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Holiday spirit

Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas!  We had a great time waking up with our little boy to open gifts and celebrate.  This year was an easy Christmas for us as far as gift giving and Archer are concerned...we have a feeling we will not be able to get away with the same in years to come!  I got Colin a home brew kit-which seems to be a really complicated science kit (as Colin calls it) but he is eager to start and figure it all out.  Colin got me a wonderful date night which includes a babysitter, dinner, and then tickets Cirque du Soleil (YAY!!!).  Our family and friends were also so generous with us this year and we are extremely grateful!

After we opened gifts and had coffee we packed up to head to Mandeville (where Colin's family lives).  Once we got to packing our overnight trip turned into three days, seeing as you have to pack the same amount regardless.  It was so nice to stay with Colin's parents!  With me in school and Colin working full-time we hardly get the chance to see them.  It was a nice couple of days spent relaxing, EATING, and getting to play with our nephew Brody who is one of the cutest babes around!  It is funny to think next Christmas there will be four babies instead of just two!

We are headed back to Mandeville again tomorrow because Colin's brother Mark and his wife Lauren will be visiting from Salt Lake City.  

Archer has continued to grow and impress us!  Everyone thinks he is very vocal for his age (he never stops talking...we have even caught him talking in his sleep).  I suppose he has some shoes to fill....and a chatterbox mom that he spends his days with and a daddy who cannot wait to talk to him and hear all about his day when he gets home from work!  He has started sucking his thumb now when he feels like it (and I hate to do this to him..but just tonight while he was in the bath he found his little pee pee and held onto it for a while-pulling it around this way and that...PRETTY FUNNY!  Don't worry, we have it on video...once again POOR GUY).  He has also been sleeping like a champ, going to bed at 9pm, waking around 5am to eat for 10 minutes and back to sleep until 8am.  It is almost too good to be true, but we are LOVING it!  

Alright, time for bed!  Have a Happy New Year!!!!!

The Kimbles

Thumbsucker

This morning I awoke at 7:00 to a quiet house. I went into Archer's room and this is what I found...oh silent night!!!!

Video blog...

It seems every time Archer is doing something funny I always make a mad dash for the camera, never fails that this is what I get...

Archer's Playdate....

Yes, our three month old son is already having playdates! I have a friend Ellen that lives here who has a little four month old girl named Eliza. Ellen stays home full-time with Eliza and I am basically home full time with Archer. We were taking the babes to see Santa and talking about how sometimes we just want a break when we realized...we could totally have it! We decided that one day a week she would keep Archer for a couple of hours and then I would keep Eliza here another day. Turns out it is MUCH harder to leave them then we had anticipated (and we really actually do not want to leave them afterall) but they seem to have fun....when they notice each other.

The point of this blog was simply to post pictures of Archer during his playdate with his girlie friend Eliza. SO CUTE! I did catch them holding hands a couple of times too!

Tuesday.

This may seem silly, but I am sitting here at 11:00am, still drinking my first cup of coffee and yet to eat my morning bowel of oatmeal (yes I am starving), but today for some reason I have felt insanely attached to my baby boy! It is amazing how quickly he is changing and all of the new stuff he is doing, and for some reason I have been spending every second that I can exploring all of the new things he is exploring with him. Last night we laid out a big blanket (that nice orange one-thanks Steve and Sonia) on the living room floor and practiced rolling over with him. Colin was at one end, and I was at the other and we were cheering him on as he seemed completely confused by moving on his own. It's such a blessing to have him and I feel incredibly thankful for this month off with nothing to do but hang out with Archer and keep the house up. Quite honestly, it is getting me spoiled!

Oh yes, also last night after the rolling practice, Colin was giving Archer his bath. It seems Colin must have gotten it just warm enough to relax that little boy. Generally when he gets in the tub he INSTANTLY pees...which is always good for a laugh. Lately this little guy has taken to pooping about halfway through (good-bye sponge from Grandma Joe).

Archer is also HUGE! For a couple of days he got really..."thick" and then just grew about three inches over night. He now has completely outgrown all of his 0-3 month stuff, and is almost out of his 3-6 month clothing. Two nights ago during bath time Colin brought it pj's that didn't fit and thankfully we had a stash of 6 month pj's in the back of the closet. We pulled those out and they BARELY fit!!! I am getting anxious for his checkup next month to see how tall this guy is!

