New News is New News

Justin is 9 months old, officially!  Sorry I've been a little slack in my updating, but in my defense I've been chasing and cleaning up after this little guy, and he comes first. ;)

Within the span of about 10 days, my sweet, darling boy went from a playful little rolling baby to a crawling, scooting, pushing up to sit, babbling, pulling up on furniture machine!  That's a lot at once.  If I get up from playing to go to the kitchen, 99% of the time I can hear his little hands patting the floor as he crawls behind me to see what I'm doing.

Another milestone, he fed himself his dinner tonight.  We have given him finger foods to play with and eat for about 2 weeks, but his whole meal consisted of such this time.  He took what seemed like an eternity, but he did great!  Of course, I was ready with the baby CPR how-to pulled up on my phone, but he's a champ and proved me once again to be the over-protective mom.

Our 9 month checkup is next week, so that means more shots.  Such is life, right?  With all this time flying by, I'll soon be ordering birthday party supplies.  HOW UNREAL IS THAT?!

Happy Birthday, Jenna!

Sweet Jenna has completed her first trip around the sun, her first 12 months, and her first year of life!  Amazing how things are moving so quickly.  She is full of energy, sweet as pie, and beautiful!  Justin just loves it when they can have a play date...and so does Aunt Colie ;)

Watching Otis play in the yard

We love you, angel baby!  Hope your day is fantastic.

How Great Thou Art

Even though it sounds sappy, and perhaps cliche, every morning when I get Justin out of his crib I begin praising God for this wonderful little creation.  This itty bitty miracle I get to snuggle up with and have incomprehensible conversations is absolutely amazing.  Several people assured me that I've never loved anything as much as I'd love my children, but that's something you absolutely can't wrap your mind around until you have them.  Justin is more like an extension of myself (especially since he's nearly always with me...) than a separate person.

Our 7 month old brown-eyed wonder is cutting two upper teeth!  It's not always easy, but I think he's taking it pretty well considering.  If we thought he was a drool bucket before, we had no idea how it would be once teething started.  It just POURS out!  Sometimes gross, but not always.  :)

Justin can also sit by himself now.  That has opened up a new world of play for him.  He's definitely "all boy" and is pretty rough on his toys.  I see a future of patched jeans and broken playthings, bruises, bumps, wrestling, and such!

Otis and Justin are BFF's now!  Well, most of the time.  Otis doesn't always appreciate the ear pulling, and fur grabbing.  They love to lay in the floor together, and Justin will giggle and squeal with delight watching Otis play with a ball or listening to him bark.  I love that they love each other.  Otis marches ahead of me into the nursery every morning and at the end of both naps to get his baby up. So sweet.  :)

We've also experienced healing with his left eye!  Justin was born with a blocked tear duct that mattered up and caused issues from the first night we brought him home.  I clearly remember waking up that next morning and freaking out because he couldn't open his eye because it was so crusted over.  I just knew we'd already broken our sweet boy.  Our doctor explained that most cases clear up within a few days to 6 months, so we diligently massaged, applied warm compresses, prayed, and even tried a few other suggestions with no signs of success.  Since it had not healed by his 6 month appointment, we were resigned to the fact that we'd have to have surgery to correct it, but amazingly, on November 8, his eye was completely better!  No tearing, gunking, mattering, boogering at all!  God is good!

Now that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's are upon us, I am SO EXCITED.  I've always loved this time of year anyway, but to experience it again through Justin will be so amazing.  I can hardly wait!

Happy Half Birthday, Justin!

How time seems to fly!  Justin is 6 months old (on Wednesday)...halfway to his first birthday.  We are enjoying every moment with our sweet baby.  His little personality is quickly turning into a BIG personality!  Some of my favorite times of the day are when he is just waking from a nap and gets his first glimpse of me peeking over the crib rail.  It always results in the biggest toothless grin, and it melts my heart!

We took Justin on his first real vacation earlier this month.  We drove from Dothan to Townsend, TN (a 9 hour trip with stops for feeding figured in).  He did extremely well under the circumstances, especially since he's never been a fan of the car seat.  We drove through the Smokies taking in the colors, wildlife, sights, and sounds.  The temperatures were in the mid 50's for the whole trip, so it was perfect!

Moving into the holiday season excites me so much!  I can hardly wait to share Justin's first Thanksgiving and Christmas.  This is such a sweet and precious time.  Don't get me wrong, I miss my squishy little newborn, but now that he is happy and somewhat mobile, life is SO fun!  I want to freeze us at this moment and never let it go.  So, I do all I can while he's this age to savor and remember...because I'm pretty sure when he's 13 he won't sit in my lap and let me smell his hair.

5 months!

Our Justin-credible is 5 months old today!  He is growing and changing almost right before my eyes.  It's such a blessing being able to stay home with him and watch him meet milestones--seemingly daily!  He is such a sweet boy.

Justin is already eating veggies!  I make pureed sweet potatoes, butternut squash, zucchini, etc.  He seems to enjoy sweet potatoes the most.  He is also very ticklish!  He laughs and squeals with delight if you even mention you're going to "get him."  Justin also absolutely loves to be read to.  Any book will do, but he wants to see the pages and help you turn them...and possibly taste them if he can get close enough.  ;)

Continuing Education...Mama style.

I've always been a learner.  Not to say that other folks aren't, but in my case, I always found that being a student of ___ (fill in the blank with whatever you desire) was much more natural to me than teaching.  Can I say that the past year has taught me more than the lifetime before it?  It's certainly true. Feel free to laugh (or sympathize) at these observations and lessons from the school of motherhood, and I'll go ahead and apologize if some seems like TMI...

