3 Months

Anderson,

We made it to the 3 month mark!!!  Those first few weeks of your life are starting to fade...not sure if that is good or bad.  I don't remember as vividly as I used to just how tired, clueless and scared I really was.  Apparently time does heal all wounds :)

You have had a very busy 3rd month of life.  You got to meet all your "West Girls" Aunts and your friend Gus at baby Charlotte's shower, met your cousin Malia and your aunt Stephanie, had your first play date with Austin, met your great grammy and great grandaddy, met your great grandma (Deedee), met your new playmate and "sister" Emerson, lots of nanny/poppy/O'Malley and mimi/pops time, several house hunting trips, packed up your house in Knoxville and moved to Charlotte.

You have continued to grow and develop right before our eyes.  Not only do you love sucking your pointer finger, now you love the entire fist.  Your neck has final gotten stronger and your cheeks don't weigh you down as much.  You can hold your head up and lift your head up while you are having tummy time.  You like to roll from your back to your side but then stop.  Thankfully you have no started rolling all the way over yet.  Your newest thing is drooling...not sure where it came from.  But you are constantly blowing drool bubbles and letting it soak your shirt.  You smile and laugh every time we hold you in a standing position.  You got in the johnny jumper for the first time and LOVED it!  I see many hours of jumping in the near future.  You are continuing to sit in your bumbo for longer stretches.  You are reaching for toys and hit them back and forth.  I wouldn't say you are actually holding them yet, but I think that will be any day now.

I go back to work on Tuesday and all of our routines will change a bit.  Although I'm excited to go back to work, I will miss you so much during the day.  You will be well loved during the day with Miss Beth and Emerson.  I have to travel a few different times during October and November so you will have a lot of "dad and lad" time.  Hopefully by your 4 month birthday, we will have found a house for us to move into....here's to hoping!

We are thankful that you got your dad's genes of being flexible.  You have been great during our travels (minus the meltdown you had on the way back to TN last time), sleeping in different cribs, houses and not letting it mess with your sleep schedule.

Each month gets better and better, and we're excited about all the milestones ahead.
We love you sweet boy!

3 Month Stats:

Weight- 13lbs 4 oz (I weighed you on our home scale so not sure about accuracy)

Length- 25 inches I think.  We got out the measuring tape and it seems you have grown

Eating- still taking a bottle at 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 7:30pm (about 4oz-5oz each feeding)

Naps- 3 naps a day ( about 1 hour each)

Night time- most of the month you were sleeping about 10-11 hour stretches and then going back to bed for 2-3 hours.  For the past 2 weeks, you have been sleeping 12-13 hours at night. THANK YOU JESUS!!!  You go to bed between 7 and 7:30 and wake up no later than 8:30am.

Behind

As you can tell, blogging has taken the back burner lately! The last month has been pretty busy for us. We were getting the house ready to put on the market and then the good Lord blessed us with multiple offers a few days later. We are VERY thankful our house sold so quickly!
We have also made multiple trips to Charlotte and Winston over the last several weeks. Lots of house hunting, grandparent and friend time.
We are trying to finish packing our house but it is much more challenging this time around with an almost 3 month old. The last few days have been spent packing, eating at our favorite restaurants and getting in as much friend time as possible!

Poor little Anderson has a lot of change coming his way...leaving our house in TN, moving into a friends lake house for who knows how long and mommy going back to work. Let's hope he is much more flexible than me!

With all that to say, our house and lives are a little crazy and disorganized right now. I have a lot of blog catch up to do very soon!

Nanny with her 2 favorite boys...and of course O'Malley always has to be touching A


Hanging out with Abs and Gus


Meeting Deedee, his great grandma



Trying to pack while keeping the baby entertained


Still a happy baby among the craziness



I will become a much more regular blogger after the move...hopefully!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2 Months

Happy 2 Months, Anderson!

It's been a busy month for you...travels, new faces, lots of "firsts", more sleep and a much happier momma.

