4 months

My baby boy is 4 months old! Cant believe how fast time has gone so far. 

We have done so much since my last 2 month update! 

First of all: he went to the doctor on the 5th for his 4 month check up. He had to get more shots and even though he still cried, I feel like he did great! 

His weight was 15 lbs 8oz (50%) 

His length was 26 1/2 inches (90%) 

In November, we were able to spend a lot of time with Brent, Julie, Luke and Carson! They came up to visit so that we could spend an early Thanksgiving with them. The very next weekend we traveled to Dallas to watch my niece, Kenli, play in the State Volleyball Tournament for AHS. We stayed with Brent and them and even though the girls lost in the semi's it was still a great weekend! 

That same weekend we drove to Ft. Worth to visit the Gillaspie's and their new little girl, Brooke! Even though we couldnt stay long it was still so much fun to visit and meet their new addition! 

Nathan has been a great baby. He still loves to be held and loves attention. We are starting rice cereal and baby food so that should be a fun and interesting experience. 

He is really starting to find his voice and loves to make noises. The best is in the morning on the way to the baby sitter- i dont even turn on the radio.. I just listen to him talk to himself the whole way there! 

We have found some ticklish spots on him and he just laughs and cackles which makes us crack up too! He is rolling over like a champ and loves to sleep on his stomach. 

We are still having trouble with him spitting up but i am hoping he grows out of that pretty soon. 

Here are some pictures of the last two months! 

Here is Nate's first Halloween! He was a little tiger and loved his costume! 

Here we are celebrating our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3! 

The last two months have been so much fun! Nathan is growing and changing every day and I love being his momma! 

2 month update!

I can't believe Nathan is over 2 months old already!! He got his first set of shots a week ago and poor guy did NOT like them at all. The nurse had me hold his arms down above his head and that was the worst part :( he cried but he calmed down as soon as I was able to pick him up and love on him. Here is a quick update on what he is up to: 

Weight- 11 lbs and 10 oz. doctor says this is about average 

Height- not sure but she said he is the length of a 3 month old. 

Nathan loves to be held... All of the time. He loves to be moving whether it is rocked or in a car. 

He is starting to smile all of the time and loves to kick his legs. If you stand him up on your lap and balance him he loves to push up and stand! 

Since my last post I have started back at work and Nathan has been at day care for almost a month. So far we are both adjusting pretty well.. Still hard being away from him though. Here are a few pictures of my big boy! 

We also took Nate to his first pumpkin patch... It was more for Eric and I.. I don't think Nathan really cared. Most of the pictures we took were on our camera but here are a few. 

Lastly, here is how we spent Nathan's 2 month birthday: 

Proving my point that he really likes to be held. :)

1 month update

Where has August gone? I cannot believe we are two days into September already & I officially have a 1 month old son! Every day it seems like it gets a little easier but there is always something that pops up or that he does that reminds me that even though things may be easier, I don't always have the answer. It is definitely a learning and growing experience that we are all getting the hang of one day at a time. 

Here are some things Nathan is doing: 

 

He LOVES to eat. I mean what baby doesn't but I think he would eat all day if we let him. 

He really loves his mamaroo except from the hours between 3pm-7 or 7:30pm.. He wants to be held during this time and is more fussy around this time of day. 

He started sleeping in his crib in his own room around a week and a half old and he has been great. He sleeps about 4 hours between feedings at night & I didn't realize how great it would feel to put him into bed and then go to bed in our room without him. I mean it just makes things feel a little more normal & helps me to sleep better also! 

He absolutely loves to sleep on our chest on his stomach. He doesn't even wake up to eat when he is sleeping like this.. It's so sweet to see him curled up on his tummy & cuddling. 

He also really enjoys riding in the car and being in his car seat when he is being carried to and from the car. He could be throwing a fit and the second you pick him up in his car seat he stops. 

He also tends to have this frown on his face that just cracks me up. He looks so mad/confused/not impressed with anything! 

I have taken so many pictures of our little guy and even though some are posted on Instagram/Facebook... I have tried to keep picture overload to a minimum but it is so hard!! Here are some pictures of him starting with older pictures of him and then the most recent ones. 

My volleyball girls took a picture with him.. Such a ladies man already! 

Eric and I got to go out with friends one Friday night while my parents watched Nathan.. It was much needed and we so appreciate them offering to keep him! 

