2 months and counting

Well actually almost 3 months! We started this post awhile ago and just got around to posting it.  So here goes a really long update:

Easton is growing like a weed and bringing us constant joy!  At his 2 month check up he weighted 11lbs 10oz and measured 24 inches long. Poor little guy had to get shots which resulted in a low grade fever and a snuggly baby for the next 24 hours.

I've learned that spring time is a great time to have a baby. We have had so much fun "playing" outdoors. He is already all boy!  He loves to be outside and is constantly moving! The summer has also been nice because I don't have to work :). In order to ease myself back to work I have been putting in 1 or 2 days a week for the last  month, and it has gone shockingly well. We feel really blessed to have family be able to watch him at this point and I love my job (which just makes going back a little easier :). 

Here are a few things we have been upto lately. 

Our local movie theater has a Monday movies for moms program. Every Monday morning they play a movie for moms in a baby friendly environment (lower sound and dim lights). My friend, with baby Easton's age, went with us last week. It was a blast! Easton enjoyed Monsters University almost as much as mom did.

One of my good friends had a baby boy at the end of May. They live in Colorado but are in Michigan to visit for a couple of weeks. Easton loved meeting Noah David!   Here are a few pics of their first outings together (get used to the pictures boys- there are plenty more to come!). 

I know these next pictures are totally disgusting but it just proves what a happy boy he is.  He is a spitter. A big spitter!  It's always silent and doesn't bother him at all. He loves to lay flat and play (kick kick kick) and we have learned to always have a burp cloth handy or under his little head. This is a pretty typical scene- happy as can be :). 

This one was especially bad (don't worry we changed the sheets)

(And yes we have talked to the pediatrician about the spitting - he's fine :).

Here are a few pics from his 2 month onsie pics. 

He has just started grabbing and holding things.  His favorite thing to hold is his owl blanket  

He has also started to chew on everything.  His favorite things to chew are his hands and sophie the giraffe.  

The fourth of july was a fun filled day.  Unfortunately, among all the fun we were having we forgot to take pics of everything :(  We snapped a picture before the day started of him in his red white and blue outfit. 

And at the parade we managed to take a quick family pic too. (This is also Chris' first time wearing an American flag t-shirt, and no he was not forced). 

At night we went to a whitecaps baseball game and didn't take pictures!  We remembered when we got home so we tried a couple self portraits to show off his cute baseball pjs. This picture doesn't show his jammies but it turned out kind of cute. 

So we got one just with Dad so we could see Easton's jammies. 

He is also getting so strong and loves to stand up!

 He still loves falling asleep on dad every night.  This particular night Brooklyn spent the night and they all fell asleep on the couch.

Other fun activities in July included blueberry picking with Kendra and baby Noah. 

And he has also been swimming now a couple times (and he LOVES it).  

Happy cooing boy

We passed the 7 week mark on Wednesday!  Each week brings fun new developments that we are loving.  The past couple of weeks have brought lots of smiles and cooing.  Here are a few pics of our happy boy.

 Night time chat with dad

Easton loves Brooklyn. And she is a great helper when she is here. A few nights ago she asked if she could bounce him during his fussy time (thanks brookie)!

And she loves to read to him ( Easton loves it too). 

Last weekend we got to celebrate Chris' first fathers day!  We spent the afternoon grilling at our house with family.  

All the fathers in our lives. 

This weekend we got to enjoy some time with just the three of us.  We took advantage of the great weather by heading to Holland.  Easton even got to go strawberry picking.  Apparently the heat bothered us more than him, because he stayed sound asleep the entire time! 

One month old

Easton hit one month on June 1 (wow time flys) !  We are going to try and take monthly pictures to watch him grow. Here are a few we captured on June 1.  ( he was not thrilled with the photo shoot) 

  May is a busy month in our household - at the end of the month we celebrated my birthday. It was a great day starting with breakfast in bed, a restful day at home. Dinner at roses, and ending with pie! 

