More Jax pictures!

We had fun meeting Jax and visiting with Shannan and her mom. Little Riley will have to wait a while longer to meet his new cousin, as babies aren't allowed into the unit. Riley was perfectly content to wait in the waiting room with AJ while his mom and dad met Jax.

Jax Atreyu Beil is Here!!

Delaney and Riley's little cousin Jax was born today!! We came down to Yorktown when we heard that Shannan was in the hospital and got to visit with them both! Jimmy was on the phone when Jax was born, which is very cool. He got to hear his son come into the world from half a world away, and the Doctor even told him "You have a son!" Here are a few pictures from the day!

Elephant ears!!

We have elephant ears in Delaney's garden - and while ours are nowhere near grandpa's size, they are bigger than Riley! Here is a picture of him and the elephant ear!

Caught on Tape!

Well, we finally caught Riley rolling over on tape. He's quickly becoming a master, and rolled over several times for us this evening (as a matter of fact...when we put him to bed tonight he immediately rolled onto his side to sleep). We hope you enjoy the clip!

Rolling over!!!

Well today Riley had a wonderful day, probably the best day in at least a month. He had a great day at daycare and spent a lot of time on his tummy, talking with the other babies. Nikki had to work late and after they got home we had a great evening. Riley didn't cry at all AND he rolled over from back to tummy, TWICE! Nikki was busy fixing the batteries in one of his toys and missed most of the first time. But then he did it again for Nikki to see. Then we got out the video camera, and then there was no rolling over to be had. We will try to catch it on film soon!!!

3 Years!!

Today is our 3 year anniversary! 3 years, filled with the happiest and saddest days of our lives. But we make it through each day with the support of each other. Three years and 2 beautiful children... Thanks to Nikki's Mom for the slideshow!

JMU Fun Weekend!

This past weekend we had a JMU reunion weekend. It started with the Chelsea vs. AC Milan soccer game in Baltimore. Nikki and Riley stayed behind with Michelle and Avery, while everyone else had fun at the game. Then on Saturday we relaxed in the morning. Nikki's Aunt Missy and cousins Tom and Stephanie came by to visit for a little while. Then we went to Michael's birthday celebration. The party and company were great, and the power went out into the evening so we continued the party by candlelight. Riley took a bath in the bathroom sink and looked so cute. We left early Sunday morning to head to Yorktown for the day. It was a great weekend!

Last Pool Party!

Nikki's grandparents have a house with a pool that is usually the gathering place for the family. They decided that it was time to move into a senior community so they wouldn't have so much yardwork and such to contend with. Today was the big day when the move-out was completed. It was pretty emotional for everyone, as their house has been the site for 2 weddings, our rehearsal dinner, Delaney's baby shower, and many many easter egg hunts and christmas eve gatherings. We drove down to Yorktown on Sunday to enjoy one last afternoon at the pool with Riley. Here are a few pics, we had a great time!! We will of course have many more great memories at their new house, which we look forward to!

4 month update

Well yesterday was Riley's 4 month birthday. To celebrate, he was sent home from daycare with too many poops. He was fine though so Nikki and Riley got to spend the afternoon together. Today was Riley's 4 month checkup with the pediatrician. He weighs 16 lbs 13 oz and is 25 inches long. That puts him at the 90% for weight and 75% for height. We asked the pediatrician if we needed to worry and he said that breastfed babies gain weight quickly but then even out around 6-9 months of age. We are going to continue with just milk for now, since they recommend starting food at 6 months. Other than that, we need to work on sleeping. Riley should be sleeping 14-16 hours daily and he averages about 11...so we need to work on that. We are going to start working on putting Riley down to bed awake instead of letting him nurse to sleep. Hopefully he will start to cut back on his middle of the night wakenings soon! Well, Riley is fussy from his shots so we better go tend to him!

A few more

Pictures of Riley - week 16!

Here are a few pictures from week 16. Riley is getting bigger and learning new things all the time. Tomorrow he will be 4 months old...crazy! On Friday we have our 4 month checkup - so we will post how Riley does with the shots and how much he's grown!

Fireworks!!

Well Riley stayed up past bedtime to watch fireworks for the 4th of July, and he didn't seem too impressed, but he didn't cry either so we'll take that as a victory. He has a cold and so is much fussier than normal. Hopefully he'll start to feel better soon! Here are a few pictures of Riley at fireworks!

Resting up for the fun!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Today is the 4th of July, celebration of our independence!! And who do we have to thank for our continued freedom but the men and women of the military. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of the military personnel for their service, but especially Riley's Uncle Jimmy. Jimmy is a corporal in the Marine Corps and he is deployed for his second tour of duty right now. This deployment is especially difficult on us all as his wife Shannan is expecting their first child and will deliver while Jimmy is gone. Jax will be 3 months old before Jimmy gets home, and that is just another sacrifice that these brave men and women make to protect our freedom!