Ok, that is it for now, I need to hurry up and eat breakfast while Archer is napping!

Love the Kimbles.

Little Hands...

Last night a friend and I were baking cookies while Colin and his friend were watching the Saints play when I remembered we had a little high chair for Archer we had yet to get out of the closet. Colin put it together and we put Archer in it to see what he would think...it was amazing!!! He spends time in his swing and bouncy seat swinging his hands at his toys but never really "grabbing" onto them; however, last night right when we put him in his chair and put some toys in front of him he just started grabbing away! It was almost like he wanted to show he knew what he was doing all along! He played happily in his chair for a good thirty minutes before having a massive blow out poop and being rushed to the bathtub! Above are some pictures of the little man in his new chair (now we have about six places to play while he is awake).


Hope everyone is doing great, I am really enjoying my time off (and it has only been 3 days).
Love the Kimbles

ops...

The last post I posted was "Let it snow..everywhere but here..." This morning I woke up and was sitting in the chair feeding Archer in his room when suddenly I realized there was SNOW COVERING THE GROUND AND REALLY FALLING FROM THE SKY! I yelled for Colin really loud and he came running. We were SHOCKED! It felt like "real snow" and like being in the north again. Colin has lived in Louisiana for 11 years and this has never happened. It was so exciting that we quickly got out the video recorder and filmed this bit of history. Archer was sort of interested, but as with anything you put before a 12 week old...it quickly becomes uninteresting. In the meantime Colin got a call from work saying that they were closed for the day. All of the schools were closed too (they do not have the equipment down here to deal with snow).

Needless to say, IT'S AWESOME! We quickly settled in and finished making ornaments and hanging them on the tree. Right now Archer is napping and Colin ventured out to get ingredient to bake cookies. We had our friend Jp and Lauren over last night to make ornaments and tonight we are having them over for cookie decorating (Archer needs to grow up...quick).

I suppose I should mention now that the snow was very short lived. It last a couple of hours and then the rain started and now it is almost all gone, but it still felt so nice to have at least one wintery day.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Love the Kimbles.
(the pictures were taken on our snowed in day)

Me at Archer's age...

Any resemblance at all...or still just his daddy's boy?

Colin or Uncle Jason?

This picture really left me wondering who our son looks like...at times he is obviously a spitting imagine of his daddy, but since he was born I have noticed glimpses of my older brother. This particular picture really has me confused...

Let it snow...

Everywhere but here please! We enjoy the snow, but it is really nice to be able to still get out and about without having to bundle up the little guy every time...in face, it was nice to sit outside for almost an hour yesterday in our long sleeve shirts and pants...sorry everyone up north but it's true-it was BEAUTIFUL here yesterday.

In other news, Colin is staying really busy at work. He has been working karate clinics this week after work in order to get paid time off, which will be nice during the holidays! Today he stopped home quick to say hi on his way to serve jail papers to two teen boys who are violating their probation.... :)

I have my OB final on Tuesday and then I will be off for an entire month. I plan to spend that time getting Archer settled into a more definite routine (he sort of has one now, but it varies greatly...in fact I hear him stirring during his supposed to be 2 hour nap...and he has been sleeping for 20 minutes). I will then go back to school mid-January to re-take my final class and finish mid March (HORRAY!!!!).

Archer and I have been staying very busy around the house. We went on our first weekend adventure as a family to visit our best friends in Mississippi for the weekend. It was so smooth and Archer was a champion (sleeping from 10-5am). It is nice to know that he is flexible (at least for now) and that we can travel with him.

I suppose that is all to update on for now, Archer is growing like a weed and starting to recognize us and pick us out of a group of people and follow our voices around-it is nice to know that the love is being returned. He is such a happy boy-despite his possible dairy allergy (mommy had to give up all dairy....so tough). The ped suggested giving up all dairy for 2-3 weeks to see if that changes his symptoms and if so continue doing just that. Colin is being a tropper for his suddenly picky eating wife! Ok, ok, I should go settle him back into his nap (and study for this final). Hope all is well and that everyone is staying warm.

favorite time.

