I'm a big kid now!

We've officially upgraded Sullivan from his infant car seat to a new 'big boy' car seat that we can use until he's 50 lbs! This one looks so huge compared to his little infant seat, but actually fits better in our car because it's not layed back so far. He'll, of course, have to remain rear facing until he's a year old. The requirement before he can face forward is 20 lbs and a year old. We've just about got the weight requirement covered, just have to wait 6 months now! Anyways, boring post to most I"m sure, but so far, I'm happy with our new car seat. Had some friends recommend it and lots of positive reviews, so hopefully will be good to go.



On a venting note, one month until vacation, and it can't get here soon enough! Work has been insanely busy lately! Working 12 hour days sux! Trying to keep my eyes on the prize though!

Laura Loo and a new video too!

My cousin Laura Loo stopped by for a quick visit last night! It was wonderful to catch up! She got to see Sullivan eat and take a bath and she even gave him a bottle! We love visitors who love to help out! Have fun at the Nanty and we hope to see you again soon before you head back to Colorado!

**Can't get videos to upload- I'll try again later from home **The video below finally captures Sullivan laughing some. Daniel always makes him laugh like crazy, and it was nice to catch a little of it on video! I had originally tried to post the video that I posted to facebook, but maybe it's too big or something, but I couldn't get it to upload. Trying this smaller one for now.

In other Sullivan news, he has really started playing with his feet and toes this week! He has previously stared at them and used them to kick stuff and all, but this week he is grabbing his toes and spending lots of time in 'happy baby' pose! (which reminds me I need to get back to doing some yoga!) I think he must be in a growth spurt as well, because he is eating and drinking constantly! I really thought with us increasing his cereal and food that he would not want as much milk, but it hasn't slowed him down at all!

I wanted to share this photo below because this is the very first thing I bought for Sullivan before I knew whether he was a he or a she!

6 months old!

Sullivan celebrated this 6 month milestone with a weekend at the cabin! Although the weather turned unexpectedly cold, we still enjoyed our time on the porch and visiting with everyone! We went to the pediatrician yesterday for his 6 month check up and last round of shots until he's 1! Yay for that! Below are his updated stats. They said he looks great and went over new foods to try etc. I still can't believe he's old enough to be eating all these different baby foods, yogurt, fruit juice, etc! He hasn't met a food he doesn't like yet, but he's still not crazy about the sippy cup. I've tried two different styles, but he makes a face every time he takes a sip out of either. I'm open to suggestions on this front!




The bath pictures are from this weekend at the cabin. It was his first time using his 'sit-up' bath chair, so of course, I had to document it! This boy LOVES his bath no matter what! We finally went and bought him some new bath toys, so I hope he'll get alot of play time out of those. We looked up his astrological sign again (Scorpio) and verified he is a water sign! Sure hope he's as crazy about the cold pool in florida!

Length: 25.7 inches
Weight: 18 lbs.
Head: 18 inches

I had a lovely first Mother's Day (post uterine). Daniel and Sullivan gave me the beautiful McCarty's bowl below! I can't wait to fill it with something pretty or yummy! Becoming a mother is certainly life changing! I never imagined how much I could love someone until Sullivan! I also never imagined how terrifying motherhood can be! I try not to focus on negative thoughts, but there are just so many things to worry over! I'm constanly going over worse case scenarios in my head! I really have to tell myself to just give it to God. As much as I want to have control, I don't. I can only do the best I can with what God has given me and treasure every moment He has blessed me with!


The picture below is a photo of my gift 'from Sullivan' that the daycare gave me! It came with a little handmade card with a poem about Moms in it. This photo of Sullivan really cracks me up and this was such a wonderful surprise! My firt official Mother's Day gift from Sullivan! I look forward to many more! The ladies at the daycare also gave all the Moms a "Whispers of Encouragement for Moms" book. It's filled with devotionals geared towards challenges that Moms face. The card attached talked about how they understand how hard we all work as Moms and they appreciate that we trust our precious children with them each day. I've been SOOO happy with Sullivan's daycare, and this really sealed the deal for me. I just love the ladies in Sullivan's room!


Please take a moment to say a prayer for Nott Wheeler, Jr. He's in grave condition in St. Dominic's in Jackson. His lovely family have been family friends and members of my church in Cleveland all my life!

I love to sing!

