Wordless Wednesday

Yummy In My Tummy

Last night Nicholas had his first bite of cereal after his bath.  Of course, he has been getting cereal in his bottles since he was three weeks old, but he seemed to like it out of a spoon and not mixed with yucky pregestimil! (yes, he is eating out of a plastic spoon! I thought I had baby spoons, but I didn't.  No fear, he only had very small bites and he has spoons now for the next meal!)

If only he could figure out what to do with it when it goes into his mouth!  Ha!  Poor baby finally figured out he needed to just swallow it.  Bless his little heart, he would just look at me as if to say, "ok, what do I do now?"  Haha!

Four Months Old!

Happy Four Months to my sweet baby Nicholas!

Daddy and I cannot believe you are getting so big!!!!  We went for your four month appointment with Dr. Spraggins on Friday and you weighed 15 pounds, 1 ounce and you were 25.25 inches long!!!  That is in the 50th percentile for weight, 90th for height and your head is in the 50th percentile too.  You had two shots and one oral "shot".  You were such a big boy and only cried for just a minute.  Also, right after I told her you were not rolling over anymore, you just flipped right over from your tummy to your back on the table!  Then you laughed at yourself!  Haha!  That is your newest "trick", you like to laugh out loud.  It is soooooo funny, although I'm worried you might have inherited my loud, obnoxious laugh!  Oops!

We did your party on Saturday, October 30, just because weeknights are hard for you.  You are pretty much ready for bed by the time you get home at 6:00 and I struggle to keep you awake until 7:00.  You get VERY fussy, as in scream your head off for the last half hour or so.  It doesn't matter what we do, you just scream.  Even with someone rocking you.  It is pitiful!  You didn't get to enjoy your party because that is how you spent it...screaming!

 The talented Becky did another FABULOUS job on your cake!  I'm loving this month's turkey! PRECIOUS!  Can't wait to see what she does for a Christmas theme!!!!

 You are starting to show more interest in your toys and your things.  You are also starting to become quite a nosey rosie!  Your teachers at school all tell me how observant you are and how you seem to notice everything.  I'm afraid you got that from me too! :-)  I've noticed that you are starting to look out of the window while we are in the car instead of sleeping like you used to do everytime we were in the car.  You LOVE to talk!  You seem to be rather opinionated!  Again, afraid that MIGHT have come from me too!  Haha!

You love to "sit up".  We prop you on the couch or in your glider all the time.  You seem to really enjoy it.  Friday after we went to the dr we stopped by Grandpa and Gigi's house and you had your first bath in the sink.  You weren't real sure about it, but did ok.

You eat 6-7oz of formula every three to four hours and you are still on pregestimil with 6 tsp of cereal mixed in.  Starting tonight, you will get 1 tsp of cereal by mouth in the evening.  We'll see how that goes!  I'm not too optimistic!  Haha!  You are in size two diapers and still wearing some 3 month clothes, but mostly 3-6 months.  You are in some 6 month pants for your long, skinny legs!  Here is an example of your routine most days:

7:00 wake up, bottle, get dressed

7:30 leave for school

8:00 get to school and play

9:00 nap

10:30-11 bottle

12:00 nap

2:00 bottle

3:00 nap

3:30-5:00 play

6:00 get home, bottle, bath

7:00 bed

You have become a VERY happy, good-natured baby and I am so happy about that.  It was a rough week last week, but overall, you are doing great and you seem to LOVE school!  This month will be your first major holiday, Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to see you when we put up our Christmas tree!  As much as you like bright lights, it will be right up your alley!  

The Best Halloween Ever

I am so excited that I finally got to dress up my own baby for Halloween.  I spent many years dressing up other people's kids as a babysitter, nanny, and preschool teacher, but this year was so special to me.  All week Nicholas had spirit week at school.  They had character day, nerd day, tacky day, pj day, and costume/pumpkin bash day, but the only one we actually dressed for was pj and costume day.  He had three Halloween outifts that needed to be worn instead!  Ha!  On Monday he wore my favorite of his shirts.  This was at the end of the day, so he was a little tired (not to mention felt bad).

