I'm Thankful for London!

It's crazy to think that a year ago Kary and I were only hoping that someday we may have a baby and this year he is already here. :-) Holidays just seems that much more special now that London is here to see it all for the first time. I have spent the past few years with the Gaffneys for Thanksgiving. This year we had a full house: Vicki (grandma), Michael (grandpa),Grandma Gaffney (great-grandma), Grandma Morrison (great-grandma), Kary's brother (Uncle Pat), and Kary's cousin Jessica and her boyfriend Jon. We had a great time catching up and London loved being held by so many family members. Grandma Gaffney sang him a few old songs she used to sing to Kary when he was little. It was so cute. Grandma Morrison was so proud to hold her great-grandson. London enjoyed cuddling up to Grandpa Gaffney and seeing the Christmas lights on the tree for the first time with Grandma Gaffney. He was pretty well behaved but did have a few moments of crankiness...a quick nap or eating fixed that. Although he was too young to know what's going on, I think he had a good time. Next year he'll be eating tofurky! :-)

London Smiles!

London is growing so fast! A lot has been going on with him. He had his first real smiles this week! Kary and I have been waiting for this. He is especially smiley in the morning. He smiles when we kiss him or when I say, "Smile for mommy and daddy!" in my super high-pitched mommy voice. It is sooo cute! I got teary-eyed the first time.
Besides smiling, London has been busy doing a lot of crying this week :-( For about 3 days straight all he wanted to do was eat and sit in his bouncey seat. If we would pick him up he'd cry, he'd push us away when we'd kiss him and was becoming a real snob..haha. It was frustrating. He'd eat and cry and pull away when I'd try to feed him again and his crying would turn into high-pitched screams, he'd hold his breath and start gagging. It really takes a toll on the whole household. Brooklyn and Brixton have been avoiding the noise and Kary and I have been fighting. One night I wanted to throw Kary, London and the dogs out and just be alone! Things are much better today. London has been smiling away and eating and napping without being fussy. We even cuddled in bed this morning and he napped on me this afternoon.
I am having a hard time losing weight. I have been really down about it. I avoid sweets and junk food and have been eating very healthy. I take lots of walks and work out on wii active every night. I have lost about 2 pounds in 2 weeks and it fluctuates. It is hard to work out with London around so Kary gives me a chance when he gets home from work but that's not really a break...I'm not crazy about working out. Plus being at home makes it hard to get the exercise I did when I was teaching. People say I look great and I appreciate that but I do not feel like myself. I still have about 17lbs to lose and refuse to just give up and let myself go. I am going to start going to the gym at Risa's 3 times a week so that will help. We'll see what happens...

Here are a few recent pictures of London. I love him more than I ever thought I could. He is so gorgeous and all the work and stress is so worth it.

6 weeks baby!

Sweet baby London is now 6 weeks old. They flew by! It is crazy how much he has changed since he was born. He is really becoming a lot of fun. The first few weeks I just felt like all he did was eat and sleep. Now we have play time, read books and he is awake a lot more. My favorite is when he first wakes up. He is so happy and looks extra cute. He does this little dance on his changing table where he swings his arm and his eyes get really big. We have gotten a few accidental smiles but cannot wait until we get a real smile! Kary works on that every day. We've discovered London is ticklish.
London sleeps all by himself in his crib and is doing great. He makes tons of noises throughout the night but usually allows me to sleep between 4-6 hours at a time! I make sure not to run to him after every sound and he usually falls back asleep. He is eating like crazy! He now eats between 4-6 ounces every 2-3 hours! It is hard to keep up. He sometimes has total meltdowns if he is not fed instantly and scratches, head butts, and gnaws at whoever is holding him. He is starting to enjoy baths a lot more now. Kary is a pro at bathing him and I usually just stand by and cuddle him in a towel afterwards. His hydrocortisone cream has worked wonders on his skin and it's back to being silky soft and perfect. Sometimes I look at London and cannot believe we made something so perfect. Time to squeeze him!

I love fall!

Fall weather is finally here! I survived a ridiculously hot summer being pregnant and am so excited to be able to be outside without dripping with sweat and gasping for breath. We have been enjoying our fall baby. We took him to a big field we take the dogs to behind our house and did a little fall photo shoot. We dressed him in his little bear outfit grandma Gaffney bought him way back when I first found out I was pregnant. He was pretty cranky as we took the pictures but we got a few super cute ones.

