First Moustache

Nathan has his first moustache last Saturday when Julie and Ross came to visit. 

Pretty funny...poor guy! 



First Photo Shoot

This post is very much delayed... 

We are so lucky to have Jeanne who graciously came to the hospital after Nathan was born for his first photo shoot!  I love, love, love these photos!

This is my absolute favorite!  Our precious boys!

Kisses!

Love his peaceful smile...and the multiple chins. :)

So sweet!

Kisses from Mommy.

The nursing staff was the best making Nathan a personalized name card for his crib! 

Then, of course, Tyler was performing during Nathan's photo shoot so Jeanne was able to snap some photos of my singing man.  I will have to post a video of one of his "performances."

He gets really into it!

He cracks us up! :)



Crib Comparison

Nathan in the crib.  Swaddled, sleeping...

Tyler in the crib - not swaddled, screaming...

Week One!

This is the best smile I have ever seen for a 1 week old!  (I may be a bit biased.)

Nathan gives these smiles to Daddy more than anyone. 

Week 1 photo

A not so happy 1 week old Nathan. 

Thanks to Erin and Jeff for outfit! 

•  Our first week has been pretty smooth other than Mommy being pretty sore from c-section #2.  (The pain is worse than I remember from the first, but I refuse to take serious pain meds - ibuprofen is it!  My body doesn't react well to pain meds.)
• Nathan has been a much better sleeper than Tyler.  Other than our first night home (waking every 2 hours to eat), he has been waking every 4 hours to eat.  That means I can get 8 hours of sleep with only getting up once!  I will take it. 
• Nathan loves to be swaddled (I attribute this to helping him sleep better).  Tyler hated to be swaddled. 
• Nathan, like all Francis boys, LOVES to eat!  He eats like it is a race though...I need to find a way to get him to slow down. 
• We have had the up the back blow-outs and pee on the walls - I had forgotten about the pee all over with little boys.  I am sure you all wanted to know this bullet point. :)
• Today is my first day at home with just Nathan.  We have cuddled all morning!  Tyler went to the sitter and Jeff is back at work.  We are pretty much stuck here since they advised me not to drive until the 2 week mark. Ugh! 
• A HUGE thanks to my parents, especially my mom!  She not only kept Tyler while we were in the hospital, but she is taking him and picking him up from this sitter this week too.  She has made us dinner multiple times, banana bread (Tyler and I loved!) and has given baths to Tyler.  Mom, you are the BEST! 

Tyler enjoying Grandma's banana bread.



Brotherly Love!

Tyler loves our his i-Pad.  Let's be honest - he has more apps on it than we do.  The other day, he quietly disappeared in the house so Jeff went to check in his room and this is what we found.

Tyler has a PBS app that plays several shows - his most recent favorite is Super Why.  It is a show that teaches spelling.  Tyler is getting pretty good at picking out the correct letter that makes the appropriate sound.  Super Why has been a great bribe lately too.  Don't judge. 

Tyler was so sweet to share his i-Pad with Nathan. 

Tyler was excited to show Nathan how cool Super Why is.

Brotherly love! 

Doesn't it look like Nathan is really paying attention?  We can only hope that both boys are better spellers than Mommy!



First Doctor Appointment

We took Nathan to the doctor on Thursday for his first checkup.  He is doing great!

When we left the hospital on Monday he weighed 9lbs even.  He lost 11oz. which is pretty normal.  From Monday to Thursday he was already back up to 9lbs. 7oz.  Needless to say, he is a good eater.  He is also growing length wise too.  He was born 21 inches and was 21 and 3/4 inches on Thursday (6 days old).  If we keep up this pace...we are going to have one BIG boy! :)

The doctor said there was no reason to do a test for jaundice (pretty standard at the first appointment) since he is so pink...and perfect (at least to us)!

6 days old.



Eyes Open Photo Shoot

After Nathan's bath on Wednesday, we had some fun capturing his many faces.  We were just excited he was awake so we could see his eyes. 

Love those eyes!

First smile captured on camera!

Mom, you are still taking pictures?

Umm...I am not sure about this...

Big yawn.  I am worn out!

Okay, okay - we are done. 

First Bath

We gave Nathan his first sponge bath last night.  He hated it! 

