Hi Family & Friends!  Merry Christmas to you all:-)  I hope that you all had a wonderful time with your families and didn't have any traveling problems what with all this nasty weather.  Atleast it wasn't as icy as they predicted!

We really enjoyed our first Christmas with Trey!  On Christmas Eve we visited our old church Shady Grove PCA for the candlelit service and it was so nice to see old faces.  It's hard to believe we've been away since August (when our church plant, Christ Community Church, started their Sunday morning services).  We won't be there again till Trey's baptism on February 28th!

Christmas morning Trey would not wake up... he was a sleepy head:-)  But we brought him out for his gifts anyway, even though he didn't see them till later.  We then went to Pj's parent's for gifts and breakfast, then my parents for gifts and a mid-afternoon dinner and then Pj's extended family get together for dessert.  It was so much fun to be able to see everyone on the same day... even though we were exhausted when we got home.  Trey did pretty well too!  He was a little grouchy in the afternoon, but had some happy playtime later in the day.  His schedule was completely off, so I figured it would be a weird day for him.  Thankfully he slept well last night... only woke once for a feeding.  I put him back in his crib wide awake afterwards and he fell asleep on his own... I think he's learning:-)  Although he sleeps better on his side or belly... but that still freaks us out to let him do that!

Tonight we're headed to Pj's parent's beach house at the Outer Banks for a week or so.  We've spent the entire day getting ready... this is our first trip with the baby and its amazing how much stuff we have to take!  Thankfully Pj's brother is letting us use their minivan size car... my little Honda Civic can't handle all this stuff.  So Trey will get his first trip to the beach... even if he will be wrapped up in thick blankets:-)

The past week or two he has REALLY started showing more personality and communicates more.  It's so much fun!  He is cooing and making all sorts of vocalizations.  When he sees Pj and I he will grin really big and his arms and legs go wild!  He loves meeting new people and seeing new places.  He's still cuddly, but we can tell he's already starting to become more independent.  He would rather have us hold him so he can stand or lay free on his back or belly on the floor to explore.  I have a feeling I have a strong willed little boy!  Sometimes he will whine and then he will stop for a second, look at us out of the corner of his eye to see if we are paying attention, and when we don't respond he continues whining. 

It's hard to believe that Trey will be 2 months old next week!  Where does the time go?  We are loving every minute with our little boy.  I find myself alway taking videos and photos in an attempt to "freeze" time:-)

In other news, I have decided not to return to my job so that I can stay home full-time with Trey while he is young.  We decided that would be the best thing for him right now and with our life circumstances it seemed to be what we needed to do too.  I will miss my coworkers though!  I had a really nice group of ladies that I worked with each day and they made coming to work really enjoyable!

I'm hoping to get my graphic design business going now that things are starting to calm down with the baby.  This week I designed something for my old church and it was so refreshing to have something to do besides take care of Trey;-)  I had forgotten how much I love to design and use my creative juices!  I was scared at first that I wouldn't have the time and that I wouldn't have the creativity anymore... I often feel so drained of energy:-)  But its still there!;-)

Pj is working hard right now on his thesis so that he can graduate from Reformed Theological Seminary in the spring with his MA in Religion.  He's been reading book after book... I don't know how he does it!  He is still involved in leading The Forum, a discussion group at Montgomery College.  And in a month or so he will begin working with his brother Mike doing closings.  Its amazing the paperwork that goes into that process so that he can do that! 

That's it for news for now!  Here are some pictures from Christmas:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laughs and Cooing

Hi Friends & Family!  I figured it was time for another update on Trey.  The weeks are flying by so fast now.  Trey will be six weeks old on Friday... can hardly believe it.  He has already grown and changed so much.  At his 1 month checkup he weighed 9lb and 10oz.  The pediatrician also said she thinks his eyesight and mobility is advanced for his age.  I wanted to say to her, you think???!!!;-)  We give Trey tummy time each day and, providing he's already in a decent mood, he really enjoys it.  He rolls over from his stomach to his back all the time now and will bat at the toys that hang overhead and intently study the lights that flicker.  Today he was in a wonderful mood all day (barely slept too) and so when it came time to clean and cook, I just put him on his playmat and did my chores.  He kept himself busy playing with his toys and trying to move around.  He is able to scoot around quite a bit using his knees and elbows... and so I have to keep putting him back in the middle.

We're enjoying his cooing and other sounds now!  Its so sweet.  He does this the most in the mornings when we wake up and also in the evening when his stomach is full and he is not quite ready to go to bed. 

He sleeps really well at night 5 nights out of 7, only waking once to feed usually (twice at most).  The only problem is getting him to bed initially.  He fights us on it nearly every single night!  As I write this, Pj is pacing back and forth, patting his back, rocking him and putting his soft comfort blanket to his cheek.  We do this every night and after about 15-30 minutes of screaming and kicking and arching his back, he well eventually conk out.

So we are doing well... getting alot more sleep, enjoying seeing Trey's personality coming out more and being able to better interact with him.  We're loving being parents!  It's exhausting for sure, but he is worth it.  Time for the next one!  Just kidding... not quite yet;-)

More later... I am going to get some sleep!  Here are some pictures:-)

 

 

 Awesome sling my friend Carissa made for me.  Trey loves it!

 

Tummy time and hanging out with Daddy!

 

 Big smiles and laughing!

