3 Months

Dear Forest,

You are three months old! Time seems to be flying at warp speed and you keep getting bigger and bigger right before my eyes.

You are the sweetest baby and I could stare at you all day!  You've been giving us "social smiles" for about a month now and they are the greatest thing.  You still have your gorgeous blue yes; they say a baby's eyes can change color the first year, but I'm thinking yours will stay blue just like Julia's.  You also have the most kissable fluffy cheeks and a number of adorable chins.  Couldn't be any cuter if you tried!

Eating: After many a painful nursing session and visits to lactation consultants and pediatricians (and a tongue tie clipping), you've figured out how to use your tongue to eat (alleluia!).  You nurse 6x a day and definitely are not missing any meals. You don't like taking a bottle so the two of us are rarely apart!

Sleeping: You are a pretty good napper during the day, but your nighttime sleep could use some work.  Your daddy gets up with you in the night; I'm sure you're just wanting him to have plenty of bonding time with you. So far in your life, you've slept through the night once and it was Christmas Eve, so thank you for that Christmas present!! We recently started using a "magic sleep suit" for you to sleep in at night, so you've gone from being tightly swaddled like a mummy to wearing a fluffy pastel onesie that makes you look like the Michelin tire man.  It's adorable.

Clothes: You're in a size 2 diaper and wear mostly 3-6 month clothes.  I can still squeeze you in to some 0-3 month outfits, though.  You are growing like a weed!

Traveling:  You've gone to the lake condo a couple of times.  You don't seem bothered by the change in scenery, which is good since you will be spending a lot of time there!

Big Sis: To say that Julia is obsessed with you would be an understatement.  She cannot get enough of "her baby" and she's so helpful.  She likes to give you your paci when you are crying, keep you warm with blankets, assist with diaper changes, show you toys, hold you, pick out outfits, and read you books!

I'm writing this while I'm rocking you before I go to bed for the night and you make it so hard to put you down-- you're truly the sweetest (but I will because I'm exhausted and you'll be up soon!).

I feel very lucky to spend so much time with you and your sister at this time!

I cannot imagine life without you, sweet boy!

Love,

Mommy

Potty trained!

Julia is officially potty trained! About six weeks ago, Julia came out to the living room and said she wanted to wear panties (I was laying on the couch feeling pretty sick and running to the bathroom to get Sick every hour or so, so I would've been more than happy to put potty training off until I didn't feel so sick!), and we haven't looked back since. I think Julia had one or two accidents since her underwear declaration, which is amazing!

Way to go, Julia! And thanks for pretty much potty trained raining yourself!! Your next task will be getting rid of your pacifiers... yippee!

It's a...

BOY!!

We are so excited to welcome a sweet baby boy in October!!!

This pregnancy started out as miserable as Julia's but turned for the better around 15 weeks. It's so weird to be pregnant and not nauseous 24/7 :)

18 months, and some backtracking!

I completely dropped the ball on keeping up with Julia milestones and updates! Here are some highlights:

- you turned one!! We had your birthday at our house with lots of family, godparents, friends, food, and cake! We had a great time and quickly caught on how to open presents.

- a few weeks after we celebrated all of our birthdays, we went to the beach! We met Gigi and Grandpa in Destin and had so much fun! You tolerated the sand, but really loved the ocean waves. 

- we cheered on the Razorbacks (not that it helped, but we had fun)!

- Gigi and Grandpa moved from Texas back to Little Rock; they couldn't stay away from you any longer!

- we went to the pumpkin patch and you were a strawberry for Halloween! 

- you started walking when you were 14 months! Now you're more interesting on running than walking. 

- we had family pictures taken while we were all sick (except Murphy!); you had a double ear infection, poor baby!

- we found out you were going to have a new baby cousin: Luci! She was born very early and is still very tiny. 

- we went to see Santa... and did not like him. 

but he still brought presents! 

- we went to Mountain View to see Great Grandma one last time. 

 I'm glad she got to see you one more time!

- we went to the zoo and you ran all over the place

Those are the highlights, but there have been thousands of other special moments we've shared in the past six months. 

