OMGeez, I'm Such a Slacker/ My Baby is 7 Months Old?

Hey friends!

I hope you'll not hate me too much for disappearing lately. I'm sorry I've been away for some time, but the good news? I'm back! I took the GACE on Saturday. For those of you not from Georgia, or even those of you in Georgia who don't know too much about becoming a teacher, the GACE is the test you must take in order to teach a certain subject area. I took the English GACE tests to teach high school. I'm pretty sure my brain died on Saturday and is just now coming back to life.

For the past couple of months, I've felt guilty if I got on the computer to do anything except study. I know, I know. No excuse for disappearing. Also? I won't get my scores back for about a month. I think I'm just going to try to forget I took it until it's time to check my score. So, what better way to forget about those crazy tests? Obviously hanging out with my little guy. And guess what. He's 7 months old now. How did this happen? I'm not sure. Am I ok with it? Um, not really. He's getting big way too fast. I love every new milestone he hits, but I miss all of the more "baby" things he used to do. One in particular? Sleeping 9802934 hours a day. I know this is all part of it, but I feel like he is seriously bigger and smarter every day.

So, without further ado, here's his letter.

Baby Will,
I'd like to know who gave you permission to get this big. Go ahead. Tell Mama, because I have a thing or two I'd like to say to whoever it was. Along with getting bigger, you are getting sillier and more dramatic. You've been pretty dramatic since day one, but it's getting more and more intense and hilarious. For instance- you love to fake cough. You started this one morning while I was changing your diaper. I looked at you and you just started coughing. You also like to clear your throat, especially when your Daddy is doing it. It's kind of a game with the two of you. He clears his throat and you follow with your own little sound.

I've also been making your food lately, and not only is it fun, but you LOVE it. Seriously. Right now I think your favorite food is sweet potatoes.

Your 6 month appointment with your doctor was wonderful. You handled your shots like a champ and were happy and giggling the same night. The older you get, the more sad your Daddy is when you get your shots. I think he almost cried this last time. He claims he didn't, but I think he did.
We also learned that your weight and height are in the 26 and 28 percentile, but your head is in the 90th. It just confirms that you are, in fact, a baby genius. :)

The doctor said that babies grow in different ways. Sometimes a baby measures really long at an appointment and super skinny. Then the next time they are the same length but got chubbier. So no worries, little one. The rest of you will catch up to that pretty head.

We think you'll be getting your first tooth relatively soon. Know why? Because of this face. You make it so often and I can't help but laugh. It's so funny and precious. 

 It's hard to get you to smile when I use Daddy's nice camera because you're so fascinated with it. You just stare at it and reach for it. I have to pull out my most embarrassing best tricks to get you to forget about the fancy camera and just smile like you normally do. I may or may not have had to hit myself in the head with your stuffed monkey to get this face. :)

 You, little Buggy, are pretty awesome. Your Daddy and I could not love you more if we tried. You rock our worlds. Really. No kidding.

Love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Oh, boy! You're 4 months old!

Sweet baby Will,
I can't believe how fast time is going. I'm sorry that this letter is a few days late, but the pictures were taken right on time. You continue to amaze me every single day. I love you more than I ever knew was possible.
You weigh about 15 pounds now. That's double your birth weight. Sometimes when I give you your bottle my arm falls asleep. I'm not sure if this says something about you or me... :) No worries, it's well worth it. 

You love to smile at people. Sometimes it's a half smile, sometimes it's a stop-you-in-your-tracks grin that seriously steals my heart. You have long eyelashes that I'm sure any future sister (and I mean WAY in the future) of yours will be insanely jealous of. 
You giggle. This is one of my favorite things. Your daddy and I make funny noises or do silly things and you either laugh at us, or raise your eyebrows like we've lost it. Either face makes embarrassing ourselves 100% worth it. 
Your 4 month Dr.'s appointment isn't for another week since they are closed for the holidays. I'm excited to see how much longer you've gotten and to have you weighed again, but I'm not one bit excited about your shots. It breaks my heart when you cry. You have the nicest nurse who knows how to get down to business, but it still makes me sad. I'm pretty sure you handle it better than I do. You're a tough guy.
You've also decided that you like to talk. a lot. Wonder where you get that from... I must be guilty. Your talking noises are the cutest, funniest things ever. I'm totally that mom. Every time you start talking, I run to grab my phone to record it. As a matter of fact, I think I've probably taken a picture of you every day of your life so far. Before you I had about 50 pictures on my phone. 4 months later I have as many videos as it will hold and over 1,000 pictures. Obsessed much? To be honest, I'm not one bit embarrassed. 