We have a new favorite time with Archer...bath time. I get to enjoy him in the mornings (Colin is already by the time Archer wakes up), but bath time is a time all three of us get to spend together. We usually wait until he starts nodding off in the evenings after keeping him awake for a good 2-3 hour stretch, then we take him in the bathroom and put him in his tub. He loves it (FINALLY) and is completely relaxed. Sometimes he talks and smiles, other times he simply enjoys it. So that's it, our enjoyable unwindable routine. Shortly after the bath he is fed and drifts off into a peaceful sleep. I think/hope we are on the homestretch for sleeping "all night." Two nights ago we put him down at 10 and he woke at 4am to eat, back to sleep, and up for the day at 8am.

Attached is a picture of him in his bath...what a HANDSOME man. The picture doesn't really make this obvious but Archer's pediatrician thinks he eyes will be blue for sure (I really hope they are). At his 8 week checkup he was 12lbs 24.5 inches long (the 90%tile for height and 50%tile for weight).

Ok, off to bed while the sleeping is good.

Love the Kimbles

Onto November...

It seems like so much has changed around here!!! Archer just had his eight week checkup today and weighed in at 12 lbs, he was 24 inches long...SUCH a big boy! Grandma Jo was here for five days and we REALLY miss her, it was so nice to have her around, and Archer really enjoyed chatting with her all morning long (mom also enjoyed her showers). Thank goodness Grandma Jo got us a DVD camcorder for Christmas so we can send her monthly videos of how he is changing.

Other than that, time is just flying by! Archer has been sleeping about 5-6 hour stretches at night which are really nice! He has started to smile and coo which makes us feel loved back :) He has also started to recognize our voices and follow us around the room when we talk. It is already so fun to see the changes he is making, just think soon it will be onto walking....and college!

That's it for now, just wanted to let everyone know we are doing great and the little guy is not so little anymore...I have the picture to prove it!

Love the Kimble

Happy Halloween

Not much has changed since the last entry, we still are loving our little eating, pooping, sleeping boy.  We attempted the whole scheduling thing (I'm pretty sure I happily blogged about it last time) but it seemed to blow up in our faces.  Our once happy, peaceful-sleeping five hours at night boy became an angry little guy who was up for 4 hours straight at night.  We quickly realized that his "tanking up" in the evenings ensured wonderful sleep for mom and dad, and that trying to schedule him and denying him those frequent feedings before bed promised that he would instead ask for them all night long!!!  He stays pretty scheduled throughout the day and takes his long afternoon nap (which I LOVE) but the evenings are a different story.

In other news, Colin has really started to enjoy his job.  Instead of considering himself a "probation officer" he tends to lean more towards the "social worker" side.  I anxiously wait for him to get home from work everyday (not to mention Archer's nap is usually from about 3:30pm-6:30 pm with Colin getting home at about 5:00) so he can tell me about what happened out in the crazy places he works.  It is sad, but it is nice to know that there are people like Colin who truly care and are out there attempting to help.  

School is going ok...it is very interesting, but tons of information.  I have my first test on Tuesday and I feel like I am on schedule as far as being prepared goes.  

That's it for now.  Halloween happens to be Colin's favorite holiday-so I am waiting to see what he has up his sleeve for tonight.

Hope everyone is well.

Love the Kimbles

Daddy twin.

I had to post this picture...it's almost unbelievable! Last night Colin and Archer were watching a movie (well mostly Colin) and Colin looked down at Archer and said, "THIS KID LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE ME!" Quite frankly I'm not sure what took him so long to notice....

P.S. these naps that Archer has been taking are AMAZING! Up until this point I have basically held the little guy nonstop, anytime I would put him down he would stir and fuss and wake up---so I would feed him...he would fall asleep again..stir, fuss, wake up, I would feed him..a terrible cycle that exhausted me (Gary Ezzo author of On Becoming Babywise is my HERO).

Here is proof the apple does not fall far from the tree...

the man of many talents...

Hello family and friends...

Things here have been crazy. I have some pretty dismal news, I did not pass my last class. I feel horrible about that, I ended up getting a 77.6% and in nursing school you need at least a 79.5%. I had enrolled in the class thinking that I would be able to complete two tests (out of three) by the time the little guy got here, but Gustav came and school was closed for two weeks, which left me taking a test a week after Archer was born (and obviously not scoring the best). All of this to say, we will be in Baton Rouge longer than expected because I will need to complete the class I am in right now, which is OB, and then re-take the class I did not pass (AND make up the 120 clinical hours I had already completed 9 months pregnant-doing 12 hour night/weekend shifts--yehaw). I am determined though, and I will make this work!!!

