Fabulous 5 Weeks

We had a great week this past week!  Tuesday night, Randy and I went out on our first date since Thomas was born.  The best part is that we had sushi which I haven't had in almost a year!  Thursday night, I went out to dinner with 5 of my girlfriends.  Also, first time since Thomas was born.  Grandpa James came into town Friday for a week and Friday night Thomas slept from 11:30pm until 5:30am!  That is the longest he has ever slept which means, this is the longest that mommy has slept too.  :-)  Plus, daddy did the 6am feeding so I was able to stay in bed from midnight until 9am.  This morning Grandpa James, Thomas and I went to a couple garage sales and Grandpa bought Thomas his first football.  We are excited to have my dad here and have already put him to work on things like the new/old car, ac and misc stuff around the house.

He is honestly a natural with Thomas

What a big boy!

We had our 1 month appointment today.  Thomas is a healthy boy and doing great!  He is 11 lbs & 2 oz which is in the 95th percentile (50% is average) and 23" long which is in the 80th percentile (50% is average).  He does suffer from baby acid reflux, but the doctor gave him baby zantac.  We were wondering why he was so fussy!  How cute is this outfit?  Or, maybe it's Thomas that is SO cute no matter what he wears!  :-)

1 Month Old

Can't complain about this view :-)

Precious checks on him all the time.  It is so cute!

New calming technique?  Notice Precious?

We have hit the 4 week mark so we have introduced the bottle.
Randy loves being able to bond with him like this.

First Restaurant Outing!

 Ok so I need to get comfortable with taking Thomas out by myself so I asked Auntie Ashley if she would come over and go out with us somewhere.  I asked her to come along, but not to help at all.  (I haven't been able to carry his car seat until now)  Once we finally got out of the house, we didn't have time to go to the mall like I was hoping so we went out to eat.  It was pretty cool because we went to the same restaurant that my shower was at.  :-)  Thomas did GREAT!  See above picture for how good he was while at the restaurant.  I didn't really think about how bad it could have been until we sat down, but he was awesome!  Such a good boy!  Just like I was as a baby.  LOL

My next challenge is to go to Babies R Us with just Thomas and I this week.  I keep telling myself that if my cousin with 4 boys can do it (one of them is an infant), then I can do it with one.

Marina by the restaurant

This is the first pair of shorts that he has worn.  So cute!

3 Weeks

Nana from AZ, Thomas and Precious.  We had such a nice week with her and
we are so grateful that she came to help us out!

My grumpy face because we were on our way to the doctor

Precious is protecting her little brother :-)

Loves this toy and his bouncy seat

3 weeks today!  Had to take a picture of this outfit before he grows out of it.
He is already 9 lbs 8 oz and 22" long

Thomas is laying on top of Precious

Beautiful baby!  We love him!

Little Monkey Toes

Wow! Are these my toes?

I think our poor baby got my pinky toes. He definitely got my long toes.

Love this picture

Auntie Ashley took this picture at the hospital. Love it! He looks like he is pouting.  

Bath Time Success & other pics

Had our first bath today. We were so scared because he is so little and slippery, but we did it! Thomas did so well! We were pretty surprised considering he hates being cold, but he barely cried until we took him out of the tub. 

Happy Grandpa

Proud Bela (grandma)

We try to do this as much as possible. Right now he sleeps during the day and is alert at night. Hopefully we can get this conquered asap.  

Cried today when I realized that this is the only picture of Thomas and I from the hospital.

Thomas James is here!

Thomas James Mars was born on June 15th at 12:50am.  

He is 8lb 15oz and 21 inches long.  Absolute perfection!

Waiting Impatiently

No, Thomas James has not made his appearance yet.  He was due June 8th, but he apparently wants to be fashionably late.  Randy and I are getting very anxious.  In fact, Randy was sad to go to work today and said that he would rather be in the hospital watching his son be born.  Plus, he wasn't looking forward to comments from his co-workers saying "no baby yet?".  We know everyone is just excited and that is why they are checking on us, but nobody is more excited than this precious, little boy's parents!  :-)  If Thomas doesn't start coming on his own by Wednesday evening, they are going to induce me first thing Thursday morning.  So we are praying and hoping that he will come naturally on his own before Thursday.

