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The newest addition to our family, known today as BS2, will arrive in a couple of weeks. If all goes as planned, he will join us on Tuesday, February 14th – that’s when we have Laura’s c-section scheduled. A Valentine’s Day baby, just like me. I hope he enjoys the heart-shaped cakes that will most assuredly will come, along with the “you’re a born sweetheart” comments (yes, I lived this).

We’ve been busy preparing for him – to make sure he has his own room, we’ve converted our loft into a bedroom. It’s been a busy few weeks with construction, but it’s almost finished. The walls are freshly painted. His crib and changing table are built and ready for him. And, more than anything, his parents are eager to meet him, love him, and welcome him to his family.

I am filled with so much joy, it’s hard to describe. I do realize the next year or so is going to be very challenging with Nathaniel being so young and adding a new baby to the mix, but the birth of BS2 makes our family complete and that is very exciting. In the years to come, Nathaniel and BS2 will play together, grow up together, want their own cars together (uh oh), and will share a bond as brothers close in age do.

If I’m being honest, which is the entire point of having this blog, BS2 was not planned (haha – just like Nate). He was very much a surprise. Once the shock and surprise wore off, both Laura and I had a very certain sense of calm, acceptance, and excitement because we knew this was part of God’s plan for our family. And if His plan was to make me change diapers during every football game I watch, then so be it.

When you become a parent, your ears are wide-open all night as you sleep, waiting to respond to your baby’s cry. Likewise, your vision of the future suddenly becomes very wide and open. Tonight, as I prepare to saw a few logs, I can’t help but think about my family, the journey we are embarking on, and the future. Daddy, Mommy, Nathaniel, and BS2. That is our family. Awesome.

Nathaniel is 10 months old today!

So what does 10 months look like for our little man? 10 months brings an adventurous spirit that wants to touch and climb on everything. 10 months brings an enhanced awareness of likes and dislikes. 10 months brings more teeth. 10 months brings more independence to a little boy and joy to his parents who love to see him flourish.

His personality and preferences are fun to watch develop. On the Nickelodeon channel (his favorite, of course), his biggest smiles come from Moose and Zee, and I think he has a crush on Molly from the Bubble Guppies. Diego is a constant favorite as well as Little Bill. On the food front, he loves shredded chicken and pasta, pears, avocado, chicken and rice casserole, eggs and toast, and Cheerios. Did I mention Puffs? Yeah.

Let’s not forget the sippy cup. He’s developing a strong affinity for that little guy.

In terms of his personality, he is a social baby. When he meets a stranger, he smiles while examining them (as long as mommy or daddy is holding him). It only takes a few minutes of exchanged smiles and sounds until he feels comfortable. I’m not kidding, everyone that greets him with a smile receives one in return. One of the many things I love about him.

When he gets tired, he gets crabby (just like the rest of us). When he’s sick, he gets clingy and needy (like myself and any other male I know). When he gets hungry, he lets you know (no brainer). When we are in an environment that is less than stimulating (like the doctors office), he exhibits an amazing amount of patience and isn’t high maintenance. He’s just a well-balanced and well-mannered little boy (so far – haha) that we wouldn’t trade for the world.

Personally speaking, the last 10 months have been the longest in my life in terms of hours of being awake vs. asleep. I forgot that the hour of 3:15 a.m. existed before Nathaniel was born. But now that he’s been a part of our lives for the last 10 months, I cannot imagine life without him. Even in his late night moments when he needs to be held, I’m grateful to be the one (of two) that holds him and makes everything alright.

Happy 10 Months, Nathaniel! Mommy and Daddy love you very much and we are so happy that you are part of our little family.

The past six months have been a blur as we adjusted to our new lives with our pint-sized long-term roommate. To say we’ve learned a few things along the way is like saying we’ve received some snow this winter. While correct, it doesn’t truly express the magnitude, which I certainly won’t attempt to do here. Suffice to say, even though there have been times when the questions outnumbered the answers, when the sun came up a wee-bit too early, and passing comments lent themselves to gut-busting, tear-flowing, delusional laughter, one thing remained constant: our devotion and love for our little man.

