Dax and His Grammy

Dax loves his Grammy R. (he loves his Grandma W too!), and he is lucky to be able to see her everyday right now. When he first sees her each day, his eyes light up and he gets this huge grin on his face, and sometimes he'll even giggle. His Grammy makes him giggle all the time. Their latest adventure is working on crawling. Grammy will take Dax, and put him on all fours, and then bounce him up and down the blanket telling him "Crawl baby crawl". This always results in peals of laughter from both Grammy and Dax.

Great Great Aunt Jennie

On Friday, Dax went to meet his Great Great Aunt Jennie. This is my Great Aunt on my dad's side. She really enjoyed meeting Dax, and he was pretty happy to meet her as well!

He fell asleep on the way to meet her



But once we were inside, the charm was in full swing

My New Nephew!

Deagan Michael was born just after midnight, 8lbs 15oz, 20.75" long. I'm so proud of my sister Jessie, she did such an amazing job through the labor and delivery. I haven't met him yet, but here are some preview pictures that my parents were able to take.





Dax, my parents, and I spent the day at the hospital yesterday. My dad willingly took over Dax duty so I could be my sister's birth coach - Dax made me so proud yesterday! He did great, he was entertaining everyone in the waiting room and was the happiest little baby.

All I want for Christmas...

Thanksgiving through New Year's is possibly one of my favorite times of the year. This year is extra special because we get to celebrate with Dax for his first Christmas! A lot has changed over this past year for Derek and I, and we're trying to adjust to all that has taken place. A quick recap: In February we discovered that we were going to have a baby, we took a last hurrah/belated honeymoon trip to Europe for 2 weeks, my oldest sister Jessie got married, we had a baby, I quit my job, and how we're here.

In light of the holiday spirit (which I am seriously lacking this year, sigh) I have decided to share my all-time Christmas wish list. I realize I will not be getting these items, but a girl can dream, can't she?

1. A real camera, the Nikon D90 would be AWESOME

2. Camera lessons and photoshop lessons to go along with the sweet camera - I'm sick of all of my pictures of Dax having massive red-eye and the colors being blah

3. A tummy tuck, with some liposuction - or my pre-pregnancy body and weight!

4. Removal of my sweet tooth

5. 2 extra arms - this would make cleaning the apartment possible

6. A new diaper bag in pink daisy thank you very much

7. Season tickets to MSU men's basketball, courtside or at least lower bowl

I'm sure there are other things I could wish for, like the ability to be an amazing parent, to not make mistakes while parenting, to know how to raise my child as a Christ-follower, and the list could go on.

It will be fun to take pictures of Dax's 2nd first Christmas and show them to him one day when he's older. Even though he won't remember this time, and gifts aren't really appropriate, I still feel slightly guilty that we didn't really get him anything. We gave him a stuffed snowman that he received at my parent's house, and he will be getting a couple of books in French and a new swaddle-me blanket at Derek's parent's house.

What is the one gift you are hoping for this Christmas?

2 months old!

On Friday, Dax turned 2 months old, my how the time has flown by!!! We celebrated by going to the pediatrician for his 2 month well-baby checkup. Boy has my little boy grown, he's put on almost 5 pounds since he was born, coming in at an impressive 13.2o pounds! They measured him, but I'm pretty sure the nurse did it wrong, she said he was only 22 7/8" long, but he was 21.5 at birth, and he's about to move into his 9 month sized clothing because he's too long for his 6 month sized stuff. Derek and I will remeasure him later this week for a more accurate length. I have some cute pictures of him that we've taken recently, but our usb cord for our camera has gone on hiatus.

Dax has really started talking more, smiling, and laughing. He loves playing on his playmat, we frequently find him staring at himself cracking up. He loves talking to himself, and batting the toys on his playmat. Bathtime is still one of Dax's favorite things. He smiles the entire time, and gets pretty upset when it's time to take him out. He is still sleeping 6-7 hours at night (way to go Dax), and is a very content and happy boy. While we've had some struggles nursing lately, he's been getting better, and is still eating like a champ. He's obviously gaining weight, and our pediatrician thinks he's going to be a big boy. She tried to convince us to look into baby modeling for him - she said he looks like he's 4 months old, which is how old the Gerber babies are. The older Dax gets, and the chubbier his cheeks become, the more he starts to look like my baby pictures - at least with how chubby he is :) He is still 99% dad and 1% mom at this point. Pictures are coming soon - as soon as we find our camera cord!

