Three Months

Matthew Jr. you are THREE months old!!

(once again, I'm late with this post, but who's counting anyways??? I'm writing this as if Matthew just turned three months old! In between then and now he's already changed! YIKES!)

What have you been up to this month???

I don't know how much you weigh, how tall you are, or how big your head is! We go to the doctor next month, and I'll find out then. I know you are growing though!!

You wear size TWO diapers!

You are wearing all 3-6 month clothes now. Your sleepers and jumpers are all 9 months!

I love to nurse! You still nurse about every three or three and a half hours during the day. You spit up quite a bit, but it doesn't seem to bother you.

Funny story about my nephew Caleb. If you know Caleb, then you know how quirky and hilarious he really is. So one night before bible study, he was talking to baby Matthew, and Matthew started to fuss a bit. Caleb turns to Matthew, and says "What's wrong kid?" I told Caleb that baby Matthew was hungry. So Caleb gives a big cheesy smile, grabs a blanket, and says to baby Matthew, "Better go under the blanket, bud." HA! Obviously Caleb doesn't really know what Matthew does under there, but he knew that Matthew goes under a blanket to eat!

You like to sit in your Bumbo!

Sleep hasn't really changed that much this month. I still nurse you around 9:30-10:00pm, and then you sleep for 5-6 hours, wake up between 3-4am, nurse for about 15 minutes, and then go right back down to sleep until 7-7:30. I haven't let you cry it out during the night yet...we are probably getting close to that, but I keep hoping that one night you will just sleep through the 3-4am feeding. You are very tired when you wake up in the middle of the night, that I don't think you would cry for too long, but I just haven't been able to make myself do it yet! Luckily, we are up, nurse, and are back to sleep for the night in about 20 minutes.

We went to alot of Daddy's baseball games.

You are sleeping in your pack and play in our room at night. You take all of your naps during the day upstairs in your own crib, but still hang out with mom and dad at night. I put you down to sleep tired but awake, and you are doing great at putting yourself to sleep!

Once you wake up in the morning, you nurse, are awake for about an hour and a half, and then are ready to go down for a good 1-2 hour morning nap. You wake up happy, nurse, and are awake for about 1-2 hours, and then go down for another 1-2 hour early afternoon nap. The rest of the day, you stay awake for 1-2 hours at a time, but your naps tend to be shorter in the evening.

You are doing better being in your car seat, but the minute we put you in the car, you start to cry.

You are such a mover and a goer. You LOVE to stand! You also love to be bounced a jostled all around!

You love tummy time, and push up so well on your arms! You are still only rolling over from your stomach to your back.

We still swaddle you like a burrito when you sleep!

You are a very particular baby, especially when you are tired. To calm you down, you like to be bundled, have your binky, and be held facing outward. If you are not swaddled really tight, you get very upset. Mommy has gotten called out of bible study a number of times because you aren't swaddled tight enough and won't calm down. Usually when I go into the nursery at church, it is you and your cousin Joshua screaming. Lyndie and I like to laugh at how the Stevens boys are causing all the trouble!

Your smiles and coos melts my heart!!

We bathe you at night, and you LOVE to splash and play in the tub!
 

We put you in your Jumperoo at 3 months because you hold your head up and stand so well. You loved it!

You are just barely starting to laugh. It's not very often, but every once in awhile we can get a small belly laugh out of you when we tickle you or bounce you around.

You are very ticklish up your spine.

You were sick for the first time this month. We all got nasty colds. I was amazed at how quickly you got over it though! We had one tough day and night where you were stuffed up, had a runny nose, a cough, and a fever, but by the next day you were doing MUCH better!

You discovered your hands at two a a half months. You LOVE to put them in your mouth and suck on them. You started by just sucking on your fist, but now all the fingers go in your mouth. Sometimes you gag yourself because you get your fingers in too far!

Daddy went away to a wedding in Florida for a few days, so while he was gone, we had a sleepover at Grammy and Grandpas house!

I celebrated my first Mother's Day with you!

Matthew Jay I cannot believe you have changed so much! Your Daddy and I love you SOOOO much!

California

First airplane ride, check!

First trip to Disneyland, check!

First Major League Baseball game, check!

9 weeks old and our baby is already seeing the country!

When I was about 8 months pregnant, Matt came home from school one day, and asked if I wanted to go to California for a baseball tournament with his high school team...and a 9 week old  baby! At first I wasn't sure about traveling with an infant, but I thought I might as well be adventerous, considering I would be on maternity leave, and it would be such a fun experience for our family!

Matt coaches varsity baseball for his high school, and every few years, the school will help pay for a trip to a tournament out of state. So over Easter weekend we took 12 high schoolers, 2 coaches, 2 mom chaperones, myself and baby to California for 5 nights! We had a blast! Here are some highlights from our trip....

