We have a Winner

After our four month visit to the doctor, we were encouraged at any time to begin introducing solids.  I was excited but also anxious to see how long it would really take our little one to catch on to eating food from a spoon.  For Westley's entire life he has been breastfed only.  I have found that breastfeeding is more of a rare thing these days.  I cannot tell you the number of times that people have given me advice on what to put in his bottle and what to do with his bottle.  I sometimes want to scream, "Don't you get it, he eats breastmilk...from my breast?!?" Anyways, now that I have gotten that out of my system.  Back to the topic at hand.

I started out by trying rice cereal and below you will see that that didn't really go very well.  This was the facial expressions that I got about every time that we tried to feed him.

 I mean from the look on that face, I'd say he's not really crazy about the rice cereal.  

So after trying on and off again for weeks, I finally took some friends advice and tried oatmeal and after a few days put a little applesauce in it.  And bingo, that was the combination that Mr. Westley had been waiting for!  Within just a day we had kicking legs, and an open mouth ready and waiting for a spoonful of oatmeal.

He is strapped in, ready for some yummy breakfast.

 

He already loves his high chair, but I think he doesn't care where he sits as long as he gets that food!

 So far, he has made more progress in a week than he did in two months of trying the rice cereal. I'm so proud of him. In our last visit to the doctor, we were encouraged to give him more calories because he wasn't gaining as much weight as he probably should be.  So, after just a week I'm very anxious to see what he weighs, because I think we should be back on track. (Editor's note:  We are!  Weighed today and gained 1.5lbs!)   And we have the following menu to thank us for all the extra calories:  oatmeal, applesauce, bananas, pears, prunes, and sweet potatoes. I'll admit it, I cried when he started eating the sweet potatoes.  It was such a big boy thing to eat.  I thought, he is ready for his first Thanksgiving!

 

Yummy, I love sweet potatoes! And if he eats all his food, he gets to chew on the spoon! I think it might be his favorite part of the meal.

It's very exciting every three days to be able to introduce a new food to him and see what his reaction will be.  So far green beans have not been real popular, which I'm okay with because they smelled horrible.  But we won't give up, we'll try again.  I'd love to know, what were some of the first creative foods that your kids just loved?!

Happy Half Birthday Westley

I have been anticipating today for the past couple of weeks because to me it's a big deal.  West is 6 months old today! Even though I knew this day was quickly coming, it was still very weird to read "Westley is already half-way to a year old" in an e-mail today.  I mean we have made it!

As soon as West was born, so many friends advised us to savor every moment because it would go by so fast.  Now those first few weeks when we were barely sleeping and hating our lives, those weeks could not go by fast enough.  But once we finally felt like we entered the world again at about 4 1/2 months, it's like someone hit the fast forward button on his learning and growth.  Our sweet little newborn used to just lay there and stare at us with no response at all.  Now we have a fully active 6 month old that shrieks every time we walk into the room, stares at us until we smile at him, and even strokes at my face while I'm singing him his bedtime lullaby each night.

I wanted to celebrate the last 6 months of our sweet West with a few of my favorite pictures.

Westley's Birthday:

1 Month Old:

 

2 Months Old:

 

3 Months Old:

 

4 Months Old:  

 

5 Months Old:

 

6 Months Old:

 

I am loving this stage that he is in because each day he is learning something new and it's a miracle to witness him discover this world around him.  Bradley and I knew our lives would change becoming parents but we had no idea how much of our hearts Westley would steal.  We love him so much and feel so lucky to have such a sweet, easy baby boy that makes every day a new adventure.

It's about Surviving or Thriving

Last week was a difficult week for me because it was the first time Westley was sick and I just felt helpless.  I know it will be the first of many sick days, but it was challenging and exhausting.  As I vented about what one of my days had been like, Brad helped me sum up how I have been feeling lately and he said, "this first year is all about days where you are either surviving or thriving."  And that has been the best way I can think to describe what these last 6 months have been like.  We have just been surviving.

I have been surviving, trying to figure out my new role as a mom.  Yes, there is a motherly instinct that kicks in to some degree, but most of the time, I don't know what the crap I'm doing.  To be honest, I feel very insecure in my new role as a mom and that's a new feeling for me.  I have always been pretty confident in myself in whatever I have done.  So, I constantly feel like I'm on a roller coaster of emotions just trying to make it through each day and hoping that we survive the day. 

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom.  I love it more than I (or my family) ever thought that I could or would.  Words can not express the depth of love that I have for this little, new, man that has been in my life for only 6 months.  But crap, being a mom is hands down, the hardest thing I have ever done.  From the moment the day begins to the minute my head hits the pillow at night, it's constant.  There is always something to be done and that can be exhausting. I wish when you left the hospital you got a personal assistant and a magical manual to take home with you.  Then you could at least be able to clone yourself somewhat and have a book with all the answers when you don't know what else to do.

You know, I used to pride myself in being so organized and having my act together.  But these days, there is not even any reason to make a to-do list, or try to be organized.  Because we have piles all over this house and I will not get to one item on a to-do list for days and maybe even never.  The funny thing is it's not even big items on that list, it's things like; look up something on the computer, remember to tell Brad something, write that 2 month overdue thank you note that has still yet to be written.  

I feel 100% confident that I made the right decision to stay home and not go back to work. For myself, I think it was the right decision.  I would not have been able to juggle the stress of work and the stress of being a mom very well at all.  But, staying at home has been a lot more lonely than I ever imagined.  It can be downright depressing at times and I have had to force myself to be social or some days I would go insane.  I think that is another aspect that has really surprised me.  I don't think I was really prepared for how much my social life would change and how many friends I would lose because I was now the one with a baby.  It's been hard, but with every new chapter comes some disappointments and some new friends along the journey. 