Tuesday he wore his shirt that he had on in his Rocktoberfest pictures (and the ones at the bottom of this post), but with tornado warnings, fussy sick babies, and end of the day, pictures just didn't happen.  I thought he looked pretty cute on Wednesday too!  I bought this shirt the day after we found out he was a boy.

Thursday was PJ day, so naturally, we wore our Halloween PJs! Haha!

LOVE the back!

Friday he had costume day and the Pumpkin Bash (carnival) at school from 9-11.  A friend of mine at work has a little boy in his class, so we ran over to take a few pictures during a break.  You can tell that he loves school by how happy he looks in these pictures.

Our subdivision trick or treated last night and my plan was to take him to see my family late afternoon and then be at home for trick or treaters in the evening.  Here he is visiting at my parents house.  He was too busy watching football to have his picture taken.  Seriously!

My mom and I took him to see my Nana and my Aunt Kelly before I took him home.  I love this picture.

However, this picture is sooooo funny!  He was laughing so hard!  I have no clue what was so funny!

When I got him home he was starting to get tired, so I hurried and got a few pictures of him in his costume.

My favorite giraffe and his lion

LOVE that expression!

My neighbor was taking pictures, so I ran over to get a few with my camera too.  We love our neighbors and their kids are all so sweet.  Here is James, Jackson, Will, Kassidy, and Kathryn.  I have laughed since last night at Jackson's Luigi costume!  It was great!

The good witch Addi came by to see me, but unfortunately, she was tired and not into having her picture made.

By 8:00 this is what Nicholas was doing.  We did his four month birthday party and he was worn out!

Today we were supposed to go to Cleveland to see Michael's family and go to the block party, but we had a rough night with Nicholas last night.  Plus, we are all still trying to get over our cold, so we decided to stay at home and not go out into the night air.  I did put him in one last Halloween outfit and take a few pictures on the front porch.  I love how they turned out, other than the fact he refused to smile!  Silly baby!

He was obsessed with the leaves and grapevine pumpkins.

We are going to bed early and praying that we have a much better week this week and that our colds are gone soon.  It has been a LONG week around here with a sick baby and two sick adults trying to work and keep up at home.

A year ago today our life changed forever.  I took a test that morning and this is what I saw...

I had such hope in my heart that day and when I wrote this post, I just KNEW that this year I would have a cute, snuggly baby to dress up!  I'm praying that all of my friends that are still waiting have their own cute little trick or treater next year.

Pony Rides and Rocktoberfest

We had such a fun Fall weekend last weekend! On Saturday while Michael attended the UT/Alabama game while sitting in a skybox, Nicholas, Gigi, and I attended the Fabulous Miss Lauren's second birthday party.  We had so much fun!  It was an Ariel party, but also featured a super cute petting zoo. 

I have laughed so hard over the past week at how much Lauren LOVED the chickens!  I mean look at her!  She held one of the two chickens for an hour!  It was hilarious!  This girl has no fear and I love that!

Nicholas meeting the baby goat.  He was mesmerized at the animals.  He seemed to really like the bunnies and goat best.

 Gigi held Nicholas while he went on his first pony ride!  He LOVED it!  He just kept looking at it and saying "ohhhhhhh, ahhhhh".  So cute!!!!

 The world's cutest baby and I

Nicholas and Baby Zachary meeting.  Zachary is only seven weeks older than Nicholas.  They seemed to like each other!   His older sister, Riley, is one of Lauren's BFFs.

 The birthday girl and her SUPER cute cake that the talented Becky made.  We love Becky and her cakes and can't wait to see what she comes up with for Nicholas' fourth month cake!