Ok, let's have a chat about this hair now, shall we? Your hair is out of control. And I'm pretty sure it's the cutest mess I ever did see. You have long hair and it is SO curly, just like Daddy's. I absolutely love it. The sides flip out no matter what we do. Even if we comb it while it's totally wet, it just springs back up. You like to play with your hair while you eat your bottle, so I think you have something to do with its unruliness. But- it's so. stinking. cute. You have this one curl right at the top of your head and it is precious. You have good hair, bug. And recently you've discovered mine. :)

You sleep all through the night. Seriously. Every night. Can I please just tell you that even if you woke up 8029380489 times every night, I'd still love you to pieces, but I love you extra for letting us sleep.
You are such a happy boy. You only get mad when you're hungry, and I think mad may be an understatement. You go from giggling and smiling to screaming and red faced in about half a second. I think that we may have to work on your patience in the future. :)

You, sir, are our angel baby. I love you so much my heart hurts just thinking about it. I had to pack away your first big box of clothes you've outgrown. You'll be proud to know that I didn't cry. You might be embarrassed to know that I kept singing T. Swift's "Never Grow Up" while I did it. You are the most precious boy I've ever know. I'm so glad you're ours. I love you to the moon and back, little bug!

xoxo,
Mommy

Oh Boy, You're 3 Months Old!

Little Buggy,

Wow have you grown. You are getting so heavy that when I hold you and feed you, sometimes my arm falls asleep. I also have to carry you in your carseat with both hands. This either means that I am ridiculously weak, or you are getting big. Maybe a little of both.

You still have TONS of hair. The ladies dig it. It's pretty much out of control all of the time. The top does what it should, but the sides do their own curly thing. It's adorable and I love it. Sometimes it's hard to take your bib off because we are afraid we are going to pull out your luscious locks. 

Your eyelashes are growing and your eyes get more and more blue each and every day. You get those stunning peepers from your daddy and we are both pretty happy about this.

You already sleep through the night. Did I mention how lucky we are? I mean, seriously. Any other brother or sister you may have somewhere far, far in the future will never be able to compare with the angelic sleeper you are. 

Smiling is turning into your favorite hobby. Sometimes you try to look serious and raise your eyebrows, but that look quickly turns into a melt-mommy's-heart smile and I just can't control myself. I must pick you up and immediately squeeze you because you are just too sweet. You also stick your tongue out when you are really happy and I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything cuter.

Here's the deal, little bug. I need you to slow down just a bit. I want to soak in every single moment of your sweet cuddles and I feel like every day you just get bigger and bigger. I know this is life and I know it's inevitable. And honestly I feel so thankful that you are growing big and strong... But I want you to stay my little baby for just a while longer. Please?

Look at how much you've already grown!

Love you to pieces, 

Mommy

Country Music, Baby Snuggles, and Friends

There is nothing in the world like good friendship. You know the ones. The ones you can laugh with for no good reason. The ones who come over on a whim just to chat for a while. The ones who know your favorite kind of wine and exactly how much to pour when you want it. Since it's November (and technically November 2, but I'm going to pretend it's still the 1st. A certain little baby was a little fussy today and didn't want me to write this earlier) I want to focus on writing a month's worth of thankful posts. The whole post each time won't be dedicated to being thankful, but I'll include some little blurb about what I'm thankful for. There really is so much to be thankful for. 

But today I am particularly thankful for my friends. I had a wonderful evening with two of my favorite people, plus baby Will, who is by default my very favorite. We watched the CMAs, laughed a bunch, and just enjoyed each others company. These girls didn't judge me when I cried during Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton's acceptance speech for their Song of the Year award... and then when I cried again when we rewinded it and rewatched it. Nor did they think I was crazy for pausing it during Faith Hill's performance to see if she really did have on braces. They are just easy to spend time with.

It's also nice to spend time with people that I trust with my baby boy. I know that if I'm in another room and he cries, these wonderful friends will take care of him just the way I would. Having people like that in your life really make you more thankful than you could ever realize.
So- cheers to country music, baby snuggles, and wonderful friends. I love November already.

And because I'm that mom, here is a little collage of my favorite boy. The many faces of Buggy. They all melt my heart.

