Liam is One Month Old

Liam at one month. To keep him propped-up for this picture, I actually hijacked the gripper-pad from the kitchen, which we normally use to open jar lids. For this application, I used it under Liam's derriere, so he wouldn't slip all over the chair. Look closely and you'll see it under his toosh :0)
























3 weeks old

































He's one tall drink of water, for such a little guy! :-)

It's hard to believe that a month has already gone by with the addition of Liam to our lives. It seems like we JUST came home from the hospital yesterday! We count our blessings that he has been so healthy. I've been brought to tears a few times thinking about how blessed we've been to have two healthy and thriving kids. We definitely don't take it for granted!

Today I took Liam to his one-month appointment. I officially learned that we have a "good eater" (should I say "great"?) on our hands. Since birth, he has grown from 21 1/2 inches to 22 1/2 inches. He weighed in at 11.1 lbs, almost 3 lbs up from his birth weight of 8 lbs 3 oz. The doctor was amazed at how much he eats and how well-developed he is.

He currently eats 3-5 ounces every three hours. Like clockwork. He sleeps from 12 a.m. -5:30 a.m. (ish) every night. We're trying to slowly stretch that out so we can ALL get more sleep. The doctor said she will probably want him eating cereal before the typical four month mark, due to his size. She said that he's a big boy...not overweight, but just a big little guy. (It's funny to hear her say that, when everywhere we go people say "Oh, he's so tiny!") Doc Gaspard thinks he will be sleeping through the night by two months...Let's hope sooner, aye? (Ava slept through the night at 8 weeks).

The doctor asked how long I carried him after term. (Answer = 40 weeks + 6 days.) She was amazed at how well he followed her with his eyes, how much control he had over his neck, how alert he was, how he smiled at her "socially" (per doctor) and how he "talked" to her. He's a very alert little guy, I'll say that much. The doc said that he is "acting" more like a two month old than a one month old.

He continues to wear newborn-sized clothes, although he is getting a bit long for the newborn size already. I think it's hilarious that he has to grow into a pair of 0-3 month jeans. Right now they're HUGE on him.

Within the past 3-4 days, Liam has really been smiling quite a bit. When we talk with him face to face (and he's awake), he has what I will refer to as his "smiling fits". He seems to smile for 10-15 minutes at a time. I love when his entire face smiles...He seems to smile with his eyes and cheeks and forehead, up to his ears! (I know that sounds funny, you'd have to witness it to believe me, I guess :-). It cracks me up when our entire family is busy, only to look at Liam to catch him smiling his gummiest-smile. He is a happy baby. He does like to "talk", too. He continues to be a snuggle-bunny.

His strawberry-blonde hair is really filling-in, especially on the back of his head. I'd say he definitely will have blue eyes. Given his current complexion / coloring, I have a feeling we may need to buy stock in a sunscreen company!

Peace, love and the gummiest of baby smiles,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam :)

Ava's sayings

Hangin' out at the pool
Ava has really become verbal within the past month or so. I wonder if it is because of Liam's presence, and because she knows she can verbalize her needs. Her day care teacher asked me last week if I knew that Ava talks in complete sentences. DEFINITELY! (Of course they haven't been around her for 3 weeks or so). Ava has been doing this for at least a month, and seems to say any word, using most of them in the right context. Here is a list below of some of the funny things she has said in the past few weeks...

