Date Night

Cameron and I managed to have our first date night since Dane was born last evening. I even managed not to cry! As hard as it was to leave him for a couple hours, it was a nice night out with my hubby! We went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - they have a killer spicy tuna tartar app that I haven't been able to eat since last May so I took full advantage. Thank you Cameron for a nice adult evening out! Thank you Tim & Teresa for taking care of our offspring!

Weekend Visitors

This weekend Teresa's family from southern IL came up to visit. We had a nice weekend and were able to get out of the house with the little man again. Thank you Gerards for making the long trip up here!

In his little red onesie:Chubby Cheekers:

All of God's Grace...

...in one sweet little face (these were taken today):

Look how bald he is!My mom is so funny!Over the course of 5 weeks I have been peed on, pooped on, spit up on & vomited on and I couldn't be happier about it! Dane continues to be such a blessing. I haven't been away from him yet but that is about to change. Cameron talked me into dinner for my birthday next week - I told him I would go only if we're gone no more than 2 hours. Our baby boy will be in the very capable hands of Cameron's parents and we'll only be about 7 minutes away from home if we're needed.

"If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle."
-- Vincent van Gogh

1 Month Check Up & Andon Update

Dane had his one month peds check up today and we were surprised to find out that he weighs 10 lbs, 11 oz and is 22 inches long. What a growth spurt since birth...no wonder he eats so much! That puts him in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. I'm also sad to report that his hair is falling out! The top and sides are pretty much completely bald...he looks a little funny with just hair on the back of his head. I'm hopeful it will grow back quickly. It's coming in a little on top and it looks like it's going to be even lighter than when he was born.

We're also incredibly excited to report that Andon's MRI results came back as we had hoped once again! No changes since the last scan.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Dane would like to say "Happy St. Patty's Day"...drink some green beer for him, he's not old enough!

I'm a McCutie:

One Month Old!

Dane will be one month old tomorrow...can't believe how time has flown! He has his one month check up on Thursday so we'll see how much the little pig pig weighs. We've noticed that he's grown much taller because many of his clothes are too short for him. Things he was absolutely swimming in when we brought him home from the hospital are now too small.

We've taken him on several outings since Thursday evening. We took him to his first restaurant on Thursday...Stone Creek Grill. On Saturday we made a trip to Babies-r-us, the mall and to Max & Erma's for dinner. He has done amazing at each place - absolutely no fussing unless he was hungry. He continues to be a very easy, good baby and I continue to wake him up for feedings at night. How lucky am I?

Yeah - I'm getting out of the house (Thursday's outing)!:Sleeping on Daddy's chest:Just hanging at home:

Dane's Smile

I know people say that babies don't smile until they are 6 weeks old. I completely disagree with this statement and I have proof of why...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I know he's asleep, but still...didn't you see that smile? That big, adorable, open mouthed smile?

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."
-- Elizabeth Stone

The Little Man

Sorry if we're going overboard with our Dane updates, but we just can't get enough of him and think that you should all feel the same way! :) So, here are some more recent pictures taken over the past week. He's quite the frowny face except when he's sleeping then he relaxes that brow. He's a very easy baby and our nights are still going great - still have to wake him up to eat. I think he went through a growth spurt over the past week, but he seems to be eating less frequently over the past couple days so hopefully that spurt is over - it was hard to keep up with feeding him!

With Roscoe:With Barley:Senior Picture Pose:

Happy 3rd Birthday, Andon!!

I've tried over the past year to include all of our immediate family's birthdays on the blog...unfortunately, I neglected to include my dad (Dec. 19) & Cameron's mom (Jan. 1). I'm so sorry about that. I also neglected to include my sister & my brother but both of their birthdays fell around the birth of our son - SORRY!...anyway, my point is I will try to do better in the upcoming year and next year!

It was Andon's 3rd birthday yesterday and he starts preschool today! Very exciting! Can't wait to see you soon, bubby!

2 Weeks Down!

Well, we're 2 weeks into this parenting thing and all seems to be going well so far. We truly don't have much to share as our lives have been consumed by this little man that stole our hearts. We are very lucky because he does seem to already have some type of pattern to his days and nights. I'm not going to call it a schedule yet because I'm not convinced it will last. He eats about every 2 hours through the day (sometimes every hour - little piggie) and sleeps off and on. The nights are actually really interesting...we put him down between 10:30 & 11 after he eats. I then have to WAKE HIM UP to eat 4 hours later and again 4 hours after that. Crazy - right? Our pediatrician told us not to let him go longer than 4 hours without eating, but I never thought I would get lucky enough to have to wake him for a feeding! Aside from that, he's been a pretty easy baby thus far...he's not too fussy except when he's hungry and he doesn't fight us going down in his crib for the night. I'm hoping it continues to be this easy but I'm not really planning for it to be. We'll post more pictures soon...he's getting chubby cheeks so his looks have changed quite a bit since he was born.