2 Month Doctor Visit

Has it really been two months? Time is flying! Andrew and I took Peter to the doctor today for his 2 month check-up. He is 24 inches long and 11 lbs 5 oz! I was so happy to see his weight gain. It's hard knowing how much milk he's getting when I'm nursing him, so knowing that he gained 2 lbs in the past month was very reassuring. He did great and didn't cry when the doctor examined him. Dr. Esparza listened to his heart for what seemed like longer than normal. He heard a slight heart murmur and wants us to get it checked out by a pediatric cardiologist. The doctor said that it is probably nothing to be concerned about, but he wants us to get it checked out just in case. The neonatologist in the NICU also heard a slight murmur. Please pray that it takes care of itself on its own and doesn't prove to be a concern!

Peter also had his 2 month vaccines today. 3 shots in the leg and one oral dose. Andrew held him because I just couldn't do it. Peter screamed when the shots went in, but he calmed down pretty quickly. Now we just continue praying that he doesn't have any reactions to the vaccines. He is now sound asleep in his carseat.

Answered Prayer

My grandfather was hospitalized in August with West Nile Virus. Andrew and I went to Houston when I was 33 weeks pregnant to see him. I prayed over and over that PawPaw would make it so that he could meet his newest great-grandson. That prayer was answered last weekend when Peter and I were able to visit PawPaw at the hospital. Although he is still on the ventilator, he is making progress with coming off of it. We can't wait to visit again - hopefully at his house!

Peter meets June Bug for the first time.

Mom held Peter up so PawPaw could see him. Then he layed next to PawPaw in bed!

First Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Peter's first Thanksgiving in Houston. It was the first time that Peter had ridden in a car for more than 20 minutes or so, and he did great! He slept the entire way and woke up just as we were turning into Jersey Village. I was able to eat while Grandpa and Peter chilled in the living room. It was nice to eat warm food! Andrew had to return to Austin on Thursday evening for work on Friday, but Peter and I stayed until Sunday. Peter got to meet a lot of new people in Houston. Here are some pictures from our weekend...

Ready to go...

Hanging with Grandpa while Mom eats

Cousins Jennifer and Heather clean the kitchen

Meeting cousin Jennifer

David (Jennifer's husband) and their dog Pepper

Meeting Uncle Bryan and cousin Christopher

Meeting cousin Katelynn

Peter and Mommy

Peter and Daddy

Sleeping in Aunt Becky's arms

Carolyn and Peter (Carolyn and Kara worked at Camp Peniel together.)

Meeting Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Amy - Can't wait to meet Baby Beeler in April!

Annick and Peter (Kara and Annick went to middle school together.)

Arranged Marriage

Ok, so maybe we can't arrange his marriage, but they sure are cute together!

We took Peter to church on Sunday. It was his second time in Sunday School and his first time in "Big" church. He fell asleep during Sunday School and slept through part of church. Then he fell asleep again once I was holding him. The picture is of Peter and Addie. Addie is a month younger than Peter, and her grandparents are our Sunday School teachers. Aren't they a cute little couple? :)

When All Else Fails . . . Use the Wii!

We were introduced to the Wii last weekend after watching UT beat Tech at Chris and Kristen's house. Peter went through three cycles of eating, napping, and playing while Daddy tried to beat Chris at Wii tennis time after time after time. After hearing "Just one more game..." for the fifteenth time, we finally left after 10pm after being over at their house for 8 hours!

On Sunday, Daddy and Uncle Vinny went to Walmart to see if they had the Wii in stock. Vinny had also been recently introduced to the Wii, and he wanted one of his own. Walmart was out, but Target had 2. Well, now they have 1 - Vinny bought the other!

They plugged it in at our house on Sunday, and Vinny left it here for a few days. For the past couple of nights, Daddy and Peter have been improving their bowling skills. The movement is perfect for Peter - it puts him right to sleep!!!

Some people rock the baby, some people put the baby in the car and drive around, some people put the baby in a sling - We Wii!! :)

Success!

Peter slept in his bassinet for most of last night. This is the first time! He slept with me on the couch for about an hour before we went upstairs.

He slept in our bed from 10:30 - 12:30. Andrew woke me up at 12:30 to let me know Peter was hungry. He wasn't fussing or crying - he was just enjoying sucking on his hand. This is a sure sign that crying is next, so I got up to feed him. I swaddled him and put him in his bed at 1:30. He slept until 4:30 - 3 hours of sleep for Mom!!! I fed him at 4:30 and put him back to bed at 5:30. He slept until 8:20!

He usually takes his naps either in my arms, his pack 'n play, or his carseat (if we're out running errands). Today I took a chance and put him down in his bassinet. He was tired, but he wasn't asleep. I swaddled him, put him down, and turned on the radio. A few minutes of fussing and he was out! He slept from 10:30-11:20 this morning!!! I was able to take a shower and still have time to spare. :)

He napped again this afternoon for 2 hours in his bassinet. This is the first time that he has napped for this long alone. I was so proud of him. Now we are headed to bed . . . I'm hoping for a repeat of last night. :)

You Might Not Believe It...

Last Tuesday evening, Andrew took over Peter duty so I could take a shower. After showering, I was getting dressed when I heard a very sweet sound downstairs. Andrew's mom had given us 3 Praise Baby DVDs back in July. Praise Baby is very similar to Baby Einstein DVDs with a Christian twist - it's 30 minutes of praise music sung by a female with pictures of babies, nature, numbers, letters, etc. For those of you who know my husband well, this is NOT his style of music at all! When we got the DVDs, I figured it would be one of those things that Peter would watch while Daddy was at work because I wasn't even sure Daddy could tolerate the sweet music of the DVDs. Imagine my surprise when I came downstairs after my shower to see Daddy and Peter singing and dancing to the Praise Baby music. Andrew had sung almost the entire DVD to him! It's amazing what a dad will do to calm his fussy baby. I wish I had a video of it, but I think Andrew would have definitely deleted that footage!

Time Flies!

Peter Andrew Hazen

Peter is already a month old! Time sure flies by. It's hard to believe that just a month ago we were at the hospital. We have had TONS of visitors since arriving home! It was nice to have so many people staying with us for the first month to help with laundry, dishes, cleaning, and loving on Peter. It's amazing the things I took for granted before he was born -- things like showering every morning, eating warm food, sleeping for more than an hour at a time...Although life has changed drastically for us, our little boy is absolutely worth every bit of it. I never thought I would be so in love with someone so little and completely dependent on me that getting up in the middle of the night was actually a blessing - a time to snuggle and enjoy the new little blessing that God has given to us.

Here are a few pics from the past few weeks!

Grandma and Grandpa Hazen visit from New Jersey!

Aunt Amy visits from New Jersey!

Grandma visits from Houston!

Papa John and Grandma visit from Johnson City!

Mr. and Mrs. Hastings visit from across the street!

Visiting with the Great-Grandparents!

Grandma Karen visits from Las Vegas!

Grandpa visits from Houston!

Mommy and Peter reading the mail.

Aunt Kris and Uncle Bill come for dinner.