Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Measurements

By the way, for those who are curious, here's the "official" change in Toby's measurements from birth to 2 months:

Birth:
Weight - 7 lbs 10 oz
Length - 20.5 in

2 months:
Weight - 12 lb 1 oz
Length - 24 in

So, basically, we have a 2-month old who fits wonderfully into his 3-month clothing except for the length. And of course it's winter when we're trying to use all the cute 3-month footie sleepers he's got. =( Fortunately, a lot of them are longish and not too constricting for him. But I'm thinking we'll need to move up to 6 months after his next growth spurt, whenever that is. Such a big boy now!!

Love in Christ ~ Valerie

Getting Shot Hurts!

Today I had to do one of the hardest things of my life (thus far)...hold down my precious, but wailing, son while he received his first set of shots. Three of them!! Ouch. =( Fortunately, this wasn't the nurse's first time around the block and she had all three done and the band-aids (Tweety Bird and Puddy Tat...we were hoping for racecars or something more manly) on before he could finish his first long wail. After that, he quieted down and slept on the way home and during his nap like normal. After the nap, it was business as usual. He's become such a smiley, happy baby and today was no different. But Mama sure remembers the trauma and is not looking forward to a repeat performance in two months for his next set of boosters. I wonder, does he in his traumatized state associate me with the pain? I hate to think this is doing lasting damage...I doubt it does (I don't remember my shots and, to hear the story, it was a pretty miserable experience for all involved) but not knowing kinda hurts me a little. OK, we won't dwell on that anymore. Toby's asleep and seems to be doing fine. We'll see if tomorrow morning is just as good.

I'm also working on getting our photos uploaded from Thanksgiving - and a few from before - so here's a taste of our holiday season:

Look at these new shoes! (Thanks again to Dad's Brazilian dentist friend for the sneakers)

Toby loves to watch the helicopter on his bumper pad...we're thinking it might take off if we don't watch carefully enough!

Toby's generous with his smiles, especially when he's a "Toby Burrito" in Dad's lap (Toby still loves to be swaddled and it keeps him warm)

Toby was all decked out in his Thanksgiving finest (Thanks to Nana for the outfit)!

And finally, here we have the whole Chambers clan (at the Biltmore Hotel fountain), including Nana, Granddad, and Uncle Jeff

We don't have an eventful rest of the week planned. Just sort of chilling out around the house. I'd love to take Toby to Zoolights one evening...maybe next Monday when J.Paul doesn't have class. Not sure how much he'd appreciate it now, but Mom and Dad would enjoy the evening out looking at the lights. =)

Have a great night!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Giving Thanks!

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever!" Ps 107:1

Every time I sit down at the computer with the thought of updating this blog (cuz we have a gazillion photos that haven't made it on here), I have the thought "what am I doing? I have just a few moments of peace...quick! get something done!" But today, this is my something to get done. (BTW, I also have the thought "wait a minute, it's 3 in the morning! what am I doing at the computer?" when I'm here after Toby's finished his early morning snack.)

Yesterday, Toby was officially 2 months old. Part of me feels like I have whiplash from how quickly those 2 months flew; the other part is wondering how he could only have been here 2 months when it feels like forever. I suppose that's just the way growing up works, especially once you have children along to speed the process. In his first nine weeks of life, Toby will have had grandparents collectively here for half that. We're so thankful for a family that loves us and has been so eager to expand that love to include him. Though, I sometimes wonder if love doesn't shift just a little rather than expand so much...J.Paul and I realize people only want to Skype us because they'll see Toby. No worries, we won't be going crazy and pouring out our woes on the psychiatrist's couch due to neglect. ^_^ Anyway, here's some photos from Toby's visits with family (in chronological order so you can see how much he's grown!):
Week 1 with Grandma and Grandpa:

Week 2 with Nana and Granddad:

Week 5/6 with Grandma and Grandpa:

We'll look forward to posting Week 9 pictures with Nana and Granddad from our Thanksgiving visit once we collect all the pictures and get them loaded on the computer.

You can still check out more photos of Toby at our Picasa album (link here), though I confess we haven't done as good a job of taking photos and keeping it updated as we should. Life just gets rolling and *poof* another week is gone.

We love our little man and are extremely thankful for the blessing he has already been to our family. In Pastor Tim's sermon this past Sunday, he spoke about how we often look at life and proudly observe all that we have done rather than standing back and being thankful instead for what the Lord has done (since we're pretty incapable of doing much on our own). I've known that children are a gift from God, but it is pretty easy to get wrapped up in the "we" of it all (I gave birth, we provide a home and necessities, we hold and love him, we wake up in the middle of the night with him, etc). Today, on Toby's first Thanksgiving, I'm letting go of the "we" and letting my heart be truly thankful for the Lord's blessings.

May you have a beautiful Thanksgiving with those you love and be thankful most for all that the Lord has blessed you with.

Love in Christ ~ Valerie