Look what I can do....

So in my last post I pointed out that Mack was o so close to crawling. Well he is still not quite there yet but he moves like a champ.  The look on his face when he sees something he wants is pretty funny and we recently have had to move the dog bowl and keep shoes out of his sight. (Thankfully Jerzee scarfs down her food like she has never been fed so Mack probably won't have time to get to it.)  Below is a video of him going for one of his toys.  Let me preface it with this....he has on what some may call leggings, however, they are leg protectors and I think they are absolutely freaking adorable.  I mean they are men's argyle...doesn't get more manly than that!  And while a few of our friends has asked if we will let him do ballet too, I reply..."well, at least if he wants too, he will not have all calloused knees like your children" :)  Enjoy....

Second video is of Mack's favorite new past time...spitting.  Lamb and I are of no help to reduce this issue because like all parents, we think everything our child does is hilarious and adorable.  Plus, isn't it good for his motor skills?  Lamb did, however try to lay down the spitting law the other day with little success.  I was taking a nap and he had to fed Mack his lunch.  All I kept hearing was spitting, followed by "No!", then followed by more spitting.  I wasn't even mad that I couldn't nap because it was hilarious.  Its seems to be very clear who wears the pants in our family....our 6mo. old.

Summer Wrap Up...

As summer comes to a close and football season approaches, I thought best to give updates to all of Mack's progress and all the fun little things he does now.  He is a week or so past 5 months and becoming more and more of a little person everyday.  I cannot even express how exciting it is for Lamb and I to watch him grow.  He is a very happy baby, easy to smile; and is going to be a little ball of energy...lucky us.  He has the most adorable laugh and his little (well, big) eyes light up when he chuckles, we cannot get enough of it.
Mack has been eating solids for a little over a month and he is doing great with it.  We have not found something he doesn't like, not surprising as he is Lamb's child.  To date he has had rice cereal, oatmeal, spinach, sweet potatoes, squash and bananas...all homemade at that.  We bought the ninja blender and of course Lamb has gone to town doing what he does best.  We are going to try to make as much food as we can for him as we can since it is fresher and not to mention CHEAPER :).  He also has been on half formula/half breastmilk for the past 2 weeks now.  I can no longer keep up with him and am desperately trying to make it to my 6mo goal....so close.  Hopefully I can make it.
Physically Mack is right on track or advanced as we like to think.  He is jabber jawing like crazy and practices make sounds.  I constantly say momma to him and although he seems quite amused by this as he smirks, still no "momma" uttered yet.  I am determined to make this his first word and not ball or something ridiculous like Dadda.  ha.  He is also SOOOO close to crawling.  He can get from point A to point B but this is more by a repeated leap motion and rolling rather than one knee in front of the other.  By 6mo he will for sure be moving about.  Sitting up is another task Mack is very close to accomplishing.  I am convinced that if he didn't have such a big head he would be able to so already but gravity is simply not in his favor.
Last but certainly not least is Mack's sleep schedule.  He is doing AWESOME!  He only gets up once to eat and every now and then (about once a week) he will have a little fuss fest randomly in the middle of the night....all take it I say as this is way more conducive to my much needed beauty sleep.

Below are some pictures from Mack's summer adventures. Humboldt, CA for a wedding and a few trips to Lake Tahoe, CA.

At Dad's ole stomping grounds...Humboldt State weight room

@ Creager wedding

Lake Tahoe, CA

Lake Tahoe, CA

Sleepy Bubbas

:)

MACK THE MOVER

Again, I have been delinquent...apologies!  Here is a quick video of Mack trying to scoot...enjoy :)

1 lil' monkey sittin on a chair :)

I have done this monkey shoot with Mack at 2 weeks, 2 months and 4 months (this last time the hat was stretched to the max!)  Look how much my lil' monkey has grown!

2 WEEKS OLD 

2 MONTHS OLD

4 MONTHS OLD



MR. CHUCKLES

Lamb of course LOVES to mess with Mack and thankfully 9 times out of 10, Mack is all about it.  He is starting to chuckle a little and it is the most adorable sound.  The other day Mack was laying down and Jerzee was rubbing her back and face on the ground...out of no where Mack let out a little chuckle as he watched her, it was so cute.  Here is Mr. Chuckles at work :)

MACK ATTACK!

