19 weeks, Father's Day and Eric & Emily

Bryson is 19 weeks old today.

He is rolling over from his back to his belly all. the. time. And he is becoming more mobile and aware of things. He likes to watch us eat, and loves to play with his toys. It's so cool to see him get excited to see us when we come into the room.

I missed last week's blog, so here's 18 weeks.....

We've been pretty busy around here. Emily (Scott's sister) and Eric were in town between Coast Guard assignments, so we spent a lot of time with them and their 10-month-old James.

On Father's Day, I got Scott a shirt that says "The Big Kahuna" to go with Bryson's "Little Kahuna" outfit. Photo to come.......

After the presents were opened, we headed down to Koreshan State Park to photograph the Feazels (my friend Lindi's family) and the Risners (Eric and Emily). 

Here's the Feazels.....

And here's Emily, Eric and JD...... We're sad they have to move to Virginia, but happy they're back in the states. And we loved the time we got to spend with them this month. I can't wait to watch our boys grow up together.

Two more cute pics from today.

Cheering on the heels during the college world series.

And playing in his new exersaucer (sp?)....

Four-month checkup

On Friday we had Bryson's four-month checkup. He measured 24.5 inches and 16 lbs 1.5 oz. He also got his first shot and took it like a champ. He cried for a couple of seconds, but then grinned at the nurse on her way out of the room. He's a tough little guy.

On Thursday, he turned 17 weeks......and finally a smile!

 Bryson also rolled over this week from his back to tummy, and continues to do it. It's like he just forgot how to roll from tummy to back. But he does like being on his tummy a lot.

 On Monday we visited the Six Mile Cypress Slough to see if we could see the panther that was recently spotted there (yeah right- they're pretty elusive.) But we also wanted to see how B would do in the carrier on a hike. He did great and even fell asleep after looking intently at all the trees.

16 weeks old and cuter every day

Time just keeps marching on around here. And our baby gets cuter every day.

He likes to stand on the couch and look out the window. Seriously, this kid LOVES to be standing up.

He's still working on consistently rolling over, but is completely at home on his tummy.

He discovered his hands and feet a couple of weeks ago, and loves admiring them.....

 And he now likes grabbing the toys on his play gym.

We love seeing his happy face!

He also likes chillin' on the couch.

Grandaddy and JuJu

This week we had a visit from Dad and Judy.

It was dad's birthday on Thursday, so at the last minute, I decided to incorporate his big day into Bryson's weekly photo shoot. Bryson was turing 15 weeks old and dad was turning 3,016 weeks old. (That's 58 years if you're not into math.)

As he was helping me get Bryson to smile, I realized he was wearing a white t-shirt too, so I told him to get down onto the blanket. It took a little bit to get Bryson to look over at him, but I think it worked quite well.

I had to work the whole time they were here, but I did get to work early on Thursday, so we were able to eat dinner together and even got to go down to Scott's parents' house and go swimming for a bit. Dad  and Judy were happy to watch Bryson while I went to work that morning.

Before they left, we did another short photo shoot. I think we got some pretty good pics.....

 He loved playing with them. It was a great visit. Can't wait to see them again in July!

14 weeks old

Bryson is now 14 weeks old.

After rolling over repeatedly last week, he has decided that no longer interests him. oh well. He still loves tummy time, so I'm sure he will be rolling again soon. For now I'll enjoy him staying where I put him.

He seems to be noticing his hands and feet more often now, and he likes a few of his toys - including his little UNC basketball.

He gives us big smiles when he wakes up in the morning and from naps. And he loves playing with his daddy. Scott has been teaching him how to box.....

These two pics are from today. We played on the floor with his toys for a while. Then we went outside under the mango tree to practice rolling around.

And I'll leave you with a funny video from last week. Bryson is looking at himself in his owl mirror. It's pretty cute and funny.

Happy Mother's Day

Well, it's my first Mother's Day. And I must say it feels pretty good. I was a little scared to become a mom, but I love it. I couldn't imagine my life now without this little guy. We had a great day.

We had lunch, which included Chicken-n-waffles at Fancy's Southern Cafe and fried cheese grits. yum. And yes, it was a departure from my diet. But it has been MONTHS since I've had fried chicken or waffles.

Lunch made Bryson miss his afternoon nap, but I also think he wanted to be awake for nearly all of my special day. We finally got him to sleep at 7 pm after visits from John David and Gaby (who just got engaged- Congrats!) and from Jack and his mom.

