Our first real family Xmas

Our first Xmas as a family of more than 2 was pretty good. Most of the presents under the tree were for Jonathan of course, but isn't that the way it should be?

On Xmas eve I put him in a special outfit that was given to him by one of his grandma's and took some pictures. The outfit was a pain to get him in, but was worth it when I got him all set and ready for his photo session.

I took this one with my phone since I had troubles getting him to keep his eyes all the way open for one with my camera. I LOVE this pic and think it is one of the most adorable ones we have of him to date. Chris had to work, so he and I spent most of Xmas eve together. We didn't do anything special besides my singing carols to him that were completely horrendous since I didn't know more than 1/2 the words to any one song!!LOL

On Xmas morning I was up early and started my day with my usual loads of dishes and then thawed a loaf of bread and made a pumpkin pie. After patiently waiting for the morning to pass, it was finally time to get Jonathan dressed and wake Daddy up. He wanted to wear his Daddy's little elf onesie, so I put it on him and then laid him next to Chris for his wake up call;)

I love my reindeer slippers!!

Bubbie and I hung out in the living room while we waited for Chris to wake up enough to open presents. After about an hour of TV and coffee Chris was finally ready. He is trying to enjoy this and probably next Xmas, knowing that the days of sleeping in and getting a good chance to wake up before present opening will soon be a thing of the past.


We started with stockings, Jonathan's coming first of course. He got all kinds of little rattles, teething toys, some eating things and some cool new Winnie the Pooh sunglasses for the summer! He has 3 stockings and I think Santa, Grandma and Mommy & Daddy did a great job filling them;)

The middle dog stocking plays music and his ears flap;)

Bubbie liked all of his gifts even though he can't play with the stuff we got him or the frog stuff his Grandma Combest got for him until he is about 6 mos old. He only got to try out his new tummy time mat which he thinks is wonderful-and actually Jade and Ruby seem to like it too!!

Me likes the bright colors-oo, and hanging friends too!

Overall we had a great holiday and can't wait until next year when Jonathan will be 15 mos and able to enjoy it a little more...

Things I was told that may or may not be true.

When people told me that I would love my son more than anything I have ever loved with  depth that was profound as soon as he was born, I thought they were nuts. When people told me that after he was born, my "mothering" instinct would kick in, I thought they had been puffing the wacky tabacky. When someone told me that women who gave birth traditionally were jealous of women who had C-sections, I thought well maybe that wouldn't be too bad then. When everyone said that Jonathan would make our feeling of family stronger and more complete, I thought that our family felt pretty good at the moment.

The part about the love for Jonathan was absolutely 100% true. I look at him and I can feel deep inside a sense of pride and love that is overwhelming.

I look forward to each stage of his development as I have never looked forward to anything in my life. I worry about him when I am not the one taking care of him and want to protect him from all of the bad things in the world. I want so many things for him and wonder about the man he will one day become. I thought that I had given my heart to my husband many years ago, but I have to be truthful and say he may have gotten a small part of it, because my little Bubbie has me, heart, body and soul. I never thought I would feel anything so profound or be a part of something that changed me right to the core. I was far from a selfish person before him, but now it is ALL about him. He will always come first and I will do anything I can to make sure that his life is a good one.

The part about the "mothering" instinct isn't exactly correct for some of us I guess. The only thing that came naturally to me was the love and the part where I couldn't stand for him to be in any pain. Everything else I learned from others or from things I read. I am sure that some women have this instinct and it comes out in full force, but I am sadly not one of them. I didn't know anything about babies and was scared crapless when we brought him home form the hospital. What would I do now without the nurses and their expertise when I had a question. Thank goodness my mom was there for the first 3 weeks he was home-otherwise I would have been a total freak (even more than I am) and had no clue what to do many times a day.

The part about the family being stronger and more complete is true more than I can ever explain.

I thought that Chris and I were a good little family before Jonathan came along. If that was true, we are a better family now. Our bond to Jonathan has made a little circle of love, instead of a single line. Don't get me wrong, we have some issues as all couples do, but currently a lot of them is because I am an overprotective mother. I am working on that, but it is hard to squelch that feeling and wondering if Chris will remember everything. It truly has nothing to do with him, just me being paranoid and concerned like a mother bear.

The part about the C-section was completely false. Now I have never had an episiotomy, so I can't really say for sure, but I am thinking that it heals quicker than a C-section. I couldn't sit upright by myself, I couldn't get out of bed without having something to pull or push on. I couldn't bend over for 2 weeks afterwards. Trying to get in and out of the car to go to the hospital and visit Jonathan was a painful chore. Walking up and down stairs or walking any kind of distance at all was painful and exhausting. Showering was a 2 person job for the first week. Even holding my son was uncomfortable at best, and painful at times. I couldn't get up from a chair while holding him and I couldn't breastfeed. I could only wear clothes that were VERY loose and had an elastic waist. I couldn't sleep except on my side with a towel between my knees for 2 weeks. It is weird to feel everything inside settling back into place; for a couple of weeks after the surgery I felt off like things inside were moving and it was disconcerting. It was the same feeling I had during the surgery when they were moving things to get to my uterus and them when they had to push on my lungs to get the baby out and I couldn't breath. I kept thinking that the incision was going to pop open and everything was going to fall out. Even now things still feel out of whack. I feel like I have a bruise in that area. I can move the wrong way or have one of the animals step there and it is painful. So the myth that women who get a C-section have it easier is wrong.

