one month...

We have a one month old, ya'll. 

How?  Tell me, where has the time gone??  Everyone told me that it would go by so fast and I figured that to be true, but it blows me away that our child has been with us for over a month now...

We gave Deacon his first bottle at 25 days old.  Jeff has been ready to feed Deacon himself and I've wanted to let him but didn't want to risk any confusion with breastfeeding so we waited.  It turns out that Deacon has his Daddy's temperament -- he's pretty easy going.  :)  He switches between breast & bottle with no trouble at all.  We're not feeding him formula -- just breastmilk that I'm able to pump and store in the refrigerator or freezer, depending on when we need it.  It's been so nice having this option for times when we're out and about and especially for when we're at church.

[25 days old, with his first bottle of breastmilk]

Deacon met his Wenzel grandparents for the first time at 4 weeks old.  Jeff's mom & dad (aka Grandpa Duane and Grandma Sherry) flew in from IL for the week of Thanksgiving.  We picked them up from the Wilmington airport and Sherry barely had him in her arms before the waterworks started.  :)  She was so excited to finally meet Deacon.  We had been skyping with them since he was born so she said she felt like she already knew him but she couldn't wait to get her hands on him.  It was love at first sight, to be sure.  Duane was pretty excited to meet him, too.  :)

[4 weeks old, with Grandpa Duane & Grandma Sherry]

Deacon's first Thanksgiving was spent in our home with his Wenzel grandparents.  Sherry and I cooked the meal together, which wasn't anything fancy but it was yummy.  Jeff carved his first turkey.  It was a quiet day for us all, different from Thanksgivings in the past, but it was nice nonetheless.

There isn't anything really Thanksgiving-y about our photo.  It's just one that we took of the 3 of us to commemorate Deacon's first Thanksgiving.  I've heard people talk about how hard it is to get a family photo to turn out well with kids -- I guess that starts pretty early...

This is the best one we got out of 4-5 attempts:

The rest of these photos are random ones we took in Deacon's 4th week of life and the few days after, leading up to one month:

Don't you love little baby feet & hands??

[22 days old]

[27 days old]

[1 month old]

[27 days old]

[4 weeks old]

[27 days old]

[4 weeks old]

[1 month old]

Deacon -- week 3...

Hey, I'm catching up a little bit!  :)

Just wanted to post some of the things that happened during Deacon's 3rd week of life -- these obviously aren't really exciting but they're things that I want to remember nonetheless.  So let me proceed with the randomness:

At 15 days old, we took Deacon to Jacksonville with us since Jeff had his annual HR meeting at work to discuss next year's changes with insurance, flex spending, etc.  I usually try to go with him to that meeting because it's always a good thing for me to hear what's happening at the same time.  I have been on Jeff's insurance for about the last 8 or 9 years (which has been SO nice through a couple of job changes :), so the HR meeting is beneficial for me to be there for.  Deacon did great through the meeting -- slept the whole time.  :)

He seems to like car rides for the most part.  As long as he's not really hungry, he will usually fall asleep.  The thing we're dealing with right now is his little head falling forward -- mommy hates to see that!

[16 days old]

On day 17, we rode into Wilmington with Deacon so I could get a haircut.  While I was doing that, Jeff took Deacon down to Wilmington Maternal to show him off.  Everyone there loved him, of course!  I'm sure it's really neat for them to get to see the babies after following their mommies with ultrasound for all that time.

[17 days old, his first smile caught on camera!]

I got Deacon's birth announcement out by the time he was 17 days old -- pretty proud of myself for that. :) I actually designed the announcement before Deacon arrived because I knew that if I didn't, the chances of me getting these out before he was 3 or 4 months old were probably pretty slim. I mailed out announcements to out-of-town family & friends, etc. and then we handed out a lot of them to our Connect Groups (aka Sunday School classes) that Sunday (at 19 days).

[18 days old, our little Deacon burrito]

[18 days old, sound asleep...]

[19 days old, still so small]

Jeff went back to work when Deacon was 20 days old.  Boo.  :(  He didn't want to go, and we didn't want him to go, but he did.  It was so nice to have him with us for 3 weeks.  I know that that is RARE for a daddy to be able to stay out of work for that long when his wife has a baby so I'm so grateful for that time.  He was such a big help and truly, I don't think I could have survived those weeks without his TLC for me and Deacon.

[20 days old]

We went to Deacon's 2 week well-check at the pediatrician's office at 20 days (yeah, a little late, I know).  He had gained almost an entire pound from his last appt, up to 7 lbs 13 oz, and had grown an inch, up to 20 1/4 inches.  Dr. Vinson said he was doing really well.

