New Years Resolution #1- Blog more

I have been thinking about our blog a lot lately...and, a lot of my friends have been printing their blogs, and I realized- I have nothing to print! But- what a great way to "scrapbook" without having to cut out all the cute little pictures, etc. AND- a whole year has gone by! My baby boy will be a year on the 24th! How time flies! My little guy is trying to walk- he takes like 5-6 steps, says mama, dada, and as of today, says "uh-oh". He is very much a climber-loves to climb up on everything. He claps, waves bye- bye, and loves to do the indian chant with his hand on his mouth- so funny. He has a cute little side-step dance he is now doing, and shakes his head no all the time. If he even thinks he might not want something he shakes his head. He loves to play patty cake- and starts clapping his hands as soon as you start singing it. It is pretty funny when I hear Brooks singing to him in the other room. We love our little guy and he brings so much joy to our everyday!

We love our Hutch!

Well, the past 4 1/2 months have flown by and Hutch is growing way too fast! And- I have not blogged near enough and i feel like I have NOT taken enough pictures. So, it is my goal to take more pictures and journal about Hutch. So, today- I figured out how to get the cute background on the blog and I am going to start blogging! So, what is Hutch doing...he has lots of baby words- coo, ba, squeels, giggles, and smiles all the time. He is such a happy baby and the love of our lives. He brings so much to joy everyday. He officially rolls over from front to back and back to front. He also is very intrigued with his hands and is now grabbing everything and putting it in his mouth- and loves to chew on his fingers and sometimes even smacks on his toes. He loves to kick his feet and play on his playmat or watch his mobile in his crib. He does not stay in his crib very often though- because he is still in a pack n play in our room- and yes, he still wakes up for a 2 or 3 am feeding...but, he is efficient so we can all go back to bed fast. It is funny- he went about 2 weeks of sleeping completely through the night, but then decided he wanted that middle of the night snack afterall :)




We have set up his jumperoo and he loves it, so I bet he will be jumping around in it all the time. He can't quite reach the floor yet, but soon he will be able to. Hutch weighs as of his last appointment- which was a couple of weeks ago- 12.6 pounds and 25 inches...so yes, he is a skinny guy but very tall- like his daddy! We have attempted to try some rice cereal and pureed squash...it was a definite no go..he hated it. So, I figure, he may not be ready for food and we will just wait a few more weeks. It kind of made me sad when Dr. Yap said to give him water in a sippy cup to wash the food down...made me sad because that just seems so big.




How he fell asleep with his foot in his hand- I have no idea!


Well, I think that is about all for tonight...but I have one last thing to say...
I LOVE MY BOYS!!!




Until next time...

9 weeks and hard to believe

I can't believe it has already been 9 weeks since our little man Hutch arrived. It is just crazy...I do not know where the time went! I have not even gotten my birth announcements out! I swear I got nothing done on my maternity leave because I held him the entire time...needless to say he loves to snuggle and be held- but that is okay! It makes my mommy time when I get home from work special. Hutch is turning into a little man- moving up from a newborn size diaper to a size 1 and officially into 0-3 clothing. Brooks and I love to dress him up in all his clothes- hopefully he will get to wear them all before he grows out of them. My favorite things that make my heart go pitter-patt...Hutch sleeping on my chest for hours, Brooks playing with Hutch on his changing table with his I-phone just clicking pictures non-stop, giving Hutch a bath- he likes it, and of course, Hutch smiling. There are so many more, but these are the ones off the top of my head. I love my little babe!

My handsome little man

Well, it has already been 4 weeks today since delivering my handsome little man. Brooks and I are so in love, and never knew you could love someone so much! He is growing so much, and just today started smiling and cooing at us- which just makes you completely melt. He really is a good baby and other than being up most of the night- wanting to eat :)...he is pretty easy. He just really likes to keep me busy because he wants to eat all the time- just a growing boy. He loves to sleep with his arms above his head, thus, the "swaddle" does not work for him. The only way he will sleep is in my arms- a momma's boy already- hehe! We just had pics made by Beverly Long aka B Long Photography- they turned out so good...http://96.30.6.142/~blongpho/ check them out...More photos and videos to come!

Hutch has arrived!

Hutch is here! Born 1.24.2010 at 6:01 AM 6 pounds 20 inches. I was totally not expecting to deliver Hutch as fast as I did, but nothing with this whole process has gone exactly to plan! First, I thought I was going to deliver him at 31 weeks when I went into preterm labor, and then all of that resolved and I had a normal last part of my 3rd trimester. God works in such mysterious ways and provides miracles in ways we don't even know he can. The only reason why I was able to go back to work after 34 weeks was because my contractions had stopped and I was not dilated...thinned, but not dilated. Well, as my due date was coming near- I thought, after all this surely I would start dilating- I did not even think I would make it to my due date. I was wrong!

So, my doctor said at 40 weeks we could induce, but he did not want to start the Pitocin, the only thing most people who induce have to get...he wanted to give me a "cervical ripening" medicine that was going to make me start dilating so my risk of laboring for hours and having to have a c-section would be much lower. So, that was the plan. I was to go in on my due date, the 23rd and start the cervical ripening medicine which is actually inserted and placed next to the cervix- where you have to still be monitored in the hospital and everything. Brooks and I thought we would go in- get a good nights sleep and they would start the pitocin at 5:30 - 6 am Sunday, the 24th. Not so much!

The medicine was placed at 6 in the evening and by 9 I was having full blown contractions. By 11 pm- I had to get my epidural because they were so painful...once I got this, life was much better and I knew I would be able to do whatever was next. My labor and delivery nurses were absolutely wonderful! Truly wonderful! Not only were they wonderful, but my sweet hubby was my protector and watching over me the whole time. The nurses were both convinced that I had a band of tissue that was keeping me from dilating that if that would just release, then I would probably go from not being dilated at all to like a 5. That is exactly what happened. That is why I call this my miracle stitch that God placed when I went into preterm labor. Because of this band of tissue- my cervix was unable to dilate as fast, and I therefore, was able to carry Hutch to term. So, on most people this cervical ripening takes like 12 hours- and only 2 for me! I was extremely sensitive to it and it sent me straight into labor. Brooks and I did not even have time to call anyone- our parents/family came to the hospital completely thinking they were going to be waiting all day for me to deliver and Hutch was already delivered. My sweet handsome little man is the light of my life! I can't wait to share our life with Little Man Hutch with everyone.

Hutch's room

Well, after a little scare with pre-term labor it looks like we are going to have to be induced after all...I never would have thought it, I just knew I would have already delivered by now- but Hutch has obviously gotten very comfortable in my belly...Anyways- this allowed for more time to get Hutch's room all ready for his arrival. As of today, it is finally clean and complete- all we need in there now is the baby! We are so excited and are hoping to be induced either late this week or the early part of next week- we shall see.

It's a boy! "Hutch" Hutchison Brooks Ratzlaff

It is officially a boy! Very obvious from the sonogram pics! We are thrilled to have a little baby boy on the way...