PIcture of the week!

This is from last week when we went for a walk with Gina and Samantha.

Too cute!!

a day in the life of Ranston and Cymbre

Our little boy is over a month old!!

We have friends who took pictures of their son with a stuffed animal as he turned a month older to show his growth. We found the cutest dinosaur (for those of you who don't know, Mike likes dinosaurs!) and decided to do the same. I wish we had gotten the dinosaur when he was a newborn to show his first month growth...I can't wait to find out his measurements next week! He had a little trouble being propped up next to the dino but it looks like he is going in for a hug.

Well...we have somewhat settled into a routine and although I know it could change any minute, I couldn't be happier! :) Ranston is sleeping about 3-3.5 hours at a time at night. He sometimes goes 4-4.5 but usually stays around the 3 hour stretch. and that is fine with me! Getting a solid 3 hours at a time goes a LONG way! He eats about every 2-3 hours during the day...which I found out this morning he shouldn't be eating earlier than every 3 hours since he's on formula. Because of that he is having some problems digesting. The doctor's office wants me to give him water every 2 hours to help hydrate him and hopefully that will do the trick. Of course, I wanted to give him water as soon as I hung up but it hadn't even been an hour since he ate so I'll wait. :)

Ranston's first Sunday morning to attend church

Ranston went to morning church for the first time Sunday and did pretty good. He did start to get noisy during the sermon so Mike went out in the hall with him. Funny enough he ran into our friend Gina and her baby Samantha in the hall! There has been such a baby boom in our church and it is so fun to be a part of it. There have been 4 babies born since October and are several others that are under a year. I'm hoping to start a play group for the moms...the babies don't really care at this age but I think it would be good/fun for the moms to get together! Most of us are first time moms and it does help to have other moms to talk to about stuff. With Ranston being the youngest, at least the other moms have already experienced most of the stuff I'm going through.

LaLa and Grandpa (my mom and Craig) are coming this weekend!! We are excited to see them. They'll get here Saturday and leave Monday...short trip but I'll take what I can get. :) This will be Craig's first time to see Ranston so it will be fun.

He (Ranston) got to meet Angela last weekend when we met her in San Antonio for a few hours. She was on her way to meet friends for the weekend and thankfully we were already in San Antonio. We met Mike's grandparents there to help them purchase a computer. We are S

OOOOOOO excited that they have a new MAC and we'll be able to ichat with them and send them pictures/videos! They live outside of a small community and haven't always had high speed internet available so the internet was not something they used often. But....it is now!!

I need to take advantage of Ranston snoozing in his swing and get a few things done!

Some of Mike's family came to visit this week!

We were very excited that Mimi (his great grandmother), Carolyn (his great aunt), and Lisa (his 2nd cousin) made the trip from Spring to see Ranston! Plus, we were able to get a 5 generation picture! How awesome to get a picture with 5 generations! Ranston will have 2 pictures like that. I'm heading to West Texas in April and will get a pic with my great grandmother. It is so neat for Mike and I to have living great grandmothers...what a blessing!

Ranston all squeaky clean!!

We went to Austin for Michael and Anneke Swanson's wedding...here are a few pictures from the reception. Ranston was a big hit!

Gina and I have finally gotten on somewhat of the same schedule! :) We were able to go walking last week with the babies and it was such a great day! It helped a lot to be able to get out of the house and socialize...and it was GREAT to finally get to catch up with Gina.

The rest are just random pictures of Ranston and his cuteness! Enjoy!

We've been busy little bees!!

Ranston has been meeting all sorts of people and we're just getting started! We went out to the Children's Home yesterday for him to meet my co-workers. We had a great time! Then, we headed to the church to eat dinner. I was not feeling up to cooking and the meals are so yummy at the church. We ended up sticking around for church...it was a LONG day!

Today, we went with Gina and Samantha walking and ended up at a child's resale shop in town. It was a great time of exercise and retail therapy! I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Gina and getting some physical movement was nice too. :)

Tomorrow, we are heading to Austin for a friends wedding...it will be interesting packing up the car in the morning! Good thing we invested in an SUV.

Ranston, meet Pop!

Ranton got to meet his Pop this weekend!!

My dad had to wait to visit until now but it has worked out well. He's been able to have Ranston all to himself....well, he's had to share with Mike and I! LOL...He's been a huge help! It has been nice to have him around for the help but also getting to spend time with him without me having to go to work. Here are a few pictures from the last few days.

He likes to help hold his paci and his bottle. Sometimes he does actually help...other times his hands get in the way.

We went to Corpus yesterday for dinner with my dad and when we got back, Ranston was PASSED OUT!! Mike changed his diaper and he hardly moved. He just laid on the couch.

We invested in a swing and it has been great! I think it will come in handy on more than one occasion.

My pictures are out of order but this was their first meeting!!

Our little man in his "big boy" outfit at the doctor's office!!

Helping with the bottle.

They have fun together!!

I didn't think I had any new pictures to share, but after checking...I do!! But first, I want to share a little update with you.

Things are going well at the Bryant house. Today is the first weekday for us without my mom and it has gone smooth (I wrote this on Monday but am just posting it on Tuesday). I actually have time to make a real posting so that says something. :)

For those of you who I don't get to talk to on a regular basis, I thought I'd share about the day Ranston joined us in this world. I woke up at 3 a.m. with back pain. I knew you can have back labor pain and was pretty sure that was what I was feeling but I wanted to make sure before we drove the 45 minutes to Victoria. So, I got up, walked around a little and they didn't stop. I decided to wake Mike up around 4 to help me time them. They were somewhat consistent but then became inconsistent. We finally decided to head to the hospital and ended up leaving the house around 5:30. When we got there, my contractions still weren't very consistent so my doctor said for me to walk around a little and have then check everything again an hour later After an hour, things were more consistent and Dr. Seiler admitted me. I got settled in my room, called my mom and sister (who were on their way to us) to give them an update, and began to prepare myself mentally and emotionally for giving birth.

I've always been scared of childbirth...but let me tell you--that epidural was AMAZING!! I can't believe how painless the labor was. I progressed very well and Ranston was born at 5:03. My mom and sister got to the hospital 30 minutes before I started pushing! We were all glad he waited on them!

Mike's grandparents came to Victoria that night to see their great-grandson and his parents made the trip the next day. I'm glad they were all able to be there! My dad is headed our direction this week to meet the little man and I'm so excited! I've video chatted with my dad several times but know he is ready to hold his grandson. We've also gotten to video chat with my Grandmother and Nana...I LOVE technology!! Thanks to my sister for coordinating the chats! I know it is hard for them not to get to see him in person yet. They will soon though.

Enough of all that...here's the pics!!

We've been sprayed a few times and are getting better at catching it before it makes a mess...needless to say, we've changed sheets a few times!

He LOVES to sleep with his hands behind his head!

One last picture with Lala