Merry 1st Christmas!

I can't believe Christmas has already passed....it was quite busy for us leading up to the holidays.  I successfully finished my fall semester coursework--with a special thanks to Mike and Grandpa Sullivan!  I finished my classes on December 18th, just in time to get ready for the arrival of my parents, Katherine, and James.  Brendan and I spent Christmas eve day with my family, then everyone got together for Christmas.  It was a great time! 

Brendan has been great.  He has his fussy times (usually in the evening) but overall he is a pretty content baby.  After Christmas and all of the attention he received, he now likes to be held all of the time...we're working on trying to break him of the habit.  I think he weighs about 9.5-10 pounds on our home scale.  Can't believe it!!  From time to time, it looks like he is smiling (not intentionally, but it sure does feel good to see him smile and not frown/whimper!).  He's holding his head up now and loves to look at our framed map of the US circa~1850s.  He really may end up being Brendan the Navigator (a la St. Brendan).  He also made it to his first mass--we went to Christmas eve mass and Father Daniel (who is Irish) gave Brendan a blessing.  (He loved Brendan's name!)  Grandma Sullivan would have been very proud.

Brendan (and we) feel very lucky--we have received such lovely gifts from our friends and family--handmade blankets and quilts, thoughtful toys and books, adorable clothes, and lots of accessories for the nursery.  We are feeling settled (and cozy!) in our apartment....finally!

I head back to work in 3 weeks.  I can't even think about it--I'll miss my best buddy so much!  But part of me is ready to head back to work, for the stimulation and socialization.  Mike's going to take him to daycare the first day--I'm pretty sure I'll never leave if I have to drop him off.

Here are some pictures from our first Christmas with Brendan....hope you enjoy them!

Hanging Brendan's first ornament.

Uncle James!

Meme and Papa come to visit!

Christmas morning with the Sullivan family!

Brendan received his first Snoopy for Christmas (it's a Sullivan boy tradition...)

Christmas at the Nelms' house

1 month old....time for tummy time!

Brendan turns 1 month old tomorrow.  It's hard to believe he's been here for 30 days already, but in that short time, our lives have become centered around him.  I have heard many people say this, but I never really believed it until now...I can't imagine how we lived without Brendan around.  He is such a good baby (except, Mike will argue, during the early/late evening when Mike spends the most time with him)--he only cries when he is hungry or needs his diaper changed.  He's eating so well now and doesn't need the supplemental bottle feedings!  Yay!  And he's gaining weight beautifully--on Wednesday (Dec 2) he weighed in at  6 lb 14 ounces.  Quite an improvement from his hospital discharge weight of 5 lb 5 oz.  He's still mostly eating and sleeping but he's starting to spend more time awake.  Today he even looked over at Mike when Mike said Brendan's name!!  He's still quite the squeaker and likes to make a lot of noise.

Today, we worked on tummy time for the first time.  Brendan really liked being on his tummy, he just looked around and seemed quite content.  Barley watched him very carefully and got kind of close to him, licked his face, and moved on.  Once Brendan left the blanket, Barley spent some time on his tummy as well. :)

Brendan and Barley...best buds already!!

I think Brendan has officially joined "the pack."  Barley stands guard next to the pack-n-play and barks loudly whenever anyone knocks on the door.  He gives Brendan kisses (even one on the face!)...here are their first pictures together....

Gobble Gobble!

Our first Thanksgiving with Brendan....we spent the day with Steph, Mike, and Sydney.  Steph whipped up a fantastic meal--turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole, Mom's stuffing, and all of the fixin's...yummy!  Good thing I had my maternity pants on :)  We had a great time in the Fort, but missed our families back east...

Another week flies by.....

Hard to believe my baby boy is 2 weeks old....

Last weekend, Aunt Steph, Uncle Mike and Sydney came to visit--Sydney just loved holding her little cousin and helping with feeding him.  She made it clear that she is not at all interested in helping to change him!!

Mike has been away on a business trip this week (Mr. PE!), so it's been Brendan, me, and Grandpa at home.  It's been all about eating, sleeping, and peeing.  Brendan has a way of getting 4-5 outfits per day dirty, regardless of how we have the diaper on.  Makes for a lot of laundry.....it's a good thing he's so cute!

He continues to grow--Thursday at the doctor's office, he was 5 lb 11 oz (close to birthweight!)--he's eating between 2 and 3 ounces a feeding....he even helps us by trying to feed himself!!

That's all for now.....until next time!

First Blog! Brendan is a week old....

I've been inspired by my sister-in-law to create this blog...thanks Mary for keeping us all updated on the twins! I've enjoyed following them from afar through the blog....I hope you all enjoy watching little Brendan grow!

Brendan Kenneth Sullivan was born November 6, 2009 at 11:00 pm (on the dot), weighing 5 lb 13 oz and he was 19 inches long. We had a bit of a rough delivery--I was sick with severe pre-eclampsia and had to be induced. Although the moments leading up to Brendan's delivery were a bit intense, the delivery went well and Brendan was born with Daddy and Aunt Stephanie in the room (as well as 9 other doctors and nurses--apparently we created quite a stir on the high-risk floor!). Brendan had to go to the NICU for 6 hours because, like me, he was pretty worn out from the induction and labor. He was great! He fed like a champ!

We spent another 4 days in the hospital, recovering. Brendan had a little jaundice and worked on feeding and weight gain. I worked on gaining my strength back and trying to rest up....difficult to do in the hospital! Being a patient for nearly a week in the hospital puts a new perspective on medicine, that's for sure.

We were both discharged from the hospital on November 10 and headed home. Grandpa Sullivan decorated the apartment, welcoming his new grandson home!

Getting home was great! Finally, we could relax and rest a little better at our house. Meme Geider arrived to help on our first day home as well (Meme was here in Colorado on November 7th and spent some time with Aunt Steph, Uncle Mike, and cousin Sydney). Steph, Mike, and Sydney joined us for our first family dinner.



The last three days have been filled with doctors appointments, drinking, pooping, and sleeping. Mommy and Daddy have not had much sleep, but we have lots of help (thanks to Meme and Grandpa!!)

More pictures and stories to follow.....