A New Era Begins, Part One

For some reason this post got posted without any of the content...no clue!  Oh well, let's try this again! 

For about the past two or three months, Nicholas has had a very hard time staying asleep and seemed very uncomfortable in his crib.  He has always been an EXCELLENT sleeper (well, once we got his reflux/milk allergy under control) and has slept through the night every.single.night but one since he was 11 weeks old, so I knew there had to be something up.  At the first of the year I made the decision to start looking for a "big boy bed".  When we found out he was a boy we decided he just HAD to have a car bed when the time came.  I hit the Craigslist jackpot and found this twin bed in excellent condition for only $50!!!!

Last Friday, January 20, we set it up and moved out his crib.  He seems to love it!

I have to admit.  I had to take a break and cry while taking his bumper and sheets out of his crib.  I spent two and a half years planning this nursery, how could I just take it all apart in a matter of minutes.  It absolutely broke my heart that after all of the time I spent planning it and all of the memories that room held, it was time to move on to the next chapter.  The week before we moved his glider out to make room for a new dresser and I just HAD to rock him once more (it is rare that we do that, he probably thought I had lost my mind).  I cried a lot thinking of how far we had come since the day he came home...

 As soon as we got home on July 4, 2010 I laid him in his crib to get a few pictures of him next to his monogram.  He also took his first nap in his bed that afternoon.  How was my baby ever THAT small?!

 I could not be any more proud of my BIG BOY!  He LOVES his bed and loves to show it off to anyone that comes by!  More importantly, he has transitioned like I never dreamed he would.  The first night he slept 12 hours without a single whimper...HUGE accomplishment for the baby that has been crying out several times a night for months.  The next day he took TWO naps (not just one) in his bed and did great!  From that point on, he has never looked back!  We have now made it an entire week and not one bad night or problem to speak of!!!!  Poor boy was just too big for his crib!!!

About a year ago it was time to get my canvas from Kim Wheeler.  I wanted something that would grow with him, so I went ahead and picked out his quilt from PBK and have the canvas match it and his crib bedding.  I found the quilt on eBay the day after we bought his bed and it is so cute and just perfect for his room and personality.  I love how it looks all together.

 Last Sunday after two successful days and nights in the "big boy bed" we took his crib apart and moved it to the attic.  I wanted one more picture of him by his crib.  Oh my sad heart!

Yes, my "big boy" has a paci in his mouth in all of these pictures.  He was sick that entire weekend with a double ear and sinus infection.  He is allowed his paci when he is sick, otherwise it is only at nap and bedtime.  :-)

There are still some more changes to go and a few projects I am working on for his room.  I am planning a part 2 to this blog in a month or two when it all gets completed with details.  

Happy 18 Months Sweet Nicholas

My dear, sweet Nicholas, how are you already half way to your second birthday?  My heart gets sad when I think about how old you are and how big you are getting to be.  It seems like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital and thought you were HUGE at almost 9 pounds, now you really are a BIG BOY at 26 pounds, 7 ounces, and 35.5 inches.  You are in the 100th percentile for height, weight, and 90th percentile for head circumference.

You are quite a little mess, but figuratively and literally! Ha!  You are VERY busy and all boy and I love it! I wouldn't want it any other way!!!  We have so much fun with you.  You have developed an adorable little personality.  You laugh all of the time and very rarely cry (unless you are extremely tired or hungry).  People stop us when we are out and about to tell us how cute and happy you are.  That always makes me happy that people can tell what a good baby you are.  You LOVE to gabber, but in the past month you've started talking a lot more.  You now say Mama, Daddy, Gigi, dog, hi, bye bye, more, thank you, you're welcome, boom, book, baby, go, cheese, and several other things I just can't think of right now.

You love to mimic what we are doing.  You always enjoy walking around "talking" on our iphones and the house phone.  Every time you see your Gigi the 1st thing you want to do is ask for her phone.  Dancing has become another favorite of yours.  Puzzles and coloring are becoming favorites as well.  Your favorite toys right now are your kitchen, Little People sets, and Cozy Coupe.  You still love going to school.  You moved up to the Caterpillar class at 18 months.  You still sleep on a mat and eat at the table.  Within the past month you've started walking into school and straight to your room.  You love to wave and say "HI!" to everyone we pass in the hallway in the morning and "BYE!" in the afternoon.  When I walk in your room at the end of the day you've started running up to me screaming "HI MAMA!"  Makes my day Every.Single.Day!!!

