Clan Q: Westcoast to the Eastcoast!

May 10, 2008 in Family, Visitors by JeniQ | 2 comments

We had a big family visit last week. My brother, his awesome wife and their two kids came from Oregon to visit, and my granma drove down from Virginia Beach. And of course, my mom lives here so she didn’t have to travel to join in the festivities. As an added bonus, my great-uncle and aunt were also able to drop by for a visit.

We had an absolute blast with the kids and the family! I won’t bore you with details, but here are some favorite candid shots. For all of those who were here, you’ll receive a disc with all the photos from the weekend just as soon as we’re able.

Nolan and Henry

Paddle Boats at Pullen

Pullen Carousel

out like a light

Jonah and Granma Jo

Lunch at the Saucer

Granma and Henry

Betty, Granma and Denny

Jonathan and Dawn

Cute Baby

May 10, 2008 in Babies, Ele, Henry by JeniQ | 1 comment

Following in the tradition of cute babies Finn and Tesla. This outfit courtesy of William and Joyce, who still have yet to meet Henry. Come visit!!

Cute Baby

I have clothes!!

May 10, 2008 in Shopping by JeniQ | 4 comments

This week I finally tackled the big project I’d been putting off – cleaning up my closet. I had taken bags of clothes into the attic as I grew out of them during my pregnancy, and I wanted to reintegrate them back into my closet. I also wanted to purge pregnancy stuff that I was done with and purge “clubbing clothes” that I didn’t think I’d wear again now that I’m a mom. Purging the clubbing clothes isn’t a huge hit to the budget as they’re all cheap skimpy tops picked up at Rave and Deb. When I want to go clubbing again, I’ll replace them with hot tops from a grown-up store.

Here’s the midst of the chaos. The bathtub was even filled with clothes.
Piles of clothes

Anyway, it turns out that I have a ton of clothes!! I was so happy to discover that I own lots of fabulous, cute clothes. What’s more, I fit into nearly half of them! It’s mostly the pants that are too small, so I still plan on getting a few pairs of nice fitting pants, but sweet hallelujah! There is a huge pile of stuff to give away, a small pile of stuff that I’ll fit into relatively soon, and a slightly larger pile of stuff I’ll fit into by the time Henry’s one.

Here’s the finished view (my stuff’s on the left and bottom rails):
Organized closet

For the past two days, I’ve worn outfits that I’m happy to say I felt cute in. :)

Geek Baby, Two Month Update

May 10, 2008 in Henry by JeniQ | 2 comments

Last week Henry had his two month checkup. He did great and is growing well. He also had his first round of immunization shots. That was no fun but he got over it, eventually.

He weighed 11.8 pounds (33rd percentile), is 22 inches long (14th percentile) and his head is 15.5 inches around (32nd percentile).

He hit all his milestones, such as following us with his eyes, recognizing our voices and smiling at us.

We’ve decided he doesn’t have reflux so he’s off his reflux medicine.

He has a sacral pit, which is nothing to worry about because it doesn’t go anywhere, but it makes me want to dose up on folic acid if/when we try for baby number two.

And we re-confirmed that his umbilical hernia is nothing to worry about. The doctor says it’s a cosmetic problem only, and that no doctor would operate on it until he was at least three years old. Although the swelling itself is quite large, the actual hole that is the hernia is quite small, the diameter of a dime, no more. So she’s assured us that it will go away, on its own, in its own time.

I think that was it. We go back again in two months. He’ll be 10 weeks old tomorrow!

Geek baby

Sleeping through the night

May 6, 2008 in Babies by JeniQ | 8 comments

A question I posted on a local message board. I’m reproducing it here to see if I get any good advice from my friends. :)

Greetings,
I’m going back to work in a few weeks and I’m trying to get my nine-week old son Henry to sleep longer at nights (or through the night would be great!).

