Goodbye 2011!!

Momma got a new haircut today! I usually cut my hair twice a year so I was long overdue for one. I took the plunge and cut about 4 inches, whoa!

It feels amazing! If only we were going out for NYE to don my new 'do but there's no place like home with my two favorite boys. 2011 was simply too fantastic for words.

Never in a million years did I think I would have a baby boy who would be a total surprise. Motherhood is my dream come true. Even on the days when I'm exhausted and frustrated with Easton, I LOVE being his mom. No one but my 16lb baby can melt my heart and make me smile when he wakes up for his 3am feeding. Every little burp, coo, smile are what make my world go round. I'm also so so thankful to God that Justin works so hard for us and I can stay home with Easton. My husband has had to make sacrifices too but has never complained. During our hospital stay, I saw a side of my husband that brought new meaning to the word admiration. He's a keeper!

My expectations for 2012 mainly include buying our first home, getting a new car, and being the best mom to my little one. If I could choose one word for 2012 instead of making a resolution it would be family. I just want to create memories and fill our home with love.

This is sad, but I need a nap before I can countdown tonight, LOL.

Happy New Year!!

Hubby is on vacation and I'm really enjoying our family time right now, not to mention it's our 2 year anniversary! I just wanted to shout that we're no longer swaddling!! My baby is growing so fast and it's these little milestones that I love writing about in his journal. I'll be back soon with pictures from his first Christmas!

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in it's place, 

But have not love- I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements, 

But have not love- my children learn of cleanliness, not godliness. 

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window. 

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk. 

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through trials. 

Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.

As a mother, there is much I must teach my child, 

but the greatest of all is.... LOVE.

~Michelle Duggar

4 months baby!

My little man is keeping me on my toes and I can't seem to find the time to blog lately. Whenever he's asleep I like to just relax but I'm trying.

4 month stats are in!

The chunkster is 16 lbs 14 oz, 25 1/2 inches long and we got the go ahead to start solids but she encouraged us to do baby led weaning.  We'll see if I can hold out that long because I would love to see what he does with food.

He also got one vaccine today and didn't cry, what a champ! I also found out what I thought were teeth are actual nodules that will go away and are common in like 80% of babies. So no teeth for now but definitely more drooling and chewing on things. The pedi also wants Easton to do some physical therapy for his little noggin. Apparently, she's not fond of a little flat spot on his head, lol. Poor guy.
Poor me too though because she told me to go off dairy for 3 weeks because his #2 is showing a possible milk intolerance.

And just to share with future baby mamas if your baby doesn't poo for days it's totally normal for breastfed babies, but after 4 months of just pooping once a week and two 10 day poop strikes I had to speak up to the pedi. I'll be giving him some prune juice from now on to help him go.

After Thanksgiving I think I may have screwed up his sleep schedule a little bit when I started putting him down later to see if he would sleep in more. Well, he did sleep in but he also started refusing naps in his crib and any nap longer than 20 minutes. One night he woke up at 4am and wouldn't go back to sleep and that's when I decided something had to change!

I started reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child and got to work all last week on fixing what I broke. I'm not letting him cry it out though. That's not for us. I started with just napping beside him in our bed since somehow he could sense when I wasn't there and would always wake up. Then over the weekend I did naps back in his crib and he would wake up once or twice but I just soothed him back to sleep and each time he would sleep a little longer. We're back to just one night feeding and then back to sleep until at least 6am. He naps after only 2 hours of waking sometimes less if he's tired. So far so good! He's still swaddled for night and naps but that's what he wants and that's how he sleeps :)

This weekend is CHRISTmas!! We're going to granddad's for the weekend and we're looking forward to being with family again. This will be Easton's first time away from home since the hospital. I'm sure he'll do just fine. I can't wait to take a million pictures!

Merry Christmas!!!

Easton has been attached at my hip this whole week making it difficult to do much especially blog. He wouldn't nap in his crib either. I've had to lay right beside him with my hand on his stomach in order for him to sleep , lol. Obviously he's currently sleeping in his crib while I blog so it's not that big of a deal. Besides I love the extra cuddles we're getting. I think he's teething too because he's been sucking on his hands and smacking his lips a lot. In fact I'm pretty sure I see his tooth already. His next appt isn't until the 19th so I won't know for sure until then. If it is a tooth then, wow, he's doing amazing because he's not fussing.

This is going to be TMI, but that's me and this is my blog so...

Sunday marked a year since Easton's existence :) Yup, I know exactly when it happened and it's all to a celebratory mood after we beat the Gators. It was nice to see another win over the weekend. We're state champs again!! GO NOLES!

Today is my hubby's birthday! He's 29!!! I'm going to rave about him because really without him Easton and I couldn't stay home. I wouldn't be this deliriously happy either. We met as Seniors in HS so we've been together forever and there's no one in this universe I'd rather be sharing my life with. This man is so patient and giving that I wonder how I got so lucky. It stinks he has to work, but we'll get to celebrate on Saturday by going to his favorite restaurant. I got him a surprise present that won't get here for a little while but I hope he likes it :)

I'm also going to brag that Easton did fabulous on Thanksgiving. It's a 2 hour drive to Great-Grandmom's and he didn't cry! He slept almost the entire drive and he giggled and cooed. I was so worried too because the night before we tried to go out for pizza and he screamed and cried the whole 10 minute drive we just turned around and went home. Let's see what happens for Christmas...

Here's my happy boy awake now!

3 months!

 

Happy 3 months to my little prince (yesterday)!!!!!!

 He loves to smile at anything (the ceiling fan) and everyone.

He loves to look at his hands and is bringing them to his mouth.

He's also starting to bring other objects to his mouth like his blanket, lol.

He has a laugh! It's so adorable and I love to hear it.

He loves to "stand up" with the help of mommy and daddy.

He weight 15 lbs!

He loves boobs!

He brings so much joy into our lives to the point of overflowing.

I'm sooo excited for the holidays! A lot of firsts are coming up like first snow! We're are going to great grandma's for Thanksgiving next week and Easton will be meeting a lot of family members for the first time. I'm wondering how the napping is going to go since he likes things nice and quiet, but it's just one day so we'll just take it as it comes. I remember last year I didn't eat turkey because I was going all vegan, lol. Can I confess I'm looking forward to it next week?! It's very hard to eat meals these days, oh with a baby and everything, so I'm pigging out on Turkey day :)

 

Hair loss, stretch marks, and jelly roll

Oh pregnancy, you are wicked to the female body.

I thought I escaped stretch marks when I was preggo but lo and behold they were secretly there all along. They're like parentheses on my new jelly roll. Also, my linea nigra is still hanging around. Thank goodness for late summer babies! I have some time before next swimsuit season.

My hair on the other hand decided not to stick around any longer. It's been falling out lately. During my entire pregnancy I probably lost 10 hairs. It's nothing major and besides I have VERY thick long hair so it might be nice to lighten it up, lol.

I should also mention acne is paying a visit too. It's gotten better since I don't wear make up unless I go out, but still it's annoying.

Lastly, my fat jeans are still the only pair of pants that fit and my wedding rings are almost wearable.

Yes, pregnancy you have forever changed me. I've learned a lot of cold hard truths since being pregnant but don't think this post is me just complaining and whining. It's to share what happened to me. These are little things that happened to my body, but it was all to create the most perfect little human being I have ever seen.

It was all so incredibly worth it and I'm excited for when I can do it all over again!