Don't worry...

... I'm still here! In fact, I'm alive and well and just getting used to my new life as a mom. This last month has gone by so quickly that I'm trying to treasure every second of the next 4 weeks before I go back to work. Jerad actually started back today, although it's only part time for the next 4 weeks. We are so blessed that we were both able to take so much time off to get to know our little man.

Marshall is developing quite the personality. He loves to be snuggled so this is how we've spent most of our days:

(one week)

(10 days)

(2 weeks)

(3 weeks)

If he is set down in his pack and play or the couch to sleep, he'll last maybe 30 minutes. If one of us is holding him or wearing him in the Moby Wrap or Mei Tai carriers, he'll sleep happily for hours.

Since the first night we've slept with him in our bed which works well for all of us. He does NOT like sleeping on his back, so he usually ends on sleeping on one of our chests, my arm, or on his side with his back to one of us or propped up by rolled receiving blankets. He is a mover and a shaker and will not sleep unless swaddled. Most receiving blankets can't contain him, even the bigger Aiden and Anias ones. So far, we've only had luck with the Miracle Blanket. Luckily, we received 2 as gifts. Without them I'm sure we would have had many sleepless nights!

Marshall loves his baths. We waited a week to give him his first bath, and he didn't cry, just made lots of goofy faces at us.

(one week old)

Since he doesn't really get "dirty," we don't soap him up very often, but he has been getting a nightly soak in the big bathtub with either mommy and daddy which he loves. We float him around and he kicks his little legs. Its quite adorable.

We switched to cloth diapers on day 2 and I couldn't imagine it any other way. We have a mix of pocket, fitted, and prefold diapers but so far we've used mostly the prefold.

Step 1: prefold and snappi:

Step 2: cover:

(2.5 weeks)

This is what we call "fluff butt:"

Cloth are definitely not as trim as disposable dipes!

It really is a piece of cake to use them. Jerad had never changed a diaper and he picked it right up. Washing them isn't bad either. I wash usually every other day and since nothing needs to be folded, putting them away isn't difficult. He started outgrowing the newborn sized prefolds and covers about week 3 and has outgrown almost all of his newborn sized clothes as well.

I'm happy with how healthy he is, but it's also sad how fast he's growing! At his 3 week midwife appointment, he was 9 lbs 8.5 ounces, and 21.5 inches (2 inches longer than at birth!). He gains about 1.5 ounces a day which would put him at over 10 lbs now.

He loves riding in his stroller. We've taken a few family trips now around the Atascadero Lake and to the Strawberry Festival in Arroyo Grande.

(3 weeks)

He is so much more alert now and is starting to interact with us. The first week was pretty much eat, poop, sleep, eat, poop, sleep, but now he likes being walked around and shown things and talked to. He likes looking at the pictures in books:

(3 weeks)

Or just looking around and making silly faces:

(3 weeks)

Besides holding and staring at the adorable baby we made, Jerad and I have been trying to get back into a somewhat normal routine of cooking, cleaning, and getting things done around the house and still getting OUT of the house to see family and friends.

Its hard when there is someone this cute to just watch all day:

(4 weeks)