3 weeks and other tidbits.

Kemper is 3 weeks old today! We had his 2 week check up yesterday (a little late, but we had to wait for tricare to transfer). He now weighs 9 pounds and 4 ounces and is 20 1/4 inches long. Obviously we've got this eating thing down! I'm going to start pumping and introduce the bottle next week. He started as a really easy going baby and now he's starting to get fussy. Some nights he can only sleep if I'm holding him and cries bloody murder if I put him down. And occasionally I just have to let him cry it out and go to sleep. I hate to but I've got to keep (whats left of) my sanity.

Other stuff:

• Ikea furniture is awesome for poor newlyweds, but it is not made for moving. Nothing is too badly damaged but its fairly dinged up.
• Kemper and I are currently living in the manager suite of one of the hotels that TJ's family owns. Its great to have a free place, we're saving so much money. Which is a big difference from living paycheck to paycheck. Now I just have to buckle down and start cleaning the place...
• Times when Kemper is on a non-stop crying tirade or when he won't let me put him in the carrier to do laundry or I need to lift heavy things or put our furniture together is when I really miss TJ. Just kidding, I miss him all the time. Right now I really can't stand the Marines.
• I've cried everyday for the past 3 weeks, thank goodness for hormones!
• I barely squeezed into pre-baby jeans this week. Hate me if you want but I have to brag. They're still pretty tight but it makes me happy that I'll most likely be able to wear my old clothes again (which I have 5 boxes of)

And I'm being summoned by mr. grumpy pants....

I love this picture.

And this one too

Kemper Thomas...finally.

So, heres the little mans birthday details (sorry if its all over the place :])

My contractions started at about 5:20 am on April 2nd at about 7 minutes apart. Well I had been feeling crampy all week but nothing big and uncomfortable so I didn't really think anything of them. Then my contractions were 5 minutes apart right around 6:30 when TJ is supposed to be leaving for work, so he got things ready and I got in the shower and then we were on our way to the hospital!

When we got there it was about 7:30 and my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and I was dilated to about 4cm. So after they finally got the IV in me (i guess I'm one of those people with tiny veins that make the nurses job lots of fun) they got me into a birthing room, hooked up to monitors and then they told me to relax and watch some TV (relax???).

And I had no perception of time so a little while later my contractions started getting even stronger and I was feeling them in my back too so I told TJ that he needed to get the nurse because I needed my epidural now! So after the epidural I was able to sleep a little and was also really giddy when I woke up.

Then I guess a few hours later my water broke and I was about 7-8cm dilated. And then what seemed like only five minutes later I was all the way dilated and waaaay ready to push. So when I told the nurse that everyone that worked at the hospital ( well, 4 nurses, 2 midwives, a doctor, and 3 training corpsmen) came into the room and we got the show started. TJ got to be right in all the action holding my right leg while another nurse held my left.

Then what seemed like forever to me but was only about an hour and 1/2 later, at 2:48 pm Kemper was born! TJ said I made the funniest surprised face when I saw him. I was just so amazed! I couldn't believe that he was finally here and that I was actually looking at him and holding him! He was 7 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long! No wonder he kicked a rib out, theres no way I have that much room in me! And now, heres the pictures:

Checking everyone in the room out. He was so quiet at first!

My mom got him a bunny (of course) so of course granmommy needed a picture of him with it.

I didn't get to him fast enough one night so he tried to make a snack of TJ

I left the hospital on Saturday and then on Monday we had a checkup and then it was on the road! Yep thats right, five days after birth we were taking a road trip from North Carolina to Colorado. To say the least it was rough, the first day we had car trouble and only traveled about 300 miles of the 2500( or something like that) and apparently there we barely missed tornadoes and fires and all sorts of bad weather. Just shows that prayer works :]

Then on Easter we were able to bless our little boy before TJ had to leave. They made a special exception for us since TJ is deploying this month. My dad, grandma and sister (and her boyfriend!) came down for the blessing. TJ's grandparents came to see the blessing too! We also went to brunch with the entire family! Kemper's first Easter was a busy one for the little guy.

Heres the entire group:

And four generations of men

And the women