We also had a special visit from my aunt Debra and uncle Dale from South Carolina this weekend. It was so good to see everyone. And I know they were glad to meet Baby B.

By the way, he's now 13 weeks old......yikes.

And he's rolling over when he feels like it, which is not every day. And only from his tummy to his back.

And Happy Mother's Day to my mom. Thanks for being such a great mom and now a fabulous grandma! I love you!

12 weeks and back to work

Thursday was a big day not only because Bryson hit the 12-week mark, but I also went back to work. It was a little rough, but I do have great friends there, so everyone was really happy to see me. Plus I knew B would be in good hands between Scott and his mom, so that made it easier.

It did feel good to see my photos in the paper again this morning.

Scott's mom came over early on Thursday afternoon to watch Bryson so I could take a shower and get ready for the big day. He's in the stage now where he doesn't want to be left alone unless he's sleeping, so it's hard to get stuff done around here. I have to wear him in the Ergo carrier just to make myself breakfast, but on the plus side, it does keep him close to me.

Bryson is smiling all the time now and loves his nightly walks with us. He just loves to look up at all the trees in the neighborhood. We can't wait to take him hiking this summer. He also seems to be checking out his feet lately. He often looks down at them and wiggles his toes. We love making him laugh while playing peek-a-boo with him, but he is quite camera shy. Even with the iPhone. You'd think he'd be more used to the camera clicking since he heard it all the time while I was pregnant.

These are from bath time last week.

And these are from a nap last week.....

11 weeks old!

Bryson is now 11 weeks old, and I go back to work in a week. I sure will miss being with him all day.

But at least I won' have to leave him at day care. I'll just be turning him over to Scott in the afternoons when I leave to go to work. And hopefully I'll be able to take a dinner break to come home and feed him in the evenings.

He is smiling a cooing all the time now. He loves to play peek-a-boo and loves it when we give him "high fives." He is especially smiley on the changing table. And he still enjoys bath time.

Last Friday we went for his two-month checkup a week or so late after my insurance dropped him for no reason. I got it worked out and he was reinstated with no lapse in coverage. Anyway.....

He weighed 13 lbs. 6 oz, and was 22.75 inches long. His head circumference was 39 cm. The doctor said he was growing nicely. 

Bryson even smiled at himself in the mirror and rolled over from his stomach to his back to show off in front of Dr. Jones. He's such a good kid. We LOVE him so much!

Last Saturday we volunteered at the Green Family Expo and participated in the Great Cloth Diaper Change, so hopefully we'll be a part of the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest simultaneous cloth diaper change.

 That afternoon I got to stay and watch the documentary "Birth Story,"a documentary about Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives. They live(d) on a commune in Tennessee and have helped thousands of women through natural childbirth. This is Ina May introducing the movie. She's so cool!
Watch the trailer here.

Ten Weeks!

Time is really moving too fast now. Bryson is ten weeks old, and I only have two weeks of maternity leave left. It is definitely not enough time.

Here's his weekly photo.....

Last week another one of my best friends visited. It was so great to see Sara, and I think she had fun snuggling with Bryson.

We had a great time!

On Thursday we took Bryson to the beach for the first time. He really liked the water. But after a few minutes playing in the waves, he got fussy, so we spent the rest of the time eating. Ah, the life of a baby.

Thank you Sara for taking the great photos!


Bryson is getting stronger every day and is starting to like to sit up more. He also likes to face out sometimes now instead of always facing us. We've also started going on walks the past couple of nights when he gets fussy. When he is outside, he immediately calms down and loves to look at the trees. He also smiles at us a lot in the mornings and on his changing table. Scott is trying to teach him to "high-five," which makes him laugh.

Since I ran out of time to blog last week, here's his nine week photo......It's the closest we've gotten to a smile in the weekly photos.

And here's a video of Bryson and Scott playing on Saturday. love those two....

A visit from Amanda!

 Amanda Stinnett came to visit us this past week from Tuesday to Friday. We were so excited to have her here, and she had fun holding Bryson. And, of course, hanging out with me. I don't think she knew what to do with herself with no preschoolers to look after. Her kids, Mattie and Evan, are 2 and almost 5 now.


We had a great time catching up, shopping and having lunches. Bryson was a champ and slept while we did all these things. He even slept 5.5 hours in a row one night! He's also starting to smile a lot more and fuss a lot more at night.

 

Sadly, she had to go home yesterday evening, and we miss her terribly.

This morning, we all slept in and Scott got a few Bryson snuggles in....We even got a few smiles.

