Paranoia!

So the Today show had two interesting subjects on today...cord blood and vaccines. Two things I am totally up in the air on. The first segment was about a family who's little boy was diagnosed with cerebral palsy around 2 years of ages and his parents happened to have banked his cord blood. After his diagnosis, they entered in a experimental study at Duke and he received a transfusion of his own stem cells. His progress was almost immediate. He had not spoken hardly ever and within days was vocal. All kinds of changes for the good. Enough that the doctors said the disease could practically go away. Very interesting and I hope they continue to do more research on it. We had decided not to bank Zach's cord blood. Its a fairly new process and fairly expensive upfront. About $2000 for the collection and storage for the first year and then about $125 every year thereafter. Kinda like an insurance policy since you never know if you would use it or not, but maybe for the next baby I will think more about it now....

And the next is the highly controversial segment on vaccines. Some people are now saying that vaccines are linked to autism as I'm sure you have heard. Well this segment showed both extremes. One mother gave her twin boys the standard vaccines and after the 15 month shots saw a total regression. They went back to like a 9 month milestones and worse. Another mom chose not to get the shots and her little girl got spinal meningitis. So the extremes of both. Some friends recommended reading The Vaccine Book by Dr Sears I think it was? Its a really tough decision. Obviously I would never want my child to get sick and or potentially die due to not getting vaccines, but at the same time, it would be horrible to go through the experience of vaccinating him and then see him totally regress too. Apparently a family won some lawsuit this week due to their child being diagnosed with autism related to the shots. It appears that the MMR shot at 15 months that seems to be in question the most, as well as the mercury in the DPT shots. So what do you do? The risk of infectious disease would seem to outweigh the chances of negative effects of the vaccines, especially since the CDC says there is no correlation. Then how do you explain how seemingly "normal" children go from happy kiddos to non-vocal and hardly recognizing their parents??? I don't know? Is it coincidence due to the timing of the shots and the developmental stages of kids? Who knows, but its just another thing to think about...

Then all of this gets me thinking, what should Zach be doing at this point? Anything yet? He is 1 month old today! Most milestones I see are at the 2-3 month stage so not a lot to judge yet.

Anyway, just more things to add to the list of worries and decisions but I guess that is just part of being a parent...

Daylight Savings and Babies Don't Mix!

I am pooped today. This whole time change thing was not fun last night. Z Man has moved from being fussy around dinner time to bedtime! We feed around 10pm and then usually get fussy from 11-midnight. Well since infants don't get the whole daylight savings thing...that became fussy from 11 to 1am! Like I said, I am tired. I would get him calm, get up to move to bed, and screams began again. We also have noticed little guy is more hungry and ready to move up on his bottle amounts too. The good thing is, he will sleep for about 4 to 5 hours at night which I am quite impressed by. I think he went down finally around 1am and was up around 6am or a little before. Not too shabby!

Today Zach is also FOUR WEEKS OLD! Oh my goodness, where is the time going?? It still seems like just yesterday he was in my belly! He is a good baby so far still. The normal cries and fussy times but usually fairly consolable. We enjoy our morning cuddle times a lot. Zach eats around 6-7am and then he comes in bed to cuddle with me until the next feeding. We chat, cuddle, snooze, etc. Its during this time where I think I have started to see a little smile coming out while we are having our face to face time! I cannot wait to see a full fledged one!

Anyway, its a rainy dreary day today so we are just cuddling up on the couch today watching Birth Day on Discovery Health. Makes me cry every time when those little ones pop out!! This lady just had her baby without any medication. Ouchie. Good for her, but man was I happy to have that epi! I could feel PLENTY at the end so I cannot imagine how it would have been without the epidural. The next lady chose the epi, my kinda girl. Her anesthesiologist is blabbering to the TV crew all about the epi and its effects...poor lady has a look on her face like "shut up doc and just give me the darn drugs!!" I think she is even laughing some about this babbling doc!

