All Jumped Out

So my sweet little son LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES to jump and loves his jumper. (If you have held him you know that because he will just start jumping in your arms and it's quite the workout.) It's the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumper that was a gift from some of our best friends and it's Porter's favorite piece of equipment (used to be the swing until he discovered the fun of jumping...and could reach the floor). He will sit in that thing for a couple hours straight and now he's actually been playing with all the toys and moving all the way around (the seat moves 360 degrees). Well yesterday he was in that and I went to take a quick shower and wasn't away for more than 10 minutes. When I got out of the shower the house was awfully quiet so I peek around the corner and this is what I found: My precious angel jumped himself to sleep!!! He's done that once or twice before but it just gets cuter and cuter. And being the good mother I am I did not immediately rescue my son in slumber from the baby device but instead ran (dripping wet hair and wrapped in a towel) to grab my digital camera, phone (picture to send the Daddy and family), and video camera to document the precious moment. I love this child.

I Have a Blog???

Wait a sec, I have a blog? Really?! Whoops... =P I know it's been awhile since my last post which preceded a visit to my twin sister and newest nephew Simon in Nashville end of March/beginning of April and here are a few pictures. Porter is getting a bath in the sink and just getting his bum soaked which had his first (and only thus far...knock on wood) diaper rash complete with open bleeding sores. We had fun dressing the cousins alike in identical or similar outfits for fun. In the pictures Porter is 7 months old and approximately 15 lbs, and preemie Simon is a month and 6 lbs I think. While in Nashville my two sisters and I (Michelle and Stacey) had tons of fun together. We survived tornado's (the closest one that touched down to us was less than 2 miles away), took pictures, ate like queens, Michelle showed us how to make bread and yummy treats, and managed to reorganize Stacey's house (pantry, cabinets, shelves...the kind of thing you always want to do but can never get around to it). It was so fun and we felt so productive. We need to go into business together to clean and organize homes, because together we do great! The picture in the middle is a Sunday-after-church picture of my little man and I about a couple months ago. All is well here and life is wonderful. I have the most perfect, awesome, special, precious, most patient, sweet, happy little guy. I love him so much. :)

Catch up on Porter

Here are a bunch of pictures taken from my phone over the past month or so:

Porter had a white shirt to wear to church and little ties he hasn't worn yet cause they would just choke him. I love my little son!

Little dude and I went swimming with Aunt Rach and cousin Eli...how cute is he in his swimsuit?! He looks like he's looking at the water with uncertainty but he loves it. It's just so confusing to be in this "gi-normous" bathtub! (He LOVES bath time which we usually do in our jacuzzi with one of us in the tub. It's like his own mini swimming pool.)

This was our "Simon Fan Club" picture the day Simon was born. I'm President and Porter is VP.

Several mornings and post-naps I go in to find he maneuvered himself completely sideways. Cutie.

This was his first reaction to rice cereal....ewwwww! He's okay with it now. Had that for a few weeks, then moved to oatmeal and now onto carrots.

"Take me out to the ball game..."

Does this with his hands a lot. It's adorable.

Kid loves to eat his fists and chew on his hand or select fingers.

Sunday best and hanging in his car seat.

Does he look annoyed to you too? I love these 'jamies (pajamas) with green dinosaurs on them and says "cutiesauras".

Getting some beauty sleep...let's not disturb the little guy. One thing I love about this kid is he can sleep through ANYTHING. Vacuum, two little barking dogs, the garbage disposal, banging pans, drawers and doors opening and closing, the door bell, TV...you name it and he's slept through it. Awesome.

Here is my sleepy baby boy who is so snuggly and curls into a ball if you let him.

I'm coming Simon!!!

So proud Aunt Natalie here is leaving in two days to go meet baby Simon in Nashville. I'll disappear with my main-little-squeeze Port-Port and be gone for 2 1/2 weeks. We are really going to miss Daddy (Aaron) but we will be back and then together for eternity. Keeping things in perspective. =P Here are a few pictures of Simon and my sister Stacey and husband Matt.

More Nephew Simon Pictures!

Here are some pictures my brother-in-law Matt sent by e-mail. I can't believe how incredibly precious and non-fetal looking my new nephew Simon is; he is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen. I didn't know a preemie could look that normal and perfect. The funniest thing (I think--won't be so funny to his parents who have to pay the diaper bills) they've learned about Simon is he HATES wet diapers. Several times he has been super fussy and won't eat and won't calm down...then they change his wet diaper...baby is fine and happy. Poor parents!!! Told Stacey she needs to buy some stock in diapers 'cause they will be using their fair share! =) Simon is regulating his temperature well and his blood work came back good: bilirubin is normal (that was Porter's biggest obstacle for 3 months) and he is not anemic. His only issue is he had a high blood count so they gave him an IV to thin out his blood. All-in-all Simon is doing great and Mom is the new milking machine! It's feeding, pumping, sleeping and eating for Stacey! What a great, wonderful, perfect, beautiful new mom.

Simon pictures!

New Nephew Simon Mathew Gilday!!!

I copied this from what I posted on Stacey's blog:

Simon Mathew Gilday has made his entrance and a special appearance in Nashville! He was born at 4:21 pm today weighing in at 4 lbs 7 oz and 18 inches long. This is Stacey's twin sister Natalie by the way. I'm posting for Stacey because she is in the hospital with her new baby-son. She is exactly 35 weeks today, so he came a little early. They took him straight to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for observation and to make sure he's okay, but so far so good. =) Little trooper. I'm told he has a lot of dark hair, Matt's nose, long feet, dark eyes, and is "teeny teeny tiny". He nursed wonderfully tonight; latched right on and no problem sucking, so that's a good sign. No idea how long he will be in there but I'll try to keep you all posted while Matt and Stacey enjoy their new-found roles as parents. I also don't have a picture at this time but that too will come. =) Fairly easy labor: started having contractions last night and went to work this morning for a couple hours before deciding she needed to go to the hospital. Then she went from being dilated from a 3 to pushing out baby in about less than 6 hours with an epidural. She said it was pretty "easy": couple pushes and the doctor did the rest pulling baby out. I'm so proud of Stacey and thrilled for her and Matt and already in love with my new nephew Simon. Love you Simon!