After his appt, I took Deacon down to see the ladies at the office and they "oohed & aahed" over him, of course.  :)  Everyone came out of their offices to hover around him.  Lucky Carol got to hold him.  :)  She said that Deacon told her she could be his "nana".  Well, he doesn't have a "nana" -- just a Grandma Sherry & a Grammy, so I guess Carol can fill the role of "nana".  :)

[21 days old, one of Deacon's fave things to do...]

At 21 days old (3 weeks), we gave Deacon his first bath in his infant tub.  And he liked it!  He just sat there in the warm water and let me wash him up.  I was so proud of him for not screaming his head off.  We used the bedtime bath & lotion since it was later in the evening and oh, man!  He smelled so yummy.  :)

[21 days old, his first bath in his infant tub]

Deacon -- week 2...

Yep, still behind.  I have a feeling that will be the story of my life from here on out... :)

Just wanted to post the highlights of Deacon's 2nd week in our lives; again, it may be random:

We took Deacon on his first "outing" at 8 days old.  We went to Jacksonville to Target and to Mongolian BBQ for lunch.  Then Jeff dropped me & Deacon off at his office so I could feed him and Jeff and my mom & dad hit Babies R Us and Sam's.  Deacon did really well -- he slept through Target and lunch.

I mentioned my mom & dad -- we were blessed to have them here with us for 2 weeks, from just a couple of days before Deacon was born until he was 10 days old.  They were a HUGE help to me & Jeff, doing laundry, cooking meals, taking the trash out, cleaning off the porch, etc.  It was wonderful to have them here with us to help, but they also were able to enjoy some quality time with their brand new grandson, too, and I know they loved that.

[10 days old, with Grammy & Grandpa]

At 10 days old, Jeff and I left Deacon with some friends while we went out to eat.  We had read in a book that it was important to get out without our child sometime in the first 2 weeks for the sake of our marriage and staying connected  and it was surprisingly easy to do.  The book suggested we talk about anything BUT Deacon and we did pretty well with that.  Deacon did great at Chase & Hayley's -- incidentally, they are expecting their first child, a boy, mid-December so this was great practice for them.  And I think Deacon initiated Hayley right off the bat by peeing on her.  Welcome to my world.  :)

[10 days old, headed to Chase & Hayley's]

I gotta tell you, that dinner out with my husband did wonders for me.  I was really starting to feel disconnected from him, almost mourning the life we'd had and what our marriage had been like just a week and a half before.  Of course, all your attention is focused on this little one for awhile -- it's the way it has to be until you get the hang of it and get more comfortable at this parenting thing -- so I was starting to feel so far removed from the life that we'd had for the past 12 years.  Just sharing a meal with him and talking about other stuff was just what I needed.  And we plan to take advantage of all the others who've been saying, "Hey, anytime you guys need a sitter..."  It's the best thing we can do for our son...keeping our marriage strong.

[11 days old]

Deacon's cord stump came off at 11 days old.  Jeff changed his diaper and noticed that it was gone -- he looked around and found it in his onesie that morning.  Since that thing's gone and his circumcision is healed up (no more A&D ointment!), diaper changes are so much quicker & easier!  Which is a good thing cuz he HATES having his diaper changed...

We took Deacon to church for the first time at 12 days old.  His little outfit was the cutest thing -- one that Grammy had picked up for him a few days before at BRU.  Everyone at church just fell in love with him, of course.  And he did great as long as someone was holding him -- which everyone wanted to do.  :)

[12 days old, ready for church]

He took his first trip to Lowe's at 12 days old.  Jeff was so excited to show him around his fave store but he pretty much just slept right through it.  Oh, well.  One of these days, Deacon will be begging for Daddy to take him to Lowe's with him.  :)

After we hit Lowe's, we went down to our local mexican restaurant in Surf City.  Jeff and I both love us some mexican food so this kid is bound to like it, too.  He's at least going to eat it a lot.  :)

[12 days old, at Camino Real in Surf City]

[13 days old]

Our baby boy slept in his crib all night at 13 days old.  He obviously didn't sleep through the night -- we have a while before that starts happening -- but he slept in there the whole night between me getting him up to feed him a couple of times.  He's also sleeping in there for some naps, too.  Jeff is so thrilled that Deacon likes the crib Daddy made for him.  :)

[13 days old]

[14 days old]

Deacon's first week of life...

I'm behind already!  :)

Yes, Deacon is actually almost 3 weeks old already and I'm just now getting a chance to sit down to post about his first week.  To be more truthful, I've just now been able to choose from the myriad of photos we've already taken the ones that I wanted to use in this post about his first week.

