What's new?

Not much is new here.  Still same ol' same ol'.  Well, other than Nathan really learning new words and phrases.  Some of his favorites are "Nope" with an emphasis on the "p".  He thinks it's funny when I ask him random things and he just keeps saying "Nope".  It's sure to bring on that laughter that we love so much!  He also is learning to say his own name.  I ask him, "Nathan, what's your name?"  He'll look at me, and I help him to say it (sometimes).  He just says the "than" part, which sounds like "thin".  Oh yes, he knows "me" and "mine" and uses it regularly.  At 25 months now, he sure is quite the character!

Yes, he thinks he can put his feet up on the table when he's done eating.  Yes, I explain every time that we do not put our feet on the table.  Yes, he giggles and puts them further up on the table.  Little stinker!

Tom is still struggling with pain, on a daily basis.  Since I fell carrying laundry downstairs on Saturday, we've both been to the chiro 3x this week and both of us are feeling much better!  Although, keep in mind Tom's continuing pain is also due to the enlarged lymph nodes in his body.  Tom's been sleeping better at night as a result of the chiro adjustments, so that is a relief.  He's had quite a few visitors coming over to watch football games, and visit and just hang out.  His friend Jeremy picked Tom up the other night after work, and they played a few games of pool on Jeremy's new pool table.  Tom was tuckered when he got home, but he had a fun time, and I'm so glad he got to go do something fun.  J came over and watched football last weekend, too.  It means so much just to have someone for Tom to visit with, other than Nathan and myself.  I think he's going to his friend Greg's for the Packer game this weekend.

Have you seen the tie shirt I made for Nathan with this cool Alexander Henry skull print?

Well, Tom thought it was so cool, he requested one.  Since Tom's been loosing so much weight, I wasn't sure if he wanted a L or XL shirt, so I came home from the store with both just to make sure.  How perfect, because Tom took the L and I made a matching one in XL for Papa!  How flipping adorable are these Schwandt boys?!

So I had to post both pictures because it's just too funny how Nathan 'smiles'.  He sure takes after his Auntie Suzie with goofy smiling faces when he is in front of the camera!  Nathan really thought it was pretty cool Daddy and Papa had shirts just like his.  He loved every minute of it!

Florida, here we come!
We are getting really excited about our upcoming trip to Florida!  I reserved the rental car online.  I found I had 20,000+ miles left on my old NWA worldperks account, so I was able to redeem some of those points for National car rental gift certificates, and just for fun I redeemed more points for a Sephora gift card for me to indulge in something fun.  I haven't yet redeemed Sephora yet, but I will sometime.

I'll post more about our preparations getting ready for Florida in another post before we leave.

Thank you, again, everyone for your support, your kind words, your prayers, everything.  We really appreciate all your love SO much!  It's not easy, but we are finding something fun about every day we have together.  It's all about making memories.

Luv & Hugs,
Roxanne

A little catch-up and update on our family

It's been over 17 months since my last blog post.  So much has gone on in our family in that time frame, and I know a lot of you want to know what is going on and how we are doing, especially now.  So I decided to do a little quick catch-up and then try my best to keep you all better updated on our progress through this journey we are on.

Let's start with Nathan.
Well, since July last year, Nathan started crawling at 8months, walking a week before his 1st birthday and now running, jumping, climbing, and chattering up a storm at 2 years old.  We've referred to Nathan as our little dude since day 1 and that he absolutely is... a Little Dude!  Just 33" tall, about 23lbs, and a spitting image of his daddy!  Every day he amazes us and continues to bless our lives with him here, our precious little miracle!  Since I've changed computers, I don't have all of his pics on here, but here are a few to give you an idea on his fun, free-spirited, goofy, and loving little personality.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A FLICKR PHOTOSTREAM

So what do you think?  Nate sure is the little dude, right?!  I just love how much he looks like his daddy, but taking on his own personality, being his own person.  We tell him constantly how much we love him.  He's such a loving boy, and gives the sweetest (and sometimes silly) kisses.  Every night when he's ready to lay down to bed, he gives daddy nite-nite kisses.

Roxanne
Well, I've really been enjoying my time with my boys.  Having lost my job after maternity leave has been difficult financially, but taking on my new job as a Work-at-home-Mom has not only been amazing, so much less stress, makes me happier, but has such amazing rewards to be able to teach Nathan things and watch him grown, learn and become a little dude.  I cannot believe my baby is 2 years old!