First- I would like to publicly announce that I am going to be writing/posting more often,  I say this to you so that I am held liable and you can give me crap if I fail to follow through. :)

Mack has been making so many strides and developments lately, its hard to keep up!  He is jabber jawing all the time and sometimes I swear he is telling me off...it's cute none the less.  He also grabs at his toys now and can get them to his mouth unlike the failed attempts of getting his hand to his mouth below.  His smile just lights you up and when Lamb tickles him, he can get a little laugh/grunt from him.  Tummy time is fun (for mom and dad anyway) because Mack can now pick himself up high enough that the weight of his head causes him to roll over.  This is pretty on track with what he should be able to do at this point (he has been able to for about 3wks now) but what is impressive is that he can ALMOST roll from his back to his stomach, athletically advanced I say :)  I think he may have a little temper on him because he gets quite pissed that he cannot get it and regardless of the encouraging words from mom and dad, he cries ( I am sure this is code for why are fools chanting at me and not helping me). 

We did take Mack for his shots a few weeks ago.  I always thought it was a little dramatic when moms would talk about how they wanted to hit the nurse for hurting their baby and so on and so forth but it really was quite traumatic for me. If you think his eyes are big, you should have seen when she stuck him!  He did the saddest cry and when I picked him up he was clinging to my neck which he has never done before...broke my heart.  Thankfully we saved about an ounce of his bottle from feeding so that calmed him down pretty quickly.  He weighed in at 12lbs 8oz (75%) and is 24 1/2 inches (90%).

Finally, have I mentioned that Mack is the cutest baby ever!?  He has the cutest big blue eyes with hits of hazel in the middle and his little button nose is perfect...don't take my word for it, check out his pics below :)

 Check out those wrist rolls..someone is going to have big forearms!

Yes, I have done this before and will continue until this beanie does not fit him because he is sooo cute!

keep rolling...rolling...rolling

SUCCESS!

The past few weeks Mack has been working on his hand/eye coordination and I must say that it is quite amusing.  He has recently discovered his hands and not only does he sometimes stop mid-coo in fascination when one appears before him, he is also determined to get them into his mouth.  This has to be God's way of getting back at the little boogers for keeping mom and dad up at night because watching him ever so carefully move his hand towards his mouth only to hit the side of his cheek is hilarious.  Don't get me wrong, I want my little man to succeed and he often does, especially when he is not really thinking about it.  And man, when he does get that hand, he is not afraid to attempt to get his entire fist in there as shown below...SUCCESS!!

"Hey mom...look what I can do!" ha

Where to begin?...

Hi there!! Let me apologize to all our avid readers, (all six of you that is) for not being better about keeping up on the little nugget's blog.  I am going to give you a recap of what the Lamoreaux family has been up to lately.  Mack has had a whirlwind first couple months of life...from Downtown Reno outings (during the day of course) and 10 hr car rides! I am going to write from the most recent and work backwards to keep in proper timeline.  So start from the bottom of this and read up. (yes, I am anal like that) ENJOY :)


WHAT I'M DOING THESE DAYS...
Mack has been getting so big lately.  Its crazy to think he was in my belly just a few short months ago!  He definitely recognizes mine and Lamb's voices now.  He is starting to smile and coo all the time when he sees us.  Nights have been getting better, we have gotten Mack on somewhat of a routine and he is taking to it well.  He showers with dad, some nighttime lotion, feeding, then in bed by around 9p.  For the past couple of nights he has only woken up once (around 2a) and then up in the morning around 6a to eat.  Lamb weighed Mack last week and it put him at 13lbs! We think that may be a little off, but getting big none the less.  This made daddy happy as he was slightly disappointed at Mack's weight at his 2 week appointment (8lbs 6oz, putting him at 50th percentile) Here are some pics of Mack in all his cuteness and a video of him talking to me.

my handsome little man!

Daddy and Mack

Mack chatting it up with Momma

 MACK GOES TO CALIFORNIA...

