Saturday, February 18, 2012

Happy Two Months!


            Once upon a time on Zach’s two month old birthday, he decided to make it an epic and memorable experience.  Or rather, he decided to pay back his parents for making him get not one but two shots that day.  So here’s what he did. 
Around 4 in the afternoon, Tommy went running for an hour and I laid down with Zach in our bed for a nap.  Tommy came home and like most men after exercising, needed a shower.  Zach was still sleeping and like any mom of a two month old, I still hadn’t showered so I decided to hop in with him.  I know this may seem graphic, but trust me this is all part of the story.  When we were done I asked Tommy to check on Zach.  Not ten seconds later I heard Zach screaming as though he was getting his shots again.  So I ran in to see what was wrong.  As I was headed toward our bedroom, I heard the door knock.  So there we are both in nothing but our towels, Zach screaming, and someone’s at the door.  Tommy shouts over the cries of our child to send whoever’s there away as he proceeds to change Zach’s diaper.
 So I go to the door and ask, “Who is it?”
“It’s Gary and Donna May!”
Great, of all the people to knock, it’s the only people we can’t send away since they are Tommy’s parents and they live about 35 minutes away. 
“One moment!” I say and hope that the sound of Zach’s cries are enough of an explanation.  So back into the bedroom I run and tell Tommy his parents are there and so I take Zach to feed him while Tommy gets dressed and lets his parents in.  In my panic to sooth my screaming child, I neglect to put any clothes on because again, he is screaming bloody murder that I’ve only heard when he’s been in true pain.  Tommy didn't waste any time putting Zach’s pants back on and just passed him onto me.  Okay good, I'm  on the bed, Zach’s eating in nothing but his onsie, Tommy’s taking care of his parents and I’m still naked, no problem.
So I’m feeding Zach and listening to the conversation going on in the living room.  Tommy’s parents just bought a new car and wanted to stop by to show it to us and get a pizza to celebrate.  Then Zach starts wiggling a little bit, but I know he’s not done.  Then I hear it before I see it.  Zach poops his pants but remember he doesn’t have pants on so out of the diaper it comes from the leg part and into the air! No kidding, I saw the poop fly!  Sadly, some lands on my leg and worse, my body pillow (any one who knows me appreciates the tragedy that this is).  But I have no time to mourn because poop is still oozing fast and I have to catch it before it gets on any more pillows or our sheets.  That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I caught the poop in my hand!
“Tommy!!!” I yell.  He comes running in and of course freezes because that’s a sight to walk in on.  I grab a diaper to mop up some of the mess off of Zach’s leg while Tommy looks for the wipes in our room.  He panics because he has no idea where they are, even though they are always in the same place.  Except for today, of course.  At this very important moment they are instead sitting in the bathroom because Zach had a shower earlier that day.  Tommy grabs Zach to clean him off out in the living room and leaves me to clean up myself in our bedroom.
I look for something to wipe my hand off with but all I see is my white towel – yeah, fat chance I’m going to use that.  So my thought process turns to, “Okay, what to do? What to do? Nursing pads? No, not big enough.  Another diaper? No, we’ve already used one, let’s not waste precious resources (Seriously Chelsea?)  Yes, seriously.”  So I wrap a towel around me and announce, “Tommy, I’m coming out!” And run into the bathroom for my second shower in an hour. So there you have it.  I hope you enjoyed the story and I should tell you that I was laughing the whole time and our sheets were saved.  Although I still shudder to think what I would have done had Tommy not been there.  He is my hero.
Moving on, Zach has completely changed as a baby!  From the videos on the post right before this one you can see he has begun to talk and coo.  Last Saturday he really started enjoying being put down in his bouncer.  He just looks around and coos and kicks his legs and punches his fists in the air a lot.  It makes life so much more manageable when you're not constantly having to carry him around.  Plus, he's smiling and babbling which is so fun and adorable!  He has also grown a whole 2 lbs this last month which is amazing! But at 9 lbs 13 oz, he's still only in the 11% for his weight which means he's just a little guy.  He's 23 inches long though and that puts him in the 54% for height.  This makes Zach a thinner baby but I'm seeing the rolls start to turn up which I am excited for. 
I love chubby babies, which makes my niece Delainie that much cuter to me.  Below you'll find more pictures of Zach and I thought I'd share a picture or two of Delainie since she's grown so much already!  And I'd like to give a shout out to my other sister Shellie who is 37 weeks preggers and has a tummy way t0o big for her to be having to carry around for much longer - You're almost there!!!! Sorry my posts often end up being a novel, but I love to talk and with no one to interrupt me, I end up going for a long time.  Hope you all enjoy the pictures and video!
I just love what he does after I say "sausage and eggs?" I apologize for my silly conversation and also that it's not a good angle, Zach get's distracted by looking at the phone and forgets to perform.
I love her hip pop!

