Michael's reaction when we told him he was going to see Santa!

Santa and more!

This past few days have been busy for baby M! On Friday, Michael went back to the doctor since his bronchiolitis has been lingering for several weeks now. Auntie Amanda came with us! Thank goodness because we had so much to carry out after the appointment. Michael received another breathing treatment at the office and this time it helped with his wheezing and congestion in his chest. They gave us a pump and a prescription for albuteral. She also checked his ears and found the beginnings of an infection in his left ear so we also got a script for amoxicilion. Poor little guy. Just can't seem to shake this cold. He is still taking his C-Phen drops to help with the congestion. He did so incredibly well though. Dr. Park had a difficult time getting to look in his ear because he was so obsessed with looking at himself in the mirror, sticking his tongue out and smiling :) Since it wasn't his 4 month check up, they only weighed the little man... 17 lbs! (Daddy just measured him... 26 inches.) After the appointment, mommy and auntie Amanda dropped little man off at Daycare.

Later that night, Mommy and Michael traveled down to Oxford for auntie Amanda's bridal shower. He was a little fussy due to his cold but did well! He never cried but had a difficult time getting his food down because of the phlegm. Overall, the trip was a success! He had a blast watching auntie Amanda open all her gifts.




On Saturday morning, Daddy got Michael ready to go meet Santa!! After everyone was ready, we hopped in the car and headed to the mall. We got there early so we wouldn't have to wait long. Michael was sleeping upon arrival but woke up when we were in line, just before his visit with Santa. Daddy did such a great job getting Michael to look at him and smile. Michael didn't seem to care too much for Santa. He looked at everything but Santa! :) The trip was a success though and Mommy and Daddy were also good... we only bought one thing, the Snowmen singing thingy from Hallmark since Michael was so captivated by it. Mommy found Michael's Xmas gift next year, a FL Gator light weight stroller :)







Today, we have been relaxing, enjoying the weekend before a hectic week of work. Michael has spent the morning watching cartoons and playing with the musical Snowmen thing Daddy bought yesterday. We are almost ready for Xmas!



Hope everyone is well and enjoying the holiday season! Love Kim, Mike, and Michael :)

3 Months old!

Where do we begin?! We are so sorry for slacking on the blog. Things have been incredibly hectic the past few weeks! Michael turned 3 months on Thanksgiving Day! We left Ocala on Wednesday evening and headed south to Sarasota to spend the holiday with my family.

Wednesday night, Michael finally got to meet his Uncle Ryan!

My brother looked a little nervous when he first held him, but adjusted quickly, especially after Mike threw a bottle in his hand, letting him feed Michael. He also spent quality time with Grandma Cindy, playing and snuggling.

Thursday, Michael was able to meet his Great Aunts, Great Uncles and second cousins. Tanner, Abigail and Chloe were so fascinated with Michael. They spend the afternoon trying to play with him. Michael's main interest, as always, was his elephant on his playmat:) After dinner, we traveled into Bradenton and spent some time with our friends, Ben and Andrea, and their parents. Michael was passed around all evening and did so well! As soon as we walked in the door, Andrea's mom went in for the baby!! Overall, it was a great day!

Friday was followed by a day with Grandma. Mommy and daddy got to go on a date! Our trip concluded with a visit to Charlotte's. She and her family hosted a Thanksgiving BBQ for family and friends.

He spent most of the afternoon/evening sleeping as he was still sick with bronchiolitis. After the BBQ, we decided to head back to Ocala. Even though it was hectic, it was relaxing at the same time. It helped that Michael let mommy and daddy sleep through the night :)

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we took Michael to Light Up Ocala with some friends and their little girl Ellie. The weather was perfect, not too cold but a nice chill in the air. Michael did great as always but he did sleep through the best part of the night, when all the lights in the town were turned off for a few seconds and then the city lit up with Xmas lights! We went to dinner with the Lazdowski's afterwards, enjoying a warm meal and great conversation!

Michael at "Light Up Ocala"

As always, Daddy and Michael love to watch their sports:) Here are a few photos of Michael dressed up in our favorite team outfits!

Daddy and Michael watching Gator football:) Touchdown!!

