It's been a long week

Daddy has been working very hard lately. Getting up early and coming home later than normal (6 pm). I know he would probably work until 8 or 9 pm if his wife were not anxiously awaiting his arrival every day. :-) Matt just landed a big contract today - it was a huge answer to prayer. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Matt and I continue to pray that God would help him to be a moral businessman, a leader, mentor and role model to his employees and everyone else that he comes in contact with and that God would bless his business. Risinger Homes has been in business over 5 years now and it has been amazing to be part of the journey.

Matthew is 8 weeks old!

Time is flying by. Matthew continues to sleep through the night (about midnight - 8 am). He nurses like a champ and is really fast (thank goodness!) because I often do not have much time to nurse. He can go easily 4 hours between feedings and I occasionally wake him during the day once we get too far past 4 hours so we can get enough feedings in daily.

We recently had our 2 month appointment with Dr. Dawson and all looked good. He received 3 shots and his oral polio. He was so so so sad later that day. I was really surprised because I don't remember the other three having much reactions to vaccines. His poor little thigh was swollen and bruised and every time you touched him there he would cry real tears. Once we got the pain controlled with Tylenol he did much better. I will have to remember to give him Tylenol BEFORE the shots next time.

Here were his stats:

Height: 22 3/4 inches (40%)

Weight 12.1 pounds (50%)

Head: 39 1/2 cm (50%)

I think he is going to track along with John in terms of height and weight.

Matthew Giggled!

Matthew giggled for the first time tonight when I tickled him under his chin. :-)

Best Baby on the Block!

OK, I may be a little biased, but Matthew is a GREAT baby. I think Alivia was probably just as good, but I was a new mom and could not appreciate it at the time.

Matthew hardly cries, and when he does all you have to do is hold him, feed him, or wait a little while and he will stop. I think he is officially sleeping through the night at 7 1/2 weeks. I had heard about babies that did this but never believed it would actually happen with one of my own children! Alivia, Will and John all slept through the night at 7 MONTHS and I was fully prepared to get up at 4 am to nurse until November 2012!

Funny quirks about Matthew: he loves to sleep in the swing, we still swaddle him everytime we put him down to sleep, he has the strongest suck of all of the kids while nursing - I noticed it the first time he nursed in the hospital, he prefers those ugly green pacis that you get in the hospital and spits out any other paci you give him. He never spits up - I don't even have to carry around a burp cloth, and he is really hard to burp after nursing. He makes a funny clicking noise while he nurses and looks like he has so much to say when he locks eyes with you. He has just started to gurgle and coo which I LOVE LOVE LOVE! He is now solidly in 3 month clothing - I feel like he hardly even wore the newborn stuff. He is growing like a weed.

We go for our first round of shots (sniff sniff) next week and I will be interested to see how much he weighs now.

Sleep. . . ahhhh. . . .

Matthew slept from 11 pm until 7 am last night. No kidding. Then he immediately went back down again until 10 am after I nursed him. Matt took care of the older kids in the morning, so I got almost 10 hours of consecutive sleep. It was heavenly.

Matthew almost exclusively sleeps swaddled in the swing in his room. Is that OK? I never let the other kids sleep during the night in the swing, but I have to admit that Matthew has been a better sleeper so far. Hmmm . . .maybe there is a connection?

At this point, I just don't have the strength to transition him to the crib just yet. I guess when he starts rolling over I will have to do that.

Spring Break 2012 - continued

Mimi just gave me the pics from her iPhone from the adventures over Spring Break in San Antonio and Carrizo.

Swimming at the Hotel in San Antonio - Will never got off the steps!

Lookin' good Grandpa!

Riding the trolley in San Antonio

Riding the "Mule" in Carrizo

Exploring the property in Carrizo

Spring Break 2012

While Mama was home nursing every 3 hours and watching crazy John-John, Alivia and Will got to see Texas with some of the best guides around: Mimi and Grandpa!

My parents planned some serious adventures for the week and Alivia and Will had an absolute blast. It is so fun to see them enjoy being with my parents - I think the feeling was mutual because Mimi and Grandpa remarked that they had a great time as well.

Here was the itinerary for the week:

Sunday - Rodeo/Carnival with Mimi

Monday - to Bertram, spend the night

Tuesday - morning in Bertram, afternoon at Waco Zoo

Wednesday - overnight in San Antonio on the River Walk

Thursday - overnight in Carrizo

Friday - morning in Carrizo, head back to Austin in the afternoon

Saturday - rest and relax in Austin!

Both Alivia and Will said their favorite activity was visiting Carrizo. Riding the ATV and exploring the property sounds really fun. They even found some antlers and saw lots of wildlife.

All decked out to head to the Rodeo

Alivia was brave enough to try this contraption!

I'm impressed!

Dominoes in Bertram

Popsicles at the zoo

Headed to San Antonio

Beautiful flowers in Carrizo

Riding the "Mule" (ATV)