Today we are having a small cookout and then will try to go see some fireworks for Riley's first fourth. He has a cold (as does Nikki) so we hope that he will be up for staying up a little late to watch the action. Here are a few pictures of Riley that we have taken recently!

Pool Party!!

This weekend we went for a short visit to Yorktown for Nikki's sister-in-law's baby shower. Nikki and Riley had a good time at the shower with friends and family, and then in the evening we went with Grandma, Grandpa, and AJ to the pool. Riley went swimming for the first time and he did GREAT! We were a little worried that he would cry because the water was too cold, but he loved it. He stayed in and played for about 45 minutes and then got out and dried off. We can't wait to go back in a few weeks!! Here is a short clip of Riley enjoying the pool!

Delaney's 18 month birthday

18 months ago our lives changed forever. Definately for the better. Delaney Hope Carter, our daughter and angel, was born on December 26th, 2007. She impressed everyone who met her (and many people who didn't get that opportunity) with her strength and courage. She went through more in her short life than many people ever have to deal with. Each moment spent with her is etched into our memory, and she has a very special place in our family and our hearts.

Delaney's days were marked with great highs and horrible lows. We learned quickly that being a parent was more than just loving this little person that we had made, but doing whatever we could do to protect her. I think that the hardest thing about losing her is that we couldn't fix what was wrong. As parents you think you can fix whatever is wrong and protect your child from the bad things that happen in life. We learned much too quickly that it isn't always that easy.

We try to focus on the wonderful memories, the happy pictures and videos, the little things that most people take for granted. We love to talk about Delaney and share stories about her life and her courage, but understand that it may make some people uncomfortable or think that talking about Delaney will make us sad. There is something inherently wrong with a baby dying. But that is part of our daily life and nothing will ever change that.

We spent the day remembering our angel (like we do every day). We took Riley to visit Delaney and sang happy birthday like we do every month. Then we went to dinner and then came home and relaxed. I can't believe that it has been 18 months since Delaney was born... she would be a little person with a strong personality (which she showed us in the brief time she was here), who would be rapidly approaching the terrible twos. We would gladly face each challenge, but are left instead to treasure the days that we had and to thank Delaney for being so brave as to fight to let us love her and get to know her for those 20 amazing days.

Settling in

Well, as you can tell time is much more scarce now that Nikki is back at work. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and we are settling into the new routine. Nikki wakes Riley up to eat at 6 before leaving for work, and then he goes back to sleep (most days). Dennis has morning duty, getting Riley ready and entertaining him while trying to get ready for work. Then he drops Riley at daycare and stays to play for a while. Off to work for Dennis and Riley gets a day of love from Cherise and Aunt Ronda. Nikki has pickup duty, and then takes Riley home for playtime, evening nap, and then Dennis gets home! That is the best part of the day, when we're all together as a family. We eat a quick dinner and play with Riley until 7:30 when we go upstairs for some naked time, bath, feeding, and bed. Then Nikki attempts to stay up at least a little bit longer to spend some time with Dennis before an admittedly early bedtime. Riley is still getting up in the middle of the night one time (knock on wood) and hopefully that will be phased out soon! He seems to be doing very well at daycare. We can't believe that he is 3 months old already!! We got professional pictures done and will post them soon!

1st day of school picture

Here is the picture Dennis sent at drop off time!

Back to work

Well, Thursday was the day that Nikki had to go back to work and Riley started day care. He is going to daycare at the hospital so he's close to both Nikki and Dennis during the day. Nikki and Riley visited twice in the week before starting there to get used to the place and all the other babies. Dennis had drop off duty and he admitted that it was harder than he anticipated to leave him there and go to work. Luckily he was able to come visit during lunch that first day and found Riley sleeping. He made things easier for Nikki by sending her pictures of Riley at the daycare center. Nikki was able to get off around 3:30 and made it in time for his afternoon feeding. He did OK with the bottle there, they warm it well and he seems to like that better. Nikki kept anticipating a page to say that she needed to come feed her starving baby but that never happened thankfully.

Friday was a little bit easier, and Riley took a 3 hour nap! He hasn't ever done that before, but I guess all that playing with his new friends wore him out. Nikki got off a few minutes early and went to feed Riley before they left to start their weekend. Nikki is very glad that she decided to go back to work a few days early so it was a short week, becuase she was very tired after just those two days at work. Now we have enjoyed a relaxing weekend and are ready for a full week of work and daycare. I'll attach a picture from his first day of daycare.