My Snuggli Bebe boutique has grown substantially over the past few months.  I've been using my Marketing and Business education and putting that to work networking with other WAHMs and bloggers. I just started a wordpress blog for Snuggli Bebe and eventually, as I learn more about WP, I will open a dot com store linked there.  Some of my products have began to take presence in local parenting stores and boutiques across the country and in Canada!

Did you know I do digital design, too?  I started rDesignStudio in Jan 2010, and I've really enjoyed doing birthday invites, thank yous, baby shower, bridal shower, and weddings.  I've worked with 4 brides and am currently working with 2 right now.  I also do business marketing like biz cards, promotional material, etc...  You can see my work at www.rdesignstudio.etsy.com in both my current listings as well as sold listings.  Here are a couple clients I've done recently...

CLICK HERE TO THE FLICKR PORTFOLIO PHOTOSTREAM


Tom.
I know you've all been wanting to know how Tom has been, what's all been going on, and what's to come.  Tom is a fighter, a loving father and husband.  Last summer he enjoyed disc golfing with his buds, hanging out for football games, including the annual super bowl party at Greg's, going to a few games, snow blowing last winter, more disc golf this past spring, all the while continuing to go to his regular check-ups for his skin cancer.

This past spring, in May, a small hard lump appeared just under the surface of his skin on his right hip side.  He had it check, excised, and it came back full of melanoma.  This was done at the dermatologist office.  He met with his surgeon at Theda and he said he wouldn't operate until he saw a CT scan because this same hard lump had shown up in the same area last summer.  Well, the CT scan did how a lymph node light up deep in his groin area where he had previous surgeries in 2005.  Outpatient surgery was June 9th to remove more skin from the infected area as well as dissect the lymph node that had shown up.  As a result from that surgery, the entire lymph node was unable to be removed.  Tom's oncologist here referred us to a melanoma oncology specialist in Madison at the UW Health systems.

The months of June and July we spent going back and forth from Neenah to Madison, with Tom's surgery on August 20th.  We met with the Oncology specialist who all he does is specialize in treating Melanoma and working on clinical trials and studies.  We also met with his Oncology Surgical specialist who walked us through the CT and PET scans of Tom showing us and explaining the difficult locations of these lymph nodes.  oh, three new lymph nodes had shown up after the surgery in June, by the way.  So, together, the Drs had a plan and two of the top surgeons worked on Tom on Aug 20th.  Surgery lasted about 4 hours.  They wanted to be sure and get absolutely everything they possibly could because they knew this would be the last surgery Tom can ever have in this right groin area.  The difficulty of the surgery was grand because of the location of the lymph nodes sitting right along the major artery and nerve that go down your leg, underneath 2003 hernia surgery scars, as well as all of the other previous surgery scars since 2005 in that same area.  Post-op, Dr explained that once they got to the site, the lymph nodes were much larger than they had expected based on the CT scans.  They melted down and removed everything they possibly could, but the likelihood that microscopic cells would be left behind was high.  It is just physically and scientifically impossible to detect microscopic cells.

Pics from the White House lawn:

Unfortunately, there were microscopic cells that had remained and a CT scan 6 weeks after surgery showed they had grown enough to appear the scan.  First of all, Tom had elected to take part in a clinical study at UW-Madison and the randomizer had chosen him for Arm1 (which meant surgery first, then 3 1-wk in-patient chemotherapy treatments).  Arm2 would have been 1-wk chemotherapy treatment, surgery, then the last 2-wks chemo.  However, since the size of the lymph nodes was so much larger than scans had depicted pre-surgery, the Drs, along with a radiation oncologist specialist for melanoma all agreed the best best step to advise us would be for treatment focused on that groin area to reduce/minimize the growth of those lymph nodes.  This meant Tom would no longer be able to be a patient part of the study.

Schwandt Family Sept 2010

Before starting radiation, we were able to use my parent's timeshare and go to the only resort within driving distance for a week of family time, just the 3 of us.  We went to Spirit Lake, Iowa.  To say the least, we had fun together for the first part of the week, but the resort and surrounding tourist area was just boring as could be.  It was "off-season" and nothing was open, there was nothing to do and we were stuck in a little studio condo.  So we checked out early and took off headed to Minneapolis to visit my sisters!  Wow, we had a WAY better and so much more fun time when we got there!  There are pictures in the above flickr photostream of the Apple farm we went to one day with my sister Suzie.  That was a lot of fun.  Then one day we spent at the Mall of America with my sister Sasha.  It was great to get away from home and spend some good quality family time together!

