Brooks is 1 Month Old!

Brooks is 1 month!

WOW! Where did that month go?!? I can't believe I'm saying that because some days felt like they lasted forever, especially that first week when Brooks was eating around the clock with no regard for his mother's need for sleep! :) But really, the month has flown by...and we are falling more and more in love with our little man every day.

Brooks is a very sweet baby who LOVES to cuddle. When he is in a mad or feisty mood, he can easily be lulled into sleep by lounging in a loving adult's arms. We love that about him, though we hope we are not establishing bad habits! He, like his sister, has decided not to nurse. He was terrible at sucking, which we didn't realize until he had lost quite a bit of weight. So we quickly switched to bottles to ensure that he would be getting enough milk. Now he is eating like a champ, growing like a weed, and I'm pumping like a cow...AGAIN! But I'm happy to do whatever it takes to get lots of good breast milk into him! My supply isn't quite what it was with Kylie, so he is also getting about 5 ounces of formula each day. I'm hoping that he can soon be exclusively on breast milk, but if that doesn't happen, I'm okay with that. As long as he is healthy and growing! He is a mostly happy baby, but will definitely let us know when he isn't completely comfortable or happy...Usually when he cries, he is saying, "Feed me, NOW!" After he is full, he is happy again for an hour or two! We are attempting to get him on a schedule, but it is clear that his need to eat overrides all other needs including sleep! :) He is eating every 2.5-3 hours during the day, and every 2.5-4 hours during the night. The biggest problem during the night, is that he sometimes wants to stay up after he has eaten, which means I'm up for an hour or more in the middle of the night. I'm trying to teach him that night time is for sleeping...He gets it sometimes...But it's a slow process. He is still sleeping in our room, but we are hoping to move him into his room within the next few days. He's a SUPER loud sleeper, with lots of grunts, squeals and squeaks! It's cute until 4:00am! :) Ok, obviously, sleep is on my sleep-deprived mind! Don't worry...I know it's just a phase!

Brooks and I hanging out in the middle of the night.

As far as Brooks' milestones this month...He is wearing newborn clothes and diapers, though I think he will move up within the next week or two. I have no idea what he weighs, but I think he is in the 8 pound range. He eats about 20-24 ounces of milk/formula eat day. He's really good at the pacifier. He clearly likes to suck, but I wonder if he will stick to the pacifier or graduate to his thumb? We shall see! He is learning to lift his head by doing tummy time on a daily basis. Right now he can lift it for short periods of time, and turn it side to side. Lastly, I think he is starting to be able to really see things. It seems like he is trying to focus on faces and movement when we are holding him.

We love our little guy so much, and we are looking forward to watching him continue to grow and develop in the coming days, months, and years!

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas from our family of four!

Brooks is four weeks old today!

He enjoyed his first Christmas...

He spent most of the day snoozing in someone's arms! 

Getting into the Christmas Spirit!

This holiday season has been a little hectic with the addition of Brooks to our family. But we have been trying to get into the Christmas spirit as much as possible. On the day of the craft fair (back in mid-November), Jon and Kylie spent the whole day together. He met up with some of the other ortho dads and their daughters at the mall to visit Santa. Kylie did a great job, and continues to talk about Santa on a daily basis! We also stopped by the Festival of Trees on the day after Thanksgiving (a few days before Brooks was born) to admire the beautifully decorated Christmas trees. Our favorite was the Snowman (or "no-nan" in Kylie-speak) tree. Because of the chaos of our everyday lives right now, we did minimal decorating in our house. We did, however, set up our little artificial tree. Kylie loves to look at it and talk about the different ornaments that are on it. Lastly, we recently got together with some of our friends for a Christmas cookie exchange. The kids played and decorated cookies, while the mamas chatted. I think we left with about 60 cookies of 12 different varieties. It's been a wonderful season with A LOT to be thankful for!  

Kylie visiting Santa with her friend, Halle!

