Taste and See

Ryan preached from Psalm 34 at our church on Sunday. It is such a blessing to get to watch my husband doing what God has called him to do. Click here if you would like to hear his sermon.

The Great Diaper Challenge

Since the first week of Caleb's life, we've been facing this and it's just become more and more of a problem. Apparently, our son has a bladder the size of a giant water balloon because he has been leaking out of all his diapers. I don't mean just leaking--I mean completely soaking whatever he's wearing and often even the blanket around him. It hasn't been an issue of the diapers not fitting but simply an inadequate amount of absorbency. It's been baffling to me because it has been a constant battle. It's also not an issue of changing his diapers more regularly. I recently was changing his diaper (which was soaked, along with his clothes) and had just put on a new diaper and new clothes. Seriously, within 30 seconds, I looked down and watched as his light blue onesie turned dark blue.

I tried every different tactic I could think of when putting on his diapers, but nothing worked. So, I switched Caleb from Pampers Newborn Swaddlers to Huggies Newborn Little Snugglers. It didn't seem to matter what he wore; he was always leaking. Finally, I decided to go up to Pampers Size 1 Swaddlers. This wasn't because he needed a bigger size but because I was desperate for more absorbency. JACKPOT!! Caleb hasn't leaked out of his diaper once since we switched! YEA!!

It was a sad thing putting that first Size 1 diaper on him, though. Sad to think my 3 week old was no longer wearing Newborn diapers. Sad to see how huge that diaper was on him (I mean, seriously, this little boy is all diaper now. It's crazy to me how huge of a difference there is in size between a Newborn diaper and a Size 1 diaper. I think it's got to be close to double.) But oh the joy of knowing my son is dry. It's such a blessing, too, to have so many fewer diaper changes each day because we were going through them like they were hotcakes. Of course there are still lots of diapers to change each day, but at least it's a much more manageable amount.

Sweet Feet

I love them!

Ryan's Mom Visits!

Ryan's mom came to visit earlier this week, and we were so excited to introduce her to Caleb. We were once again thankful for the extra hands.

Sweet Dreams

I recently realized how many pictures I tend to take of Caleb when he's sleeping. He just looks so peaceful every time I walk by him! I am definitely reminded of how thankful I am for digital photography--I would spend a fortune on film and developing with this little boy.

Tummy Time!

Caleb recently tried out his "tummy time mat". (Tummy time, for those of you who don't know, is important for infants to help them strengthen their neck and back muscles.) Anyway, he seemed entertained by the music, lights and mirror. It didn't last terribly long, though, before Caleb was ready for his next nap.

My Mom Visits!

My mom was recently able to visit us, and it was a blessing to have the extra hands. This is her first grandchild, and so it was exciting introducing her to Caleb. Here are a few pics from her visit:

Hospital Visitors

A little delayed, but I wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to meet our sweet boy in the hospital. It's a tremendous blessing to have such wonderful friends, and I pray that as Caleb grows that he will feel as loved as we do.

We also want to say thank you to Todd (a really gifted wedding photographer) for taking our first family portraits when they came to visit us in the hospital.

First Bath, First Sunday at Church

Caleb was not a huge fan of his first bath. Ok, not really a fan at all, but he was still pretty cute, nonetheless. In the process of bathing him, he decided it was a good opportunity to go to the restroom all over his mommy. Thank you, Leemans, for the sweet puppy dog hooded towel.






























Yesterday was Caleb's first Sunday at church (outside of the womb). Everything went well, but we were all pretty tired when we got home. I didn't get a picture of us as a family, but I love these pictures of my boys resting when we got home.

Clean Bill of Health

Today we went in for another checkup, and Caleb was given a clean bill of health. At our appointment on Thursday, he was already back up to his birth weight (8lb 10oz), and today he was up to 8lb 13oz. He's doing so well that we don't have to go back to the pediatrician until October 5 for his one month checkup! Pretty exciting seeing as how we've spent so much of his first week at doctor's appointments. Praise the Lord for His mercy on Caleb!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last few days:

Sweet boy


So peaceful


Our little froggy


Sleeping on Daddy's chest


Even laundry is more fun with this guy around!