Here are a couple other sweet pictures of Nathan in his bow tie and suspenders onesie and then of course him supporting his Sooners on game day! 

Here he is in this cute little Under Armour onesie that my mom got him.. I think he looks so much older in it! 

Oh and here is a classic... 

Haha poor buddy... Can't help but to laugh a little though! 

Happy One Month to my big boy!! You are so sweet and fun and are changing every day! We love you!! 

Introducing...

Wow.. I truly can't believe that after 9 months, I am officially a mom & have met my son. Such a surreal thing. It's so hard to believe that he started off the size of my pinky nail at one point. I realize everyone has their own spiritual and religious beliefs but I refuse to think that you can be a parent and not believe that there is a God. It is truly a miracle! 

Nathan was born on Saturday at 6:24pm, was 7lbs & 21 inches long. 

The nurses weren't able to start the induction process until 10:15 Friday night & to me, the entire thing went by quick and relatively easy! 

I really love being at home & getting into our own routine. I feel like I was well prepared for everything to expect during & after birth by my good friends & sister-in-law. However, the one thing I was completely caught off guard by was the extreme emotion I felt our first night home. I just cried and cried about how much I loved him. It was such an overwhelming feeling.. Maybe no one warned me about this because I am crazy & no one else experienced that :) 

The cliche's are true though.. I never knew I could love someone this much. 

Here are some pictures of my sweet baby boy! 

Pre-baby fears and thoughts

I have decided to write a post about any fears or thoughts that I think about pretty often as time comes closer and closer to having a son. At 38 weeks, he could be here any day and even though I know that it is still early, I feel like stranger things have happened and it is just a waiting game at this point.

I write these blog posts mainly for myself. I don't expect tons of people to read them or relate to them or for any of my posts to make it onto Pinterest. I really just think it would be great to look back on. Especially this post. Hopefully a year from now I will read it and laugh and most of these questions or fears will be answered or my feelings about them will have changed.

First of all, I have to say that I am BEYOND blessed to have had such an easy and healthy pregnancy as well as a healthy baby. There has never been any issues or trouble with me or him and for that I am thankful. Everyone has troubles in their lives or issues that they are working through and one quote that always made me thankful for my life was "If everyone were to throw their problems into a big pile, you would want yours back". I have always worried and stressed but when I think about the possibility of something being wrong with Nathan it is a whole other level of fear and I would take my current problems over having an unhealthy baby any day. Any mom that had severe struggles in their pregnancy or with their newborn or slight ones, I salute you. You are one STRONG momma! However, with that being said, it still hasn't hit me that he is an actual living being inside of me. yes I feel him move and yes I can usually tell which body part is where and when we saw his 3D sonogram we got a glimpse of all of his features (which totally resemble the Lewis family by the way.. Good thing my hubby is pretty good looking ;)) but its hard to imagine what is about to happen in the next few weeks and how differently life will change.

I read on a blog about a month ago where someone was pretty much in the same stage as me and she described this phase as "waiting to get hit by a truck". Obviously not meaning for it to sound like a horrible thing that is about to happen but life is about to be so different for the rest of our lives.. it is like standing in the middle of the street KNOWING that you are about to get hit by this truck but not knowing when.  I have no doubt that it will be a truck filled with tears, laughter, joy other trucks for Nathan to play with and baseballs and good and bad times but it is little crazy to think about when or how this will all go down.

Everyone has their birth stories whether it is being induced, their water breaking in public, something dramatic or something low key. I am so anxious to know what my story will be.

Once Nathan arrives, I feel like I will have so many questions. Maybe not all at once but over time so many things will happen and I wont know what to do or how to handle them. I know I probably speak for everyone when I say that my mom always has the answers. Good or bad situations, if I call her, she knows what to do and what to say to make things better. I want so badly to be that mom for my little boy. For him to know that no matter what happens, I will be able to help in some way. I know that motherhood is a growing experience and yes people talk about "motherly instincts" but I am just being real when I say, its a little terrifying to be in charge of another human life. Even when he grows up, moves away and gets married I will still feel responsible.