Shortly after returning home, Tom started 6 weeks of intense radiation the beginning of October, and concluded 6 weeks later, just before Thanksgiving.  We were aware of all of the possible side effects from radiation including swelling, nausea, reduced appetite, fatigue, and sterilization.  We already have our miracle baby, so we aren't concerned about trying for another baby because what is most important right now is Tom's health.  Let me tell you, Tom did such a wonderful job going to radiation everyday, first patient of the day at 8am Monday thru Friday for 6 full weeks!  Nathan and I joined him a few times and met the nursing staff, whom Nathan graciously showed off for, and even another patient who followed Tom's schedule gave Nathan a little Christmas pound puppy.  How sweet!

It's been tough trying to figure out what to make for lunch and dinner.  Since radiation, Tom's appetite has been very up and down; mostly down.  After radiation, Tom had to have another CT scan and blood work down to find out where we stood now with the cancer in his body.  Unfortunately, the radiation did nothing.  It should have at least diminished it or inhibited growth, but the results of the CT scan actually showed more lymph nodes infected, larger in the groin area and growing up to just under his lungs.  It has not surpassed the lymph system, is not in any organs or his blood stream.  However, at this point, the cancer is no longer treatable by surgery, thus deeming it terminal.  Average time frame we've been told is one year.  That's not to say there aren't exceptions, and we are hoping and praying that Tom is above the exception.  There is no cure for cancer, and we know this cancer will eventually take Tom's life, but not before we fight like hell!

The next step is to start a chemo pill, called Temodar, that he can take at home.  We wanted a second opinion and to touch base with his oncologist in Madison, so we saw him Dec 17th.  He agreed the next step would be Temodar.  There are other intravenous chemotherapies available (administered in Eau Claire or Milwaukee), but before those are administered, a patient needs to have tried the Temodar first because they have seen good results from this drug.

Next came Christmas and we sure had fun this year!

Nathan had lots of practice ripping off wrapping paper at his birthday, so he was no stranger to ripping it off Christmas gifts!  We had bought a Santa costume to have Tom's dad dress up as Santa and bring Nathan some presents on Christmas eve.  It was SO much fun!  Nathan liked Santa because he let him hold and ring his jingle bells.  He went to show Santa some presents he had opened, but he didn't really want to sit on Santa's lap so much.  It was so cute and a lot of fun!  Here are a couple pictures....

Back to Tom's update.
Just yesterday, Wednesday Dec 29th, Tom had a port implanted.  Since he has to have so many blood draws, IVs for scans, etc... and his veins have become so small, the nurses have a very difficult time getting in them.  Tom's been poked and prodded and there's only so much any one person can take or should have to take.  Since we know there are plenty more times ahead of us that he will need blood draws, scans, and possibly intravenous chemotherapy, the doctors agreed to have a port implanted.  What it's called is a Power Port by BARD.  Click that link to see what it looks like.  The purple port is implanted just under Tom's skin in his upper left chest by his collar bone.  The catheter goes into the artery there at delivers blood to the heart.  All Tom will have to deal with is a teeny tiny poke thru a little skin into the port.  He's healing yet, and we can't take the bandage off to change it until Saturday, but all it looks like is a bump.  It's nice there isn't anything protruding hanging off his skin to deal with.

What's next?
So what's next is Tom started Temodar last night.  I've written up a drug chart so we can keep track every day with what meds he needs, when he took them and make sure we keep on top of everything.  The Temodar works like this... Tom takes 300mg (3 pills) every day for 5 days of a 28 day cycle.  After 2 cycles, he will have a CT scan which will tell us what needs to be done next.  If it shows improvement in diminishing the cancer and preventing growth, he will continue on Temodar.  The drug is quite tolerable, unlike the chemo Tom had in-patient in 2005.  Still, though, his appetite is very low and constantly fatigued due to the side effects from pain meds and such.  I've learned some tricks from the nurses, but still I wish the doctors would give better advice on what foods to eat, to avoid, what helps, etc....  It's very difficult blindly figuring this out.  Sure there are resources online, but I almost feel like I need to go to pharmacy school and nutrition school.  Anyhow, if the CT scan does not show improvement from 2 cycles of Temodar, then we will explore options for intravenous chemotherapy.