We went to the doctor yesterday morning and you got your first vaccines.  The first one was oral and you gulped it down, then came the 3 shots.  Your chubby face turned bright red and you started screaming like I have never heard before.  You were so pitiful.  Once the shots were over, I scooped you in my arms and you stopped crying.  I am sure the shots hurt (and you were a little shocked) but I think you added a little drama into those screams.  You might not have my looks, but you sure do have some of my personality. 
I loved you the minute you were born, but my love for you has really grown over the past month.  You are sleeping great at night and I really appreciate that.  Every time you smile and giggle, my heart melts.  The next month is going to be really busy for us, so hope you are ready for it!

2 Month Stats:

Weight- 12lbs 5 oz (hoss)- 75% percentile

Length- 24 inches-75% percentile

Eating- taking a bottle at 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm and 7:30pm

Naps- 3 naps a day (some good days and some bad ones)

Night time- sleeping 8-11 hour stretches at night

Firsts this Month:
-Road trip to Tuscaloosa, AL
-first Mexican birthday party
-Birthday party for cousin, Nate
-smiled and giggled for the first time
-Met more of your relatives (Ohio Briners)
-went swimming for the first time
-had your first kiss...even if it was from your cousin
-grew another chin :)
-sat in the bumbo
-move from one end of the crib to the other during the night (crazy)
-began making funny faces (example in picture below)
-found your hand and love sucking it
-continue to love sleeping on your stomach (I know, call DSS)

 

Happy TWO Year Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my boo!  It has been a crazy and full year with so many great memories.  

We (me) got pregnant, we both continued to travel non-stop for work, took some fun trips, made lots of memories with dear friends, bought a house in Knoxville, almost made me move to Texas,  took a job in Charlotte and put that recently bought house back on the market....just to name a few!

Through it all, we have continued to follow the challenge Nathan gave us on our wedding day and follow the 3 C's.

 

1. Never stop COMMUNICATING with each other. Even after long days and when we are angry.
2. Never stop CONFIDING in each other. Remain best friends with Jesus first and then each other, keeping the freedom to confide fully & without shame.
3. Never stop COURTING each other. Your family & job are demanding but continue to date each other.

Mike arranged for us to have a date night tonight complete with a babysitter!  Anderson loves Brenda (he is a sucker for spanish speaking women) and I know he will be just fine.  I might have an extra glass of wine at dinner so I'm not stressed about leaving my 7 week old.  But I am counting down the hours until I get to dress up, not smell like spit up and have a quiet dinner alone with my husband.

 Happy 2 Year Anniversary to my best friend and partner! 

 

**we had 2 showings today and 1 of the couples is coming back tomorrow for a 2nd look.  Praying that "2" is a lucky number and our house sells quickly!

Blog Name Change

We wanted to put something in Anderson's nursery that represented our love for Charlotte.  I found this on etsy and knew it would be perfect.  Charlotte holds a special place in our hearts and we truly feel like it is "home".

Mike and I have had A LOT of discussion and prayer over the last few months about what we want for our family and what our careers will look like going forward.  That led to Mike looking at a few different job opportunities, lots of interviews, research on different states, pro/con lists, tears, more discussion and lots of prayer.  In the end, Mike decided the job in Charlotte was the best decision for our family during this season of our life.  It goes without saying that I am SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!  We LOVE our house, neighborhood, and of course our sweet friends here in Knoxville, but are excited to be back in Charlotte.  Couldn't I just make our friends move to Charlotte with us?!  But in the end, we know moving to Charlotte is the right decision.
There's nothing like having a 6 week old, trying to sell your house, looking for a new house and trying to figure out a move!  There is a lot going on but we feel very blessed to move closer to family and friends. Stay tuned for more updates and a new blog name. Here we go...

Road Trip

Last week, we took our first family road trip.  It is no surprise that I was a little anxious about how the trip would turn out considering Anderson isn't in love with his car seat.  

We hit the road Friday at noon and Anderson fell right to sleep.  We stopped about halfway through the trip so I could feed Anderson and he could stretch.  I tried to have "playtime" once he hit the road again and Anderson was out 5 minutes later.  He basically slept the entire trip and was ready for family time when we arrived in Tuscaloosa.