I know I am getting ahead of myself when I write some of this because it is a long ways away before I need to start worrying about Nathan and the kind of man he will be. There are so many stages and life events before then, but I will always pray for him to be a GOOD man. Someone with a kind heart who never says anything negative or bad about someone.. Just like his dad. Eric is truly one of the sweetest men I will ever know. I don't think I have ever heard him say something negative about someone. I pray that Nathan is a HARD worker. Someone that knows that good things comes to those who pray and work hard for them. I pray that he knows he can do whatever it is that he wants to do and that there is more to life than being good at sports or being popular. Those things will fade over time and what is left of him will determine the man that he is. I hope that he is a gentleman and knows how to treat women. I pray that he is a good Christian man. I pray that he leads his wife and future kids in that direction and isn't afraid to talk about the Lord to anyone and is willing to spread the word every day that he can. And of course I pray that I can be the mother and that Eric can be the father that lead Nathan to be this person and that we do everything we possibly can to instill these qualities and characteristics into our little boy. Seems like a lot of pressure on a parent!

It is hard to believe that he isn't even born and I am worried about his life as a teenager or an adult. I am sure this is normal and it isn't like I sit and worry about this day in and day out but its a reality that will come sooner than I am ready for.

There are so many other questions and fears I have in these next two weeks (or possibly less). I know for a fact that Eric and I will leave the hospital with Nathan in his car seat and we will look at each other with the expression of "now what?" "they just let us leave with this little human and trust we know what we are doing?" It could truly be the blind leading the blind on this whole deal but one thing I have always said is that no matter how bad labor and delivery is or how rough the first month to 4 months are.. I want to find the humor  in it all. I want to be able to laugh about it because someone is going through so much worse. Sleepless nights or a painful long delivery are all bound to happen and there will come a time when my newborn is a 6 month old turned toddler turned teenager and I will have wished I enjoyed those newborn moments a little more. This rough phase we are about to enter is inevitable... It just is what it is and there is no turning back now.

Of course I worry about things that will be happening soon, such as how my labor will start, breast feeding, life with a newborn and if he will be fussy. Finding a schedule once I go back to work, dropping him off at day care, what formula to use once I stop breast feeding. Worrying if he is still breathing at night and how to relax and give it all to Him during this time, knowing that he is being taken care of. I worry about how much tummy time to give him or how to swaddle correctly. How will he interact with our dogs and how will they interact with him?

There are so many other things that I think about on a daily basis and even though I have been told NUMEROUS times to enjoy these last two weeks, I am ready. I am ready to meet him. I am ready to be his mom and go through the tough and good times with him. I am ready to see Erics face as he meets our son for the first time. I am ready to love Eric in a totally different way as I see what kind of amazing father he is and how much our son resembles him. I know I will have questions and I know new fears will pop up along the way but I have prayed for a family of my own for a long time and I am so ready to begin that chapter. The good, the bad and the ugly. So in other words.. I think I am ready to get hit by this truck.

38 weeks...

Here is a quick little 38 week update! Ready to meet my baby boy!

How far along? 38 weeks
How big is he? The size of a leek? No clue what that is. At our 36 week appointment we were told he weighed approximately 6 lbs and 1 oz. which is about 50%.
Best moment of the week - Finishing up the nursery and getting final paperwork signed at the hospital. It's all just a waiting game at this point.
Trouble Sleeping? Yessss. Whats new though. Some nights are worse than others and sometimes it is because I can't shut my brain off, other nights its because every time I fall into a deep sleep I wake myself up by snoring... not to mention still getting up to use the restroom every 3 hours. This may be my body preparing me for whats to come.. no sleep!
Miss Anything? Definitely missing regular clothes. I hate not having anything to wear or putting on decent clothes and feeling huge.
Movement? Yes still lots of movement. The past couple of days I have had a couple scares where he didn't move like I was thinking he should but all is good!
Food Cravings? No cravings other than I still need my large ice water with extra ice from Sonic at least once a day. Watermelon and cherries have been great too!
Belly Button in or out? Out fo sho.
Symptoms? Definitely starting to feel those braxton hicks when I walk or am on my feet for a while. Once I sit down and rest they usually stop though.
Wedding ring on/off? Off :( This has been such a bummer for me these past two months. I love my ring and hate not wearing it!
Happy or Moody? Pretty happy lately
Looking forward to? Getting the show on the road!!

35 weeks and our Baby Shower!

We had our baby shower this past weekend and it was so perfect! I can't thank everyone enough for coming (especially my two good friends Lauren and Joni who travelled from the DFW area) and for all the special gifts! 

The day after the shower Eric and I went straight to Babies R Us to use our giftcards and now it's all about getting the nursery together- pictures will be coming soon when it's all finished. 