Jon and Kylie by the Snowman Tree at the Festival of Trees.

I belong to an organization called Mayo Families Connection.

This is the tree that MFC decorated, "A Cookie Christmas."

Kylie sitting in front of our little Christmas Tree.

She was wearing the Santa hat, but took it off as I took the picture.

Kylie decorated a snowman cookie at the cookie exchange.

Of course, she ate her cookie (and several more) immediately!

She loves her sweets! :)

12/12/12: Happy Due Date, Brooks!

Mr. Brooks was due yesterday, on 12/12/12. Though that would have been a really cool birthday, we're so glad he's been here for two weeks. He is a really sweet baby, and as you can see from the pictures, he sleeps quite a bit (although not enough at night, in my opinion!). He likes his bouncer, his car seat, and being held by mom and dad. He was weighed on Tuesday, and he was up to 6 pounds, 6 ounces. He's our little man! :) 

 All dressed up for his due date! 

He's finally putting a little chub on his cheeks! 

Snoozing in his bouncer!

Professional Pictures!

Kylie and Brooks had a photo shoot last week. One good thing about having their birthdays close together is that I will hopefully be able to combine their yearly photos into one session. I just love these photos. I can't believe my baby boy is here, and just how much my sweet girl loves him already! Take a peek!

 Brooks: 4 days old

 Kylie adores her baby brother!

How sweet is this?!?

My little ham!

Kylie: 2 years old

Brooks King Barlow

Brooks King Barlow arrived on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 1:51am. He weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 19.75 inches long.

Sleeping with mommy shortly after arrival!

The story: I went in for an OB appointment on Monday morning. Everything seemed normal until the mid wife checked my progress. When she was done checking, there was a little gush of fluid and she said, "Oops, I hope I didn't break your water." I was a little anxious throughout the day, as I would feel some little, random leaks. So I talked to some fellow mommy friends, called the OB nurse line, and talked to my mom about what I was experiencing. No one thought too much about it (including myself), except my mom who was pretty sure that my water had been broken. Since she is a mom AND a nurse, we felt we should trust her instincts and get checked out by OB triage. So we took our time, and eventually made our way to OB, not really thinking it was time. After the nurse and the resident checked me, however, it was clear that my water had broken, and that I would be having the baby then. We moved over to labor and delivery, got the epidural, watched football, and eventually got Pitocin to move things along. I guess when the water breaks, the risk of infection increases, so they want to get the baby out within 12-18 hours (or something like that). Since I had waited many hours to come in, they gave me Pitocin to speed up the labor process. At 1:51 am, our little man arrived, pink and crying! Just perfect! Everything went smoothly, until about 6:00am when we realized that I was hemorrhaging. I was feeling really dizzy, and almost passed out a few times. I will spare you the details, but the doctor removed some clots, and gave me some more Pitocin...I felt much better later that morning, with just a little weakness and fatigue from being anemic. Overall, we are feeling very happy, healthy, and blessed!

It was such a wonderful experience to be able to deliver in the delivery room (as opposed to the OR), and have Brooks with us for the hospital stay. He is nursing, and much more alert than his preemie sister was when she was a baby. We are so grateful for a full term pregnancy (38 weeks), and a healthy baby boy! Thank you for all of the visitors, thoughts, prayers, emails, phone calls, text messages, meals, gifts, and love! We love you all!

Leaving the hospital.

Brooks is not a huge fan of his car seat, as you can see!

This picture also helps you see what a little peanut he is!

Brooks had his newborn pictures taken yesterday.

This is the only one we have seen, but will post more as they arrive.

Kylie is loving being a big sister. She is doing amazingly well with Brooks. She loves to help by getting diapers, picking up his pacifier, and bringing me blankets. Sadly, she has had a little cold, so we have been trying to keep them apart as best we can. So we have not had the chance for pictures with all four of us. We will take some soon, and pass them along! Thanks again for the love and support!