After Nana and Tata's visit we got to go home to California for a week so that Mack could meet all his relatives and get to know his So Cal roots better. ha.  If he hadn't been spoiled enough the past few weeks he definitely got his fill while in Cali.  We visited Grandpa Alvarez (aka Papa P...shhhh don't tell him, he is not a fan) and Mack got to meet all his crazy/fun aunts on the Alvarez side.  He also got to meet some of his future BFF's, Jackson and Logan.  Logan is my dear friend Kerry's little boy who was suppose to be due a day after Mack but decided to make an early appearance at the end of February.  Jackson is my friend Anna's (who I have known since I was 6) lil man.  He was born on March 25th, just a day after Mack.  The introductions went great and Mack is already telling me he misses his buds. 
We made a trip down to El Centro to hang with the Lamoreaux gang so Mack could meet his aunt Tricia, uncle Mike and cousins Bryce and Austin.  He is not big enough to pee in the great outdoors like his dad but rest assure when he is, dad will show him the ropes.  We also got to see aunt Toni in Buena Park who made Mack his adorable blocks and talked a lot about babies, it's great that Mack will also have a cousin on Lamb's side to hang out with.
Mack did a lot of hanging out with his cousins on my side, Rya and Mia definitely gave him a lot of love.  He got to watch cousin Rya play soccer and Mia was teaching him how to play guitar.  Literally, she was making him play a mini toy guitar.  And lil Ari and Saige gave him some competition in the cute department. 
All and all is was an amazing trip as it always is to be home with family and friends, we only wish we could do it more often.  Pics are below...

Big temperature difference from Reno to Cali.

Hanging with Grandpa

With Jackson (one day younger)

With Logan (one month older)

Nana Venise and all the grand babies

LOTS O' VISITORS...

We were very fortunate to have family and friends come stay and help in Mack's first few weeks of life.

Nana and Tata Montano were the last to come to Reno.  They stayed for 2 weeks helping with Mack in all sorts of ways.  Making dinner, cleaning and watching Mack while I napped.  Lamb and I also got to go out to dinner one night which was nice.  I rode back with them to California while Lamb was in Kansas City for a strength and conditioning conference.
Auntie Kylie and Auntie Sara came to visit for a few days.  They absolutely adore Mack and enjoyed hanging out with him as well as messing with him (taking pictures of him with their glasses on)  Its crazy to think not too long ago we were dance the night away at 2am and now the only reason I am up at 2am is to fed the lil man. 
Next up was Gma and Gpa Lamoreaux.  They have not had a grandbaby to spoil in about 15 years so Mack was well taken care of during their visit.  Momma Margo made some great food and really helped with Mack in changing and soothing him...and they did their fair share of holding him while they were here. 
After my mom and sister Daniella left, Auntie Bianca and baby Saige stayed for an week.  It was great to have someone around who just went though it all so she was a great help on little random questions I had through the week.  We braved the mall one day and even got out for some sushi with Lamb plus babies.

Promise that Mack loves his greatgrandparents he was just hungry

Hanging with Gma and Gpa Lamoreaux

WEEK ONE

A little over a week has gone by since we brought baby Mack home. My mom and sisters where here until this past Tuesday so that was a huge help.  He is a really good baby (no, I am not just saying that).  He pretty much just hangs out.  He is very alert when awake and makes the cutest little faces.  Nighttime is as expected, we did get one night when Mack only woke up once but for the most part it is 2 sometimes 3 times a night, I am just glad he is not fussy.  The diaper changing/feeding in one sitting at night is where we need some work.  Mack is not a fan of getting his diaper changed so we were changing his diaper and then I would breastfeed to put him back to sleep and Tah Dah it was fine.  Well since he is eating more now, if we change him and then feed him, about mid feeding he will pause...give me a look and then there is a mini explosion in his diaper (Thanks Mack).  Therefore I have to change him again, making him angry and it is tough to get him to fall back asleep. Now I just feed a little and let him poop, Lamb changes him and then I feed him again....seems to be working.

Lamb is great with Mack and helps out a ton.  Whether it be little things I need for myself because of my c-section or changing/dressing or rocking Mack.  He is lucky to have such a good daddy...although he is already a momma's boy :)  Below are a few pictures of Mack's first week of life as well as pictures of all the babies Ari (3 1/2 months) Saige (7 weeks) Mack (4 days).  I think we laughed more than we took pictures.  Today, Bianca and I did a mock photo shoot on a chair I have (now I know why photographers charge so much for newborn pics),  here are a few that came out ok.

