Our First Anniversary

Its hard to believe it has just been 1 short year since Jason and I got married. We have had quite an eventful first year of marriage to say the least! Over the weekend we celebrated our first anniversary and had a wonderful time. The Four Season's sent us a voucher several months ago for a free Saturday night in a suite, as well as a complimentary Sunday brunch for 2. As soon as we received it, we knew we wanted to use it to celebrate our anniversary since that is where we got married! It worked out perfect because our actual anniversary was on Sunday, so we used it for the Saturday night before.
Bryce had his first overnight with Nonnie and Pops and Jason and I had a wonderful night celebrating. We started off Saturday with a wonderful couples massage. This is the 2nd time we have done this together in a month, and have decided we are going to make it a regular thing! We are both addicted and it helps me recover from my tough workouts that Jason is putting me through :) After our massage we checked in at the Four Season's. We were given a villa overlooking the golf course, which was perfect! What I love about the Four Season's is it feels like you are "away" and out of the hussle and bussle of Dallas. It was so neat to be on the same property and relive our wedding weekend. We hung out in the room for the afternoon and enjoyed some peace and quiet. For dinner we went to Pappas Brother's Steakhouse for the first time. We typically visit Ruth's Chris or Steve Fields, but being that we were at the Four Season's these were not convenient. We also got a gift card from my parent's to Pappas so it worked out perfectly! We got there early to enjoy a nice cocktail in the bar. It was a great environment! We had a nice, long dinner with great food and even better wine. The food was equal to Ruth's Chris, BUT the service was by far above and beyond. Our server's name was Lewis, and he was amazing. Their wine list is 50 pages (no joke!) and he, along with the stewardess helped us select a nice bottle for our dinner. He suggested a bottle called The Prisoner, and it is by far the best wine I have ever had! Once he learned how much we liked he, he wrote down about 8 or 10 other suggestions for us. We have already started our mission to find them! After dinner, Jason decided that he wanted a cigar so Lewis came through with yet another great suggestion for the "not so cigar savvy." I have never enjoyed a good cigar, but wanted to try something different. Although it was rather strong, and it took me awhile to get the hang of it, I ended up enjoying it with my hubby on our balcony that night! Oh yeah, that was after we were about 10 minutes late to get some wine for our room so we were forced to pay $30 for us each to make a drink from our mini bar in our room. Oh well, it was worth it! On Sunday, we had 11:00 reservations for their amazing Sunday brunch. It was the perfect ending to our stay!
I can't believe that its already been a year since Jason and I got married. A year ago today, we were off to St. Lucia and little did we know what was coming! I could not ask for a more perfect first year of marriage. I am so thankful that despite our long journey, Jason and I ended up as husband and wife :) Who would have thought?!?!

3 Month Pics!

3 Months

I cannot believe Bryce is already 3 months old! It seems like yesterday I was pregnant! Since the last update a few things have changed. I have gone back to work and am able bring Bryce with me, which made going back to work not so bad! I feel very lucky to be able to bring him to work with me. It is the best of both worlds! Bryce is definitely a lot more active now then he was at 2 months. At work I typically put him on an activity mat and he loves to "swim" and watch the lights. He is constantly moving his legs and arms and it looks like he is swimming. He notices things a lot more and follows you with his eyes. He is still comfortable in 0-3 month clothes but is going to be moving to level 2 diapers very soon! I would assume he is pushing 13 lbs and has an appetite like crazy! During the day he is eating close to 4 ounces every 3-4 hours. We still haven't put him on a regular schedule so the nights vary. Some nights he eats at 7 and then conks out till about 2 am. Other nights, we feed him at 10 and then put him down for bed and he sleeps till 6. Then we have total curve ball days, where I feel like all he does is eat! We are really trying to work on the flattening of his head and am anxious/nervous for his 4 month check up. I feel like it is improving and I am hoping he does not have to go to therapy and wear a helmet.
Another thing that has changed since his 2 month birthday is that we now have names for his grandparents! This was an easy task for Jason's family, but my parents could not decide for the life of them! Finally, we have names and can start calling them by something other then grandma and grandpa! Jason's parents are Nana and PawPaw and my parents are Pops and Nonnie (Nah-nie).
Bryce is also developing quite the personality. I think he might be a little dramatic, and have no idea where he gets that from ;) He does this fake cry pretty often, and I just know we are in for it. He loves to smile and makes the cutest facial expressions! He has such beautiful lips and I just love to kiss them!
I was always prepared for him to move into his room on his 3 month birthday, however, Jason prefers to wait for a little longer. I am totally okay with it, but we have to move him at some point and I feel like we are just prolonging it. I love having him in the room with us, but I know it has to come to an end at some point. I asked Jason if he thought he would be ready to move him my his first birthday, ha! Maybe by next update we will have made the move!
Bryce had his first overnight stay with Nana and PawPaw and from what they said it went great! Bryce slept for 7 hours! I am so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws. This was the longest I was away from Bryce and let me tell you how happy I was to see him! He is having his first overnight with Pops and Nonnie on March 26th while Jason and I go to the Four Seasons for the night to celebrate our anniversary. My mom is such a worry rat, that I am praying she can get some rest and not worry all night about him! I am so thankful that we live by family and that both of our families are so willing to help. It makes such a difference to be surrounded by so much love and support.
Every day we fall more in love with our little blessing. We are coming up on our 1 year anniversary and I feel so blessed. I could not ask for a better husband to help raise a child with. He is truly one of a kind and I am so thankful that he chose me to spend the rest of his life with. We have so many things ahead for us and I am so excited for all that is to come. So Happy 3 Months Bryce, and Happy almost 1 year anniversary Jason. I love you both to the moon and back!!
Stay tuned for some 3 month pictures!

