5 months

This is crazy! My baby is almost half a year old! Where is the slow down button! On that subject, Daniel and I decided we better get some pictures of Sullivan in his Christening gown before he outgrows it! We ended up taking lots of pics over the last few days, but below are a few of my favorites!

this one just makes me think of a glamour shot or olan mills or something the way his hands are held and his head is turned just so. We didn't pose him though! He's a natural!


I believe this is his 'WTHM' face. (what the heck Mom) This was one of the first pics in his gown, so he hadn't quite figured it out yet.


"a dress and a lacy bonnet?! i draw the line here mom!"


My boy loves his bath! And I love his smile!



I don't know what it is about this one, but it makes me laugh. I think he really looks like a little boy in this one! Thank goodness his head wasn't that big on November 8, 2009! Of course, it takes a large head to hold his super smart brain!


Easter Sunday in his finery! Thanks to Corinne for this special outfit! What I wouldn't give to have his skin! Love my beautiful boy!


I'll be tackling some new milestones today and this weekend! Tonight we are having our first non-immediate family babysitter keep Sullivan while we attend an Engagement Party/dinner. Saturday night, I will be spending the night out at a bachelorette party! I'm more than a little nervous about a whole night away! I know it will be fine, but it's a big deal!

Sullivan is still eating cereal with breastmilk, although, I plan to try a veggie this weekend! He is great at eating and if I give him his own spoon to hold while I'm feeding him, he'll stick it in his mouth at the same time I stick my spoon with cereal in there! If it weren't for his tendency to put the spoon a little too far in his mouth, this boy could feed himself! He's still regularly holding his bottle, but wasn't crazy about our first attempt at a sippy cup. He drank for a few seconds before he realized it wasn't a bottle and then kept making faces when he would feel the hard cup instead of a soft nipple. He is still getting up twice a night, but I've really come to love our time together. I know before long the breastfeeding will be over, and I'll actually miss it! NEVER thought I would say that! Not after the struggles of the first two months, but we've got the hang of it now and it's our special time together. Where is that pause button again?

I got mad skillz

Sullivan is getting so much better at holding up his big ole head! Daniel caught these many and varied facial expressions yesterday afternoon.



Raising one eyebrow just like Mommy does! Only he does the left and I do the right!




Our after work routine consists of playing until about 6:30, eating cereal, bath time, reading books, and then bedtime. Daniel and I take turns doing the bath and bedtime routine, and I have to say, Sullivan really seems to enjoy reading books with Daniel. (please ignore all the laundry and any other messes captured in my photos)




I really have to take a moment to praise Daniel. He is the best daddy ever! He is so involved and loves every minute of it! I can't imagine doing this without him!

Brown Eyed Boy

So any debate on what color Sullivan's eyes will be has been settled. They are most definitely turning brown.



Tomorrow we will be bringing Sullivan to the FNC Easter Egg Hunt at the park across the street from our building. He won't know what's going on, of course, but I'm looking forward to getting to spend the afternoon with him! His daycare is closed on Friday, so I'll be working from home that day! Supposed to be beautiful weather, so I'm going to attempt to work outside as long as Sullivan is obliging!

Baptism

Sullivan's baptism this past weekend was a success! The Christening gown arrived in time, family made it to Cleveland, and he did wonderfully during the Baptism and service. I had envisioned spit up, crying, etc, but he was perfect! Unfortunately, I didn't take nearly enough photos of him! I'm going to attempt to have some 'professionally' made in his Christening gown and others. A big thank you to everyone who traveled to Cleveland to share in this wonderful event! (Gigi, Daddy Tim, Nanna, Anne, Sherri, Chris, Madeline, Avery, Kent, Corinne, Charles, Elise, Jonathan and Jodi!) An even bigger thank you to Bebe who spent her Spring Break cooking and cleaning in preparation of such a large group invading her home! Everything was delicious and beautiful as always!