Winters' Family Thanksmas

This past weekend the Winters' Family celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas. Benj, Anna, Kyle, and Vas all flew in to celebrate, and we had Kelsey on Skype. It was a great time, here are some pictures:

Uncle Kyle and Aunt Vas with Dax


The Caramel Pumpkin Gingersnap Cheesecake my dad and I made:


It was delicious:


Another family photo:


Telling stories to Aunt Vas:


Snoozin' with Uncle Benj:


Talking to Aunt Anna:


Look Mom...no hands!


I took a nap with daddy


I read stories with Grandpa (if anyone knows of a good tool to remove red-eye let me know)


In our family, everyone has a handmade stocking. Over the past few years I have taken on the task of making one for all of the newcomers (and my parents, because they didn't have them), so I got to make one for Dax this year:


Dax in his new Christmas PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa


Hanging out with Grandpa and my new snowman from mommy and daddy


Check out my new reindeer hat from Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dustin


We had a great time and it was wonderful seeing everyone, but really sad to see them all go. I sometimes miss the days when we all lived in the same house together - we never had to spend any holidays apart.

Turkey Day Part 1

We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Robinsons on Friday. Since my family is celebrating this upcoming week, we spent Wednesday and Thursday with my parents helping decorate the Christmas tree. Here are some pictures from our adventures.




Dax also got to meet several people for the first time. Here's a picture of him and Uncle Dustin.


This was also the first time his great-grandma Adam got to meet him as well.


Last but not least, he met our Aunt Carol, Uncle Clyde, Cousin David, and Cousin Rachel (below). He also met his Uncle Dan for the first time, but I didn't get a picture of it...next time!


More pictures to come next week from the Winters' family celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Big Boy Bath

Since Dax lost his umbilical cord on Saturday, Derek and I were able to give him his first "big boy" bath on Sunday! The only part he didn't like was getting out of the tub because it was a little chilly, otherwise he enjoyed every minute of bath time.



Things have been going really well. Derek and I are adjusting to having our beautiful son around all of the time. I think each day we fall even more in love with him - if that's even possible. We went to the pediatrician yesterday for a 2 week check up and little Dax put on 1lb 4.5oz in 10 days!!! He is now up to 8lbs 14.5oz. His doctor was very impressed with his weight gain and said that it means he is extremely healthy. Apparently babies tend to put on 1-1.5oz/day, and with him putting on 2oz/day, she was thrilled. All of the nurses at the doctor's office are in love with little D, they love his blond hair and have all commented on how beautiful he is for being a newborn! We're slightly biased, but Derek and I both think we made a great looking kid : )

Happy Halloween

Dax did have an awesome Spiderman onesie that he wore today to celebrate Halloween, but sadly he peed all over it before we were able to get a picture. We did manage to take our first family photo today, and it turned out great! Both my mom and dad came up to visit today so they were able to take some pictures for us.



Derek also wanted to get a picture of him and Dax in their Michigan outfits, don't worry, Dax has plenty of Michigan State clothing, it out numbers his Michigan clothing :)


Grandma Winters also came up to visit today, it was the first time she was able to see and hold Dax since he was 2 days old. She got in some great time with him, and he was even awake for several hours during her visit. She enjoyed every moment, even changing his poopy diapers hehehe : )

38 Weeks

As of today I am 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant, woohoo! I saw my mid-wife yesterday and everything is looking good. Pee-wee's heartbeat has started to slow down a little (this is normal) and is in the 130's - 140's instead of the 150's. My blood pressure and heartrate were also great.

Complaints: I am massively uncomfortable these days. The best position that hurts the least is laying down. My ribs are sore and keep popping out of place thanks to my ever expanding uterus and baby boy, and I just plain ache. Derek has been great at giving me some wonderful foot and leg massages. I think both of us are really anxious to meet our son and are getting a little tired of waiting!! We're trying to stay positive, and Derek has been good at reminding me check my 'tude when I get frustrated or upset.

