First Cousins

This past weekend, we traveled down to Mobile to meet Jude for the first time. We really enjoyed admiring this precious boy, and we look forward to seeing Jude and Isaiah grow side-by-side. Jude is such a sweet-tempered baby. He's still in the sleepy newborn stage, but the boys were awake at the same time for a few pictures and a video.

Below is a clip of a video we took while there. Of note, Jude rarely cried at all while we were visiting, but unfortunatley, when we filmed the video, he was fussy from hiccups and gas. So, the video really isn't fair to this sweet baby, but it is pretty funny to see Isaiah interact with him some--jealousy? Maybe.

Meeting Jude made us more excited for other first cousins on the way. And yes, I used the plural form because not only is Lindsay expecting in July, but Melissa is pregnant and due in September! Our families are really growing. We would have never imagined that Isaiah would have three cousins within a year of him, but I know it will be a wonderful blessing.

10 Weeks and Growing like a Weed!

It's amazing how quickly Isaiah is growing and developing. He grew a 1/2 inch a few days following his doctor's appointment, so I had to go shopping for 3-6 month sized sleepers last week. Other updates:

As you can see in the picture below, he's paying attention to the toys hanging from his bouncey seat and occasionally reaches out to play with them.

He's also lifting his head more and more during his tummy time. He actually rolled over from tummy to back once last week, though I think it was more accidental than anything and doubt he'll repeat it anytime soon.

It's definitely a full-time job keeping up with this little dude. What they say about laundry growing exponentially with children added to a family is absolutely true. The picture below attests to that...that is one day's worth of laundry!!!

I've also decided that my child is the most photogenic in the world. Perhaps I'm biased, but when I pull a camera out, he looks right at it and cheeses for me. So funny and adorable! I tried my hand at posing him some today. The two pictures below are two of the best I took. I just look at that face and say "how beautiful!"...don't you agree?

2 Months

Isaiah was 2 months old yesterday. He had his 2 month check-up with Dr. Pendergrass, and he's doing very well. He now weighs 11 lbs and is 22.5 inches long--both in the 50th percentile. He was so social with Dr. Pendergrass yesterday. He kept smiling at him and just staring up at him during his exam--he didn't even cry for the ear exam! Of course the shots brought tears, but he only cried for a few minutes. Here's my two-month-old baby boy:

Can you say "precious"?

Pawpaw came to visit last weekend on his way to and from Little Rock for work. Isaiah really enjoyed snuggling in Pawpaw's arms and can't wait to see him again soon.


Here's the newest addition to the Littrell clan, Jude Lynn:
He and Mommy Meagan get to go home today. She had a similar experience to me in that she labored all day (and even pushed a while) but ended up requiring a c-section. We're just glad he's here and they're both healthy. We're hoping to go visit and meet this little guy next weekend.

Hey Jude!!

Isaiah's first cousin, Jude Lynn Littrell, was born yesterday evening. We couldn't be more excited! He weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz and measures 20 3/4 inches long. I don't have any pictures I can post yet, but here is a video of Isaiah yesterday as we anticipated Jude's arrival:

Isaiah's Growth Spurt and "Dirty" Tricks

I needed a separate post to update you on Isaiah's recent developments. While we did have a nice Valentine's weekend overall, it was made challenging by Isaiah's ravenous appetite. He seems to have gone through a growth spurt this past weekend as he suddenly changed his feeding schedule from every three hours to every two hours. When feeding him takes up to 45 minutes, going from every 3 hours to 2 hours makes a huge difference. I literally spent almost half of my weekend feeding that little squirt. Thankfully, one of the books I read warned about this particular growth spurt as occuring between 7-8 weeks, and since it began at exactly 7 weeks, it was pretty dead on. He's already gotten back to averaging every 3 hours, so the change was short-lived (thankfully!!).

Now to Isaiah's "dirty" tricks. In Isaiah's first days, we learned to expect him to urinate during diaper changes. We finally learned to use a washcloth to keep him covered, and if he happened to pee, then it typically absorbed most of it and protected his clothing. In the past week or two, he's decided to hold his bowel movements until we open his diaper also. But it's never just a little poop and then done--this boy has some serious poop marathons! I seriously stand at his changing table up to ten minutes just making sure he's done before putting a clean diaper on him, and sometimes he still has some left. Between his peeing and pooping during his diaper changes, we've gone through 3-4 diapers in a single sitting.