I wish I had gotten a photo with EVERYONE, but Sullivan was getting hungry at this point! I didn't want to push it after he did so good during the service.


Daniel and I plan to do a whole lot of nothing this weekend! We need a weekend at home with nothing going on to catch up on chores, etc. After this weekend, it seems like there is something going on just about every weekend until June! I get tired just thinking about it!

I'm a big kid now...

Bebe came up to visit yesterday and spent last night with us. It was nice to have a little help! I've been fighting a cold, and with Daniel gone, being on solo baby duty has been tough. I don't know how you single parents do it! I decided to try more rice cereal with Sullivan, and Bebe recorded some of it. He continues to hold his bottle and wants to hold the spoon for cereal too! Looks like I may have a very independent boy on my hands!


Please send positive, healthy thoughts our way! We all want to be feeling our best for Christening next weekend! Happy Monday!

4 month stats

So the appointment yesterday went better than expected. The nurse who administered the shots did a much better job than last time. he cried a bit, but not as bad as last time. He still felt crabby most of yesterday and didn't sleep as well last night, but seemed to be feeling better this morning. Below are his stats!

Height: 25 inches (up from 22) between 50th and 75th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 10 oz (up from 12.12) 75th percentile
Head: 17 inches (up from 15)

The big thing discussed at this appointment was the introduction of cereal, fruit juice and baby foods in the VERY near future. The whole time the nurse was going over this stuff, I just kept thinking, but he's just a baby. He can't be old enough for this! I have a feeling I'm going to have trouble accepting these milestones! It makes me want to nurse him even more often knowing that soon he'll be done with that too! I'm excited to watch him learn new things, etc, but it also just breaks my heart to know he won't be my tiny, cuddly little baby for long! I guess all Moms have to go through this, but man it's hard!

So, we were supposed to go to Cleveland this weekend for Italian Fest and to visit with Bebe and Fred Daddy. Unfortunately, Bebe got really sick while at a conference in Jackson. She's still feeling under the weather, so we will be avoiding those germs! I haven't felt quite right this week myself, so maybe a lazy weekend at home is just the ticket. This will be my first weekend with just me and Sullivan! We sure are going to miss Daniel and his magic baby touch! He can put Sullivan on his shoulder and, within minutes, he's out like a light! Happy Friday everyone!

shot day :(

We will be taking Sullivan in for his 4 month shots today! I dread it! The one up side is I'll be working from home this afternoon while he recovers. I'm sure I'll regret bragging, but apparently someone switched out my baby last night. He slept from 8 until 4 and then from 4 until 8! I'm waiting for my body to go into shock from the sleep! I feel terrible that his reward for sleeping so well is to go to the Dr. Boo.

The video below is from yesterday. I ran into Kroger for a few things so Daniel got in the back seat with Sullivan to hang out. He's got the OOO's down pat!

hittin' the bottle

Sullivan doesn't get bottles at home except in emergency scenarios (like I'm out shopping when he gets hungry :) ). He does get bottles at daycare, obviously. Last night Daniel and I met friends out for an early dinner which meant Sullivan had to be fed a bottle at the restaurant. Imagine my surprise (read shock and heartache) when I saw my baby holding his own bottle! He is just growing up too fast! I'm going to blink and he'll be in college, I swear.


In other news, Daniel leaves for another hiking trip this weekend. The weather is calling for a little rain, but hopefully it won't be too bad! Sullivan and I will be heading to Cleveland to visit family and attend Italian Fest! Pray for good weather friday, so I can have the sun roof open! :) The next weekend (the 21st), we will be in Cleveland again for Sullivan's Baptism. I ordered him a beautiful christening gown which will hopefully arrive in time! Several family members and friends will be making the trek for this special occasion! I only wish we had a long weekend to spend together!