Well I had planned to maybe go out today to BRU for some supplies but this weather isn't baby conducive so we will probably just stay in. It can wait till tomorrow. Hope everyone has a good Monday!!

Visitors!

Zach had a busy week of seeing some familiar faces and also meeting some new ones!! Friends have been great and really helping us out with meals and we are SO GRATEFUL as mommy hasn't QUITE yet gotten back into the cooking mode. I made one meal last night and that was an accomplishment! So thank you to all of you for the grub, it was/is delightful!

Z Man also made his FIRST trip to Grandma and Granpa's on Saturday. We opened the door to flashbulbs...grandma had to capture the first time he came for a visit. Z had some very special visitors waiting for us at the house too...Aunt Jan and Uncle Jeff and Grammy! The first of the three great grandmas to meet him. He is pretty lucky to even have 3 great grandmas! So we got a nice 4 generation picture, love it! All in all, it was a good weekend with friends and family. We did have to miss Zach's first invite to a birthday party since the fam was in town...so a special birthday shout out to Alex...Happy 2 years tomorrow, buddy!!! :)

Karaoke on Demand and Z's too sexy for his shirt!

So Thursday night Matt and I discovered a new entertainment while chillin on the couch. Yes, this is the life of new parents ;-) While perusing the new Comcast On Demand set up...we see a channel called "Karaoke on Demand" and were intrigued and decided to check it out. It is exactly what it sounds like, a karaoke channel! You scroll through different groups of songs like 70s, 80s, 90s, etc and then select your song and then its just like the karaoke at the bars! We tried out "Every Rose has its Thorns" in honor of brett and Rock of Love. We were laughing for sure. Next I did some Brit "Lucky" in honor of sue...I remember she always liked that song. And Matt and I even did a duo of BNL "Million Dollars". Good times were had by all! Definitely need to take use of this new toy the next time the crew is together!! Matt and I decided we could pre-party for Allison's birthday with it! :) You must check it out if you are a Comcast user. They also have Scene It- on demand like the game...you get like 15 minutes of fun!

Today we took Z for his first portraits and got some good ones I think! Especially cause he was kinda fussy so I had no clue how they would turn out. We did a lot of Mommy & Me and Daddy & Me and family shots which I totally love. And of course, the Z man in the diaper on the black background are my favs for sure. I almost wish we had more of those! So here are a few of my fav images. All the pics taken are on our smugmug site which you can get to from my link list. Enjoy!!

A lesson in democracy

So our big outing for today was a trip to the polls! We went late in the day so I had my bag all loaded up in preparation for a loooong wait. As it turns out, I somehow JUST beat the late working crowd. And it was my lucky day to be a Wittliff too as the L to Z line was totally empty so we ZOOMED up to the front! WOOHOO! I think it took me longer to park, get into the stroller and into the school than it took me to stand in line and vote! Z had lots of smiles and grins in an otherwise kinda overcharged atmosphere! It was an important day at the polls and my son learned a valuable lesson in the importance of voting, even if he never remembers it! :)

We also had lunch with Auntie Becky! She came over to visit and brought me some grub which was much appreciated. I enjoyed the time to chat and catch up and of course hear how the Tim McGraw concert was. Sounded like the ladies had a FABULOUS time!

And as promised, here are Zach's 3 week hippo pics plus a smile preview pic from his bath today...I think it may be coming soon (or else he just had some gas!) ;-)

What a big boy I am getting to be! I am filling up the chair!


Is that a smile coming out???
A pic of the 2007 and 2008 babies! Cant wait to meet the next two! Yes, that's Zach with his head to the side not looking at the camera! He was snoozin!


And just a cute pic of the Z MAN!

Happy 3 weeks, Z Man!

Well, we have survived 3 weeks!! Gave my little man some extra hugs and kisses (if that is possible) at 4:14pm today. Unbelievable that he is almost a month old?!?! We had a good but very busy weekend.

