Tuesday, April 6, 2010

PEP

It has been a busy week in the Fallon household. My parents, as well as my sister and her family visited us, but I will have to blog on that later as half of the pictures I want to post are on my sister's camera and she has yet to send them to me (Dear Michele, send me the pics!)............Oh and then there was Easter, Samantha went to gymnastics, Thatcher is a month old......so much to catch up on!

But first, I thought I would tell you all about PEP! PEP (Postpartum Education for Parents) is an organization that I both volunteer and serve as a board member on. PEP is a local non-profit group made up of trained parent volunteers who help ease the transition for new parents with a variety of helpful services.

One of the services we provide is a new parent discussion group. This is where I met all of my close Mommy friends and what made me decide to give back to our community and volunteer. Last November and December, I had the opportunity to lead one of the new parent discussion groups with my friend Marina and it was such a great experience. Here are a few photos from the group we led:









Another service we provide is a class called Baby Basics, which is designed to inform soon-to-be parents about the many choices available regarding baby care. One of the topics that we teach new parents is how to bathe a newborn. And guess who was the model bath baby this past Saturday???

That's right, baby Thatcher!

Here is a picture of the little guy in his birthday suit:


For someone who went from working full time in an office to becoming a full time stay-at-home Mom, PEP is something that gives me the mental stimulation that is sometimes missing in my daily tea parties with Samantha. Not that I would ever want to give up our tea parties ;)

Monday, March 29, 2010

3 Weeks Old

Baby Thatcher is 3 weeks old today

Likes:
Mommy (I wonder why????)
Eating (see above)
Sleeping (I honestly couldn't find a picture of him with his eyes open)
Water (he LOVES baths and even showers!)

Dislikes:

Not being held
The pacifier
Being swaddled

Date with Daddy

Samantha had a Sunday breakfast date with Daddy

They walked over to the local coffee shop for breakfast

Samantha insisted on bringing her grocery cart and tea set on the stroll (which Todd said he ended up pushing about 5 minutes into the walk).



Daddy's Girl


Sunday, March 28, 2010

Photoshoot Slideshow

March 2010 Family Photos with Colleen Riley. Enjoy!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Our Beautiful Children

Here is a sneak peak of some photos we had done of the kids over the weekend by Santa Barbara photographer Colleen Riley .







Thursday, March 18, 2010

Thatcher Goes to the Doctor (Twice)

Last Friday we had Thatcher's first pediatrician appointment. Thankfully he won't remember that his first ever doctor's appointment was to get circumcised. Both Todd and I watched the procedure and honestly it was not bad at all. He only cried in the beginning when the doctor strapped him to the table because he did not like having his arms and legs stretched out. He was completely numbed "down there" and with the help of a bright light that warmed him and some sugar water, he almost looked like he was enjoying a good drink while getting a tan.

Then on Wednesday we had his first well-baby appointment. We decided to take Samantha to this one because obviously having her watch a circumcision would not be good. The idea was for her to meet our new pediatrician, whom we really like, and not have her be the one getting poked and prodded which would hopefully begin to ease her fear of going to the doctor. As soon as we got there we assured her that the appointment was not for her. She made a point to say, "this is not for me, just Thatcher" over and over and even told the doctor when he walked in.

Thatcher did great (slept through most of it) and Samantha relaxed once she realized the appointment really wasn't for her. We were a little concerned with how much Thatcher has been sleeping. We remember Samantha sleeping a lot in the beginning but not this much. The doctor assured us that Thatcher's endless sleeping (he is only awake for about 2 to 3 hours during the day and sleeps through the night) is normal as long as he gets back to his birth weight in the next week and is having wet diapers. He also said that instead of worrying about it, we should enjoy it because pretty soon the sleepless nights will begin. Apparently we have yet to meet the "real" Thatcher :)


Samantha got a lollipop and gave the doctor a high five on the way out. I better blindfold her when Thatcher starts to get his shots. Oh and I managed to slip in a question regarding Samantha, "When do the terrible two's end?", his response, "Age four." Great................


Thatcher's Weight Stats:
Birth Weight - 9 pounds
Discharged from the Hospital - 8 lbs 9 oz
1st Doctor's Appointment - 8 lbs 11 oz
2nd Doctor's Appointment - 8 lbs 15 oz

Thatcher's Height Stats:
Birth Height: 21 inches
1st Doctor's Appointment: 21 1/4 inches
2nd Doctor's Appointment: 22 1/4 inches

Did he really grow an inch in 5 days????? Not sure if we had him stretched out properly on that yard stick..... Or else this kid is truly growing like a weed!

Cozy Couch Kids