My sister, Kelsey, is going to be in the states again for some training and a visit to her home church in Bloomington, IN. She will be in town the weekend before my due date and leaving on October 19th (I think that's right).



She doesn't get to come back very often, and Derek and I probably won't be heading back to Romania any time soon. The next time she'll come back will probably be in 2 years, maybe a little earlier, but there's no guarantee! She would love to be able to meet our son, even if he is only a few hours or days old, but that means he needs to come just a little early. I know that the usual gestation period is about 41 weeks and not 40 weeks like everyone says, so we've joined Kelsey and my parents in praying that this little guy will arrive in time to meet Aunt Kelsey! So really he would need to arrive next weekend, so she could make it up here to see him. I know everything will work out and that God's timing is perfect, I'm just trusting and praying that Kelsey will be able to meet, in person, our son.

This weekend we will be completing our list of "things to get before the baby arrives". This includes, picking up 12 more bum genius diapers, so we have enough of the reusable diapers on hand to get started out, a breast pump, and bottles to use for the pumped milk. This way Derek can help feed the baby too! Now it's just a matter of being patient and waiting for the baby to have his birthday.

3rd Baby Shower

This past Sunday, my sister-in-law, Lisa, threw me a baby shower. We had a great time, with some fun games and we received lots of wonderful gifts! Here are a few pictures.

Lisa gave us this lamp, she hand painted the Detroit Tigers "D" on to the lampshade. It looks great in the nursery already!!

My mother-in-law, handmade us this AWESOME blanket which has U of M on one side, and MSU on the other side. I personally love the blanket, Derek is not such a fan, he thinks it's going to confuse our poor child :)


This was the delicious cake!


There were lots more gifts and pictures, and we really had a great time seeing our family from out of town. There was even one aunt whom I had not yet met until this past Sunday. Each day we feel just a little bit more ready for the baby. Big milestones from this week are: The stroller and car seat were ordered and are schedule to arrive on Friday. We picked up 1 of 2 carseat bases and need to install it into one of the cars. What we both don't understand is why the bases cost almost as much as the entire stroller and carseat combined?! We also ordered the crib bedding set and that will probably arrive early next week. All of the baby's clothes that we have so far are washed, folded, or hanging up. I have picked out a coming home outfit, but need just a few more items to go along with it, but those should be inexpensive and easy to find. We still need to pick up more of the reusable diapers, more baby washcloths that can be used as wipes instead of paying for disposable ones, and we need to figure out the monitor situation. To buy or not to buy? Thank goodness we're at 36 weeks today and we still have some time to figure all of this out!!

Thankful

In light of my recent posts which have been full of complaints, frustrations, and me just being whiny, I was thinking today about things that I am thankful for. Here are the main ones:

My husband, Derek. He is racking up MAJOR brownie points these days for dealing with me while pregnant! Derek is my best friend, my rock, my consoler, my everything. If I didn't have him supporting me through all of this right now I don't think I could make it. He always makes me laugh when I'm sad, and when he knows I just need to cry he willing sacrafices his white undershirts to my mascara while holding me. It's crazy to think of how much more I love him today than yesterday.

My Family! This one doesn't include Kelsey and Caleb because they couldn't make it to our wedding, but this group of people means the world to me. We were constantly moving as little kids, and we had to depend on each other for support. It's taken us several years to get to the closeness we're at right now, and it's been amazing to develop better relationships with my siblings. My parents went through a lot of tears, stress, anxiety, etc to get all us of to the point where we're at today. My parents are amazing, and I wish I had been willing to see that in high school. I cannot wait for them to get to know their grandson, he is going to have wonderful grandparents not only from my side, but from Derek's side as well!

Yesterday, at my doctor's appointment, I only gained 1.5 lbs!!! She weighed me before they made me pee in a cup so I probably didn't gain 1.5lbs in 2 weeks, it was probably closer to 1 lb. I am still under the number on the scale that would send me into an emotional breakdown. 9 weeks to go, hopefully I will only gain 3 more pounds in the upcoming 9 weeks to stay under those dreaded 3 numbers that would make me lose it. But enough on that, I'm just happy that my weight hasn't continued to sky rocket and seems to have slown down quite a bit.

