now.

Things sure have changed. I am becoming more and more alert each day. I hold my head up and make burping me nearly impossible. I just want to be able to view the world as much as I can. I don't want to miss anything.

Like all babies my eyesight is going to be somewhat blurry for the first year of life, but I am getting better and better at following mom and dad with my eyes. I can follow them even when they are far away. Of course, knowing there voice helps me to know where to look! Since we are talking about eyes I'll tell you that it is a constant wonder about what color my eyes are going to be. They still are that slate blue color that I was born with, but sometimes in the light they look like they could go greenish-blue like daddy and other times they look as if they are going to be as brown as mommies.

At night when its time for bed mom or dad will try to swaddle me. This is fine as long as my arms are left out of the swaddling. If they don't leave them out I will grunt and fight with my blanket until I win and get my arms out. Then once they are out I usually put my hands in the cutest places (at least that's what mom and dad think). Sometimes I lock my fingers together, other times I scratch my head, and if I am feeling hungry or just want to be comforted I try to stick a fist in my mouth...I haven't quite figured out the whole thumb sucking thing.

These days I am starting to coo and smile at my parents on purpose, not just 'cause I got gas. They love it of course. I smile and coo the most in the morning. Dad thinks that I am "chipper" like mom in the morning. Another morning person in the house....that is unless you try to wake me up and I'm not ready to be awake, then I am not the happiest camper.

I have found a best friend too! It's the ceiling fan. Well, I like just about any ceiling fan, but especially the one in the living room. I smile and try and talk to it more than I do my mom and dad.

Mom says that she always loves me, but she especially has loved me the last four nights. I thought I'd cut her a break and I have slept anywhere from 4 to 5 hour stretches. I can't decide if this is just a trick, or if I'm going to stick with this routine.I'm basically right on target for what any 6 week old baby should be doing, but sssshhhhhh! My parents seem to think that I'm the cutest, smartest, and strongest baby ever. I've pretty much got them right where I want them....wrapped around my little finger!

The New Me

I love being a mom, but I have to admit something....I have never felt so crappy about myself. I don't know what it is. I knew that my body would be forever changed, and mine really isn't so bad...but I just have no confidence anymore.

Whenever I'm shopping or out and about I see all these little mormon mommies, and I think, "Just because you're a mom doesn't mean you have to start looking like crap." Well my friends, I feel like I have hit that point. I have tried to look good, but there is just something going on in the back of my mind telling me otherwise.
I finally decided that I just really needed a change. I love short hair, and I have been wanting to cut my hair short...but I always think I look dumb once I do it. I thought about cutting it back when I was pregnant, but held off not wanting to make any hormone charged decisions that could only possibly lead to a breakdown.
So I did it. I cut my hair. It may not be a big deal to most people, but it was for me. Yeah yeah...hair grows back...but my hair was the longest it's ever been. I get compliments on how pretty my hair is all the time. I was really afraid of losing the one pretty thing about me. I swear we cut like 12 inches off!

The good thing is, I like this haircut. The girl that cut it did a good job. She didn't just lob it off and send me on my merry way. She helped me pick out something that would look good on ME, and I LOVE it! Plus, I can actually do it. It's not one of those times that it's cute in the salon and then too hard to do at home.
(Disclaimer: If you think that my hair looks like trash, that's your opinion and you can feel free to keep it to yourself. However, if you are one of those do-gooders who thinks they are doing the world a favor by giving compliments whether or not they are actually sincere, don't leave a comment here. I HATE false compliments.)

So Fresh & So Clean-Clean

Each time we gave Brody a sponge bath there was much crying involved and even a few times we thought he stopped breathing, but we couldn't be any further from the opposite now that he has graduated to a real bath.

It is probably totally unneccessary to give Brody a bath every night, but because he loves it so much we do it. Each night Brody goes through a little bit of a cranky period. It's usually towards the end of the night when he's getting tired. A couple nights ago in the middle of fussing Trevor picked him up and set him in the bath water and he immediately stopped crying. It was so funny becuase he was in mid-cry and just stopped suddenly! He loves the bath!

After bathtime comes drying off and then getting lotioned up. This Brody HATES, and we are back to the crying! He especially hates having his head lotioned. Trevor can massage his little legs and feet all night long, but you touch his tummy and the crying begins and once you move to his head the screaming commences.

If we could just figure out a way to keep Brody in a bath all day and all night, he would be happier than a kid at disneyland!

Pictures and more Pictures

Now that the little man has finally arrived I feel like we take pictures non-stop. If it's not on our digital camera, it's with my other nice camera, and if it's not that it's on our phones. We love pictures, and even though most of them are of Brody Jay sleeping, we take them anyway!

Mom and Brody just days after coming home from the hospital.

Thoughtful Brody....listening to daddy already....
Sound asleepBaby toes are the best!!!

Dad and Brody

More sleep....

Is there such a thing as too many pictures of your kid? I don't think so.

For Lindsey Stokes

After 5 weeks of learning the ropes I am now an expert (yeah right) and can offer some advice. Okay, not really, but I can give a few opinions(which I'm known to do). My friend Lindsey is having a baby and she asked any moms to tell her things she might need. At the time of her request I had no baby, now I have one and I can tell her what I find most helpful, but I thought instead of leaving a super long comment that I would post here and all my other soon-to-be-mommy friends can read this as well....and those of you that are already mommies can leave advice. You may even be able to give me tips for upcoming weeks!