These are some of the guys at the airport. They were all SO sweet with baby Matthew! When we had Matthew, I thought we might call him different names like Junior, MJ or something like that. However, Matthew has been the only name that has stuck for us...except for Matt's baseball team. It's really cute because they all call him Junior.
I love it!

Matthew did amazing on the airplane rides! I nursed him about 15 minutes before we boarded the plane, and bundled him all up. By the time we were taking off, he was falling asleep and sucking on his binkie. He slept most of the trip, and I nursed him again just before we landed. I had nightmares of him screaming the whole flight, and was so relieved at how well he did! On the flight to California, they gave us an extra middle seat, so we were able to lay Matthew between us, and give my lap a break!

 This is his makeshift hotel bed!  A couple cushions, blankets, pillows, and a white noise machine! He slept pretty good while we were in California. He obviously was completely off his usual schedule and routine, but overall did really well.

Our hotel room was right next to one of the players room. Every morning, one of the guys would come downstairs and tell me exactly what time Matthew woke up during the night, because he could hear him crying! Ha! Poor guy...thankfully he was so gracious about it!

The weather was so gorgeous! Matthew sporting his new sunglasses! What a little stud!



I love his bright blue/grey eyes!!

One night we went to Disneyland!  We were there from 5-midnight, so the time went by quickly, but we had a blast! Last year, we found out I was pregnant the night before Matt and I were leaving on a trip to Disneyland...we were obviously extremely excited, but it also meant that I could only ride rides like Dumbo and It's a Small World. So this time around, I was determined to go on all the big rides! One of the moms who also went on the trip doesn't like the rides, so she graciously offered to watch Matthew, so that Matt and I could enjoy the rides together! We had so much fun, but seriously, we are not night owls, so by the time midnight came around, we were exhausted!

Kinda funny story...while at Disneyland, baby Matthew was getting really tired and ready to go to bed. However, he was fighting it like crazy and was really fussy. So I nursed him, and he was still crying! We decided to put him in the Moby wrap, carry him around for awhile, and see how he did. Now mind you, at Disneyland, you can take babies on alot of the rides with an adult. So knowing we were on a time frame, Matt strapped on the Moby (which keeps baby extremely snug), and we got in line for Pirates of the Carribean. Matthew cried and cried! We finally got him calmed down about the time we were getting on the ride. Go figure, we would get put in the front of the boat for the ride. Now this ride is like a 10+ minute water ride, that slowly takes you through the scenes of the movie, except for 2 times when you go down a big waterfall sort of thing. So we get on the ride, and Matthew starts to scream. We are feeling like awful parents right about now. We are going along, trying to soothe our screaming baby, not enjoying the ride at all, and here comes the first drop...down we go, get splashed because we are in the first row, and Matthews eyes become huge saucers and he stops crying! I think we scared him out of his crying fit! For the next little while, he looked around with the biggest eyes taking in all the scenery and lights, and fell fast asleep about half way through the ride!

That night, once we got back to the hotel, and crashed, Matthew woke up about 3 am. He was crying pretty loudly, and I could not get him to nurse or stop crying. I was trying everything I could think of to get him to stop crying, but it wasn't working. I also couldn't get him to open his eyes. Matt woke up and tried to get him to stop crying too. It was like he was still sleeping, but was having a nightmare of his experience on the Pirates of the Carribean! So Matt finally got him to stop crying, and once he opened his eyes he gave his Daddy the biggest grin! It was so sweet and we got a pretty good laugh out of it! We now like to joke that when he's screaming, he is probably having a nightmare about the pirates!

On Easter Sunday the team had the day off. We started the morning by going to a wonderful church service together and celebrating the Lords Resurrection! We then set off for Matthew's first Major League baseball game at Angels Stadium! That evening we were going to go to the beach to have a time of testimony and fellowship, but it was the one day that was chilly, and even rained, so those plans got put on hold. We missed celebrating Matthew's first Easter with our family and church family though!

I thought this would be the perfect sun hat for Matthew while we were in California...only I never tried it on him before we left!

I never thought that a hat would be too big for a Stevens head! Ha!

Matt's team went 2-2 in the tournament

We speant a beautiful evening at the beach!

 Matthew wasn't really sitting up...he was sitting on a wall, and I was kneeling behind it holding him up!

Okay, does this picture not scream Caleb?!?!?!

Matt is blessed to be a part of a wonderful coaching staff!

We had such a great first trip with baby!

 We loved getting to spend time with Matt's team, and also time together as a family!

Uncle Adam & Aunt Willow

So I'm still a little behind on my posts, but I wanted to catch up on whats been going on at the Stevens house!

About a month ago, my brother, Adam, and his new wife, Willow came for a visit to meet baby Matthew! It was SO good to see them and spend time together! They live in Colorado, and we miss them very much!

