Mr. T is 3 Months Old!

Titus is now a 3 month old little guy! Again, so many "firsts" this month. He has definitely put a whole new spin on the holidays for us, even if he is clueless...we're excited. ;)

• He weighs about 13 pounds and is 23.5 inches long.
• He started sleeping through the night almost 3 weeks ago. What is our definition of sleeping through the night? Most nights it is 7-9 hours straight and then he goes back to sleeping for another 1-3 hours. Yay! With the exception of the day he was given his 2 month vaccinations. (Apparently, they wore him out, resulting in him sleeping for 10 hours straight and then some.) 
• He is fascinated by lights. So our Christmas tree is definitely a Titus pleaser.
• He LOVES his swing now. 
• After 5 minutes of tummy time, he is not happy. 
• His eyes are still blue.
• His changing table is still one of his favorite places. 
• He has met all of his great grandparents. :) 

• 

  Um Dad, not yet.

                                      
  
   "I crack myself up."
  
   Meeting Great Grandma Gilmore
  
   My mom loves reading to him.
  
   Helping Titus put the star on the tree.
  
   With my sheepy
  
  

  

  Classic.

  

  My doggie.

  

  Yep.

  
  

  

  Meeting Great Grandma and Granddad Coburn

  
  

  

  Christmas

  
  

  

  Oh the little angel baby. Haha. ;)

  
  

  

  Rockin' his granddad's sweater from when he was this size.

  
  

  

  ....and clearly excited. 

  
  

  

  "Moooooom!"

• 
  

Titus is 2 Months Old!

Wow! It has been a fun filled month. Now I can see why so many parents say that the first year goes by so quickly. There have already been so many "firsts" and yet it seems like everyday I wake up and feel like Titus has grown physically and developmentally. Oh and the looooove. Wow, I thought I loved him a lot last month and somehow that love has already deepened. :) Alright, so here are some updates from this last month.

• Titus weighs somewhere over 10 pounds and is about 22 inches long. (Those are our rough stats, since his 2 month appointment is coming up this week.) 
• He wakes up just once at night. So far he has had 3 or 4 six hour stretches, but usually they are 4-5 hours at night. 
• He likes laying on his back a lot and facing outward.
• He keeps trying to find his thumb to suck on. He has been successful a couple of times now and the look on his face was priceless.
• He has found his voice and coos often. I love his coos.
• He giggled for the first time. 
• He likes chillin' in his car seat and Baby Bjorn.

                                                1st Overnight trip: Atascadero

                                                     1st Halloween: Superbaby!

                                                           1st Fresno Trip

                                                       Snuggling with Daddy

                                                         Chillin' with Diesel

                                                              2 Months Old

One of Our Favorite Spots: Avila Dog Beach

                                                                  Sweetness

                                               1st Time at Grandma and Grandpa's House

                                               Nabil and Dori's Wedding Shower

                                                         Morning Snuggles

                                       Jonathan and Martha Kent with Superbaby

                                             Story Time with Grandma Coburn

                                                             Contentment

                                                   Loving Granddad's Shoulder

                                                           Titus' Dedication

Little T is 1 Month Old!

Titus is one month old today! What a fun month it has been! We are loooooving life with this sweet little boy. 

Titus, besides eating and sleeping, here are some things you have been up to:

Physical Changes: 

• We don't know exactly how much you weigh, but Dad and I are guesstimating you are somewhere around 8.5 pounds. (If we are correct, you gained 2.5 lbs since your birth.) 
• You are 20.75 inches long. (You grew 1.25 inches since birth.)
• Your grip is getting much stronger. You have started grabbing Mom's hair, picking up objects near you, and pulling blankets off of you.) 

Likes: 

• Walks in the Bob
• Being held/napping on us
• When we rub your head or back
• Your Sleep Sheep
• The car seat
• The washpod 
• In N Out Burger (Okay, juuuust kidding!) 