Sullivan had a stomach bug this weekend and has still not fully recovered, so I'm working from home this morning with him. I have my healthy you in Tupelo this afternoon, so he and I will be making that trip after lunch. I'll have to say, stomach bugs are no fun. He had no fever and has seemed to feel pretty good, so it definitely could have been worse! Our first foray into cleaning up vomit and constantly changing both his clothes and mine was not exactly fun! Thankfully, he seems to like his pedialyte, so hopefully that will help him. The video above is from this morning while Daniel was occupying him while I attempted to get some work done! My stupid crackberry has been having issues recording videos, so I'm thankful we finally have a new one to post! So frustrating to think you got a great video and then to realize the crackberry didn't actually save the recording! AHH! Anyways. This weekend we will be meeting Bebe and FredDaddy at the cabin for a hopefully beautiful weekend! I think we could all use a little more sunshine! Hope you are all having a good week so far!

Flash back!

Daniel and I attended an 80's Prom fund raiser for Leap Frog last night and had a great time! Corinne organized the event, and it was super fun! They had Airships DJ'ing, corsages and boutonnieres for sale, and even a photographer taking prom pics! They took all the photos to 1 hour photo development, so had them ready for us before we left for the evening! Corinne won prom queen by getting the most donations! She looked awesome as you can see below! I managed to squeeze myself into my Mom's 'Peggy Sue' dress that she wore in the 80's. I remember being IN LOVE with this dress growing up! I also recall seeing photos of Mom dancing barefoot on stage with the Cracker Jacks' at Charity Ball in this dress. I'm going to blame that on the dress since I ended up dancing barefoot for about 2 hours straight last night! Can't beat some great 80's tunes! Although I was in bed by 11, I still feel pretty worn out today. Work has been sucking it up lately! I've been going in early, working through lunch, and coming home late. I'll need to work this weekend some too, but I'm looking forward to spending some down time with Sullivan and Daniel! I'm also including below some photos from this year's Double Decker. Sherri and the girls were supposed to come up to attend, but with the crazy bad weather and DD getting postponed until that Sunday, only Mom was able to come up! It was nice to have her here though!




Double Decker:



**Sullivan updates: rolling from tummy to back frequently, almost rolling from back to tummy, but that arm usually stops him. he's successfully eaten peas, green beans, carrots and sweet potatoes. tomorrow we'll introduce apple sauce or bananas! yummy! sleep is improving, although, i've just totally jinxed it by typing that. he is getting sooooo big! i'm anxious to hear his 6 month stats at his next dr. appointment. we are still completely smitten! what did we do before we had him?

4 years of wedded bliss!

Where does the time go? Daniel and I are celebrating our 4 year wedding anniversary today. I can't believe it's been 4 years, and I can't believe how much things have changed in the last year! I can honestly say, I've grown to love Daniel even more since Sullivan's birth. His capacity for loving and caring is amazing! I'm so glad I have him to share the adventures of life with! I suppose we will continue our tradition of watching our wedding videos tonight and will have a nice dinner at home! Sounds like a fantastic evening to me! I love you Daniel!

More videos for the grandmas!

These videos aren't the greatest, but considering how I have to sneak and hide to get much of anything on camera....!!!

Oh, we tried carrots yesterday and he really liked them! I'm going to have to just start stripping him down to his diaper before feeding time though. Man, it's messy! Added a few more that Daniel took.

Sweet Peas for my Sweet Pea

Sullivan has ventured into the messy world of baby food! Under the advisement of our Pediatrician, we started him with a nice green veggie instead of a lovely fruit. Although he would make a face when we switched from cereal to peas, he really didn't seem to mind it much that first day. By the third day, he actually seemed to prefer the spoonful of peas over cereal?! Daniel did the feeding for this first time, hence the no bib and gigantic mess. Sullivan also wants to stick his hand in his mouth every time the spoon is coming. We should have no problems when it's time for him to start picking up foods to eat. He knows hand to mouth = food!

He's had a bit of a stuffy nose this week, so might not have been the best time to determine how he likes peas, but no hives or noticeable adverse reactions! I think I will switch to something nice like carrots or sweet potatoes for our second veggie. Doesn't seem fair to stick him with two green veggies in a row! As recommended, we are doing 3-4 days of a single veggie (or fruit) to make sure there are no allergies, etc. Going to take us a while to get through all the different kinds of fruits and veggies we bought, but is all for the best. I've got to get MY veggies in the ground this weekend, so I can start making some homemade baby food! I'm really going to try and get some new video this weekend if I can figure out how to hide to catch him performing!



P.S. to any of you that haven't received a thank you note from me, I apologize. I just re-remembered a stack of thank you notes I wrote and never mailed while I was on maternity leave because I needed addresses! So if you get one and it talks about Sullivan from like 3 months ago, I'm super sorry! Better late than never, right? Happy Friday!

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!