1 Month Old

Happy Birthday to Mayson!  She turned 1 month old on Wednesday.  I tried to come up with a more creative birthday sign this time, but she still wasn't too excited about it. She was much happier when Jocelyn, Mark, and Noah (her future husband) came over to visit.

Photo Shoot

Poor girl, Mayson is subject to my camera passion and has to sit through endless hours of pictures. I feel bad for her on rainy days! Keri is really excited I have something else to photograph.

Kitchen Update

So, the kitchen is still not done.  Our contractor, cabinet, and counter people come in today we have it all worked out now that it will be done by....January 15th.  That is a little over our anticipated finish date of Thanksgiving.  We are so thankful for all the friends who have brought us food!  Right now, Keri's microwave favorite is frozen pizza, and mine is the frozen enchilada dinner from Costco.  We now have a bottle sterilizer, thanks to Jenn, so Mayson is happy! It will look good when it is done, we're excited to have everyone over to celebrate. 

"Stove," dining room, and kitchen

"Sink," and refrigerator/living room

3 Weeks Old

My cousin Mara gave me the idea of marking Mayson's "birthdays" with little signs.  I'm not too sure how thrilled she was to pose with my first version to mark her 3 week birthday.  I'll see what I can come up with for the big month milestone next week to wow her a little more :)

Getting mobile

We have been trying to get out of the house more and have made friends with BOB, our stroller.  There have been some amazing, sunny winter days so I've been trying to take advantage of it!  Amy and I walked around Greenlake with BOB on Friday after some trips around the block with Buddy and our first playdate with Browyn to see the camel at Swanson's nursery.  Keri and I did our first dog park adventure today too.  Although we love BOB, we were looking for some other less bulky alternatives.  Fortunately, Jenn came to the rescue just in time.  She let us use an insert for our Ergo carrier, two sling contraptions, and a "Snuglie."  So of course we had to try everything out.  Since it is so cold out, Mayson got to rock Laura's booties too! 

Meeting the Grandparents and friends

Mayson met Grandma and Grandpa Stephens the other day.  Keri and I ventured out of the house a couple of weeks ago when his parents were flying into Seattle from California on their way back to Juneau.  We got to meet up and go out to lunch so they could meet Mayson.  She is their 10th grandchild, but the first girl!  There hasn't been a girl born in the Stephens family in over 50 years, so Mayson gets some special billing! We also got out to go to Mayson's first party.  She was a star attraction at Kim and Brian's holiday party where she got to meet lots of friends for the first time....we didn't think we'd ever get her back from Kim's mom!

Thank you!

We have been so lucky to have such great family and friends!  Thank you for coming by to say hi and meet Mayson, bringing delicious food, and wishing us well and offering support through texts and email.  We appreciate you all!  Here's just a couple pics from some of the visits.

Proud grandparents meeting Mayson Bea

Jenny and Scott

Buddy welcomes Mayson home

Shawna and Jocelyn

Sara and Scott (and Mr. Moo)

Callie

Carrie and baby Sydney

Hope, our future babysitter

Jennie and Mike

The Joys (and challenges) of Parenting

We've learned to appreciate the little things.  I love that I don't have my planner out, lists, and am not running around balancing work and a million other things.  Instead, the big plans of the day have been reduced to eating, sleeping, and staring at Mayson.  I will say we are definitely tired!  Mayson has not been keeping weight on as well as we want, and breastfeeding hasn't been working.  As a result, we have been on a frequent feeding schedule of every two hours, which hasn't left much time left for sleep or anything else. We know it will all work out and we'll get our routine down soon!  Until then, we are having fun looking at her funny expressions, her "milk face" after she eats, dancing in the living room, and cuddling together.  She is becoming more alert with increasing hours in the day with her eyes actually open.  We love her wide-eyed goofball looks.  We try not to make fun of her to her face.

Home one week

It's hard to believe that we have now been home for a week!  Our lives have completely changed in such a short time period.  Of course, number one is that we are in love with Mayson Bea.  Buddy and Mo Mo aren't so sure about this new "hairless cat" that has invaded their space and attention, but we really like her.  We have ventured out of the house for a few coffee excursions up the street to Cloud City, and to Dr. appointments, and of course Target, but that is it.  We've loved having visitors and guests over to meet Mayson too!  I'll post some pictures to capture the journey this last week and a half.  Thanks for visiting the blog and being a part of Mayson's life! 


Getting ready to go into surgery




The family is all together for the first time




Sleeping in the hospital





 




Keri is a natural dad!



Going home from the hospital



Waking up at home

We'll take anything that resembles a smile