ROUGH LIFE...

How Dad calms him down.

hahahahaha...priceless

He decided to practice his crawling skills during his photo shoot

my sweet little man...

My FAVORITE!! :)

FIRST DAY HOME

We got to come home yesterday around 12:30 in the afternoon. We came home to a full house of Nana Venise, Daniella, Bianca, Ari & Saige (the other newest additions to the family). It was nice to be home so we could be comfortable and on our own schedule.

Mack was good, he woke up about every 2-3 hours, but when he sleeps he sleeps. Lo is still on meds for her pain, she is getting around fine, just slowly.

Here are some new pics and a video (I can't figure out how to rotate the video so sorry for the kink in your neck).

Mom relaxing while Mack is napping!

Dad & Mack (Twins)

Mack trying to sleep but Dad is picking on him to get up and eat. (sorry I can't figure out how to rotate it).



The Big Day Finally Came

3/22/11 Lo had been having contractions...she woke me up about 1 in the morning and said they were getting more intense. Around 2 we started timing the contraction length and the amount of time between them (we had to google it, the class was out the window at crunch time!). They were about 30 seconds long and anywhere from 3-8 minutes in between. Finally around 4:30am we decided to pack up and go to the hospital. They checked her and sent us home. False alarm, waa waa waaaaah!

3/23/11 She continued to have contractions throughout the day & night...getting way more intense, lasting a full minute and only 3 or 4 minutes in between. Finally around 9pm we (Nana Venise, Daniella & Bianca who drove up that day) convinced Lani to go back to the hospital.  At 10:15pm they admitted us dilated at a 3-4. She immediately got an epidural and was told to get some rest.

3/24/11 They came in regularly and checked her throughout the night and morning. She dilated to a 7 on her own, then was given drugs to fully dilate. At 10am she began PUSHING! She pushed like crazy for 2 hours, the doc determined that Mack was not turning (was still face up) and just might be too big for Lo to get out on her own. They decided a C-section was the route, in a flash Lo was prepped, papers were signed, I put on scrubs and rushed off to the O.R.

Our little man, Mack, was born at 12:38pm (March 24, 2011). He weighed in at a fit 7 lbs. 13 oz. and a towering 21.5 inches. He has hands and feet like a bear, hopefully he will be like a puppy and will grow into them.

He is the greatest thing GOD could ever have given us, it is amazing how much you are attached even though we had never met, he is our everything. Here is a video fresh out the womb getting cleaned up, covered up and getting the heck out of the operating room.

TIMES UP!

Enough said!!!

ALMOST HERE!

Our little bun in the oven is almost done! Any day now Lo will go into labor and our little man will arrive...he is clearly on his own schedule. It has been a really long while since we have last posted. I have been on the road with basketball and the computer has been acting up again so Lo couldn't use the computer. Things have been relatively the same, doctor appointments are in and out...LITERALLY, walk in, sit down, called back, weigh in, blood pressure, measure stomach, listen to heart beat, cold/goopy fingers AND OUT!

We have both been NESTING a bit, getting all the final preparations ready for his arrival. Cleaned the house, set up his room, decorated it, got all of his clothes and things organized, put the seat in the car...all that is missing now is HIM!

We have finally settled on a name. The Last name has been in place obviously since the beginning (LAMOREAUX). The Middle name was agreed upon shortly after we found out he was a boy (EASTON). But as of late I finalized his name (MACK), Lo picked the middle name so I got to pick the first name...partly because of an indecisive wife and her worries of naming him something that he will later get made fun of. So keeping my initials M.E.L going (which spells my Dad's name), we soon will be introducing the world to Mack Easton Lamoreaux.

Those are a few pictures of the nursery...we wanted to keep it simple and vintage.