Fun news!
We are very lucky to be able to be taking another family vacation between Tom's cycles of Temodar. Tom really wanted to get the heck outta dodge and this cold weather, go somewhere warm and fun for Nathan for us to make memories together.  Thanks again to my parents for their timeshare points, and Thanks to my flight miles, we are taking a trip at the end of January to Florida!  Kissimmee/Orlando area! Yippeee!  We will be staying at the Holiday Inn Club Vacations Orange Lake Resort.    This place is 4.5 square miles large with like 7 pools, a lazy river, a man-made beach/board walk, and a whole little town all within itself!  We are SO excited for this amazing opportunity to take the most cheapest vacation EVER!  My sister Sasha will be joining us for part of the vacation, so it will be nice to have her there that she can stay with Nathan while Tom and I go have a nice dinner just the two of us, or go for a little walk just the two of us.  Sasha also plays cribbage, so Tom will have her to play with, cuz I just don't get that game at all! lol:)  Thanks to our family for being so gracious and giving, we will be able to take Nathan to the Magic Kingdom one day.  I know Tom won't be able to walk the park, even though it is the smallest park of Disney, I am fully prepared to rent him a wheelchair so he doesn't have to miss out one moment of watching Nathan's smiling face.  Tom has never been to the state of Florida, so he has no clue what's in store for him, and I know he is going to love it.  The crowd, maybe not so much, but just the magic of Disney and seeing Nathan enjoying his favorite characters will be a gift in itself.  Can you tell I am excited!

Thanks.
Thank you all for your patience, kind words, support and love.  I know this post was lengthy, with lots to update, and I know I'm forgetting something, but I think you get the gist of what The Schwandt's have been up to the past 17 months.

I do plan on coming back to post updates on us and Tom's situation as time permits.  I am a busy mom and wife these days, so my time blogging and working my hobbies/business all happens during nap time or after bedtime.

We greatly appreciate all of your prayers, for adding us to prayer chains at your churches, and passing along to other friends to include us in their prayers.  We know our good Lord works in mysterious ways and we have proof of the miracles He performs, so we are praying for a miracle for Tom.  Please pray for his well-being, tolerance, and quality of life.

Much Love,
Roxanne

little dude ~ so in love

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Nathan has surely proved this to be true. The month of June was exceptionally hot and humid. While we do have central a/c, I figured Nathan needed to get an early taste of summer. We spend time under the shade of our gazebo and watch Theo play chuck-it, but this teal bucket was calling out Nathan's name. I had the lawn hose laying in the yard after watering my garden, so the water sitting in the hose was the perfect tempurature of warm water for my baby's first "pool".

Tell me, how could I possibly pick just ONE picture to print/enlarge?? Seriously, my little dude is so freaking adorable. I can't stop kissing that face, stroking his hands as he falls asleep, and "eating toes" when we change diapers. Tom and I are so in love and so in awe of this little miracle we made!!

Here is a slideshow to wrap up the month of June for you.... and some pics from 4th of July, which Nathan LOVED the fireworks!

Click on the picture to view the slideshow. Hopefully it works....I forgot how to do this! :)

Love,
Roxanne:)
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Nathan 6 months

We had so much fun doing these pics and the special X-Box picture for Daddy's surprise Father's day present!

At 6 months old, Nathan is rolling over ~ mostly to the right, and mostly from back to belly ~ twice he rolled from belly to back. Nathan eats fruits and veggies for lunch and dinner, and cereal with bananas for breakfast. He has a blast jumping in johnny jump up (I will try to post a video), and he loves sitting up like a big-dude playing with his rattles and singing toys on the floor. More recently, he has begun to take after his father..... rocking!!! These pics were taken early June right after he turned 6 months old. I can't believe this month is about over and my 6 month old is actually just about to be my 7 month old! WOW how time flies!

Enjoy these pics. They sure were fun. Nathan is a little flirt!

Click the white play button, then maximize in the lower right corner. Hit esc key to exit.

This video was taken at my mom's house one day when we were sewing up a storm for my Snuggli Bebe business. Nathan was supervising from his johnny jump-up.

Love,

Roxanne:)

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Playing Catch-up

Man! Life has been busy! I haven't had much time to blog..... as you've noticed! Sorry for such a long lul in conversation, my happy bloggers. I've hopped on my friend's blogs over the past couple of days (when I have 2 minutes to spare) to try and get caught up with what they've all been up to, so tonight I thought it is my turn to play the catch-up game...

I just love being a new Work-at-home-Mom. I couldn't ask for a better boss (myself) or human resources department (Nathan). Plus, the added bonus of having Tom around the past few weeks (laid off, and now starting a new job June 2nd) has been really great; a rarity that will probably never happen again, which is good that we've had this time together NOW when Nathan is so young and needs his loving parents.

Work-at-home-Mom?