Michael continues to grow like a weed! He is sitting up well, talking non stop. He loves to mimic our mouth movements and sounds and LOVES to stick his tongue out at us! He will reach up and feel our faces, rubbing daddy's stubble and grabbing mommy's nose. He loves to watch us eat, now chewing on his nipple. We think he is about ready for cereal and mommy's favorite, Gerber bananas. He will visit his doctor again tomorrow since he still has a cold but will return again on the 29th for his 4 month check up. Can't wait to see how much he weighs and how long he is! We are also excited for so many upcoming events! We head to Boone, NC for Xmas with my parents, followed by Mamaw and Papaw's trip to FL in February!

Michael sucking his thumb!

Hope everyone is doing well! Also, wanted to say CONGRATS to Chris and Kynda! Bailey boy is finally here:) Love to everyone! Kim, Mike and Michael.

First Baby Cold :(

We knew it was going to come sooner or later... Along with his second week of daycare comes the first of his colds :(

Fortunately, he has only had a low-grade fever, but is congested and feeling icky. His terrific personality hasn't changed, but he has not been eating very much the past couple of days(which, as you can see, doesn't happen!) We took him in to see the doc yesterday, she wasn't overly concerned, at this point. Hopefully, it stays out of his chest and his fever doesn't spike. By the way, he weighed 15lbs 6oz(with shorts and a tee on.)

As I said, his easy-going, fun-loving style hasn't changed... He still loves to dance!!! He has always gotten excited when music is on(even in Mommy's tummy). He loves it. Michael can be laying or sitting totally still, just chillin...play some music and he starts bouncing around!

Love to you all!!!

Mike, Kim, and Michael

1st Week in Daycare & More

Well, it was truly a bittersweet week! First, Kim was excited to return to the land of adult interaction and money-making...but, not without a sacrifice. Michael started daycare last Monday :(

We dropped in on Friday afternoon to drop off all of his items ahead of time, as well as to check things out one more time. Everyone that we've met has been terrific! Our daycare, Pebbles, is part of The Rock Community Church (get it?!?...Pebbles, The Rock). It is about 2 miles from the house, which is super convenient, as well as 5 miles or so from West Port High School, where I teach.

Mommy and I had some definite anxiety over leaving our most precious boy with strangers! We knew that Michael would love the interaction and being around the others babies, but that only made us feel a little better.

Monday, as hard as we tried to prolong it, came way too quickly. We decided to go it together, which turned out to be much needed. We both shed some tears, but the teachers were great! We only called to check in 3 times throughout the day and they were very reassuring. Kim and I also decided to pick him up together. He had bouncy chair time, swing time, and tummy time his first day. He must have been tuckered out because he was snoozing when we arrived.





Each day got a little better, but was still tough. At night, however, we have already seen such a huge difference! He talks non-stop!!! It is so great to see him mouthing different sounds now. He even adds some interesting facial expressions while doing them. Michael loves telling us all about his day when we get home!








This past weekend, we also attempted our first road trip. We decided to visit Adam and Amanda down in Vero Beach. Vero is the perfect distance, at 2 1/2 hours away. We picked him up Friday, fed him then headed out. Only one stop to change a diaper (which was actually a Mommy Starbucks stop...) He did terrific all weekend, took all of the change in stride (as he always does).

Sunday marked Michael's first trip to the beach. It was a perfect day, but a little breezy for the lil dude. We attempted some pictures, but he wasn't up for it. Michael wasn't too happy with a crack full of sand :) All in all, though, a great day. Sunday was also his first trip to a bar n grill(a monumental day in a male's life!)

As always, we miss you all and hope life is as wonderful for everyone as it is for us! We are so incredibly blessed to have all of you in our lives and so fortunate to have Baby M!

Love,

Mike, Kim, and Michael

2 months old!

Today Michael is 2 months old! Hard to believe! Not only did he turn 2 months old today but he also had his 2 month check up... and yes... this included his shots :/ This is after his oral vaccination
This is after 3 shots in his thunder thighs

Mike and I weren't surprised at his reaction when he was given his 4 vaccinations (3 shots and 1 by mouth) He did cry but calmed down after 10-15 minutes. Actually, when daddy put Michael back in his car seat, he was just fine! What shocked us was how BIG he has gotten! Drum roll please... at 2 months Michael weighs 13 lbs and 11 oz! and he is 24 inches long! (90th percentile for each). The nurse joked around with Mike that it doesn't look like he will get his little baseball player but rather a son who is a linebacker!! This is okay... we like football too! If I had a say in it, he would play college football for the Florida Gators. We know Uncle Bobby and Uncle Chris would give us a hard time with that one! :)

Michael comtinues to be such a happy boy! He loves his play mat... his newest obsession. He will be occupied with it for 1-2 hours!


