The Rodrigues Family

September 27, 2010

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!

September 23, 2010

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!

September 19, 2010

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!

September 15, 2010

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...