Growing so fast!

I truly cannot believe how fast this little guy is growing. We were just at our 9 month check-up, even though he is almost 10 months and thankfully his percentiles have fallen from the 90's to the 70's. He was a large baby, due to my undiagnosed gestational diabetes, and I'm glad to see that he's getting to a more average height and weight. It seems like he is learning something new every week! From hand clapping, to pulling up on his knees, to pulling up to standing, and crawling to sitting. He is so delightful to be around, and is just a happy baby. We've truly been blessed with this miracle we call Matthew.

And we are also back on the baby making train. My cycle has returned and we'll see what happens. I am not 100% ready for another baby, but I'm also worried it's going to take another two years. I'm hoping that with my husband quitting smoking and drinking alcohol (he's not an alcoholic, but can't drink because of a medicine he's on), that his swimmers have returned to normal, and that I really did ovulate. My fingers are optimistically crossed that we are blessed with another beautiful miracle, but if not, I'm so thankful for this little guy who is growing up at the speed of light!

And 3 months later...

I guess it's been three months since I've posted. Maybe I should give an update.

Matthew is officially 9 months old as of yesterday, and life just keeps getting more busy! This little man is a mover and a shaker and no one gets to rest until his eyes are closed. Even after they are closed, we never know what the night may bring. He's been a "mostly" good sleeper. However, when he's teething, which seems like he is every other week, we are up frequently. Little man already has 8 teeth and is currently working on 9 and 10. I didn't realize how FAST teeth come in. It seems like once one is in, another is right behind it. We've been blessed with a very content and peaceful baby boy, but a wicked miserable teether. We were up for two hours Saturday night and an hour and a half last night and all he did was just cry and scream in misery. I don't blame him. I can't imagine how uncomfortable teething is. I just pray the tooth comes in soon so he can rest peacefully.

Off to clean bottles, make bottles, and pack the little man up for day care tomorrow. Hoping to be a better poster from now on!

Matthew, in the future...

As parents I know that we all think and wonder about what our children will be like in the future. What does the future hold for our little miracles? For some of us, we fought through a lot of tears, failed pregnancy tests, doctors visits, needle pricks, and ovulation tests to get our miracles. Our only hope is that those sweet babies eventually become adults who get married, have wonderful relationships, travel, and do exciting things with their lives. I know this is morbid, but what if that doesn't happen? I stumbled upon a blog the other day about a woman with two boys who have autism. She didn't realize that her first son had autism until he was maybe a year and half, and the second son she realized much sooner since she had experience with the first child's diagnosis. It has been so amazing reading her blog and learning about how she navigates life with her boys. As a mom to a son, I pray that little Matthew doesn't fall on the spectrum. I don't think he will, because he has hit every milestone thus far, but there are still things he hasn't done and might not do. I have found myself the last few days really looking at him and celebrating who he is. I've also been really thinking about does he make eye contact with me (he does, but is he really seeing me?), does he respond to his name (not yet - hasn't reached that milestone), is he babbling appropriately (lots of eh's and mm's right now, with tons of raspberries thrown in), is he interested in his toys the way he should be at six months? I hate that I'm thinking about it, but is it wrong to be making sure those milestones are being met?

After reading this woman's blog, I am finding myself also enjoying Matthew in the little moments that we are sharing. So what if he falls asleep while nursing and I let him sleep on me for one of his naps. So what if I get up in the middle of the night and rock him to sleep and stare at his perfection. So what if I don't say no when he throws a toy on the floor and laughs and I laugh right back at his adorableness. This time with him flies by so fast that I can't even believe he is already half a year old. Where is my newborn baby? I've also enjoyed these little moments a little more the past few days because of my surgery and not being able to hold him for a few days. I will love my chunky monkey no matter who he becomes, because he is a reflection of me and my husband and the love we have between us. He is perfect in my eyes and that is ALL that matters.

P.S. My cheeky boy rolled over from his back to his front, and just can't get enough of it! Even in the wee hours of the night! GO MATTHEW!

And now for loads of pics! = )

 Just shopping like a big boy, folks!

 Hey! I'm 6 months old and sitting up BY MYSELF!

 My old Pops examining my two bottom teeth!

 Ahhhh, green soft Ohio grass. Much better than sharp, prickly Georgia grass!

Me and my perfect, wonderful, adorable, cuddly, chubby boy!

Holy Moly!! I don't even know where to begin...

School is out for the summer, we took a long car trip to Ohio, and I had a hernia surgery on Monday. Since Cheeks was so large I got a hernia sometime after pregnancy from either working out too early, or picking up my gigantic baby in his car seat! I've been recovering from the surgery this week while my boy has been at daycare. His daddy has been dropping him off and picking him up every day. I feel almost guilty being home without him, but know I couldn't take care of him if he was here since I can't lift him up. I am getting more comfortable with holding him to nurse and play on the floor, but walking around with him makes me nervous since I'm still in pain.

We were in Ohio last week to get Matthew baptized in the church my hubby and I grew up in. It was a beautiful ceremony and reception afterwards celebrating with our family and friends. We also were able to visit with a lot of other friends and family while we were in town.

I can't wait to be over this surgery so we can get Matthew to the pool!! I bet he will love it. He's already six months old and is pretty much sitting on his own. Although, he isn't rolling over from his back to his tummy yet. He's almost there, but my chunker has a lot of body to move. Seeing him in all his chubby glory just brings a smile to my face!

