What a Month!

October has been a full and wonderful month! We visited some great friends, celebrated our fourth anniversary, dedicated Andrew at church, and celebrated my 32nd birthday! It has been full and lots of fun. All the while, Andrew continues to grow and change, which is amazing!

We spent time in Wellington, FL with our friends, Vaughn, Jaime, and Kate Stoll. Dan went to UF with them, and we both love spending time with them! Their daughter, Kate is almost exactly a year older than Andrew, and she is quite a beauty! Andrew had a great time playing with her, and he must have learned a thing or two because, by the end of the weekend, he was babbling up a storm and saying "da da."

I know it's not very original for us, but I LOVE spending time at Disney World for special events! So, for our forth anniversary, we spent the weekend there! Our first night was without Andrew, which actually went quite well! Andrew had a great time with his Grandparents, and we had a great time dining at the California Grill! It overlooks the Magic Kingdom, and we had a really nice window seat! Andrew joined us on Saturday, and then we had some fun family time.

The following weekend was the Parent/Child Dedication at our church. That is where we commit to raise Andrew in a Christ-centered home with the hope that he will also grow to love Jesus and follow Him throughout his life. My parents and Dan's parents came, and we all enjoyed our time together. My parents were here for a whopping 36 hours -way too short! But it was great to see them!

This is Andrew's Halloween costume. Obviously, it's not Halloween yet, but this is when he was trying it on. His costume is really cute, but I think it's going to be a little short. That kid is long!

God gave me a special birthday blessing with some cool weather this week! Oh, how I have loved the crisp, cool air, and Andrew seems to have liked it too! This morning, I felt like I needed to cover his ears when we went out for a walk because he has had a cold. Dan's Grandma Rock made him this hat before he was born, so we tried it on this morning. It was super cute and it's almost too small now. Unfortunately, it was actually pretty warm by the time we got outside, so I had to take it off. Hopefully, he'll have another chance to wear it!

Well, that's about it for now! Enjoy the pictures of my little man!

My Baby is 6 months old!!!!

Well, today at 11:59 pm, Andrew will officially be six months old! I really can't believe it! The time has flown by, and I can safely say that the last six months are basically a blur! But a wonderful blur!

Andrew has done a lot in the past couple of months. He has two bottom teeth, and he handled them coming in very well. He got a cold, and I think that may have been why, but after we got a humidifier, that didn't seem to be much of a problem. He's trying so hard to crawl, and he can definitely get around (sometimes by rolling), but he just can't get it all to work at the same time yet (arms and legs). That's just fine with me! He's making lots of noises, and this may be crazy, but I'm wondering if he tries to say Alli. He's so fascinated and humored by her, and lots of times when she comes around, he makes a noise that sounds like "Aya." Well, I'm not writing it in his book yet, but I just keep listening. It does make sense since we yell her name all the time!! Today, he started sitting up! He's been getting stronger, but we haven't been able to sit unassisted...until today! I still have to watch him, but he can sit there for a few minutes, until he decides to go after something. We got him a walker, and he loves to scoot around the kitchen. And he has had his two first little tumbles. Fortunately, neither phased him! Dan and I are even - one on his watch and one on mine! We are definitely in the process of baby proofing!!

Dan and I are doing well! We've gotten into a pretty good routine in terms of our jobs and family time. We both get tired, and we try not to take that out on each other!! I'd say we do pretty well - he's better than me! We even went on a date without Andrew recently, which was fun! Next week is our fourth anniversary, so we're spending the weekend at Disney. Andrew will stay at least one night with Gigi and Papa (Dan's parents). My mom is a little bit sad about that! We're excited about getting away!

Well, that's my quick update for now! I've been blessed that Andrew has been happily entertaining himself for a few minutes! I better not push it!

We're still here!

First time at the Beach!

I have very good reasons for taking so long to update this blog: 1. I have a baby. 2. I have been studying for my state licensure exam (which I passed two weeks ago today). 3. We have had visitors, travel, etc taking up a lot of our time. 4. I have a baby!

