Pictures...

This is how you wake up a sleepy baby so they will eat!

Though, sometimes they are just too tired to wake up and eat.

Our Little Guy

Here is our stork again. This time it brought us a blue bundle of joy!!

He likes his hands free but they tend to wake him up. It looks like one escaped the wrap job!

Rowynn's first valentine's day.... we celebrated with an outfit and milk!

Then he was fast asleep on daddy's chest.

When I saw this shirt it was a "must buy". It says, "I'm the little brother" and he has the sweetest and best big sister.

Grandma gave him one last bottle before she had to leave for Alaska. We sure do miss her a lot around here. It was a great visit and we are looking forward to her return.

Rowynn's first time in the swing. Mommy's arms needed a break and dinner needed to be cooked. He seemed to like it.

Just a little cutie!

My little monkey! He had stripped socks that match the shirt but a nurse at the hospital lost one. How do you lose a sock in the nursery at the hospital?! I would think there would only be just so many places it could go! Oh well, his cowboy boot socks went okay.

He fell asleep in his bouncy chair last night. It was super cute!

I put him on his tummy time mat today but he wouldn't do much tummy time. So, I rolled him over and let him look at his toys.

He decided to watch TV instead!

Things are going great around here. We are just taking in every moment with this little guy. I am so thankful that God blessed us with this amazing little boy. I can honestly say I am glad that he is a boy. As much as I wanted a little girl this time, it was best for me to have this little man come into my life.

I am able to look at him for him and not compare him to Abigayl. I know that one day I want a little girl and I am praying that we get a girl next time (hopefully 2 years from now Rowynn will have a little sister ;-) ).

We are getting used to having a baby in the house and learning his schedule. Our day is basically filled with feeding, burping, changing, kissing and cuddling. It is pretty perfect!

Held

Here are some of the many visitors Rowynn has had over the past couple of weeks. Rusty did a better job of getting photos than I did. So, if Rusty wasn't present when Rowynn got a visitor, most likely I forgot to take a picture!

Jake and Lucy got engaged on Valentines Day!!! Congrats to you both. We are so happy for you.

Belly Bandit... So Far

I posted before Rowynn was born that I was going to try Belly Bandit (a waist wrap) after he got here. I didn't use it right away since I had had him via c-section and didn't want to affect my incision.

After discussing it with the doctor, I put the band on 2-3 days after he arrived. I have worn it, for the most part, night and day except when in the shower. I must say that I am pretty happy with the results thus far.

After Abigayl was born I looked a few months pregnant for a a couple of weeks and with the belly band I have seen a definite difference in my tummy post delivery.

I know there are some of you lucky women out there who had no reason to worry about something like a belly band but for those women who are not as lucky, this thing is GREAT!

So far I have lost 7 inches from my tummy! I lost half an inch just in the past couple of days. I really can see a difference and I am really pleased with the results. I will keep you posted on how things go. The directions for the Belly Bandit say to wear it for 6 weeks which means I only have 4 more to go!

13 Days

It is hard to believe that my baby boy is almost 2 weeks old! He is such an amazingly sweet little guy. My mom has been commenting a lot about the fact that she rarely hears him cry and that she has only heard him once or twice and it was when he was ready for his bottle.

My mom has been here since Friday and she leaves on Monday. I'm really not sure what I will do when she leaves. Thanks to her, Rusty and I have been able to get a FULL night of sleep with no interruptions. I'm not really looking forward to being up in the middle of the night again. Plus, I'll miss her too!

Yesterday was the first day that I really worked at getting Rowynn on a schedule. I did Babywise with Abigayl and her sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old. Granted, I started her on a schedule as soon as we got home from the hospital. I didn't read Babywise before Rowynn made his debut so I had forgotten most everything from when we had Abigayl. Thankfully, a friend sent me a link, www.babywisemom.blogspot.com, that answers questions and takes you through her journey of getting her child on a schedule.

As of now, Rowynn woke up at 11:30pm, 2:00am and 5:45am. Hopefully we will be able to cut out the 2am feeding soon! That way Rusty and I can continue to get more sleep.

Rowynn seems to be more alert this week. His eyes are clearer and I think he is focusing on our faces more. He loves to gnaw on his hands when there isn't a bottle or paci in his mouth and he makes the sweetest little sounds while eating, sleeping and listening to us talk.