Making Delaney's Footprint

We had the opportunity to make a mold of Delaney's footprint on the day she passed away. One of her Angels had bought us a footprint kit and helped us to make a footprint of her right foot with her lucky toe. It is one of our treasured memories and the footprint is hanging on the wall in the nursery next to Riley's. Below is a picture of the two footprints side by side...I can't believe how much bigger Riley's is!! (they were both taken on day 20...)

The dreaded bottle

Well, Nikki's worst fear has come to pass... Riley hates the bottle. We started introducing it when he was about 3 weeks old to try to avoid this. He never loved it, but he took the bottle OK from anyone but Nikki. Over the past few weeks, we have not used the bottle as often (maybe only once or twice a week) because of our schedules and the fact that Nikki (and Riley) prefer breastfeeding to the bottle. When we were in Ohio was the first time that Riley refused the bottle, and was very hungry when we got home from the wedding. After that, we tried the bottle on Monday and again yesterday without success. Eventually we give up and feed Riley when he gets frantic.

However, Nikki is starting to panic because she is going back to work on Thursday. That will be hard enough without having to worry that Riley is starving while she's gone. He will be only a few blocks away, but work at the hospital is usually too hectic to be leaving every few hours to feed him. We are in for a long week as we try to convince him that the bottle gives him the same milk and he needs to use it from time to time. If anyone has any suggestions please let us know!!!

Trip to OHIO!

Well over Memorial day weekend we had a big trip planned. We left on Thursday evening at 7pm and drove up to Uncle Michael and Aunt Christine's house to feed Riley and have a quick visit. We drove about another hour and stayed the night in a hotel in Hagerston Maryland. It was Riley's first hotel stay and he did very well. It was a late night but he slept well. We got up and on the road by 9am to continue to trip to Nikki's grandparents house. We arrived there about 2pm after a few stops for Riley to eat and stretch. He did very well in the car, sleeping for the most part. We had a very nice visit there, visiting with family and relaxing. We stayed overnight and left midmorning for Beechwood Ohio for the wedding.

We checked into the hotel and left Aunt Jenna with Riley while we went to the wedding. We came home and Riley did not like that bottle so was ready to eat! We stayed overnight and left early in the morning and drove the WHOLE way home to Richmond. Riley did a great job, only being slightly fussy when he woke. We had a quick visit in Richmond to visit with some of Dennis' family and then we continued on to Yorktown. Monday was Nikki's birthday and there was a joint Beil birthday party planned for the day - celebrating Nikki's mom and dad's birthdays along with hers. After a nice celebration we returned home to Richmond and began the unpacking process... It was a fun trip and Riley did great!

Video of Delaney #2

We were looking through the videos and found another cute Delaney video that we wanted to share with everyone. This was on her 16th day, and little did she know that she was going to have a sweet 16 party that night with her nurses. We came in the next day to wonderful pictures and Delaney had a bow in her hair!! These special memories are wonderful, and I'm so happy to have so many videos to be able to share with everyone who cares about her and our family.

2 month appointment!

Yesterday was a big day for Riley!

First, we had our interview with the VCU daycare and met Riley's teacher and classmates. We spent an hour and a half there and got the feel of things. He did great, but Nikki and Dennis felt the reality of putting him in childcare for the first time. It is a wonderful place, but it is hard to leave him anywhere.

After that, we got lunch at the hospital and visited Nikki's office for a few minutes to catch up and spend the time until Riley's 2 month doctor appointment!

After a long wait in the waiting room, we were brought back and the moment of truth was upon us...how much would Riley weigh. The last time we got a weight, he was 2 weeks old and weighed 8lbs 3 oz (25%) and was 21" (50%) inches long. In the last 6 weeks everyone has been asking how much he weighed and we were excited to see how much he had grown. Nikki's guess was 11 1/2 pounds and Dennis' was 11 pounds. Imagine our disbelief when the scale said 13 lbs 11 oz!!! That puts him in the 90th% for weight. He is 23 1/2" inches long, also the 90th%.

We had a good visit with the doctor who said that Riley is right on track. The only issue we have to work on is sleeping...Riley is adverse to naps and only sleeps about 11 hours a day. He will only sleep on us and wakes up or screams if we try to put him to sleep in his crib. So, we are working on that. Not much progress to date...three times today Nikki put him down to sleep and three times he screamed and ended up sleeping on mommy. But tomorrow is another day and we'll keep at it!

Riley got his 2 month shots and it was harder for Dennis and Nikki than it was on Riley. He did just fine with them. Next time when he's bigger will be a different story I'm sure!

