My Baby Boy Turns One Month Old

Sometimes I feel like the last month went by in slow motion, and other times I feel like I can't believe Dutch has been in my life for 4 weeks already.  Either way, I'm incredibly grateful to be his mom, and as I type this entry with him sleeping on my chest, I know I wouldn't want things any other way.  Here are pics from March 23rd - his one month birthday!

Man, I love this beautiful boy!

Dutch Meets His Oma-rillo

First, let me explain the title.  Since my family is from Holland, we call grandparents "Oma" and "Opa."  Even though my husband's family isn't from Holland, it turns out that his mom and dad asked their grand kids to use those names as well, just because they liked the way they sounded.  As you can surmise, that means that my son, Dutch, will be using the same names for both my parents and Meezy's parents.  We'll figure out if that becomes confusing for him when he gets a bit older, but for now it's fine.  Meezy's parents live in Amarillo, so my dad made the joke that my husband's mom should be called "Oma-rillo."  Cheesy, but also kinda clever!  Lol.  Anyways, last week my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came down to stay with us and meet the newest family member.  They were so sweet to help me out for a few days, and loved spending time with Dutch.  Oma definitely enjoyed her time with her grandson, as evidenced by the fact that he was asleep on her chest more times than not!

  
Oma cried when she left to go back to Amarillo, and it nearly broke my heart!  I feel so bad that we're hundreds of miles away, but hopefully we'll get the chance to visit each other often.  Meezy's mom and I already have a pretty close relationship since I work for her and we talk on a weekly basis, but now that Dutch is around, I feel like we've gotten even closer.  This first month of his life, she has texted me every few nights to see how we're both doing, and to tell me she misses him and to give him a kiss for her.  It's so sweet, and a nice reminder that my son is joining an amazing family.  We skyped with her today so she could get her Dutch fix, and I hope we get to do that a lot in the future so she won't feel so far away from us.  The last time we were texting back and forth, she told me, "I think you are an awesome mom! I love the way you love my son and Dutch."  I immediately got choked up when I read that.  It's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, and it made me so proud that she felt that way.  Not everyone is fortunate enough to even get along with their mother-in-law, let alone be as close as we are.  I'm very lucky, and I know Dutch is too!    

Introducing

I've received tons of birth announcements over the past couple of years, so I've seen numerous different styles and layouts for announcing a child's birth.  When it came time to choose what I would want to send out to announce our kiddo, I went on Shutterfly and Snapfish to look around.  I narrowed down by color and number of pictures, but I was still unhappy with the options because I needed something that showed our child's full name, but also clearly displayed that we would be calling him by his middle name.  I know that's not as common of an occurrence, hence the lack of options like that available.  I also really wanted to continue our theme of dots and circles (like what's in his nursery, on his burp cloths, on his blankets, on our thank you cards, etc).  I couldn't find that as an option either.  I started to get discouraged and figured I'd just have to settle with a design I wasn't completely happy with, until my friend Lauren at Palm Papers mentioned on her blog that she had custom-designed a birth announcement for a kid with the same naming situation as us.  Jackpot!  I commissioned her to create a birth announcement with the colors and artwork that went with our theme, while also showcasing what we would be calling our son.  The result was better than anything I could've envisioned! 

I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out!  If you need invitations, stationery, announcements, thank-you cards, holiday cards, etc, you should definitely contact Lauren!  If she doesn't already have a design available that would work for you, she can certainly create one you'll love!

A Little Visit

I've had some friends and family tell me they wish they could hang out with Dutch more, but that's not always possible, so here's an alternative!  You can watch this and pretend like he's nearby.  This is a few minutes of our Saturday morning awake time.  Enjoy!



And in case there was any confusion as to whose kid this is, take a look at this mini-Meezy:

We also went for our first walk in the stroller since it was so beautiful today!

Thanks for spending time with us.  :)

My Love and Admiration

It's no secret I'm madly in love with my hubby and consider myself very lucky to have found a guy like him to share my life with.  I've had people tell me in the past that having a baby will make me fall even more in love with my husband.  I figured that was possible, but it ended up happening for different reasons than I expected.  I thought seeing our creation together would be what prompted even stronger feelings for my husband, but it wasn't just that.  Yes, this little guy does make me very thankful for Meezy because he helped give me this gift,

 
but, I think my love and admiration for Meezy has grown because of the way he has acted towards me since the birth of our son.  From the first moment Dutch entered our lives, I haven't had to ask my husband for help. He's been so proactive and has anticipated my needs.  He has picked up the slack in every way possible and tells me he wishes he could do more.  I knew my husband was a good guy, but I honestly didn't expect him to be THIS amazing.  When he looks at me and sees the exhaustion in my eyes, he orders me to take a nap and tries his best to keep Dutch occupied and happy (which is hard when you don't have breast milk!).  When he is trying to get a few hours of sleep because he has to go in to work the next day, he still offers to help me overnight if he hears crying.  When he gets home from a stressful day at the office, and still faces a few more hours of work from home, he still asks to take Dutch off my hands so I can eat dinner or just spend a few minutes doing anything else that I've put off during the day.  When Dutch and I fell asleep on the couch side by side, I woke up to find pillows on the ground next to us that Meezy had put there just in case he rolled.  I could go on and on about the truly thoughtful and generous things he has done over the past two weeks.  He makes me so proud to call him my husband and the father of our child.  Dutch already has his daddy's looks, and I hope he grows up to have his character and heart as well.    

Itzbeen

Whew!  It's been about a week since I've felt like I had a free minute to blog.  There's not much sleep happening at our house, but that doesn't mean we don't love our new addition to pieces!  Here's a few pics from the past week so you can get your cute baby fix before I move on to the real reason for this post!

As I mentioned before, sleep is sparse with a newborn.  That leads to memory loss and confusion on a daily basis!  I heard about the itzbeen timer from my friend, Kari, and I knew I had to have it before Dutch arrived. 

When you're in the hospital, nurses come in and ask you constantly how many diapers the baby has had, how long ago you started nursing and how long it lasted, and how often you're going to the bathroom yourself.  It's so hard to remember the answer to those questions because you can't even keep the days and nights straight, or have any concept of the passage of time.  This timer is a lifesaver for so many reasons!  The buttons on the side represent diaper changes, feedings, sleep, and then an extra one for whatever you choose to use it for.  The slider on the bottom helps you remember which side you last nursed on, and then it also comes with a nightlight.  Whenever you change a diaper, you hit the diaper button and it restarts the timer.  That way you can glance over at any time and see how long it's been since the last changing.  Same with the other buttons.  It's very helpful to know how long the baby fed, and also how long it's been since you last fed him.  For the extra button, I used it in the hospital to help remind myself to get up and use the bathroom (you tend to forget to take care of yourself when a new baby enters the equation!), and at home I used it to keep track of how long it had been since I last took a pain pill.  You don't want to mess up when it comes to taking medication, so it's very useful!  Once I get past the first couple of weeks, I know the timer will become less useful, but I also feel like if I only end up using it for 2 weeks, it will still have been worth it!