Weddings and Showers

This past Friday, my oldest sister, Jessie, was married! Don't worry, pictures will come soon, I just don't have any that I can put up yet. All of my siblings and their spouses were in town for the event and it was probably the best time that the 9 of us plus mom and dad have spent together in a long time. I had a minor breakdown the other night once everyone was gone, it's so hard being so far apart from everyone.

Wednesday night Derek and I drove to DTW to pick up the Colorado crew. Derek got to test out what being a soccer dad would be like because we borrowed Jessie's husband's sister's minivan. Needless to say we're both scarred for life and have sworn to NEVER go down that path! Once everyone was in the car, we made a much needed taco bell stop, which ended up being the best taco bell stop of our lives (or atleast the most memorable for us!). As soon as Derek started order, the woman yells to someone else there "They want steak! I need HAAAALP", after that we couldn't hold it together. That line became one of the many running jokes over the next few days.

Thursday morning the ladies woke up bright and early to go get pampered before the wedding with manicures and pedicures. After several hours of that, we went to lunch at Daryl's Downtown . The whole family met up for this, including Dustin's parents. Now, Derek and I aren't the biggest fans of Jackson, MI, however we both really enjoyed the food there in spite of the weirdo waitress. It's a place we would go back to if given the chance. Once lunch was over all of the Winters' headed back to mom and dads to hang out. I went straight to my bed and passed out. Meanwhile Derek and Kyle spent several hours playing this racing game... Later that night we headed to Knight's Steakhouse and Grille for the rehearsal dinner. We pigged out and I had the best steak I've had in a looong time, it was like butter in your mouth. Derek had what looked like a really good pulled pork something or other!

Friday was the wedding day! Jessie, Kelsey, and I headed into town to go get our hair done while all of the boys went golfing. Derek hasn't been out many times this year so he enjoyed playing and spending time with the other guys. From there we all went our separate ways to get ready and headed to the country club/golf course to start preparing. The dressing room was about a bajillion degrees, I'm not joking when I say that we had sweat dripping in every crack possible. I served as a buffer for Jessie, kicking random golfers out of the bathroom we were using to get ready, yeilding off family members, and tackling any last minute issues she thought of. From there it was time for her to get married! The wedding was beautiful, and much to my surprise I didn't shed a single tear. Then the reception started, and boy were we exhausted! It was a lot of fun and everyone had a great time, but I think both Derek and I were glad to get home once it was over.

Saturday morning my sister-in-law, Vas, and my other sister, Kelsey co-hosted a baby shower for me! I will put up pictures once I have them. It was great to see all of the people that came and we played some great games. My brothers and Derek even helped custom make some onesies for pee-wee. I was able to see some ladies that have been super helpful to me during the pregnancy (Lindsey and Beth) and lots of our extended family which is always great!

I'll put up pictures when I get the chance!

Wedding Shower

My oldest sister, Jessie, is getting married this upcoming Friday! Today is not only her wedding shower, but the start of the countdown to when all of my family arrives. When I say all, I mean ALL...Benj and Anna, Kelsey, Kyle and Vas, not to mention the out-of-town family coming in, as well as good friends from when we lived in Pennsylvania who are flying in just for the wedding!!

My family is probably one of the most important things to me, and it means a lot to me to be able to spend time with all of my siblings and their significant other if they have one. I know sometimes it drives Derek nuts, because there is mass chaos, lots of shouting, and of course the inevitable butt tacos (maybe I'll elaborate one day), but to me I wouldn't trade that time for the world. I think it can be a difficult adjustment for our spouses (those of us that are married in the Winters' family) to go from a 2-3 kid family to a 5 kid + significant others overnight! In addition there are always family stories, inside jokes, and lots of hugs that go on. I would never classify my family as a "touchy-feely" family, and we're not the ones that kiss our parents on the lips (sorry if you do, but I just can't handle that personally), but we do enjoy our hugs and "tacos" a lot. Everyone is coming in on Wednesday night and we're ALL staying at mom and dad's house (with the exception of Jessie), and I cannot wait. Having 3 days with all of my brothers and sisters is going to be great and I am looking forward to driving to the airport to go pick up some of them!