Mini Trial at Daycare

Well, first off, Keaton is 3 months old! I can't believe how fast time is flying by!! Our baby is growing up before our eyes!

Today Manny had to go to school and I was at work, so we dropped Keaton off for a mini trial day at daycare. I was really nervous because we have grown to know every little thing about Keaton, so it was a little nerve-wrecking to drop him off with strangers.  His teacher Miss Elena is really nice, though, so I knew he was going to be in good hands. You just never stop worrying as a parent, so I was relieved to pick him up the same way we dropped him off!  He seemed to really like Miss Elena.  She is so patient and is just really good with kids.   Miss Elena said Keaton did really well.  She took him outside and he really liked looking at the trees.  I think Keaton will like daycare.... We'll see!  Here are a few pics of our growing boy!

I'm ready for school Mommy and Daddy!

Family pic before leaving Keaton at daycare

Keaton and Miss Elena

Keaton, Miss Elena, Miss Vivian, and cutie Alana

Keaton: "What are we doing in this thing?"

Keaton: "Is that toy supposed to be cool or something?"

Ahhh. . . I'm exhausted!  Partying wears you out!  What a day!

4 weeks old!!!

I cannot believe my baby is 4 weeks old already!!!  I am having a bit of anxiety because he is growing way too fast!  I need him to slow down a bit. . .LOL!

I am still amazed each day that he is here and real.  There is no time to stop and think about anything.  You basically just "DO."  You do whatever it is your lil' one needs. . . he is the center of your universe now.  I can't even keep track of the days or what happened from one minute to the next!  And I have never done so much laundry in my life!

We have learned that Keaton truly has the temper of a Bull (Zodiac sign: Taurus).  When he is wet, he definitely lets us know.  When he is hungry, he needs to eat 10 minutes ago!  Poor baby spits up a lot =(.  He does not like being bothered or woken up.  But, we love this lil' stinker more and more every day. 

Happy 4 weeks my precious baby!

1 week old

2 weeks old

3 weeks old

4 weeks old

Here are some more pics from his 2 week photo shoot:

(Photos courtesy of Laura Rauch Photography)

Our first week as parents!

This has definitely been an emotional week from the excitement of it all, the fatigue and elimination of sleep, the joy of having our lil' Keaton finally here, and just adjusting to parenthood in general.  For those of you that know Manny and I, we LOVED our sleep!  Of course that has gone out the window, but we are slowly adapting to the little breaks we do get here and there, which are a piece of heaven.

It is so weird being a first time parent.  You obviously don't know what to expect or what you're in for!  You kind of just go along with the flow.  I am constantly worrying about every little thing now and wondering if Keaton is okay.  When he cries, you go through the process of elimination to figure out why:  Is his diaper dirty?  Is he hungry?  Is he in pain?  When all of the above is "No," it is a little frustrating because you just want your child to be happy and comfortable and when you can't get him to stop crying, you just feel helpless.  When he is sleeping, though, he is the most precious baby in the world!  I'm sure every parent says that about their child!

Here's what we have learned about Keaton so far:

He HATES being cold, so you can imagine him screaming his lungs out when we have to change his diaper or clothes.

He LOVES to eat. . .it seems like he can't get enough!  I love seeing him after his feeding because he gets a food coma and looks so milk wasted!  LOL! 

He is a huge PEE monster!  It never fails, after we finish changing him, he manages to shoot his pistol, which requires a change of clothes almost every time.

He turns into a cherry tomato when he cries.

He has my dimples.

He still has the hiccups, poor guy!  He always had the hiccups when he was inside of me and I feel so bad when he gets them now =(.

He is loved by a lot of people, especially his parents!!!  =)

Well, we survived our first week of parenthood!  It really did go by so fast!  I can't believe our lil' Keaton is already one week old!!  Happy One Week Keaton!

Milk Wasted

 

                                                                       Dodger Blue!

The Big Day! How it all started. . .

I've been meaning to update our blog, but as you all know, we're a bit preoccupied now!

HERE'S HOW IT ALL STARTED:

I woke up at about 5 AM on Tuesday 4/26/11 feeling a little cramping but not sure if it was the start of labor or just getting near, as our due date was a week away.  Manny was a little nervous and asked if he should stay home from work that day just in case, but I insisted that he go to work and would call him if anything were to happen.  So, hesitantly, he did.  He kept calling all day to ask how I was doing.  The cramping was still just a dull ache on and off, and I just felt really tired, so I decided to take cat naps.  I don't know if I was in denial that it was really happening that day or what, but my last day of work was on Friday and all I had was the weekend and Monday to rest, which wasn't very much time for anything! 