 Mom couldn't get her hands on A fast enough and Abby was not far behind.  It was so precious to see how much Abby loved on Anderson the whole weekend.  She is so motherly already and couldn't stop touching, kissing and singing to him.  Abby sings "Jesus loves me" 24/7 (seriously) and loved singing it to Anderson...or anyone that will listen.

Friday night we all hung out and ate a delicious meal that Em cooked.  We headed back to the hotel that evening to set up the pack'n'play and put the little nugget to bed.

 Cousin make-out session

 Lora is seriously the best aunt ever and of course the kids love her!

 We all had a good night and woke up ready for Nate's 5th birthday party.  Nate's party was Power Ranger themed and Em did a great job as usual with all the decorations.  I was on camera duty part of the time and tried to capture Nate and all his friends having a ball.  Lora, Mike and mom were great about entertaining Anderson so I could take pictures.  

Near the end of the party, Mike and I headed back to Em's house to put Anderson down for a nap  (schedule nazi over here).  For the rest of the afternoon, we just relaxed at Em's house and watched Nate open all his gifts.  He was so cute opening the gifts.  He got so excited about each gift and took his time to open the gift, play with it and then move on to another one.  That evening, we all headed to Iguana Grill for dinner and it was so good.  My sisters made me drink a little too much so I could loosen up and relax!  We passed Anderson around as usual and tried to over stimulate him so he would sleep really well.

Sunday morning we hit the road to head back to Knoxville.  Anderson did a great job again and slept almost the whole way.  I'm hoping he got the memo that we like to travel and he needs to get used to it.

I always love hanging out with my family and it was nice to get out of town for the weekend.  I can't wait to do it again in 2 weeks!!!  Labor Day can't get here soon enough.

One Month

Anderson,

I'm a little late (no surprise) with this post but you have been keeping me pretty busy.

You have survived ONE whole month with us- that is a huge accomplishment.  During the first 3 weeks of your life, you had lots of visitors staying with us.  Nanny, Poppy, Aunt Em and Aunt Bones were here for a while and were a HUGE help.  They cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped, let mommy nap and took care of you.  It was heaven to have so much help during those first few weeks.  When everyone left, I was scared and didn't know if I could do it on my own.  When things aren't routine or predictable, I have a hard time.  To say your mommy isn't flexible or easy going would be the understatement of the year.  

But you and I are starting to get into a daily routine now that everyone is gone.  Some days are better than others and I long for the day when you are sleeping more.  I spend most days thinking about the day before and what we could do differently to ensure more sleep.  I will hopefully learn to let it go and just enjoy you being a cute little newborn.  

You are eating like a hoss and have continued to grow more chins.  I asked the doctor if I should limit your food so you wouldn't get too fat and she laughed at me.  Don't worry, I won't send you off to fat camp yet.

I took you to the doctor this week because you seemed to have a little cold or maybe an allergy.  At the appointment, you weighed 9lbs 12oz so we are not worried about you growing.

sorry this picture of you isn't great, but I wanted to see if the outfit fits you now.  I can't believe how much you grew in 3 weeks!

For some reason, you don't like to nap.  You could sleep in my arms all day, but don't love to nap in your room.  We're working on it though and I am determined to make you fall in love with nap time.  You are eating every 3 hours and we'll hopefully stretch that to 3.5 hours in the next few weeks.  During the night, you wake every 3.5-4 hours to eat.  A few nights ago you had a 5 1/2 hour stretched.  I woke up in a panic and ran into your room to make sure you were still breathing.  Sure enough, your butt was in the air and you were in dream land.  I have already put you on your stomach to sleep (I know, everyone says not to do it).  But you HATED to be swaddled and on your back...so we made the executive decision to put you on your stomach.  You seem happier and there have been fewer tears and screams.

You have started to smile this week!  We're pretty sure it's because you love us and not because of gas (although you are a farting machine).  It blows our mind how much you continue to change every day.  We can't wait for you to get older so we can sleep more, but I know we will miss all the newborn stuff.  I can't get enough of your sweet chubby face when you fall sleep on my chest or the funny noises you make all day long.  We are enjoying your cute old man expressions and are looking forward to seeing your personality develop.  

We love you little man!