Anyway, now that surely there is no one who checks this, I'm finally taking a minute to catch up a little bit. I'm up at my parents' house right now. Andrew and I flew up last Friday, and our travel adventure actually went very well. I must say, I felt quite accomplished after surviving a flight alone with my four and a half month old! Of course, it is only a little over an hour. We were supposed to be flying home right now, but our flight was cancelled because of the Tropical Storm. That was a good call, I think, since Dan said that it's just starting to get nasty in Orlando. We're scheduled for the same flight tomorrow, but I'm bracing myself for things being pretty messed up since so many flights were cancelled today. I guess we'll see how this flight goes to see what a supermommy I really am!

Andrew changes so much week by week! He is SO much fun, and it's exciting to see him learn and grow and change. And he's taking growing very seriously. At his four month appointment, he was 15 1/2 lbs and 26 1/2 inches (98th percentile for length!). He's rolling over and even scooting around some. He wants to be mobile very badly. The carseat, which was once such a blessing for getting Andrew to relax and stop crying, has now become the enemy! He started eating cereal a couple of weeks ago, and he loves it! I have learned not to try to skip that step on a busy day because he WILL know, and I WILL pay!!! He's sleeping great - I have actually gotten nine hours of sleep on a couple of occasions! And he's definitely starting to teeth. I think I have located where his first tooth will come in, but I'll keep you posted on that one!

The other big news has definitely been taking and passing my state licensure exam for counseling. After three years of being an intern, I'm only some paperwork away from being a Licensed Mental Health Counselor! It's such a relief to be there!

As I'm writing, I realized that I have gone back to work since the last time I updated this blog! That's going well too. I only work on Wednesday evenings and all day on Friday. On Wednesdays, Andrew is with Dan, and Fridays Dan's mom comes to keep him. He doesn't miss a beat when I go to work. I think he likes to be around other people, although I'm clearly his favorite!!! :-) I'm glad to have such a flexible work schedule.

Andrew and I have had a great time with my parents! It has been a pretty relaxing time up here on the mountain. Dan's sister, Megan, is back up here at school, so we've gotten to spend some time with her too. She was busy working this summer, so we didn't get to see a whole lot of her when she was home. It's fun that we can see her no matter where we are!

Well, I guess that's it for now. Of course, I need to leave time to add in the all important pictures of my cutie pie!

At the beach during Melanie's visit!

First time at Disney World on Mimi's birthday!

Pictures!!

These pictures are courtesy of our friend, Andres!

Shhhh...Andrew is Sleeping!

It' so hard for me to believe that Andrew is almost 11 weeks old! Wow! Time definitely flies more and more with every new event!

We're doing great! One of the reasons (aside from finding time) that I don't blog very often is because I want to put pictures up. I mean, that's the most fun part of blogs in my opinion. But the pictures are always on Dan's computer, which is often at work when I have a chance to blog. That's why I'm writing here, but there are no pictures. I'm hoping to put some up later today. Andrew is so cute, so I really want you to see him! I know he's cuter every day!

My maternity leave is almost over, and I can't believe it! We have kept so busy that it has flown by. The week before last we spent the week at my parents' house in NC, and that was great. It was much different than usual because it was not very restful. Life is just not so restful any more. But it was still so nice to be up in the mountains with family. I guess it was restful but just not in the sleep way. Next week, I'm returning to work at the Counseling Center at FBCO, but only for a day and a half a week. I'm not too worried about this step since it's so limited. I love counseling, so I think I will enjoy the "break" and spending time with my clients. Andrew will be with Dan on Wednesday nights, which I think will be great for the two of them. And on Fridays, my sweet mother-in-law is coming to stay with him! I think that will be special too. My mom is very sad that she can't have a piece of that action, but Allegiant flights aren't that cheap!!

So what is Andrew up to? Well, he's smiling and "talking" all the time, which is a great delight! He's also quite the bobble head! The more control he has over his head, the more he insists on holding it up as much as possible. He's not sleeping through the night every night, but we have had a few, and we're headed in a good direction. My biggest challenge now is getting him to nap in his crib during the day. He does NOT like that most of the time. But he did take a two hour nap there yesterday, which was great. Evenings are always the hardest time for us, but the other night he sat happily in his bouncy seat, playing or sleeping, for a lot of the evening. I truly did not know what to do with myself!