Ava feeding Liam














Ava feeding Liam breakfast
























-"I'm not going to the store, either." (She uses the word either quite a bit).
-"No, I'm not tired. I just took a nap last week!" (everything in Ava's world occurred last week).
-"Chocolate is my favorite color." (Note: when she uses the word "chocolate" it is clear as a bell).
-"I love you, Daddy. You're my friend. Can we watch Potty Power?" (a dvd about potty training).
-"He not talk" (when referring to stuffed animals or baby dolls).
-"I don't have to go; it's just gas." :)
-"That's not MY church" (whenever we pass by any building resembling a church).
-"Let's go to monkey-cheese's" (this is how she pronounces "Chuck E. Cheese's")
-"I want to watch Cinder-lella?" (this is how she pronounces "Cinderella", her all-time favorite movie. She is the girliest girl, LOVING her pink nightgown that Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jeff sent recently).
-"Can I have some mata-melon?" (this is how she pronounces "watermelon")
-She spells things. When Doug and I think we're being crafty and try to talk about something without letting her in on details, she somehow figures it out. Maybe we spell things TOO much!
-"It's coming off." (When referring to nailpolish on her toenails).
-"I wan lolla-pop." (When she wants a treat of a lollipop. They give her lollipops at the bank, so this is now the ULTIMATE treat for Ava).
-I eat GOOD! (When we've told her she needs to eat good / well in order to be able to have dessert. She says this even if she's eaten two bites of dinner...).
-"Can we go to Pway Pwace?" (McDonald's Play Place)
-"Ariel's Dad is not nice at all." (She LOVES The Little Mermaid, but we entirely skip the parts with Ursula, the sea witch. Because of this, she now thinks Ariel's Dad is the "meany" in the movie...)
-"No, you're silly!"
-"You're my sweetie pie."
-"I want a braid, please?"
-"I want some pink cereal, please?" (She LOVES strawberry frosted mini wheats).
-"Mommy, I'm in charge?" (She knows Mommy is in charge. I think it's funny that she actually ASKED me if she was in charge...)
-"Daddy, you're my best friend, ever, ever, ever. Can I have a chocolate chip cookie?"
-"I want to be Queen of the Rainbow."
-"I miss Grandma Pam SO much right now." (I thought this was quite a few words to string together, for her).
-"Mom, I love you SO much!"
-"I love you SO much!" (when we ask her what grandparents' cards say, when she opens them).
-"I try it?" (Whenever she wants to sneak a bite from your plate...)
-"Pocahontas" (One day, the Pocahontas movie was on t.v. She asked who Pocahontas was. She repeated Pocahontas' name four times, and said it right after that.)
-"Got to go pay" (When she's ready to leave the store with something. I've told her in the past that We have to pay for it first.)
-"I love my Mommy and Daddy and sister and Liam SO much." (I guess she says "sister", because we've told her she is a sister?)

Ava helps Daddy do yardwork (in her tutu)
























Dancing in her purple tutu (Thanks, Aunt Kathy!)
























She is a chatterbox! I know there are other funnies that I can't recall right now. I just wanted to be sure to capture these, for now.

Another funny... One day a few weeks ago, I put her down for a nap. When I went to check on her, I noticed that she had a pair of FLANNEL pajamas on. I definitely wouldn't have put her in flannel p.j.'s in the middle of July. I was confused, because I put her down for a nap with her regular clothes on, not pajamas. She was sacked out on a blanket on the floor. I then looked at her back, and noticed that the cupcake, which is on the front of her shirt, was on her back... Upon closer examination after her nap, I noticed she put the pj's on OVER her regular clothes! I got a good chuckle out of that one.

Mommy sneaks a kiss while making breakfast
























Today when she woke up, she actually brought a shirt and jeans downstairs to wear today. When I told her that we needed to get underwear to wear, too, she went upstairs by herself and got a pair out of her dresser drawer. I can't believe how grown-up she is!

Peace, love and baby talk,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Waffles for breakfast
























Ava LOVES to help cooking / baking
























With her hippo bubblemaker

For the grandparents...

This is a little video taken of Liam this morning. He has become quite the talker, lately! I hope everyone has a great week!

With love,
Shelly

Liam's Birth Announcement

Peace, love and goodness,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Siblings

We had Ava and Liam's pictures taken while Grandma Pam was in town last week. Here are some of the pictures from the experience. We were glad to catch Liam awake! :-) These are the unedited / uncropped pictures, which came from a CD. We'll be sure to post all grandparent pictures when available in the future.

It's amazing how much Liam has grown even since these pictures!

This week I'm trying to work more on a schedule with Liam. He seems to be adapting very well. We fed him last night at midnight and then again at 6 a.m. He cried at 4 a.m. but a pacifier seemed to do the trick in holding him off. I actually had to wake him up at 6 a.m. to feed him. So, I'm hoping we can become a little more routine. Ava is back in day care for part of the day and seems to be enjoying it. She is quite social and definitely a creature of habit. She'll be moving up to a different class again in the next week or so.



Liam is definitely a smiley guy and quite the cuddle bunny. When I talk to him he now responds with smiles. They make my heart melt. :) He seems to stay awake much longer than I remember Ava staying up after her feedings. His strawberry-blonde hair is filling in more, too.

Doug seems to be getting MUCH! better and hasn't had a fever since last Friday. His and Ava's coughs are getting much better, too.

I took Ava to the doc on Tuesday (for the fourth time in a month...) in hopes of clearing up her cough once and for all. The "girl doctor" (as Ava refers to her, even though the doc is probably over 50) suggested a chest x-ray.