I should use this photo to give HUGE props to Jeff.  He has been amazing.  With a c-section I have really been restricted.  I cannot pick up more than 10 lbs (or baby) meaning I cannot pick up Tyler.  I have been restricted from housework (schucks!) and I cannot drive :(.  Jeff has done EVERYTHING other than breastfeed!  I have the BEST husband and our kids have the most amazing Dad!

This was Nathan's reaction to his first bath.  He was not a happy camper.  It did cause him to be awake for a good bit afterwards and we did a fun photo shoot (later post). 

 

Going Home!

After three long nights in the hospital, we got cleared to come home on Monday!  

I just wanted to have our family of four all at home together "sleeping" under one roof. 

Our first night at home was a long one as Nathan thought it would be fun to eat every two hours - he is really working on getting back to that birth weight.  Last night was oh, so much better!  Only woke up to eat every 4 hours!  Much better!

Nathan sported his Mizzou sweatshirt for his trip home even though their basketball season is over.  Always a fan!

We get this face a LOT!

Even though he is a big boy, he still looks so tiny in his car seat. 

Look at him hold his binky in already!

Ten seconds later, he was out!  What is it about car seats that puts babies right to sleep?

Welcome home Nathan Robert!

Big Brother Tyler!

We are not sure Tyler really knows what to think about our newest edition to the family.  He was very affectionate during the 3rd (and 4th ;)) trimester always wanting to kiss my belly.  He often wanted to lift up my shirt to "see" his baby brother. 

Funny story: One day at nap time, I peaked in his room to check on him and he was chatting with himself (happens frequently), but this day he had his shirt pulled up and was rubbing his belly saying "baby brother."  Too cute and hilarious at the same time!

First meeting.  Tyler was checking him out...

Look! 

Baby Nathan!

"I so funny!" 

Why this was his reaction, we are not sure other than to make sure the attention is still on him. 

Look how cute I am!

Yea!

Time for a big brother present...

He actually found it wrapped that morning and had started opening it - I had to tape it back together.  I could wrap cardboard boxes in newspaper and he would be excited.

A Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book that plays music/phrases including "Oh, toodles"  Tyler loves to randomly yell this phrase when he encounters a problem.  It is pretty funny and much preferred over whining. 

Playing with his new book with Daddy's scrubs on. 

Look at me!

He was good about checking on Mommy.  In this photo he was intensely watching the Mizzou game.  (We won't talk about it...so sad.)

Mommy was enjoying ice chips - crappy snack after surgery. 



Welcome Nathan Robert Francis!

Nathan Robert was warmly welcomed into the world March 16, 2012! 

We are absolutely thrilled he is here.  It was an eventful day.  The day started with a doctor's appointment for Tyler (more about that later), then Tyler went with Grandma to her house and I went to my doctor appointment.   Still no progress and the ultrasound estimates showed our baby boy weighing in at 10lbs. 7oz.  My doctor didn't really want to induce labor, potentially put me through 20 hours+ of labor and then still end up having a C-section so he recommend a scheduled C-section.  I had the option of the same afternoon or Monday.  Why in the world would I wait to meet my baby boy, especially when he was predicted to be SO big?  Same day (Friday) it was.  I called Jeff to come home and prepare to have a baby!

We checked in at noon and waited for our "turn" to have a baby.  Seems so strange as this is not how we predicted it would work out this time.  We really should learn by now that our "plan" is not how it is going to work out. 

Mama before...thrilled to have her photo taken while feeling like a blimp!

Attractive, right?

Now for the photos you really care about...

Warning: Nathan is less than 48 hours old and we have taken over 235 photos so far...

Welcome, Nathan Robert! 

Daddy got to cut the umbilical cord.

9 lbs. 11ozs.  21 inches long.  39.5 centimeter head circumference (yikes!)  Big, healthy, perfect boy! 

 (Mommy was thankful it was not the 10lbs. 7oz. predicted earlier in the morning!) 

Huge feet - surprise, surprise!

So, so, so calm during all his assessments.

Daddy and Nathan!

First photo with Daddy, Nathan and Mommy.  (lovely angle)

Mommy is excited to check him out and touch him. 

Perfect!

So thrilled to have my baby boy in my arms...finally!

Plenty more posts to come...