Cute as a button

Cute as a button – understatement.  This kid is perfect – and yes, I know every grandparent says that about their new grandbaby.  Here are two pictures of him in an outfit made by his mommy, Danielle, and myself.  We got an iron-on that said “cute as a button”.  Somehow, even with following directions, it melted to the iron so Danielle traced what did appear on the onesie with a sharpie and sewed the buttons on, with Great Grandma Carol teaching her how to sew on the buttons.

The hoodie and the hat were knit by me.  All yarn was I Love This Yarn worsted.  The hat pattern is basically the Rainbow Marley pattern in Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson, with a few changes.

Cradle

Twenty-six years ago, my grandfather built my first-born, Keith, a cradle.  It was the most beautiful piece of woodwork I had ever seen.  I loved watching my baby sleep in that cradle.  I kept it in the living room window so during the day, I could watch him sleep…………

I did the same for my second-born, Corey……………

Now it is Zach’s turn.  Danielle and I cleaned up the cradle and made all new bedclothes and bumper pads for it.  We spent a day sewing those things and making burp cloths and receiving blankets.  That little outfit in the cradle says “I make mud look good”.  Here is the updated cradle the day we made the new bedding……..

As a point of reference, and just as a sweet look back, here is Keith and Mark when Keith was born, weighing 8 lbs. 13 oz………………

That was a big baby, I thought, until I had Corey, who weighed 10 lbs. 9 oz.  Zach weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. when he was born (almost half of Corey’s birth weight) and as of his doctor visit today, he weighs exactly ten pounds today.  He measured in at 21 inches today.  Keith and Corey were both 21 inches when they were born.  Keith was ten days early.  Corey was six weeks late.  Zach was six weeks early.  Zach will be nine weeks old tomorrow and still doesn’t weigh what Corey weighed when he was born.  Here’ a pic of Corey and me when Corey was born……..

The pain told me he was big when I had him (natural child birth – ouch), but dang he looks bigger than it seemed at the time.

Baby box!!!

This picture is Corey and Danielle on Easter, opening Corey’s baby box.  I saved some of his shoes, his books, a file folders full of things from preschool and school, a calendar from the year he was born, the first outfit he wore (he wore it home from the hospital), his favorite pajamas and bathrobe when he was a boy, some of the little crafty things he made – just lots of the special things from when he was little.

Here is Zach wearing the outfit that Corey wore home from the hospital nearly twenty-five years ago.  So sweet.

I’m here!!!!!

I’m here world!! Here’s how I started my journey. I scared everybody by deciding I wanted out early. Here are the doctors trying to save me at Saint Anthony Memorial Hospital in Michigan City.

Here’s a picture of Mommy and Daddy after I was born. Look how happy they are to have me.

From there, I was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in South Bend because they have a really nice NICU. Mommy and Daddy missed me so they got to talk to me on Skype.

Memorial Hospital decided I needed a really good cardiologist, so they sent me on my first helicopter ride. I wasn’t even one day old and I got to ride in a helicopter. The helicopter took me to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Look at all this crap they have me hooked up to. I’m still cute as a button though.

Daddy was so sad. He was worried about me and was missing Mommy because she was still in Michigan City. He wanted to be in both places at once.

They let Mommy out of the Michigan City Hospital so she could come see me and Daddy. Isn’t she a pretty Mommy? See that blanket I’m laying on – the blue one? Mommy made that for me – it’s the first blanket she ever crocheted.

This is my little hand saying HELLO WORLD!

Here is a picture of us as a family – this is Daddy, Mommy and ME!!!

Hey – guess what? I didn’t open my eyes for a few days but look…………I am opening them for Mommy and Daddy now.

Mommy and Daddy – I love you!!!

I Heart Thorpe!

Thorpe – what’s not to love? I love this pattern and I love this yarn. This is my second Thorpe – this one is for Justin for his birthday. He picked out the yarn at Joann’s (on sale 2/$5.00 – nice!). The yarn is Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky and the color is Seven Seas. Gorgeous. The pattern doesn’t call for a ball on the top but we all decided we like the ball. I added a ball to mine also. Danielle is getting a Thorpe for her birthday too – hers is nearly done.

This is a little of what we did on Justin’s birthday party weekend. We all went shopping and ended up in the baby clothes department at Meijer. Fun fun. Here’s Keith and Corey looking for baby clothes for Zachary.

And here are Corey and Danielle picking out some outfits.