Caleb's 3rd Week

Jan came to visit and meet her new grandson on Saturday, the 13th. She was with us for Mother's Day and enjoyed being with Caleb every possible minute! While she was here, she was very sweet to cook and freeze some meals for us, help us keep the house cleaned up and let me get some much-needed sleep. She left on Wednesday, the 17th. We'll see her again the weekend of Father's Day, when we go to Arkansas to visit family.

On Thursday, the 18th, I took Caleb to McAlister's for lunch to meet some of my friends from work. Michael, Colleen, Jenny, Monica, Tanya and Tanya's baby, John were all there. Caleb was passed from one person to another and everyone just loved on him! As always, he was a sweet baby and we had no problems at all! After lunch, we ran a couple of errands and then came home...exhausted! Jenny came over Thursday night for dinner and the final episode of Will and Grace.

On Friday, Becca and Jimmy Spencer came to visit from Indiana. Becca is my cousin and is expecting a baby boy in September. They were so excited about meeting Caleb. We had a great time! They brought us a fun basket of goodies for Caleb and a special treat for Rudy and I too. It was so sweet of them!

Friday was BELLY BUTTON DAY at our house! Caleb's umbilical cord stump fell off on Friday night. He's officially an innie, not an outie!

On Saturday, we went to Babies R Us to help Becca decided what she wanted to register for. We were worn out by that whole experience! Caleb slept the whole time - big surprise!

Becca and Jimmy left this morning and we have had a relaxing day at home. Rudy has been grading his last group of playing tapes for the year, I've read the paper and watched the Cardinals game and Caleb has done his usual routine of sleeping, eating and getting his diaper changed. What a life!

Everything is going very well for us as a new family. We are settling into our routine - as much of a routine as we have when I'm not working. Caleb has been an absolute joy to this point. Even the nighttime feedings aren't that bad. I enjoy the peacefulness of them. We've decided to help him (and ourselves) by trying to make the nighttime feedings as quick and unstimulating as possible. We keep the lights low and we don't interact with him much, other than to feed and change him, calm him with a low voice and help him get back to sleep. So far, it has worked pretty well. He has set himself on a 3 hour schedule, so we know when to expect the next feeding to be needed. He eats 3-4 ounces of formula at every feeding. He's been staying awake during the day for longer periods of time the past couple of days. That's been fun, because he's really looking around a lot and staring at us. Bless his heart - maybe he's figured out that he has to stay with us! That has to be a little scary!!! :)

We keep bottles filled with room temperature water and we keep formula dispensers measured out and ready to be used. That makes feedings much quicker and helps Caleb to not get as fussy when he's hungry.

We are taking advantage of the "expert advice" that we've read in several places telling us that you can't spoil a newborn. Everything we read says that when they are this small (up to 6 months), there's no reason not to hold and comfort them as much as they (and we) want to. That's a good thing, because he is so sweet and we love to hold him, kiss on him and could literally spend hours a day just staring at him. We try to get as much of that in as possible while he's awake so that we can spend his sleeping time during the day accomplishing the tasks of the day, but there is nothing sweeter than holding a sleeping baby.

Tomorrow is our 7th Anniversary. We really don't have any plans other than to stay at home and enjoy our new family status. We have both said that we are glad that we waited this long to have a baby and that we have enjoyed the experiences that we were able to have in the past 7 years. Now, it's just time to enjoy our new stage in life and the new stage of our relationship. We are as in love with each other as always and now we are in love with our little boy. Blessings abound!

Two Weeks Old

Caleb is two weeks old today! I can hardly believe it. He is still such a sweet baby. We're crossing our fingers, hoping he doesn't develop colic. So far, so good! Jan and I celebrated Caleb's birthday today by going to Target and World Market. Just another outing - this house gets old after a day or so and I just have to get out!

My First Mother's Day

What a great day! Last year on Mother's Day, we had decided to start trying to have a baby. I remember hoping that last year would be my last Mother's Day without a baby of my own. Thanks be to God that I am able to celebrate Mother's Day this year as a mother. I have always known this day as a time to thank and celebrate my mother and grandmothers. Now, the day has new meaning. I am able to celebrate the love that I have for my baby boy and the wonder that is motherhood. Jan got here yesterday afternoon and is just as in love with Caleb as the rest of us. Yesterday was a hard day for us. We had to put our beloved beagle Lucy to sleep. She had a ruptured tendon in one of her knees and was on the verge of rupturing the other one. We decided that it would be best for her if we just helped her to not feel pain anymore. It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever made. We were with her the whole time and we are at peace now, just like Lucy is.

Back to Mother's Day... I slept this morning while Jan and Rudy took care of Caleb and some things around the house. When I got up, Rudy had flowers waiting for me and 2 cards - one from him and one from Caleb. It was very sweet. He made breakfast for his mom and I and then we spent a "normal" Sunday around the house. We weren't quite ready for the hullabaloo of going to church, but other than that, everything was fine. I talked to my mom and to Memmie and wished them both a very Happy Day! Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca came over this afternoon. We all visited for a while, then went to dinner at Chili's. Jan bought dinner for us as a celebration of my first Mother's Day. Caleb slept through the whole thing! What a wonderful day!

A Busy Day

Today, Caleb and I went to have lunch with Monica and Jenny. We picked them up at my work and we all went to Applebee's. It was so good to visit with grown-ups and be out of the house! I certainly don't miss work, but I miss some of the people I work with! Caleb had his 2nd bath tonight. He didn't scream quite as much as the first time, but he still didn't like it!