Well, time's almost up. He's got to eat soon. But I will try to put pictures on soon!

I don't even have time to check my email, and you're expecting me to update my blog???

I don't know who I'm talking to here, but that's just the thought that came to mind when I was thinking of apologizing for taking so long to update on here and post new pictures! I think that motherhood hits everyone differently. I mean, I guess that's common sense, and of course every baby is different, but I see some women who become mothers and essentially seem to not skip a beat. And then there is me. Now, I LOVE being a mommy, and Andrew, although he certainly has a lot of fussy times, is a very good baby. But I seem to only have time to take care of him! I enjoy it (most of the time), and there's nothing I would rather do (most of the time), but it does amaze me that there is no time for anything else. I think what makes getting stuff done most difficult is that he basically only sleeps during the day if we are out, so that means that if I want him to sleep, I won't be getting stuff done around the house. Oh well, we have fun going out, and the house will always be here! Plus, so far he's doing great at night, so that's really great!

Bath Time!

Things really are going well. I amazed how much Andrew has changed. The last time I weighed him, he was 10 lbs 11 oz, and at his doctor's appt. last week, he was 22 and 1/2 inches! He's a big boy. Thanks for the prayers about my nursing issues. Things are on track now, and we're not having to supplement at all now! I did just have to go on an antibiotic for mastitis, but the good news about that is that I think we caught it before it got too bad. I'm just so thankful that nursing is going so much better. We (Andrew and I) have been going to a support luncheon every week, and that helps very much. I can weigh him, feed him, and weigh him again to see how much he's getting. Plus, it's just so nice to be around other nursing mothers to troubleshoot issues together and get encouragement.

First Visit at Dad's Office

Andrew has really started smiling a lot and "talking" a lot this week. THAT is so much fun! He has the most precious little face. When I get a good picture of that smile, I'll put it on here (though it may take a few weeks)! I can't believe he will be six weeks old tomorrow. He's so aware and wide eyed! He loves to look around and see everything. He's very social!

Oh, we did have our first night out last Saturday! We went to see Wicked, which was wonderful. Dan's mom and sister went with us, so Dan's dad and grandma watched Andrew! They all did great, and I was very relieved.

One Month Old!!!

OK, I need to wrap this up for now. I'm excited about my first Mother's Day! Last year on this day, we had people at church lay hands on us and pray that God would bless us with a child! Praise Him for all that He has done! What a year this has been! Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommies out there!

Two weeks later...

Well, we're all still alive! Actually, all things considered, I think things have gone very smoothly so far. I can't tell you how much it has helped to have my mom here. She has been such a blessing to Dan, Andrew, and me, and I'm not so sure we would have made it without her!

Andrew is a wonderful blessing! He is so cute and sweet, and I just can't get enough of him. I just hold him and give him kisses, and it's just so unbelievable to me that I'm holding our very own baby. I've been thinking a lot about the longing and the waiting, and what a tremendous joy it is to see how God answered the prayers of so many with this little life!

The hardest part so far has been breastfeeding. After a week, Andrew had lost a little too much weight and clearly was not getting full. After meeting with a lactation consultant, we decided we needed to supplement with formula, and I also started taking some herbs that will hopefully help me. It's quite a routine that we're going through right now to hopefully be able to keep breastfeeding or even get back to doing that exclusively. Right now we're just taking it one day at a time. We'd love your prayers for our wisdom in that area.

This week, Dan goes back to work. He worked last week, but he was able to do it from home. I will miss having him here so much. And this is my last week with my mom here! I will be bawling my eyes out when she has to go home! But I am staring to get the hang of things more and more, so hopefully it won't take long for Andrew and me to settle into a routine of our own.

We know how many people have rejoiced with us in this wonderful event, and we are so thankful to all of you. Thank you for your prayers and love. We love you!