You are still quite the little eater, or maybe I should say BIG eater!  You love everything, but your favorite foods seem to be taco soup and chicken spaghetti.  Grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup seem to be running a close second.  You are still a little picky about veggies, so I've been giving you Gerber Grabbers and you LOVE them.  It is such an easy way to get your fruits and veggies in for the day.

Daddy has been working a lot more.  You love it when Daddy gets home before you go to bed.  Your routine is still pretty much the same.  During the week, you get up around 7, eat a banana and drink some milk, Daddy gets you dressed and ready for school while I finish getting ready.  We leave around 7:25 and get to school by 8. I pick you up around 5 and we get home around 5:30.  You play while I finish dinner, eat, then bath.  Our bedtime routine is to brush your teeth, put on your pjs, read a book, say your prayers, and after I turn on your sound machine you just go to sleep on your own around 7:30. On the weekend you sleep until 8 or 9:00.  I am very proud of how independent you are and what a good sleeper you've always been.

You are in 18-24 month clothes at Carter's, Gymboree, Gap, and Old Navy along with some 2T things in boutique brands.  You are still in size 4 slip on diapers and recently moved up to size 5 at night.

I love the little man you've become and I can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring until you are TWO!!!!  We love you and thank you for making me the Mommy I've always wanted to be!

Christmas Day 2011

We got a wonderful Christmas present from Nicholas...he slept until 8:30!!! I had already gotten up and had our breakfast ready to go.  We had a Christmas standard in my family, sausage rolls.  Think a Jelly roll, but instead sausage and biscuit.  YUM!

 As soon as he finished eating we set the camcorder and led him into the living room to find his presents from Santa.

Nicholas got me a wonderful gift.  It is a stackable mother's ring.  It has his name, birthdate, and birthstone.  I LOVE IT!  It looks lonely by itself, so I've been stacking it with my wedding set.

This picture just makes me laugh. He got a TN hat in his stocking and he wore it the rest of present time! Ha!

 After we opened presents and played with our new toys, we went over to my parents to see what Santa left there.  Nicholas is a very lucky little man.  Santa brought him a Pottery Barn Anywhere chair there!

 Nicholas had more gifts than one little boy every should from them.  We are very blessed.

 Here is Nicholas with his Grandpa and Gigi in front of their tree.

 After naptime, my extended family came over for our Christmas.  Of course, Nicholas was the center of attention...again.

 He loved his new sunglasses.  He is still incredibly cool, even with a paci!

 He had a little accident and threw up on his outfit, so he had to have a wardrobe change into his pjs.

 We got all of the Great Grandparents a framed picture of Nicholas and a calendar with pictures of his last year.  They loved them.  Here is my Nana opening hers.

 Our family on Christmas night.

 Here is a funny picture for you.  A few days before Christmas I noticed that one of my Barbie ornaments off of my big tree was missing.  I found her here...

What can I say, Barbie loves Jesus.

Our family had a very Merry Christmas and we hope you did as well!  May you all have a very happy New Year and wonderful 2012!  Thanks for reading about our little family and I hope to do much better in 2012 keeping you all up to date.

Christmas Eve 2011

We had a very busy Christmas season (as you can tell by the fact I had absolutely NO blogging activity for a month!).  We hosted both Christmas Eve (as always) and Christmas Day this year, plus I worked every day until December 23.  Needless to say between work, hosting 2 Christmas family events, and chasing a very busy toddler, blogging fell to the wayside.  I am going to try to do better in the new year. Scroll down to see our Christmas card.  Bear with me and I am going to do a few posts over the next few days to get caught up! 

On Christmas Eve I had a few last minute things to finish and one of those was dipping Oreo balls and making peppermint bark.  I enlisted the best assistant I've ever had...

The only downside to this assistant was that he wanted to sample them all.  I had to make him spit a couple out! Oops!

We made my thumbprint cookies I make every year, but instead of strawberry jelly in the middle I used peppermint kisses and rolled them in sugar...a la Pinterest!  They were very tasty!