Adam and Willow got married in Sayulita, Mexico on February 5th, 2011. It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding, but unfortunately, I only got to experience it through pictures...I was almost 39 weeks pregnant. Needless to say, our little Matthew Jr. was a little surprise to his mommy and daddy!

Anyways, we had such a fun weekend together....although, doesn't it always seem like time goes by WAY too fast???

We spent most of our time just hanging out together, loving the short time we got to spend together! One morning we all went to breakfast at The Salish Lodge up at Snoqualmie Falls. The food was delicious!!

Daddy even rocked the Moby wrap!! Doesn't baby Matthew look so sweet in his hat?!?!

Uncle Adam even got his first shot at a diaper change!

Uncle Adam and Aunt Willow, we love you guys SO much, and miss you like crazy! Thank you so much for coming to visit and love on baby Matthew! We can't wait to see you this summer!

Two months

I have to admit, I was really gung ho about my blog when I first started it, but the past few weeks have been really busy for us, so I've fallen way behind!
 So here's my attempt at catching up and trying to stay up to date!


Matthew Jr. you are TWO months old!
(actually right now you are 2.5 months old, but I'm just posting this late! woops!)

I'm amazed at how you seem to be changing everyday!

What are you up to these days?

You weigh 12 pounds 9.5 ounces (75th percentile)

You are 24 inches long (80th percentile) You grew 2 inches this month!

Your head is 16 1/4 inches (80th percentile)

You are still wearing size one diapers...not for too much longer though!

You are wearing all 3 month or 3-6 month shirts and jumpers. You can still wear your 0-3 month pants. I can't believe how fast you are growing. It was so hard for me to put away your newborn clothes!

You obviously are a great eater! During the day, you nurse about every 3 hours. You mean business when you eat...you are done nursing in about 15 minutes!

We are very happy with sleep these days. I nurse you before we go to bed, and then you sleep 4-6 hours, nurse and go right back down for a few more hours. Usually you eat around 10 pm, wake up between 2 & 4:30, and then sleep until 6:30-7:30, and then we are up for the day!

You are still sleeping in our room. Our master bedroom and downstairs, and Matthew's nursery is upstairs, so we haven't made the move yet. You sleep in your pack-and-play next to our bed, and so far it's the easiest set up for us.

We got a white noise machine for your pack-and-play and think that it works great!

We are doing a sleep/schedule method called Babywise. We are loving it! You stay on a pretty good schedule throughout the day of nursing, being awake for 1-2 hours, sleep for 1-2 hours, and then repeat! Sometimes you will nap for longer periods, and sometimes you don't want to sleep for more then 45 minutes. I think that I have you figured out, and the next day you decide to do something different!

You still hate your car seat and the car.....you cry almost EVERY TIME we put you in it.

You are getting so strong! You love to stand and push with your legs all the time! When you are on your tummy you hold your head up and push up onto your arms!

I can't believe it, but my baby is rolling over! You can roll from your tummy to your back! You started doing this at 7 weeks old. We can't keep you on your tummy anymore, because you just roll over to your back!

You love to lay on your back, kick your legs and stretch your arms

You still have blue/grey eyes...I hope that they don't change. They are so beautiful! You are SO expressive with your face, eyes and eyebrows! We love staring at you!

You still love to be swaddled tight when you sleep...if you aren't swaddled you wake yourself right up.

You LOVE your baths and showers! I'm hoping that you are going to be a water baby! Actually more then anything, I think you just love having you clothes off and being naked!

You are a paci baby...I love how it calms you down, but sometimes you spit it out when you are trying to go to sleep, and will scream until you get it back....love/hate relationship!!

Your chin still quivers...it's so cute! It always quivers when you are cold, but it will quiver when you are happy or just staring at someone too!

You grunt alot and like to make noises...your daddy did this when he was a baby too! Like father, like son...

We went to Children's hospital this month because you were tongue tied. The doctor snipped the tissue under your tongue, and fixed the problem! It was the easiest procedure. Of course you cried when he did it, but afterwards you were happy and we couldn't tell you had anything done...except now you can stick out and play with your tongue!

You got a few shots this month. Poor little guy was a bit fussy and had a low grade temp the rest of the evening...just an excuse for lots of cuddles!

You have found the TV! You love to just stare at all the lights and colors... daddy especially likes it when sports are on!

Mommy and Daddy got their first date night when you were 5 weeks old. Grandpa and Grammy were your first "babysitters" and watched you while we went out to dinner at Claim Jumpers, went shopping, and ran some errands. Thankfully you take the bottle great! Thanks mom and dad for watching Matthew! It was so nice to have some time away with just my husband!

You first smiled at 6 weeks old!!! I love it!!! You love to coo when you are happy too!

Matthew Jr. you are SO loved and such a blessing from the Lord!