We see changes in him every single day. It’s the little things like a new noise he makes or how he shapes his mouth when he speaks. And he’s becoming increasingly mobile and wants to crawl so bad – the things he wants always seem to be just out of reach, and once he reaches them he wants the next thing just beyond that.

If I had to identify one thing that has made the biggest difference in Nate’s development, it would have to be teaching him how to self soothe. On Saturday, February 12, we began a sleep training program by Dr. Ferber that is outlined in his book Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems and Nate took to it immediately. It was almost like he was waiting for his parents to get a clue, and once we got it, our entire family dynamic changed. Prior to the sleep training, it was a struggle to get Nate to take naps or even get a sound night’s sleep. He would wake up crying throughout his naps and at night and getting him back to sleep frequently consumed our evenings and nights. However, within that first weekend of implementing Dr. Ferber’s strategy, our little boy was sleeping soundly, on his own, and all of us began to get the rest that we needed. Today, we have a baby boy who is more rested, happy, and growing up way too fast.

For Laura and myself, this past week was the first week we didn’t use our self-styled worksheets to chart Nate’s nap times and meals. Working with our daycare provider, we’ve finally established a daily schedule for Nate, and it’s really made a huge difference. Just like grown-ups, babies need structure too.

And, even today, we’ve reached another milestone. Last night Nate dropped his last late night feeding and slept from 7:30 p.m. to 6:45 a.m. without interruption. This is beyond huge. This is uber-huge! And just another reminder that our little man is changing right in front of our eyes, every single day.

The snow is on the ground, the lights are on the tree, the presents are wrapped, our little angel is in his crib. There is much to be grateful and thankful for this eve of Christmas eve.

Our little guy has presents under the tree and he won’t even know why, or even what they are. But it doesn’t matter at all, because all that matters is that he’s here. All that matters is that he’s a happy and healthy little boy. All that matters is everything about him.

I grin as I think of the Christmas mornings to come. Our son’s restless sleep as he envisions reindeer landing on the roof and a jolly old elf leaving presents under the tree. Awoken by the eager little man at 5:00 a.m. to rush downstairs to the Christmas tree and see the presents Santa left. The look of astonishment as he sees the crumbs of a cookie left for Santa on a plate, along with an empty glass of milk. And the toys. THE TOYS!! Oh man, the toys!

Thinking back, I can remember many Christmas eve’s when I just couldn’t sleep. My heart would be racing, hoping that I would get what I wished for. After all, I had sent Santa letters. I just hope he had time to read them. And my imagination would get the best of me. Were those hooves I just heard on the roof?

Now is the time of my life to see Christmas from the other side. As a parent. And, finally, I begin to really understand what my parents did for me as a child. Sure, as an adult without children you can certainly appreciate what your parents did for you throughout life, but actually having a child and experiencing the details of specific events…well, it puts everything in a different perspective. And, funny enough, I take some of my queues from what my parents did for me, and then combine it with our own ideas.

It’s fun. It really is. It’s work, but it’s the most fun work I’ve ever done in my life. And with the greatest rewards.

On this eve of Christmas eve, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and time spent with those you love. I hope Santa brings you everything you’ve asked for and more. He already has for us!

I finally have some time to compose a well-overdue blog posting on the arrival of our little miracle, Nathaniel Richard Schwartz.

Nathaniel arrived a week and 6 days ago, born on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 3:15 a.m. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 21 inches long.

The day before, Monday, August 23, we had a doctor appointment at 12:30 p.m. to check on Laura’s health and that of the baby since Laura was 5 days overdue. All of the tests came back normal and Laura was scheduled to be induced on Wednesday. After the appointment, we drove out to my sister’s place to help her with some computer setup issues and headed home around 4:00 p.m.

It was around that time Laura started to experience some cramping, but nothing crazy. She had cramps the week before when the doctor did two different membrane sweeps, so she really wasn’t surprised to feel cramps after a third membrane sweep at the doctor appointment earlier in the day.

Once we got home, the cramps continued, and they were pretty consistent. We came to the realization that these weren’t cramps, they were the beginning of contractions. As the evening went on, they became stronger and closer together. In between the contractions, we packed up the car with our bags, pillows, etc. and eventually left for the hospital around 10:15 p.m.