 In other news, Bryson turned eight weeks old this week.

And next week Sara Dowd is coming to visit. We're so excited!

Bryson is seven weeks old and lovin' livin' in Dunk City

Fort Myers has been renamed Dunk City after historic wins by FGCU in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. They're in the sweet 16 (as if anybody out there doesn't know that), and we're quite excited about that. It is Scott's alma mater, and I've covered their games for years now.

The News-Press photographers and reporters have been doing a great job covering the story.
Here's a link with a page with all of our section fronts this past week.

We've even been on Sportscenter twice....

 

Here's tomorrow's special section front...

Bryson also turned seven weeks old today. He's getting fatter every day. We just love him so much.

 

Six weeks old

I know these weekly posts may be getting repetitive, but it's my way of documenting these fast-moving sleep-deprived weeks so I don't forget the little details of Bryson's life.

So, yesterday was six weeks!

This week brought more firsts for Bryson. My grandma is here visiting from South Carolina, so they met for the first time.

And I think he has "socially" smiled at us a few times. This morning he gave me a big toothless grin. Melts. My. Heart. He's also sort of reaching for things and focusing in on our faces more.

 

Bryson also got in the hot tub for the first time at Scott's parents' house. Their hot tub is not very hot and is salt water, so we figured it was safe. And he loved it! I was amazing how easily he floated. 

He was so cute.

I've been wanting to capture Bryson's hairy little shoulders. They're the softest thing ever!

And of course, those toes!

Five weeks old

Yesterday Bryson turned five weeks old!

"Check out my muscles!"

He's obviously growing like crazy. He smiled at me while he was on the changing table yesterday too. I think that counts as a social smile.

He's still a really loud sleeper, which makes it difficult for Scott and I to get any sleep.

We're adjusting to not having dad and Judy here this week. They were so helpful with cooking and helping with Bryson last week. We sure do miss them. And I know they miss us too. We've skyped with dad twice this week. Here's dad and Judy saying goodbye before they made the drive back to NC last Saturday.

We're getting ready for March Madness around here. Bryson is ready to cheer for Carolina in his T-shirt.

Here's a few photos I took yesterday afternoon.
Here's his sweet smile....

And he finds his thumb sometimes....

This was while we were down by the river for the sunset.


Bonus:
Here's a video of Bryson playing with his activity gym. I think he's getting the hang of it.

Four weeks old

Bryson is already one month old, and I can't believe it has gone by so fast. We're starting to figure out this parenting thing, which I'm sure means everything will change soon. But so far so good.

Dad and Judy have been here this week cooking for us, holding the baby and letting me sleep in the mornings! It has been great.

Today Bryson had his one-month checkup today. He's now 9 pounds 11 ounces (2 pounds over his birth weight) and 21.75 inches (2.25 inches longer) and his head circumference is 14 inches. All those marathon feedings this week certainly helped.

Earlier in the week, he was insisting on eating for 4-5 hours almost straight at night. And it was taking its toll on me. By Tuesday, I was in tears because I was so tired, because he was still waking up at 3:00 am and 6:00 am too. Not enough sleep for me. Luckily that pattern broke on Tuesday night and we went to bed at 10:00 pm instead of 1:00 or 1:30 am. I'm feeling much better.

We are loving watching him grow fatter by the day. Every time I feed him I marvel at how fat his cheeks are getting. And I love to kiss those cheeks when he snuggles on my shoulder.

The cloth-diapering is going well, and we're keeping up with the laundry associated with that. I now know what the term "heavy wetter" is all about. That boy can soak a diaper like nobody's business.

Here's some photos from today when Mammy (Scott's grandma) came to visit.....

 

Here's his three-week photo since I was too busy last week to blog about it......

And here's a couple taken on February 22 that I haven't posted yet. I'm hoping to get more photos of him this weekend.

Two weeks old already

Our baby boy is already two weeks old. I'm still getting the hang of everything, but I love him so much. We love to just watch him make funny faces at night when we're sitting on the couch.

We've learned he's a wiggle worm and a very loud sleeper. He likes to grunt and generally make lots of noises while he sleeps, especially at night. During the daytime naps, he's mostly quiet. So at night he keeps us awake with all of his "talking." I guess we should be glad he's not fussing or screaming......

Here's a few portraits from earlier this week in case you missed them on Facebook.

Welcome to the World Baby Bryson

One week ago our lives changed forever.

Bryson Nash Whittamore was born three weeks early on February 7, 2013, at 6:11 a.m. at Cape Coral Hospital. He weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He is perfect.

