Halloween Costume Ordered!

Todd and I decided to order the Hulk costume for Matthew. We are excited and I hope it fits him. He's wearing 9-12 month outfits so we'll see when it gets here:) We chose it because Matthew is a pretty big dude and we joke about him having super strength. So excited for Matthew's first Halloween...especially since daddy is trying to get the evening off to enjoy it with us! Here's a picture of what it looks like:

Picture Perfect!

I just love taking pictures of our cute, adorable Matthew! Here are a few fun ones from the past few weeks! He is such a joy to have and he's growing incredibly fast!

Blessings

I'm overwhelmed with the many blessings I have been given. I'm especially grateful for my two boys:) I have the the sweetest, kindest, most loving husband there is...and now we have our long awaited, adorable little Matthew.

Honestly, some days are hard. Matthew gets gassy, decides he doesn't need to take naps, just wants to be held all day, and will only fall asleep nursing. I start to get frustrated and then I remind myself that Matthew is pretty much helpless. He depends on us for everything right now. So even when I can't stop his cry (which breaks my heart to hear it!), I can hold him and comfort him. And just when I feel like my arms or back are about to give out, I think of how quickly Matthew is growing. One day he won't want to be held so much. So I'm enjoying it now. I'm trying to take in everything about him, his cute smirk, his beautiful blue eyes, his milky baby smell:) I'm extremely grateful to Heavenly Father for trusting us with this precious spirit. I'm excited to watch him grow and learn. I get so excited when he learns the littlest skills right now, it's so much fun. Like how he can hold on to things, how high he can lift his head while lying on his stomach, and how he's starting to laugh for us! Each day with Matthew is a truly a gift.

I was thinking back to how we celebrated our 5th anniversary this year and had to laugh. Matthew was born on June 4th, our anniversary is June 5th! My dad picked up Olive Garden for us and dropped it off at the hospital. Todd set up our table and we had a wonderful dinner. It was the best anniversary yet! What better way to celebrate than by getting to hold Matthew in our arms.

Anniversary dinner at the hospital

I'm grateful for the gospel in my life and for parents who taught me to love my Heavenly Father and Savior. I'm grateful for the little family Todd and I have created and am excited to watch it grow. I am grateful to be a mom and I'm grateful to be able to stay home with Matthew. His little smile just melts my heart and makes me forget all my troubles. He is still so new, so clean and pure. And I get to hold him in my arms each day! How very blessed I am!

Matthew at 3 months old

Swinging

Matthew will be two months old on Tuesday! We cannot believe how quickly he is growing...and how big he's growing:) We were at my dad's house this morning and my nephew Rexford wanted to go out and swing. I think it was my dad who asked if Matthew wanted to swing. I wasn't sure about it because he's still so young but my dad grabbed a few towels to cushion the swing and fill in all the extra space. Matthew was in a pretty good mood and I think he is going to enjoy swinging as we do it more often and as he continues to grow!

Papa and Matthew

Rexford pushing Matthew

Fun Videos

Here are two videos of our little Matthew! The first is a few days after coming home from the hospital and the second was taken this morning. He's gotten so chunky:)

4 days old

1 month - Smiles

Shared photo book from Alyson

Click here to view this photo book larger

Matthew's Here!

Because Alyson's busy being a wonderful mother, this is the first ever Todd post. On Wednesday, Alyson was admitted to Winnie Palmer Hospital directly from Dr. Snow's office with high blood pressure (first time all pregnancy). I worked on Tuesday night and was going to work that night so I was sound asleep and didn't know a thing. Luckily, Alyson got a hold of Kim and asked her to wake me up and tell me to get to the hospital. At first we both thought that a few tests would be performed and if everything checked out that we would be able to go home. Not so. We learned that hypertension during pregnancy doesn't go away until it's baby time, so Dr. Snow wrote orders to induce. I called in to work and told them I wouldn't be there that night or on Friday for my last shift of the week.

That night (Wednesday) about 6 they began induction with a medicated shoe lace (best way I can think to describe it) called Cervidil. And that was the last decent night's rest we will ever have again -- that's including the start of contractions from midnight to 3. On Thursday morning around 7, Alyson started feeling contractions again and...her water broke. Sometime in the early afternoon we were taken down to labor and delivery. By this time, Alyson was having some pretty intense contractions, but the nurse recommended that she sit on the "birthing" (exercise) ball to use gravity to encourage the process. Alyson was a trooper and stayed on the ball for a couple hours until she finally asked, "Can I get an epidural now?" Yes. She could.

After the epidural was in, we were both able to relax. Of course Alyson was doing all of the work, but I was trying to be as helpful as possible and seeing her in that much pain was stressful. She actually fell asleep during her every 2 to 3 minute strong contractions and I have the picture to prove it. She said that she couldn't even feel them anymore. So things were on auto pilot, I ate some Chipotle while she slept :), and about 8 when the nurse checked her progress, she was at 9 cm and would soon be ready to push. The pushing commenced a little after 9:30 and because of the excellent coordination skills that Alyson possesses, we were looking at Matthew at 9:49. It was surreal but amazing, and at least for me it took until early Friday morning to really bond with him and realize the tremendous amount of love I have for him already. Two striving to be one have become three striving for the same in the Todd-n-Aly Eichelberger family. It's incredible! All thanks to the Father of us all and His Son.

Matthew's first time in his mother's arms.

Right after they dried him off, made sure he was doing well and warmed him up.

Grandma and Grandad Eichelberger for the first time with Matthew.

"Papa" Rich and Alyson's brother Caleb. The last visitors in the labor and delivery room.

The hat is awesome. But it hid his equally awesome head of hair. When he first crowned I looked up at Alyson and said, "...he's hairy."

Our 5 year-old niece Sahara (my brother Jon's daughter) saying hello to our little man.

A good shot with his eyes open. I know everybody thinks their own kids are cute, but come on!

My son. A responsibility that I don't take lightly.

Grandma Rich on Friday in our "mother baby" room.

No "A-wee" adventure would be complete without Rexford (and a "turkey").