As soon as she blew out her candle, she grabbed a cupcake and took off!  I found her sitting alone and licking her icing!  This girl cracks me up!  We had so much fun at the party and we were so glad we got to come!  It was a great party for Nicholas' first birthday party experience!  I can only imagine how many more parties we will be attending in the future!

Sunday was a beautiful day here in Chattanooga!  It was 75 and sunny, perfect!  For those of you who may not know, our city is surrounded by mountains and one of my favorite places in the entire world (and that includes my favorite city of London, England) is Rock City on Lookout Mountain.  My Nana used to take me there when I was little and Michael and I love to go up there at Christmas for their "Enchanted Garden of Lights".  We bought annual passes that will allow us to visit anytime we want, any day of the year!  I am so excited to get to take Nicholas to my favorite local place!  In October they have "Rocktoberfest" every Saturday and Sunday with German food, beer, and music.  It was so much fun!

Rock City isn't stroller friendly at all, so we babywore for the first time.  It was a hit!  Nicholas loved it!  Here they are at "lover's leap".  From there you can look out and "see seven states" (what Rock City is best known for).  You can see downtown Chattanooga in the far left corner of this picture.

 Happy Baby blowing raspberries, his new favorite trick!

 Ok, let me first say that I can barely eat a hot dog.  Something about it just seems gross to me, so imagine what a stretch this was for me!  Michael insisted that I HAD to have a brat.  I can do the potatoes and sour kraut, but the brat was a little much for me!

 I love, love, love this picture!  Nicholas has the funniest face in this picture.  He is so animated!

Mommy and her sweet boy

After we got home, Nicholas developed a cough and stuffy nose.  As you know from the last post it escalated into a full blown cold by Wednesday and we are still praying he continues to get better before Halloween!  He is doing better today, so I'm hoping he wakes up all better by morning!

Baby's First Cold

Nicholas wants to show you how he has looked most of the week...

And this is what you will see if you come to our house...

Poor Baby Nicholas, Mommy, and Daddy have all been sick since Sunday night.  Nicholas has had bad sinus/cold stuff going on since Sunday night and then I started feeling bad on Monday night.  Mine came and went, but last night Michael and I both felt terrible.  I'm living on tylenol cold and sinus and Nicholas is loving some boogie wipes and his Vick's Vaporizer.  He hasn't had a fever, but just really stuffy, coughing, and irritable.

I've been looking forward to my baby's first Halloween for years and I am praying so hard he is better in the morning.  He and I both are feeling rough tonight and he had a rough day at school, so we may be staying home tomorrow if he has a fever.  Even worse, Michael and I were both sick for our first Halloween, so I'm a little worried he might be keeping the family tradition alive and well.  Pray that he starts feeling better soon and is able to wear his precious giraffe costume and have a fun Halloween weekend!

I'm sorry I'm so behind, there is a lot to write about soon!  I also haven't read any blogs this week.  Hopefully I'll be able to catch up tomorrow or Saturday.

I'm In Love

A year ago this week I was having follicle studies and praying that this would be our month.  The dr saw one of the largest follicles he had ever seen on femara and I wrote this post.  Sometimes it is so hard for me to believe all that has happened over the past year.  God blessed us so much and we are forever grateful.  I have thought about where I was a year ago so much this week and I know there are a lot of you in that same place.  I am praying for you all to get your miracles soon.  Please do not lose hope, remember everything happens in God's perfect time.

In all the time it took us TTC and during the 38 weeks I was pregnant, I never dreamed I would love someone as much as I love this sweet, adorable little person!  I've looked at this picture one hundred times in the last two days since I took it and I am just amazed that he is mine. He was SO worth the wait and as I tell him all the time, I can't imagine my life anymore without him.  He is the best gift I have ever received and I hope he understands one day what a special blessing he is to us.

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. 