My thoughts may be a little random here as I post so bear with me.  :)

Deacon was cirumcised on the day we left the hospital, Oct 28.  He was 2 days old.  His surgery was that morning and by 2pm he was cleared to go home (I had been cleared that morning when Dr. Vogel came in to check me out).  Dr. Pollock did the circumcision and said that Deacon did really well -- that he didn't even really cry.  Hard to believe, but maybe that's what they tell all the new mommies.  :) 

[1 day old, in the hospital]

So we headed home around 4:30pm on Thursday, Oct 28.  Though we'd heard conflicting opinions about the hospital stay -- 1) stay as long as you can in the hospital or 2) go home as soon as they'll let you -- I think I was ready to go.  For one thing, I wasn't going to have the nurses coming in every 2 hours checking vitals at home and I think I relaxed a little bit about the nursing thing once we got home because I didn't have nurses asking me how long he ate and at what time.  I had to keep up with it myself, of course, but I wasn't being hassled about it anymore by nurses, etc.

Daddy got Deacon dressed in his cute little duck sleeper that his Aunt Jill Wenzel got him and we got all our stuff packed up.  Man, we had a lot of stuff!  It didn't seem like much when we checked in...  We got some freebies like diapers, A&D ointment, formula (with a nice sling backpack!), etc.  Plus, my office delivered the most beautiful flower arrangement while we were in the hospital so we did have some extra "baggage" heading out of there.  Between my dad & Jeff we got most everything down to the car in one trip, and then just had a few bags & such to carry down as we went.

[2 days old]

The day after we got home, Friday, Oct 29, Deacon had his first pediatric appt.  He had dropped almost 10% of his birth weight, from 7 lbs 2 oz to 6 lbs 13 oz.  Dr. Gaylord did all her "tests" on him and said he looked perfect.  :)  Because of his weight, they wanted us to come back in on Monday, Nov 1, just for a weight check.  At that appt, he had gained an ounce and they were fine with that -- we were heading in the right direction.  Dr. Pollock saw him at that appt and said he was still doing really great.  :)

***funny story about this appt: Deacon pooped THREE times -- going through 3 diapers -- right in a row, within a span of 90 secs!  We hadn't even gotten the 3rd diaper velcroed before he went!  Sheesh, kid.***

[3 days old, ready for his 1st pediatric appt]

On Saturday, Oct 30, we took a walk down to the mailbox in our nice travel system (carseat/stroller combo).  Deacon did okay but was kinda fussy the whole way.  Keeping that pacifier in at this point is a chore!  :)  I did okay, too.  It was nice to get out and stretch my legs for that long and it was a beautiful day, weather-wise.  Gorgeous blue skies, bright sunshine and balmy temps.  Also, I've heard the more you walk, the quicker you heal after a c-section.  Thankfully, I've really been healing nicely and haven't had much pain at all.

Sunday was halloween (also Jeff's birthday :).  We got some cute photos of Deacon in the little jack-o-lantern bib that I found.  Also, Jeff found some tiny little candy buckets so Deacon had his own little bucket to trick-or-treat with.  :)  Of course, we didn't take him out but wanted to commemorate his first halloween with photos, at least.

Jeff and I usually aren't even home on halloween since it's his birthday -- we usually go out to eat and do a little shopping or something, staying out pretty late to avoid the trick-or-treaters.  But since we weren't really sure what would happen this year, we made sure we had a bag of candy to hand out.  We got about 70 + little trick-or-treaters through our neighborhood.

[5 days old]

[6 days old]

Tuesday, Nov 2 -- at one week old -- was kind of a big day for Deacon.  He went to his first softball game to watch Daddy play.  It was an early game but once that sun goes down, it gets PRETTY chilly so we bundled him up in a onesie, a fleece sleeper, socks and a hat and then wrapped him in a receiving blanket and big fluffy blanket.  He was snug as a bug!  And he stayed that way (with the exception of his little nose, which didn't seem to bother him).  He slept through the whole game, not even flinching when I hollared for the guys.  He's a good boy.  :)

When we got home, we gave him his first sponge bath.  It was a team effort while my Mom & Dad took photos and video for us (SO THANKFUL they were here to document this for us).  We laid Deacon on some towels on our kitchen table and had him wrapped in one of his hooded towels.  I got a basin full of warm water and a couple of washcloths -- one to wash, one to rinse -- and I washed all his little body parts separately, while Jeff dried him off in between to keep him from getting too cold.

He did SO GOOD!  I really didn't think this was going to be a pleasant experience because Deacon doesn't like to get his diaper changed or have his clothes taken off (unless he's having some skin-to-skin time on Daddy's chest :) -- he hollars the whole time.  But not so with the bath.  I think the warm water relaxed him and of course, he smelled so yummy after the bath & lotion.  He really slept good that night, too.

[7 days old, first sponge bath]

[our sweet family of 3]