Friday we ran errands and Auntie Al was over to help me with shower food and well and Gin and Jeff for a short visit. Saturday was the baby shower for MG and a big success. And Sunday was Sweet Caroline's baptism. She looked beautiful and it was very neat to be a part of welcoming into her Christian life. We did have to laugh though that Zach's first trip to church was to a Catholic church! ;-) Amy and Thomas had a lovely reception to follow at their house. All in all, a great weekend!

However, Z was a little fussy today. I think our schedule was all off. My mom called while he was being "fussy" and laughed as she basically told me, "You haven't seen fussy!" Apparently, I was VERY fussy as a baby. Imagine that! ;-)

So tonight I am missing out on the ladies' trip to see Tim McGraw at the Rodeo. We bought our tickets in Jan before Zachary was here and I thought I would be up for it. He may have been okay with Dad, but after our busy weekend and him still being little, I opted in better interest of staying home. I know the lovely ladies are having a good time though but there will be other times ahead!

Friday we are going to go take some family pics. Probably just portrait innovations since they seem to do well with the friends without spending several hundred dollars. I am so excited to have a family portrait and of course get Zach's announcements out. I cant wait!

And finally........after the many responses of "he is SO Matt", Grammy-Gram, aka Donna or Matt's mom sent me some pics of Matthew as a baby. My folks are still in FL for Astros Spring Training so I will post those when she gets back...but for now, I will leave you with Matt's baby pics. So, what do you think????

*3week hippo pic coming tonight after bath!

The Ginster's Shower

So today was the shower for Ginny and MG. Gin almost slipped and spilled the beans on MinGin's name but she caught herself before we even noticed. Ginny says the name IS in the Top 100 Names and is one she had never said aloud before....Hmmmmm......Wonder what it will be? I can wait though cause I know it will be just prefect whatever it is and its how momma and dad want to do it!!

Anyway, we had a great little shower today and Ginster got some good loot! I cannot believe she and Rox will be due in +/- 6 weeks!! I am so excited to meet the girls. They are going to be just presh! Tomorrow will be Caroline's baptism. We are going to do our best to be there the whole time and I think we will do great. I am hoping to get a pic of all the babies together too!

Here are a couple of pics from the weekend so far. Enjoy!

What to wear....

Hmmm, I have 2 functions this weekend and no clue what is or is not going to fit! I got my jeans on last weekend actually and zipped and buttoned them up, but then opted to go unbuttoned with the bella band! much more comfortable! But now...I have to wear something besides jeans or stretch pants Saturday and Sunday!!! ACK! Hope everyone understands if I look slightly off and pray that no one asks me when I am due! ;-)

So for you mommas out there..when did you start to get back to your normal clothes and what do you wear in the meantime to avoid looking preg??

I have some errands to run today...and its 12:30 and I am still in my jammies. Usually I am better and have at least showered by now. But Z Man and I decided to be lazy today. We woke up for our 630 feeding and then decided to cuddle and snooze through the Today show and get up again at 10am. And then Popsie called and was in the neighborhood and stopped by with Whataburger (perfect for getting back into those pre-preg clothes, HA!). Zach was awake from like 10 til almost 12! He is stretched out sleeping on my lap now....I guess Ill get in the shower after Ellen and then go on those errands!

I made a photo book for the grandparents too recently..you can check it out here!
http://www.mypublisher.com/bookstore/book_viewer.py?book_id=2144064&sp=x

Doctor Update!

Z Man had his 2 week doctor appointment today and all is well! Zach was a great little boy (not that I am surprised!) and hardly fussed at all while we were there except for a quick squeal during the heel prick. He was far more behaved than the baby down the hall who was screaming like a banchee!! He is weighing in at 8lbs and measuring 21 inches long....50% weight, 35% height, and head is 60% percentile! So, he is pretty "average" at this point! I was a little surprised he wasn't longer but he always has his legs all scrunched and the height measurement isn't very scientific.
1) lay baby on table with paper,
2) stretch baby's legs as you can,
3) mark a line with pen at head and feet and
4) measure.
You can see how there could be some room for error in there! ;-) But I digress, the kid has huge hands and feet, he will grow into them. Even the lady sitting next to us in the waiting room commented on his hands! She said he could be a piano player...I said, how about a basketball player?! :) The pics don't even do him justice!

