Workin' Out

A quick little video to show you one of Jack's new tricks. Remember, I am home alone all day with a newborn. I am easily amused. :)

Oh What a Night!

The Royal wedding of Prince William and his bride Kate wasn't the only thing keeping people awake and out of their beds last night.  Jack decided to throw down a challenge for his two sleep-loving parents.  His cries for comfort started around 12 am, and continued on throughout the night.  He went round for round with us.  He started with me, then moved on to his mom.  At one point, the double team of flustered parents still wasn't enough to console him.  We tried everything: rocking, feeding, changing, a bouncy chair, wiping of the nose.  Shoot, Angie was even ready to give breastfeeding a try to check one more thing off the list.
When all was said and done, Jack won with a technical knockout.  He had mom on the rocking chair sleeping for the last two hours of the night while he maintained his spot resting comfortably on her chest.
I feel almost stupid for having posted the adorable pictures in the previous post.  That sweet, content baby boy was not the one we encountered last night.

This is what I encountered before I left for work.  Who takes a picture at a time like this?  I do apparently.

  

And yet, through it all, we can't possibly be upset.  Exhausted, yes, but not upset.  The look on this little guy's face in the middle of the night is just so innocent.  It's as if he's apologizing for keeping us up, and asking that we just bear with him.  He's tired too...and he just needs our help.  It actually makes us feel pretty good.

Awwwwwww

This is just a bunch of pictures of Jack being himself.  He's growing so fast each day, and with me being back at work, I feel like I am just missing so much.

 

A visit from Grandma Reinhardt

Grandma came from Michigan to spend the Easter weekend with Jack.  She didn't really want to let him go at first, but we quickly fell into a routine, and Grandma was changing and feeding just like she did with me 30 years ago.
We really enjoyed the company, a nice Easter brunch, and some extra help for those early morning feedings.  Below are pictures from the visit, as well as Jack's Easter outfit.  He was dressed for church, but decided to just stay at home instead.

Does someone want to explain what I'm supposed to do with bunny ears and Skittles?

Our First Cold

I titled this "Our" first cold for a reason. Jack has the actual cold, but man does it feel like we ALL have the cold. Typical man, huh? He gets a cold and the whole world comes crashing down. :) Maybe that's not true for all men. I am basing it on my own father (sorry dad), my brother (come on Dan, you know you are a baby when sick), and Ben. Love you all to pieces, but hate to be around you when you are ill. :)

Jack decides to make it known at night that he doesn't feel well. As for this morning, he has been fast asleep since 8:00 a.m. Ben lasted until 3:30 a.m. with him, even though he had to be up for work at 5:30 a.m.  I made it from 3:30 a.m. until he fell asleep at 8:00. What a night. Oh yeah, but I get to "sleep when the baby sleeps". I guarantee no woman coined that phrase. At least no woman with a newborn because that's next to impossible.

We'll make it through. Jack is already proven to be pretty mellow so I will let him live up the extra attention. After all, he is only 2 and a half weeks old!

Jack is all ready for his first Twins game! Don't you think Bert would circle him?!

Deep in thought...

On My Own

Grandma Jeanne left today, leaving me completely on my own for the first time since Ben went back to work. Jack must have sensed my loneliness because he wanted to be held all day long. No vibrating chair, no crib, no nothing, just my arms. I can't tell you how wonderful that was. He was very comforting on this tough day. I swear he even looked at me with eyes that said, "Don't be sad mama!" Somehow it worked. I made it through and am really, really grateful for the time spent with my mom.
I think I need her more now than I did when I was 2 weeks old. :)

Enjoying a comfy Grandma before she leaves

Godfather Danny spent lots of time here during Grandma Jeanne's visit.  Jack enjoyed the company, and decided to show his appreciation after a bottle and a burp.

Wait!  What did that baby just do to my shirt?

The first video

Not much to say about this post.  We adore this little boy so much.  I just wanted to splice together some of the brief video clips I had, even though I know that pictures and videos don't do this kid any justice.

First time for everything, and a second, and a third...

Golden fountains, I forgot they were a package deal when you give birth to a boy. One would think it wouldn't be that big of an issue. Just change the diaper quickly, you say? There is no "quick" that is quick enough. He beats me every time. We were given "pee-pee tee-pees" to use in order to alleviate this problem, but they are still in the package. Ironically, I had to wipe the pee off of the package of pee-pee tee-pees. Excellent work Jack.

Upon cleaning up the mess he made with the most outrageous fountain of urine I've ever seen (ok, maybe Grandma Jeanne cleaned it up), Jack proceeded to mess his new clean diaper with a totally different surprise, resulting in 2 diapers in about 30 seconds. Not to mention the fact that he peed all over the extra diapers on the changing table. We went to Target yesterday to buy...well you can deduce that yourself.

Finally, I was able to sit and feed him. I had gotten myself all cleaned up and dressed, ready for our adventure to Target when Jack decided it was time to spit up all over me. My mom simply said, "That's why you don't get dressed in your regular clothes before you feed him." Thank you mom for that late, but important piece of advice.

 Is he going for the pacifier or the beer?