Yes, that is me. After loosing my full-time job, I picked up an old hobby...sewing. I got an early Mother's Day gift from Tom and Nathan....a sewing machine! It's electronic, super fancy, has over 110 stitches, and I just LOVE it!!! The past 6 weeks, or so, Nathan and I have spent many days and afternoons over at my mom's house sewing and visiting. We made a ton of new things for my Snuggli Bebe business. I participated in an expo last weekend, made some sales, contacts, and have some custom orders lining up. The foot traffic at the expo wasn't nearly what we had expected, and the first expo I did with this coordinator wasn't all that great either, so I won't be participating in anymore of her expos. My Etsy Shop is doing well. I've got 5 online sales there so far, and lots of hits. Google Analytics is really fun to look at, but then again, that the Probs and Stats in me that I loved in college. I also am keeping up with my Pampered Chef business as well, so I have really enjoyed being a Work-at-home-Mom. I think Nathan appreciates it, too.

I have to give HUGE props out to all the part- and full-time working mothers. I don't know how you do it. You are amazing! Those are big shoes to fill and I know I will someday probably end up back working full-time, but right now I just can't imagine how I could function. So, hats off to Work-away-from-home-Moms!!!!!!

Nathan:

Our baby is growing! I can't believe he is 5 1/2 months old! Where does the time go? Our little guy is learning so much and is such a joy to watch. He amazes me everyday. He loves to smile and laugh, and he sure thinks Theo is hilarious. We got him on DVD video laughing hysterically from the depths of his tummy as Theo jumped and did tricks to get his Stud Bone toy. I think Tom and I watched that clip on the DVD recorder a thousand times. There's no better sound in the world than your baby laughing. Here are some pics of Nathan...

Click on the white play button, then maximize on the lower right corner.

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My week back to work.... (A MUST READ! you'll see...)

Monday, March 2nd was my first day back to work after 12 weeks on maternity leave. I have to admit, I dreaded going back to work and being away from my baby. And guess what...I survived it and now I'm living a new life. Keep reading to see what I mean...

Monday 3/2

4:30am woke up, nursed Nathan

5am got Nathan back to sleep, jumped in the shower

6:30am Nathan woke up, nursed, then watched Baby Einstein "Moves" DVD

7am Drove Nathan to my mom's for the day7:30am Got to work, caught up with some co-workers, and got to work with LOTS to do!

I'll spare the daily details, but I pumped twice on Monday, thought of Nathan a lot, called my mom to find out he was doing marvelous.

Tuesday 3/3

Same early morning routine.

7:30am Aunt Debbie came to watch Nathan

11am Daddy woke up to play with Nathan while Aunt Debbie ran her errands

2:20pm Daddy went to work

4:30pm Mommy rushed home to see her baby.

Poor baby didn't want to nap for Aunt Debbie. She walked the house bouncing away just to keep Nathan satisfied. Bless her heart, she did everything she could for dear-teething-Nathan-boy. As soon as I got Nathan in my arms, and Debbie drove out of the driveway, dear-teething-Nathan-boy crashed. Out like a light! I laid him in bed and he slept from 4:50pm to 9pm! (I got a lot of misc stuff done in that time.)

Wednesday 3/4 (Gma Sheila's 60th birthday!)

Same early morning routine.

7:15am Dropped Nathan off at Gma & Gpa Schwandt's house. It's so hard to leave my baby!

Mommy worked hard all day. Thought of Nathan, called Gma Schwandt to find out he was playing and having a good ol' time. Daddy had come over when he got up.

4:30pm Rushed to see my baby. Gma & Gpa Schwandt had a good fun day with their grandson!

That night Nathan didn't want to go to sleep very well, so we were up playing, bathed, nursed, rocked, and finally bed.

Thursday 3/5

Same early morning routine.

7:15am Dropped Nathan off at KinderCare

Mommy worked hard all day. Thought of Nathan, called KinderCare and he was doing good, having fun playing and watching the other kids. Daddy went to KinderCare before work. He tried to feed Nathan a bottle, but Nathan just smiled and talked to Daddy the whole time :)

4:30pm Rushed to see my baby.

We enjoyed a quiet evening together, playing with toys, chatting up a storm, nursing and rocking to sleep. We got good sleep this night!

Friday 3/6 (a.k.a. dooms-day-and-didn't-know-it)

Same early morning routine.

7:1am Gma & Gpa Schwandt came to watch Nathan.

Mommy worked hard all MORNING. Ordered Pagoni's pizza with her co-workers, and was really looking forward to eating it.

11:30am Went up to the front lobby to pay the pizza guy, but ended up losing my job!