Nicholas all ready for Christmas Eve. LOVE his Mud Pie overalls!

Nicholas did ok opening gifts, but really wasn't that into it.  He did well for two or three, then lost interest.

 We gave both sets of Grandparents a 11x14 canvas on Nicholas.  It was a huge hit with both and I'm so glad I did that.

 Nicholas wanted to climb on all of his gifts...it went ok until he fell in one! Hahaha!

 Our family on Christmas Eve!

 Nicholas got a kitchen from his Granddad and Mimi.  He LOVES it!  He has played with it for countless hours since.

After everyone left around 9, we cleaned up and got ready for Santa.  Here are the cookies and milk we left out.

 Santa did come and he left some awesome new toys!

 Nicholas LOVES all things pirate.  Santa brought a Mega Block ship, a hooded towel, and a couple of books.  Michael and I got him a pair of Kidorable Pirate rain boots that match his raincoat.

 He also brought a Dance Star Mickey (which he is afraid of, go figure!), a Little People Zoo, Jeep, and Fridge Phonics.

To Be Continued Tomorrow...

A Belated Merry Christmas From Our Family To Yours

Merry Christmas from The Ledford Family (albeit a little late) 

Merry Christmas Eve From Nicholas

What is that you say?

 SANTA is coming...TONIGHT?!

No Way?!

I know him!

I've been a good boy ALL year long!

Can't you tell?!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE from our sweet boy!
I have spent a lot of time this Christmas season teaching Nicholas the real reason for the season.  We have a  do Santa at our house, but we also focus on the birth of Jesus and that it is HIS birthday.  Nicholas knows that if you ask where Baby Jesus is, he runs over and picks Him up out of his nativity.  I want him to always know and understand that Christmas isn't about receiving gifts or Santa, but about Jesus.

Holiday Fun Weekend

Last week was a week that I hope to forget and not live again anytime soon.  It started at 3:15 last Monday morning when I woke up with a kidney stone.  I ended up in the ER by 8:45 and luckily passed it without any drugs almost as soon as I got there.  Since I had not had any drugs or any meds, I decided to just walk over to work.  Due to a policy you have to work the day before and after a holiday to be paid for the holiday, so since this was an unplanned absence, I had to work.  As if that was fun enough, my boss got admitted to the hospital and almost died that afternoon.  It was a very emotional, exhausting week to say the least.  I had already planned to take off on Friday and I am very glad I did.  I needed a day off.  Too bad I left my phone charger in my office in Thursday and had to go in Friday to pick it up.  While I was there I ended up having to reschedule our patients for Monday and surgeries for next week.  Nicholas was a great little helper!  :-)  Friday night was e-KIDS Christmas program.  One of my favorite things about Nicholas' school is the Fall Festival and Christmas program.  I love that even the babies are able to get participate!  He looked so grown up and handsome in his little outfit. **tear**

 His class were the Wizards of Winter and played their guitars.  They were adorable say the least!

 Here he is on the screen.  He was a little overwhelmed at the audience!  Haha!

 Yesterday I finished up my shopping with the exception of making calendars for our parents and grandparents.  We also saw Santa...more on that another time.  Nicholas has been in teething hell for the past week.  I noticed Friday night that he is getting several of his teeth, including 2 molars, at once.  Bless him!  :-(  Last night Nicholas stayed with Ms. Carla, our favorite teacher from school, and we had a much overdue date night.  It was great to have a night out alone for a change.  Definitely much needed after last week.

Today I spent about 2 hours preparing meals for the next 2 weeks.  More on that tomorrow, but I made 2 chicken spaghettis, 2 taco soup, hamburger steaks, and a roast.

 Tonight my mom and I took Nicholas to Caroling With The Fish at the TN Aquarium.  It was a lot of fun and he loved the fish.  He would point and scream FISH!  Haha!

I'm hoping to do meal planning Monday tomorrow, but I need to do a detailed freezer meal post, so it may be later in the week.  It will just depend on my day tomorrow.  Continue to keep Dr. Smith in your prayers. He is still pretty sick and in the hospital.  We are hoping he can go home by Wednesday and back to work by next week, but not sure.