Dr. Rollins Rocks!!

Today I went in for my 6 week postpartum check-up. I requested the same doctor that delivered the baby and brought Kary and London along to see her. The nurse checked my blood pressure and did a finger prick. The sonogram technician who told us we were having a girl also stopped in to see us. She opened the door and said, "Let me see that adorable girl!" We started to say, "Ummm..." and she cut us off and said while laughing, "I heard ya'll and I just wanted to say I'm sorry." I explained that we didn't blame her because it would be hard to tell with his hypospadias. We also thanked her for the big surprise and we all laughed about it.
I went into the exam room with my boys to wait for Dr. Rollins. We wrote her a thank you card and bought her a red robin giftcard because she always talked about how much she loved to eat there. When she came in we had the card propped in London's hands. She greeted us with a huge smile and said everyone still talks about my labor and how I was a "rockstar" during my insane delivery. She also remembered the knee-high striped pirate socks I was wearing that day. She immediately commented on how adorable London was and asked to hold him. While she was holding him she told Kary he was a model dad during the delivery. She said some husbands leave the room or just sit on the couch. Kary was right there in the "action" (gross!) and was super supportive. That made me very happy that she noticed how awesome he was through it all. :-)
My parts (yuck) healed nicely since I received multiple stitches. She told me that she was saying "ouch" as she was performing the procedure that allowed our giant baby to pass into the world (trying to state that as least disgusting as possible) She loved our card and took the time to talk with us and answer some questions and remininse. She said that my next delivery should be a breeze and she'd love to be the one to deliver again. That actually didn't scare me because we plan on having about 3 kids. London was so good during the visit and the nurses were all stopping and commenting on how adorable he is. Dr. Rollins hugged us and told us we are so awesome she wants to adopt all 3 of us...haha. I am so grateful to have such an amazing doctor like her and an incredibly supportive husband and adorable baby. I am the luckiest....

1 month doctor appointment

London had his one month check-up on Monday. He was so well-behaved this time. He was adorable on the table and just kept kicking and waving his arms and grunting as we waited on the doctor. He was measured and weighed and is now 23 inches long and 11lbs 6oz. He is in the 90th percentile for weight and height! I warned the nurse when she told me to get him naked on the scale..she did not listen. So, as she was waiting for the scale to stop he peed a fountain all over the wall and soap dispenser and then pooped on the scale. She wrapped him in a paper towel and handed him to me. I just laughed and carried him back to the exam room. The rooms are themed with murals on the wall and we were in the "Farmer's Market" this time and London looks like he is for sale in the one picture.
The doctor said London is very healthy and not over weight at all, just a big baby. She prescribed some ointment for his skin. He has a bad case of baby eczema. His poor skin is so dry and scaly :-( I asked the doctor about his head shape, it is still kind of a cone and flat in the back. She said we should give him lots of tummy time and hopefully it will round out by 4 months, otherwise he'll need to see a specialist and may need to be fit for a "d-band" which is a little baby helmet that helps shape their skull. He hopefully won't have to wear one but if he does, we'll rock it out with skull stickers :-)

Family ♥

Over the past week London got to spend time with his nana, papa, and Aunt Goob. My parents came to visit on their way to my cousin's wedding in VA. Goob came to visit on her way back from the wedding. It was very cool to have them meet London. My dad said, "You did good, Sara" when he saw him. So cute. My mom was a huge help again, she cleaned and took great care of the dogs. Goob was also a huge help feeding London bottles and watching him while I tried to catch up on things. It's hard that they are so far away but we will see each other on Christmas. Here are some pics from our week.

Happy Halloween!

London had his first Halloween as a 3 1/2 week old. We weren't expecting to celebrate Halloween really this year with a newborn. Usually we hit up a few haunted houses or Scarowinds or a bar or party. But this year we were prepared to have a low key holiday with our newborn.
We went to a yoga halloween party where my friend Lynn works. Kary and I dressed as a cowboy and cowgirl and London was a cow. His costume was basically a onesie with a hat and socks. They don't make many costumes in newborn sizes. He looked so cute but didn't like it. He screamed as Kary put it on him and Kary was "mooing" to try to get him to stop. Next year London will be over a year so he'll for sure have a kickass costume and we will be going trick or treating. I will, of course, be eating most of the candy.