Yes, that's what I said... I lost my job through "workforce reduction". My job was eliminated in order to save the company money through these hard economic times. I went up to pay and get our pizza's, and at the same time, our department manager was on his way to come give me the tap-tap, but I literally ran into him. He looked like a deer in headlights. He had to read a formalility to me, couldn't hardly look me in the eyes, and kindly went to get my important things to walk me out. The first thing out of my mouth was my BREAST PUMP, then my purse, coat, Nathan's picture I had just brought for my desk, and I asked about my pizza. He reimbursed me for the pizza I had paid for, out of his own pocket. Later, they did let my co-worker stop at my house after work with my desk belongings, including 'roxanne's grocery store' hehee:) and with that she brought my pizza! YEAH YUM!

I'm a little emotional., but I don't have hard feelings about it. I think I would if I didn't have Nathan, but since I have him, I'm looking at the positive side of things and thanking God for the blessing of being able to be with my son again. Of course it will be hard, financially, once the severance pay is exhausted, but I also put in my claim for unemployement. I will start looking for another job, but there aren't many out there. And instead of doing the same thing I have for the past 8 years, I'm going to look out in the finance field, or for some office job at the hospital. I figure, the banks and credit unions aren't going away, and people still need the hospital, so those are good places to work.

And finally, I will leave you with a picture of Nathan!

She said it best

The past few months I have been a patron of a downtown Neenah shoppe called Mom and Pop Place. This shoppe is a parent's boutique, restaurant, and children's place to play freely. I love the Ikea-like atmosphere and welcome-warm faces. This is also the location where my LLL and babywearers groups meets. Mom and Pop place serves us a variety of healthy meal choices, my favorite being the chicken pesto panini. I can't wait to take a big bite out of that sammie again soon!

The owner, Adria, recently started a blog for Mom and Pop place over on WordPress. In her post titled Baby Trust, Adria shares her #1 offer of advice for new parents. In reading this post, I was so thrilled because it is the jist of what I recently read on askdrsears.com. It's about when a baby cries, and the parent comforts...what that means, what it represents, and why we come running to our child. Here's a clip of her post:

A baby is not capable of manipulation, but a second-grader most certainly is. (Let me tell you.) Where do you draw the line? I maintain that, as you learn to trust your baby, you really get to know your child. You get to know what they really need when they are asking for something. If a baby cries to nurse, he needs to eat. As that same baby gets older, he may still cry to nurse, but his needs may change. He still needs milk, but he also needs love and reassurance and comfort. That is what he is truly asking for. He’s telling you what he needs (comfort), by crying for what he wants (milk). Since you got to know you baby so well by responding to his needs, you are able to interpret his needs.

She continues on fast-forwarding to an example with her 7-yr old son crying for a new lego set and what that really means, not that he needs the toy, but that the toy represents things he needs from mom and once you realize what he really wants, you can meet his needs.

I hope you go and read that post, I found it really helpful to share with my family and friends when they claim I pick up my baby and hold him all the time. I do it when I know he needs it because I have gotten to know him and that's our communication-trust we are building for a life full of love and that special mother-son bond I love building with him.

Have a lovely day, all!

*hugs*
Roxanne :)
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*He Speaks*

Nathan loves to "talk". No, he doesn't speak words quite yet, but he sure loves to use his voice for laughing, giggling, yawning, sneezing, smiling, and most of all cooing. It's just so cute, I have to share with you! Check out his video below.

*hugs*
Roxanne :)

They're here!

Nathan's new cloth diapers are here!! Aren't they so cute! :)

I got them all washed up and ready to wear, so at his next diaper change, we put his first one on! I think he really loves the soft feel of the fabric. Even though pampers are quite soft, nothing quite compares to the real deal. :)

As soon as I got it on him he was just'a'kicking and'a'punchin like crazy! His arms are in the 'fencing' pose. His pediatrician pointed it out at his 2-month check up that it was a very good sign he was 'fencing'. I think it has something to do with their sense of balance.

We have about 10 pair of cloth diapers. As soon as I start getting paychecks again (mid-March), I will probably buy a few more just to have on hand. We're not totally writing off the disposables though. I will put them on him for night time and day care will have them as well. I don't want them to make extra laundry than necessary if they change him and he's hardly wet. I'm also not going to make the Grandma's (or Debbie who's helping before my mom can take over) go cloth, so they will have disposable as well. Unless, of course, they WANT to give the cloth a try...I won't object.

It's really easy. Here is my plan of attack:

Wets: Wet cloth diapers get tossed into a reusable bag to be taken down to laundry every other day.