Psalms 126:3

Wordless Wednesday

A Boy and His Dog

Handsome Boy

It was a crazy day for me at work today, but apparently it was crazy for Nicholas too!  He was in bed, asleep by 6:30!  His teacher is on vacation this week for Fall break and he had a good day, but just didn't want to nap.  He ate his "dinner" bottle at 4:45 instead of when we got home (he usually eats around 5:45-6), got a bath, and was in bed before we normally even have a bath.  He was just not having any playtime tonight.  Poor baby!  He had a good day otherwise. I forgot to say that on Saturday he had his first outloud laugh.  It was hilarious!  Unfortunately, he seemed to have inherited my loud, obnoxious laugh!  Haha!  He  looked surprised when he did it and must have thought it was funny because he couldn't stop once he started.  It may not have helped that my mom and I were laughing even harder at him.  Hmmm, maybe he was just mocking me?!  Haha!  I made Michael get a picture of him before school this morning.  I thought his shirt was funny!

I also have a prayer request today.  When I was a little girl I stayed at an in home daycare with about 20 other kids in a lady's house.  She had two helpers and had converted her basement to a preschool/daycare.  I stayed there from the time I was four until I started school.  Even then I stayed there in the afternoon and summers until I was eight or nine.  Well, she and her husband were in a very bad accident last night and are in the ICU.  They are elderly and have a very long recovery ahead of them.  I know she would appreciate all of your prayers.

I'm So Behind, So Let's Get Caught Up!

I am so behind! This working, taking care of N, and trying to stay up with the blog thing is hard work! Ha!  Nicholas had a great past two weeks at school and it is getting easier for us all now that we are in somewhat of a routine.  Michael gets up with him around 6:45 then we leave around 7:30.  I pick him up between 5-5:30 every day except for Tuesday and that is when Michael picks him up around 3.  We come home, eat a bottle, get a bath, then he is in bed by 7.  He is so tired when he gets home he doesn't let me put him down.  It is a little crazy these days!!!  I feel like I haven't taken very many pictures lately.  Bad mom alert, right here!

Last weekend we had a quiet weekend.  We went outlet shopping with my mom on Saturday and found him a lot of cute things at Carter's outlet (I LOVE Carter's, Baby Gap, and Gymboree for him).  Sunday we just went downtown to eat at Blue Plate by the TN River.  It was a nice day on the patio there overlooking the river and the Aquarium.

This weekend has been a lot busier.  I had to see patients Friday afternoon, so we were at work and daycare until 5 (I have been trying to leave by 3:30 on Fridays so we have a little time to play before bedtime).  Poor Nicholas is SO tired by Friday afternoon.  He was asleep in bed by 6:15 and slept until his usual 7am!  I took this one Thursday when we were getting ready for school.  How cute is this?!

Yesterday we had a busy day.  I went to have my pedicure, but instead I got a shellac manicure.  I AM IN LOVE!  It is just like having a gel overlay, but instead it is just a polish.  It will stay on my nails until it is taken off in two weeks. Last night we went out for Michael's Grandmother's birthday.  I didn't get any pictures at the restaurant, but I did get a few when we got home.  How cute is his outfit?!  I bought it at Gap right after we found out he was a boy because it looks exactly like something Michael would wear.

Today was our favorite Chattanooga Market of the year, the Firehouse Chili Cookoff!  It is where five different Firehouses compete against each other for the area's best chili.  We voted for Cleveland this year.  The proceeds go to MDA, but we always want to support our local Fire Depts.  We owe them so much for all they did for us that one night.

We went with Courtney and Lauren and it was so much fun!  I took this picture with my phone, but I just HAD to show you Nicholas in his pumpkin hat! Haha!

I'm going to be so sad when Todd, Courtney, and Lauren move to Texas.  I wish we could figure out a way to keep them here!!!  I almost cried when we left them today just thinking about it!  I'm going to be a mess when they do move.  I am so thankful for all of the awesome friends I've met through blogging.  You know who you are!  You girls are such good friends and I'm so thankful for you!