3 Months

Our little guy turned 3 months old on December 9th! So crazy how fast the time has flown by. He is growing so fast. Some days I want to hit the pause button. But most days I am just enjoying how each day brings something new. A new noise, a new look, new tricks, etc.


Here's some new happenings this month:
-You smile all the time
-You are getting better at Tummy time
-You have gained a ton of weight (we didn't have a wellness appointment this month but mommy can tell you are heavier)
-You coo all the time
-You kick your legs all the time
-So far your eyes have stayed blue
-You now take two schedule naps a day...1 hour in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon (mommy LOVES this)
-We just started you on rice cereal...hoping this will push you to sleep through the night! :)

Can't wait to see what month 4 brings us!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry for my lack of blogging lately. We were in between computers, but now we are back in business. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did. Manny's family came into town to celebrate with us. It was the first time for his Dad and Sister to meet James. Which made the trip all the more special! Here are a few pictures for our week.

2 Months Old

Happy Two Month Jamesy Bug!


This month you are up to all sorts of stuff:
- You are smiling all the time
- You weigh 11 lbs 9 oz 23 1/2 in long
- You love your owl lovie and like to keep it up by your face
- Your hair has all grown back and is coming in great!
- You are no longer fit into your newborn clothes (mommy shed a tear packing all that up)
- You graduated to size 1 diapers
- You smile and coo when Daddy talks to your in Portuguese
- You love to look all around and are very observant
- You are finally on a formula that works well for your tummy

Jamesy, your Daddy and I love you more and more everyday. It is a joy to watch you grow and change. (Your changing a bit to fast for Mommy) We are so excited to enter into this wonderful holiday season with you. We have so much to be thankful for. We love you buddy.

October Happenings

Not much to report on so I thought I would just share some pictures. October was a fun month for us filled with Jamesy's first Halloween, Playgroup and his future wife, Sydney's 1st birthday party! Enjoy the pics! Another post this week will be completely dedicated to my 2 month old! (turns 2 months on Tuesday! Ah)

Cute...huh?

Of course Jamesy is cute, but how cute is that pillow? A good friend of ours had it made for him by a woman at her fabulous store! We LOVE it! It goes with James' room perfectly! Thanks Sandy!

Happy Fall Y'all!

It has been one crazy week for us in the Rodrigues household. From yet ANOTHER formula change to now my 5 week old having his first cold. :( Poor little Jamesy Bug has had one heck of a first month of life. We finally figured out after going to the doctor that he cannot have milk or soy formula. So we are on a special formula called Alimentum. It seems to be doing the trick, just stinks cause it's the most expensive. But really, I would spend anything just to make my sweetie feel better and more comfortable. Tuesday he will have been on the new formula for a week, so I am praying that we are still doing good!
As for the cold...my poor little buggy got his first cold. I didn't even know that could happen to a 5 week old. But it sure did. It really breaks my heart. This poor little guy has had such a rough 5 weeks of life. He's being such a trooper though. Sniffles and all! :) By next week we should be straight on the up and up! I keep telling Manny that by the time James is 2 months old we will be quite weather tested!
On to more important things, such as this adorable baby...

(poor thing cut himself by his eye...he got a manicure that day!)

We took Jamesy to a Pumpkin Patch to get his very first pumpkin. We weren't there long, but it was fun to get a few snapshots of him in his very cute pumpkin hat!






I seem to be falling more and more in love with my sweet boy everyday. I have so enjoyed seeing all the changes that each week brings. Feeling blessed beyond measure!

Jamesy Bug is 1 month today!

Happy 1 month Birthday my sweet little boy!



The time has passed so quickly! I can't believe you have already been apart of our world for a month. Your Daddy and I cannot even begin to imagine our lives without you in it! You are so special to both of us.

What are you doing this month:
- You are doing tummy time every day. You don't really like it, but we have to do it so that you get your neck nice and strong
- You are beginning to notice things around you and you focus really well on people and things
- You are sleeping 3-4 hour stretches, sometimes longer (mommy is looking forward to the long stretches that are hopefully coming soon)
- You are drinking 4oz each feed (you like to eat more now that we figured out the right formula for you! Hooray for Soy!)
- You lost your hair on the top of your head this week :( So your daddy calls you Friar Tuck. Don't worry it will grow back!
- You love bath time. Something about the warm water seems to really soothe you
- You love taking walks

Overall buggy you are a wonderful baby! You bring so much joy to us. I can't wait to see how much has changed in another month! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!

Happy Birthday Ware Bear!

I can't believe that you are 5 today! I remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. We waited and waited at the hospital in Atlanta for your arrival! Finally you made it into this world. You were such a chunk! I fell in love with you the minute I laid my eyes on you. I didn't know that kind of love was even possible until you can on that October day. You made me an Aunt for the very first time!

And now you are 5! You are full of energy and personality. You are amazing at any sport you try and always curious. You love to ask questions too! I can't wait to continue to watch you grow sweet boy! Your Uncle Manny, James and I love you very much!

Happy Birthday Bubba!

2 week Dr. Appointment

We took James to the doctor this morning for his 2 week check up! We had lots of questions prepared after having a little bit more time under our belt since the last visit. :) James checked out GREAT though. He went from birth weight of 7lbs 2oz to now weighing in at 8lbs 2oz. So he gained an entire pound! He grew in length too. At birth he was 19 3/4in and now is 20 1/4in! The doctor was so pleased with him and his growth, skin coloring and attentiveness that she told us we don't need to come back till he is 2 months old! She said that James was doing things that normally he wouldn't begin doing till he was 4-6 weeks.