Easton is really starting to develop a little personality.  He is sure to let us know when he doesn't like something and when he loves something!  Here are a few of his favorite activities at one month old. 

Walks- we try to take a walk everyday. Brooklyn insisted on gloves and a scarf this night (to go with the flip flips of course). 

The moby wrap. I love it too! 

His swing. 

Baths. He takes one every night before bed. 

And finally - sleep!!  His last feeding of the day is now given by daddy. It usually ends with both of them falling asleep.  Followed by Easton sleeping in his crib for at least 6-8 hours (way to go buddy!). 

And then there were 3

To say that we feel blessed is an understatement.  Easton joined our family just over a month ago, and we are loving being a family of 3.  We are finding that with a growing family, the amount of texts, calls, and emails is also growing.  Those who don't get to be a part of our daily lives want to know what is happening (which is great!).  So we thought one way for our family and friends to keep up with our growing little boy might be through a blog.  We will try our best to update the blog weekly (TRY is the keyword there).  So here we go...

Easton Charles Vonk arrived May 1, 2013 at 11:14 am, weighing in at 6 lbs 11oz and 20 inches long.  Labor and delivery went great.  The abbreviated version of the story is that on Tuesday April 30 we went to our 39 week appointment and our wonderful doctor picked up a just slightly lower heart rate than normal, which led her to do a little more investigating.  After a non-stress test and a BPP (biophysical profile) test she determined that the placenta was probably starting to "poop" out (her words not mine) so baby needed to come out.  She stripped the membranes so contractions started failry regularly at the doctors office, so she sent us in to be induced.  She pre-warned us that she was not sure how baby would handle labor so a c-section might be necessary.  Pitocin was was started at around 9pm on April 30 and our healthy baby boy was delivered, after only about an hour of pushing, at 11:14 the next morning.  We feel so grateful that our doctor sent us in when she did, and that she was able to deliver the baby too.  The unknown of labor and delivery was a scary thought for both of us, but the entire process was miraculous and amazing.

And for those of you who think we knew the gender and just kept it a secret, that is not true.  We are not that good of secret keepers :)  We did NOT know and are so glad we decided not to.  Hearing the doctor ask Chris "what is it?!" and Chris telling me "it's a boy!" is a moment we wouldn't trade for anything.

Here is just seconds after that moment

After some food and a shower

We had many wonderful visitors at the hospital (too many to display all the pictures). 

This is right before we headed home

First night home!  He has a bili-blanket under him you just can't see it here.  He was our little glow worm for his first night home. 

Not even 24 hours after we got home we got a call from the pediatrician that his bilirubin levels were too high to manage at home.  So back to the hospital we went.  He was admitted to Helen Devos Children's hospital.  We had wonderful doctors and nurses who took great care of us!  

He spent the next almost 24 hours like this.  He loved it!  He came out only to eat. 

Daddy's birthday was May 7 - only 2  nights after we got home from the hospital the second time.  So needless to stay we stayed home as a family for the day.  He enjoyed his day off with Easton, Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner, and an ipad mini from all of us.  

Brooklyn and Rylee went to a wedding that weekend and stopped by to show us how pretty they looked.  

Our first mothers day together was very special and low key.  Easton got me an Origami Owl necklace with his birthstone in it, (great job picking it out buddy!).  We had lunch with my mom and sisters.  Rylee had a busy weekend so the poor kiddo was overly tired, but this was the best pic we could get of Grandma with all of us! 

We have started some bedtime routines around here too.  He is learning to love his bath and even looks at the books we read to him! 

Brooklyn graduated from preschool last week.  Good job Brookie!  Off to Kindergarten in the fall.  

When our friends Jenna and Nate came to visit from Indy they brought their camera. Here are a few of my favorites they took of baby Easton. 

And just for fun here are a few pictures of Easton's nursery (thanks Jenna)