As the day progressed, the cramping became a little more frequent.  Still, not so much pain but a weird ache.  Manny got home from work and we had dinner at around 6 PM.  Manny was so nervous and kept asking, "So what do we do now?"  My response, "We can't do anything but wait!"  It was then that we knew for sure this baby was on his way and didn't plan on waiting another week to come out.  He was ready now!  From then on, the cramping (which really were contractions!) were getting closer together and more frequent.  They were still irregular, so we just kept monitoring them.  At about 8 PM, I called the hospital to see if I should come in.  The nurse said since my contractions were still irregular and this was my first child that I could probably wait a little bit longer and continue monitoring them.  By 9 PM the contractions were getting a little more intense and about every 2-5 minutes apart for the next hour, so we decided it was time to head to the hospital for an evaluation.

The nurse brought me back to the exam room while Manny waited outside, and this seemed like an eternity being in the room by myself as my contractions were starting to get stronger.  It was really about 15 minutes before they called him in.   The nurse told me, "Yup, you're ready.  You're already 4 cm dilated."  So I was transferred to a birthing room and decided to wait and see how long I could go without any pain medicine.  I thought, let's put my Lamaze class to work!

                                                   Before Delivery:  Calm and collected

I was tolerating the pain until I got to about 6 cm and needed something to ease the edge of it, so the nurse gave me some Nubain, which was a huge mistake!  It didn't touch the pain at all, so at about 3 AM, I was 7 cm dilated, and I NEEDED that epidural STAT!  Thank goodness for that epidural!  It was the weirdest feeling ever, as my legs just felt like jello and I could still feel a little pressure with the strong contractions, but I was so thankful that the pain was gone.  About an hour later, I started getting nauseous from the Nubain and vomited.  Oh what joy that was!  After I vomited a second time, my water broke, and about an hour later, my OB doctor came in to examine me and said it was getting near.  Sure enough, I was looking at the monitor and my contractions were right on top of one another and about 10 minutes later, the doctor was back in the room and I was being prepared to push.  Luckily, I only had to push for about 5-10 minutes before the baby came out!

                                                        After delivery:  A sweaty mess!

I was so exhausted but overwhelmed with joy as I heard him cry for the first time.  It was finally over and I was so thankful that everything went well without any complications.  In the back of your mind, you always pray, I hope everything turns out well.  Our baby was here, and he was healthy. . .That's all that mattered at that moment.  There are no words to express the feeling you have when they lay your baby on you.  Our little Keaton was here, and we couldn't be happier!

                                           Keaton Alexander Aceves:  Born 4/27/11 at 7:50 AM
                                                                6 lbs, 12 oz; 19 inches long

                                                                       Proud Papa!

                                                                   Our Family =)

                                                     Getting discharged from the hospital

                                             On our way home. . . I love his chubby cheeks!

Home at last!

                                                  And of course, posing next to his new ride!

We finished our classes, so I guess we're ready???

Manny and I just finished all of our classes: Breastfeeding, Newborn Necessities, and Lamaze.  We had great instructors, so the classes were better than we were expecting.  Some of the stuff we already knew, but it was nice to have a focus on what we would need to be doing in less than a few weeks!  It definitely put things in perspective and made this seem even more real.  I don't feel AS freaked out about the whole process, but once it all happens, that may be a different story. . . Haha. .  .I guess we'll see!  It all made sense in the classes, so we're as ready as we can be!  Now it's just a waiting game until the lil' guy arrives! 

Riding in style

So as Manny and I started researching which stroller to buy (we research EVERYTHING first), we were overwhelmed with "What would be best for us.". After much thought and consideration, we were set on buying the Bugaboo Donkey. The only problem, it would be released "in the Spring." Our thoughts: WHEN in Spring??, Would it be out in time before Keaton arrived?, Where can we buy one?

As we kept checking on the updates (every day), we came to find it would be released in April sometime, would not be available for purchase online at first, and would only be available to purchase at select retail stores... Great.

Being the impatient person I am, I looked up which retailers would have them and called the Nordstrom at South Coast Plaza. Good thing I did! They were only getting 6 strollers and had already pre-sold 4 of them! So of course we jumped at the opportunity to pre-sale the item!!! We were told it would be in on April 1st!

So March 31st comes around and I call to see if it was still coming in April 1st..."It's been pushed back to April 6th" =(.  So April 6th comes around and it STILL hasn't come in! This went on every day until the big day finally arrived!! We got the call that it was finally in and rushed over to pick it up!

We are SO excited to have it and can't wait to put it to use!!!  It is truly THE stroller for kids and goods!

Keaton's new ride