In recent cooking news, I made Pioneer Woman's spaghetti and meatballs Sunday night. The meatballs were AWESOME! they contain ground pork in addition to ground beef and it really ups the flavor. We will definitely be making those from now on. Tonight I'll be trying out her homemade mac and cheese recipe since Daniel LOVES homemade mac and cheese (i love straight out the box mac and cheese cause I'm weird like that). I'll let you know how it goes, but with all the good stuff in the recipe, I'm sure it will be yummy.

day at the lake

Daniel, Sullivan, and I drove over to the lake Saturday afternoon and spent the night. We got to visit with Bebe and Fred Daddy, Gigi and Daddy Tim, Aunt Havis, and briefly Jan, John, and Uncle Carroll. It was a quick visit, but the weather was definitely beautiful and Sullivan was in a great mood! he really started laughing alot this weekend. Peek-a-boo and other silliness just cracks him up hard! I'm definitely going to try and catch video of it, because it's just wonderful to watch! Sullivan also had his first serving of rice cereal mixed with breast milk this weekend. He was a little confused about how the spoon works- kept trying to suck the cereal off it. He made a big mess, but mainly fussed when I wasn't quick enough getting the spoon back to him. He's not used to not being able to eat constantly. I don't know that we will really consistently start him on cereal yet, but the pediatrician wanted us to try it before his appointment on Thursday.

Just a swangin' with his Fred Daddy (my family has determined I have marked him, so no comments about his chubby cheeks please ;) )


"Daddy caught a fish thissss big"


wootwoot...that's only in the mornin' (that's for you Daniel :))

Tell me about your day

Most evenings when we finally make it home from work and daycare, we have a very small window of happy baby time. When this window begins to close, Sullivan will start to make whiny-talky noises. I usually pretend he's telling me about the hard day he had at daycare. Daniel was able to capture Sullivan telling his Octopus about his hard day (well, that's what I imagine he's doing).


I also wanted to pass on this link about Lent that Jennifer posted this morning. Daniel and I had trouble deciding on an appropriate sacrifice for Lent this year, so maybe this is a better option for us.

I think we may be heading to the cabin this weekend. Weather is supposed to be beautiful, and Bebe and Fred Daddy will be there. So any family in that area, come on by if you want some baby time!

Vicksburg

So we trekked to Vicksburg last weekend for my Rotary PETS. We decided to drive to Clinton to stay with Chip and Lisa rather than get up at 3 am Friday morning to drive down. Thank goodness we were able to do this! Sullivan cried til about Winona, and I'm not sure we would have made it on time if we'd left Friday morning. It was much easier riding into Vicksburg Friday morning with Chip! Daniel and Sullivan came over later that morning and spent the afternoon buying fancy beer and touring the civil war memorial park. My conference was fine- same as last year. And when I say same as last year, I mean EXACTLY the same. Oh well, it was a good refresher I suppose. We did not make it to the pool like we had hoped, but there just wasn't enough time.

Since we spent Friday night in Vicksburg, we went out to a new mexican restaurant with Ned, Mary Beth, and baby David! We had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the company and the food! We made bets on which baby would cry first. David won that bet with his very brief cry before receiving a pacifier. If we had bet which baby would cry the longest...Sullivan would have won hands down. It's our fault for keeping him out past his bedtime, so we had to pack up and head back to the hotel rather quickly at that point. Hopefully we'll get to do dinner again with these guys in Oxford soon! What do you think? Future Ole Miss roomies?

We drove back to Oxford Saturday after a brief stop for lunch and some light shopping in Ridgeland. On the trip from Vicksburg into Jackson, we discovered a trick to overcome Sullivan's distaste for his carseat...the sunroof! Open the sunroof and within seconds he's fast asleep! Now we just have to hope for warm, sunny days anytime we travel for long distances! The video below is not the greatest, but I've got to give the grandmothers their fix! It does display Daniel's skills at distracting Sullivan when he starts to fuss.

16 weeks!

