4 Weeks

Frankie has been with us for 4 weeks today!

Since our last update a few things have happened:
 - Steve went back to work (sad day in the Singer House)
 - Frankie, Kirby, and I have learned how to survive on our own
 - The heat & humidity were not welcome - it left us stuck in the house for a week!
 - Kirby is very protective of his "pet boy"
 - Frankie loves 'The Killers' and any music for that matter
 - Steve is learning to function on less sleep than normal

Francis B is already getting bigger (and longer) and he is becoming more alert to his surroundings. His expressions are the most fun to watch - our favorite is his Zoolander look. He likes to keep us on our toes and doesn't like to be too consistent in his nighttime sleeping. In case we were to forget that he is around, he gives us one of his pterodactyl cries. We are blessed with such a good baby!

We are continuously amazed at how well Kirby behaves around Frankie - and how he always needs to check on him. It is ridiculously adorable. However, this has caused a change in Kirby's sleeping and napping habits which leaves him exhausted. He has learned that when Frankie naps, Kirby naps. The best part of this duo is how little Frankie cares when Kirby gives him kisses or sticks his nose in his face. I envision these two causing lots of trouble together in the near future.

Steve is adjusting to being back at work and working on very little sleep. He loves coming home to an excited puppy, and (usually) a happy baby boy. Oh, he loves coming home to see me too. :-) I love to see him interact with Frankie - it melts this Mama's heart.

I am doing well and enjoying my time at home being a Mama to Frankie and Kirby. They are a joy to be around each day and both are great snugglers. It has also been nice the past couple of weeks to watch US Open tennis - I am trying to get Frankie hooked on tennis early as I know he will have quite the football (Packers) influence over his lifetime.

Here are a few photos from the past couple weeks:

Grandpa stopped by one afternoon before his drive
home to Marshall to enjoy a quick nap

One of the many faces of Frank

Snuggling with Kirby

Working on his neck muscles

Dad's home!

Four Years

This post is only a week late...oops!

We have been married for four years!! It is crazy to look back over these four years and see how far we have come in such a short time. These past few years have been crazy wonderful and this year we become parents to a beautiful baby boy (which is amazing!).

Unfortunately, Steve had to work all day but we did manage to make it out to dinner to celebrate (Grandma Nancy was kind enough to babysit). With all the craziness of having a newborn it was nice to have a little escape just the two of us even if it was only for an hour.

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life, Steve. 

I love being on this journey with you. 

The First Week

We made it! It was a fun first week of getting settled into our new "routine" and getting to know our little man. I can't believe how fast the time has flown!

During this first week we learned a lot about Frankie as well as about life with a newborn. Many of the things we expected but there were a few unexpected learning items that I wanted to share:

- The impossible is possible: Steve can take naps. :-) Prior to Frankie this was something that happened once in a blue moon but since Frankie, it doesn't seem to be a problem.

- There is no limit to the number of times you (or the wall) can be peed on in one night.

- You can become a master swaddler in no time.

- A newborn will give you a heart attack when they successfully roll over in their first week of life.

The late nights and lack of sleep are a moot point since we are so in love with Frankie. We are blessed with a beautiful (healthy) baby boy and couldn't be more excited to see what we will learn in week two and beyond!

Frankie has arrived!!!

I'd like to start by apologizing if this gets a bit lengthy. As is expected with new found parenthood, sleep deprivation has become the new normal. 

On Saturday, August 10th, 2013, Amanda and I woke up like any other day. We had many errands to run and things to do around the house. At 7:05 AM, Amanda started to have small, consistent contractions and those plans went out the window. Amanda was a stickler to at least keep our first plan in tact; go to Fat Nat's for some delicious breakfast. 