Talk about a complete three-ring circus… Entering the x-ray room with: Two hours of doctor’s office time already under our belts, Ava minus a nap (which equates to wiggly) needing to stand still for the chest x-ray, Liam with a diaper change pending, Liam needing to be fed, me filling out paperwork and trying to maneuver a momentarily uncooperative stroller, Liam needing to stay behind a wall so he isn’t exposed to radiation (although unable to keep a pacifier in his mouth yet), me minus a few hours sleep and ticked that this is our fourth visit for the same cough. Sheer pandemonium. The x-ray tech said “So, how far apart are they?” I guess that was my clue that she thought it was craziness, too. :-) She then told me her kids are 19 months apart, so that made me feel better! It wasn’t too bad. My, how parenthood has taught me patience! I guess spit-up and poop could’ve been on the agenda, but lucky for me they weren’t! :-)









I hope this message finds you all well!

Peace, love and sleepy babies,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

First Grins

It's been an eventful few weeks here in the Carey household. Between diaper changes, feedings, trying to catch up on rest and decontaminate our germ-infested casa, we're staying busy.

Today Doug went to the doctor for the THIRD time to see why his sickness and fever continue. He is truly sick of being sick. They took a chest x-ray to determine if it is pneumonia and gave him another antibiotic, as well. They also told him to stay away from Liam and don a surgical mask if it is absolutely necessary to hold him or get near him. Nice timing, huh? :( So hopefully we will have confirmation tomorrow as to why Doug hasn't been able to get better. I feel so bad for Doug. This should be an amazing time for him to experience with the little guy, but he's trying to stay away from Liam as much as possible for the good of our entire household. Please keep praying he gets better soon!

Here are some pictures of our little family and of Liam's first smiles. Interestingly enough, Ava was about this age when we caught her first grin on film. Liam's face looks quite a bit like Ava in the first picture of her smiling.

http://thecareyclan.blogspot.com/2006_04_01_archive.html
















Family picture at Chuck E. Cheese (with Ava multi-tasking, riding a horse :-)














Liam, the snuggle bunny














Ava, spending tokens at a record-setting pace! :-)
Doug said he thought she had more fun at Chuck's this time around, than ever before...














Ava helping Mommy with Liam (she is able to say his name so clearly! :-) Poor Liam... we're double-teaming him...












We're so thankful that Liam hasn't been sick yet! Keep the smiles coming, kiddo!

Peace, love and germ-warfare,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam :-)

Tiny Tots and Tunes

Johnson Ferry Baptist Church offers a class one day a week called "Tiny Tots and Tunes."  I thought it would be the perfect excuse to get out of the house and give Ava some extra-special attention.  The kids get to dance and sing to different songs and play with some props, too.  Ava loves it.  She loves singing and dancing!  My Mom was in town, so she was able to keep an eye out for Liam, who actually slept in the stroller through the entire class.  Amy Hoffman and Mekhi met us there, where the kids had a ball. 

Peace, love and Mommy/Ava fun,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Liam is Two Weeks Old / Grandma Pam's Visit to Georgia

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. We're trying to keep up with our sleep and keep all members of the household healthy, at this point...

Doug is STILL sick with some sort of bug and actually came home from work early today with chills and a fever. I took Ava to the doc last Friday. The doc confirmed Ava just has allergen issues and her (awful) cough isn't anything to be concerned about. I remain healthy, Liam seems to be doing great, and my Mom, who has been a great help within the past few weeks also remains healthy. (She arrived about four hours after Liam was born and will be staying through this Saturday). When I was having contractions on Sunday, I told my Mom. I called her on Monday, 07/07, letting her know that I thought Doug and I would probably be heading to the hospital that day. Sure enough, after visiting my Ob/Gyn's office, they sent us to the hospital. Liam was born less than 3 hours later. My Mom arrived at the hospital about a half-hour after I was checked into my regular hospital room.


Grandma holding Liam for the first time
























Grandma holding Liam in the hospital
























Doug took a quick video of me holding Liam before he and my Mom left to go home for the night. In the video, I told Ava hello, asked how her day went and introduced her to Liam. Doug said when she saw the video she was grinning ear to ear. The next day when Ava first came to the hospital, I'm not sure she really understood what was going on. Liam was SO QUIET for the first few days, I don't think she even noticed him much. In the hospital room, we had a fun time with Ava. Liam gave Ava a princess storybook and Ava got to go on an egg-hunt through the hospital room (thanks for the GREAT idea, Molly!). She also got a Baby Alive from Grandma Pam. Ava seemed to really be anxious to spend time with me, after my absence from the house for the night.

