My Boys and Bottles

There is nothing I love so much as seeing these two guys together. There is no question that Brian is this little guy's father. Talk about resemblance!

A recent development has been the introduction of bottles in our lives. Brian has started taking one of the night feedings, usually the first, which means that I get to go to bed earlier and get a little more consecutive sleep. This is a HUGE help for me, and I think/hope that Brian is enjoying the one on one time with Nat. Have I mentioned that this is HUGE for me?

I've been pumping from the start, but we wanted to make sure that nursing was going well before brought bottles into the mix. After the first few times he got a little lazy with me, so we had to take a break, but I think we're getting to the point where he can go back and forth without too much confusion. 

The last two nights have yielded a 5 hour sleeping stretch after Brian's bottle. I don't know if those two things are related, but I'm a fan. 

Donnells Come to Visit

One of the perks of living in Ann Arbor is having Jessie nearby in Toledo/Maumee.  We LOVE getting to see here more regularly, and she's been a great sport about coming to us. Here are a few pictures from her first visit. Nat was still in his baby coma phase so she got some good sleeping naked baby time.

Unfortunately for us, the rest of my cousins have ventured (or stayed) out west so we felt especially glad that we got to see ALL of the Donnells on when everyone came back for Jenny's baby shower. They were awesome enough to make the trek up to Ann Arbor to meet Nathan and see the house, and we had a blast. Nat even managed to hold it together almost all evening even though it was the witching hour. I wish I had taken more photos, but Liz posted a few more on her blog here. She takes better pictures than I do anyway.

Getting Some zzzzZZZZs (him, not us)

For the most part we've been lucky with Nathan's sleep habits so far. The first few weeks were especially easy as he was practically comatose most of the time. Just waking him enough to eat was a challenge.

As we moved into weeks 3 and 4 we started having to work slightly harder to get him the sleep he needs, but for the most part if he's looking tired he'll go down without too much of a fight. Thankfully, he hasn't gotten too wedded to any particular place for sleeping and sleep well in crib, bassinet, and car.

Our little fella doesn't seem to have much awake time in him, but when he does, he's usually a doll. But that's a separate post.

2 weeks old

4 weeks old

Happy Mother's Day!

I’m a lucky lucky woman. With calls, texts, and cards from many wonderful people, my first Mother’s Day was a blessing. To start things off, Nathan had his first 4 hour sleeping stretch the night before, and I swear I almost felt well rested in the morning. God bless that boy. Brian made me breakfast and surprised me with a truly lovely card.

We drove to Brighton for lunch and spent the day with two of the best mom’s I know, my mom and my sister. When Brian and I drove up to Liz and John’s house we were greeted by Leah and Zach hollering “Happy Mother’s Day!” which was about enough to melt my heart. The boys planned and cooked a delicious lunch complete with basil vodka gimlets (I have yet to meet a better summer cocktail). 

The stars aligned and all three kids napped at the same time, allowing the adults a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather on the porch.

Nathan is so lucky to be so adored by so many people. There is never a shortage of arms to put him in. 

Thank you to everyone who helped make my first Mother’s Day so wonderful. I’m incredibly lucky to be a mom. 

Thank you also to my amazing mother who is always an inspiration. You can never be celebrated enough.

Introducing Nathan Anders Kelly

Hello world.

Thus begins our little foray into the world of blogging.  Pioneer Woman I am not, but I’m hoping this will be a way for family and friends near and far to know what we are up to and see pictures of the new little love of our lives. 

The newest addition to our family arrived in the world on April 27th, 2012 and weighed 6 pounds and 10 ounces. We were so lucky Brian’s family had already arrived for Meghan’s graduation. So many people got to meet him on his very first birthday!  There was so much love in that hospital room for such a tiny person.

For those of you who don't know, Anders is my mother's maiden name.  I liked it for a first name, but think it makes for an excellent middle name as well.

Since his arrival we have been flooded with well wishes, gifts, and outpourings of happiness. We couldn’t be happier with him and hopefully he feels the same about us. 

Please forgive us if we’ve forgotten to send a thank you note. We've tried our best to keep things straight, but our brain power is limited at the moment, as evidenced by the fact that I wrote "brian power" the first time around.