AUNT Nicole!

That's right...my sweet little nephew was born this afternoon!

Welcome to the world, Thomas Gray Easterling!!! :)

8lbs 6oz and 20 inches long

these little guys are gonna have fun together!

sweet baby gray...

And look how big Mills is in comparison! Since I see him everyday it's hard for me to notice how much he's grown...but next to Gray he looks like an actual baby instead of a newborn, if that makes sense! And instead of being all quiet and fresh newborn-like, he was grunting and flailing his arms around, haha (and it didn't help that we woke him up to take the pictures)!

Anna loving on Gray!

Congrats to Jennifer and Jess!!! We love you guys!

Mr. Mom

Tonight...in spite of the fact that my husband worked 92 hours last week...he got home a little early and I GOT TO GO TO A MOVIE WITH THE GIRLS!!! :)
We went to see Dear John at Cinebarre (love that concept, love that place!).  I had heard that if you read the book it would be disappointing (which is how it usually works), but since I hadn't read the book, and I didn't go in with super high expectations, I thought it was good! The BEST thing about it was that it was filmed here in Charleston, so it was fun pointing out some of the local spots - plantation homes, restaurants, beaches, and even the hospital (where a few of our husbands live!).  :)  And of course it was wonderful to spend a little time with sweet girlfriends...they had to kick us out of the movie theater after it was over because we stayed in there talking so long.
Nicholas did a great job at home...when I left, Mills was in the Baby Bjorn while Nicholas played video games, and when I got back, Mills was like this  :)

And the bear in the picture was a gift from Auntie Elle, who flew down from Boston this past weekend to meet Mills and hang out with her "southern half!" :)  She was a huge help over the weekend, and SADLY, I got a few pictures of she and Mills, but not.one.single.picture of the two of us together!!! What the heck!?!  She got her fix of Kickin' Chicken Friday night, we had a Saturday lunch at Sermet's Corner (home of one of my very favorite Charleston meals!), and a Sunday brunch at the Fat Hen (to satisfy her craving for creme brulee french toast, mmmm). We were sad to send her back up to the northland, but we're hopeful for another visit in May!

funny faces :)

I took Mills and Harley for a walk this afternoon, and we enjoyed being outside!

Check out that cute lil bear!

Sweetest 1 Month Old!

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Mills!

What are you up to???

-As the pediatrician told us, you should be "an eating, sleeping, and pooping machine." Check. :)

-You eat - a lot! I've mostly been nursing so it's hard to quantify the amount, but the two times I pumped and your dad gave you the bottle, you laughed at the 3-4oz (okay, not literally, but you wanted MORE).

-You have been sleeping longer at night (sometimes even 5 hours or more straight!) over the past week, but it also takes you longer to fall asleep after I feed you for the last time and it's time to go to bed (about an hour). That's when I'm usually the most tired, but I think you like to be a night owl (like your parents usually are)!

-Just yesterday you really started looking at me when I get close to your face, and focusing in. Three times in the past two days you've smiled really big when I got close to you and started talking...don't know if it's coincidence or not, but I'll take it! ;)

-You really like bath time! The very first time you cried a little bit at the beginning, but since then you seem to enjoy it...your eyes get really big and you just look around.

-You like to make funny faces. My favorite is the lips puckered but very serious face...haha...well, second to the smile of course.

-You smiled for the first time at a mere 4 days old. :) Mainly it's after you've eaten and are falling asleep, but you've just started smiling with your eyes open now, too.  And the smiles are getting bigger. Haha, I love seeing your little gums poke through!

-We battled our first bout with diaper rash...and we won!!!  For now... 

-You've been out to eat 4 times (for the first time at 12 days old), on a few walks around the neighborhood (it's cold though, so we haven't been on as many as I'd like), to the grocery store, and shopping (well actually just Bed Bath & Beyond b/c I had to grab some coffee, but hey, that counts!).

-We've started doing tummy time and you like it for about 3-5 minutes until you get mad. You have a really strong little neck and always try to hold your head up for as long as you can (and you've been doing that since the day you were born - but you're a LOT better at it now). 

-Your hair, just today, has started coming out just a teeny bit in the front in little patches...so we'll see what happens. You have a good bit of hair in the back and it's cute and curled up like your daddy's.

-Over the past week you've started staying up more during the day, and you just look around at everything, especially lights. The night time is when you get a little bit fussy, but you're probably just tired from such a busy day taking in all of the new things, right? 

-You are still wearing mostly newborn clothing...I can't wait for you to be able to wear your 0-3 months clothing so we can play dress-up with all of your cute outfits! :) You have moved up to size 1 diapers.