M.E.L.'s BABY SHOWER

On Jan. 16th, my sisters, mom, dad's wife Mona and my Nina Lori threw me a baby shower for baby boy Lamoreaux at my sister Daniella's house.  Although it was mid January the weather was GREAT, nearing the 80's (it did make me realize however, how thankful I am to NOT be pregnancy during the Summer)  I was blessed to have plenty of family and friends in attendance, my aunts on both sides of the family, the Lamoreaux ladies, friends and some extended family as well.  On the menu was some fajitas and sides that Mona had made, sweet tea from Chik-fil-a (my favorite) and knowing that I am not much of a cake person, my sisters did a dessert bar which came out AMAZING!  I got so many things that I needed...stroller/car seat from the Auburn girls, a monitor, bouncy chair and enough sports onesies to make this child start making passes in his sleep! :)  I had a blast and felt very loved/blessed from all the gifts we received.  Below are a few pictures...

Happy Parents to Be :)



Hostesses with the mostestes. ha

Preggos here, preggos there, preggos EVERYWHERE!

The awesome candy bar! 

 The card says Cameron Newton :) hahaha

 Personalized onesies from Grandma Lamoreaux



3D Ultrasound Dec. 23,2010

We went back to Orange County for the holidays. On the plans of things to do was, get a 3D ultrasound to see what our little man looks like. The place lets you invite whoever you want to come and see the baby, so we decided to keep it small and only invite family. Good thing that we did because some people were still out the door looking in. The nurse procedes to try to find our little dudes face and if she can't or he is hiding the nurse has no gripes about shaking the crap out of Lo's stomach to get him to turn over or uncover his face. It is just like normal ultrasound where the nurse is constantly taking pictures of the baby and saving it to the computer. When it was all said and done we got a CD with like 40 some odd pictures of our dude and a handful of black and white print outs to show off. Everyone who was there had never seen it before...well that is a lie because Daniella and Greg have 3 girls of her own that they got to see and Bianca did it just before us to see baby Saige. My parents for sure have not seen anything like that before, it has been 14 years since a new addition has come to the Lamoreaux family...the aw of something new sure didn't slow my dad down, he had a comment for everything which got Tata Placido going and they almost stole the show with all there jokes. Our guy was the cutest little thing ever, we think that we can tell who's features that he has but I guess you can be the judge of that. He is already AWESOME, we couldn't be more blessed. We were glad to have everyone there to be a part of it...we wish we could have invited more but maybe next time.

Just hanging out in there...all peaceful

Tired of the camera and just wants to be left alone to get some sleep



No diabetes here!, 26 Weeks, and prego bunch...

Apologies for the delay in posting... Lamb and I have developed a love/hate relationship with technology lately since our 4 month old computer decided to crash.  Three trips to Best Buy, a week send off to Dell and again a nice little check in with the Geek Squad, who in my opinion should just be referred to as "I pretend to know what I am doing and use big computer words but I really just like to play video games" and we have our computer back :) 
Some updates since last time.  At 24 weeks I had to do my glucose testing to make sure I do not have gestational diabetes.  Take down a sugar drink and get blood taken an hour afterward.  A couple of days later I got a note from my Dr. saying that I had to take the 3 hour glucose test because my sugar levels where a little high.  I obviously began to worry and did exactly what Lamb tells me NOT to do and googled causes of gestational diabetes.  I literally had nothing that would perhaps cause it (obesity, history of diabetes, etc).  So I did a suggested diet for 3 days and then had to fast for 12hrs before taking it again.  This was by far the most miserable thing I have done.  Once I got to the diagnostics place she drew my blood and I had to drink the sugar stuff again.  She told me I would have to check in every hour for the next 3 hours and get blood taken and.....I COULD NOT EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING!!  Who tells a pregnant woman she cannot eat?!  At the 3rd blood drawing I asked what happens if I threw up (because it was that or passing out at that point) and she said I would have to do it again.  That was all the motivation I needed...I finished and got Del Taco for lunch :)  I got my results at my Dr. appt Tuesday and all was clear.  I asked the nurse if I should take any precautions since my first test was elevated. She said let me see how over you were, turns out I was ONLY 1 point over!! Their cut off is 140 and I was about 141.2.  Better safe then sorry so they say....