In other news, Archer continues to grow and surprise us daily with new fun things. Two nights ago he was wide awake and Colin and I were talking to him when he just started smiling and cooing back...which makes your heart melt with joy!!! It's so nice now to see him smile at us and to coo at us letting us know he is indeed happy! Today I also put him under his playmat and he spent some time cooing at his toys and unintentionally batting at them with his hands-which Colin wonders..will he ever be able to control them? We have also started to "Babywise" Archer...almost unwillingly-but we are doing it nonetheless. This basically means he can eat every 2 1/2 hours-but not before that...which makes for a fussy angry guy who was used to being at the mom buffet all day. We started for real on Monday (had some attempts before that) and I am pleased to say, it work like CLOCKWORK! He wakes from a nap, eats for about 20 min., is awake and plays for about 45 minutes, then gets fussy and falls asleep for the duration. Very nice!!!

Colin is starting to have better days at work, he has a caseload of about 50 kids that he has to chase around and have meetings with. It keeps him pretty busy, between chasing kids and going to their court hearing-and typing up dispositions. He asked his boss if he could change his one hour lunch break to 30 minutes in order to get off at 4:30pm and beat the nasty 5pm traffic, which has been really nice for both of us! I love him getting home that tiny bit earlier and he comes home much less stressed out!

Well, that's all for now, I am attaching a little video of the guy on the move (I apologize for my annoying baby talk-but I was attempting a coo or smile for you to see). He pulls out almost all of his tricks-from sneezing, to yawning, to a small coo, and a half smile...sorry guys he is still working on it!

Love to everyone.
The very sleep deprived Kimbles

one more thing...

Interesting, I was worried about not posting often enough, and now my concern is overkill...I suppose that's the proud mom part :) However, I did think this was cute, and in need of posting! I was getting ready to take a picture of the little guy when he went from one stage to the next, isn't it funny how quickly things can change (and how peaceful they are with they sleep).

Hanging out with grandpa.

It has been such a joy to have Keith sleeping at our place every once in awhile (he works out of the Baton Rouge office now). It is so nice for Archer to spend the evening with grandpa, and this is his favorite way to spend it (at least it appears that way).

a BRIEF moment of reflection...

These pictures were taken just days before Archer arrived-oh the joys of being 9 months pregnant...

Go Saints.

One of the many Saints outfits his daddy makes him wear on Sundays...

First of many...hopefully...

Hello to anyone reading our new family blog. Hopefully this will be the first of many posts...

Basically our goal is to try to keep everyone updated seeing as we are all spread out. My goal is to update once a week, or at least every other week with pictures of the little guy and the happenings. I was sending out emails before, but this seems like a no brainer way to keep everyone updated at once.

For today...it amazes me how much our lives have changed, and how it seems like FOREVER since Archer's arrival. I suppose that one sleepless night just kind of blurs into the next making our days twice as long. We actually really should not complain, this little guy likes to "tank up" from about 5pm (sorry daddy-the second he gets home we have a fussy/hungry little boy) to around 10pm and then he usually gets his last feeding around 11pm or 12am before falling asleep until around 5am..sometimes even 6am. HOPEFULLY I DID NOT JUST JINX US!! He then wakes up and thinks he needs to be fed for three hours to make up for all of that sleeping, but we are working on this :)

It's strange, you always hear people saying, "I just cannot remember what life was like before he/she got here...." and thinking about it, I remember, I just can't seem to imagine that at this point. I would love to say that having a newborn around is enjoyable...but I think that would be the wrong word to use, don't get me wrong I am beyond OBSESSED with my son, but it is proving to be a sufficient amount of work! We are looking forward to the days where he will laugh and be interactive...only to remind ourselves and one another that we will miss the little snuggly bundle we have now and to slow down and simply enjoy this beautiful creation!

Archer has really taken to his daddy...he looks and looks at him, and also gave him his very first smile, a big happy grin. He continues to smile often at daddy, and thinks that he is super (while I get emotional watching my son stare at his amazing father). Anytime that I attempt to interrupt and try to get Archer to smile at me, he seems to remember that he is hungry....

That's it for now, I have to get back to studying for my exam on Tuesday (please keep this in your prayers-as I took my second of three tests a week after Archer's arrival and did not score as well as I should/could have, which puts a whole lot of pressure on this third exam). No pressure or anything :)

Also, this could be an inspiration for some of you to also start your own blogspot... hint, HINT!

Love the Kimbles.