39 1/2 Weeks

We are due this Friday and can't wait!  Hopefully he will be on time, but we are not thinking this will be the case.  We have been doing great, healthy and Thomas is super active as always.  I feel bad because I can tell he is super squished.  I am dealing with allergies, fatigue and general discomfort.  Hopefully the allergies will be gone before we go into labor and need to do breathing exercises.  :-)  My hubby spoiled me today by hiring cleaning ladies to clean our apartment really well.  I kept saying that I would do a room a day, but that wasn't happening and now forget it!  I am kind of embarrassed, but it is going to feel so good to have it all clean right before Thomas is born.  Plus, I will be able to rest the next couple of days knowing that it is all done.  So....if I have cleaning ladies doing it for me, am I nesting.  LOL

Nursery Pics

Thomas's Nana, Odie (my stepmother), made the letters above his bed and his Bela, Sonia (Randy's mom) made the angel prayer picture on the right of the cross on the wall.  The yellow prayer picture was Randy's when he was a baby and the cross is from Thomas's grandma, Deb.  That will always be his very first cross.  

That is the tool belt on the right that Randy got at one of his baby showers.  LOL

The alphabet wall hanging was made by Thomas's Aunt Ashley.  Each letter has a pocket with a fruit or vegetable in it that starts with that letter.  On the left you will see his boxes of wipes and newborn diapers ready to go.

The picture is a water color painting made by Thomas's grandma, Deb.  It is a picture of a baseball team made up of the whole Mars Family.  It is amazing and even has #s of significance to each player.  His lamp is a baseball bat with a whistle as the light switch.  The little bible on the dresser was given to Randy when he was a baby.

His hammock FULL of stuffed animals that he has received so far.  Precious is very jealous.  :-)

The Good & The Funny

I keep meaning to post the wonderful and funny things about being pregnant before the uncomfortable, miserable, long last few days over shadow the good.  Ha Ha  So here you go.....

• People are SO incredibly nice and friendly to you!  It's amazing how many people have smiled at me, held doors open for me, talked to me, offered to take the trash out for me while walking to the trash, offered to help in any way
• Feet massages from my hubby
• It's ok to be lazy and leave the dishes in the sink overnight (although I am the only one that this bothers)
• All the amazing baby showers and the cute little gifts that Thomas received
• Sharing this with my cousin Heidi who is due 2 days after we are
• It was funny how people didn't start asking me when I was due until about 30 weeks.  It's like they wanted to be sure that I was for sure pregnant first
• How I felt like I was 16 and pregnant when I went to school
• How my professor and a couple other men were always afraid that I was going to go in labor around them
• All the love and support we have received from our family, friends and even strangers
• When Randy and I got baptized at our church in the same tub not knowing yet that we were pregnant and that Thomas was getting baptized too
• If I ever wanted to go shopping it was always ok with hubby if I bought stuff for Thomas, but not myself
• Tums are a pregnant woman's best friend (Thanks Heidi Jo)
• Prenatal massages and pedicures that Randy spoiled me with
• My mother-n-law came over and cleaned our bathrooms and cleaned our kitchen floor for me
• Napping is ok and often expected because you don't sleep much at night
• When Thomas gets hiccups and my stomach looks like I am having spasms
• Never needing to suck in your stomach for 40 weeks
• New wardrobe even if it is maternity clothes
• Feeling and seeing my little acrobat inside my stomach, especially when he would make my stomach look deformed (he loves seeing just how far my right side could stretch out)
• Hearing his heartbeat and seeing him on the ultrasound monitor
• When Randy rests his hand on my stomach so he can feel our son move and when he would kiss my stomach and talk to him
• The fact that Randy has gone to ALL but 1 doctor's appointment with me
• Thinking "how could someone so little stretch, kick and punch so hard?"
• When I would tap on my stomach, Thomas would give me a kick letting me know that he was ok and that I didn't need to worry about him
• Using the stork parking spot at the mall even if it was only once
• Of course, knowing that you have the miracle of life growing inside of you.  The most precious gift that one could receive.  :-)  

I am sure there are more, but this was a quick 'brain dump' of the ones that I could think of off the top of my head.  Feel free to comment with more!  