-Maggie

Oh, boy! You're Two Months Old!

Dear Will,
These past two months have FLOWN by. How are you getting this big already? You're up to 11 pounds and 6 ounces. I know this isn't huge by any means, but you're growing big and strong. Today you had your 2 month check up and shots. Talk about breaking Mama's heart. You took the oral vaccine so well, but then it was time for the three (yikes, 3!) shots. The first one happened and you screamed so loud. All we wanted to do was pick you up. Then the next two came and the nurse was so fast it was like you didn't really have time to cry before it was all over. You had a little children's tylenol and loved it and now you're sleeping like a champ. I'm so proud of you. While you may have let out a scream, you didn't really cry. My eyes might have gotten a little teary, but you were a trooper. Then on the way home, we stopped so I could get my flu shot to protect you the best I can since you can't get one yet. I love watching you grow.

As your Daddy said, this picture shows the calm before the storm.

And here's the aftermath of the storm...

And here you are getting bigger and bigger...

His two month picture is his pouty face. We took your passy for just a second so we could see your whole face and this is how you looked at us. Sweetest face ever. And yes, you got your passy right back after we saw how sad you were without it. You're rotten already and we don't mind one bit.
This month, you've started to smile and giggle and these moments are by far my favorites. You are so alert and the nurses are super impressed with how well you focus on people and sounds and on your beautiful hair. The ladies really dig it.

We love you so, so much and can't wait to see how much bigger you get for your 3 month picture!

xoxo,
Mommy and Daddy

Thankful Thursday

I feel like such a blog slacker these days. And by these days, I really mean ever since I started this blog. I really want to be better about updating this, but between cuddling my sweet boy, changing diapers, feeding him, and then trying to catch up on laundry (which, by the way, never seems to stop piling up!) and cleaning up a little I just feel like I have zero time. I'm going to work on making time for it because this whole finding time thing just isn't working and I really do enjoy it!

I think link-ups are really fun. This is my second one so far, but I see many more of them in my future. Here is my Thankful Thursday list. There are so many people in my life that I love to pieces, and I wanted to thank a few of them. Feel free to join in! If you blog, think about writing a post, but if you don't, leave a comment with the things you're thankful for.

I'm thankful for:
-Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks. Yum! It's like Fall in a cup. I had my first one of the season yesterday and it was WONDERFUL!
-Chilly weather.
-A country where, regardless of your political beliefs, people genuinely want to fight for the greater good.
-My cricut machine.
-Logan's rolls. I mean, seriously. Is there anything better in the world?
-The New Normal. I am LOVING that show. So great.
-These people:

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. He is my best friend. He knows how to make me laugh and how to calm me down. I don't know what in the world I'd do without him.

My Mama. She is my other best friend. We have the same thoughts about pretty much everything. We find the same things to be absolutely hilarious and we are both ridiculously cheesy. She is wonderful and has the biggest heart out of anyone I've ever met. There are no words to say how wonderful she really is. I'm the luckiest daughter ever. 

I'm so grateful to have wonderful friends in my life. There are so many people who have been there for me and my family. Lori, what would I do without you in Athens? I'm so glad we are both here and that our wonderful husbands work together. You are the most generous and giving friend and I'm so glad to have you in my life and in Will's. You are already one of his favorite people.

Charissa, can I please tell you how happy I am that our friendship traveled from Milledgeville to Athens? I am so glad that once again we are only a five minute drive from each other. I can't wait to make even more silly memories with you, my sweet friend. 

Melissa, thank you for putting up with me and my crazy self for oh, what, about 16 or 17 years now? You are a wonderful constant in my life and I'm so thankful for you. Thank you for all of the advice you've given, the sleepless nights we had at slumber parties staying up way too late and eating lots of Reese's, and for making me a stronger person. 

 Kahlin- Thank you for your caring friendship. I can always count on you to check in on me and my family and to genuinely care about the things going on my life. I care about you and your sweet family, too, and I'm so glad that we live closer now so our families can have more fun times together. You have such a caring heart.

Will- thank you for being the most perfect little guy ever. You already sleep somewhere between five and seven hours straight at night which I can't believe since you're only 8 weeks old. You are such a calm, cuddly guy and I can't wait to see you continue to grow. I love you more than you will ever, ever know.

Friday Letters

Today I'm participating in my first ever link up. You can join in too by clicking here!