 

 

 My best friend Chelsie's daughter Ella with Trey (she is 3-4 weeks older than him)

 

 

My mom and aunt (holding Trey)

 

 

Picture of the three babies born close to each other at our church, Trey 11/6/09, Elliott 10/25/09 and Juliet 11/1/09.

 

Our Christmas photo:-)

Firsts:-)

We had two "firsts" for Trey today!  This morning we put him down on his stomach on his playmat for tummy time.  He lifted his head and shoulders a couple of times with his arms propped up on his elbows.  Then we noticed he was bringing his knees up and trying to get up on them.  We were encouraging him to turn his head completely over to face us and before we knew it he suddenly rolled from his stomach to his back!  We got it all on video too, yay!  We are so proud of our strong little guy.  I tried to upload the video here and to Facebook, but its too big:-(

Then later on today Trey got his first real bath!  He loved it.  Some pictures follow.  The only part he fussed at was when we took him out... guess it was cold.  And of course, as soon as he was wrapped up in a nice clean towel, he peed all over himself.  Oh well!

Sadly, I had to come to terms with the fact that my little man is getting bigger.  He is much to long for all of his newborn clothes.  I'm curious to see at his 1 month appointment next week how much he has grown since his two week appointment!

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Trey's Great Aunt Donna and Nana (Pj's mom)

As you can see, there were alot of people there!

  

 

My parents, Mike & Denise Snyder on the left and Pj's parents, Phil & Susie Fleming on the right!

Trey wearing his outfit that Pj picked out for him for his first big event!  His first pair of jeans too:-)

What's the best gift a newborn can give his mother?  A full night of sleep.  And that is exactly what Trey gave me last night.  He was fussy last night but I got him to sleep around midnight.  He stirred a bit in the night enough to wake me up and I was shocked to see that it was already 5am!  I tried to wake him to feed him, but he was out.  He slept until 7:15ish!  I actually woke up before he did:-)  It was wonderful!  And then after he fed and played for 30 minutes or so, I looked down and saw he has fallen asleep again.  So I tucked him in bed with his daddy and I'm having fun relaxing and doing whatever I want this morning!

We had a wonderful first holiday with Trey and our families the other day!  My brother-in-law and his wife came up with the idea of combining families for a big Thanksgiving meal.  So instead of having to choose which family to spend the day with, we were all together.  It was alot of fun!  And Trey actually hung in there pretty well.  We stayed for 3-4 hours and he was held by more people than I can count... but slept through most of it. We finally left when he started getting fussy.  The evening was a bit rough just because I think he was over-tired and over-stimulated from the day.  But, hey, he slept all night!

So Trey is now three weeks old, as of 6:40am this morning!  Its hard to believe next week he will be one month.  This morning I was putting a cute newborn footie pajama on him that he's never worn before and was shocked to find that it wouldn't fit him... he's too long for it now.  Wow!  And the other day he graduated to size 1 pampers... we realized too small pampers might have been the reason he's been leaking so much lately;-)  My little boy is growing so fast!  It's amazing how you can be so excited to see these changes... and yet at the same time so sad to have to say goodbye to those early weeks.  I'm glad we have video footage of him, not to mention more photos than we can count!

Oh, and did I mention that Trey is laughing now?  He's been smiling more and more each day, but recently we noticed that often when he smiles the biggest he will make this gurgling sound... like he's trying to laugh but he just doesn't know how to yet.  It's so adorable!  He will usually do this when Pj is talking baby-talk to him and tickling his tummy.  We also know that he is smiling at us now... not just in general.  This morning while I was feeding him, he looked up at me out of the corner of his eye.  I looked at him and grinned big.  And then he smiled back!  It doesn't get better than that:-)

Well, that's it for now.  My boys are still sleeping... so I might as well get a shower while I still can;-)  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

New Trey Photos -- The Second Week!

First Week of Trey's Life

Well, the dog is sleeping on one side of the me on the couch... and Trey is on the other side sleeping too... and Mommy has a break to update you all on how life at the Fleming home has been this first week with Trey!

So far, its been a pretty smooth road, with just a bump here and there!  We think we've pretty much figured Trey out now... he likes to sleep alot... eats constantly... rarely fusses unless he has a good reason (hungry, dirty diaper or gas)... and gives us PLENTY of poopy and pee diapers.  He got me good a few nights ago at 1am changing... right in the face!  Today I go to change his diaper and just as I open it, out comes a stream of pee and he decides to take this moment to finish it off with a big poop... but he waited till I could see I suppose.  I had to scrub down the side of the pack'n play after that.  Good job, Trey!  Daddy is so proud of you:-)

So far sleep has not been a huge problem.  The hardest part of the day for us is late evening when we're trying to get Trey to go to bed.  But once he is asleep after a solid feeding, he sleeps for 4-5 hrs, wakes for one feeding in the middle of the night and then sleeps another 4-5 hrs until morning (7ish).

We're really impressed with his hand/eye coordination!  At just a few days of age, he was in his swing clutching at the toys that hang to the side and he got them within the blink of an eye.  He has been very alert since birth... will look people in the eye intently and follow them if they move.  He loves to look at everything!  His favorite thing is to be carried high up on the shoulder so he can look around.  Sometimes he will just lie in bed and look at the toys we have hanging there... for over an hour without a peep out of him.  He makes lots of great faces, including smiles (or I should say, at this age, "looks of contentment").  We just love having him in our life!  It's been great:-)  I can't believe he will be a week old already tomorrow morning at 6:40am!!!

Here are some recent pictures!