I'll have to make sure he has one at daycare which he starts on Monday as I return to work. I'm excited to go back and have some adult interaction but I'm still struggling with the idea that someone else will be with our little guy for 8 hrs/day, 5 days/week. Good thing my job is flexible as I'm sure I will be picking the little guy up early when I do not have late home visits with my clients. Also, daddy is done with volleyball season this week so he will be done with his work day at 4, which means more time with Baby M!


I was able to talk to my little brother today. First time in a long time and he seems excited to meet Michael. Since he is in college, his schedule has been busy and he was not able to come to Ocala to meet him since he was born. This just means Mike and I can take a mini-weekend vaca to Sarasota, introduce Ryan to Baby M and get pictures of the little guy on the beach! Hopefully we will get down this weekend, if not next. I also took Baby M out shopping this weekend so daddy could get a nap and we purchased some winter clothes for him as we will be in Boone, NC this Christmas with my parents and brother. Michael has been chatting it up though with Mike's family in Colorado via Skype and he seems like he can recognize their voices! It is great that Michael has such a large family who is so loving. Kinda stinks that they are all so far away :( Just makes our trips to visit more special.

Hope everyone is doing well and we love you all!

Closing in on 2 months!

I was going to wait and blog tomorrow as Michael will be 8 weeks old! But I couldn't resist after last night festivities.

I fed Michael around 11 pm and then made my way to bed. I knew I could be up between 1:00/2:00 am as he only drank a little more than 3 oz. So 1:30 am rolls around and Michael is up! He is smiling and cooing like crazy, waiting for someone to come feed him. I make his bottle, 6 oz, and I think I'm crazy to make so much because he never eats that much in the middle of the night. Well... 45 minutes later, 6 oz is gone and he wants more. I give him another 1.5 oz and he is as content as can be. So I had changed his diaper before I fed him so I could put him right to bed after eating. Well the little man decided he had to go poop! I left him in his crib for 10 minutes or so he could do his thing then cleaned and changed him. As I'm putting on his new diaper, he decided to keep going on. Cleaned and new diaper. Again, he is nothing but smiles at this point!!! So I tried rocking him to sleep and I smell something... a not so pleasent smell. He pooped AGAIN! He gets changed and then as the new diaper is going on... He pees everywhere!! On his poor little face, his nighty... everywhere. UGh. It had been a month since he had done that to me. Needless to say... we clean him up and get new clothes. I put him in the crib, turn on his mobile and head to bed. Once in bed, I wake Mike up and tell him my evening events as I'm so wound up, laughing because I'm so tired and laughing because Michael never stopped grinning through the last 2 hours! Baby Michael then procedes to talk (aka cooing)to himself for awhile (sounds so funny through the monitor), followed by hicups! So I'm exhausted. 2.5 hrs less sleep than usual. But I couldn't wait to tell my story :)

He has definitly hit another growth spirt. He averages 5 oz a meal now... sometimes 7-8 oz!! He also is now eating in 4 hour spirts :) This makes us happy. Can't wait until it turns into 6-7 hrs! He coos ALL the time!! We are working on him rolling over and he is SO close but he just can seem to get that big head of his to roll with his body!

He continues to enjoy his "baby spa" and Charlotte was able to get some great photos of Michael's bathtime experience while she was here!















While Charlotte was in town to visit, we also traveled to our nearest Pumpkin Patch! The experience was... interesting! He was not a big fan of the patch and I don't blame him. It was HOT and there was little shade and he was woken up by mean mommmy when he got to our destination point as I wanted him awake for pictures. I learned my lesson! We will try the Patch again this weekend.



Mike and I are taken aback but how quickly he has grown. His newborn clothes no longer fit and he is outgrowing his 0-3 month. He is too long! His new box of diapers are no longer stage 1... but stage 1-2! It is wonderful to see him grow so much but saddening at the same time. He is our little wiggle worm... squirming all the time! I have a feeling he is going to be a very active child:) Ok that is enough for today! Enjoy the photos! Love to all!