These days, at 18 months old, you are keeping us busy and entertained. You still sleep all night, thank God, and take one to two naps. You eat most everything, but have such a sweet tooth! You will devour any and all sweets you can get your hands on. You are starting to say a few words and you have just the sweetest little voice. We love to hear you talk. You go to daycare three days a week (grandma usually picks you up when she gets off work since she works across the parking lot- you two have lots of fun together!) and stay home with me the other two days. You love to have books read to you, be outside, carry purses (yes, you already own purses!!), play with your baby dolls and their blankets/cribs/pillows/strollers, make a mess with your play kitchen and our actual kitchen, color, and knocking over block towers. You are busy, busy, busy and in constant motion. These last 18 months have been the greatest; you are so loved, sweet baby. 

11 Months

Julia had a great 11th month- and so did we! Julia is crawling all over the place, pulling up on everything, climbing stairs, zooming around in her walker, patting Murphy as much as possible, starting to sleep through the night again (we had a rough few weeks (for us) with Julia waking multiple times a night), eating a variety of foods, drinking out of a soppy cup, and being a total sweetheart, as usual. 

This moth Julia is:

- still nursing 5x a day, with breakfast, lunch, and dinner 

- started back at daycare 

- not yet walking, but crawling all over the place and walking along furniture 

- babbling a lot

- drinking water from a sippy cup (took a bit to learn how to use it)

- wearing size 9 month and 12 month clothes

- size 6-12 month shoes (her tiny chubby feet look SO cute in sandals)

- putting her shapes through the correct holes in her toy, and

- brushing her hair with her comb and brush

We are so enjoying every minute we spend with our sweet baby! 

Julia,

As you can see, your monthly pictures are getting harder and harder to take. Luckily, we only have one more left. Speaking of which, I can hardly believe that you are going to be one year old in a few weeks. I mailed your birthday invitations out today, so I guess you will continue getting older whether I'm ready or not. When I look back at pictures of you from a few months ago, it seems like just yesterday. Time is going by way too quickly! 

Every day I am amazed by new things you have learned and can do- you are such a smarty! You've also turned in to a bit of a performer and comedian. When we laugh at something you do or give you a lot of praise for something, you want to do it again and again. 

You're still my best little buddy and I can't even remember what we did before you. You've made our lives so much richer!

Love you always,

Mommy

Happy first Father's Day!

We celebrated Jeff's first Father's Day this weekend (even though he had to work on Sunday/Father's Day!). We're so lucky to have him!

Jeff is the greatest dad to Julia (and Murphy!) and he loves being a daddy!

10 Months

Seems like I just wrote one of these monthly posts, but the calendar doesn't lie and our baby is one month older already!

Julia's tenth month had a few firsts- scooting around/army crawling, pulling up on people when they are on the floor with her, a few top teeth popping through (Julia is ready to eat a steak now!), getting in the pool, feeding herself a popsicle, sitting up from laying down, not screaming immediately when a new person holds her, drinking out of a sippy cup, and terrorizing Murphy with his toys.

Even though Julia is not yet an expert crawler, she still manages to get around and also get in to a lot of things that she shouldn't. She definitely keeps us on our toes. Julia also puts every. single. thing. she comes across straight in to her mouth. She keeps us on our toes, that's for sure.

Julia weighs around 18 pounds; wears mostly 9 month sized clothes; and, wears 3-6 month sized shoes- tiny feet!

Julia is still eating anything (and everything) that we put in front of her. She seems to really love blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, scrambled eggs, chicken, and desserts.

Dear 10 month old Julia, 

You are still sweet as can be and we cannot imagine a life without you. To see you learn and grow every day is such a blessing. You are such a happy, laid-back baby, so spending my days with you is always a joy. 

Recently, you and I flew down to Dallas to see Grandma, Grandpa, and Michael and our flight was delayed nearly five hours- you remained in much better spirits than the majority of the adults flying with us. Not mention that most of our fellow travelers could not get over how good, cute, and happy you were. So, thanks for making me look good, baby girl!

You like to make sure someone is watching you whenever you're doing anything (you look up to make eye contact and then give the biggest smile before getting back to what you were doing), especially if it's something you think deserves some cheer leading. Even if you don't get cheers, that doesn't stop you from clapping for yourself. Seriously, the cutest. 

Love you, sweet girl!

Mommy