After 4 weeks of looking

We found our 2nd family car.  Ok, you didn't think that I would get a minivan did you?  

It is a 2002 Acura TL in the most beautiful blue color.  You can tell that we both like it because we fight over who is going to drive it.  Lucky for me, it has more mileage on it than Randy's car so I get to be the main driver since I don't drive as much as he does.  :-)

Four years ago.....

One of my most favorite wedding pictures of us

was the happiest day of my life!  I still can't believe that I found a man that can put up with me.  LOL  He is the most genuine, loving, loyal, kind and gorgeous man I know.  I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world and fall in love with him daily.  I love you boo!  Happy Anniversary!

36 weeks

Can you believe less than 4 weeks until Thomas is supposed to arrive?

Daddy's Showers

I was having lunch with my friend Rachael on Monday and she texted me that morning saying "wear something pretty".  I was like... what?  Why would my friend need me to look pretty at lunch?  After lunch she told me that they were throwing Randy a surprise baby shower at work and they wanted me to come.  Now that makes sense and yes I would have been upset showing up to my old job looking like a slob.  LOL  They scheduled a meeting in one of the meeting rooms from 1-3pm and told Randy that he was required to be there. They had cake, cupcakes and a few games.  It was super sweet of them and it was nice to see some of my old co-workers.  I also made Randy open all the gifts by himself.  :-)  He didn't like that much and wanted Thomas to be in the front of the room with him.  I just wanted him to experience opening gifts since I have had 3 showers!

Then on Tuesday we had our church group like we do every Tuesday, only this Tuesday was dedicated to Randy (being a dad to be) and Geoff (being a husband to be).  They made tool bags for them filled with goodies needed for the jobs.  Then we played a game where they would pick up a card with a word on it (relating to baby or marriage) and name a candy that would resemble it.  For example, word would be umbilical cord and candy would be twizzler.  I am sure you can guess what the milk duds resemble.  LOL  We love our community group and look forward to our Tuesday nights!

Maternity Pictures

I'll give you one guess as to who the photographer was.........Yep, Ashley of course!  This was her first photo shoot for maternity photos and we were extremely pleased to say the least!  Like I always say, there isn't anything that my future sister-n-law can't do! 

Randy was very involved with the pictures and even picked out this spot and pose.  :-)  I was 32 weeks when photos were taken.  It will be nice to be able to show these to Thomas one day.  Thanks Ashley for capturing such a special time in our lives.  

3rd and Final Shower (We thought....)

We had our baby shower with our church last Sunday.  Our amazing friends Michele and Cheryl (upper left) threw me a wonderful frog themed baby shower.  Every since Randy and I went to Puerto Rico I have fallen in love with frogs.  In Puerto Rico they have a frog called a Coqui.  I shouldn't say a frog, I should say MANY frogs that make a constant sound like this at night.  I don't know if it was the pretty sound they make or the memory of being in Puerto Rico, but I now have a love for frogs.  I had told this to Michele and Cheryl and off they went with it!  As you can see, the shower was so cute!  It was all blue and green with a frog diaper cake, a yummy frog cake (edible), super cute watermelon frog fruit bowl, lots of frog stuff for Thomas and some of my wonderful friends from church.  I swear I need to pinch myself because I can't believe how incredibly blessed Randy and I are with all our friends and family.  

You will see what I mean by the title in a future post.  :-)

Happy 5th Birthday!

If you happen to know Randy and I very well, you know that this little one is actually our first child.  :-)  We got her almost 4 years ago and had no idea how much she would change our lives.  She shows us unconditional love and never plays favorites (although she loves to lick Randy's skin and not mine, but I am totally ok with that).  She wins over anyone's heart that meets her.  In fact, we aren't allowed over to Grandpa Barney's without her.  So today, our little Precious the pug turns 5.  We are going to celebrate with her favorite Frosty Paws (doggie ice cream) and a stuffed animal that she will unwrap herself.  This may become an issue when Thomas starts to get wrapped presents, but we will worry about that later.  :-)