Happy Mothers Day!

Well, today was Mother's Day again, and a little easier than last
year. I know I'm a mom to 2 beautiful children, but it is hard to be
totally happy on these special days when I can't have them both with me.
I know that you all remember Delaney and I'm so grateful for that, but
it is all negated by just hearing one time "happy first mothers day"
or "you're finally a mother". It makes me shrink inside. Those
comments are not made to make me feel bad, or to belittle Delaney's
place in our family, but it is a reminder that my family will never be
whole.
In the morning we relaxed, I opened my cards and gifts, and we watched
a movie when Riley finally decided to nap. For the second year we took
a picnic lunch out to the memorial garden to share with Delaney. Then
we spent the afternoon with Dennis' family which was very nice.
Overall much happier than last year. If only I woke up to 2 precious
children today -- that would have been perfect!

Rolling Over

Riley has become adept at rolling over, and we finally caught it on camera. Very quickly the difficulty changed from holding the camera and waiting for him to roll to getting the camera on fast enough to catch the event!!

7 Weeks old!!

Riley is already 7 weeks old!! It hit Nikki the other day that she only has one month until she returns to work. The time really has been flying by!! Riley is smiling more every day, and he has become a master at rolling from tummy to back. He now has an escape from the dreaded tummy time and he wastes no time turning over. We finally got it on video and as soon as he gives us a minute we will post the video.

We've got a few milestones coming up in the next few weeks. On the 13th we have our interveiw with the child care center and we will learn all the ins and outs of that, and meet Riley's teacher. Later that day he has his 2 month visit with the pediatrician and will get his first vaccinations (ouch!). On May 20 we are going on our first big trip, to OHIO! We are going to visit Riley's great grandparents for a day and go to a wedding before driving home and then going right to Yorktown to celebrate Nikki's birthday with the family party (her mom and dad both have may birthdays too).

We spent this past weekend down in Yorktown once again, attending a going away party for Nikki's brother Jimmy. He is a marine and is being deployed with a marine expediationary unit (on a naval ship) for 6 months. It was sad for us to say good bye and to know that Riley will be SO much bigger by the time he gets home. Even more sad, his wife will have had their son and he will be 3 months old before Jimmy gets home to meet him. So, it was definately sad to say goodbye but we will be keeping in touch as much as possible until he gets home. My mom is running a DVD drive to send to the marines so that they have something to unwind with. They are collecting new or used DVD movies or TV series. If anyone has any DVDs that they are trying to get rid of, let me know!

Smile!!

After almost a week of trying, we finally caught riley's contagious
grin on camera!! Our little guy is growing up so fast!!

What an exciting weekend!

Well this weekend was definately not run of the mill. Friday Nikki
remembered that the air conditioning needed some work and we were out
of time to get it done. We weren't expecting the weather to go from 50
to 90 in one week, so suddenly we were faced with sweltering
temperatures and a newborn without air conditioning. The air
conditioning guy came out Friday afternoon but didn't have the part
needed to fix the AC. (he told us to buy a window unit!!). So on
Saturday we went and bought a few fans and had dinner with Dennis'
parents. Our house was 87 degrees!! After a miserable night where
Nikki worried nonstop about Riley being overheated we decided to go to
Yorktown for the day on Sunday.

Nikkis grandparents were planning on coming to Richmond for Delaney's
16 month bday but we visited at their house instead. We had a nice
trip and Riley got to play in his pool for the first time which was
fun for all of us. We also got to visit with our friends Tommy and
Michelle, and their son Avery, and they met Riley for the first time.
It was so cool to see the kids together!

Now we are headed back to our hot house and hopefully the air people
will fix it first thing in the morning!!

Also this weekend, Riley finally smiled!! This is the milestone that
Nikki was been waiting for most anxiously. He first smiled for daddy
then we both saw it. We have yet to catch it on film but we will keep
trying!!

SO BIG!

Riley is such a big boy and growing by leaps and bounds. He's 5 1/2 weeks old already, we can hardly believe it. And even more unbelievable...he rolled over for the first time today!! During the day he was doing tummy time and Nikki had a blanket rolled under his arms, and he got mad and rolled onto his back. Nikki didn't think that counted since he was up on a blanket and didn't even mention it to Dennis. Tonight Dennis put him face down on his activity gym and he rolled himself completely over from stomach to back!! We got the video camera out and tried again to record the event...but all he did that time was get good and mad and wiggle out of the camera's view. We will keep trying to get it on video, because we wouldn't even believe it ourselves if we hadn't just seen it. He's growing up so fast!!

