One month old today!

Our little Reed is one month old today! We can't believe it! It is so very exciting to see him grow and change, but it is a little sad to think how fast this first month has gone by and how fast he will grow up. He continues to make us smile often every day with the little things that he does and he also continues to keep us on our toes. At an appointment today, Reed weighed in at 10 pounds 4 ounces. He has gained 2 pounds 7 ounces since he was born. He's a growing boy!

Check out the pics below that I took today. We will be taking Reed's picture in the rocking chair every month to see how much he changes within the first year. I stole this idea from another girl's blog that I read!

Reed and Tadbit

The light from the window caught his eye.

Handsome Reed

Growing like a weed....and so very alert!

At one month:

• He is really great at holding his head up during tummy time. Our little guy will be sitting up and crawling before we know it.


• He steals our heart with his smiles. So adorable!


• He chuckles during his sleep. It is the cutest thing ever.


• He also makes some of the saddest faces during his sleep. He looks so pitiful. Chris says that babies dream colors and lights, so I of course tell Reed when he makes those faces that "mommy won't let those colors get you". My Dad thinks it is probably purple that is making him so sad, lol!


• He likes to poop in clean diapers. Literally, we will change him and then two seconds later he will be grunting and giving us a prize in his diaper. I bet if he could laugh while awake, he would.


• He is a great eater and has yet to really spit-up. There have been a few times where he has spit-up just a tiny bit, but it is very rare.


• He loves his playtime mat but only for a very short period of time.


• He likes the toys that make the crinkling sound. Chris discovered that he will follow a little baseball that makes that sound with his eyes. We can't wait until he is reaching for it and laughing at it.


• He loves his carseat but only if he is sleepy. If he is awake, he wants no part of it. This makes for interesting car rides when Chris is not with us.


• He makes a very strange face that I have deemed the "dad face". He probably doesn't really look like Chris when he does it, but that's the best I could come up with for the expression that he makes.
  
  
• He seems to like his blankie Emmitt the duckie that we have nicknamed T. Emmitt. Here he is snuggling with T. Emmitt while sleeping.

I forgot to mention in the third week recap blog that we took Reed out to dinner with us for the first time during his third week. We went to his Daddy's favorite restaurant, Buffalo's. Reed did so well while we ate. He got a little fussy toward the end but thankfully we had a bottle on hand to give him once we got to the car.

The weekend continued to be a busy one of firsts for Reed. On Saturday, he attended his first birthday party for his future girlfriend Natalie who turned 1. He likes the older ladies already, lol! Reed, of course, slept through most of the party, but he did open his eyes a few times to check things out. I am sure he will be much more active at Natalie's 2nd birthday party. On Sunday, Reed attended church for the first time for Natalie's baptism. He was the perfect little angel and slept through the entire thing.

Reed in his Polo outfit ready for church!

A not so fun part of Reed's fourth week came with a trip to the doctor's office due to an infected thumb from an ingrown fingernail or a nail that broke off in the quick, we aren't sure what caused it. This led to him being put on antibiotics for the first time. We weren't too crazy about having him on medicine at such a young age, but we certainly didn't want the infection to get worse. He took his last dose of the antibiotic today and the infection is completely gone from his thumb. Woohoo!

To round out his fourth week, Nana came and stayed the night with us. She hung out with Reed on Friday night while Chris and I got out of the house. We know that Reed loves seeing his Nana, but Chris and I love seeing her as well. She is such a huge help and gives us a chance to take a break when she comes to visit. What would we do without Nana!!!!

Again, we can't believe that our baby boy is one month old already! Craziness! This first month has definitely been a learning experience, but it's been a fun one! We really couldn't ask for a better baby! He is just so darn cute that even when he is fussy we can't help but want to stare at him and hold him nonstop. Happy 1 month birthday Reed! We love you very much!

Reed's Third Week Recap

I can't say that anything too exciting happened during Reed's third week, except for the fact that he continued to get cuter and cuter each day!

We spent the weekend with my parents while Chris was out of town at a wedding. Reed discovered his love for the outdoors. We think that it was probably the bright sky that caught his attention because his eyes continue to be drawn to bright lights as well as the light streaming in the windows. He doesn't, however, enjoy the sun beaming in through the car window! Note to self, buy one of those baby shades.

Must look at the light!

Chris and I were also lucky enough to have our first date night since Reed's arrival this week. My Mom missed Reed so much that she had to come to our house after work on a Wednesday night to see him. We were happy to have her come and hang out with him so that we could spend a little bit of time together alone. We didn't do anything extravagant.....I mean, Chris doesn't start his "real" job until January. Instead, we opted to do some things we hadn't done since college. We went to La Madeline and had tomato basil soup. It was as yummy as I remembered it! We then headed over to Cafe Intermezzo and had some yummy coffee! It was a fun and casual night together! Thanks Mom!