Doc felt good about his weight gain too and I'm a little more relaxed about what he is intaking from me. maybe he is getting more than I thought since he only gets about 2-3 formula bottles a day. So, we shall continue on and see how he does and keep weighing him along the way. His next appointment is April 15 for 2 months, Tax Day! (which we need to do!) Oh, and Z's cord stump fell off yesterday too. Woohoo!

Last note, I am finally an iPod owner. Mom won one and gave it to me so I am going to be hip and use it. I need help starting my playlists! I want 2 specific lists right now...a) songs about babies and/or being a parent (got a good start on this one, we have a list on Matt's) and b) songs that remind me of things/people! Feel free to chime in!

Ok, I think that's it for now. Hope all is well in your world. Tomorrow is Friday. I need to head to the grocery store to get my food for the MinGin's shower! This will be a big outing. Wish us luck! We have a busy weekend...grocery shopping, Mini Ginny's shower, and Caroline's baptism. I hope we survive!!

So somehow today Kerri and I started talking about songs (I think it started with my rodeo dilemma) and she told me about these 2 great songs about being a parent that I had to hear. The first is George Strait's new song...I love it. And the other one is Mark Wills from some years back. Anyway, I got those hormones a goin so I picked up my son and held him tight as I listened to these 2 great songs! Check em out, you will want to hug your child or pat your belly if he/she isn't here just quite yet!
http://countrymusic.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=countrymusic&cdn=entertainment&tm=3&gps=64_62_1020_543&f=10&su=p504.1.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.umgnashville.com/artist/releases/release.aspx%3Fpid%3D1552%26aid%3D8
I Saw God Today- George Strait
Just walked down the street to the coffee shop, Had to take a break
I've been by her side for 18 hours straight
Saw a flower growing in the middle of a sidewalk Pushing up through the concrete
Like it was planted right there for me to see
The flashing lights, the honking horns, All seemed to fade away
In the shadow of that hospital at 5:08, I saw God today.

Chorus:I've been to church, I've read the book
I know he's here but I don't look
Near as often as I should (Yeah I know I should)
His fingerprints are everywhere
I just slowed down to stop and stare
Opened my eyes and man I swear, I saw God today.

Saw a couple walking by,
They were holding hands, Man she had that glow
Yeah I couldn't help but notice she was starting to show
Stood there for a minute taking in the sky
Lost in that sunset, A splash of amber melted into shades of red.

Chorus

Got my face pressed up against the nursery glass
She's sleeping like a rock , My name on her wrist wearing tiny pink socks
She's got my nose, she's got her mamas eyes
My brand new baby girl , She's a miracle
I saw God today...


In My Arms
Written By: Mark Wills, Monty Criswell & Michael White
Three a.m. on the clock, Lullaby, music box
Oh, baby please don't cry, Let's let mama sleep tonight
You've only been home one day, You don't even know your name
Tiny hand on my cheek, You're a miracle to me
In the stillness of the night, Cradled in this rocking chair
I hold all my hopes and dreams, Every single answered prayer

Chorus:In my arms
Wish I could hold you forever
In my arms, I will give you shelter
Still I know I can't always be there
To protect you from this great big old world
But I swear this much is true
There'll always be a place for you...in my arms

As I watch you take each breathe , Oh, it scares me to death
To know you're counting on me To be the daddy that you need
Wounded knees, broken hearts, Learning how to drive a car
When it's time for you first date Will I know just what to say
And when you find that one true love, I'll put on my best smile
And I'll try to hide my tears As I walk you down the aisle

Repeat Chorus (Twice)

Oh, this promise I will keep, As you finally fall asleep....in my arms ...

So...are you crying yet????? ;-)