Two Months and Growing...

Happy 2 Month Birthday Bryce! Poor guy had to start his day off with a 9:15 am Doctor's appointment for his 2 month well checkup, NOT fun! They say they don't remember things right now, and boy I sure hope this is true! He had his first round of shots today in his precious thighs, and my heart just about broke. We heard a cry that we have never heard before, and I would be okay if I never heard it again. Overall though, I think he is a tough cookie-much tougher than Mom at least!
His stats get confusing because he was 5 weeks early. We get his percentiles based on his real age, and then she adjusts the curve to show his percentiles as a premature baby. So bottom line, we have both a runt and a chunker! Confusing, huh?! That is what I said! He weighed in at 10 lbs 6.5 oz, was 22" long, and his head is 15" around. His weight falls in the 25%, length 10-25%, and his head at 10%. So according to this, Bryce sounds like a runt! BUT, if you adjust them he is in the 75% on all 3, which makes him a chunker! I don't fully understand it, but the Doctor said he is growing as he should, so we will just leave it at that! Each visit Jason and I make a bet on who can guess his weight and this week Jason won. He guessed 10 lbs 6 oz and I guessed 10 lb 8 oz. Whatever, I will win next time :)
The only other thing we took home from this appointment is hand outs on strengthening Bryce's neck. He has some flattening on the right side of his head and we need to correct this before it gets worse. It's nothing serious, we just have some exercises to do and need to be conscious about how we hold him, lay him down, feed him, etc. Almost everything we do makes him lean to his right so it makes sense that this has happened. We will fix it though, and all will be fine! Just more of an excuse to keep him lying on my chest longer, right?!
Now, on to the fun stuff! It seems like he changes or does something new everyday. He is staying awake longer and eating much better, thank gosh! During the day he typically eats 3 ounces every 3 hours but at night he has gone 4-6 hours between feedings, which is nice! We typically feed him around 10 or 10:30 and try to get him to eat at least 4 ounces. We put him down for bed right after this feeding and he is typically asleep pretty quick. He then will wake up between 3 and 5 and has even gone as long as 6 am. This has definitely been a treat for us! We still feel very fortunate as he still rarely cries. We don't have to rock him to sleep or do anything special. He typically falls asleep on his own without much commotion. Cross your fingers this trend sticks! We just bought Baby Wise and will start exploring that very soon in order to get on a schedule and have more consistency. I am very much a planner so this will be nice for me!
So that is where we are now! Here are some pics we took tonight to celebrate!

Pics, Pics, Pics

Here are some pictures of Bryce from his first 6 weeks! Enjoy!

Not Mom's Choice...

Poppin' my collar

Love the face he makes when he is burped

Gig 'Em!

All dressed up and nowhere to go!

One Month!