Despite the above, Isaiah seems happiest when he's on his changing pad. He smiles so big and just loves looking around. He especially enjoys watching himself in the mirror over the dresser. He started cooing this past weekend, and it's just so adorable. Other changes: he's reaching out for the toys hanging down over his bouncy seat now and he's holding his head up on his own fairly well.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Okay, so I'm two days late, but better late than never...right? We had a very full and happy Valentine's weekend. Friday evening and Saturday morning we attended a marriage conference at our church taught by Dr. Bill Cutrer. He has a very unique background--he is an OB/GYN who later went to seminary and then served as a pastor for a few years. He's now a professor at Southern Theological Seminary, and he's written several books, including Sexual Initmacy in Marriage. His unique background makes him perfectly suited to address maritals issues from a Christian perspective. He reminded us a lot of Robin Williams in both looks and personality but with much cleaner humor. We really enjoyed the conference. It was also the first time that we took Isaiah to the church nursery, and he did really well. It allowed us to focus on the speaker and not worry over our baby boy.

Saturday night we (all three of us) went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. We were pushed for time to get there (seems the norm these days), but thankfully we made it within the 15 minute grace period of the reservation. I didn't have enough milk stored up beforehand, so I went to the bathroom to pump after ordering our food because I was scared Isaiah would wake up in the middle of our dinner ready for his. After about two minutes in the bathroom, Chris called saying our food was already there. Of all times for them to be so prompt...haha. The food was still warm when I got back to the table, so it was really no big deal. After dinner, we returned home for a dessert of chocolate fondue. Yum!

Sunday we had several visitors to brighten our Valentine's Day. Richie and Tamera came in from Hickory to visit and see Isaiah for the first time. Unfortunately, Isaiah's schedule was out of whack and they only got to see him for a few minutes before having to hit the road again.

Mom, Lindsay, and Austin came in Sunday afternoon for a visit as well. It was fun seeing Lindsay's growing baby bump and watching them gush over my sweet baby. He's well loved, that's for sure! He slept most of the time they were here but did oblige us all with a few smiles shortly before they left.

We were supposed to host small group at our house Sunday night, but when the Cartner's were the only family to make it, we opted for a game of spaids instead...real spiritual huh? We had a lot of fun and enjoyed seeing their sweet kiddos, Dakota and Corban. The girls beat the boys at spaids, of course, and we finished up our chocolate fondue.

Augusta and Snow

Quick update before bed...

We traveled to Augusta, Georgia for a dermatology interview two weeks ago. We quickly learned how having a baby can prolong a simple road trip. What should have been a 5-6 hour trip from Murfreesboro (after staying the night at my Dad's house) to Augusta became a 9 hour trip after 3 stops to feed Isaiah. Driving on the interstate really seemed to bother Isaiah as well. He would be in a light sleep with little bouts of crying every few minutes for hours at a time on the road, and then he'd calm down almost immediately after getting off at an exit. Chris' family traveled down from Hickory to see us since we were much closer to them there than in Memphis. Isaiah got to meet Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jason for the first time. Here are some pictures with the family:

Smiling good for Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jason

Taking a nap in Grandad's arms

Spending some QT with Grandmom

For the trip back to Memphis, we had planned to drive through Tennessee and stay a night at my Dad's and a night at my Mom's. However, a big snow storm pushing through the state changed our plans and we took the route through Birmingham and up through Mississippi. We got home to a beautiful wintry scene. In the picture below it looks like snow, but it was pretty much all ice. Seconds after putting Isaiah in his pram to go outside and check out the ice, he fell asleep. Clearly he wasn't too excited about this winter wonderland.

Isaiah fast asleep in his pram. Notice Frankie in the background with the tennis ball in his mouth ready to play.

I had to include the shot below of Isaiah smiling up at his Daddy. How sweet! Those smiles are getting more and more frequent.

I go for my six week postpartum visit tomorrow, and I'm hoping they'll take me off the labetalol for my blood pressure. Isaiah will be seven weeks old this Friday...so hard to believe! I'll try to update again soon, but this little man is keeping me pretty busy.