She's standing?! So crazy!

She loves her grandpa!

Zach taking a moment between crying for a picture to send to mommy who was at work

He's big enough for the baby bjorn and loves to look around!

Rockin' the tie.  Probably our favorite picture of him to date

We contemplated leaving him in this for his pajamas because we couldn't bear the thought of taking him out of this outfit

What a smile! I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN!


Friday, February 17, 2012

Yay Grad School!!!

     Well after much promising and procrastination I am finally posting on the family blog.  I have been wanting to for quite some time but have been bogged down with school.  Which brings me to our next family annoucment!
We got into Central Michigan University's PhD program!!
    We are still waiting to hear back from other schools before we make our decision but we are just excited to know that we will be for sure attending grad school.  

     So life as a father as been a blast, from early mornings to late nights and from blow out diapers to big smiles and cute coos.  Zach has been such fun and we love him so much so we thought we would post a few videos so that you all could get a better feel for what he is like.

 This first one is when Zach coos and gives a nice surprise at the end.


 This second video is hilarious especially the first part, Chelsea and I watch it over and over.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Zach up close and personal

Okay I'm back.  I realize I haven't posted many pictures of Zach so here are a lot. All poses were done by Zach himself except when someone's holding his head.  Which makes the first picture all the more adorable.  Well I started work this last week.  There's a part of me that really is grateful for work because I love coming home to Zach.  I am so happy to see him and that makes taking care of him that much more enjoyable.  This makes me feel guilty for those days where I can't wait for Tommy to come home and help out with Zach.  But I think we all have those days.  Also, I love getting dressed up for work and being forced to look presentable and then coming home and hopping into some pajamas!  I love this little boy though. He is learning to make noises and that makes him ten times more entertaining.  Last Friday night Tommy went to go get a movie and I was holding Zach and he cooed.  So I cooed back and he cooed back!  This happened about 6 times and it was about the highlight of my month.  That was our first ever conversation! So our new game is Tommy and I make ourselves sound ridiculous trying to get Zach to make noises but it is well worth the reward.  

He also has learned to move his head back and forth which is really funny to watch when he's swaddled.  Zach has a cold which has made sleeping rather challenging for everyone.  The poor little guy just wants to be held a lot which means there a literally 6 loads of laundry to be folded and all our pots and pans are dirty.  And yet, in my spare time I'm taking the opportunity to write a new post instead.  Hope you enjoy seeing more of the cutest member of our family


I love this video and every time I watch it I think how awesome a mom I am for recording my baby when he's frustrated instead of consoling him
I'm thinking of submitting this to Baby Gap. 
It's upside down but his face is priceless

Him playing with his hands

Probably one of my favorite photos of all time.  If music were played with this picture it would be the Charlie Brown Christmas song

Yet another upside down picture but he loves to sleep holding his hands like this and it is so precious

Huh?

Hello? Is anyone there? (Zach 1 week old)

How cute is he?!

3 or 4 days old, looking like a cute old man

A little over a week old, He made the cutest faces when being burped

Zach 4 days old.  He wiped his old man out!  and I love how Zach's curled up like a puppy

Zach with his Auntie Shellie

Christmas Day, mom still looks preggos and Zach looks like a cute little monkey.  My favorite picture of him and I