Christmas 2010

This Christmas we had anticipated staying home with Nolan because we figured he'd be no more than 2-3 weeks old at Christmas. But, since he was a bit older than expected we were able to travel with him after all. About 3 weeks before Christmas we lucked out and found reasonably priced tickets to fly to San Antonio. We only told my parents we were coming and we braved the airports on Christmas Eve to surprise the rest of my family by showing up on Christmas morning.

Nolan did a great job on the flights!! Way better than we expected. He slept and ate pretty much the whole day. His grandma Schabow had a conversation with him via skype the week before and told Nolan to be a good boy on the flights and he listened ;)

all packed up and ready to travel!

snuggling with daddy on the plane

We got to my parents house around midnight on Christmas Eve and woke my sister up from a sound sleep. She was so surprised and a bit out of it trying to figure out what was going on!

sneakin' in

The next morning, Steve, Nolan and I hid in a back room to surprise the rest of my family when they arrived for Christmas festivities. They had no idea we were coming and I think our surprise made their Christmas!

check out these faces!

We've had no shortage of volunteers to hold and snuggle with Nolan. Here he is with my pappaw who is 90 years old this year!

great Aunt Anita and Uncle Bill

with all the girls!

napping with great grandma
posing with Aunt Ashley
proud grandma and grandpa

We've had a great time and a fast week with my family. We head home tomorrow (Friday) and I'm nervous again about flying with Nolan, so think of us!! Then just a few days and grandma and grandpa Schabow come to visit! Yay!! We can't wait!

Tummy Update

On Friday the doctor confirmed that there was no longer blood in Nolan's poo so it looks like dairy was the culprit. However, when I mentioned to her that he has actually been increasingly fussy and starting to spit up a ton (up to 6x/feeding!!) she said it sounds like he also has reflux. So now he is taking baby zantac. I'm hopeful it will help. Whew...this child is a puzzle! I hope I can figure him out soon and get his tummy troubles settled!

Here's a cute picture for now :)

One Month Old!

Already?! Holy Cow! Nolan is a month old today! I can't believe how much he's growing already.

I feel like I'm finally coming out of a fog this last week or so, and we're all getting a lot more sleep which has made a huge difference.

The biggest thing these last two weeks is how challenging Nolan's feeding situation has been. Thankfully we are now able to feed him on demand vs. waking him to eat every three hours. We were also able to take him off the supplements and he's just nursing, but we found out quickly that he had developed a strong bottle preference and as a result wasn't nursing well. So now he's on nursing bootcamp and we're trying to get that figured out. Also, he's pretty fussy. I guess it's colic?? After every feeding, bottle or nursing, he is having painful gas and tummy trouble. I brought this up to the doctor so she ran a check on his poo and discovered that there was blood in it. Poor guy!! I guess this most likely means he has a dairy or wheat sensitivity. So...I've had had to eliminate ALL dairy from my diet (oh how I miss my lattes!!) and if we supplement he has to have special formula. Nolan and I have both been dairy free for over a week now and I'm not sure Nolan is feeling any better. We go back to the doctor on Friday and she'll recheck him then. Please say a prayer that there is no blood in his poop and that little guy starts feeling better soon. It's really, really hard to see him so uncomfortable. I'll update here when we get news on Friday.

Below are some pics from the last few weeks: Nolan's first bath, gearing up for Christmas and just some other adorable photos of our little guy. Oh, and did I mention before that Steve is a swaddling master?! He is!! I cannot swaddle this child to save my life, but Steve swaddles him up so tight and Nolan LOVES to be swaddled.

Love to you all,

C, S, & N

A day in the life of Nolan

here's a quick video of Nolan that had us laughing a bit!

Last Belly Shot

Just for kicks, the last belly shot! I took this at 35 weeks, just 4 days before I went into labor. Can you even imagine if I ended up going to 40 weeks?! wowsa!! ha ha!

Nolan's first two weeks

Wow, Nolan is 2 weeks old!


These past two weeks have been the fastest, bluriest, most fantastic and exhausting 2 weeks ever!

We went to the pediatrician the other day for Nolie's 2 week check up. Nolan did great! The doctor says he's looking good and his weight gain is outstanding!! In fact it's looking like Nolan will be a big boy! His birth weight (at 36 weeks, 1 day) was 6lbs 14oz. At his 2 week appointment, the pediatrician was surprised to discover than Nolan has already greatly surpassed his birth weight and now weighs 7.5 pounds!! We weren't too surprised, this babe is an eater. Every three hours around the clock we have to wake him to nurse (which takes about 45 mins) and supplement with a bottle (usually 1.5-2 additional ounces). He literally spends a full 8 hours a day eating and he LOVES every minute of it! We're hoping to only have to bottle supplement for a few more weeks but we head to the nursing specialist on Friday so we'll see what she says.

We are all doing well and enjoying life as a family of three. Steve and I are definitely exhausted though. Nolan's feeding schedule takes a toll on all of us and makes getting out of the house with him nearly impossible. But we are all healthy and living in new baby bliss and we are SO thankful for that!!

We are also so thankful that my mom has been here to help. She has cooked, cleaned, done laundry, run errands, changed what seems like 1000 poopy diapers and so much more. I had no idea how difficult this time would be and I don't know how I would've stayed sane these last two weeks. Thank you mom!!


We can't wait for Nolie to spend time with ALL of his grandparents next month. That's when he'll get to meet his grandma & grandpa Schabow and my dad, sister and mom will come out in January too!

Nolan's first two weeks of life also included his first Thanksgiving. Steve's cousin Andrea and her family came to our house for Thanksgiving this year and Nolan got to meet his cousin Charlie (born just one month earlier than Nolan)

(John, Andrea, Charlie & us)

It's been an amazing 2 weeks! "hi" and love to you all!