The Wedding

The reason for our vacation was Joshua's second cousin's wedding, so I thought I should post some pictures of that. Here is the lovely bride with her parents. his picture does not do her justice - she looked amazing! I told Joshua I want to get married again so I can have a dress and veil like hers (the veil has a train ... gorgeous!)

Here is sweet Matthew at the start of the wedding. He had just been fed and changed and was fast asleep. Perfect!

Here is Matthew about 10 minutes into wedding. Remember I said he wanted to eat every hour? Yeah, well, I had to go out and feed him to stop him from screaming through the ceremony.

Since it is a rare day that I style my hair, put on make up, and get dressed up, I insisted upon a family photo. Bummer that Matt is sound asleep and laying so awkwardly. Oh well, we tried. By the way, he slept soundly through the entire reception and woke up just as we were getting in the car to go home. So he was fed and changed and low and behold, he was still hungry. So he was fed and changed again before we could hit the road.

Matty's First Vacation

This past week the Hardwick Clan had a great excuse for a vacation to Eastern Washington. Joshua's second cousin was getting married. So we loaded up our vehicles and hit the road. The small town where the wedding took place had no hotel rooms left, so we did even better. We rented a retreat center set along Lake Roosevelt. The scenery was amazing and there was much to do:

horseback riding,

off-roading,

swimming in the indoor pool or in the Lake,
and best of all, hanging out inside with the ac (It was in the 100's!). Notice I am not pictured doing any of these fun activities. That's because I didn't get to. Boo hiss for this extra long recovery! Matt and I spent most of our time indoors, but we had fun anyway.

I'm so hungry I could eat a nose!

My little boy likes to eat every 1-2 hours, 2 1/2 at the most. As a result, he is starving all the time and wasting away to nothingness. ;) When he is hungry, he will try to latch onto anything he can - shoulders, buttons, knuckles, blankets, and best of all, noses. Side note: Joshua was excited to see that Matty has my sideburns. Yikes! I am one hairy gal!

Good Times in Tacoma

Monday was my mom and Jackie's last day her (boo hiss!) and we had much to do. First things first, I had to find a dress to wear to a wedding this weekend. I am too big still for my regular clothes, but not big enough for my maternity wear. So we headed to TJ Maxx. I found a perfect dress for $10, and got myself a new pair of sandals as a bonus. My little man was due for another adjustment with the chiropractor, so that was our next stop. He slept through the entire appointment on my belly while the doctor worked on his back. Too cute!

Next, we stopped by the Pacific Grill for a quick bite before taking a walk on the Chihuly Glass Bridge. Aunt Jackie already has her next flight booked to come visit in September. :)

Our last stop was the airport. We decided to park and walk in to lengthen the torturous good-bye time. Grandma gave Matty a bottle in the car before we went inside.

I wish there was a way for us to live near both of our families. It breaks my heart every time I have to say goodbye to mine. If there are any readers out there with extra money they don't know what to do with, send it our way so we can see my family more often! Thanks for a fun weekend mom and Jackie. We love you and miss you like crazy!!!

Visiting with Grandma and Auntie Jack

My mom and sister are here for a visit this weekend (hooray!). Friday we had a busy day that began with a trip to my ob. Good news: things are healing nicely in two areas. Bad news: I'm still raw in one area. So I was prescribed some estrogen cream to help speed things along and I have another appointment in three weeks. I will likely need to have that section restitched. I changed to the doctor who delivered Matthew and I like her very much! What a difference from my previous provider. She took lots of time with me, explained things thoroughly, answered all my questions completely, and best of all, she remembered me! None of this happened before. Oh yeah, she also gave us a silver spoon as a congratulations for Matthew.

After the doctor, we headed to lunch at a quaint sandwich shop and then off to the amazing Point Defiance Park. As you can see, Matthew enjoyed the scenery as much as we did!

Our favorite spot was the flower garden. Mom's favorite were the roses, Jackie's and mine were the huge hydrangea.
Next we stopped by Starbucks for a snack before heading to the chiropractor. Matthew needed an adjustment and wow has he been feeling better! We love his new doctor! My favorite thing about him was that he stopped to cuddle Matt and calm him down between adjusting. He thins we should see some major improvements in six visits. Our next appointment is Monday.

Before heading home we picked up Joshua and did a quick driving tour of Tacoma featuring a stop at the famous Stadium High (as seen in Ten Things I Hate About You).

Today we had a relaxing day hanging around the house. I wish the weekend would last forever!

Sweet Sleep

Matthew has been sleeping much better since he started his reflux medication. He still needs to be "parented" to sleep most of the time. Here he is looking teeny tiny on our king size bed after his daddy cuddled him to sleep.

Burping this boy is somewhat of an acrobatics routine. Occasionally the standard over the shoulder pat the back works. More often we have to rock him from lying o sitting, rub his back, massage his belly, bicycle his legs, or put him over our knee. He really enjoyed this position last night and fell right to sleep. Too bad he had to wake up to get his diaper changed.

Two Too Cute Fellas

Now that Matthew is getting bigger (sniff sniff) he fits in some super cute little man clothes. (All of which were either gifts or hand-me-downs yippee!). How cute does he look in baby cords and fancy shoes??

Both of my guys look spectacular in green. I'll bet Matthew looks great in orange since that's my other favorite color on Joshua.

Daddy wanted to get in on the babywearing too. I'm telling you, this is a great way to keep the baby happy and be able to get other things done.