How is my sweet, tiny baby already 4 months old?! As slow as the weeks may feel while I'm at work, time is flying by so quickly! I can say, "it feels like only yesterday" about so many things! Sullivan is such a sweet baby. He seems so serious one moment and so excited the next! He loves to examine and chew on his hands (as seen below), and his favorite toy is a turquoise octopus that came with his baby einstein neptune mat. I finally took it off the mat so he can hold it wherever he is. That octopus always makes him smile! It is also the perfect size for him to grab and try to shove in his mouth! Sullivan smiles and coos alot when he's got a full tummy, but I still can't get him to consistently laugh for us. We are still amazed by every little thing he does, old or new. We are so blessed and in love!

a little catch up

I've had the photos from this post for many months on my phone, but am just now getting around to posting them!

My Mom bought this dog bed for our family dog, Molly, years ago. Molly was terrified of this bed, and couldn't be dragged on it! I don't know what it was about it, but she did not think she was supposed to lay on it. Bailey, on the other hand, instantly claimed it as hers when Mom dropped it at our house. This photo was taken about 5 minutes after the bed arrived at our house. Bailey loved it so much, I was finally able to get rid of the ugly, metal crate that used to be in our living room! This is also the first dog bed that Bailey hasn't completely destroyed. (knock on wood) Typically, nice soft dog beds last about 12 hours. Bailey knows a quality bed when she sees it! Thanks Bebe!


The funny thing is, on one of those really cold nights this winter, we let Sophie the cat in to warm up, and she totally stole it from Bailey! Poor Bailey kept looking at us and then at Sophie on her bed in total confusion. At one point Bailey actually got on one tiny corner of the bed while Sophie chilled out in the center. It was hilarious. We don't let Sophie in too often these days because she has a tendency to barf on things. But, don't feel bad for Sophie. She has two nice beds in the garage; one of which is heated!


And now for a segment I'd like to call...Things Only a Man Would Do! I was behind this truck back in October and just had to snap a picture! I found this quite humorous, but you know only a man would put such a mantastic statement on his dump truck.

Need a closer look?

Is there anything Daniel can't do?

Daniel and I have been discussing bookcase designs for Sullivan's room, and we found a bookcase online in the shape of a tree. I instantly fell in love and Daniel said he could totally build it! So, he spent the last two weekends working on it! I'm so happy with the finished product! Looks great and so unique!



I also wanted to share with you all a very special Christmas gift that Sullivan received from his Great Grandfather Tim Sullivan (aka Daddy Tim). Since Sullivan is carrying on the Sullivan name, Daddy Tim gave him this beautiful silver plate, bowl, and cup that were his as a child. They are all engraved with Daddy Tim's name and birth date and have scenes from different nursery rhymes. They are just gorgeous and we are honored that Sullivan has been entrusted with such a special heirloom.



I am finally over my cold, but Sullivan still has a bit of a snotty nose and a yucky sounding cough. He still seems to feel ok and hasn't had a fever, so no trip to the pediatrician yet! We are heading to Vicksburg this weekend though, so I hope it will clear up before travel! Sullivan's newest trick is blowing bubbles with his lips! He loves it and is very good at it. I'll try and catch it on camera soon.

On the note of travel, my family and I are trying to plan a beach vacation for this summer. It seems like we do the same ole spots all the time. Anyone have a recommendation for an area/condo/etc that has a great pool, on the beach, close to good stuff? I've never been to Orange Beach, so I have no clue about things in that area. Seaside is great, but far from alot of recreation for kids and adults alike. anyways. If you've stayed somewhere that knocked your socks off, let me know.

Happy Friday!

hurry up spring!

This week I've been suffering from a cold that I may or may not have caught from Sullivan. Seems like there are a ton of people sick at work. Some with the stomach virus, and you can bet I'm trying to avoid that mess! First cold post pregnancy has been super no fun. All I want to do is dose up on NyQuil and sleep for 10 hours straight, but that is not to be. To top it off, Sullivan has not been sleeping well this week. Don't know what's up with that, but he's been waking up frequently for what appears to be no reason. If it's not a feeding time wake up, Daniel or I will hold him for a few minutes and he'll drift back to sleep again. I guess I pretty much jinxed myself by bragging on his good sleep. I'm still hopeful that one day it will return!