Dislikes:

•   Your swing...yet. After 10 minutes you want out. 
•   Baby lotion
•   Diaper changes (Sometimes you don't seem to mind and other times you REALLY don't like them.)
•   Sponge baths

Other Interesting Things:

• Your newborn clothes are now very snug on you.
• You moved out of newborn diapers, hellloooo size 1! 
• You are now big enough for the Baby Bjorn, which has put you to sleep a few times.
• You don't know it, but you have a shadow. Diesel follows you everywhere and wants to lick you.
• You have been all over the Central Coast. 

We loooooove you sweet boy. :) 

• 
                                                             Dad and T
  
  
                                                            Mom and T
  
  
                                                                   ;)
  

  

  One of his classic faces

  
                                            Titus and his Israeli ibex buddy
  
  
  
                                                              Snuggled
  
  
  
                                             Diesel supervising tummy time.
  

  

  Checkout my baby toes

  
  
  

                                                                         :) 

Titus James Coburn is here!

Wow, I am behind. It's amazing how fast time goes when staring at your newborn son sleeping for hours feels like the best thing in the world. Many people have asked me to describe our labor and delivery story and I already feel like it is becoming blurred in my mind, so here we go.

First off, Titus' due date was September 28. At 35 weeks and 5 days, my amazing O.B. checked me and said very definitively, "He is getting ready." She told me to rest over the weekend and advised, "Don't go on any crazy Costco runs or hiking in Oso Flaco." Apparently, those can be stressful and potentially labor inducing. ;) So we skipped those. Collie and I weren't very concerned, since you really never know with babies, but our prayer was that Titus make it to at least 37 weeks when he would be full term. He did! We'll fast forward 2 weeks and 1 day. Those were filled with increasing Braxton Hicks, especially by Fridays, the end of my work week.

On Friday, September 13, I came home from work around 4 PM. I plopped down on the couch and told Collie that I thought contractions started to be semi-regular around 11:30 AM, but I was so busy during the day that I didn't keep track. We both kind of just said...hmmm and went on our semi-usual Friday Yogurt Creations run. By 6 PM they had become regular so we decided to time them a bit. Collie double checked our bag and hospital information, just in case.  They lasted until 4 AM, but never got to the 5-1-1 rule. So when they stopped we were able to go back to sleep.

Saturday morning rolled around. We had 'promised' Diesel we would take him to the dog beach in Avila after Gunnar's birthday party. So we put our hospital goods in our car, just in case. After the dog beach, we went apple tasting and then to dinner in Arroyo Grande. When we got home regular contractions started again. They followed close to the same routine as the previous night.

Sunday. Collie left early for church. I woke up with contractions and headed to church. They stopped around 10 AM and started again at 11:30 AM. I went to lunch with some ladies from church. I came home around 3 PM and told Collie, "These feel different." Around 6 PM we both thought this was probably going to lead to meeting our son soon enough. At 7 PM I took one bite of Collie's black bean, chicken, and rice dinner, jumped out of my chair, and darted to the couch. We timed contractions until 8:30 and called our O.B. She said we could go ahead to the hospital or wait a little bit until we wanted to go in. I told her we would wait a bit. She said she would let the hospital know I would be coming in. We waited until we felt like it was time and arrived at the hospital at 11 PM.

In Triage the nurse checked things and entered our information. Judging from what she was telling us, it sounded like it was time, but the nurse joked about how coworkers say she admits everyone. Which led Collie to asking, "Sooooo, are we actually in labor?" She responded with, "Oh, did I not mention that? Your baby's birthday is going to be September 16!" Collie and I cheered quietly. He sent the text to our families and made the three necessary phone calls regarding my work.