Dear Blog- I'm loving writing you, but I desperately need to update your look. I have a few favorite templates I've been looking at, but I can't make up my mind. So for now, you'll just have to look like this a little bit longer.
Dear Baby Will- I love you so much I can't stand it. You are the sweetest baby I've ever met, and I am SO lucky to be your mommy. Thank you for everything you have already taught me in just the past five weeks. I cannot wait to learn so much more from you, my sweet boy.

Dear Mr. - You are such a wonderful man. I feel so blessed to be your wife. I am so proud of everything you do for our little family and watching you with our son has made me fall in love with you a thousand times over. Basically, you rock my world.

Dear Athens- Thank you for being such a wonderful place to live. There is so much to do here and so many places to go. I can't wait to get to know you better. Dear Fall- Thank you for showing up. It's been pretty hot around this place and I have so missed being outside. Also, I'm pretty ready to wear some scarves, so if you decided to get even cooler soon, I wouldn't complain. Dear Lori- I'm super excited to start making more banners. Hooray for craft days with one of my favorite people. I'm also so excited for your house! It is going to be absolutely beautiful. Dear Hallmark- I'm so glad that you have your ornaments out. After working for you for three years, I have a deep obsession with all things cute and Christmas-y that you have to offer. I am already excited for the day after Christmas to I can go buy up all the cute stuff that you still have left. And thank you for having such a cute little sale table today. I enjoyed myself.

Oh, Baby! Happy 1 month birthday to Baby Will!

Oh, Baby! Happy 1 month birthday to Baby Will!

Since today is Will's one month birthday, it feels like the perfect time to rehash our birth story and how our handsome little man got here.

There are no words to express what motherhood is like. I look at this little baby boy and cannot believe that he is mine. I feel like I just met this little man and that I have known him my whole life. I am amazed by each and every little thing he does. Every time he does something new I am in awe and every time we cuddle and he falls asleep on my shoulder I feel this overwhelming happiness and thankfulness for such a sweet little baby. 

While I love him to pieces, getting him here was no easy process. Due to high blood pressure mixed with a couple of other issues, my doctor decided that being induced at 37 weeks was the best and safest plan, so Blake and I went to the hospital on Sunday, August 19. Other than when I was born, I have never been in the hospital. Getting checked in was scary and a little overwhelming. Of course, they had problems getting my IV in. After one nurse couldn't find my vein, she called in another nurse. This lady stuck my right hand twice with no luck and then, after saying that she was going in blind, stuck me in the bend of my wrist on my left hand. They started me on a medicine to get labor going, and while it kind of worked, it also didn't. I began having contractions and had them all night long, but by Monday morning I hadn't made too much progress. However, I had my amazing support team there with me, so I was easily distracted. 

My doctor broke my water and my labor continued. They started me on pitocin and we waited to see what would happen. Around 11:00 p.m. Monday night I began to really feel my contractions. I was trying to be tough and wait as long as possible to get my epidural because the last thing I wanted to have happen was for it to wear off during delivery. At 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, my doctor called the hospital to tell the nurse that I should go ahead and get my epidural since I still wasn't progressing much. The anesthesiologist came in and, of course, told me that I was one of the most difficult epidural sticks he's had. It took quite a while, and honestly, it was the worst part of the whole process for me. With the epidural safely in, I was finally able to get some sleep. By the way, I feel that it is very important to tell you that at this point, I had only been allowed to have liquids since Sunday. Once I had the epidural I could only have ice chips, but I had to limit how many I had. Talk about miserable.
Tuesday morning got there and my doctor came to check me. I had only gotten to 4 cm since Sunday night, even with multiple types of medicines and my water breaking. At 2:00 p.m. he checked again and I was officially stuck at 4 cm. That's when the doctor decided that a c-section would be the best option. They initially said that we would be going back in an hour. Then the one hour turned into three. Then after the three hours, we had two more 30 minute delays. Every time my sweet nurse came in I  would start to cry because I just wanted to have my baby already. I know, I know. I was whiney. But can you really blame me?

