Merry Christmas!

I know they have something good for me under that tree.
Daddy loves me so much.
Here's me and Great-Grandpa Nelson.
Grandma Nelson loves me - but what the heck am I wearing???
All dressed up for the holiday :-)

We hope everyone had a great holiday. We had a blast enjoying our first Christmas as parents, spoiling our little guy. We spent Christmas Eve in Marshall with my family and drove up to John's parents on Christmas Day. It was busy, but lots of fun. Here are a few pictures of our little guy, enjoying the holiday.

Week 12

Well, so far this week absolutely SUCKS! Thomas is doing good, but Mommy had to go back to work Monday. I cried myself to sleep on Sunday night and cried all the way to work Monday and for about 30 minutes when I got there. I at least got to take a long lunch to come home and visit to see Tom's beautiful smiling face and hold him and kiss him. I thought I did a little better after that, but then cried on the way out the door Tuesday morning as well. Who knew this little being could change absolutely EVERYTHING so quickly. Thomas has a bit of a cold and isn't feeling that great, plus with the adjustment of getting up early, he has been having some cranky days. The one bright side in all of this is that Daddy is taking care of him all day and working opposite shifts from Mommy until we can get him into daycare at the end of February, so at least I know that someone who knows him is taking care of him and loving him all day in my absence. It makes it a little easier, but I'm still having a VERY hard time. There's nothing like the joy of seeing his smile and hearing his little voice. Everyone keeps telling me that it will get better - I certainly hope so. Until then, it's going to be rough sailing, at least for Mommy.

Chatterbox

Tom was really talking up a storm tonight!


**WARNING: Tom gets pretty loud in this one, don't blame any blown speakers on us.**

shhh....

Don't tell Mom that I'm playing video games with Shank already.

Don't tell my Grandma that I wore a BASEBALL shirt the other day - uggg.

Don't tell Mommy that Daddy has me dressed up like a little geek already. Oh the things people make me wear...

I love getting spoiled!!

Here I am with Mommy's cousin Kami. She just loves babies - can you tell? And she's in my toy!!!! Also I got to meet my great aunts -- here I am getting spoiled by Robin and Jeanie.

Turkey Day was a good one

Thomas had a great Thanksgiving Day and weekend. He was spoiled by both sides of the family, hanging out with everyone. Here he is with great-grandma, smiling at Grandpa Nelson, taking a nap, and playing.

I got a new hat

I had lots of visitors this weekend. Mommy & Daddy's long time friends, the Schoeps, came to visit. They have three little kids, Sierra, Cameron, and Griffin. Griffin is my age and I know we'll have lots of fun playing when we are a little older. And I got a new hat to keep my little head warm! Thank you Schoeps! Plus Grandma & Grandpa Nelson came to visit - and again spoil me :-) I got a long nap on both of them...

After my grandparents left, I cheered on the Vikings and they won!! Yeah! Skol Vikings.

After all the visitors, Mommy & Daddy thought I needed a bath...so here I am with the little duck on my head. :-) Now I am squeaky clean.

Have a great Turkey Day! I don't get any turkey, but I'm sure Mommy & Daddy will eat some for me. They are already gushing about how much they have to be thankful for...Mommy said something about it being mostly me and started crying again. She does that a lot. :-) She also said she was going to teach me about football and turkey day...and how to cheer for the Cowboys. Have a great day!

Thomas

Smiles & Sleep

Babies find the funniest places to fall asleep, don't they? Here are some pics of Thomas using Mom as a pillow - peacefully sleeping. We also FINALLY caught a smile on film - isn't it adorable? For the last couple days he has been looking directly at me or John smiling, cooing, and laughing, almost like he is carrying on a conversation with us. He has been doing this for a while now, but the difference is he's looking directly at us now. It's adorable, just like him. We hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

I'm ready for my close-up

These came from Momma's phone:

The first 2 are both when Tom was playing under his little gymboree(?) thing:







Tom decided to have a conversation with us one night. He was talking up a storm, a real chatterbox. We didn't get him really talking on video unfortunately, but this is what we did get. Sorry for it being sideways...

