Happy 1 Month Birthday, Gabriel!

Emily and Ruthie with Gabriel on Mother's Day

 All of the cousins (except Chase since we couldn't get him to sit still) from the Sneed side of the family

 An unintentional smile (but we love it anyways!)

 Looking so serious as Nana holds him

 Gabe and I on Mother's Day (I so wanted Chase in this picture, but he refused to cooperate)

 Looking so peaceful and snugly

 Chase with no pants on (part of potty training) and 19-month old cousin Jaycee Turner

Wide awake after a bath

 Auntie Amber holding Gabe for the first time

Wow, time surely does fly! Gabriel is 4 weeks old today!!!  This past month has been a blur to me.  I've been in a continuous cycle of nursing, changing diapers, and sleeping when I can.  On average, Gabe nurses every 3-4 hours; sometimes we can make it for 5-hour stretches, but I'd say the norm is to get a solid 3-4 hours of sleep at a time in between feedings at nights. Surprisingly, I'm not a walking zombie as one would think, but I will say motherhood is more tiring this time around since I have Chase to entertain on top of the demands of a newborn.  My grandmother has been watching Chase some days, but I've had Chase here with me at home the vast majority of the time I've been off from work.  My mornings start around 6:30 (7 if I'm lucky) with Chase waking Gabriel and I up and asking me to go downstairs and get him some milk (keep in mind Chase just turned 3 and is still too young to fend for himself).  Our mornings are usually filled with Nick Jr. or watching the movie Cars one or two times while I nurse Gabe.  If I can get Gabe back in a sound sleep, Chase and I will sometimes play outside for an hour or two on a nice day before heading back inside for lunch and an afternoon nap. The afternoon nap is for Chase; I rarely get one since Chase is usually going down for a nap when Gabe is waking up.  My most exhausting time of the day is usually by the time Chase wakes up from his nap and Tim comes home from work.  Fortunately, Tim has been a huge help in taking Chase to the park and entertaining him for a few hours in the afternoon while I can get some quiet time with Gabe; sometimes I can sneak in a power nap.  The rest of the evening/night usually consists of cooking dinner (unless we do take out) and getting the boys ready for bed (Tim helps out with this process, thank God). I try to turn in for the night upstairs around 9 PM or whenever Gabriel falls back asleep after having a good amount of awake time.  Tim and I have been sleeping in separate rooms since Gabe has been born in order for Tim to get a good night's sleep so he can function at work.  It's been kind of lonely not having him in the same bed, but I know this is a short-lived experience when you look at the big picture.

Gabriel is definitely growing from his frequent feedings.  We see Dr. Baust on Tuesday for a check-up and a round of immunizations (no fun).  The 2-week check-up had Gabe weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds, 13 ounces.  He was also measured at 22" in length, which leads me to believe he was too curled up at birth to get an accurate measurement then.  I'd say overall Gabe has been a good baby.  The first two weeks were super easy with hardly any fussing.  The last two weeks I've noticed increased fussiness due to gas, but as soon as he gets the gas out of his system he's content again.  I remember Chase being the same way as a baby, but I still feel Gabriel is more laid back.  We've only used a pacifier on him once and the rest of the time he's been consolable and content.  Although he's been exclusively breastfed, he's had a bottle of pumped milk a few times just so we can get him used to taking a bottle before I return to work.  He took the bottle like a pro! 

Speaking of returning to work, I'm still not mentally ready to do that.  I'll most likely add an extra week of my vacation on to the remaining two weeks of maternity leave to give myself three more weeks of being a stay-at-home mom.  The first few months of a newborn's life goes by in a blink and I want to savor every moment I possibly can.  Plus, I've enjoyed getting things accomplished during my time off, such as shopping, working in the yard, and organizing odds and ends around the house.  I've also made headway with potty training Chase.  It's still a work in progress, but we're getting closer.  Our goal is to have it mastered this summer so that Chase can start preschool in the fall.  I'll type more on Chase attending preschool in the next blog posting since it's still not finalized which preschool he'll attend, but we have a good idea after I've done a lot of research.

Mother's Day was extra special this year.  Unfortunately, we didn't go to church due to mere exhaustion, but we did join my family at my grandmother's house for a cookout.  Both sets of of my grandparents were there as was the rest of the Sneed family.  Tim had a beautiful flower bouquet for me for Mother's Day.  Having a wonderful husband and being a mom to two precious boys has been more blessings than I ever imagined!