First Pediatrician Visit

Mom and I took Caleb to see Dr. Koenig for the first time today. As usual, he slept the whole time he was in the car. He weighed 9 pounds (90th percentile!) and measured 20 3/4 inches (80th percentile!). Dr. Koenig said that everything looks great and that he has no concerns. Caleb obviously has a healthy appetite. Dr. Koenig answered our questions (its okay that he has hiccups all the time, it's normal that sometimes he only opens one eye, etc.) and we're supposed to go back in 7-8 weeks. I'm so happy to have a healthy baby boy!

Caleb's First Week

I can't believe that Caleb is one week old today. The week has gone by so quickly. Since this is the first entry of this blog, I'll do a little catching up:



Caleb Michael Villines was born on May 2, 2006 at 2:04 PM at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He weighed 8 lbs, 9 oz and was 21 inches long. He was born with blonde hair and blue eyes. Caleb and I were in the hospital for 48 hours before we got to come home. Our nursing staff was wonderful and I couldn't have asked for better care.

On the first night that we were in the hospital, my mom flew into town from Little Rock. She got to the hospital about 7:00 PM. She was so happy to meet Caleb and just kept telling me how perfect he is. Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca came to visit as well. They were enamored with the little guy too. Rudy stayed at the hospital with me the first night. We opted to have Caleb stay in the nursery overnight so that we could get some sleep and I could more easily begin to recover from his delivery. On Wednesday - our second day in the hospital, we spent a lot of time just looking at Caleb and being amazed. He changed so much just in the first 24 hours of life. The pediatrician checked him out and gave us a good report. I was checked out by the nurses and was reported to be recuperating as expected, though I was in quite a bit of pain. I guess that's normal when you deliver an 8 1/2 pound baby! Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca came by again that night and so did Jenny. We enjoyed the company. Rudy decided to sleep at home that night since Caleb wouldn't be in the room with us anyway. I was fine with that since he snores and had kept me awake some the night before. :) That night after everyone was gone and it was just Caleb and me, I spent about an hour loving on my new baby boy. That was the best hour of my life. I held him close to me and listened to his breath and his little noises. I felt his skin and smelled his wonderful baby smell. It was truly an amazing time for me that I needed so badly after the whirlwind of the previous two days. I loved him from the minute I knew he was growing inside of me, I loved him even more the minute I saw him, but I fell in love with him during that very special hour and I will never be the same. On Thursday morning, I was up and ready to go! I was so ready to get out of that hospital, but there were still some things that had to be done. Caleb's circumcision was done and the OB talked to me and wrote my discharge orders. Caleb had his newborn screenings and finally at 1:30, we were released from the hospital! He slept like an angel all the way home. We stopped at Walgreen's and Rudy went in to get the necessities that the hospital staff suggested that we get to take care of his circumcision and umbilical area. Finally, we made it home at about 2:30. When we got home, we weren't sure what to think. It was a little overwhelming to realize that we would now have this little man in our home full time. He was ours to keep and ours to take care of. We were thrilled, but not really sure what to do first. Mom kicked into high gear and started making plans for the rest of the week. She went to the grocery store and stocked our fridge and pantry. I've never seen so much food! She's been cooking almost nonstop and our freezer is now full too. Mom has been a blessing. She has kept our laundry done and our house clean, in addition to keeping our tummies full. I've said a thousand times this week: Mom is taking care of us so we can take care of Caleb. It's been great having her here. She has enjoyed it too. She's really had fun holding Caleb and talking to him. She has even pitched in on diaper changes and feedings. On Monday morning, she even got up at 3:15 AM so that I could go back to bed and get some much-needed sleep. Rudy and I are eternally grateful. On Friday, Rudy went back to work. He hated to go, but knew he needed to get back. Monica and Jenny came by after school. It was good to have some company and it's obvious that they are crazy about Caleb. Jenny even stayed and had dinner with us. Saturday was pretty low-key. Rudy did a lot of chores outside. I was still hurting pretty badly at that point, so I stayed in and rested a lot. Caleb had his first bath on Saturday night. Mom took pictures while Rudy and I tried to keep Caleb warm, but get him clean at the same time. It was chore! He didn't like it at all and screamed like we've never seen him scream before. Once we got him all clean, we lotioned him wrapped him in a hooded towel. He was exhausted and slept so hard the rest of the evening! On Sunday, Mom and I went to Target and also to buy some flowers. It was good to get out of the house and get some fresh air. Rudy had his end of the year banquet Sunday night..Monday was another low-key day, but today was a whole adventure! Mr. L. got here about 11:15 this morning. He was so excited to meet Caleb. When I put Caleb in Mr. L's arms, Caleb opened his eyes and stared at Mr. L for a long time. It was really cute. Because Mr. L. had left Hot Springs at 5:00 AM, he was ready for a nap shortly after he got here. Mom and I took the opportunity to get out! We took Caleb on his first outing. We went to Lowe's to buy a ceiling fan and to Babies R Us to get a dishwasher basket for the bottles and some socks for Caleb's hands (to prevent scratching) and feet. All of his other socks are still too big for him. He slept hard the whole time we were out. We decided we'd go out to dinner tonight, too. So, we loaded him up and went to Lazy River Grill. He slept through that experience too! Rudy had his final band concert of the year tonight so he wasn't with us for any of that fun. So, Caleb rang in his "birthday" with a bang - getting out of the house twice in one day! That's the summary of Caleb's first week. We are beyond blessed and ridiculously happy to have him in our home. He only cries when he's really hungry or when we change his diaper. He loves his swing and will sleep in our arms or in his bassinet or cradle. He's such a good baby. We couldn't ask for more.

One Week Old