Throughout the morning, we battled back and forth with the thoughts that it was either false labor, simple movements, or full on labor. As we moved on through the day it became apparent that the little guy we were so anxiously waiting to meet would be joining us this weekend. The contractions became more and more intense through the day, but they remained manageable as we tried to "walk the baby out". We called the doctor to tell her of Amanda's progress and updated our "playbook" for the remainder of our labor. At about 5:30 PM, the contractions became much stronger and I could tell pain was starting to get to her. Still, she kept soldiering on and walked around our basement to help it progress. At that time, we made a goal to last until 6:15 PM and then we would gather up our already packed bags and head to the hospital. At 6:00, Amanda's parents, Dan and Deb Herrmann, made it up from Marshall, MN, and we updated them on our game plan. We got out of the house and on the way to the hospital by 6:25 PM. On the way to the hospital, while Amanda battled contractions while I battled her urge to shift our car into neutral when she clamped down on my hand towards the gear-shifter. Amanda's water broke about half a mile from the hospital. 

Once we reached the hospital, I sprinted in to grab a wheelchair and an ER nurse who was nice enough to wheel Amanda upstairs to the baby doctors on the 2nd floor. Once upstairs, we were admitted into a delivery room at 6:40 and we found out she was already at a 10! That is when things started to get a bit more interesting. We met the doctor who would be delivering our baby due to our doctor not making it to the hospital yet. Amanda's pain quickly began to increase. She went from "I would really appreciate something to help with the pain" to "IT HURTS!!!" and then to "I WANT TO PUSH" in the matter of minutes. 8 minutes of pushing later, and we were two proud parents of a beautiful baby boy! Francis Baldwin Singer was born at 7:02 PM on 8/10/2013. He weighed in at a trim fighting weight of 8 lbs and 3 oz. while measuring at 20 1/2 inches.

First picture as a family!

Proud Mom cuddling up her bundle of joy.

Dad practicing his football hold for the upcoming Packers season.

He quickly found it was a suitable place to nap.

Frankie was not a fan of car seat at first.

Grandma Deb very excited to hold her new grandchild. 

Grandpa Dan gets in on the action loving up his new grandson.

Grandma Nancy gets her fill while Kirby supervises. 

Grandpa Jim (aka the 3rd Francis Singer)

Great Grandma Singer giddy to meet the little guy.

Date night 10 minutes in.

Date night began.

Family Photos

I knew before our little boy arrived, I wanted to get a few photos of our family taken. My friend from high school was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule and meet Steve, Kirby, and I at Lake Nokomis for a little photo session. All the photos turned out fabulously! Here are a few of our favorites.

Oh, at this time, I was 37 weeks pregnant.

The Singer Family

 

I love this man!

Excited for what is to come!

 All photos were taken by Ashley Sammons.

August!

It is officially August! 

The year has already flown by and we are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of our sweet little man (which could be any day now). We are so excited to meet this little person who is going to launch us into our next adventure. 

Currently, nothing exciting is happening around our house (just the waiting game). Steve is trying to get as much golfing in as possible right now and I don't blame him! Once baby arrives, he may not have as many opportunities to make it to the club. As for me, I am loving the cooler weather! We have had the windows open for almost a week now and it is truly lovely for this 38 week pregnant woman.

People continue to ask, "are you ready?" or "do you have the nursery all set-up?", etc. Our response is always "sure...". Can you really be ready for this life changing event? Steve and I think we are as ready as we will ever be since there isn't really a way to know if you are "ready". As for the nursery, it has what we think he/we will need right away and I feel like that is all that matters. There will definitely be a learning curve beginning once he is born until forever! Oh, it will be a beautiful mess and Steve and I can't wait! 

 

37 Weeks Pregnant
Photo by Ashley Sammons

Real First Post

Clearly, our first post was very creative so we better improve as we go along. :-)

The summer is flying by and it is almost August! Since Christmas when we realized that our "Pack" would be growing, life has been going at full speed. As you can see in the photos below, the office nursery has come along quite a bit in preparation for our baby boy.

"Office"

Nursery

Clearly more is changing than a room. My mid-section has been growing at super speeds lately but we are down to the home stretch until "baby go-time"

36 Weeks

Steve's clothes seem to fit better than my clothes right now so if I don't have somewhere to be, I steal his shirts and shorts.

Well, that is all for now. Hopefully more exciting updates soon!