Mari Wilkes Photography

As you can see from our blog, I love pictures! Mike bought me a new camera for Christmas so I could take better pictures of Trent. But there's something special about professional pictures. {Not to mention, professional pictures are about the only way to get a nice shot of the entire family.} I knew I wanted professional pictures of our family {especially Trent} but there are so many photographers; and some are crazy expensive.

Thank goodness Mari Wilkes contacted me. We haven't taken pictures yet, but I am so excited! She has sent me ideas, suggestions, answered my questions... and offered me a great deal!

Here is her web site: Mari Wilkes Photography. And here is her blog. If you like what you see, give her a call. She lives in Tennessee, but she will be in Alabama March 25- April 20th. She is offering tons of promotions and specials.

I will be sure to share our pictures after our session in April, but for now how about these cuties...

What we did today

I never took off my pajamas today:) I couldn't think of anything that could not wait until tomorrow, so Trent and I played indoors- mostly with the camera. The little man is learning how to sleep. He still gets up once a night {and most days start around 5:30-6 am} but he's better about going back down in the middle of the night and taking naps. His favorite time to nap is in his car seat after the Starbucks run. He still loves to eat, and he's starting to smile and "coo." He's happiest in front of a mirror; that is where the first few pictures were taken.

By the way, here's his birth announcement:

My two boys

Trent is 6 weeks old today! I have lots to blog about, but the big boy and I are off to bed. The little boy is already sleeping:)

These are a few of my favorite things...

I read Brooke's favorite things post and decided to do one of my own, as I have many new favorite things!

If you like Snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery, etc. you will LOVE Mpix!! It's the same concept {downloading your pictures online and ordering them} but better quality. It's a little more expensive, but if you have a nice camera, you really can't tell how great your pictures are until you get them developed somewhere nice. I just tried them this week, and I was very impressed! I had already developed many of the same pictures at CVS, and the ones from Mpix were so much better!

These disposable changing pads are awesome!! You throw them away and grab another one when one gets dirty. It's much easier than washing a changing pad cover, towel, etc.

These pacifiers are great!! They are just like the Soothie pacifiers but smaller, so they don't cover up his whole face.

I bought this sound machine for Trent. It worked wonders the first night, but it didn't get as much love last night. But for $20, I think it was a great purchase!

I still love these... maybe more than ever! They only have 160 calories, and they remind me of milkshakes- but with a little kick. Trent likes riding to get them too:)

These are super yummy!! I have decided that they are healthy too {but haven't actually verified my assumption.}

While I'm on the subject of food, you should try Honey Baked Ham's chicken salad!! I tried to find it online, but it isn't listed on their site. It is fabulous!!

Lastly, if you're nursing or considering nursing, you might need one of these. It's made my life much easier over the last 5 weeks. I like knowing that he's getting the nutrients he needs, but it helps when Mike can feed him too. When I go back to work in a couple of months, this machine and I will be best friends.

I love Favorite Things posts, so everyone start working on your lists!!

Yes, I am a first-time mom

Trent's one month check-up was this morning. He weighed in at 10.5 pounds, so he's gained over 2 pounds since he was born. He was 22.5 inches long, so he has grown 2.5 inches since birth. He is eating well. We are still only nursing pumping, so I guess that means I am eating well too! His doctor was pleased and gave him a great report. He was not at all concerned about his scary severe case of baby acne. I wish I could say the same for myself. I feel better knowing that it does not hurt him, is temporary and will not scar... but I hope it goes away sooner than the 2-3 months the doctor estimated:)

People always say babies just eat, sleep and poop. Trent is eating and pooping extremely well, but I sure do wish our little boy would sleep!! Trent and I are happy people during the day. He is pleasant, and that makes me pleasant. He doesn't sleep much during the day (3 hours max, scattered throughout the day.) But he does not scream or cry (at least not for very long), so I'm fine with him being awake. I think I am secretly hoping that his lack of sleep during the day will result in more sleep at night. Let's just say that is still just a hope:)

There is no rhyme or reason to his sleep (or lack of sleep) at night. We've tried letting him cry it out, swaddling, feeding more at night, noise machines, not leaving the room with him (so we won't stimulate him), etc. The child only sleeps when he is good and ready. And often this is 1.5-2 hours after feeding. Last night he ate 5 oz at 8:00, and he was still awake at 10:00, so I offered him another bottle. He ate another 4 oz... yes, that is 9 oz in 2 hours (he eats 30 oz/day!) He fell asleep around 11:00 and slept until 3:45. We were thrilled... but then he never went back to sleep!! The poor child didn't sleep again until 8:30, when we headed to his doctor appt. Thank goodness for Starbucks for mommy and daddy!!

Finally, my disclaimer... I have only been a mom for 4 weeks, and I have SO much to learn. I love him dearly! While I complain about small things, please know that I am thankful that they are just small things. We've been so blessed by this little boy and can't believe he's only been here for one month!

In honor of my "sleep" post, I thought I'd share a "sleep" picture (taken before baby acne.)

TGIF

I love Fridays! Mike is off work, and we are usually productive. This particular Friday, we went to Starbucks {drive-thru} in our pajamas. Then Mike kept Trent while I went for a pedicure. Let's just say I haven't had a pedicure since way BT {before Trent.} The girl spent almost an hour making my feet pretty again. It took so long that I forwent the "french" pedicure and opted for clear polish.

Mike cleaned out the garage this afternoon. It was a family affair. Even the Trenter {our nickname of choice right now} somewhat participated.

I told him to wave for the camera:)

Then these came in the mail today...
Aren't they cute?! I ordered them off Ebay. You can never have too many cute burp cloths! A few days ago, Mike was talking about how much money we've saved since Trent arrived. He was assuming that because I am home, I'm not spending money. I confessed that I've taken to shopping online. My favorite sites: Amazon, diapers.com, and Ebay.

Here are more pictures taken over the past few days...

Who does he look like??

It appears Trent looks like his Daddy! I used a few different pictures, and none of them said he looked more like me; one said he only looked 15% more like Mike. Either way, I love my two handsome boys:)

Here's a picture of our growing boy taken today...

We're attempting our first outing with Trent tonight. We're going to Jason's Deli for dinner. I'm hoping that he falls asleep in his car seat and that no strangers try to touch him. haha!