Welcome to the world!

My mom and dad bought Nathaniel this cute outfit for one of his shower gifts. I LOVE it and it came with this really cute blanket. My mom and I got a little over cautious and bought everything in 0-3 months and now everything is too big for him! This outfit is still a little big, but it sure does look cute on him.

I am in PURE heaven and so is Joe. We can't stop staring at Nathan and we spend so much time snuggling with him. My mom has been spending the day with me while Joe goes elsewhere to work on his paper. (#3 of 3, I'm so glad he finished the other two well in advance so that he could focus on one paper, finals, and then family time) It has been such a blessing to have my mom here to hang out with me. Not only did she decorate my house for Christmas (which by the way, it looks better than it ever has, something about mom's touch. :)), she does our laundry, cooks, plays with Nathan while I take naps, records everything he does while I'm sleeping on paper and pictures so I can see, and stays until 9:30 or 10:00 every night so I can go to bed between 8 and 9 to get a good couple of hours of sleep before I start "the night shift." :)

Speaking of "the night shift," things have been pretty good so far. I know, I know, everyone keeps saying that it will change, and I'm sure it will, but until then, I have to brag on Little Nathan. You have to understand, I was expecting to get 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night and not any sleep during the day (granted, my mom has made it possible for me to sleep more). Nathan eats every 3 hours and sleeps for 2 hours between each feeding. The first couple of nights were really rough because I was sleeping on the couch with the bassinet next to me so that Joe could get good sleep in our bed to be alert to write his paper. That all changed on Monday night. I am still having migranes like nobody's business (thank goodness for percocet) and Joe told me that he wanted me to sleep in the bed and he would sleep in the guest room. Things have been so much better since. Nathan sleeps for longer periods of time and so do I. For instance, last night I went to bed at 8:15. Nathan was hungry at 10, so I got up and fed him/pumped from 10-11. He was back asleep by 11:00 and he didn't wake up again until 3:30, when I woke him up to eat. We went to bed at 4:45 and he didn't wake up until 8:00, when I woke him up to eat. He obviously sleeps a lot more than me. I don't have a whole lot of anxiety like everyone told me I would, but I do have a little when it comes to him sleeping after eating. I am worried he will spit up and choke on it. He is great about sleeping on his back (thank goodness for swaddling) with his head to the side. He doesn't really like his pacifier (which I am thankful for in so many ways) so I don't have to worry about that holding in any spit up.

Even though I don't get a lot of sleep, nighttime is one of my favorite times to spend with Nathan. I love looking at every inch of his body. His toes, fingers, ears (I LOVE his ears for some reason), nose-every detail is just amazing to me. I just sit and stare at him while he is eating. I never knew that a could feel so blessed. I spend half of the nighttime feedings praying for Nathan's life, happiness, and wellbeing and thanking God for this tiny bundle of joy. I can't imagine being any happier.

One fun thing that my mom and I have learned about Nathan. He LOVES to listen to music while he gets his diaper changed. He also will take a pacifier then. It is so cute. He does this really loud whiny whimper and then when we turn the music on, he is completely content. I know these are the moments I will always want to remember, as silly as it may sound. (side note: I tend to fall asleep when we turn on his music, so we usually fall asleep together in the glider after we are done changing his diaper and he is eating again)