Soils: Soiled cloth diapers vary. Breastmilk #2 is water soluable, so you just have to get the excess off and the rest will clean just fine in the laundry. If it's really soiled, I have pink kitchen gloves to wear as I carefully swish the soil into the potty, then the diaper can go in the reusable bag for laundry. If it appears stained, my cousin told me to mix up a 1/2 cup baking soda, a 1/2 cup peroxide and 1 cup hot water, and let it soak. So I spared a tupperware container and set it in the bathroom so we're all set and ready!

I'm sure some of you may think I'm crazy for going cloth, but I really don't feel like it's that much more work. It makes me feel good about my baby's bum and the environment. Just call me domesticated... :)

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

Nathan's Valentine/10wk pictures

I know the traditional is to do 3-month pictures, but I figure by then we will have Easter pics, so I took advantage of the Valentine's Day holiday! I have to say, my son is quite the charmer :) He loves to smile, and does so more with bigger smiles at home, but these little sly smiles give you just enough of a look into his little personality. Nathan is so full of love!

Our little angel for Valentine's Day.

*hugs*

Nathan :)

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Tom's 37th Birthday

We had a fun-filled weekend for Tom's birthday. Friday night we spent the night in at home, then Saturday night we went to our friend's J & Nikki's house to watch the UFC fight, and Sunday (his bday) we went to our friend's Greg & Lisa's house for a Super Bowl party, then Monday Tom took the day off of work and we had a fun day running errands and strolling the mall.

Tom said he really had a great birthday weekend and he didn't want to go back to work today. He wanted to stay home with Nathan and I, and let me tell you.... I would have loved to have him, but.... bills must be paid, so back to work he went.

Tom's friend Greg has this life-sized Brett Favre decal on his wall in his basement "man's room".

....and we thought Nathan was the perfect football! He didn't think that it was very funny at all.

Our trip to the mall on Monday was fun and relaxing. You wouldn't believe how empty the mall is during the week in the middle of the day. It's so great!

Nathan was so cute riding around in his car seat attached to the stroller, but shortly after this last picture, he said "enough-is-enough" and I popped him in the pouch sling and he instantly fell asleep. Sweet baby!

Until next time....

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

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Nathan at 2 months

I can't believe my baby boy is 2 months old! You know the saying how time flies, and boy does it ever!!! Nathan has changed so much over the past 2 months. He's very alert, loves to move his arms and legs, he's learning and growing everyday. We just love him so much. It's so fun to get him smiling and encourage him with baby push-ups.

And then Theo got in on the fun!

We've been enjoying some time outside the house. There are days that it is brutely cold outside, so we stay in on those days, but we've also been enjoying meeting up with other mom's and babies at Mom and Pop Place downtown Neenah. We meet there with a breastfeeding group and a baby wearing group. I've really loved wearing Nathan in a sling. We first started with the ring sling, but Nathan is so small he kept scrunching down too far over a period of time wearing him. So now we are using a pouch sling. I feel like a mama kangaroo with my little bundle in my front pouch! Here's Nathan in his oh-do-adorable shirt that makes me look at him like a big boy. I just love these colors on him. He's such a ham!

Tomorrow (Wed) is Nathan's 2-month check-up at the doctors. This is the appointment that he gets like 6 shots. :( I'm already so worked up about the shots and I'm not even the one getting them. I know I can handle shots in my own arm, but my precious little baby has no idea the little needle will only sting for a second. Tom's coming with, like he has for all Nathan's appointments, and I already told him he's going to be the one to hold Nathan when he gets the shots because I will probably be a wreck. Then I'll cuddle him afterwards..... Mommy to the rescue!

I've got more pictures to post from Tom's birthday, so on to my next post! Yeah TWO in one day! hehhee :)

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

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He Smiles!

Nathan has been smiling for a little while now, and we finally caught him on camera. I should clarify... my SISTER finally caught him on camera. My sister, Sasha, was in town this past weekend so Nathan and I went over to my parents house while Tom worked some overtime. Nathan was smiling and laughing at me and Sasha was smart enough to pick up my camera!

His smiles are so infectious they make me smile all over and my heart skips a beat. I loved watching Nathan drift into sleep with a sleep-smile-smirk and now he's conciously SMILING!



Here is my sister Sasha coddling Nathan for a smile... and he delivers! Now we've just got to catch Daddy with the smiling boy! We have them on video DVD, but not digital. Gonna work on that this weekend for Daddy's birthday, that would be a fine present :)


I hope you all have a SMILE-fine day!
*hugs*
Roxanne :)
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What we've been up to...

I can't believe it's been 10 days since my last post. I guess you could say I've been one busy mama! Here's what we've been up to...