-We think you're the cutest thing we've ever seen and we love you so much! :)  (Harley says she loves you too, she's just still getting used to you taking over her attention and keeping her up at night, ha!)

So I took a few pictures of him in the chair to document the one month birthday, and at first he was so in awe of the lion that he kept staring at it...

And I also made cupcakes for the occasion! Only because he asked for them, because, seriously, what birthday celebration is complete without cupcakes and sprinkles?!?!

We decided to share one with sister Harley

Hangin with Dad

"Okay, mom, enough pictures for today!"

Oh, but one last one of him sleeping earlier today...he loves to lounge around! (and remember, you can always click on the pics to enlarge...don't you just want to squeeze that cute bootie!?!?)

We love this sweet 1 month old baby boy!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

Not much to say today, just wanted to share some of the pictures that were taken of Mills' at the hospital before I do his big 1 MONTH post tomorrow! :) I ordered his birth announcements earlier this week so I'll save that picture for a later date. ;)  Here he is at a mere 24 hours old!

exercising his lungs!

Sweet, sweet baby!

*By the way say a little prayer for Nicholas (and me & Mills, too!) - his work schedule is pretty awful this month...just to give you an idea, he left at 6:30 yesterday morning and got home from work at 9:45 last night...then went in again at 4:30 this morning and still isn't home yet (and it's after 7). He has a lot of really sick patients and he's really exhausted. Just pray that the little sleep he gets will provide mental and physical rest for him, and enable him to make the best decisions for his patients. And for us, because we MISS him (and his help with diaper changes, ha)!*

4 weeks old...and a little relief!

...from diaper rash, thank goodness! :)  Thank you SO VERY MUCH for all of the advice - the comments, emails, and phone calls - you have no idea how grateful I am! We used all of your advice on the products, along with rinsing Mills' bootie in the bathroom sink after every dirty diaper change and letting him air dry for about 10 minutes each time, and he is doing so much better! Thank the Lord!!! :)

He took his first nap in his actual crib today (he normally sleeps in the bassinet/pack and play in our bedroom or in his swing), and although it was only a short little 45 minute nap, I snapped a few pics to document the occasion. :)

(And I do realize that once he actually starts sleeping in there the pillow, stuffed animal, and blanket need to be removed, but for now he can't do much moving around, so don't worry!)

Monday night is our TV night (Chuck and 24), so once Nicholas got home I actually got to shower AND wash my hair (woohoo!) and we have enjoyed lounging around. Nicholas starts a new inpatient month tomorrow, and evidently it's gonna be rough. He was talking to the fellow today, and he said to Nicholas, "Do you have a picture of your kid?" 

And Nicholas said "Yes," and pulled out his cell phone to show him... 

He said "Oh, no, I don't want to see it, I just wanted to make sure you had a picture because that's pretty much all you'll see of him this month." :(

No bueno... But as my mom and Jennifer both said today whenever I told them the story, "This too shall pass." :)  But we'll take it one month at a time, and plus, we have a lot to look forward to this month, like fun visits from Danielle, Kathy, and Kelly (and surely my mom will be back down, too!), and the arrival of my sweet nephew, Gray! 

Lounging around tonight...

"So glad my diaper rash is better and I can get some rest!"

Happy 4 weeks, Millsy Bear!

Road Trip :) ...and diaper rash :(

What have we been up to this week???

Well Mills took his first road trip...to the exotic destination of Dillon, and to NC to meet Nicholas' 82-year-old Nana! Here are a few pictures we took!

With Nana...she gave him his first Bible and wrote him the sweetest letter.

And in Dillon, Mills also got to meet Aunt Betsy and cousins Madison and Dylan...they both wanted to hold him :)

Madison playing with Gray and Dylan playing with Mills! :)

(oh, and a very pregnant Aunt Jennifer - any day now!!!)

And the kids had to give some special attention to the dogs...it's hard to come by these days!

Mills did fabulously with the traveling, and enjoyed all of the love and cuddling (even though it was a quick trip)!  Unfortunately, his sweet little demeanor has been overcome by a bad case of diaper rash today. :(  It has gotten worse and his little bootie is just raw. :(  He screams bloody murder when you change his diaper, and beginning this afternoon has pretty much become inconsolable except for when he eats. It's so very frustrating and we feel so bad for him. We've been using Desitin on every change, and I bathed him again this morning and let him hang out for a bit before I put his diaper back on (of course he peed twice and pooped once, haha), but any other tips would be greatly appreciated! Nicholas and I have been taking shifts with him. I guess we'll be calling the pediatrician on Monday if it doesn't get any better. :(

I'm ready for him to be back to his content, happy, little self!

Now it's time to watch the Miss America Pageant - at least for a little while!