Well now I know it is true, time really does fly by! On January 8th we celebrated Bryce turning 1 month old, and oddly enough that was his expected due date! I cannot believe it has already been a month! It feels like he changes every day and it is so fun to watch. At his last Doctor's appointment he was up to 7 lbs 1 oz, but now we think he is at least 8.5 lbs. Jason weighed himself with and without holding Bryce and that is how much his weight changed, so we know he is growing! This past month has been such an amazing experience. At times I compare it to living 1 LONG day with short naps, but overall I feel very blessed. Bryce has only had 2 rough nights so I cannot complain at all. On a typical day he eats about every 3 hours and is up to eating 4 ounces at a time. Typically he falls asleep right after feedings, but we have definitely noticed him being more alert with each passing day. The only time he cries is for about 2 minutes before feeding time, which is how long it takes us to prepare. Once the bottle hits his mouth he is good to go. I am having to feed him through a bottle as he never latched on. I struggled with this at first, but the nurses said it is very common for babies who come early. We tried over and over but due to his bilirubin situation, I just never felt comfortable not knowing how much he was getting and so a bottle made me feel better. Enough about that though, on to more fun topics. Bryce is still wearing preemie clothes and some newborn outfits. We can't wait for him to grow as we have a whole wardrobe we are dying to put him in! He makes the funniest faces and noises and we love to just sit and watch him. Jason and I were able to ring in 2011 together and really enjoyed ourselves. My parents watched Bryce and Jason and I went out for sushi and to a friend's house for a NYE party. It was such a fun night and I definitely made up for lost time, oops! We stayed the night at my parents house and I stayed there the next day (and night!) because Jason was working. My parents really spoiled Bryce (and me!). This past Saturday Jason's family watched Bryce and Jason and I had another date night. This time we went to dinner at a great Hibachi place then to the movies. His family had a blast with him and told us we came home to early! We feel so lucky to have so many babysitters! We attempted to take pictures of Bryce on his 1 month birthday, however, shortly into the "shoot" he spit up EVERYWHERE and we had to stop.

Bryce's 1st Christmas 2010

Christmas time is my favorite time of the year! I cherish the time with family and with Bryce's early arrival this Christmas was extra special! We kicked off Christmas Eve with an afternoon celebration at our house. We had over my family and Grandma (Gran) and part of Jason's family-his immediate family, his mom's Dad, and 2 Uncles. We did the same thing last year and it was great! I love how both of our families can come together, celebrate, and have some fun! Everyone brings an appetizer (or several!) and we all just nibble, visit, and do gifts! Christmas Eve night Jason and I headed over to his Grandparent's (his mom's mom and step dad) house in Carrollton. There we celebrate with another part of his family and always have a wonderful time. His grandparents prepared a WONDERFUL meal and then we did White Elephant. I scored some homemade candles that his Uncle Mark made and can't wait to burn them! Jason has a great aunt, Aunt Helen, who is older and lives in a nursing home full time. Her son went through a lot of trouble to try and bring her over, but it was just to hard on her. Before they left to take her back "home" she was able to get a peak at Bryce and I think it was special for her. Jason's cousin, John, and his wife, Amy, just had a baby on the 22nd so they were not able to come, but they were missed! Next Christmas we will all be together and Bryce and Jake will have so much fun! They are just 2 weeks apart! On Christmas morning we headed over to my parent's house which is a tradition in our house. We all have coffee cake and watch the parade (although we missed it this year) and then open up all of our presents! Santa was very good to ALL of us and we are so thankful for all of our goodies. Bryce definitely made out good!! My Uncle Jeff (my mom's brother) moved to Midland/Odessa in August and he came in town for Christmas. I am not used to being far from him so I was so excited to see him! He is the sales manager of the Harley dealership out there and bought Bryce the cutest Harley Davidson baby outfit! After we open presents and do our lottery tickets we just sit around and visit before having an amazing lunch. My mom didn't cook Thanksgiving because they went to the Cowboy game, so we were all excited for her Christmas cooking, and in true tradition she fished for compliments and we definitely gave them! That night we had our final celebration at Jason's other grandparents-his Dad's parents. There we celebrate with his immediate family, grandparents, and 2 Uncles. I have been joining this family's celebrations for several years and always love it. I was still full from lunch and could barely keep my eyes open at this point so during dinner I sat in the living room and chatted with his Paw Paw while holding Bryce so Jason could eat. I love Paw Paw and always enjoy seeing him! We chatted about him growing up, traveling, his family, and much more! It was a very special time I will always remember. After dinner we do White Elephant gifts and then we usually play our traditional game, Chicken Foot. This year we didn't play the game because White Elephant took quite some time and everyone was tired-me especially! I hate that I was such a zombie at this point but I know his wonderful family understands! So our Christmas festivities ended about 9 pm Christmas night and we came home and hit the sack! I know I have said it a million times, and I can assure you this won't be my last, but I am so thankful for my amazing families and all of the blessings I have. Throughout the days I would look around and try to take up as much as possible. Looking at Jason would bring me to tears as I think of the journey him and I have had and am still in shock we are where we are! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed time with their loved ones! Here are some pics:

My Sherard Family

Bryce and his Great Grandma, Gran!

P.S. Bryce had his 2 week checkup and he is doing great! He has gained 8 oz since he was born, bringing him to 6 lbs 10 oz. He is still struggling at times when eating but overall he is doing GREAT!! We have started "tummy time" and so far he loves it! Tomorrow is his first real bath so stay tuned for a video and wish us luck!! UPDATE: Our video camera was not working but here are a few pics!