A prayer for our son

Today is Adrian's two month birthday. I can't believe how much he's grown and changed already! Every day countless prayers are said for our little man, including prayers I share out loud with him. Here is the prayer I prayed with him this morning:

May you always see beauty in the world
and hear music every day.

May you know the touch of gentle hands
and walk the peaceful way.

May the words you speak be loving,
may laughter see you through.

May you be blessed with hope and joy -
these gifts we wish for you.


Happy day my beautiful little boy!!

Lost locks

They're gone! My long locks are gone!!

The last few years of growing my hair out have paid off....yesterday I cut off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love (the organization that makes and donates hair pieces to children who suffer hair-loss from cancer or other illnesses). The first time I did this was inspired by a male RA partner of mine in college who was growing out his hair to donate...two years after that I had enough to donate myself (ask my little brother how that turned out :D). I'm not sure what inspired me to grow it out and do it again, but I did. Here are the results:

BEFORE

AFTER


And luckily Adrian still recognizes his mom (my only worry with cutting it). Thanks Locks of Love for your ministry, and thanks Mike Goodwin for the initial inspiration 8 years ago!

Old Man Adrian

A few folks have asked for updates on our new little guy, so here it is...

Adrian is 5 weeks old now, and celebrated his one month birthday this past week (he'll be heading off to college before we know it!) At his last check-up he weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces! So he's definitely over 7 pounds by now, and he's already outgrown all his premi clothes and most of his newborn sleepers and a few onesies....bring on the 0-3 month sizes finally! And in addition to growing beautifully, the doctor said he seems very healthy and is doing well!


He's getting better at sleeping during the night, which is a huge blessing to his daddy and I! However, he's getting worse at sleeping during the day...what's the saying, "When dad's away the baby will play"? (except his "playing" tends to include grunting, wriggling practically out of Mom's arms, screaming, wanting to eat twice as often, and not wanting to be burp or be put down....it's pretty obvious to me he favors his daddy, or at least misses him during the day). It's normal and good, but makes for one tired and slightly crazy mom by the time 5:00 rolls around!


Although most people can't tell (at least not as much), those of us who are around him all the time can definitely tell that he has grown SO much! Just in case you want to try and compare to see if you can tell the difference, here are some new photos of Adrian from his 1-month birthday:

The Mancini men: Adrian with his dad, Grandpa, uncle and cousin on Father's Day...he wasn't happy because they took him off Grandpa's belly for the picture (either that or cousin Isaac tried to play with him again, I'm not sure which).

Uncle Allan babysat Adrian for the first time we went out (to celebrate our 2 year and 1 month anniversary...since we were having a baby for our actual anniversary).

And his daily "babysitter" - Lexi is very protective and loves watching Adrian; it's very cute!

Daddy and his two loves: his son, and his computer! (luckily they both fit on his lap... for now)

Adrian is getting practically too big for his Moses basket - he props his feet up on the side.

I love this picture because it makes him look SO long (plus, you can tell that his onesie, which is the one we brought him home from the hospital in, is too small for him now...his 1 month birthday was its retirement day).


And a few of my other favorites...look at those sparkling eyes!

My beautiful blessing!

"What did my hands do before they held you?!"

Meet my beautiful son,

Adrian Donald Gallagher-Mancini

Born Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 4:10am

He weighed 5 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 18 inches long. He is beautiful in every way (even if he is like all babies and looks like an old man for the first several weeks :D) and we absolutely love him!!

Here are a few pics from the last few days:

Adrian's first photo ever

And his second picture (already holding Daddy's hand!)

All cleaned-up now

Adrian and his proud (and completely and utterly enamored) Daddy
Our first family picture
And a little bit later

Cousin Isaac (along with 24 other people) came to meet Adrian in the hospital...he's lucky to have such a great family!

The kittie doesn't quite know what to think of this new attention-hog yet


Adrian's first few days, getting more and more handsome...

You can also view his hospital photos at his own "Web 365" site online.

So far Adrian is healthy and happy, as are Mommy and Daddy. Thank you to all who have kept our family in your thoughts and prayers these last months, and these last few days. And thank you GOD for this absolutely AMAZING little gift!

We love you Adrian!