But I'm thankful for every bit of it, because at the end of the day, Westley is the greatest gift Brad and I could have ever received.  And I know it's just a season.  It's already so hard to believe that we are halfway through this first year.  He's going to be walking and talking before I know it and I'll miss these days of snuggling during nap time and him just staring at me waiting for me to smile back at him.  In the bigger picture, the Lord is molding me and teaching me lessons through every minute of every day.  And at the end of every hard day, I would still choose to do it all over again.

Teething, a Cold, and Shots

The best way to describe this past week is that we SURVIVED.  I had so much I wanted to write about over the last few days, but it had to put on hold because it was just been one of those weeks with no time to do anything.  The only thing on my to-do list was giving West some extra tender, love, and care during a rough time for our little guy.  Between West's first cold, his two front teeth about to pop up, shots this week and mommy and daddy only sleeping about 3 to 4 hours a night, it has just been a long week. 

In an attempt to take as many pictures of our toothless little boy while we can, we captured some pretty cute moments. 

Naps are wild around here, this is what happens to his hair after only a 45 minute nap.

 

Daddy was helping keep West distracted from his terrible cold and bringing some laughter to his day.  

 West doesn't realize that one day his daddy will ask him to do this everyday.

Hopefully this week will be a little less eventful and filled with a little more rest for everyone in the family.  Stay tuned for more adventures coming this week.......

Fun Over the Weekend of the 4th

We had so much fun over the past 4th of July week.  It was so nice to have Bradley home for a couple of days since it was a holiday weekend.  And last Thursday my cousin, Zachary came in town for a few days to spend some time with us.  Westley was so excited to meet his 2nd cousin.  It meant so much to have him come visit and we loved having part of the family here with us. 

My favorite part of his trip here was on the eve of July 4th our city puts on a 5k held at night.  So, Zach, my dad, and myself took part in the festivities downtown and had a blast.  Dad was the runner in the group while Zach and myself spent most of the 3 miles making sure we didn't get passed by the 95 year old man with his walker!

For the 4th of July we got to spend the day with our dear friends, Michael, Heather, and Seth.  It was such a nice relaxing day and so much fun to let Seth and Westley get to spend a little time together.  Now granted, they barely even looked at each other.  But in my heart I know they became instant friends, since their moms also became instant friends.  It was just great to catch up and the spend the day with friends.  

I have tried all summer to be able to go swimming with Westley and every day that I have attempted it, we get rained out. The 4th of July was no exception.  So we finally decided to get a baby pool of our own and of course West could have cared less about it.  We didn't get much of a reaction at all, but at least there were no tears and he got to enjoy kicking his legs around the water. 

To him, it was just like sitting in one giant bathtub.  The first picture best captures his overall reaction to the whole event, not really sure about the whole thing.   And the second is about as excited as he got.  (I thought it only fair to respect Westley and blur out his manhood).  All in all it was a fun time in the water and I look forward to getting to put him in a real pool here very soon.

So for his first 4th of July it was a great week with friends and family!  

Such a Big Day Already

Who knew when we woke up this morning what a big day this would be for Westley?

I actually have been dreading today, because "baby bootcamp" was going to be starting back up at our house.  Since teething started, I let us fall into the habit of letting him fall asleep on me during nap times and before I knew it, naps had spiraled out of control very quickly.  So it was time to start teaching West how to fall asleep on his own AGAIN.  Plus, at one nap per day, he needed to learn how to start sleeping without a swaddle.  So, I waited until Brad was home for a few days so I could have some help and moral support with all the new changes.  Well, who knew it would be so easy today.

Challenge #1:
Now, wouldn't you know that laying him down for the first nap of the day without the swaddle he was out like a light, no crying, no fussing within a matter of minutes. Just slept like an angel!  This is HUGE people!!

Challenge #2:
After weeks of trying to get West to eat rice cereal I was getting anxious because he didn't want any part of it. And I was not sure what to do next. So I decided to try a little oatmeal instead of rice and see if that made any difference.  Ding, Ding, Ding!  That was the trick. He was actually kicking his legs and giving me a smile or two as he got spoonful after spoonful of his new favorite treat, oatmeal cereal.  So exciting!

Challenge #3:
Falling asleep on his own, in his bed, for naps.  As we approached the second nap of the day, I laid him down fully expecting to listen to crying for the next hour or so.  Wouldn't you know within about 5 minutes the kid was quietly asleep for his nap.  Now, about 15 minutes in we had a minor bump in the road as some very loud gentleman outside of my house woke him up.  My dear friends that know me, it took everything I had inside of me to not walk out there and blast them out.  Because listen, don't mess with a momma of an infant and their sleep or their child's sleep.  But by the Lord's grace, I refrained.  And our sweet boy just put himself back to sleep on his own.

 So, today has turned out to be a surprisingly, wonderful, day filled with so many accomplishments and it's just lunch time.  You know, I used to mark a day successful if I had crossed everything off of my to-do list. These days I have learned not to even make a list because I won't get to one thing on it. Now a day is marked as successful if West takes good naps, a good poop, and I get a shower.  But that's okay with me.

This little nugget is worth every bit of it.  I'm so proud of him and love him a little bit more every day.
It's just a season that I am in right now.  Some days are easier than others but before I know it he'll be off to school and I'll be missing these days of when he was a baby.  So I'm going to take it one day at a time and enjoy every moment.