What really melts my heart is the involuntary smiles we get to see. During a nap he actually giggled and had a smile on his face. I can't wait until the day he smiles because he recognizes us. I always loved getting Abi up from a nap because as soon as she saw my face her face would light up with that sweet gummy smile.

That is all I have for now. I will try to get better about taking a picture each day since I know most of you would rather see pictures rather than read LONG posts!! ;-)

Rowynn's Friends

Our friends, Katie and Shaun, brought over their two boys so Rowynn could meet his future best friends, Parker and Chandler.
Chandler gave Rowynn the sweetest hug. Plus, Rowynn "gave him five" which made him super happy.

They both did very good with him. Gentle and sweet.

I think Katie may have baby fever now!! :-)

Daddy and Rowynn

Daddy sure does love his boy!

Grandma + Rowynn= Sleep for Parents

My mom flew in from Alaska on Friday and will be staying with us for 10 days! After some adjustment time, she was so kind to take over the night duty so Rusty and I could get a full nights sleep.

Last night we were in bed at 9 pm and the best part was that we didn't get up until 6:20 am!!! It was the most sleep I have had since the 3rd of February.

We are glad to have grandma here. Too bad she can't be closer so we could call on her whenever we needed her.

Oh well, we will just enjoy the time we do have.

Thanks mom, you're the best!

Parenting...

There are so many wonderful things about being a parent: kissing your sweet baby on the head, holding them in your arms, the way it feels when they grip your finger, when they sweetly rub your side while feeding them, they way they smell, all the smiles and sounds that come with sleep and knowing that they love you and need you.

Then there are the things that make it fun. I have learned with a boy that you have to be on your toes. We have already had a few potty accidents. But, we are a work in progress and continually having to learn a good way to do things.

For instance, Rowynn kept peeing out of his diaper and on his back. I was a little baffled on how to take care of the situation. Thankfully, the nursery at the hospital gave me their number so I called on them for help. This is sort of how it went:

Me: "The last few diaper changes my son has some how peed on his back. What am I doing wrong?"

Nurse: "What kind of diapers are you using?"

Me: "The same ones from the hospital." I later found out that I wasn't and changed to the ones they used in the hospital.

Nurse: "Are you tucking it?"

Me: "Can I touch it? He was just circumcised!"

Nurse: "Yes, you can touch it. It won't hurt him."

Me: *a little embarrassed* "Okay, we will try that."

So, we now know to "tuck it" so he won't pee out of the diaper. Girls don't pee out of their diaper, we are not used to this!

Then, we were changing Rowynn's diaper in his room (I'll explain in a minute why I specified) when all of a sudden, while soothing Rowynn while Rusty changed him, I was getting wet. I looked up and my sweet little boy was PEEING ALL OVER US!! I tried blocking the stream with my hand so it would drench his poor little face. Thankfully, urine is sterile so it won't hurt him but it is still a little on the gross side to have your son's pee all over his own face.

We were using pee pee tee pees but decided that they were a hassle and took the advice of our friend, Lacy, and started using a wash cloth to cover him. Especially since the squirting himself in the face thing happened for a second time!

On top of all of that, Rusty and I have both been christened with a large amount of spit-up, or should I call it throw-up? Lucky for Rusty, I was home to help him out a little. Not so lucky for me, I was home alone and had to try to function with warm, wet grossness all over me and all over him. You see, he wasn't done eating when it took place and you DO NOT take his bottle away until HE is ready!

So, the excitement has begun in the Stamper household and we are loving EVERY minute of it.

More Pictures...

I am loving having this little guy around! I can't stop taking pictures. Which means I can't stop blogging about him. I guess my blog will just become a Rowynn chronicle.

I love looking at him when he is sleeping. So stinkin' cute. He likes to roll to his side.

Rowynn had his first try at tummy time. He's not a huge fan but he tolerated it for a minute.

I loved seeing Rusty get down there with him and sooth him and keep him entertained. Abigayl's first tummy time was when he was at work so I loved that he was here so we could share the moment as a family.

Mommy loves her boy

Who needs tummy time on a mat when you can do it on mommy and daddy's chest

He loves having those hands up over his head or down by his face.