Below is a picture of me at 26 weeks, yes I am getting large and I know it and feel it.  Lamb made fun of me because I wanted to take the picture before my work xmas party since I was dressed up.... hey, no need to make the frumpy look more frumpy.  And yay for bangs growing out :)

I also went home for Thanksgiving and got to see the family.  Some of you may already know but all of us sisters are pregnant, well, Daniella had baby Ari this past Saturday but below is a couple of pictures of the bunch.  Bianca is due Feb. 7, naming her little girl Saige.  I told my sister Daniella we should call the Guinness Book of World Records because all of us where pregnant at the same time.  Her response..."we are not the first group of Hispanic sisters".  Touche my friend, touche. Ha

Score: Boys 1/ Girls 2

Growing Boy...

I am happy to say that I am feeling pretty good these days and apparently so is little M.E.L.  Last night/morning I had to use the restroom around 5am...  I guess I woke up the little man because when I laid back down he decided to start playing jumper johnny in my belly.  It was by far the most consistent crazy movement he has ever done and I was half asleep so I can only imagine what it would have felt like fully awake.  They say right now the baby has the most room to move based on his size/ uterus size ratio and he is taking full advantage. 
I had an appointment last week and all is still going as should be, we are so blessed to have a healthy little one on the way.  I have gained about 9lbs (feels like 20) and the baby's heartbeat is a lot louder and more waily now.  Next appointment is 12/16, more measurements and weighing for me (yay!...not)
I am going home this Thanksgiving weekend (Lam has to stay back for work unfortunately) and my sisters and I are going to see "The Baby Guy".  He used to be an interior designer and now makes custom baby bedding.  I am very excited but a little nervous as well being as though I am so indecisive about stuff like that and because Mr. Lamoreaux is not a fan of anything besides a sports theme (shocker)... at least that narrows it down for me.  So hopefully that goes well and I will be able to order M.E.L. bedding this weekend :)

That is all for now, baby bump picture will be up next week when I am officially 6 months!

20 WEEK BUMP

By popular demand I am going to put up a picture of my belly bump.  It really popped this last week and I for sure look pregnant.  Today marks the halfway point and NO ONE told me it would be this uncomfortable this early on. "Pregnancy is a beautiful thing" and "you will LOVE your second trimester" is a lot of what I heard...not that at only 20 weeks it would feel as though M.E.L. (this is what we refer to baby boy Lamb as bc that is all we know for sure on his name) is trying to push his way into my sternum.  Last night I had some trouble in the middle of this night because I felt at though he was literally in my chest even though I know he is not even close yet. It felt like I could not breathe (He knows I am talking about him, M.E.L. is kicking me as we speak :) ) Otherwise all has been great!! I know it will all be worth it and I am very excited to meet my little boy and see what he looks like. I cannot wait to be a MOM!!
Alright here is me in one of my tighter shirts after work today.  I am going to put one up monthly from here on out.

IT'S A BOY!!!

"And there is definitely his little penis. I didn't mean that condescendingly... but he is only 10 ounces..." says the Nurse after she breaks the news to us that we are expecting a boy. We were definitely happy to hear that. Even though we are just hoping for a happy, healthy baby...we wanted a boy first and then later a girl so BIG BROTHER can take care of his sister! (above picture is evidence of boy :), it is above the bright white horizontal line, pointing towards top left. ha)

Measurements of the head, leg and torso were taken. Checked for liver, stomach and heart development. The heart was pretty sweet...we could actually see the 4 chambers and how they would contract and expand. The nurse was trying to get us a good profile shot of the baby, but he was not cooperating. He had his back toward Lani's stomach...so we got some real good shots of his spine. 





We know HE will take after his dad...already shying away from the camera (His mom is such a ham that if he took after her, he would have struck a pose!) Picture is of babies hand cross in front of his face...sounds comfy..

Lolani writing now- I have already done a little shopping, are you surprised?!  My little stud will be styling from the moment he comes home from the hospital.  Getting to tell family and friends today was great, everyone was excited for us, especially my 3 year old niece Mia.  She is the tomboy in the family and was quite upset to hear her mom and Nina Bianca where both having baby girls.  Mia wanted to tell Rya (my older god daughter) the news when she got home from school.  Rya wants allll girls so she was not too thrilled with the boy result.  She tells Mia "It's ok, you won't see him that much anyway".  Mia's response "I don't care, I'm still happy!" --- I say that does it, it is time to move home.  The girls know that we are too far and using it against each other, not healthy. :)