Some of the things that I find most useful may not be to others, but I am going to list them anyway and list WHY they are helpful.

*Soap and hand sanitizer- I have never in my life washed my hands like I do now. Find soap you like because you'll use it a lot. The sanitizer is great for when you can't wash your hands. We keep some in the car, because there isn't always a sink available and some in our living room for visitors hands.

*Burp cloths- we go through these a lot! But not just any burp cloths. I like to use cloth diapers for burp cloths. They are so much thicker than the ones you buy in a package from walmart....all those do is sop up part of the spit up and lets the rest leak onto me!

*Pack n Play (playard)- this has been so useful. Not only does Brody sleep in his playard every night next to my bed, but we have stayed in a hotel once since having Brody and it was so easy to just pack up his bed and put him in it at the hotel.

*Mylicon- this really has helped when Brody feels a little gassy. Plus, I've learned a little trick...if you give some mylicon to your baby and then put in their pacifier they take it right away because they like the taste of mylicon and suck the life out of the pacifier as if it has the medicine.

*Pacifiers- A lot of people don't like pacifiers, but I do. It is such a good soother! Plus, if you have a kid like mine...after nursing he could just hang out forever! Not really eating just sucking! So the pacifier works two ways-it soothes little man and it saves mommy's boobs.

*Pampers swaddlers- we bought a bunch of diapers in bulk. What we failed to do was buy any in the newborn size! Even having a kid as big as mine, he still can where that size. We tried other brands and didn't like them in the newborn size. These were my favorite. It might be different in other sizes, but not for the newborn...pampers is best for now.

*Boppy pillow- great for nursing, and great for just propping your arms when holding a big baby like mine.

*Avent bottles- we tried others, but Brody just liked this best.

*Breast pump- good if you are like me and like to go places, but don't want to feed in front of the whole world (and if you don't mind feeding in front of the world, I think you're gross). We have gone to my brother's soccer games and high school football games because we were able to pack a bottle of my milk.

If you have other tips or advice feel free to leave it. I'm sure there are lots of things that I haven't tried or don't know about.

4 Weeks of Brody

Wow! Our baby is 4 weeks old. It is so crazy. It seems like I was just in the hospital, and yet at the same time, I feel like he has been around always. So many things have gone on in our lives in the last 4 weeks. We are really getting to know this little guy and his personality.

First of all, Brody loves the car! I don't think he has had much of a choice though. He gets packed up and put in the car seat at least once a day. I am going a little stir crazy by the time Trevor gets home from work, so we load up and go get a soda for Trevor (sometimes me too) and go for a drive. I think Brody is starting to like the car seat more than his own bed.

Another exciting event was Brody rolling over! That's right...last week this little beast rolled over. I don't know if it was a freak accident or what, but he did it twice and was going for roll number three when I stopped him. He hasn't done it since, so it may have just been a chance thing.

Brody might be getting a head start on the rolling over business, but when it came to his umbilical cord, he's been a slow poke. Everyday we have been carefully swabbing it with a q-tip and alcohol, but to no avail! That dang cord has been clinging for dear life. I was really starting to worry. A book I read said that it could take up to four weeks for it to come off, but I had never heard of it taking so long. Well, Brody likes to cut it close...wouldn't you know that it fell off this very morning? The day he turns 4 weeks old...

Because of the cord, Brody has yet to receive a real bath. We sponge bathe him and he HATES it. He gets super mad and cries through pretty much the whole thing. Maybe tonight if I give him a real bath he'll like it. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Brody has favorite things for sure. One is food...he can be crying his head off but as soon as Trevor hands him to me and I'm ready for him he makes this noise like, "oh yes....finally.." and he seems so relieved. Then once he starts eating he is no quiet kid. He lets us know it's good. Second thing he likes is mom and dad. But I think that's a given. And the newest development is tummy time. He LOVES to be on his belly. If he's awake and on his back he pumps his legs and arms and goes crazy. On his belly he is so mellow and takes in everything around him. He even loves falling asleep that way (too bad he can't stay sleeping on his stomach...it would be so much easier!).

I think that sometimes I'm gonna pull my hair out, but overall I'm getting more accustomed to my new job of being a mom, and I really think it gets more and more fun. I love all the progress Brody makes everyday.

Commonly Heard Comments

It seems like everytime people see us with our car seat we are stopped. Sometimes we have complete strangers that stop to see our baby. It is amazing how much people just love babies. I even had this big gruff looking guy with a big dog see me walk by holding Brody and he was like, "Oh...." No one can resist little kids! Of course when people see your baby they all have things to say. It seems that besides hearing, "how cute!" We get a lot of the same comments. These are the most common:

• He's so big!
• He's so little! (I guess it depends on the eye of the beholder whether he's big or little)
• He has such pretty coloring.
• That is definitely a Waite.
• He has your (taytum's) eyes
• He has your (taytum again) eyebrows. (yes that has been said more than once. I would never even think to look at a kid's eyebrows...but I guess it's true)
• He does NOT look like a newborn
• He is so pretty for a newborn
• You guys did good (thanks...can you do bad? even if you did, you wouldn't take them back would you?)

Truthfully, I love having people see Brody. I don't like people touching him, but so far, people have been pretty good about giving Brody his space. We have been out and about and it's mostly just looking and no touching....and of course telling us how cute and sweet he is.