Ava playing with the gift Liam gave to her: a fun princess book
















Ava holding her brother for the first time
















Ava holding her brother for the first time

















Ava excited about meeting her baby brother
















Showing Ava her brother's sweet little feet
















Enjoying some time with Ava in the hospital
























Fast forward two weeks... I got seven hours of GLORIOUS sleep last night. Liam seems to be a great sleeper. He sleeps in 4 and 5 hour increments. My Mom took the midnight feeding last night (which ended-up being the 4 a.m. feeding) so we could get some much-needed rest. I slept from 12:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. We'll be happy when the 4 a.m. feeding vanishes into oblivion! :-) My Mom asked if there was anything she could be doing today, with Doug being home sick. I told her she just needs to keep her finger on the trigger of the Lysol spray, to constantly disinfect our house of the ever-present germs. Ugh. It's been amazing to have Mom as an extra set of hands around the house during the past two weeks. We'll miss her when she leaves on Saturday. It has also helped that our class at church has been delivering meals every other day for the past week. Thanks, everyone!

We were able to make it to church this past Sunday for the first time. I know, it might seem a little crazy to go to church when Liam is only 2 weeks old, but at this point, we figure that we need to be AWAY from our house to get healthy, considering how sick everyone has been under our roof! :(

Liam has been an absolute sweetie pie. He is SO well natured, when we went to our first pediatrician appointment, we had to ask if he was "too quiet". The doctor said "And you're complaining about that?" :-) He really only cries when he needs a diaper changed, or when he is touched with a cold wet wipe. Can't blame him.

Liam seems to have my coloring entirely. His hair is definitely strawberry-blonde at this point, and he has my skin tone. Ava always seemed to have Doug's coloring. Doug thinks that Liam will look like me. Liam seems to look quite a bit like my hospital baby picture. He has THE LONGEST fingers and feet for a little baby! This kid will probably be able to palm a basketball by kindergarten... He seems to slowly be learning how to smile in response to our smiles. Each day he becomes more alert.

Ava seems to be adjusting well. At first she seemed to take issue with me specifically, as I am now splitting my time between tending to her needs as well as feeding / nursing Liam. She seems to be getting more used to the idea over the past few days. We've done some fun activities with her specifically, too. Today we attended a kid's music camp at a local church, for kids her age. She has gone to similar events at this church in the past, so she really enjoyed jumping around to fun church songs and playing with other kids. I think she appreciated the attention, too. She touches Liam ever so gently and says "it's okay, baby". She really seems to be taking a liking to him today, specifically. She is, however, boycotting afternoon naps and now prefers to play quietly with her entourage of stuffed animals in her room. I think tomorrow the zoo may have to take a trip to a different room in our house during her naptime.

Taking time out for a Mommy and Ava craft: Building a foam barn :-)
















My Mom has been a God-send during the past few weeks. It is amazing how many "sets of hands" are needed around the house with: a healing Mamma, an attention-craving two-year old, a helpless two week-old and a sick Daddy... Crazy. As you can see in these pictures, Ava enjoys the time she spends with Grandma Pam. I wish we were able to capture more candid shots, but we've been a LITTLE busy! :-)

Enjoying time with Grandma Pam
























Liam loves Grandma

















I'm really doing great in healing from the c-section. I only needed Percoset for 24 hours after the delivery. The nurses seemed to encourage the Percoset at every turn, though. It zapped me so much of energy, and made me groggy, so I decided to forego it after that. I seemed fine without it and felt less sleep deprived. I think I'm healed for the most part, but can't really stretch around the different stairs at McDonald's Play Place. The c-section shuffle hasn't even been required of me, at this point. I recall BARELY being able to walk after Ava was born. Now having a 2 year-old to run after, I think it's probably mind over matter?

Other than that, I've been able to do most things. The doctors don't want me lifting Ava, but that's REALLY hard not to do... So, I've just tried to limit how often I do lift her. I think I gained 26 lbs this pregnancy and lost 22 of the 26 lbs in 13 days. It's nice to be in my own clothes again. I look forward to moving the "tub" of maternity clothes out of our room, and finally getting dressed from clothes in my closet. Doug calls me the incredible shrinking woman. I told him I might've lost most weight, but it's definitely not in the same spots as it was previously! So, I am anxious to jump on the dreadmill or at least take walks when the weather cools off. For now, it is unbearably hot and humid (think 95 degree sauna :( ).

We feel incredibly blessed that Liam has been so well-natured so far. Please keep Doug in your prayers that he gets better soon... He has been sick one way or another since July 3rd (his birthday). 18 days later, and he's still sick...

I will be sure to post more updated pictures of Liam, etc later. For now, this is the picture taken in the hospital.

I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for a safe and quick delivery. We definitely had just that!

Peace, baby love and lots of diapers,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam :-)