2 months +

Paul is two months now... man... he's so big. And so cute! He had his 2 month check up and they say he's doing great! He's now almost 24 inches long and weighs about 12 and a half pounds. In the last week or so he's been sleeping about 7 hours in a row... YAY! I'm still a bit tired when we get up, but no where near as tired as I used to be. Just a little nap in the afternoon sets me right. His next check up will be in another 2 months.

Books for generations to come

Yes, books... I've been online at barnesandnoble.com making a list of all the books that we would like to add to our library at home. Books to read to our children as they grow and pass on to them as they get older and begin their own families. We already have a great selection of childrens books, thanks to everyone at our baby shower, thanks to Sarah.
I doubt the list will every be complete, but for now, it is what it is.
So as a gift idea, in the coming years, please think of books and see if there might be one you'd like to buy to give. It would be so helpful to all of us, since Jerry and I hope to homeschool all of our children and buying supplies all at once would be far too spendy for us. (even for just one child)

http://my.barnesandnoble.com/Rachael-Eldreds-WishList/cm/3596034/
I'll be posting this link under the Video and pictures of Paul section for now.
Thanks everyone!

2 months old!

I hope you all are able to keep up with the many changes i've made to this blog. I just want to point out that it's much easier for me to upload video on youtube and post pictures on facebook SO I've posted the links. These you will find under Videos and Pictures of Paul to the right of these blog posts.

Thank the Lord for nice weather. It's been so great to have been able to open the patio door and get WONDERFUL fresh air in the house. I've been more motivated to clean and get more organized than I've been able to these past few months. I'm looking forward to have a yard sale next weekend and getting the old out, and hopefully new things in. As it is, we don't have room for much else to come in. We've been discussing what we'd like to do with certain furniture items. It's hard to let them go, but at the same time... so nice to have the space!
Well anyhow. Paul is doing very well. He has his next check up on the 25th. He's 2 months old today! (That just occurred to me) It doesn't seem that long ago, he was so tiny then, that he was just born. He's grown out of many of his newborn clothes, so I've had to go digging into storage already for his bigger clothes. Which are also very cute!

This last week has been gruesome. Paulie and I have been settling into a not-so-fun sleeping pattern. He's been more awake and alert during the day, but still sleeping too. But some how we've managed to be on opposite schedules. I haven't been able to fall asleep when he does or soon after, so that by the time I fall asleep he's starting to wake up again. He's so sweet and to watch him sleep is such a gift, but he's getting older, bigger, and his personality is showing through more and more. I want to have the energy to be awake when he is! I want to be reading him more story books, showing him the pictures and watch him absorb it all. And I'd like to be more than just awake for all of this. *sigh* I've had many people tell me that they can watch him for me, and sometimes I do. It's only for a short time though. I have a breastpump, and I've been pumping. The only problem... he just doesn't take a bottle. He has once, but that's been about it. He also won't take a pacifier. I never wanted him to be on the bottle, or formula, but occassionly is okay. I suppose if I keep trying, he'll figure it out. I just don't always have the patience for it and I feel bad that he struggles so much with it. Oh well. I know he'll get it some day.
So I sleep when I can and eat when I can. But that's another thing. I never feel like I have enough energy to make food... and on the weekends, it's the worst. I'm up all night making sure that Paul doesn't wake up Jerry that I literally don't get to sleep in my own bed until Jerry wakes up for work. And that's if Paul keeps sleeping. So then, Jerry works all day and is beat by the time he gets home, and I'm still feeling like I hardly slept and don't have anything ready for either of us to eat and neither of us has the energy to make food.
I don't know... I think that we've been figuring it out okay. I mean, it's not like we don't eat. It just feels like a lot more work than it normally was, used to be, and should be.
I'm not sure if I posted this already, but we've got Paul's crib together and it looks great! He hardly sleeps in it though. He's with me while I'm awake... most of the time, and next to me in my bed the other times. He will lay in his crib for a while and sleep, but once he gets up and I need to feed him, I've hardly the energy to put him back. More often than not he'll cry when I put him back, and I think it's because he knows he's not next to me anymore. It makes me sad to make him sad like that. I guess I should say, i think he's getting better about it though. Just... slowly.
His next check up will be in a couple of weeks. Then we will have an official amount of how much he's gained in weight and length.

6 weeks +

We've passed the 6 week mark! Hurrah! He's gotten so big, and now I wish that I had a scale so that I could start making weekly stats. I've seen how they've measured him at his last checkup, so I aim to do the same each week as well! Things have been going very well. He eats often and sleeps often, though in between those two he's become crabbier. I think that I have finally gotten down what each cry means, so that has made it easier to determine what is going to help, and what isn't going to make the crying or fussing stop. About a week ago now, I finally had the energy to super clean our room, and I enjoy it very much now! Paul often sleeps with us, so it's taken me a while to notice that he's outgrown his bassinet. He's also almost too big for some of his newborn clothes as well! I hope to be able to get his crib set up soon. With just super cleaning our room, I also rearranged it. At least half of it. I still need to go through his clothes and pack up what doesn't fit and figure out a way to fit his crib in our room. I suppose that will take some time again... and I'm not sure when. We're going to be having a yard sale at the end of May and we need to go through all of our stuff that's in storage. ...
He saw his first movie in a theater last night! We went and saw Kick Ass with daddy and the guys and then a trip to Perkins afterwards! It was a good time.

Long days...

guess it's time to write a little bit. These days have been long. But so fun! and tiring. it's hard not to watch him sleep or all the faces he makes when he's waking up, eating, sleeping... pooping. Oh yeah! I never know what's going to come next... and he's already started the gas smiles! They are so adorable! And so hard to catch in a picture or on video because I really never know when the next one will be.
Some day I know I will get a good nights sleep... but for now it's just been lots of naps.
(more soon)

2 weeks!

Today we had his 2 week check-up. We're doing great! He weighed in at 8.998 lbs - So he's put on 2 lbs! And he's grown almost a whole inch! Dr. said he's doing great, growing well, and strong.
He's also been able to meet grandma and grandpa Irish and his other auntie Sarah. They all loved meeting him and it seemed like they can't get enough.