4 Months

Dominick turned 4 months old on January 24th. He had his 4 month well baby check on on the 28th and his stats were: 13 lbs 4 oz, and 25 3/4 inches.
He is right on track in all areas. Each month he changes more and more, I love watching him grow and learn new things. Her are some of the things he's doing this month:

*Rolls from tummy to back
*Grabs his toes and rolls onto his side
*Giggles (my personal favorite)
*Notices when I leave the room (which is not so fun - he now cries when I'm not in view)
*Puts anything he can grab into his mouth
*Reaches for and grabs objects
*Reaches up and touch's my face on purpose while nursing
*Likes to hold my hand while he falls asleep
*Thinks the snot sucker is funny
*Almost always has to have some sound going to fall asleep
*Likes to play in this exersaucer

I'm sure there is more that I'm missing.

I get so many comments about his eyes from strangers. Anytime we are in public the first thing I hear is "Oh My! Look at those eyes!". They are so big and beautiful, and his extra long lashes don't hurt either! I love my sweet boy!

Here are some pictures of him recently.

I love this little face more than words



 Finding his toes

He loves his toys

 

Daddy's lil DJ

 

The sweetest things in life aren't things

 

Making bubbles

His not so happy face :(

He'll stay in this thing for a total of 15 minutes at a time

His little birthmark is getting darker I think

 

I love baby toes

 

My long boy

 

 

Until next time.

 

Love, us!

D at 3 months

My baby is 3 months old already, I can hardly believe it! I wanted to document a little about him at this stage before I return to work and forget to. It's been so amazing to watch him soak things in, and learn day by day. Those big eyes sure do take everything in.

We've been working on a routine, but it's been a bit of a challenge while I'm still on maternity leave. I  let him eat, sleep and play whenever he wants. I hold and snuggle him as much as I want. I have one week left with him, and I plan on just loving on him as much as possible.

He is learning to use his hands.
They are usually in his mouth, pulling on his clothes, or grasping my hair. This week he has been reaching for and grabbing toys from me, and they usually go straight to his mouth. He loves his toys that have flashing lights and music. He also has been snatching his binkie out of his mouth and flinging it around. He hasn't figured out how to put it back in yet though, so he'll just chew his fingers instead.

He is very vocal and makes all sorts of noises.
He usually wakes me up cooing, talking, and kicking me in the ribs! He is pretty good about sleeping in his own bed, it's me that's the bad one. When he wakes up for his 4 AM feeding I feed him in my bed and we both just fall back to sleep there. I love waking up next to him though!

Side story: The other night he wasn't quite ready to sleep yet (or so he thought), so I just laid him in my arms, propped up with me watching tv. He kept yawning and with every yawn he would end it with a long, drawn out sigh. He did this about 20 times before he finally fell asleep. Rich and I couldn't help but laugh every time. It was the cutest thing!

He loves his bathtime.
I used to put his bathtub on the sink in the bathroom and bathe him there, but he's learned how fun it is to splash and kick.. so now I have to put the bathtub in the shower so that his overflow goes down the drain, and not all over the floor. We live in a bathtub-less house :(. Dominick doesn't mind though, his bathtub has a seat, and it vibrates!, so he's set. He loves to get undressed and he giggles when I pull his arms out of his shirt. It seems that about 90% of the time as soon as he hits the water he pees.

He has a favorite blanket.
If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you've probably noticed that most of his pictures are taken with the same blanket. This is his softie and he sleeps with it everyday & night. It was made by a co-worker of mine and we have loved it since day one. He puts his fingers through the holes and rubs it all over his face when he's sleepy. I wash it so much that I'm afraid it won't last very long. I'll have to pay her to make him another one should that day come!

(This is a good picture of his little birthmark. I get asked so many times if it's an owie)

 



I love him like I never knew I could. He makes my heart feel like it's going to explode into a million pieces. He was the easiest pregnancy, and he has been a super easy baby. I am so lucky to be his mama, and I can't wait to watch him grow and learn everyday. Everything I do now is done for him.

I got a new camera for Christmas, and I'm having too much fun with Adobe Lightroom. :)

Dominicks Birth Story

 

I guess after 7 weeks I should finally document my little guys arrival day.

I had chosen Friday, September 21st, as my last day of work before my maternity leave. I had been hoping that he wouldn't wait too long to be born after that because I wanted to spend as much of my maternity leave actually holding him and boy did I luck out!