I think he may be destined to be a sprinter. I went into labor or started feeling the contractions at around 3 a.m. and woke Scott at 4 a.m. so he could help me time the contractions. We soon realized they were about a minute and a half apart, so I said, "We need to go to the hospital now."

By about 5 a.m., we were ready to go. It took me a while to get dressed because the contractions were coming so fast. I was getting really no break. It was all I could do to make it to the car. When Scott was loading the car, I made it from the bathroom to the office floor where I had to lie down on my side and wait for another contraction to pass.

I was beginning to feel the need to push. He came back in the house, and said I had to get in the car or he was calling the ambulance. So I mustered my strength and made it five more feet to the living room. After the next contraction, I made it to the other bathroom and finally out to the car. I laid down the car seat and panted all the way to the hospital telling Scott that I had to push.

He just kept saying how awesome I was doing and that I definitely should not push. I told him at one point that I never wanted to do this again. The contractions were coming so fast and strong, and I was just trying to focus on breathing and relaxing.

Luckily it was 5 a.m., so there was no traffic. We made it to the hospital at about 5:30 a.m. or so and I managed to get inside and in the elevator before another contraction hit. When we got to the desk, they wanted me to fill out paperwork. I had to leave that for Scott to do since obviously I couldn't focus on anything else. They didn't seem to believe that I was ready to push.

The nurse wanted me to follow her to the triage room. Somehow I managed to make it there without a wheelchair. When she checked me, she confirmed that it was "go time," and called the on-call doctor. My doctor was on vacation, of course. All that stress about switching doctors and he still didn't deliver me.

It took the doctor about 20-30 minutes to arrive, I think, but when she did, there was no messing around. It was time to push!

I think it must have taken about 4 or 5 contractions before I was holding our baby boy on my chest at 6:11 a.m. It is so true when they say there is no greater relief than that.

We were able to go home the next day. And I'm happy to report that I'm on the mend and Bryson is doing really well.

Here's a few from our first photo shoot. I didn't get very far before he woke up hungry. again.

I've got lots of cute props I want to try out, so hopefully I can get him to cooperate this weekend when Scott is there to help.

Today he is one week old. I can't believe it's already been a week.

Shower #2 and maternity shoot

Last weekend, my good friend Lindi from work threw me an awesome baby shower with the help of Francesca, who used to work with us at The News-Press. It was such a great time, and Lindi thought of all the little details that made it special. We ate and talked and our only activity was making onesies, which turned out much better than I could have ever imagined. I have some creative and talented friends! Thank you to everyone! You all made it such a special day.

Here's a few of the fabulous onesies Bryson will be sporting.....

My "get things done" instinct has kicked into overdrive, so this weekend, I decided it was time to do the maternity photos. Luckily Jack moved back to town just in time to do these for us. And he did a great job! I wanted to get the photos done before I started really swelling up. Hopefully that won't happen, but better safe than sorry, right? We went out to Bowditch Point on Fort Myers beach because it has so many different backdrops for photos, and it's beautiful there.

Almost 33 weeks. 7 weeks to go.

We're in full-on baby preparation mode here at the Whittamore household. Over Christmas we built the baby's dresser and crib.

Then Scott painted the dining room to match the living room. I was very appreciative not to have to help with that chore. But it looks great. Now I just have to rehang all the art. When we get paid again, we'll get some new curtains and a new light fixture to jazz things up a bit. I'll post photos of both rooms when they're closer to being done.

There have been some big changes with my pregnancy going on too. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at 29 weeks, and that has turned things upside down. I can no longer give birth in the water at Baby Love Birth Center like I'd planned because of the diagnosis. (Stupid Florida regulations). I now have to go to Cape Coral Hospital.

As if that wasn't traumatic enough (I'm getting over it now because I know it won't matter after he's born), my wonderful midwife Samantha can't be there for my delivery because she doesn't have a contract with my insurance company. Luckily her husband is a great OB who shares her same birth philosophy, so I have to switch to him in the next few weeks.

I've also had to change my diet to keep my blood sugar in check, since I have to test it four times a day. I've pretty much been on the Paleo diet. Low carbs, no grains, no sugar - just a little honey. It may have been a blessing in disguise because my rapid weight gain has slowed dramatically, and I'm still feeling pretty good.

Here's a new belly growth chart. Somehow I lost the pics from Christmas week when I was 31 weeks pregnant. :(

And here we are all dressed up for a New Year's party with our pretty Christmas tree.