1st soccer game

Today Riley went to his first soccer game and cheered on the team that
daddy coaches. The weather was great and he slept during the first
half. After the game we are headed back to Yorktown to meet Riley's
great grandparents who drove all the way from Ohio to meet him!!
Dennis and Nikki are less sleep deprived today also because Riley
slept for a 4 hour stretch last night!

Riley's Luve

Look how cute and calm I am!!

Riley finds his thumb

After a long month of trying, Riley succeeded in getting his thumb in
his mouth!! Too bad it's really hard to keep it where he wants it!

A bump in the road

As if we didn't have enough on our plate, learning Riley's needs and trying to get into a routine, both Nikki and Dennis are feeling under the weather today. It has been brewing for a few days, but today we are both feeling pretty bad. On top of it, Riley has been extra fussy the past few days and not sleeping well. Now I wonder if he isn't feeling well also. So now we are worried about him in addition to trying to get well.

Today is Delaney's angel day, we can't believe it has been 15 months since she passed away. We went out to visit her with Riley this afternoon, but had to cut the visit short as it was cool and misty. It feels like the last 3 times we have been out there (every time we have gone since Riley was born) it has been raining. Visiting on Angel day is always extra draining emotionally, but today was even harder because there was a new little grave in the infant section. It makes us so sad whenever there is another grave, knowing that another baby passed away and that another family is going through this horrible tragedy. In the 15 months since Delaney passed away, there have been 4 new babies added to her row. I wish that there were not any more babies that needed to go there.

Hopefully we will all start to feel better soon, as Dennis has a soccer game on Saturday and we are going to Yorktown on Saturday afternoon so Riley can meet his great-grandparents who are coming from Ohio to meet him!!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Today is Dennis' 29th birthday!! He was able to work from home today, so we spent a quiet day at home together recouperating from our first trip to Yorktown to visit Nikki's family for Easter! Dennis had a nice day, and Riley enjoyed having Daddy home to sleep on. Dennis had to leave to go to soccer practice and we enjoyed a nice dinner together when he got home. All in all, a good way to start off the last year of the 20's!

Back to the daily routine...

Today marks day 22 for Riley...and a big milestone for our family. Today Dennis had to go back to work. It's amazing that three weeks have already sped by, we can't believe that it's already been three weeks and it's time for Dennis to return to work!! It was very hard for him to leave today, but Nikki sent him a few pictures to help him through the day. He spent the day catching up with work and co-workers, and received many wonderful gifts from his friends at work.

Meanwhile, Nikki was at home with Riley alone for the whole day for the first time. On top of being a bit anxious to be alone with a sometimes fussy Riley all day, the county turned off our water for the day to do some work. However we all made it through the day just fine and had a nice evening together. Now we just have to do it all again tomorrow...

OPENING DAY!!

Today is the first day of the baseball season! Due to some good timing
on Riley's part, it is the last day of Dennis' leave so Riley got to
watch opening day with his daddy!! Here is a picture of the two of
them. As you can see, Riley didn't find it too exciting!

Practicing a smile!

> Riley practicing his smile while sleeping! I think he'll be a lady
> killer when he grows up!!
>

Day 20

Today marks Riley's 20th day of life. This day has been difficult for us, as today Riley is the same age that Delaney was when she passed away. From this point on, Riley will be experiencing life that his big sister never had a chance to enjoy. While his experiences have been different than Delaney's since birth (no NICU, bringing him home, getting to experience newborn life at home), it is hard for us to know that tomorrow he will start his third week, a feat that we wish his older sister had been able to accomplish. We know that Delaney is looking down on us to help us through and will keep a close eye on her little brother in the days, months, and years to come.

Riley's First Tub Bath

Today marked the first day we gave Riley a bath in the tub. Previously, we had washed him on the kitchen counter on a mat waiting for his belly button to fall off. With his belly button looking good, we decided to try out the bath tub. Here is the result:

Swaddling fun

One of our challenges so far has been sleeping...Riley has decided that during the day (and sometimes at night) the only place he wants to sleep is ON mommy and daddy. That is doable during the day...but at nighttime we really want him to sleep in his bassinette so Nikki can sleep. She can't sleep if he's in the bed for worrying about him. We have been swaddling him at night to help him sleep...but he is too strong for everything we've tried so far.

He has broken out of regular recieiving blankets, the "soothing blanket" which is just an extra large, thin recieving blanket, and the "swaddle me" wrap. He is too strong and gets his arms free no matter what we do. Grandma brought another option today, called the "snug and tug" swaddle blanket, which we are going to try tonight, and Nikki caved in and bought the "woombie" which some friends have said is the only thing that works for them. We are also going to borrow the "miracle blanket" to see if that can contain him.