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of the shower unfortunately but here are a few: 

And here is my 35 week bump picture- home stretch!!

How far along? 35 weeks

How big is he?  Size of a honeydew melon or around 5lbs. 

Best moment of the week- Baby Shower! 

Trouble sleeping? Not sleeping very well. Constantly getting up in the middle of the night and I tend to wake myself up snoring. So annoying!

Miss anything?  Pretty much everything at this point! 

Movement? Yes and the poor guy is running out of room. When he moves it's a little uncomfortable. 

Food cravings? Still Ice Water and Sonics crushed ice. 

Belly button in or out? Out 

Symptoms? Swollen, Lower back pain and some pressure in my lower stomach. 

Happy/Moody? Still a little moody.. What's new. 

Looking forward to? Our sonogram in a couple weeks and putting the finishing touches on the nursery! 

Not baby related: also super excited for Joni's wedding this weekend!! Can't wait to celebrate!

34 weeks

How far along? 34 weeks

How big is he?  Size of a cantelope! 

Best moment of the week- getting our bedding and some decor for the nursery in the mail! Ready to see it all come together. 

Trouble sleeping? Off and on, some nights I sleep really well and others I am constantly going to the bathroom and can't shut off my brain. 

Miss anything?  Lately, mostly wearing my wedding ring. 

Movement? Yes, you can tell he is getting so much bigger because it's slower movement and more rolling of the shoulders and elbows!

Food cravings? Ice water!! It has to have ice though or I don't want it. I have even wanted cups of crushed ice to eat, which is weird because my mom always said the only thing she craved was ice chips!

Belly button in or out? Mostly outie, not all the way though. 

Symptoms? Swollen and my back really hurts after doing anything "active" and being on my feet.  

Happy/Moody? Little moody, all is good though!

Looking forward to? Looking forward to my baby shower and our next sonogram in a couple weeks! 

31 weeks and a little life update

I take so long to update my blog that I tend to forget what all we have been up to since my last post.. But here is my attempt! 

First of all- Eric and I went down to Dallas for Luke's 2nd Birthday. I can't even tell you how excited I get to see Brent and his family. It's just not right living away from your brother, sister-in-law and your precious nephews. Luke LOVES fire trucks and any other form of public transportation, so Brent and Julie were able to get a real fire truck to their house for all of the kids to see and go inside! All of his pictures are on my real camera but I did get a couple on my phone of the boys and everyone else that weekend. 

Those boys are the sweetest things ever. They have set the bar pretty high in cuteness & how well they behave.. Let's hope Nathan can take after his older cousins! 

Here is one of Eric and I that weekend.. I consider this my 28 week bump picture! 

We have been working on getting the nursery all together and even though we are still missing some things- here is the progress so far! 

We put up some new blinds.. The other ones were super cheap and broken. I think it really helps make the room more cozy. I am thinking we will eventually put a valance above the windows but it isn't a priority right now. 

And yes I do find it ridiculous that Nathan has a huge flat screen in his nursery but we had it in our guest bedroom and never used it so we figured it might be nice to watch a little tv during our midnight/early morning feedings or if we just wanna rock our sweet boy in his room :) 

I am going to go ahead and do my 31 week update... I can't believe we only have 9 weeks to go. As of June 1st we are 2 months away from meeting our precious baby boy!! 

Here is my 31 week picture- 

How far along? 31 weeks

How big is he?  One website says coconut another says a pineapple. Either way he is a little over 3 pounds.  

Best moment of the week- being done with school for the summer and getting the PE job at Bonham.. Wahoo!

Trouble sleeping? No trouble sleeping at all, I do wake up at least once a night to use the restroom though. 

Miss anything?  Definitely regular clothes.. I have a feeling this won't go away. Oh and my wedding ring fitting like it use to :( 

Movement? Yes he is active all of the time! I love to watch my stomach move. Sometimes I wonder what he is thinking when he is practically doing flips in my stomach? 

Food cravings? No cravings really. Either things sound good to me or they sound horrible.. That's about it though. 

Belly button in or out? Still not a full outie, it's struggling though. 

Symptoms? Swollen and really beginning to enter that overall uncomfortable stage. 

Wedding ring on/off? On but not for long. 

Happy/Moody? Relatively happy! 

Looking forward to? My baby shower in about a month and getting the nursery all ready to go! Also, counting down the days until we get out next/last sonogram!