We arrived at Maple Grove hospital and were admitted around 10:40 p.m. Laura’s contractions really took-off (almost as if Nathaniel knew he was given the green light). Laura was so focused through her contractions, it really was incredible. I was there supporting her, but she really did all the work and was exhausted by the time the epidural was applied. After the epidural, life was good.

Over the next several hours, however, we became increasingly worried about the state of Nathaniel. After every contraction, his heart rate would nosedive, then recover (for example, his normal heart rate was around 150 and it would drop to 80). As the night went on, his recovery was less and less, and Laura’s contractions were decreasing. Our nurse called for the doctor on duty and it was determined that Nathaniel was under a lot of stress and needed to be born via cesarean section. The decision was made at 2:30 a.m. and Nathaniel was born at 3:15 a.m.

The delivery went very well, the hospital was fantastic, the nurses were very helpful and attentive, and the overall experience was positive.

The only complaint we had was the breast feeding-Nazi mentality of the nurses. Nathaniel was having a hard time latching on, Laura’s milk took a few days to come in, and the nurses response was just to keep trying. Meanwhile, Nate wasn’t getting nearly enough to eat and was starving. After a couple of days, Nate’s weight had dropped almost 12% and the nurses gave us some formula to supplement the breast feeding, but they had us feeding him with an eye dropper, which took forever and wasn’t close to being enough.

After another exhaustive overnight experience Thursday night/Friday morning (with Laura and I at the end of our ropes) we called the nurse and insisted on formula and nipples. The kid ate like a horse!

Since that moment, Nathaniel became a new child and his parents much more relaxed. Once we got home, Laura’s milk came in and she decided to pump instead of trying to get him to latch and it has worked out remarkably well. We feed him primarily breast milk from bottles during the day and supplement him with formula when he wakes up at night. So far, so good, and he seems to be very happy and content.

Nathaniel had his first pediatrician appointment on Tuesday, August 31, 2010 and did very well (besides peeing all over the room during his examination – it was impressive). He has gained all of his weight back and has grown 1/4 of an inch.

So far, Nathaniel is a mild-mannered, pleasant, normal little baby boy. He eats, sleeps, and poops. The three basics you look for in a newborn, but he’s also very entertaining – he makes all sorts of cute and funny noises, especially when he wakes up and stretches (the boy loves to stretch) and is having more and more awake-time each day. His eyes are opening bigger and he’s looking around. His grunting makes me laugh – he’s so damn cute.

Tomorrow is the big day! The artist (almost formerly) known as ‘BS’ is due to arrive.

Now I know due dates are rough estimates at best and it’s very common for babies to arrive early or late, but tomorrow is going to have a certain air to it. It’s the day we’ve had in our minds for months and it has finally arrived.

And I think we’re pretty much ready, at least from a material point of view. We’ve cleaned the house and made room for all of his stuff, we have car seats, swings, diapers, wipes, bottles, toys, clothes, a crib, a bassinet, and so many other things. Most importantly, and forgive me for sounding a bit sentimental, we have an abundance of love to give this little boy.

On this eve of BS’ due date, we pray for a happy and healthy little boy who will forever change our lives for the better. In him we will rediscover the world with new eyes and revel in his joy, amazement, discovery, and achievements. We will be there to pick him up when he falls and support him when the world is less than fair. We will always be grateful to God for the miracle He has bestowed upon us. We will always be thankful for being his parents.

The next post from this blog will be celebrating his birth. How cool is that?

BS (Baby Schwartz) is on the way.

I know it sounds cliche, but words simply cannot describe our excitement. That can also be said for the fear, uncertainty, nervousness, and general “out of our element” feelings we share. Little BS is going to change our lives forever and its a very humbling feeling to realize that life as you know it is about to change. No longer is life about you. Your job. Your timeline. Your shirt. Your need for nachos.

This little guy is going to take over. Big time.

But you know what? We’re excited!

We’re not naive, we know its going to be a lot of work. Many sleep-deprived nights, moments of “what do you neeeeeed”, poop and pee from all directions imaginable. But from what I hear it’s the most rewarding thing we’ll ever do in our lives. We can’t wait.