I think that the swaddling blanket market is a big money making racket...how is it that a 3 week old infant is strong enough to break out of all of these blankets. We are borrowing several of these wraps and still have spent almost $100 on swaddle blankets...there should be a consensus about what works so new parents don't spend all this needless money. Once we figure out the best solution...we will share it :) In the meantime...we'll keep thinking positive thoughts of Riley sleeping in his bassinette (and for longer than 2 hours at a time!)

Meeting more family

Riley has been having more alert time as he nears 3 weeks of age, and some fussy periods in which Dennis and Nikki are trying to learn to put all the skills they read about to the test to calm him down. Today Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, and Riley got to meet his Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Williams, who returned home from a winter in Flordia on Thursday! We had a very nice visit, with Riley enjoying meeting everyone and he even had a few hours of alert time. We had a nice lunch and dinner of ham and fixings that were brought up to us, and spent a very nice day together. This evening we are watching some final 4 basketball before bedtime... overall a very nice day!

Day 13

We can't believe that tomorrow little Riley will be 2 weeks old!! We wanted to post an update on how he's doing. We layed low for the first few days, with limited visitors as we all tried to keep our energy up. On Thursday, we took Riley to visit Delaney for her 15 month birthday.

On Friday he had his 2 week doctor appointment. At his first doctor's appointment (on 3/19) he was 6 lbs 14 oz and on 3/20 he was 7 lbs 1 oz. We really focused on waking Riley up every 2 hours to eat, which was very hard for us but the results were worth it. Riley weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz at his 2 week appointment!! As he passed his birth weight we are allowed to let him sleep at night and wake up when he is hungry. On Friday night we slept for 4 hours at a time, what a difference that made!! The pediatrician said that everything is looking great, and we will go back at 2 months to start all the immunizations.

Saturday was a day full of family visits, as Riley met his Uncle Michael and Aunt Christine, and later had visits from Uncle Chris, Aunt Amanda, and Mema.

Today Riley made his first outing to a store, as we ran to target to get a few things that we needed. He did pretty well for the most part, with just one episode of crying. In the afternoon his belly button fell off, so we look forward to starting REAL baths in the next few days. Chris and Ashley brought us a wonderful dinner and visited for a while, and we spent the evening relaxing.

We have one more week before Dennis has to go back to work, and so this week we hope to start taking walks and getting Riley used to getting out and doing things. Hopefully it will have the side effect of making him stay awake more d uring the day and sleep even better at night!!

Thanks to everyone for all of the thoughts, prayers, and visits!!

Riley wide awake

Riley wide awake and proud of himself after wetting all over the changing table.

Pictures...

We have been very remiss in posting pictures of our new little man, in all of the chaos it took some time to get pictures uploaded. Here are a few pictures to get started with :)

Family Visitation, Round 1

Being the new addition to the family, it was only a matter of time before more members of the family made the trip up to Richmond to meet little Riley. He had spent another long night feeding every two hours or so, and he was ready to meet some more people to bestow hugs, kisses, and "he's so cute" phrases. Saturday marked the first visits for Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Shannan (and Riley's cousin-to-be), Great-Aunts Tracy and Toni, and Second Cousins Sebastian, Corey, and Caitlin. Before they arrived, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Jenna arrived to spend the day as well. Riley was passed around amongst the three of them, knowing that time with Riley would be precious with more people on their way. Next to arrive was Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Shannan. Riley finished his morning snack and was soon in Uncle Jimmy's arms. This was especially meaningful for us. It was very hard for both of us that Delaney never had a chance to meet Uncle Jimmy in person. Getting pictures of Riley and Jimmy meant a lot, as well as seeing a Marine about to be deployed oversees to protect our country with such uncertainty and hesitation with holding a newborn. Aunt Shannan was next to hold him, and Riley had his first interaction with his new aunt, as well as the little cousin growing inside of her. Nicknamed Atreyu right now, this cousin will be the closest family member in age to Riley. When everyone else arrived, Riley did a wonderful job, albeit asleep, getting passed around the room so that everyone had a chance to hold him. We received some wonderful gifts from the family, and the visit went off very well.

We spent the rest of the day with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Jenna, and the long day was wearing on Riley. He struggled to sleep and wanted to eat a lot for the rest of the day. Ultimately, after dinner and after saying goodbye to his grandparents and AJ, he fell asleep on Dennis watching a movie. We hope he had some good dreams of today with the family, because tomorrow is going to be more of the same considering that Dennis' family was planning to visit.