We've been feeding him solids for a bit now. He likes bananas, pears, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and green beans. He wasn't a fan of apples, but ate them, and highly dislikes peaches! I'm going to try peaches again in a few days and see how they go. I know it takes up to 10 exposures to really know if a babe will like something so I plan to keep offering it. He was a bit more receptive to the peaches on the third try, but ended up crying because he didn't want to eat them. I'll be adding in breakfast for him next week, probably just some oatmeal and a fruit mixed in for flavor and extra nutrients. I try to give him a fruit and veggie at dinner so he has a balanced meal.

He's been an excellent sleeper, but I don't want to jinx myself as I know that can change at any time! He pretty much goes down to bed between 7:30 and 8, and sleeps until between 4:30 and 5:30. Each day it seems is getting later and later which is fine by me! I don't mind getting up to feed him at 4:30 or so if he goes back to bed afterwards.

Now that I am home for the summer I will probably blog a bit more. Being a working mom is NO JOKE! Our nights and days were extremely busy. I'm looking forward to having Matthew home to read books, sing songs, and play with all kinds of new toys!

Here is a picture of us and his godparents at his baptism. He was wearing our family baptismal gown that has been around for multiple generations.

It's been awhile...

I can't believe that I haven't posted since I went back to work! It has been going well, but my second week back Cheeks decided to have a growth spurt and stopped sleeping through the night. He was going from 8 am until 4 or 5 am, and then started waking up at 11, 2, and 4 or increments close to that! UGH! It was horrible going to work with only a few hours of sleep. I literally felt like I was looking through fog. It is very hard to function on that little of sleep with no naps until the weekend.

I am finding it very hectic in the evenings after work. I get home, play with Matthew, make dinner, wash bottles, nurse him (which is taking longer and longer as he gets hungrier and hungrier!), pump, and finally get to bed.

During the last few weeks our boy has become SOO fun! He's giggling, learning how to play with toys, sitting up more, and playing in his bouncy chair. He's finally getting back in to his normal sleep stretches throughout the night and it is fantastic!

I just had spring break and we went to Florida to visit my husband's parents, and took our first plane ride to Ohio to visit my family. I'll save flying with baby for another post, but it went really well. Unfortunately our visit to Ohio was to say goodbye to a very close family friend who is passing away due to her battle with breast/brain cancer. It is super sad, but I hope she is out of pain soon.

Since the weather is becoming nicer we've been strolling through the neighborhood frequently and it feels great to be out in the sunshine and cool breeze.

Here are some pics of Chunky Monkey!

Back to Work

My first week back wasn't too bad. It was nice seeing everyone that I work with, and to not be a lazy bum anymore, but not seeing my little dude's smiles all day wasn't fun. At least I get a huge smile when I go and get him from daycare.

Over this week Cheeks developed a nasty diaper rash that I think was caused by his diapers. I sent a pack of huggies to daycare and with Cheeks' milk allergy his poop is VERY liquidy still. It is definitely getting better as I have been milk free for 2 weeks, but it is still getting out of both of our systems. When I would go to change his diaper out of the huggies his #2's just seemed to sit on the diaper and not get absorbed. We use pampers sensitive at home, and they are very absorbent. So we've been having lots of naked time, took pampers to day care, and I even put some breast milk on his blistery rash and it seemed to help heal it a bit. The blistery rash was not as red and inflamed as it was yesterday.

I'll have to say that the best part of my day now that I am back to work is nursing my babe. During leave I kind of felt like a slave to my child and nursing wasn't that bonding experience that I thought it would be (at times it was, like before bed), but now that I don't see him all day that time where he seems to attack my boob is the most precious. It's almost like he craved that closeness as well.

The chunky monkey is continuing to sleep a minimum of 8 hours (with the exception of last night waking up at 1:30 - growth spurt is what I'm thinking!), which is great for my sleeping now that I am back at work.

We are getting ready to head up to our outlets to get Cheeks a bathing suit, Easter outfit, and some jammies. He has completely grown out of all 3 month pajamas. While I can get him all buttoned up, his little feet are just jammed in to the bottoms. He has this pair of fleecy dinosaur jammies that have a dino on the feet and are absolutely adorable - I am SOOO going to miss seeing his little body in those PJ's! To me, there is nothing cuter than a freshly bathed baby in some adorable footed PJ's! = )

Will be posting a 3 month picture of our chubby cheeked boy tomorrow!

Mommy Breakdown

It hit me that my maternity leave is over last night. I just started bawling. I started thinking about missing Matthew's smile and giggles, and how I was going to miss them all day long.The reality that I will only have 4 or so hours with my baby a day is just depressing! I took him to daycare today so I could see how long it takes us to get ready and out the door. We were ready a half hour early today, so we got to have some play time before we left. I'm getting my hair cut at 1:00 and will be booking it to the daycare to pick him up right after. Tomorrow I'll take him, too, but I don't have much planned other than cleaning the house. I'll pick him up after lunch tomorrow so I can really spend some time with him. Thank goodness I'll only be back at work for 9 or 10 weeks and will then have 8 weeks off in the summer.

I did some organizing of my milk and counted how much I already have frozen. I have a whopping 248 ounces frozen. However, only 12 ounces of that I can use at this point. Three bags out of my sixty-two contain dairy free milk. I am definitely pumping as much as I can today to build up supply for Cheeks for the weeks to come. His poops are already looking and smelling better since I've been dairy free since Saturday. I definitely feel lucky that I produce so much milk, so replenishing this supply won't be too difficult.