We have discovered that Reed loves to lay up against our legs. If he is a little bit fussy, we can lay him really close to our leg and he immediately calms down. It is the sweetest thing. We do have to keep a close eye on him though, because he likes to press his face into our leg.

So adorable!

Reed's Second Week Recap

One of the main things that happened during Reed's second week was the fact that Chris returned to work, eek! Chris had literally been doing half (or maybe more) of things that needed to be done for Reed, so it was extremely hard to see him go back to work. He didn't return for a full day until that Wednesday so Reed and I had some time to adjust with a few half days. Regardless, it was still so hard to see him go. Reed and I miss Daddy lots when he is at work, but he and I are slowly but surely learning how to do this on our own during the day.

Reed loves his Daddy! He misses him oh so much during the day....and so do I!

We decided that we would no longer swaddle Reed at bedtime during week 2. It became quite cumbersome to swaddle him at bedtime, unswaddle him to change him in the middle of the night and then fight to re-swaddle him after changing him. He really loves him arms and hands, so he hated for us to hold them down and wrap them up in the blanket. Honestly, he slept perfectly fine without being swaddled during the day, so we thought it probably wouldn't hurt to try not swaddling him at night. He has slept pretty much the same being unswaddled as he did being swaddled.

The Miracle Blanket

Unswaddled and on his way to dreamland.

When Reed was 12 days old, Karen Baker came to our house to take Reed's newborn photos which you may have already seen. He did such a great job! He was the perfect little model. He stayed awake for longer than we would've liked, but even when he was awake, he was quite content. He was such a sweetheart. We can't wait to hang the photos up in our place.

A funny story from the photo session.....Karen took some of Reed without his diaper while he was wrapped up in one of his very nice and cozy blankets. He was such a good boy to keep his bladder under control. As soon as I picked him up and unwrapped him from the blanket, he began to pee. There was nothing I could do, so I just held him away from my body a little and let him pee all over our floor. Too funny!


The same day of the newborn photo session, Reed decided to reach down and nearly pull his umbilical cord stump off. It was gross and of course I shrieked "ewwww". Thankfully it didn't hurt him nearly as much as it hurt me, lol! We managed to get it to stay on for the photo shoot, but it fell off on its own later that evening. Chris and I were both thankful that it could finally start healing and stop ruining all his cute onesies. While there have been benefits to it falling off, such as being able to give him a real bath, he has definitely woken up since that day. Now, the pediatrician said that it shouldn't have anything to do with it, but our little guy who hardly ever cried has started having crying fits a few times a day ever since that day. It is probably just coincidence, but I think maybe he just misses the stump, haha!

Reed's Complete Newborn Photo Session

If you would like to check out Reed's Newborn Photo Session with Karen Baker Photography, they are located at http://www.karenbakerphotography.com/photocart/.

When you go to the website, click the Access Gallery link and enter in the access code below:

Access code: Jarrett

After you do that, you will be able to view these pictures.

Reed's First Week Recap

Okay, it's time to get back on the blogging train. I have started writing a recap blog multiple times, but it is so extremely hard to put everything down that has happened in the last three weeks. So, I am thinking that I will start by breaking down Reed's first three weeks into separate blogs....maybe that will help me to get it all down! Here goes.....

After the fun labor and delivery and short stay at the hospital, Reed, Chris and I all headed home to embark on our new life as a family of three. My mom graciously offered to stay with us the first few nights that we were home and we were so grateful to her. Reed's first few nights at home we tried to manage multiple feedings in the middle of the night, which left Chris and I extremely exhausted. We knew that couldn't last for long. We managed to shift his feedings after the first two nights, and while still exhausted, we managed it much better. My mom helped out a lot too, because she got up with Reed in the morning and let Chris and I get some much needed sleep.

All comfy and swaddled in his bed on his first night at home!

Our little dreamboat sleeping sounding in his crib!

The first week of Reed's life also included a first for Chris...his first time changing a diaper. Ah! I know that he was so extremely nervous to change his first diaper, but honestly, he is a pro! He took to changing diapers like he had been doing it all his life. I never doubted that he would be a pro, but it has been awesome to see him in action!

Speaking of diaper changes, we also got our first taste of how much fun diaper changing can be with little boys. For those who may be wondering, yes, little boys do tend to pee on you when changing their diaper, which makes the pee pee teepee a much needed accessory for a changing table. Our first incident with Reed actually happened when my Mom was changing him. She was changing his diaper on the couch while I sat in the floor. He began peeing just as she got his diaper off and it went directly into her eye, lol! Her first instinct was to rotate him to get the pee away from her and she happened to turn him towards me in the floor, so I got wet as well. It was too funny! Chris and I also had an experience where we were changing him on the changing table and he started to pee and we turned him and he peed all over the wall, haha!

