Prelude Pancake Breakfast

Last year Caroline and Alan went to the Prelude festivities without me since I was in Virginia for a food bloggers conference. I've always wanted to go to the pancake breakfast and I was quite envious so this year it was on our "must do" list. We missed the tree lighting in Dock Square the night before since the weather wasn't that nice and we just couldn't get things together in time. We all set out to the pancake breakfast at Washington House with Gramma and enjoyed some pancakes. Caroline ate both huge pancakes and one link of sausage and a large cup of orange juice. We were quite impressed!
Afterwards, we took a ride around town since there was a beautiful dusting of snow the night before. Then, we came home and I took a nap, George and Gramma hung out, and Caroline and Daddy went to Home Depot to get some lights for her playhouse!

Home

Oops! I have been so busy and trying to get all of the pictures up on here that for some reason this post never got published! This was George enjoying being home. His first day and night here :)

George's First Bath

George's umbilical cord stump fell off a lot sooner than Caroline's did, we think, so it was time for George's first dip in the tub. This happened at about 2.5 weeks old? Daddy decided spur of the moment that he was giving him a bath so I had no time to grab my camera and get good pictures that didn't have an orange hue from the kitchen lights, but we did capture the moment. Caroline was an awesome helper and while George cried the entire time (Caroline did the same when she was this age) we quickly had a clean baby boy :)

 He has no idea what is about to happen :/

 Ahh, peaceful again!

George is One Month!

I can not believe George is one month already. This past month has flown by way to quickly. I'm hoping that his second month goes a little more slowly. There are no stats since he hasn't been to the doctor since his first week and he wont go again until his 8 week appointment (which actually occurs when he is 10 weeks). We tried to weigh him on our scale, but it isn't the most accurate. We do know he is gaining weight and nice and healthy. While he was big when he was born, he definitely doesn't look that big and is very proportionate. He seems to be growing at a nice steady pace, but I am interested to see what his stats are at his next appointment! He is much more alert, really the past week. He is spending a lot more time awake and you can see his eyes when he is awake now. He still does the cute coo after he sneezes, but not as often now. He loves to cuddle and really has a hard time self soothing unless he has a pacifier, music, swinging, or us. He is eats up a storm and then doesn't. We're still finding our rhythm when it comes to feeding and sleeping. He does great for a couple of days and then we have some issues. Mostly tummy related as he gets used to this world still. He really loves our Tempur-pedic mattress, but we don't encourage that. He will fall asleep immediately on it though, but sorry buddy, you aren't spending your nights there! Not starting that habit :)

George's Newborn Photos

Naturally, we've been busy with George, Caroline, preparing for the holidays, and Gramma's visit but that doesn't mean we haven't taken plenty of pictures! Since George is turning 1 MONTH OLD tomorrow, phew I can't believe it, I figured it was time to get these photos up on the blog.

 They are giving Carly the same look,yeah they are related ;)

The Birth of George Willis

A friend of mine, who is also an amazing child photographer, is building her portfolio for birth photography. I jumped at the chance to have her present for my delivery. Then, I got nervous. Pure vanity. She promised me there would be no pictures of me looking like a demon :) I've seen others photos and I knew that I would get over it because once I saw the pictures I would not regret it, and that is exactly what happened. I've already discussed the birth of George, but here are the images presented in a slideshow. Don't worry, there is nothing graphic. Just Alan, myself, and George along with some great nurses, doctors, and anesthesiologists :) welcoming George into the world. Carly showed up about halfway through my labor so by the time she got there things were getting serious so she missed some of the laughter taking place between Alan and I, but as always there was :)

Funny story : When she was photographing me and I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes I was walking the halls and they were doing a tour. All of the men looked at me with horror as I hung on to the IV stand while the women totally gave me the "puh-lease, it's not going to be that bad" look. I was laughing and hugging the wall to let them through going "piece of cake this labor is..."

http://vimeo.com/80526542

or

http://carlymurrayphotography.blogspot.com/2013/12/george-willis-11192013-maine-birth.html

George & Caroline ~ The Comparisons

 Wow! Our little guy is two weeks old already? Time flies with a newborn, but I swear with two little ones at home it goes even faster :(

They say you shouldn't compare children, but these are fun considering the difference in their arrivals and size! While Caroline was born early due to pre-eclampsia and I was induced at 35 weeks, George made it to 39 weeks before induction (although I started labor on my own that morning) because pre-eclampsia was starting up again. Caroline weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. George weighed 10 pounds and 2 ounces and 22 inches long!
Here are a few pictures of the two of them in the same scenarios those first few days after they were born that I thought would be fun to share.

 

Here is George on the left sometime within the first hour of his birth? Caroline is on the right just minutes after being born. 

 

Here is George on the left, the day he left the hospital at 3 days old. Caroline is on the right, 2 days old during her car seat test. Premies like Caroline have to take a "Car seat" test to make sure they are safe and their vitals stay the same. George didn't, they were just checking to see if he fit into it properly before leaving.