Despite the stuffy nose, achy body, and extreme lack of sleep, I'm having a pretty good day. It's been a busy week, which is hard, but at least makes the days pass quickly. The appearance of blue skies has definitely helped! In the car on the way home from Daycare, I tell Sullivan about Spring and Summer. I tell him how the bare trees will have leaves and flowers, and the car won't EVER be cold when we get in, about how long the days will be, about taking a stroll after work as a family, about all the flowers and veggies we'll plant, and about laying on a blanket in the yard on a warm and sunny day. I'm done with winter. Bring on the warm weather please! My baby and I got plans!

More videos for the grandmas!

Bebe has definitely loved the videos, and I'm hoping Nanna has been watching too! Daniel sent me a few more he has taken recently! One is from when he was just hours old. I didn't remember this video and am really just putting it here for safe keeping.
We are on night #2 of good sleeping, so continue to keep your fingers crossed please! He slept from 7-9:30pm, ate, then slept from 9:30 to 3:30am. I actually had to wake him up at 6:45 to eat before I had to leave for Rotary! I sure hope we are turning a corner here!


*Wanted to let you know I'm requiring word verification if you leave comments now. I keep getting spam comments and they are annoying. Thanks!

Maybe next time...

I'll post something not baby related. Maybe. But probably not.

My boy loves bath time! We are going to a Rotary conference in Vicksburg in a few weeks and made sure to get a hotel with an indoor pool. Can't wait to see how he feels about a giant 'bathtub'! Here's hoping we can find some little swimmers diapers in the middle of winter!




He also loves to chew on his hands. Nom, nom, nom.


Our friend Rebekah painted the Walter Anderson print we received at Sullivan's Coast Baby Shower and we finally got it framed and hung! I love it!


OHHHH! I almost forgot! I GOT SLEEP LAST NIGHT! WOOHOO! Sullivan slept from 8pm to 2:15 am! He ate again and then went back to sleep until 5:45! Thankfully, I went to bed at 9 last night, so I really got to take advantage! This is probably a one time fluke, but man it felt nice to only get up once last night! I actually made it to work before 8 this morning which means I can pick him up at 4 today! (I work through lunch/eat at my desk) This week Daniel and I are trying out our plan to each get to spend more quality time with Pooh. Daniel takes him to daycare around 9am, so he gets to spend some time in the mornings with him. I go to work earlier and pick him up earlier, so I can spend some time in the afternoon with him. The exception to this will be Wednesdays when we have Rotary and both have to leave him early. We'll see how it works out, but so far so good.

On a not so fun note, he might be getting his first cold. He coughed and sneezed more than usual last night and this morning and his nose was a little crusty. He acts like he feels ok, so maybe it won't get worse than this. Fingers crossed!

Video of Sullivan

Most of you will probably find this video extremely boring, but I want for those relatives that haven't seen Sullivan in a LONG time! I have to say, he typically stops smiling and making noises as soon as I pull out a camera, so it's pretty amazing I got him doing anything on camera! Today is my first Monday back to work. It sux. Sullivan seems very happy with his daycare though! I made Daniel drop him off this morning, so he could get a taste of how hard it is to leave him each morning!

I actually plan to post some non-baby related stuff one of these days! Maybe when I get more sleep at night I can manage it!

3 months already?

I have no idea how my maternity leave has already come and gone! never has 3 months gone by so fast! Today is my first day back at work and Sullivan's first day at daycare. We are easing into things and I'll be picking him up at 1 and working from home the rest of the afternoon. He did great this morning. I did not so great. I think tomorrow it will be Daniel's turn to take him! Work today mainly consists of sorting through hundres of emails. I might actually get some work done tomorrow! Really looking forward to winning that lottery any day now so I can go back on maternity leave! I miss him so much! (and pumping at work sux)