When Reed was 5 days old, we made our first trip to the pediatrician. Reed weighed in at 7 pounds 15 ounces, 2 ounces heavier than his birth weight. Our pediatrician was shocked that he had gained weight. We were so proud of our little boy and his growth. We can't wait to see how much he has gained at his 1 month appointment in two weeks!

Waiting patiently on the doctor...such a good little boy!

Reed's Newborn Photo Session

Check out the sneak peeks from Reed's newborn photo session with Karen Baker by clicking on Karen Baker Photography below. She did such a great job! We can't wait to see the rest of the pics!

Karen Baker Photography

Welcome baby Dawson!!!!

Our friends Matt and Allison welcomed a beautiful baby boy yesterday afternoon! Dawson Matthew weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Reed can't wait for his first playdate with him. Congrats to the new Mom and Dad and all of the Eubanks family!!!! We know you all are so very excited! Can't wait to meet him!

So adorable! (Picture stolen from Rozellyn, Dawson's Aunt, on Facebook!)

"It's all about me"

Thanks to Nana for the super cute onesie for Reed! It really is all about him!

He obviously wasn't enjoying the photo shoot as much as I was, lol!

This was the best I could do while home alone. He's so sweet!

Ah.....

Choo!

Such a big boy!

The Summerville News featured on Jay Leno

Last night Jay Leno featured a story from my hometown's newspaper in his headlines bit. Too funny! The headline is at 42:20.

Reed's Hospital Pics

These aren't your typical hospital pics. Chris and I probably paid too much for them, but we just couldn't pass them up because Reed looked so adorable!

Does this baby look two days old to you? LOL!

So incredibly adorable!

Reed and his Daddy

Reed and Mommy

Reed goes to Summerville!

After spending the majority of Labor Day weekend hold up in our house with Reed, we decided that it would be nice to spend Labor Day in Summerville with our families. Two of our nephews and one of Chris's brothers had yet to meet Reed, so that was another good reason for us to head north for the day. Reed did so good on his first semi-long car ride. He slept the entire way, thank goodness!

We spent the first half of the day with Chris's family. Everyone came to his parents' house to meet and hangout with Reed and we ate some yummy barbecue that Chris' mom made. It was great time just being out of the house!!!

Gavin meeting Reed for the first time. He would come back every 20 minutes or so and request to hold him again! So sweet!

Griffin meeting Reed for the first time!

Karlie and Reed

Sandi and Reed

We spent the second half of the day at my parents' house hanging out with my parents, both sets of my grandparents and my brother. It was a long day, but it was so extremely nice for everyone to have the chance to hangout with Reed!

Jo and Reed

PawPaw and Reed

Granddaddy and Reed

Grandmother, Reed and Me

Uncle Marc feeding Reed....we have yet to get him to change a diaper, lol!

Reed and I also made a much longer trip to Summerville this past weekend. Chris went out of town to attend the wedding of our good friends Erin Jakubek and Michael Hales in Chicago. We thought it might be a little too soon to leave Reed, so I decided to stay home with him while Chris went to the wedding. I was sad that I was not able to attend the wedding because it sounded like a blast, but Reed and I had a great time spending time in Summerville with my family and Chris' family. Congratulations are in order for the new Mr. and Mrs. Michael Hales! Chris, Reed and I are so incredibly excited for those two!

Reed and Granddaddy hanging out on the couch.

Sweet Baby Reed!

He's so alert!

Reed and Nana hanging out on the porch. He loved staring outside.

So much so that he would turn his head and eyes so that he could see outside!

Tummy Time!!!

It is recommended that babies spend some time everydayon their stomach to help strengthen their neck, back and chest muscles. Strengthening these muscles will help Reed to rollover and eventually crawl. When Chris and I were babies this wasn't necessary because our parents were told to put us to sleep on our stomachs, but that is no longer allowed so tummy time is a must. Reed actually seems to like tummy time and he is SO strong. I swear, he thinks he's older than two weeks old, lol!

Reed's first attempt at tummy time at three days old!

All tuckered out from tummy time!

Reed's 2nd attempt at tummy time with a different pillow. He is getting so good! Look at those hands!

Reed's 1st Bath

When Reed was three days old, we gave him his first sponge bath. We tried our best to bathe him in his tub but the water kept running down towards his umbilical cord so we resorted to bathing him on towels like they did in the hospital. He honestly didn't cry very much during the bath, which was a relief. He absolutely loved having his hair washed! He continues to be very good during bath time. His umbilical cord fell off when he was 12 days old this past Thursday, so we are really looking forward to giving him his first bath in his tub (yes, I have bathed him since then but we were at my parents house without the tub). It should be a lot more fun than the sponge bath he has been receiving.

Chris doing his best to keep Reed calm while I bathed him.

He loved us washing his hair. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was warm in his towel instead of being exposed and cold.

That look seems to say "thanks mom and dad for getting me so clean", lol!