2 month visit

We had Thomas's 2-month check today and everything looks good. He is 10 lbs 12 oz, putting him in about the 40th to 50th percentile. He is 23 inches long - pretty long - putting him in the 75th percentile. And his little head is good, in about the 50th percentile and nice and round. The doctor said he looked really good, long and lean, and is doing well. He also said he was very strong - which we knew already. He lifts and holds his head up all the time now - and actually almost knocked Mommy out the other day by cracking his head against her mouth, but all was well.

Thomas also had his first immunizations, which just about killed his Mommy. It's a good thing Daddy was there to keep us both in check. I don't know if Mommy was crying more or Thomas, but we both had a tough time with it. In fact, Thomas made some new sounds today in protest to the pain. Mommy totally understands - she knows he needs the shots, but that still didn't make it any easier. He slept almost all afternoon, but is now wide awake and HUNGRY!

Other than that, everything is good and baby Tom is keeping us on our toes. We still are in disbelief at how lucky we truly are.

More pictures of Tom napping with Mom & Dad

He's so cute - we just can't help ourselves.

New Pictures - 7 weeks old

Thomas is growing and changing every day now. He is holding his head up really well now - with the occasional bobble. He is smiling and cooing with us, and tracks us walking across a room. He has a new toy - a "gymbori" thing that he lays under with rattles and mirrors hanging down with music and lights flashing and he just loves it! He also sat in his bouncy seat for 30 minutes the other day watching Mommy cook (which she got done just in time). He is just so adorable. He has Mom and Dad wrapped around his little finger. We couldn't be happier. Here are some new pictures we wanted to share.

Mr. Grumpyface

Some New Pics

Here are some pictures Mommy took of me dressed up Halloween (my outfit was WAY too big). Mommy also wanted me to show my opinion of the recent election results!!! :-)

There's also a picture of my room!! Daddy made it look pretty cool with pictures of froggies and a cool poster. Mommy and Daddy have started spoiling me and they do a pretty good job at it!!

Sleep...finally

I almost don't believe it. Thomas is 6 weeks old now and just a sweetie. He has started smiling more regularly now and coos to Mommy and Daddy. Last night I was blown away as we put him down to sleep at 12:30 and I woke up to a little cooing at 7 a.m. That was the longest segment of sleep I have had for 6 weeks - scared me a little though. I went in to find a smiley, content little man :-)

Mommy had her last post-partum check on Monday and everything looks good. We asked for a weight on Tom too - he's 9 lbs 8 oz!!!!! Took him a while but he is definitely growing like a weed now :-) I have a few new pictures but will have to post them later as Baby Thomas is using me as a mattress right now and sleeping away.

Definitely Taking after Great-Uncles

Here are a few pictures of Tom wearing an outfit made for him by his Great-Aunt Susan. Unfortunately the booties didn't make it on - his little feet kick way too much for that!! It was also the first time he didn't scream his head off in the swing. I think he was actually enjoying it! He's so much fun and really observant. I think we have a little genius on our hands (just like his momma).

Plus here's a picture of his little head - losing his hair. I think he resembles his Great-Uncles from the Bakken side of the family. :-)

Smitten

We are back from Grandpa & Grandma Nelson's and Tom did a great job with the car ride and with being in a new place. It was great to see my parents and get spoiled a little ourselves. Tom had his first official babysitter and we had our first official date since he was born, even if it was just to Wal-Mart and out to lunch. It was great to have a little help with Tom and catch up on a little zzzz's. Grandma & Grandpa were great and certainly are smitten to their new grandson...and completely adjusted to the new roles of grandparents :-)

Hunting Season

Is someone going to take me hunting or what???? Seriously...am I all dressed up for nothing???

New Pics of Thomas

Here are some more pictures of Thomas. (4 weeks old)

Thomas also is paying more attention or noticing PorkChop running around the house - PorkChop has certainly noticed him and always runs around when Tom is crying. I think he has done really well adjusting to the little baby. It's a big adjustment for us all.

He also met his Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma Nelson this weekend and his great uncle Leslie, who all came to visit. We brought him to the doctor again for a weight this week as well - he is now weighing in at 8 lbs 6 oz so we are almost back to birth weight. I think we are also on the verge of a smile :-) Hopefully we'll catch one soon and get it on film to share!!

Thomas also went with Mommy this week to visit her work - so he is making his way out in the world. This weekend we plan on visit his Grandma & Grandpa Nelson's. That will be an adventure going on his first 2 1/2 hr drive. Hopefully all will go well.