Niko

So Niko is now almost 7 weeks old! Where did all that time go?!? I did take some pictures at one month and I used an idea that I got from a friend so I will never forget how old he was in these pictures.

Haha, he wasn't happy, but my sister convinced me to buy this huge bear by telling me I could do a grow with me type thing with it. So I bought it and here we go! He's actually stretched out in this one so I kept it for that reason ;)

Isn't the 1 month sign brilliant? I loved it so I stole it and now will have a comparison when I find random pictures and don't how know old he was. (We recently ran into this problem with mom's pictures of us)

And Sheri for some more pictures you can go here. And anyone else, but it's facebook so most of you have seen them already :) Also, if you click on the pictures a bigger one should pop up.

Valentine's Day

Our plans for Valentine's Day were the same as any other day. Go to work, come home and get stuff done or just hang out and cuddle. I woke up to chocolates from Gramma/Nanna (one for me and one for Niko)

 Mom couldn't wait until Valentine's Day, but this was her early gift to Niko

Work went well and Niko was a very good boy so that alone made my day. It's very hard to watch a newborn and three additional children that aren't yours, kinda stressful. Then I came home to all of this:

Two dozen roses, Blanco Blanco gift card and a Sanctuary Spa gift card. He said he figured my back would be hurting and could use a break from taking care of our awesome son. He is so thoughtful :)
Then we all went over to mom and dad's house for the traditional Valentine's Day dinner; heart shaped meatloaf and pink mashed potatoes. Mom gave us some super cute socks, a package of our favorite candy bars, and I feel like I'm forgetting something. But here are the cute socks and fancy container (the candy is long gone!)

 Overall it was a pretty great day considering my Valentine is half way around the world!

An awesome daddy!

I can't believe I forgot to mention this in the last post. Nathan is an awesome daddy and a fantastic husband! Even though he was home for only two weeks (essentially HIS vacation) it was all about me (while I was pregnant) and then all about that precious baby boy. The whole time he was home he was taking care of me, not letting me carry things and taking care of everything that needed to be done. Then when we were at the hospital he knew the right things to say and do and was very supportive and even had me laughing through labor.  He helped with the baby all he could. I changed one diaper I think the whole time we were there. And when we got home he would get up and change Niko's diaper after I fed him so that I could go to the bathroom before trying to sleep again. Oh and he was sick pretty much the whole time he was here! I love him so much and he does so well with a pregnant wife and with a new mom and baby! I can't wait until we are all together as a family again :)

Playing Catch Up!

So my little sister got married! The wedding was December 18th (also my brother's 30th birthday) and everything was beautiful and worked out great. Mom was a lot less stressed when that day was over!

Then we had Christmas, but I have no pictures. It was the first Christmas I spent without my parents or my little sister :( but Jenise was here with her family so Grandma and I went over to mom's house to watch my nieces and nephews open their presents. And Trevor was there too. It is so fun to watch the little ones open their gifts! They are so excited about every single one of their presents and they remember to say thank you which is adorable!

Then January came....the month I had been waiting for since we found out I was pregnant.  Nathan surprised me and showed up knocking on the door three days earlier than he told me his leave started, so that was awesome! We had a whole week together before the baby was due to arrive. We went and bought a play n pack and some other things to finish getting ready for the little guy and I really enjoyed just being with him :)
January 5th I had my last pre-natal appointment and of course Nathan got to be there (it was the third time he was able to come with me) and that alone was exciting. The doctor said we could start the induction at midnight (just so we weren't charged for a full day) and so we called to see if there was room. There was! I showered and we headed to St. Vincent hospital. I got all checked in and hooked up to machines then the fun started! They gave me cytotec at about 1:30 in the morning and then gave me ambien...so I slept a little :) They did a second dose of that and I actually went into active labor. I don't know what time I asked for the epidural, but I made it to 5 cm and my goal was six so I was fairly happy with that. And I was really happy after it kicked in! Nathan had to hold me so I didn't move and mess it or me up and he did an awesome job...and in return I didn't kick him :)
Time meant nothing most of the day, but after the epidural they started pitocin and about 4 pm the nurse thought we could try pushing. It was definitely time so mom woke Nathan up (he fell asleep on the hardwood floor :) ) and got the show on the road. Nathan did well during delivery and my mom was there to help too.
Niko Lewis Grill was born at 16:36 on January 6th, 2011.  He was 9 lbs 9oz and 22 inches long. He had lots of cameras on him through his first bath and first diaper change (which Nathan took care of beautifully!) The nurse was nervous with the bath with so many people and cameras on her. Speaking of...I had met both the nurses before. The main nurse gave use the tour of the floor on January 3rd and we told her we would be there to induce on the sixth and so she called dibs when she got to work that day. The nurse that helped a lot I had classes with at MSU-B. They were both awesome and so nice!
Niko's feet were so long they didn't fit in the little box they put prints in! His left foot had heels and toes outside the box!!!

My last pregnancy picture 39 wks 4 days

A maternity picture with Daddy

Niko is born :)

A not so little boy!

Proud Daddy and so happy he was able to be there!

The awesome doctor and nurses:

Joy, Nathan, Niko, me, Dr. Neuhoff, Becky

We're so glad that Niko is finally here and now we are just counting the days until Daddy comes home and trying to keep busy until then!

Busy week

So this week has been busy and super awesome! I've been attempting to help my mother and older sister to get things ready for my younger sister's wedding (which is next Saturday !) and so that is keeping me really busy. Basically if I don't have something else planned I'm at least over at mom's in case there is something I'm actually capable of doing to help :) I am getting to the large and not so comfortable stage of being pregnant so sometimes I really just sit and watch them, but I guess I'm cheering them on, right? So while my actual list of activities is short, the wedding stuff is what is keeping me busy. And I am still working on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So having activities the other days feels like a lot.

Tuesday the ladies from my church had a shower for me and it was awesome. Besides the uncomfortable opening presents and making sure I say something nice about everything ( I know this is something that others besides me worry about so don't even pretend to think I'm crazy!) it was really fun and way more people showed up than I expected. It may be that they just feel bad for me because my husband isn't here, but they would have to at least like me a little to care enough to come right? I got a sweet diaper cake (and it's the only one I've ever seen in real life), tons of cute clothes and various other useful things. It was great and I'm so thankful......but I was so tired by the end and it was only two hours! I'm definitely not used to getting tired so easy.

Side note, I need to learn to let people help me. I'm usually the one who is lifting heavy boxes when we get home from Costco and bringing them in with no problem. I cannot do that right now. I already hurt my back and when I try to carry heavy things in front of my large belly that only makes the object heavier and hurts my tummy and my back. I let my first heavy box go the other night....it hurt to put it in the car from the cart so I had my brother carry it in the house. Baby steps here people, I'm not going to go completely useless just because I'm pregnant. Unless I get put on bedrest....but I'm not.

Today I had my 36 week doctor's visit. I will spare you all the details but it was the best! Baby and everything is still good, heard the heart beat and had a few other business things to take care of, but I asked about being induced and got the exact answer I wanted. I will be induced a few days after Nathan gets home so that we can have some alone time, have the baby, bless the baby on Sunday and then have almost a full week as a family before he has to go back! I'm so excited that it is looking like everything will work out perfectly :) Oh, babies don't come early in our family and he said there is no way I will be ruining my sister's wedding with going into labor. Just don't tell her that....

We have a concert tonight and another one this weekend and fill in any empty space with wedding stuff! January will be here before I know it!!!