 And at the party....

And here's a funny photo I took of myself reflected in an ornament at a Christmas event at the Ritz Carlton in Naples.....

 

 And one last photo. We've started harvesting the garden! Here's today's carrots.....yum! And we got a big handful of green beans that we ate for yesterday's dinner. The corn will be done soon too.

Merry Christmas

On Sunday, we ate lunch with Scott's family before his parents left for Kentucky, so today we just had breakfast with my mom and Billy after opening our presents at home. It was nice to have a fairly relaxing day.

For dinner, I cooked a London broil in the slow cooker with a few of the year's first carrots from the garden. I also made some acorn squash. And mom brought broccoli salad and green beans. I must say, it was pretty good.

 One of today's best gifts was one Scott picked out for the baby. A pair of tiny chucks. so cute. Yes I know my stomach is huge in this photo. It definitely grows every day! I'll have an update on that later this week.

My step-brother Scott, his wife Heather and his two beautiful and funny daughters came to visit last week, so Friday night we went over to eat with them at my mom and Billy's house. We had a good time seeing them. I think the gift-opening photos of the girls speak for themselves......

On another note, our garden is on the verge of giving us a feast. Here's the pics from December 5.....

And here's today....

Thanksgiving, baby shower and an update

We just returned on Saturday night from a trip to North Carolina for Thanksgiving and a baby shower with my NC friends and family.

But I'll start with the latest news first. Baby Whittamore weighs about 2.5 pounds and is 15 inches long, which is slightly above average. And while I only got one ultrasound photo this week, it was one of the cutest ones yet. He was sucking his thumb. so cute.

This week flew by, but we had a great time. We got the chance to visit Sweetbottoms Baby Boutique in Raleigh, which is one of the best little baby stores ever. The staff was so helpful and friendly. They also have an awesome website with free shipping!

I originally found them online and later realized they were in Raleigh, and our trip home was the perfect chance to visit. We decided to sign up for their newborn cloth diaper rental program.

I know some of you may think we're crazy for doing cloth diapers, but Scott and I were both cloth diaper babies, and we turned out just fine. haha. It will save us a ton of money. Sure, there will be times when we use disposables, like probably on vacations. I also like not throwing away up to 12 diapers a day and that the cloth diapers don't have the chemicals in them that most disposables do.
I'll just have to get used to dealing with poop on a daily basis.

Later Wednesday afternoon, we went over to my aunt Marjorie and uncle Tim's house to see my cousin Amber, who made the long drive with her husband John and two boys (Olin and Leif) from Kentucky so she could see me in all my pregnant glory. I'm so grateful that she made the trip because we got to spend some quality time together talking about babies and life, and we never get to do that.

Thursday was, of course, Thanksgiving. I usually make banana pudding and apple crisp to take to Scott's parents house, but this year, we were obviously at dad's house. So he made my Mema's banana pudding recipe, and I made the apple crisp. It was good to spend time with the family, especially my aunt Julie. In the evening Scott and I went back over to my aunt and uncle's house to see Amber and my other cousin Leslie who arrived late Wednesday night from Ohio with her husband Brent and 11-month-old Finn. We finally got to meet him and he did not disappoint. He has the cutest toothy grin.

On Friday, we avoided Black Friday shopping and went to downtown Raleigh to eat lunch at Beasley's Chicken + Honey. Can I just say yum. yum.? Scott had the chicken and waffles (they were to die for) and I had a 'veggie' plate with the Hook's Three-Year Cheddar Mac-n-Cheese Custard, roasted beets (for something healthy), and the biscuits and honey. And I had a Cheerwine to drink, of course.

After we got dad and Judy back home, we set out for an afternoon in Chapel Hill, where we shopped a little on Franklin Street and then had dinner at Top of the Hill.

On Saturday was my first baby shower for my family and friends in North Carolina.

(Please don't be offended that we didn't invite you, aunt Debra, aunt Judy and Gray. We knew you'd be busy over the Thanksgiving weekend with the boys and didn't want you to feel like you had to drive to Raleigh or buy us a gift. We'll see you soon after the baby is born, I hope.)

We had a good time visiting with everybody, and we got some great gifts. Thank you all for coming. And a special thanks to my step mom Judy for hosting and cooking an amazing pumpkin french toast casserole, to my aunt Marjorie for cooking the yummy sausage, egg and cheese casseroles, to Sara Dowd for the beautiful and tasty cupcakes and to Kylie and Amanda for driving in to see me.