Weekend with the Grandparents

Last week, my mom was here helping me while I "recovered" from my procedure. I have that in quotes because, praise God, the recovery has been pretty easy and not at all as extensive as what the doctors made it out to be. It's always so nice to have mom here. Curtis just loves her. There were several times where I couldn't get Curtis to take a nap that mom just took him, told me to go somewhere else, and I'd come back a few minutes later and he would be asleep, all cuddled up on mom. It was such a sweet sight. With mom being here, of course that meant dad had to come back. He just can't stand mom getting to spend time with Curtis without him here, and who could blame him?, Curtis is a pretty awesome kid :) Mom and I had plans to go to a friend's house the night dad came up, so we left Curtis with Isaac and dad. I expected to come home to him fussy and cranky from not nursing before bedtime, but no, Papa (dad), had rocked him to sleep and he slept really well. It was the first time (other than after surgery) that I didn't nurse him to sleep, which was a little sad for me, but I'm glad dad was able to rock him to sleep, I know that is one of his greatest joys, rocking his grandbabies.

It was nice to have them both here. I love getting to spend time with them both and I love that they are getting a chance to know their Grandson a little bit.

Today was Curtis' 4 month appointment (2 weeks late). It went pretty well, I got to meet his new doctor who is very nice. He did pretty good for the first part of the appt, but then was done very quickly with different people poking and prodding. He's up to 15lbs 3ozs and almost 26inches, which is awesome. He's gonna be tall and lanky, just like his dad. When I think about how little he was when he was first born, he fit perfectly inside the carrier that I wore and could easily snuggle up on us, his whole body on us. Now, his arms and legs are flopping all over the place when I wear him in the Moby and it's harder for him to get his legs comfortable when we're snuggling cause they've grown so much. But, I love that he's growing, I love that he's healthy. We're so thankful for that. One thing about these appointments, though, that I hate are the shots. We get them, we believe in them. We both think immunizations are very necessary but it just breaks my mama's heart when those needles go in and he screams bloody murder. And then spends the rest of the day screaming. He just, finally laid down for a nap. I am hoping it lasts for a while because I know the best thing for him will be to sleep through the sore legs.

Here are a few pictures with of Curtis with Yaya and Papa from the last few weeks

Baby Dedication

This weekend has been a fun filled weekend with all our family visiting us.

I had some minor surgery on Friday to fix some complications from Curtis' delivery so mom and dad came up to visit and take care of Curtis for the day. We found out that Curtis really, REALLY doesn't like bottles. He took one or two while we were at the hospital reluctantly, but once I came home, he was done with that. It broke my heart because I wasn't suppose to nurse him until Saturday, so he screamed every time he got hungry. Finally, we decided to try some cereal. We definitely have a food loving baby. He was calm, and it filled his belly enough that he stayed asleep until the next morning, which we were very thankful for. 

We are also super thankful for mom and dad coming to take care of Curtis and help out some while I recovered. Thankfully, the recovery was much quicker than what the doctor's made it out to be and I feel much better than what I was feeling beforehand.

Yesterday, Jonathan and Melissa brought the girls up here for a quick visit for Curtis' dedication at church this morning. It was so fun to have all my family in one house. I loved the sound of so many little ones running around. I loved getting to hang out with Jonathan and Melissa and share a part of our lives with them.

This morning was Curtis' dedication. For those who may not know or understand what that is, it's something we consider very important. It's different than a christening, or baptism if that's what you were thinking. It is where we as parents are dedicating our lives to raising Curtis to know Christ and to follow Christ. It's where we come before our church, admitting that we can't do this parenting thing alone, that we need God's help and the help of our friends, church family and families. Parenting is something we take very seriously. I look at kids today and see parents who did not take that role very seriously. I know I have a lot to learn, and I know there are no guarantees. I know God has a plan for Curtis and it may take him no time to come to know God, or it may take him years to come and know Him, but our job as parents is to never stop preaching the Gospel to him, never stop pointing him towards the saving grace of Jesus. That's what today was about, dedicating our son to the Lord, and our lives to that job.

This next week mom will be here to help with Curtis. We're looking forward to lots of fun, giggles, and probably some screaming, but that's ok :) I love that he is getting a chance to know his Yaya

His first time eating cereal

Hanging out with Papa

Curtis' first time in the excersaucer

And his first time in the bumbo

Curtis just loves his Aunt Melissa!

Everyone eating lunch, Curtis just chillin

Love the sound of little girls playing

4 Months

Our baby is 4 months old today! 

As I write this, he is taking his first good nap of the day. He is finally starting to take good naps most days. Every now and then, he'll have a day (usually on Isaac's duty day) where he will only sleep in his crib for 15 or 20 mins. Either I go in and he's fully awake, or he just really wants to be held so he goes right back to sleep as soon as we're sitting down in our chair. As difficult as those days are because I can't get anything done, I love those days. I love the naps where he is completely content laying on my chest, snoring quietly, lifting up his little head while he dreams. Those days are the best and I will miss them very much when he is too big to sleep in my arms. 

But days like today, days that he will take a good nap in his crib, I do enjoy those days as well. I never realized how productive I could be until I started working against the clock of a nap time. I can clean the kitchen, the bathrooms, sweep the floor and sometimes even do laundry in the 30 mins to an hour that he will stay down. Those are good days too. Those days help our house to not be a complete and total mess.

At 4 months, Curtis is really starting to interact with every one and every thing around him. A friend held him at church and every way she held him, he just kept turning in the other direction because he was afraid he would miss something on the other side. He wants to see and know everything that's going on. If I'm in a new place with him, there is no nap to be taken. He wants to look all around and will fight sleep for as long as possible so he can see all that he needs to. He's starting to enjoying tummy time more. I took the advice of my friend Brenna, and let him have his "screen time" for tummy time. I can now get him to lay on a boppy, watching our Kindle for about 5ish minutes before he completely breaks down, which is a huge improvement over the 30 secs he was doing. He's also beginning to sleep just a little longer most nights, which is wonderful. A lot of mornings he will sleep until 6:30, which means most nights I am back to sleeping about 8ish hours which I am so thankful for. About once a week, he still wakes up around 1 or 2 but other than that, the sleep is a huge gift. 

We have his 4 month appt in 2 weeks, so I'll find out then how much he weighs and how much he's grown, but I feel like he's grown a lot. He just seems so incredibly big when I look at him, he's almost completely outgrown his bassinet, so hopefully we'll have his room ready before that.

His "evil plan" face :)