We can do more.

I often joke about my bad luck (I’m a fan of all Cleveland sports teams—strikes one, two and three right there). But when it comes down to it, I’m actually very lucky. After suffering an early miscarriage in my first pregnancy, I’ve welcomed two beautiful, full-term, healthy baby boys into the world. But it was that pre-empted life that inspired me to NEVER just assume a pregnancy will come to term free of complications, or potential heartache. Recently, it just seems as though I know far too many folks who have experienced premature births or late-term complications with their pregnancies. And I want to do something to help. That’s why I’m leading a team in this year’s Greater Columbus March for Babies, sponsored by the March of Dimes. As stated on the March of Dimes site, the proceeds of the walk support research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And they will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

So now I'm coming to you--will you sponsor me on my walk? No donation is too small (or too big!), and future families will benefit from your contribution. Just click here to go to my page to donate, or even to sign up for my team.

This illustration details some of the ways March of Dimes funds have already helped babies:



Thanks so much!

4 Months Old

*SIGH*

I'm just not ready for Nolan to be four months old. Today at his checkup, Dr. Brown was telling us all sorts of fun things, like Nolan is ready to try out rice cereal & oatmeal, and if he seems to really go to town with those, we could even attempt orange vegetables in a few weeks. But a little part of me died when he said all of that. I just wanted to run home with my baby and squeeze him in my arms just make sure he did in fact stay a baby. Don't get me wrong--the milestones are exciting and I'll treasure every one of them--but it's just going so fast. I open his baby book to write a new thing down, and I have to fight back tears. Perhaps it's because I know there's a real possibility that this is my last child, and I need to savor every second of this part of my life.

Now that I've sufficiently depressed everyone, let's talk about Nolan's stats. At four months, he:

--is 14 lb 14 oz (50th), 23 3/4 in (50th), but has a pretty big noggin (between 75th & 90th). There's a giant baby brain in there. :)
--has just this week (like Tuesday) decided he likes tummy time. It's kind of comical the way he looks around all wide-eyed, considering the way he used to bury his face in the carpet and scream. What's HILARIOUS is the way he'll toss his big head to the side to give him enough momentum to roll to his back. Cracks me up.
--has enough of a flat head that we had to talk with Dr. Brown about it. We're going to wait until his six-month check-up before we explore options (like a helmet--shudder), but Dr. Brown believes his new-found ability to roll will round things out.
--LOVES to chatter; he's typically either "ooooooo-ing" or screeching like a pterodactyl. The kid is not shy about talking.
--grabs everything he can reach and shoves it in his mouth. This includes my hair. And any earrings that I'm still wearing. Good times.
--had a full-on giggle fit the other night, courtesy of Daddy. So. Friggin'. Cute.
--is wearing six-month clothes, and filling them out quite nicely. Such a difference from his brother (Aiden is currently swimming in 24-month clothes--and he turns 3 years old next month).
--still a FANTASTIC sleeper. I can't possibly be thankful enough for that.
--has the best open-mouth, toothless grin I've ever seen. Just perfect.

Up next? We're attempting rice cereal TONIGHT. Updates to come :)

Feelin' the love...

...but honestly, I'm done with this Valentine's schtuff. Let's get out the St. Patty's decorations!!!

It's Kind of a Big Deal

February 10th might seem like a normal day to most, but it's always a day I take a moment to be extra thankful--thankful that a good chunk of my family survived a horrible car wreck. I'm not going to go into great detail because I think I've covered it before on the good old blog, but today is the seven-year anniversary of what my Mom refers to as "The-Devil-Didn't-Get-Us Day." I hope my folks are enjoying their dinner at Brown Derby Roadhouse; I'm happy they get to have an evening to themselves, but I'm ecstatic they both made it through so we get to have memories like these:

One Born Every Minute

Generally, I avoid Lifetime like the plague; the constant barrage of damsel-in-distress or someone-done-her-wrong movies does not exactly appeal to this TV fanatic. That being said, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find out they'd be filming a reality series in my home town about something near and dear to my heart--labor and delivery. One Born Every Minute follows the L&D nurses and expectant parents at Riverside Methodist Hospital, which just happens to be where I had both Aiden AND Nolan. Want to hear the funniest part, though? I was actually called by the casting director to be on the show! Unfortunately, Nolan's C-section was scheduled for a week before filming was to start, so we "missed the cut." Too bad--Nolan coulda been a star! :)

I caught the first episode this week, and was surprised how emotional I got. Granted, I'm a big dork and usually get pretty teary every time the baby is born on A Baby Story, but with OBEM, it was much more personal because I had literally been in that location and interacted with some of the people on the show less than four months ago. I easily recognized the anesthesiologist as the one who took care of me, and Mike remembered some of the nurses from our marathon labor with Aiden. And when they showed the operating room for the C-section, I could pretty much smell the weird scent of surgery. So yeah, I was pretty much a blubbering mess each time the baby was born. I thought the show did a GREAT job of portraying the nurses as caring assistants (even if their help was unappreciated by one couple, but I'm NOT about to open that debate here). I would HIGHLY recommend Riverside to anyone in my area who is expecting; if we ever decide to go for Baby Cotter No. 3, choosing a hospital won't be an issue for us. :)

This definitely won't last

One of Aiden's favorite activities is taking all the money out of his piggy bank and putting it back in, coin by coin.


Since Nolan's been here, he's been very concerned that his piggy bank is full of money, too.


Somehow, I don't think he'll always be so eager to share his money with his brother.


But for now, I think it's adorable.

Daddy's Boy

From the day he was born, Nolan has had a special bond with Mike. I remember when we were still in the hospital, and Mike would arrive after work each evening, how Nolan would be so calm when Daddy was holding him; he even smiled when he heard Mike's voice. Nothing about that has changed; Nolan smiles the brightest when Daddy's around, and he saves most of his cooing and happy screeching for when Mike's face is in his line of sight. Makes my heart melt. :)

Daddy's Boy from Kimberly Cotter on Vimeo.