Spring

So spring has arrived - however here in AK that means sunny weather mixed with fresh snow. It was really beautiful outside last week and Neal, Yawkey and I were able to take a few walks out in the sun.


We are into a nice routine here at our house now and Neal has been doing great. He has been sleeping for me consistently 5 hours at a time and last night he actually slept for 7 hours which was so wonderful. He is smiling now - though you still have to work hard to get those cute little grins. He gives the most smiles right when he wakes up. He is also starting to enjoy bath time a little more (as you can tell by the photos he mostly likes once bath time is over)



Today we had his 2 month appointment. Neal is growing and is now 9lbs 6oz. He did a wonderful job at the Doctors and also received his first set of shots. He only cried while the nurse was poking him and as soon as she was done he settled right down and now is fast asleep. He takes after his dad and is long and skinny measuring in the 60% range for length and 10% range for weight. He is getting to long for some of his newborn and 0-3 month clothing but is still plenty skinny enough to fit into them. We are going up to 3 month clothing for the length on some things. I think this will be a trend for the rest of his life, finding pants/outfits long enough for him. Here he is after his Doctors appointment sporting the cool band-aids the nurse gave him.

Smiling and Friends

Neal starting smiling for the first time last week while Anna was here visiting. He still makes us work for the smiles and sure doesn't give them out easily but he sure is cute when you can get him to grin.


Neal got to join Tyler for his fantasy baseball draft last night for a little while. We have to start him early if we want him to be a baseball/Red Sox fan. Here he is sporting the baseball cap and later hanging out with Kyle right before the draft started. As you can see Neal is not so impressed with the Mariners hat Kyle is wearing.



Most of our close friends up here have new babies and so Neal will have lots of friends his age to play with. Here is Neal hanging out with his new friends Emerson and Jonathan for the first time. There will be lots of fun play dates as the boys get older and lots more friends to arrive soon.

Sisters, cousins and pleasant company

It has been so fun to have both of my sisters come up and visit us this past month. Their visits were of course to meet Neal but we had fun visiting with them also. Amie brought William up with her so Neal was able to meet one of his Washington cousins. We had fun trying to do a photo shoot with the boys - William being older was able to look at the camera and interact when you talk to him. We were lucky if we could snap the picture in time to get Neal looking at the camera. We had fun trying though and some of pictures sure turned out cute.


Anna is up here now on her spring break and has had lots of cuddle time with Neal. Thus far we have had fun running all around town, shopping, shopping and more shopping. We were able to find some very handsome outfits for Neal - he has quite the sweater vest collection now and will look strapping at Anna's graduation in June. We also went out to Palmer today to visit GG and had a nice relaxing afternoon.



Yawkey has become best friends with Anna and loves to cuddle with her all day and has also been spoiled in being able to sleep with her at night.


The sun has been out the last few days so we were able to venture outdoors and go to the dog park. If it is nice tomorrow we might try going out on a walk or maybe we'll just break in Anna's new running shoes that she got by taking a jog around the neighborhood. This is not the best time to visit AK but we have loved having Anna here and since Neal is the big new attraction at our house the weather doesn't matter.


We will be sad to see Anna go but are very excited to get to see her again in June when she graduates.

Here are just a few more cute pictures of Neal that I had to share. Isn't he adorable and handsome?

One Month Old

Time moves by so quickly - Neal is now 1 month old. He is more awake and alert each day. He turns his head towards me and Tyler when we talk to him and has an array of facial expressions (some pictured below)






I love when he falls asleep in my lap, We are trying to get him to sleep in his bed during the day but we haven't succeeded yet since I never want to put him down once he's asleep in my arms. Neal and I just take lots of naps together on the couch (Yawkey joins us as well) ---





Neal is still doing well at night and goes about 3 to 4 hours between feedings which gives me some much needed sleep. We are looking forward to my sister Anna coming up soon to meet her new nephew - though it will be cold and snowy outside we will have fun relaxing in the warm house and visiting.

Taking after his dad Neal is still my skinny little boy - We have gotten to use his newborn outfits way longer then I expected - and we have way more laundry now with our little guy. It is nice to be able to stay at home and have the time to spend with Neal and keep up on the household chores. Neal has brought us such joy and we look forward to seeing him continue to grow and change.

2 1/2 weeks old

Neal is 2 1/2 weeks old and it is amazing to see how much he has already changed. He is awake more often then before and is always making funny faces. He continues to be a low key baby and has been sleeping for about 3-4 hours at a time at night. This has been wonderful allowing me to get a bit of rest each night so I have more energy for the next day



My sister Amie was up this week visiting with her littlest one, William. It has been fun to have her up here. She has been making dinners for us and baking all sorts of goodies. With all the family that has been up to visit I haven't had to cook dinner for the past two weeks which has been great. Here is a picture of Neal hanging out with his cousin William.




Neal has been such a joy and delight. It is amazing how much you just love and adore your children right from the start. Neal is recognizing our voices and when we talk to him he turns his head towards us. I can't wait for the weeks to come as he starts to grow more and more.

The Arrival of Neal Ryan Gates

He's here!



Neal Ryan Gates arrived on February 13, 2010 at 9:12pm. He was 8lbs 1oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

There was lots of family at the hospital to welcome him once he arrived. Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and lots of family friends.








After a very long delivery and labor we are finally home, happy and resting.



Yawkey got his first look at Neal when we arrived home - I think they'll be good playmates soon.

39 weeks and 1 day

If i wasn't already counting down the days I am now. Only 6 days to my due date and I sure hope that due date is correct. This has been my first week off of work and I am loving it. I have done lots of last minute errands, cleaned several rooms in the house, taken several naps and watched several movies. There are still things to clean but I am slowly making progress. I have actually finished the laundry before the weekend, which is a first.

I am feeling ready to welcome baby Gates into the world so I hope he decides to join us soon. We have all the needed accessories put together, the nursery decorated and my bags packed. Guess i can't get to anxious yet since I still have a week 'till my due date. I am learning to enjoy this quite time for now, knowing that very soon life will be very different.

I have added a few more recent prego pictures though, I have to say I feel just a tired as I look in these pictures. There is one baby after another arriving around here among family and friends. Here are a few pictures of my friend Natalie and I. Natalie and Kyle are expecting their first baby in April so it will be so fun to be new moms together and to plan some play dates for the boys since they will only be a few months apart.




Tyler has been wonderful lately helping out with lots of things around the house and trying to get caught up at the office so he can spend some time at home once baby arrives. He tries to sympathize with me and my growing belly but as you can see he is no where close to making his as big as mine :)