The Last Few Weeks

I'm such a lucky girl!  For just over a week now, my mom's been here to help me with Isaac!  Apparently she couldn't wait until Thanksgiving to see the world's cutest baby.  I can't blame her, I don't think I could wait 3 weeks to see this cuteness.

Seriously... isn't he adorable?

We've been having lots of fun with Grandma Jensen.  She enjoys dancing with Isaac, bouncing Isaac, and all sorts of things that result in him calming down.  A lot of the day looks something like this...

Sometimes though, all Isaac wants to do is curl up with his mommy.  The other night we were having mommy/son nap time (which really needs to happen way more than it does) and he wrapped both arms around my hand to make sure I kept that binky in his mouth.  It was pretty cute.

No, I don't blow dry my hair in the living room.  It turns out hair dryers are magical baby quieting devices.  You turn them on and they stop crying instantly.

Isaac has also been learning some new things the last couple weeks.  He's starting to smile at us (although we have yet to actually capture it on camera) and he makes the cutest faces.  Yesterday we caught him doing this...

Yes, my mom is holding his hands in this picture, but he was doing it on his own for awhile before we were able to get a good picture.

On Friday we took him in for his 2 week check-up (and to get circumcised).  He weighed in at 10 lbs and 3.5 oz and was 22 3/4" long.  At least I don't have to worry that he's not getting enough food even though he usually doesn't nurse for very long!  While we were there Dr. Grandpa Brasher also pulled off Isaac's cord.  We all laughed a little because we've been so careful not to tug on it at all and he just twisted it right off.  It's been such a relief to have it gone though!

Now that his cord is gone we've started having tummy time for a few minutes each day.  Last night when we put him on his stomach he tucked his arms in and held his head up for over a minute (long enough at least for both Andy and my mom to get their cameras and get pictures).  

Now we're just getting excited for tomorrow when my dad and sisters get into town so we can have even more with Isaac!  We're also excited for Sunday when Andy gets to bless our little man.

One Week!!

Not so little Isaac is officially one week old today!  I can't believe that he's been with us for that long, but at the same time I can't believe that he's only been with us for a week (maybe that's what happens when you only sleep 1-2 hours at a time).

We've been so blessed in the week since he was born though!  Our ward has been so generous with meals this last week!  We seriously don't have any space left in our fridge!  Andy and I had to come up with a plan of attack last night to finish off some of the leftovers so we can have a little bit of space again.

I've also been feeling incredibly blessed by my mother-in-law Susie's willingness to give up her days to come help me with Isaac.  It's been so nice to go take a shower and not have to worry about whether or not my baby is screaming outside.  She also forced me to go take naps (I'm not good at sleeping during the day).

Andy and I also got the exciting news on Tuesday that my mom has decided she cannot live 2 more weeks before seeing the cutest baby in the world and instead she's coming out on Tuesday (just 5 more days)!!  She asked if a week and a half was too long for her to be out here with us and Andy and I just looked at each other and said no immediately.  Since I was told not to plan on leaving the apartment before Thanksgiving, it will be such a blessing to have her here to keep me company during that last week.  Otherwise I would be going crazy by the time they got here!

Most of all though, both Isaac and I have been blessed with health.  I'm healing a lot faster than I would have thought possible given how awful I was feeling this time last week (and how worried about me everyone was).  I can get up and move around without pain and without feeling dizzy.

At one week, Isaac is a happy, healthy baby.  He has a pretty busy schedule every day.  He wakes up to eat about every 1 1/2 - 2 hours and if he's not being fed within about 30 seconds of waking up, things are not going to go well!  In between feedings, he doesn't waste calories on being awake.  Instead he goes straight to sleep (except at night when he spends about 30 minutes staring at you after a feeding).  My favorite parts of the day though are when he's deciding whether or not to wake up or stay asleep... he'll go back and forth for 5-10 minutes sometimes and the performance includes amazing arm movements!  Due to the lack of movement on his part, Isaac is developing the cutest chubby cheeks and neck fat rolls!  Andy is terrified that Isaac is going to be a fat baby, but I'm excited.  Hopefully he'll get chubby enough that he won't be able to start moving too soon (my brother didn't roll over until he was almost 6 months old because he was so fat!).

Anyways, now what everyone really cares about... some pictures of Isaac over the last week.

Isaac when he was 3 days old (notice how skinny his face looks)

In his bouncer right after we put him in (when we're smart and remember to strap him in)

In his bouncer about 30 minutes after being put in (when we forget to strap him in).  Don't ask me how on earth that's comfortable to him.

Isaac this morning.  Check out the double chin and neck rolls on that baby!!  They're not always quite so prominent, but he's definitely gotten a lot bigger!

Welcome to the World!

So, now that we finally have something worth blogging about, Andy and I thought we'd finally start a family blog.  On Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 8:51 a.m. (after 29 hours of labor) we welcomed the newest member of our family into the world--Isaac James Brasher.  He weighed in at 9 lbs. 7 oz and was 21 inches long.  Neither of us were expecting a baby who was anywhere close to that big!!  Both Isaac and I are now at home and doing fine.

Below are some pictures of Isaac and us since he was born.

Andy first holding Isaac

Me getting to meet him for the first time

Our first family photo

Isaac giving us what we've now decided is his favorite look.  We just haven't figured out yet what emotion he's conveying.

Going for a thoughtful pose.

Lots of people have asked for details about the labor and delivery... if you want those details, read on.  This is just the short version though, there are a lot of other things that happened, but I'm still wrapping my head around some of them.