The rule still applies to babies...don't fall asleep at the party or we'll take funny pictures of you!

So, I'm learning. Slowly, but surely, I'm learning. Being a mom is REALLY hard work and a REALLY messy job.

One week old already!

With Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Wayne here, Jack has had a lot of attention, and he's loving every minute of it (and so are we). After making it through the "honeymoon" phase of loving getting up in the middle of the night because we couldn't wait to take care of him, it was important to have someone else here to help with week 2. Turns out the thrill wears off. Ben's back at school, and it's been up to me to get up for the middle of the night feedings. Grandma Jeanne has been gracious enough to help me out. I am not sure what I will do when she leaves.

We all went out for dinner tonight and Jack slept the entire time, allowing mommy to have her first margarita. It was outstanding. Totally worth the wait.

This picture was taken with Grandma Jeanne's new iPad!

Grandpa Wayne being so entertaining that Jack opened his eyes!

Here's some new pictures of baby Jack! Enjoy.

Shhhhh......

He's sleeping.  Often. 
Jack has decided to grant these two first time parents some wonderful nights full of sleep.  Last night, he slept for five hours before waking us up with a wimper.  It wasn't a scream, or a cry, but rather a request.
"I'd like a dry butt and some of that warm, milky stuff please," he seemed to say.
He quickly went back to sleep for 4 more hours, ready to begin the day with bright, inquisitive eyes.
So he's doing wonderfully.  And we certainly appreciate it.
I know, I know.....Knock on wood.

Still Going Strong

Jack has done a great job continuing to wake every four hours during the night. This has made it extremely easy on Ben and I. Who knew that together we would create a really great sleeper? We even have to wake him to eat during the day! Hope I didn't just jinx anything.

We also experienced the power a little boy has when you remove his diaper. Ben got christened, and I am assuming since I laughed so hard, I will be the next victim. It was worth it though.

Ben and I are enjoying all of the visitors and reading the comments on our pictures. Grandpa Wayne comes tomorrow and Grandma Jeanne will be here Sunday. All three of us are eagerly awaiting their arrival. Finally some family time! Maybe they will do some house shopping while they are out here. ;)

Love to all!

I'm not awake much, but when I am I'm pretty content!

It's my turn.

Well, day four and this baby hasn't broken me yet! As many of you know, I am a big fan of sleeping, and anyone that gets in the way of that sees a very ugly side of me. Turns out this little guy is the only one who can.  Sleep when the baby sleeps, yeah right. I would've missed a great Twins game last night if I would've done that! Priorities folks.

Anyhow, Ben and I have learned some interesting things about our new addition. He loves foot massages and getting his hair brushed. It leaves him completely comatose, just like his mom. He also gets a great case of the hiccups after drinking too much, just like his dad.  When he is hungry, he needs to eat immediately or he gets cranky. That one could be both of us, but I think that's just because he's a guy.

Bath and a hair brush. I look good, huh?

How can you be sleeping? We are in extra innings!!!

Back at home

The past two days have been wonderful!  Jack has been so content and calm that the transition back home has been remarkably easy.  The nurses at the hospital (who adored this little guy) imparted their years of collective baby wisdom onto us, and Angie and I loaded Jack into the car with more confidence than we ever would have expected.

Since we've been home, Angie has done a fantastic job.  We know this is mostly trial and error, but Jack has been great, and Angie has become a wonderful mother already.  I've done some feeding and changing too, and we're just working as a team to see where this takes us.

We feel so blessed to have gotten the phone calls, emails and texts from family and friends sending good vibes our way.  The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming, and we truly appreciate it.

Below are some more pictures from Jack's first few days..

 In the hospital room

Godfather Danny stopped by for a visit

  The second night in the hospital

A well deserved nap at home

How he got here.

Angie had a very rough night's sleep on Friday night, with contractions waking her up constantly.  By 6 o'clock Saturday morning, she was pretty sure that Saturday would be the day.  After a quick bath, some breakfast, and some impromptu breathing activities  (birthing classes?!  what birthing classes?),  we headed to the hospital.
Everything went perfectly from there.  We watched the Final Four tournament while Angie's epidural worked its magic, the contractions picked up and she dilated to 10 cm.  At about 9:30, she began to push,  and 20 minutes later, Jack was saying hi.

Below are some pictures of the day.

We're thrilled, happy, tired, nervous, and so blessed to have family and friends who care so much about our new little family.

Hey!

Here he is!

Jack Henry Reinhardt

Born April 2nd, 2011 at 9:51 pm

21 inches long      8.46 pounds

Mom and baby are doing great!

The Waiting Game

It has been a while since I have posted, and in the meantime we have worked on getting the nursery together, made a trip to the hospital for some false labor pains, and seen our friends welcome their new babies into the world.
And we're still waiting.
We were quite aware that a 'due date' was speculative at best, and the doctors all decided to throw caution to the wind and tell us that there was "no way" that this baby was going to make it to his due date.  We were going to have a March baby.  No questions about it.
We made it to April, and I've included some photos of the mommy-to-be and the nursery that is waiting for a new occupant (besides the cat).
Hopefully, the next post will include pictures of the baby.

Angie at 8 months

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