7 weeks already!

Deacon is now 7 weeks old.  He's growing so fast and changing so much, though I can still see my little newborn munchkin when I look at him.  :)

We are enjoying him so much. We take random photos of him ALL the time, we love and kiss on him ALL the time, we talk to him and try to make him smile (we've both been able to do that a time or two by now and it just thrills us to no end -- I wish you could've seen Jeff's face the first time he was able to make him smile. :).

He's growing so much, gaining weight as he should and feeling heavier each time we pick him up.  We think he's probably up to 11 lbs by now.  He's filling out his clothes and has actually grown out of his short-sleeve newborn size onesies (at 5 weeks ). He's also in size 1 diapers now. Not that the newborn diapers don't fit anymore, but more so that they don't hold what he fills them with. If you know what I mean. *eyebrows raised* Yeah.

Ahem -- but going back to the smiling thing...he really started smiling "on demand", if you will, around 5 weeks old.  The smiles were sparse but we saw them when we'd talk to him, etc.  Then the next week, at about 6 weeks, he really started smiling and sort of laughing/gurgling at me when I would put him on the changing table to change his diaper.  He seems to be his happiest in the mornings after he's eaten and it just melts my ever-lovin' heart to see him smile and laugh at me.  He's cute anyway, but when he breaks into those grins -- YA'LL.  He.is.DANG.cute.  :)

We had a parent/child dedication on Sunday, Dec 12, at our church and we participated as a family in that special ceremony.  They called us up on stage with about 10 other families (5 of which were friends of ours :) and gave us a sweet dedication certificate and a little New Testament Bible for Deacon.  Then our children's pastor gave a charge to the parents and read from Deuteronomy --

You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land... 11:18-21 (ESV)

Amen.

He prayed for all the parents, that God would give them wisdom and knowledge to raise their children in all His ways and that their chidlren would never remember a day that they didn't love the Lord.

Amen, I said.

Deacon did wonderfully through the ceremony, sleeping mostly through the whole thing.  That was just fine with us.  :)  And he looked adorable in his little vest and corduroy pants with his little shoes & socks!  Our sweet friend, Stephanie took photos for us so we'd have them to remember this special day in the life of our little family.  Thanks so much, Steph!

We got our first family Christmas card mailed out just a few days ago.  We had a friend in our neighborhood come up and take some family photos for us.  I was going to try to set the self-timer on our camera just like I usually do for our Christmas card photo, but with an infant, you kinda just need to snap away in hopes that one of them will look okay.  My brilliant husband pointed that out to me.  Duh.

Anyways, Alissa did a great job getting some good shots for us.  She is due with her first child, a girl, in April, so she enjoyed holding Deacon after the "photoshoot".  Thanks, Alissa!

Here's what we ended up with:

As I stated above, we take random photos of Deacon ALL the time so here are some sweet shots for you to enjoy:

[5.5 weeks]

[Daddy already has safety glasses for his boy]

[we caught another smile!]

[6 weeks]

[love his facial expressions...]

[this is the photo we used at the parent/child dedication]

[Daddy is so good at giving him a bath]

[6.5 weeks]

[7 weeks]

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]