On Sunday, September 23rd, my dad was playing guitar in the band at the local church, so Rich and I headed over to watch. I was told by numerous people that perhaps the music would put me in labor,  I was hoping that would ring true! After church my dad invited us to lunch with them. He kept saying that he thought I looked like I was going to go into labor soon cause I looked "flushed". I just laughed it off and thought I'd be waiting at least another week. Rich and I took off to Apple Hill for some apple donuts & fresh apple juice, then we just hung out around the house for the rest of the day.

I usually was exhausted by 9:30 pm but I couldn't fall asleep on this night so I just laid in bed watching tv. Rich was in bed with me googling different things on his phone. I told him "why don't you look up what you're supposed to pack in your hospital overnight bag".  Right at midnight I went to roll over to try to fall asleep and I felt a pop. I laid there for a minute wondering what the heck just happened, I was afraid to stand up cause I thought maybe my water broke but no such luck. Contractions did start coming at that point though. At first they just felt like braxton hicks, but I started timing them anyways. They were coming about every 5 to 7 minutes. After about an hour they started getting pretty intense and about 5 minutes apart. After 2 hours I couldn't stand or walk through them so I told Rich it was time to go to the hospital to get checked. (During those 2 hours, Rich was shoving things into a bag for his hospital bag. Good thing he had JUST read an article about what he should bring! HA!)

Once we were at the hospital they hooked me up to the machine to track my contractions & the baby's heartbeat. I was measuring at 4 cm & 95% effaced. After an hour I had progressed to 4.5 cm, so my doctor told them to admit me and we'd be having a baby soon! I spent the next few hours just trying to get through the contractions in the jacuzzi. It started slowing me down though, so I had to get out. The epidural nurse was already on the floor, so he came in and got me all set up & numb. Once I was pain free my doctor chcked me again and I was at a 6, she broke my water and told me to rest. I slept for a few hours, then called my family to let them know how things were going. My doctor was going off rotation, so one of her partners would be delivering me. Every few hours I would start feeling contractions again, so they would come in and give me another kick in my epidral. At noon the new doctor came in to check me and I was at a9.5 cm and 100% effaced. She said it was go time! My epidural(s) were so amazing that I honestly couldn't feel anything. My feet were tingly and swollen, and I couldn't feel my legs on tiny bit. My mom and Rich had to literally hold them up so that I could push. I had to watch the contraction on the machine to know when I was even supposed to push. After 33 minutes of pushing, out came my little guy! Born 9/24/2012 at 12:47 pm. They put him right up on my chest and there he stayed for 2 hours before they took him to be weighed & measured! I am so glad that they gave me all that time with him right after he was born! He was and still is so perfect!

During that first 2 hours with our baby, Rich and I had to decide on a name. We had 4 names picked that we were choosing from: Richard Jr., Alexander, Nicholas and Dominick. Right away Rich said "he's not a Richard", So that one was out. Then I said "he's not a Nicholas either", so that one was out too. It was down to Alexander and Dominick, and obviously you know which way we went! His middle name is Michael. He has a lot of special people in his life with the name Michael, so that's why we went with it as his middle name.

Rich got to give him his first bath and then they weighed and measured him. 7 lbs 13.4 oz. 20 3/4 inches long. We were in the hospital a total of about 30 hours.

My whole pregnancy & labor and delivery were what my doctor calls "Text Book". I was so blessed to have everything go so well. I can't believe I am finally a mother. I have waited a long time for Dominick and I couldn't be more in love!

 Daddy & Dom

Mama & Dom

Snuggling with Mama

Bright Eyed right from the start

Going Home

 

Yesterday (11/11) with my boy

You're how big?!

Since I've found out that you're in there, I have been reading as much as I can about how you're developing and growing. Today, at 7 weeks, you are as big as a blueberry. Your teeny tiny heart beats twice as fast as mine (135 bpm to be exact), your arms and legs are starting to grow & move and I already love you to the moon! I got to see you at our first ultrasound on February 6th! It was so amazing to see your flickering heart! I can't wait til next time when we actually get to hear it! Your dad and I are so excited to have you join our little family! You are set to join our family around September 25, 2012!

I'm a Mrs.

My love and I finally tied the knot on October 22nd, 2011. The day was perfect! The weather was perfect! The food, the cake, the tables.. everything was just as I wanted it! It was my favorite day so far! We were married at Gold Hill Winery, in Placerville CA. We used all succulents - no flowers. We had our closests friends and family there to celebrate with us. I want to thank everyone who made the long trip to share our day! It really was beyond amazing! oh yeah.. and our photographers from M Portrats did such an amazing job, and caught our day just perfectly! Here are some pictures from our day!