First family walk (Wally came too but was too low for the picture)


First time in his bouncer (Thank you, Sosebees!)

The Many Faces of Crying Caleb

Caleb seems to be a really, really good and easy baby, thus far. However, when he does cry, he makes the most adorable faces! My favorite is when he sticks his lower lip out in a pouty face. These pictures in no way indicate how he spends most of his time, but I just had to share a couple with you.

Life at Home

We were discharged from the hospital Saturday afternoon and have been slowly adjusting to life at home. Unfortunately the transition hasn't been as smooth as we had envisioned, but we're still so very thankful.

Very early on Saturday morning (before we left the hospital), Caleb was diagnosed with jaundice. This is very common in newborns, and they think his jaundice is a result of the bruising on the top of his head from the delivery. Anyway, there are two common types of phototherapy treatment for jaundice. One is referred to as "the blanket", which is kind of funny because it's not a blanket at all. It's a pad that you place under the baby's back. What's nice about the blanket is that you can still hold your baby and move them around.

The second type of treatment is what I like to call "the light box" and basically looks like a tanning bed for babies. The light box is much stronger and more effective in treating jaundice but the baby just has to lay in this box alone all day (unless being fed or changed).

When we left the hospital, they were out of blankets, so we were sent home with a light box. Ryan and I had planned on spending the rest of the day as a family in bed, catching up on sleep and just being together, however, the light box changed that. Kind of a long story, but basically Caleb did not tolerate the light box well in the beginning. He had to lay in it with only his diaper on, which meant he couldn't be swaddled. At two days old, Caleb was definitely not used to being so free in his movements all day long, not to mention that all of his wiggling around was irritating his circumcision site.

It was heart breaking watching our two day old son lay in this box screaming incessantly and not being able to comfort him. We didn't keep him in the box constantly, and when we had his bilirubin levels checked at the hospital on Sunday morning, they had gone up. Our pediatrician then instructed us to keep Caleb in the light box AND on the light blanket at all times. Jaundice, though extremely common, can cause brain damage if not kept in check. We felt so bad and resolved to leave him there all day.

On Monday, his levels had dropped some, so we were told we could use either the blanket OR the light box. We decided to do the blanket during the day so we could still hold him when we wanted to and the box at night. On Tuesday morning, we had our first appointment with the pediatrician. They were very encouraged by his weight gain (8lb 10oz at birth, 8lb 4oz at discharge and 8lb 7oz yesterday), as well as his frequency of peeing and pooping. When we got the bilirubin results back yesterday afternoon, though, they had gone back up. This can be normal because the levels often peak around day 5-6, but they shouldn't keep going up. Because everything else looks so good (weight gain, peeing, pooping and his physical color--not too yellow), the pediatrician said we could discontinue the phototherapy and just let them know if there were any changes.

We go back on Thursday for another check up and ask that you would be praying that God would cure Caleb of his jaundice.

Now, on top of all of this, we discovered that Caleb was also tongue tied. The little piece of skin that connects your tongue to the bottom of your mouth extended all the way to the tip of Caleb's tongue. This is often hereditary (my brother had it) and is more common in males. Anyway, it often makes it difficult for the baby to eat because sucking is harder (though Caleb seems to be doing fine in this area), as well as later impeding speech development.

Yesterday afternoon, Caleb had his tongue clipped. It's a really easy procedure at this age and is even done without any anesthetic. If we had waited until he was 10 months, they would have had to put him under. It was so hard to hear him screaming in the next room, but he handled it like a champ and seems to be back to normal.

Everything is going more smoothly now, and we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little boy. It's so incredible to think about how long we have prayed for him and to now finally be able to hold him in our arms. Praise the Lord for His unwarranted goodness to us!