Things learned while surviving newborn-hood...

• Take every premonition and expectation you dreamed up while reading those well-meaning pregnancy books, listening to advice, and planning the way you thought it should be, and THROW THEM OUT.  Go with your gut.  Roll with the punches.
• There are books, articles, and lectures on how to raise your child.  Take them with a grain of salt, and know that whatever choice you make, if you feel good about it, is the right thing.
• Everyone says "You'll never sleep again..."  Not true!  You'll fall asleep sitting straight up, in the middle of conversations, you name it.  Sleep isn't the same, true, but it happens.
• And on the subject of sleep, dad will sleep through those nighttime cries.  Don't get mad at him.
• Breast feeding is a wonderful bonding experience, but not in the first few weeks.  It hurts, it's frustrating, and the baby wonders what's wrong with you...but if you stick with it, the benefits outweigh the hardships.
• If you have a c-section, don't expect to be able to walk upright for the first couple of days.
• The phrase, "This, too, shall pass" comes up wayyyyyy more than you expected.
• Growth spurts are the devil.
• Plugged ducts are the devil.
• Gas pains are the devil.
• Poo stains are the devil.
• Always take a spare change of clothes when you're out.  Hiroshima-sized blow outs happen.
• Extra crib sheets are a must, too...
• Swings, play mats, and nap nannies were invented by GENIUSES.  Get them.
• Take pictures.  Babies change hourly (seemingly).
• Keep a baby book or journal!  You will forget the day to day things that were so amazing.
• Just because you ended up 5 pounds from your pre-pregnancy weight doesn't mean your new found big booty will fit into those pre-pregnancy jeans.  
• And also in regards to the above statement--NOTHING about your body is the same.  Other folks may not notice, but you totally will. Totally.
• You will wonder, "How can something so small poop so much?"
• The first few weeks of baby's life will be consumed with poo concerns.  Never have you ever paid so much attention to poo...amount, timing, consistency, color, etc.
• Even if you never had a silly bone in your body, you will find yourself doing anything to get a glimpse of that toothless smile.
• You will fall madly in love with your husband again watching him hold and talk to the baby.
• You will develop a sense of pride in your family when they hold the baby.
• That outfit you splurged on that he'll grow out of in a week?  Yeah, he just pooped on it.
• Shaving your legs is a luxury.
• If you have a boy, point it down when you change his diaper.  Don't know why?  You'll find out.
• If you have a boy, cover it up when you change his diaper.  Don't know why?  You'll find out.
• When people ask you if you need anything, without hesitation respond with, "DIAPERS."
• You will accidentally baby talk to other people.
• That whole mom thing with licking a finger to clean a face starts early.
• No matter what Stacy and Clinton say, sweat pants and t-shirts are perfectly acceptable postpartum.
• Baby blues are almost unavoidable.  Find someone you can talk to.
• You will mourn your pregnancy as if it was a close relative that died.
• That pregnancy brain that made you forgetful and loopy?  It won't go away easily...if ever.
• That advice about napping when the baby naps...take it.
• Learn how to operate the buckles on the carseat before you try to take the baby home from the hospital and spare yourself the embarrassment.  (no, not us, right??)
• Random things will make you cry:  Johnson and Johnson commercials, not having time to clip your toenails, one of your wedding photos, someone took the last kleenex, etc...
• Even though there was some serious pain, stress, and worry, you will want to have another baby.  Amazingly.

Better late than never...

So I had all these dreams that I'd be blogging about being a new mom and all the joys and pains that come with that, right? For those of you that were initiated into motherhood before me, spare me the "I told you so's"...I get it.  But I love being too busy to update you on the joys of my new life.

Justin Michael made his appearance 3 months ago today.  I'm not all sappy (yet) wondering where the time has gone, but it does sort of blow my mind that a quarter of a year has gone by almost without me realizing it.  Let me tell you, if you want time to fly, give birth.

April 17th was quite a day for us.  We were laboring at the hospital for between 12 and 13 hours before Justin was born.  It was a smooth day up until the end, and from there it was all a little too dramatic.  We ended up with a c-section because Justin was sunny side up (aka not in the right position) and refused to leave his comfortable quarters.  I was placed under general anesthesia for the ordeal as well due to my chiari malformation, and an epidural that had run out right at the 10 centimeter, push for your life, get-this-thing-outta-me point.  So, I was not awake for his birth, and I remember nothing until the day after his arrival.  Really my memory only gets clear from the point we brought him home.  Thank goodness for videos that I have watched, sobbed over, and re-watched innumerable times.

Aside from the soap opera entrance into the world, Justin is one incredible little dude! (Hence his daddy's nickname for him: Justin-credible.)  Admittedly, motherhood has not been the most natural feeling thing for me, but we've kind of grown fond of each other since he came home.  He is such a happy baby, and, if I may say so, is so very handsome!  His little smiles just melt my heart, and make my soul sing.  He's rolling over, cooing, and holding his head up on his own.  He just loves to be outside to look around and explore his world.  I can hardly wait to show him all of it...or at least as much as we can.

As for Kerry and me, we're still the same old us!  We spent so long wondering how we could ever manage to grow from a family of 2 to a family of 3, and now we can't imagine not being this way.   Even Otis is in love with the new addition.  We are tremendously blessed, and we aren't afraid to say it.

We are so excited for what the future holds!