Reece 1 month

Reece, 

You are a month old!  We blinked it seems and you got older. We love you so much little guy and you are such an awesome addition to our family and you are very loved. At your one month appointment you weighed 9 pounds 10 ounces (40th percentile), measured 22 inches long (75th percentile), and your head is in the 85th percentile. You have already grown sweet boy!

We think we have caught a couple of smiles and just this week you have let out a couple of sweet coos. But we think you are going to be a pretty serious baby like Owen was. You also recognize ours and your brothers voices and will try to find us with your eyes. You will stare at us without blinking and it makes us laugh. You will lift your head up when being held and have done this since day one at the hospital. You also love to be held, rocked, and swaddled.

You were born with brown hair and it looks like it will stay brown. We love how you are different from your red head brothers with your hair color. Your daddy thinks you will feel left out. Mommy was the only one of my sisters with blonde hair so it makes you unique little buddy. 

You usually sleep for two four hour stretches at night, but you have gone a few nights of five or six hours.  You eat about 7-8 times a day and you usually finish in about 20-30 minutes.  You are a gassy little guy and make grunting noises and squeeze your legs up to your belly in pain. We hate seeing you struggle with gas but the pediatrician said you should outgrow this by 7-8 weeks. 

You have recently started putting yourself on a little routine.  I don't have as much time to focus on putting you on a routine as I did with Owen and Brady, but mommy has learned to be a lot more flexible this time around.  You will eat, then stay awake a little bit, then will take a nap.  You are our "go with the flow" 3rd child and take half of your naps during the week in the car or in the swing since mommy and brothers have places we need to be. You go to bed around 7. You only get fussy when you're tired, gassy, or hungry.  

You love the water and right when you take a bath or get a shower with daddy, you calm down. When you get out to get dried off is a different story and you will cry hysterically until getting in warm clothes. You also love the swing and the bouncer. We are using Aunt Jeralyns swing because we gave our other one away. So little guy, you have a pink swing but you could care less!

To soothe yourself, you like to suck your hand, or you have sucked your thumb a couple of times. You also suck a pacifier on occasion just to soothe you as you are going to sleep. 

Your brothers love you so much and are always wanting to kiss and hug you. They also like to bring you toys and lay by you. They LOVE being your big brothers and it is so sweet for mommy and daddy to watch you all together. 

We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our family. 

Reece birth story

At my last dr apt on January 29, my dr said I could be induced since I was almost at 4cm and was 75% dilated. Since your due date was on February 12, we set your induction date for February 5th. We got to the hospital at 4am to check in and went up to our labor and delivery room. They got my IV fluid started and then pitocin got started around 6am. Dr Fry came in to break my water at 6:30. Contractions started and they were 2 minutes apart for a little while and then they got strong real quick. I was in so much pain and felt like there was no break between each contraction. Come to find out I had gone from a 4 to a 10 in only an hour! When contractions got strong I asked for an epidural 3 seperate times and finally my nurse grabbed an anesthesiologist in the hallway between her scheduled C-section appointments. If she hadn't of come in, there's a good chance I would have done this labor without any pain meds. Yikes! I don't think anyone, including me, thought I would progress that quickly. So after finding out I was a 10, my dr came to the hospital from her dr apts and thought I would be pushing him out quick like I did with his brothers. But...I pushed for 55 minutes and come to find out he was sideways and was larger than my dr had anticipated. So after all that work, our precious boy was born at 10:42am and was 9lb 1oz and 20 3/4 inches long. He had a rather large head too! We were surprised to see we had our first brown haired child. Reece is already such a huge blessing to our family. He is such an easy going baby and such a good sleeper. He only gets upset if his tummy hurts or if he has pooped. Owen and Brady were so excited to come meet their new brother at the hospital. They are adjusting really well. Mimi stayed at our house with big brothers while we were at the hospital. We are so glad that daddy gets to be off with us for 2 whole weeks also while we adjust to being a family of 5!!!

Pregnancy with Reece

The When we found out baby Reece was a boy, we were so excited! We could just picture all the fun we will have with 3 little boys! Just like your brothers, you were an easy pregnancy. I had some acid reflux and leg cramps, but nothing too serious at all. We loved seeing your sweet face on the ultrasound and were so excited to meet you! We chose your name Reece Elliot because we wanted it to have a unique meaning just like your brothers. Also, since Owens middle name is Gabriel for Grant and Galloway, and Bradys middle name is Micah for Morrow, we thought we would use mommy's middle name Leigh for your middle name. Your name Reece Elliot means "enthusiastic" and "the Lord is my God". We are so blessed to have you in our life sweet boy!

Christmas and New Years

Christmas festivities:

Owen had a Christmas play and party at school. You were a Wise Man and sang so many cute songs and acted out the Christmas play before having a class party and gift exchange. 

For Christmas this year, we had our own family Christmas and then Christmas Day we got together with mommy's side of the family. You got SO many presents and had lots of fun playing with your cousins. 

New Years/Jess bday:

For mommy's birthday, daddy and mommy went out to lunch while Aunt Jeralyn watched Brady and Owen. Then, we had a New Years Eve/mommy birthday party at our house with all of our friends! You had so much fun with an early New Years Eve countdown and balloon drop, all the minute to win it games, playing with your friends, dance party, and eating all the yummy food!

Halloween, Fall, and Thanksgiving

Fall: 

This fall we went to two pumpkin patches. You both loved picking out pumpkins, going on a hayride, playing in a corn pit, and feeding the animals. 

Halloween:

This year for Halloween, the boys dressed up like dinosaurs and we dressed up like a farmer and a cow. Owen had a party at school that Brady and I went to and that night we went to a party at the boys friend Zoe's house. We went trick or treating with all of your little friends and you both had so much fun! 

Thanksgiving:

For Thanksgiving we went to Mimi's house and celebrated with Aunt Emily, Travis, and Mimi. 

Owen had a Pow-wow at your school and you were the cutest Indian.