The sweetness of marking 3 mos

I can't believe it has already been 3 mos since Jonathan was born!! My how time flies!! It seems like just yesterday that I was still pregnant, thinking that 70* was sweltering and freezing my poor husband out by having the AC cranked up;)

He turned 3 mos last Friday and to celebrate a little bit, earlier in the week we went to get our Xmas tree and took him to see Santa. A friend of mine, Maurissa, and her gal pal had bought Jonathan an adorable little outfit and made me promise to put him in it for his picture with Santa. While the outfit was cute as can be, trying to get him in it was like trying to wrestle a gorilla in a size small jumpsuit-not easy. But, I persevered and after some jostling and fussing on Jonathan's part, he was in the outfit and all ready to see Santa.

I LOVED the Santa they had here at the mall! He was so realistic looking!! His outfit was wonderful and the beard and hair were all his. If there hadn't been other people in line, I would have asked to sit on his lap and get my picture taken! He was such a sweet man and said that Jonathan was a handsome little man and so well behaved. In actuality he had been sleeping and we had to wake him up for the picture;) Thank goodness the people behind us were patient and allowed us some latitude to get him all ready. It did take a few times to get a good pic since Bubbie was mesmerized by the red sign for the Guess store-it was this giant red thing in a sea of monotone colors.

After we got done at the mall, we went to lunch at the restaurant a friend runs. After feeding the two of us and Bubbie, we went on the foray to find our Xmas tree. We didn't want to take Jonathan out of the car since it was FREEZING that day, so I put on my big girl panties and picked out the tree myself. Chris just helped the guy get it in the car (after they listened to me on which end to put in first) and after 3 tries we were off.

When we got home Chris and I decorated the tree and got it almost done before the little Mister wanted some food. I was so happy that Chris took such an active role in our first family day out. He isn't big on the whole Christmas thing, but knew that this was important to me for Bubbie's first one. I can't wait for next year. Chris has promised to put up ALL the outside decorations we have, including getting a long ladder and doing lights on the eaves!! He wants the first Xmas that Jonathan will be old enough to enjoy and all those after to be good ones with happy memories:)

I did take a picture for his 3 mos shot

and wished we could have gotten a smile out of him. He has been smiling so much more for about the past week and has started with the squeals of joy. He rolled over for the first time the day before Thanksgiving

I don't think I can fit that in my mouth uncle John....

and while he doesn't' do it for his tummy time every day, he has rolled over several times since and in both directions. I even recorded it with my phone so I could send a video to my mom and so Chris could watch it since he hasn't personally witnessed it yet. Jonathan has also decided that standing is a wonderful thing and he likes to bounce. For Xmas he has a tummy time mat and a jumperoo under the tree which are both things I think he was LOVE even if it might be another month before he has the stability in his neck for the jumperoo.

That's MY baby-get away!!

When we first brought Jonathan home from the hospital, we were a smidge worried. We have a cat named Jade,

whom usually just keeps to herself, and a Pug named Ruby,

who has been the baby in this family since we got her (even though Jade is the younger, newer pet) and wondered if she would allow that role to go to the small human life form we carried in and sat on the floor. The first thing she did after sniffing him was try and crawl into his carrier with him!! It was hilarious and I wish we had gotten a picture. Jade however was freaked out by his noises and movements and would run away from him for the first month or so that he was home.

Ruby has since taken the role of protector. She needs to check in on Jonathan when she gets up or when she comes in from going outside. When my Mother-in-law was here for a sewing weekend, Ruby always had to be between her dog Pepper and the baby. When we feed or hold him, she also needs to be in our lap as close to him as she can get-usually that means putting her head on his feet.

Now that Jade has gotten used to having Jonathan home, she will come over and investigate when we are having tummy time or when I am feeding him if Ruby isn't already on the other half of my lap. While I try to encourage that, Ruby has other ideas. She has started chasing Jade from the living room most of the time if Jonathan is up and if she deems it acceptable to allow Jade into the living room, the cat is NOT allowed near Ruby's boy!!

The other day we were on the floor for tummy time and Jade came in to investigate. Ruby paced her around the baby so that she was ALWAYS between the cat and Jonathan. I was sitting at his feet and they walked the other three sides of his body from right to left and back again. It was too funny to watch, but Ruby was not about to let that other animal near HER baby!! I am not sure how to correct this problem, and hope with time it will fix itself.