Eventually the wheeled me back and it was baby time. Blake was such an amazing hubby through it all. Not only was he a trooper for the entire time we were there, but he decided he wanted to watch my c-section. He held my hand the whole time, but he stood up to watch over the paper curtain. It took a good couple of weeks before I would let him tell me what it looked it. I was expecting to feel lots of pressure and pulling during the surgery, but before I knew it had even started, the doctor told us that the head was out. Just a minute later, out came our sweet pumpkin. At 37 weeks, he weighed 7 pounds 10 oz and was 19.5 inches long. And- my wonderful hubby captured the first time I ever saw our sweet baby boy. This may be my favorite picture of all time.

Here is the proud papa holding baby Will. My handsome men. :)

My wonderful nurse knew that our whole family had been waiting forever to finally meet this sweet boy, so they allowed them to come back two at a time to the recovery room. That nurse gave me a gift I didn't think I'd have. I got to see my mom and the rest of my family the first time they ever saw Will. My mom (Will's Grammy) is on the left. Blake's mom (Will's Mimi) is on the right.

                                                                            

He is the first grandbaby on both sides, so spoiled doesn't even begin to cover it. He is so loved and has been for so long. He is one lucky baby to have a family so in love with him and to have lots of aunts and uncles in his mommy and daddy's friends who have been so thoughtful and helpful ever since we found out he was on his way.

So, little Will. You made quite an entrance. After being in labor from 7:30 p.m. on Sunday until 5:13 p.m. on Tuesday you finally made your way out. You have been such a sweet little baby and every bit of those few days was entirely worth getting to have you to snuggle and cuddle every day.

And, I just have to say that we had some amazing photographers do Will's newborn photos. Two Chics Photography is the best ever. Sometimes I just  go to their website to look at all of the beautiful pictures they have taken, not only of babies, but of weddings and all sorts of other occasions. Here are a few other sneak peeks they sent us. We cannot wait to see the rest!

Memories-

So- as I wrote in an earlier post, my Mr. and I are expecting our first baby. His name is Will and we can't wait to meet him. This pregnancy has brought so much joy into our hearts and the hearts of our families.


The day after Christmas this past year, my Memommie passed away. We were always very close. Earlier in 2011, I got married and so did one of my cousins. These events made my Memommie so very happy. She would tell me all the time that she wanted to see my wedding, and I'm so glad that she was able to. When she passed away near Christmas, all of our worlds were shaken. She meant, and still means, so much to so many different people. I think of her and miss her every single day.

(In the picture below, Memommie wanted to see the back of my undies since they said "sexy little bride" on them. Without giving me warning, she lifted my robe up, completely disregarding the fact that there were two male photographers in the room. She was so silly!)

On January 2nd, we found out that we were pregnant. We felt overjoyed and so blessed to be able to experience such an amazing miracle. However, I also was so sad because Memommie loved babies and would have had a fit to know we were expecting. Her excitement and enthusiasm for great news like this is unmatched. There is no one quite like her. The fact that we were pregnant (though we didn't know it yet) when we saw her last made it a little more bittersweet. It means that our baby was in my belly and, in some strange way, got to meet her. But- it also means that we were just a few weeks away for knowing for sure and for being able to share that news with her.

She absolutely loved cross stitching. I cannot even begin to count the number of pillow cases that she has made for my Mama and for me. I have always loved them and thought that they were beautiful, but I appreciate them so much more now. She would always put her initials and the year she created them in the corner and sometimes I just have to hold them close to my heart and touch them. She also made me aprons and a beautiful Christmas   tablecloth. She longed for great-grandchildren so badly that she even began making things for a future little one. She cross-stitched bibs and artwork to frame and hang on the wall once the baby-to-be had a name and a birthday. Knowing that she planned ahead to make sure that my baby would have her handmade items makes my heart so happy. Of course my little boy will grow up hearing stories about her and trying recipes that she taught me how to make- but he will also have his own little keepsakes that she made especially for him. She loved him and was excited for him before he was even a twinkle in his mommy and daddy's eyes.

Telling the rest of our family about our pregnancy was exciting. It was good to be able to share some good news and have someone to look forward to meeting. It was also difficult to tell family members because the person I wanted to share this news with the most was the one that I couldn't call. I would call my Mama just to talk to her about how badly I wished I could share that news and that memory with my Memommie. I know she is looking down at us and is our guardian angel. I have worn the sweetest necklace that she gave me to almost every doctor's appointment because it makes me feel like she's right there with me. 

And I know that she really is.

(In this picture, I was showing Memommie my garter. My hubby is a police officer, so my garter was a holster with 

a fake gun and a badge that "Officer Hottie." Clearly Memommie liked it.)