First Day of Spring

The calendar says today is the first day of spring, but it was the coolest day so far in the short life of Riley Carter. This was an issue when we were preparing our second visit to the pediatrician's office for a 9:30am appointment. We got Riley bundled up in a very cute warm outfit and set forth to meet his very own pediatrician.

Over the course of the night before, the three of us worked together to get the best feedings possible. We woke Riley up every two hours on time, and we were tough on him to get the most out of his feedings. At 2am, we could not have been more excited to see a poopy diaper, a first since his first day. (It's things like this that let you know you are a parent.)

At yesterday's appointment, they had told us to bring Riley hungry so that a lactation consultant could see us to ensure that breastfeeding was going well and to answer any questions we had. The schedule we started the previous night had us feeding him every odd hour, so we last fed him at 7am. We skipped the 9am feeding, and that proved to be a tough thing for little Riley. It was not until 10am when we were able to get into a room, and he was extremely hungry. We met with a nurse who answered a lot of our questions and really helped with positioning and his latch. After this, we met with our pediatrician, and he went over a few things with us. The most important thing they did was weigh Riley, and he gained a whole 3 ounces since yesterday. The pediatrician said that babies should gain about an ounce a day during this stretch, and anything in excess is a plus. We were very happy to hear this news, and the appointment as a whole was a big success and relieved a lot of stress on Nikki.

For the rest of the day, we adhered to our feeding schedule of every two hours and just relaxed. We gave Riley his first at-home bath, and we discovered the main difference between little girls and little boys when it comes to changing diapers. Lesson learned.

March Madness

For the first time in as long as we can remember, Nikki and Dennis did not complete a March Madness bracket. (We were a little busy and did not think about it.) We actually spent the start of the annual basketball tournament at the doctor's office, with our visit to the pediatrician. Our pediatrician was not available, so we met with one of his colleagues, who was wonderful. He tested Riley's bilirubin level to determine if jaundice was still a concern and did a newborn examination on him. He said everything looked good, but he was a little concerned about his weight loss. He was 7lbs 10 oz at birth, but he weighed only 6lbs 14 oz at this checkup. Because of his weight, we scheduled another appointment for Friday, this time with our pediatrician. Later in the day, the doctor called to tell us that the bilirubin level was within the normal limits and was no longer an issue with which to be concerned. We determined to be more strict with little Riley in regards to his feeding.

Also, we had a visit from Grandma Christi in the morning. She came up to help us with some things around the house. She helped us with some laundry, made some brownies (yumm!), and made dinner for us. Grandpa Bob and Aunt Jenna came up later in the day, and we enjoyed dinner with them. Bob helped us around the house as well, as, when he shows up, he is the only handyman around the house. The bright spot of the day for us (and not for Jenna) was when Riley peed all over Jenna's shirt, making her victim #2 behind Riley's proud papa. They left after dinner, with plans to come back over the weekend.

Tonight is a big night for us and Riley. Every two hours...

Riley's Going Home

On Wednesday, Riley and Nikki were both seen by their doctors and approved for discharge. A little before noon, we packed up all of our things and Dennis packed the car. We checked to make sure Riley fit in his car seat correctly, and then he made his way down to the discharge area at MCV with his mom. Dennis met them with the car, and we made our journey home. On our way home, we reflected on our time at the hospital, very appreciative of the visits we received, gifts bestowed, and memories shared. It was a little bittersweet, as we were never able to bring our little Delaney home. Riley is a lucky little boy, in that he has a big sister constantly looking over his shoulder. We have no doubts that she will keep him straight.

At home, we introduced Riley to his new pack n' play (with vibrating bassinet feature) and various other home remedies that a hospital does not supply. We tried to create a routine as best we could while trying to remain flexible for his needs. After all, Riley is the new king of our house.

Grandma Irene and Uncle Mikey were nice enough to bring over dinner for us, and we enjoyed some roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, as well as some other goodies for dessert. Also, we enjoyed a visit from Brandon and Marisa. When they arrived, Riley was very calm, awake, and alert. That would quickly change when Marisa held him. I guess he doesn't like blondes :) It turns out he was just hungry and had some gas, none of which was Marisa's fault (in fact, we blame Brandon for the gas).

St. Patty's Day for Riley O'Carter

March 16, 2030. This will be the first day our son can legally purchase a drink for the first time. This will be just in time for the St. Patrick's Day holiday in 2030. It cannot be easy to have a birthday a day or two after St. Patrick's Day, which might explain why he arrived on the 16th. Back to St. Patrick's Day 2009, Riley had another big day of tests. He went through his hearing examination, various other tests, and the big one, his circumcision. Nikki's doctor during her pregnancy, Dr. Peng, was nice enough to agree to do the procedure, as Nikki was a little anxious over such a delicate procedure. Riley toughed it out, although it was hard for mom and dad to see him in a little pain that we inflicted upon him. Hopefully, he will not remember St. Patty's Day for this. Later in the day, he met his Uncle Chris and Aunt Amanda for the first time, who were nice enough to bring us some chinese food for dinner. Riley decided to have milk over beef and broccoli.

