I survived...

I should say our family survived my return to work. It was a long week, but it got a little easier each day. Here's a brief recap...

Monday - I did my best at work and didn't call my mom until after 1230pm - but had pretty much counted the minutes until that moment came. And then, 430pm couldn't come soon enough for me to head out the door and get home. Joe worked late so my mom hung around a little longer to help get through dinner, bath and then bed. It was a true blessing to have her helping hands a little longer...

Tuesday - The morning came earlier than normal because Mark was up at 445am and didn't really want to go back to sleep. So this was going to be a long day as I had to close at the hospital - oh well!! I was WIPED OUT by the time I got home. Joe worked a little later in the evening and Matthew was going to Nanny's for dinner. So, it ended up that we all arrived home at the same time - which caused a bit of chaos (in my mind). But we worked through it and I fell into bed around 9pm.

Wednesday - Mark was better and slept until about 6am when Oma came (my mom - aka day care). So, I was able to get on the treadmill in the morning and then get him before I got in the shower. Day went quicker - didn't call as often...waited for mom. She is now napping when Mark naps because it's a long day with him (the one who doesn't sleep). 430pm came quick and I was ready to be home...

Thursday - An even shorter day it seemed - and we are starting to settle into a routine (if you can have anything like that in your life before the kids are like...18). I got worked by the trainer right after work and Joe was working late so Oma stayed a little longer to help. It was great! We shared some chicken enchiladas after I got home...then bath, bottle and bed (at least we tried for bed - it took a while).

Friday - Came and went uneventfully. TGIF!!! And Oma agrees - it's been a long time since she has worked and she puts in long hours...but she is a God send and I truly don't know how I would be doing it without her. The day passed quickly and the family was all in the house by 5pm. Great dinner and quiet evening. Mark was put in his crib at 845pm and asleep by a little after 9pm...so was I!

And, our exercise ball has found a new purpose - Mark likes to be bounced to sleep! Yep, that's right. We now have an exercise ball in his room and we bounce up and down on it with him in our arms to get him resting and then down he goes in the crib...amazing! It doesn't work every time, but I feel like I am getting some exercise while trying it!

I will post some pictures later that my mom took this week - he is laughing, talking, and smiling more than ever! I am just glad she gets to share in these moments with him if I can't.

Return to Work

Yep - tomorrow is my first day back to work. Not sure how it will go, though I know Mark is in some of the most capable hands with my mother.

Stay tuned - I will post later this coming week to let you know how it goes!

The Baptism...and shots

Well, we baptized Mark on Sunday - how beautiful and fun! It was a wonderful ceremony/Mass at the Cathedral and Fr. Rob did a fantastic job. I will be posting a video shortly but there are a few pictures below. Mark had a VERY long day and didn't nap too well, so he was fairly exhausted by bed time...so was I. So, he went to sleep - and slept 8 hours - WOO HOO!!! However, it hasn't happened again. But he is sleeping at least 6 hours in one stretch at night. If we could just get him to sleep a little more during the day - HA!

Then, Tuesday, he had is 2-month well visit...and shots. 4 of them. ouch! My mom went with me since she will be my day care for a while. It wasn't fun, but he did well and didn't actually cry for that long afterwards. He was fairly fussy for a couple days, but that's to be expected. He is pretty much back to normal...not sleeping during the day, laughing, coo-ing, all the fun baby stuff that happens at 10 weeks. He weighed in at 11 lbs, 8 oz, was 23" long and has a head about 15-3/4" around. The doctor said he is in the 50th %ile for his age for everything - so just an average kid! We like average...

Here are some pictures we took at bath time last night...Matthew had fun keeping him distracted and making him laugh!

The Baptism of Mark

Well, we knew we would be baptizing Mark this coming Sunday when our friend Fr. Rob Clements told us he would do it. It is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and he said he likes to choose a family he knows to baptize their child on this particular Sunday. As most of you know, Joe produces the live TV Mass from the Cathedral every Sunday...so take 1 - ONE - guess what time and which Mass we will be baptizing Mark at? Yep, and I am not all that thrilled...still have that baby weight. However, we are loving the fact that Fr. Rob has asked us to do this - he actually is doing it as payback to Joe for putting his face on TV every week - gotta love that!

The gown Mark is wearing in the picture below is almost 100 years old - from Joe's family. Matthew, Joe, his father and his grandmother were all baptized in it. So, it's pretty old and very special for us.

If you are home on Sunday, 1/11 at around 9am MST, join us on Channel 45 if you live in Arizona (KUTP) or online at http://www.catholictvmass.com/ - or, just pray for us in your hearts! We are excited to bring Mark into this wonderful and beautiful faith we live...

2009

Well, it's day 3 of 2009 and I haven't done too much yet this year - HA! Still working through having an infant in the house...after 7 years it doesn't all come running back to you. Our Christmas was good - some pictures below. Somewhat relaxing...and fun to see Matthew open his gifts! We got some time on the Wii to play the new games. Enjoyed family time with both sides. Joe has had some time off over New Year's so I am getting very spoiled having him around all the time...Monday will be a rough day.

Matthew has one week left of break - WOO HOO!! I go back to work in a couple weeks, so that's going to be another transition for us. Life is getting there...just have to remember to take one day at a time.

Oh, and a resolution? To lose the rest of the baby weight (and then some) over the course of the next 12 months...we shall see how that goes. Stay tuned...

Star Wars: Clone Wars (for the Wii)

An oldie but a goodie

I just learned how to upload videos...so now that I can do this, I am going to post an old one of Matthew...SOOO FUNNY!!! It's probably about 3 years old...so he was about 4. I was out of town on a business trip so Joe and Matthew recorded this video on our computer and e-mailed it to me. I remember watching it with the girls I was with and we all got such a kick out of it!

I hope you enjoy...

6 week update

It's been over a week so I felt the need to update. There have been many happenings in the Reynolds house, so here's a rundown of what's going on.

Matthew finished his 2nd quarter of school - so they had a cottage fair! This is a little pressentation they do for the parents and family where they have a play to tell us what they learned. This past quarter it was birds. Matthew was Pa Woodpecker in the play, so he wore his blue shirt. There are a few photos of the play, with a video with Matthew speaking one of his lines.

This is a picture of Matthew with his dear friend Dominic. We seem to get a picture of them each year at the cottage fair so we are watching the two friends grow old together. His mom and I talk about years from now when we will watch them graduate from high school...I don't like to think that far ahead, though!

As far as at home, Joe had an overnight trip to Prescott where he stayed at a camp managed by some friends of ours. So, while he was gone Matthew and I thought it would be fun to camp out in the nursery with Mark. He loves to spend as much time as he can with his baby brother, so I got my parents blow up mattress and we set about the night. Matthew brought in our comforter from our bed along with about 7 of his stuffed animals...here's a picture of our bed.

I don't think that was a good idea...and don't recommend it to anyone. We survived and here's a picture of the loving brothers from a couple days later...yes, they still loved each other after being up almost all night! I guess it's a bonding experience for them.

And, Mark is 6 weeks old today...wow how the time is flying. We are loving him more and more each day and he is getting more interactive and fun. Here's a picture of him from a day or two ago...just enjoying life!

We are getting ready for Christmas...it's been hard to get the shopping done while being at home with Mark. Joe's parents came over the other night so we could go to dinner and get the shopping finished for Matthew. It was quite a relief for me to have it mostly done. Joe and I aren't buying presents for each other, but Matthew should have a decent Christmas. He didn't ask for much, but he's getting most of what he asked for plus some extras (like a toothbrush from us!!).