We entered our L&D room at about midnight. At around 12:30 AM, they put in the I.V. with antibiotics since I was positive for Group B Strep. Around 1 AM contractions started increasing in length and strength. At 1:30 AM, I hopped into the whirlpool tub. That made a huge difference! Which is why I didn't get out until 4:30 AM and the nurses joked about me having our son in the tub, because I enjoyed it a little too much. ;)

From 4:30 AM to 6:30 AM contractions were very strong. I only threw up once though and Collie managed to get the trashcan just in time. (Way to go honey!) At 5 AM a nurse came in and announced, "You have family here." We were a bit perplexed. So Collie headed out to them, greeted my parents, Dori, and Nabil and told them it would be a couple of hours. At 6:30 AM my water broke. I said to Collie, "Go get them, he is coming." Dr. Yin and 4 nurses came in and got to work.

Titus James Coburn was born at 6:56 AM, weighing 6 lbs, at 19.5 inches long. He was perfect! He made one little sound and they placed him on my chest. It was one of the most powerful moments of my entire life. It felt like the whole room blurred and all I could see was Titus and Collie. We spent an hour holding him, praying for him and thanking God for him, and then Collie read Mark 10 to him. (Yes, there were tears!) At 8 AM Collie retrieved our family in the waiting room. After months of waiting to hear what his name would be, they met Titus James. My dad smiled when he heard that his name, James, was being carried on.

So the next few days we were and still are filled with awe and wonder at this little boy and how good God is.

He has had a full two weeks. Here are a few of the things he has been up to:

• He met lots of family, friends, and Diesel.
• He ate out at 6 restaurants.
• He made 3 church trips.
• He went to Dori and Nabil's engagement party at the Madonna Inn, where I got to have my first dance with my son.
• He went to Avila Beach twice and checked out Farmer's Market.
• He went to Avila Barn and had his first hayride.
• He went to Solvang.
• He went to several appointments.
• He had two photo shoots. (Yeaaahhh...I know right?) 
• He went to the dog park.
• He took his first walks in the Bob.
• He was given his first chiropractic adjustment by Uncle Neel.
• He went to the spot where Collie asked me to marry him.
• He sleeps for about 2-4 hours at a time.
• He is working on his arm strength. (Wiggling his way out of swaddles, blankets, etc.) 

We are so blessed by this tiny boy. It is amazing to see God's goodness, not because of anything we have done, but because of what He has done. Collie has wanted to be a dad since as far back as he can remember. I have wanted to be a mom since I was about 7 years old. It feels like one of our deepest desires has finally been awakened through the arrival of Titus. We are so thankful!

Our first moments with Titus!

Meeting family

We were elated to head home!

This face melts me.

First trip to the dog beach

Avila Barn

Grandma and Grandad Coburn

4 Generations

Bath Time

Gaining a New Brother

Last Saturday, I gained a new brother. My radiant sister, Dawn, married her love, Neel. Dawn Richardson is now Dawn Bulchandani. It was a beautiful stretch of days leading to the wedding. We were able to stay with our great friends, Brandon and Jenny, in Granite Bay to break up our trek. Brandon and Jenny are due with little baby boy Prior in less than 3 weeks now! Then we made the final leg to a quaint little mountain town, Mc Cloud, located at the base of majestic Mt. Shasta. Majestic it was. The weekend was filled with henna, good food, a waterfall excursion, pool (the one with the sticks, not the water), dabke dancing, breakfasts on the huge wrap around porch, and sweetness. Neel and Dawn's wedding was filled with touches of them. From their middle eastern decor to the Indian garbs worn by members of the wedding party it was evident that they payed such careful attention to the details. Their vows were beautifully written and spoken so fluidly. The Indian/Middle Easter meal was topped off with pomegranates, apples, and honey. So sweet. Cheers to Neel and Dawn Bulchandani.

                          The Bulchandani's observing some dabke dancing, before they joined in.

                                                                       Henna time!

                                                                        Lower Falls!

                                                            With the royal parents.

                                                                          Siblings!

                                                            Such a sweet first dance!

                                                                     With my man.