Day One for Riley

Riley spent the first few hours of his life in the labor room where he was born. He went through his initial tests, had his first bath, and a picture or two might have been taken. He was held by his mom, dad, grandmothers, grandfathers, and aunt. A little before noon, we were moved up to the recovery floor, our new home for the next two days. For lunch, Christi, Bob, and Jenna brought us O'Charleys, and Nikki was able to eat her first club sandwich in 9 months. Later in the afternoon, Irene, Mike, Mikey, and Mom Mom came by. Mikey and Mom Mom were able to hold Riley for the first time and loved every second of it. Otherwise, the day was spent trying breastfeeding, sleeping, pooping, and relaxing.

Dybs Arrives - 3/16/09

Riley James Carter was born on Monday, March 16, 2009, at 6:09am. He weighed 7lbs 10 oz and was 20 inches in length.

We spent the weekend with friends from JMU. On Saturday night, Nikki got very little sleep, had numerous contractions, and we were very close to going to the hospital. Ultimately, Nikki got a couple of hours of sleep, and her level of discomfort subsided. We ate a wonderful brunch prepared by Chris and Ashley, said goodbye to our friends, and relaxed much of the day Sunday. After reading online that spicy food is a way to induce labor, we got Chipotle for dinner, and Nikki tried hot sauce on a Chipotle burrito (if you know her, you know this is atypical for her). Later that night, Nikki was experiencing contractions like any other night late in her pregnancy. Around 12:30, she woke up Dennis (slacker) and said she thought it was time. We prepared our things and made our way to the hospital a little after 1:00. Because Nikki was not visibly distressed to the level normally seen by hospital staff, they brought us back to a room for a preliminary examination. After confirming she was 6cm along, they admitted us in Room 10, one room next to where we went through labor with Delaney. With the pain increasing, Nikki got an epidural around 3:30, which made things much easier for her. Christi, Bob, and Jenna arrived after we called them in the early morning, tired but excited for the upcoming birth. Irene showed up shortly thereafter, and each one came back to visit us while Nikki was in labor. Shortly after the epidural, they checked Nikki again, and it was time to start the pushing. With Delaney, it took about 2.5 hours for her to come out. No joke, it took Riley less than 2.5 minutes to come out. Four pushes and he was out.

Because Nikki named Delaney shortly after her birth, Dennis had the difficult task of naming our second child. It came down to a few choices we had picked if Dybs was a boy, and Riley James was the ultimate decision. Riley is a name both of us liked all along, and it was selected partly out of respect for Delaney (both end in "y"). James is a family name - Nikki's brother, Dennis' grandfather, and Nikki's great-grandfather. Also, James is another homage to Delaney, who we nicknamed Jam while she was in Nikki. Lastly, it was selected because Nikki and Dennis both attended and met at James Madison University. It was later pointed out to us by Jacob Levin that March 16 is James Madison's birthday, which only made the decision that much more meaningful. (Thanks for pointing this out, Jacob.)

Video of Delaney

Here is a short video of Delaney when she was 4 days old. We have been working hard to put all of her videos together on a DVD before Dybs is born, and thought that you might want to see a little clip. The video is done...now Nikki just needs to figure out how to burn it onto a DVD to make it a full-fledged movie. We hope you enjoy seeing Delaney awake and getting to taste sugar water for the very first time!!

Inching closer to the finish line

As we get closer to the end...the days really have seemed to slow to a crawl! Nikki is getting very anxious for the baby to arrive, but we still have 2 1/2 weeks until the official due date. Dybs has our blessing to come any day now. We saw the doctor again today and everything is still going well, Dybs is head down and had a nice strong heartbeat. We will miss our regular appointment next friday because the doctor is out of town, but we'll go on Monday and that would be our 39 week appointment. We hope everyone enjoys the nice weather this weekend!

March is here!!!

We are so happy to see the arrival of March...Dybs SHOULD come this month (unless Dybs is REALLY stubborn and is 10 days late!). Although it definately doesn't feel like spring right now with snow falling outside...it should be right around the corner. Not much new is going on here, our appointment was very uneventful this week. We spent the weekend trying to get some baby stuff out and try to remember how to use it all! We'll see the doctor again on Friday for our almost 38 week appointment... We hope that everyone has a good week!!