We are so proud of our little guy! He is much more alert these days and is increasing his appetite! We even got the ok to start allowing him to sleep as long as he will go during the night. Last night was a gift....he slept for 6 hours straight. It was amazing and I felt much more refreshed waking up this morning than I have in quite some time! So thankful for the rest that God gave all three of us last night.

I'll be sure to take recent pictures and post them soon! He is already changing so much. I'll see if we can get ones with his eyes open. He is much more alert these days. It's been so fun to see him change each day!

Blessed Beyond Measure

About 2 months ago, Manny and I were accepted into a group here in Charlotte called CLF (Charlotte Leadership Forum). The mission of CLF is:

To develop Christlike men and their wives who will be leaders in their families, their occupations, their community, and their churches. These men and women will have a clear vision for their life priorities, and will be

Upright in character
Servant leaders
Godly husbands, wives and parents
Effective builders of God’s kingdom

Anyways, the first weekend away that they had planned for us happened to be this past weekend. From before James was actually here I stressed about this weekend. First off thinking that we wouldn't be able to go if we had him too late and then once he was here and we knew we could attend I stressed about how he would do all weekend and whether or not it was a good idea. But now being on the flip side I am soooo thankful for this past weekend. Although it was hard and tiring it was well worth it. And James did great! We got to spend the weekend hearing amazing speakers (well I only heard snippets:)), listened to a talented musician and got to meet some pretty amazing couples to walk through life with. Manny and I have been praying for years that we would have intentional and meaningful relationships with other couples and I finally feel like that is happening. I love how God's plan for our lives is so much greater than we could ever plan. How he had already begun to thread this into our story before we even knew about it. I can't wait to see what he has in store for both Manny and I with our marriage and each of us as individuals. We are both looking forward to the next two years with CLF and the memories that we are sure to make. I woke up this morning feeling very thankful and blessed for all that the Lord is doing in our family!

10 Things I Never thought would happen...

1. That the formula that I am giving my child would be recalled because of beetles in it.
2. That getting 3-4 hours of sleep would feel like 8 hours. Any sleep is treasured sleep!
3. That I would be washing clothes, burp clothes and blankets 1-2 times a day.
4. That my son would be able to totally miss his diaper and pee up his back (hence the washing of the clothes and blankets! )
5. That I would get pooped on. Literally. Came out of his diaper and all over me. I have a picture but I figure I will spare you all from gagging.
6. That I would laugh at the fact that I got pooped on!
7. That I would forget to brush my teeth some days ( I know you are thinking...how gross, but people when you are running on only a few hours of sleep you're lucky that I'm standing. At least I haven't gone the full day without brushing them :) )
8. That getting out of the house would feel so freeing
9. That I would miss the hospital! Ha! They really are great there!
10. That I would forget to eat some days. The other day it was 2pm and I realized that I had yet to eat breakfast or lunch. At least that day I did brush my teeth!

Happy 2 Week Birthday Buggy!

I can't believe it's already been two weeks today that our little buggy came into this world! This time last week we were in our room resting as a family of 3! James has already changed so much just in two weeks. He is much more alert these days which has been fun. For the most part though he just sleeps.

It's been an interesting couple of days for us. He has had a difficult time getting settled and has just wanted Mommy to hold him. I love holding him, but after a while you start to realize that you can barely go to the bathroom alone! Ha! I have a feeling this is just the beginning of not having my "own time" anymore. Welcome to Motherhood!

We did have something crazy happen last night though. We found out that the formula that we have been giving to James was recalled. What a horrible feeling when you have a two week old and you find out that your formula has been recalled because of them finding beetles in the formula! EWW! Talk about feeling like a bad mom. :( So we have now switched to a different formula, which so far has gone ok. But his poor tummy is trying to adjust. Poor baby! We did call the pediatrician and she seemed to think he was just fine and reassured me to not be worried. We are just praying that this new formula does the trick and that his tummy adjusts soon! In case you are wondering, it is the Similac brand of formula. We were using the Sensative one, but I think they are pulling all of them. And it's only the powder ones. If you are using it too, go to their website and check it out. Stop using it ASAP!

Here are some recent pictures of our sweetie!

What a Difference a Week Makes

So much has happened in the last week. Things started off a little rocky, just adjusting to having Sweet Baby James here. Our first night was pretty good but the second night threw us for a loop. He had his days and nights very mixed up as you would expect. But since then, he has been a dream baby! He eats like a champ and sleeps 3-4 hours stretches at night. Which if you ask me feels like 8 hour stretches! ha! He sleeps great during the day too! Manny and I can't believe how much he has already changed. Could be because of all the food he is eating! :) This week he had his first walk, first bath and his umbilical cord fell off this morning! Lots of firsts!
We are loving every minute of our new life. Being a mom might just be one of my greatest joys. You don't know what to expect or what it will be like while you are pregnant. Nothing can truly prepare you for motherhood. But it is amazing and the biggest gift I could ever receive.
Here are a few pics from his first walk and first bath.





I had to include this last picture of Oliver and James. Oli has done so good adjusting to having James here. He is actually quite protective over him. If he hears James cry then he automatically goes to him to make sure he is ok. The other day I had James in his Moses basket out in the Den with me and Oli just wanted to let on the edge of the couch and watch him. He did this his entire nap. Pretty cute!

God is good....all the time

Here are some pictures that a woman from the hospital took of our little one. These are so precious to me cause they were taken the day after he was born. The one of him and Manny actually made me cry as she was taking it. I'm not emotional at all. Ha! Enjoy them...

Photo Debut

Here are a few photos of our journey up until this point...

Right after getting the epidural. Drugs are a good things! :)


Laying eyes on James for the first time upclose


Father and Son


Most amazing Doctor


First Family Photo


My sweet family who had all just pulled an all nighter waiting on James' arrival!


Me and Stella


My boys


I am now too tired to label the rest. So here they are! :)