Here’s some info on his feeding habits.
I try not to feed him any sooner than 4 hours between feedings, but will feed him at 3 hours if he’s displaying hunger signs. He only eats around 2-3 ounces at a serving when bottlefed. I’m not sure how much he’s eating when he’s breastfeeding, but I can’t imagine it’s more than when he bottle feeds. When he bottle feeds, he is not a guzzler. He’s fooled me on more than one occasion when he sucked and sucked and made all this noise at the bottle for 10 minutes, 20 minutes or longer, only to discover he hadn’t actually drank anything. So, all of this to say that he’s not a big eater. But the doc says his weight (11+ pounds) is fine and if that’s what he eats, then fine. I guess part of me worries that he’s not eating enough to sleep long enough at night.

Now here’s his nighttime routine:
He usually gets fed around 8 PM (roughly 2 oz), then has a bath and goes down for the night in his crib. He falls asleep on his own and sleeps until around 1 AM. At that point he gets fed again. I’ve replaced nursing at night with a bottle. Sometimes he will just suck on the bottle without drinking but other times he’ll eat. Last night he ate 1.25 oz at 1 AM but it took 30 minutes or more to get him switching from the aimless sucking to actually drinking. Then, he goes back down to sleep easily.
He’ll awake again around 4 AM or 5 AM. Last night he drank 2 oz at that time but only after aimlessly sucking at the bottle for 10 minutes.
Finally, he wakes up between 6 and 7 AM. I think that’s his natural “wake-up” time even though he’s not technically due to be fed until around 8 AM.

So, I’d like to try to eliminate one of the feedings – maybe the 4 AM. Any suggestions on how to do this? I’ve tried offering the pacy before the bottle but he’s not having it. Would love your tips, hints and suggestions!

Molly’s Modesty

May 6, 2008 in Stumble Upon by JeniQ | 2 comments

This is interesting. I’m not sure how I feel about modesty as a value for myself, but if I had a daughter, I might be really on to this.
Anyway, their clothes are fairly cute and reasonably priced for the basics. Might be worth checking out.

Overwhelmed Again

April 29, 2008 in Visitors by JeniQ | 3 comments

Hah, I already have a post titled “Overwhelmed.”

My brother, his wife and their two kids arrive from Portland in two hours! Granma’s already made it in from Virginia Beach and is getting settled at her hotel. I am pooped from cleaning the house and rearranging things so that our place looks spectacular. J&D haven’t been to Raleigh since we got married so this will be the first time they see our house. I’m house proud so I want it to look great! They’re bringing their two boys, 4 and 2, who are going to see just how not-toddler-proof our house is. That will be exciting. We’re going to have a fun couple of days with them, granma and my mom.

To top off all this upcoming mayhem, my sister-in-law Mary and her daughter Audrey are coming on Saturday, right when Clan Q will be departing! I hope she doesn’t mind having to change her own sheets! :) I am going to be tired but am so glad to be able to spend time with all these folks!!

Yayayay and now I want to go to bed. Hahaha!

Umbilical Hernia

April 28, 2008 in Henry by JeniQ | 4 comments

Henry has an umbilical hernia. It’s really nothing to worry about but it doesn’t look too good and makes it harder to wear cute two-piece outfits.

Hernia

Poor buddy. Turns out Dave had the same thing and had surgery to fix it when he was 6 months old.

Henry is 8 Weeks!

April 28, 2008 in Henry by JeniQ | 3 comments

Here’s Henry waving to the crowd.
Henry waves to the crowd

Here are those long eyelashes he grew this week.
Long Eyelashes

And a bonus picture:
Dave gave Henry a special ‘do after his bath the other night. He has his granpy’s hair!! Bouffant

Eight Weeks!

April 28, 2008 in Henry by JeniQ | 2 comments

Henry is eight weeks old already! Seems hard to believe.

So what’s new with him? Let’s see.

Over the past week his eyelashes have grown enormously so now they’re Maybelline long, but still no eyebrows to speak of. Pictures of these eyelashes to come.

His vision is definitely improving and he can track us using both his hearing and his vision.

He also started smiling in response to Dave and me today! Perfect timing as he’s having a horde of visitors descending on him tomorrow! Hopefully we’ll have photographic proof of this smile to share with you as well.

He has officially outgrown his fabulous David Bowie onesie as well as my favorite blue star onesie. Sheesh!

We’re now having nightly baths as part of his bedtime ritual and it’s working out well. He sleeps really good and he smells better, too.

Time to go do a million things.

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