Through purchasing my new sling, the nice gal who makes them introduced me to a breastfeeding group that gets together at a local establishement downtown Neenah called Mom and Pop Place. I enjoy this group and meeting other moms who share stories, tips, advice, etc. It's an informal setting, the store has delicious good food, a cute little boutique shop, there are kids happily playing with the toys, and breastfeeding is totally welcomed. Here's a picture of Nathan in the new sling.

Our daily routine is to wake, feed, Mama eats breakfast, we have a little playtime, then maybe a little more feeding, and finally a morning nap. We get Daddy up around 10:30-11am (he works 2nd shift), and then Daddy takes over so Mama can get some stuff done. Nathan just loves looking at Daddy and listening to his voice. They have a good time playing and sometimes feeding as well.

Tom had his first evening with Nathan all to himself this past Monday night while I attended my monthly Pampered Chef team meeting. They did well, and I came home just in time for a new feeding. Tom said he really enjoyed the time for just him and Nathan. I'm so glad Daddy and baby bonding is going so well. It's so important and Tom just can't get enough of his little boy :) He said to me that when he comes home from work, and if we're sleeping, he always comes in and looks at Nathan before jumping in the shower. He looks and looks, watches and watches, and strains from laying a gentle kiss because once it woke him up! :)

Here's the handsome fella, in his oh-so-cute truck overalls outfit, dressed to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Schwandt one Saturday. This is still a Newborn outfit... the 0-3 mo outfits and jammies are too big on him yet. He really is growing so much and I'm sure before I know it, those 0-3's will be too small!

Remember the Amby hammock bed I had talked about in an earlier post? Well, Nathan had slept in it for 3 hours our first day home from the hospital, but not much since. We were sleeping him in whatever he felt safe and comfortable in, and convenient to attend to for nitetime feedings, etc.. So he slept in his bouncy seat for a while. Eventually we transitioned him to the bassinet of the pack-n-play, which is where he continues to sleep. It's working out great, and eventually will be easier to transition him into his crib. I want him to feel comfortable and snuggly in his Amby bed, too. So yesterday he took a 20 min nap in it!

Well I can here he is up early from his morning nap....time to change stinky hinder and feed.

Love you all!

Roxanne :)

Baby Dedication

Today was Nathan's baby dedication at our church! Instead of baptising babies, our church dedicates children. This is a promise that we, our family, and our church family make to raise Nathan knowing our Lord Jesus, to learn from His Word. Basically, it's the same "words" and "service" as familiar Catholic and Luthern baby baptisms. The parents, family, and church are promising the same thing. We just do it minus the water. The full-submursion baptism comes later in the child's life once he/she around the age of 12 or 13. By this time, the child has grown up in the church family and can make a very important decision on their own; to accept Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, into their heart and to dedicate their life to Him. At this time, the child goes through Youth Discipleship, which includes attending discipleship class with Pastor Jim, and choosing a mentor from the church congregation. This is also how I was baptised, and my mentor and I have been friends for 17 years!

With baby dedications in our church, some families choose to identify Godparents; following familiar Catholic practices. Tom and I chose not to do the Godparent thing. I don't have Godparents, although I am one and Tom is one, it was too difficult to pick and we didn't feel it necessary to do with Nathan because we know all of our family and friends will love Nathan and support him in Christian faith.

Here are pictures from our big day!

Denise, Pastor Jim's wife, was so excited to hold Nathan!

The spoon given by the church to Nathan. Engraved with 'Whiting Community Baptist Church'

My Dad, 1st time Grandpa, with Nathan and me :)

Nathan's cute outfit!

Here you can see the Uppercase Living expression "MIRACLES" on Nathan's wall!

I hope I have shared something with you and maybe you learned something new about dedicating babies! :) We are so excited to be on this journey with Nathan and can't wait to watch him grow, develop, and become a beautiful human being making Mommy and Daddy proud.

Love,
Roxanne :)

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Nathan 1-month

Birth Weight 6lbs. 1oz.

1-month Weight 8lbs. 3oz.

Today we had Nathan's 1-month check-up with his pediatrician. (technically, Nathan is 4w 6d old) We are happy to say that our little baby is healthy-as-can-be!! He's got a little congestion from a combination of left over amniotic fluid and then the cold winter air this time of year, so we've been running a cool mist humidifier for him. It seems to be coming up and Doc said as long as he's not having any trouble breathing, which he isn't, he'll be ok. I was able to expel a couple big buggars from his little nose the past few days and his pediatrician said to use a little bit of infant saline drops to help loosen up.

Here are some new pictures of our sweet baby Nathan!

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

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