Matthew has responded very well to the acid reflux medication. He has been sleeping better and been content while awake and not screaming the whole time. Hooray! This morning I am going to leave him for the first time. Joshua is well stocked with pumped bottles and I'll even leave the Moby. :) My friend Heather and I are going for a mani/pedi. I should probably attempt to fix my hair and maybe even get out of my pj's. I'm going to look pretty silly with fancy nails in the state I'm in.

I got my hands back!

Yesterday Joshua came home with a wonderful present for me - a Moby Wrap. I have been eyeballing these since before Matthew was born but couldn't justify spending $40 on a piece of fabric. Lately I have been doing lots of reading on fussy babies and attachment parenting and decided that a wrap was a must. It is the best creation since sliced bread! Matthew is happy being held and I have use of both hands. Ahhhh. Life is good.

One Month Stats

Today was our one month checkup with Matty's doctor. Aside from the nappy rash, face an neck rash and possible reflux, he is doing great! We got a prescription to control stomach acid in case reflux is causing him to hurt an we are trying yet another cream to try to heal his diaper rash. He weighed in at 10 pounds 1 ounce (52nd percentile) and measures 21 3/4 inches (53rd percentile). The doctor has ruled out a dairy allergy and thinks Matthew is just colicky. I'm not so sure, so I will continue with my dairy, soy, wheat, nut, fish, shellfish, and caffeine free diet. Hooray for rice!

Matthew and Six only left Joshua's feet for me to cuddle with. It's hard to share with them sometimes!

How am I supposed to get anything done

with this darling little boy attached to me? Matthew has decided that he will not sleep unless he is in my arms. Anywhere else and he will just cry. I love that I can calm him just by holding him, but come on little one! I have other things to do, like shower and brush my teeth once in a while! Today I attempted to do some grocery shopping with Matt. Yikes! He screamed almost the whole time! But I was able to purchase some gas relief drops, so maybe there s an end in sight to the wailing. I gotta go ... he just woke up and realized I had put him down. Ahh the life of a mommy. :)

Has it been a whole month already?

Today Matthew is one month old. I can hardly believe it! We tried to get a nice family shot, but this was the best we could do. I love the way Matt looks at his Daddy.

He has grown so much this month but still fits in newborn clothes. The 0-3 month outfits are just a bit big still. We have a doctor appointment on Wednesday so I'll report on his stats then.

He is much more alert during his awake times, which are longer and more frequent. He loves to look around outside. What an adorable profile!

We still have not solved this rash mystery, although things are looking a bit better. The rash on his face is not as bright red and not entirely covering his skin. The diarrhea has let up even though the diaper rash remains. He still fusses after eating and when he has to dirty a diaper. Remember the days when crying three times was abnormal? Oh how I miss those days. Now he cries pretty much whenever he's awake. And even in his sleep. He prefers to sleep in my arms, and for now, if that's what it takes to comfort him, so be it. Today after his bath his hair began to show what I think is its true personality. The back would not straighten out or lay flat for anything. I do believe we have a curly haired boy in the making. (Sorry Mom, I know this was something you hoped to avoid passing on to him.)

Happy one month birthday Matty! I love you!

Enough already!

Matty's rash is still bothering him (and therefore my ability to do anything other than comfort him). The doctor suggested a dairy and soy free diet, but I have decided to take matters into my own hands and go on a total elimination diet. This will be extremely difficult, but if it helps my boy, I'm game. (Plus it would be helpful in losing some weight since I cannot yet exercise.) Now I just need to find someone to take me to the grocery store ...

Still Rashy

My sweet baby boy just hasn't been himself with this icky rash. He also has some diarrhea and it makes him rather fussy. Thanks for all the suggestions -we have tried quite a few but still no luck clearing things up. I'm going to check in with the doctor tomorrow and see what he says should be our next steps. I am about ready to go on an elimination diet so we can find out what is irritating little Matty.

Yes, it really works! Although he liked it much better at the doctor's office where they covered it in sugar water.

Today we had lots of diaper free time. I used the blow dryer on his tush and he loved it! He assumed this pose for quite a while after each blow dry. And of course he soiled the pee pee-tepee every time.

Aahhhh. Nothing beats a snuggle with Daddy before heading to bed.

Nasty Nappy Rash

On Monday I was letting Matty "air dry" after a change and I noticed blood dripping out of his bum! Boy can that freak a new mommy out! So we called the pediatrician and made an appointment. He doesn't think it's a yeast infection after all, just a really nasty rash. He gave us some prescription cream (which cost $50 by the way ... it better work!!) and suggested I avoid dairy for a week. He didn't seem convinced, but thought it could possibly be an allergic reaction to milk. Hmmm. Poor little guy. He is just not himself. Today he would not fall asleep unless I was holding him. He needs some extra TLC to get this rash cleared up. I feel so bad every time he needs a diaper change. Any mommies out there have experience with this? I could use some reassurance and advice.

Who are you?

Joshua decided it was time for a change, and not a small one. He took his trimmer outside and came back in with a buzzed head. Perfect for summer! Then, the real change came. He went back outside and shaved off all of his facial hair! He had to do the finishing touches in the bathroom of course, but now he looks so different! I woke him up to change Matty's diaper in the middle of the night and almost jumped out of my skin wondering who that strange man was in my bed! Personally, I think he should grow the beard back. He has such thick and fast growing facial hair that he gets the 5:00 shadow right after he shaves. Then he feels like sandpaper. Keep the buzz but bring back the beard!