Category: Baby

1 Year Ago A Pregnancy Started

Today is Labor Day and it’s fitting because it was a year ago, TODAY that we found out we were pregnant. After a YEAR of trying. We were finally pregnant. I can’t believe it’s been a year. I remember shaking in total shock at the TWO LINES on the pregnancy test. After many… many 1 liners. I remember friends and family praying for us to get pregnant. And I remember my friend Amy in tears telling me she was pregnant and worried that I would stop being her friend because she’s just so darn fertile. I remember the look on Alex’s face and the tears in his eyes when I gave him the bear. I remember the shock on our families faces when we told them. Our little one was loved so much already and he didn’t even know it.

I look back and I’m so grateful. Just so in awe. That year we were trying seemed like an eternity. I can’t even imagine how hard it is for those who have to try so much longer. The heartache after heartache. I feel for you. I pray for you! I promise you, God has a plan. In the midst of it, it’s so hard to see and it doesn’t make the heartache any less painful. Be in it. It’s real and it’s okay to feel that way.

But oh, when you come through it. It’s glorious! God is so amazing in His timing. Teddy coming into our lives could not have been any more perfect. What a crazy adventure we started — just a year ago!

Teddy | 3 Months

You’re three months old today! As much as I’d like to say that I can’t believe it, I do. You’re getting so strong and big and independent these days, but you really know how to make me feel like a million bucks with your sweet smile and cuddles. You’re such a sweet and easy baby. You’ve been on tons of adventures this month and you are always up for anything. You even started sleeping 7 hours a night! Last night you gave Mommy and Daddy a wonderful treat and slept for 8 hours. We all woke up refreshed and ready for another adventurous day!

Teddy, you’re smile is contagious and you spread so much love. You love everyone who holds you and you have a special talent to make every single person who meets you feel like your most favorite person (even though we really know that your favorite person is me — right Teddy boy?).

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I’d say these last three months have blown by, but they totally haven’t. I am so blessed to be able to stay home with this little guy and the blessing is that I get to soak up every moment. I really take care to savory every milestone and I try and capture as many memories as I can while I’ve been given this time with Teddy. Don’t get me wrong, I love to look back at the beginning stages and see how far we’ve all come. Alex and I as parents and Teddy as he’s now a wiggling, rolling, smiling machine!

Teddy doesn’t have a three month check up so I don’t have any stats, but as far as I can tell he’s growing perfectly. He’s lifting his head like crazy, and he’s even a fan of tummy time now. Just yesterday he rolled over from tummy to back for the first time!

Then, when Daddy came home Teddy did a double roll! When this kid decides to do something, man he goes for it.

I’m trying to mentally prepare for him being more mobile now. No more, leaving him just for a second and his naps on our bed are limited if he’s going to start rolling as soon as he gets up. Just this morning he rolled over in his crib and bonked his head. Sheesh, time for bumper pads already!

We visited family a lot this month and Teddy is a champ in the car. This month, though, we did have a scare when Papa went into the hospital for what we thought was some heart problems. After a few days though, he was released and we went back home. We did have fun though visiting family and creating precious memories with cousins, aunts and uncles.

Some fun memories from this month included go to Farrel’s Ice Cream Parlor and celebrating Grandma’s birthday. She used to work there when she was 19 year old!

Also, Teddy has shown some favoritism of his left hand. We jokingly say how stoked we are that he’s going to be a left handed pitcher. But, we just want him to do what he loves. As long as it’s baseball. Juuuuust kidding.

Another big adventure Teddy had this month was a trip to Lake Arrowhead with Andie (Alex Creswell) to do a photoshoot for The Show Ponies! They asked me to style it for them and Creswell totally brought the vision to life with vintage items and a huge American flag. Teddy brought the charm and such an easy-go-lucky little guy. We drove all the way from Camarillo and up the mountain then got out and did the whole shoot just strapped to me! I swear, he’s such a easy baby.

Finally, we were extremely blessed not only to spend some great time with Creswell, but have her offer to take some family photos of us! Teddy, again, turned on the charm for these photos. I mean, seriously, this kid is too much.

Onto another precious month with our sweet Mr. Smiley!

 

7 Hours!

Teddy slept 7 glorious hours last night! And then he ate and slept an additional three hours. He may have even slept longer if I had remembered to change his diaper when he woke up. Poor guy peed all over himself in the night (you’re welcome future Teddy who will read this and be mortified).

Teddy | 2 Months

Teddy Boy! You’re two months old now, even though you look and act like you’re three months. You’re already lifting your head all over the place, talking (cooing), smiling and chuckling (you don’t really laugh, you have an old man chuckle). You make everyone smile who meets you and everyone always says what a beautiful baby you are. Honestly kid, you’re kind of one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen.

You are sweet and cuddly, just like mommy hoped you’d be. You don’t really like to be put down but you love laying on your changing table and wiggling.

One of your favorite times of day is the morning. Grandma says you’re a morning person just like your mommy. You smile and talk and talk for a good 30 minutes in the morning while you’re being changed and dressed. Grandma says though that mommy hated being changed and dressed.

Your other favorite time of day is bath time. You love being in the shower or in the tub. You just generally like water. Nana says that Daddy loved water as a baby. It really makes me smile that you’re so much a mix of the two of us.

You’re still very vocal in letting us know when you’re happy or upset and Mommy is getting pretty good at distinguishing between your cries.

Everyone loves you so much and you’re such a sweet boy.

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Teddy is now 13.9 pounds and 24.5 inches long! The doctor said he is in the 90th percentile for pretty much everything. He had a growth spurt this month where he spent a few days just eating and sleeping. It kind of freaked me out at first and I thought he was sick, but he wasn’t ever fussy just very tired.  I have a hard time holding him on one arm because he’s so much longer!

This kid is already on the move. I often get asked, “Is he always that squirmy?”
Yes! He’s wiggling and moving all the time, even in his sleep. I put him down parallel in his crib and when I wake up for his middle-of-the-night feeding, he’s wiggled himself sideways so he’s perpendicular! I swear, this kid is going to be crawling by 4 months! I certainly hope not though because I’m not ready to start chasing after him.

I had my follow up appointment this month and received the all clear to begin exercising again. I’m not supposed to do anything too strenuous and I should refrain from doing ab exercises until he’s 10 weeks old. But, we get out almost every morning and walk about 2 miles. I’m now only 2 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, Hooray! Now I’d like to start focus on building some muscle and getting my running back up to where it use to be because I need all the stamina I can get to keep up with Teddy.

I honestly love being a mom, especially Teddy’s Mom. Even with the lack of sleep and the times when I’m bouncing and swinging him close to me trying to get him to stop fussing saying over and over, “What do you want?!”

It’s weird to feel like my body and mind are not my own. Even when Alex and I went on our date night and Grandma watched him I found that I couldn’t turn my mommy-brain off. I think about him constantly. Not in a worrying sort of way, but in a way that I always want to know where he is, what he’s doing, and making sure he’s okay. I know that sounds like worrying, but it’s totally different. I just always want to be near him and see him. Sometimes I find myself eating breakfast in the rocking chair next to his crib so I can be in the same room. This baby love is intoxicating and consuming. I can’t ever turn it off! And I love it.

So many neat adventures happened this month too! Gigi Mary & Grandpa Primo drove out from Arizona to visit us so we took them to Summerland and Santa Barbara — so much fun! Mommy and Daddy got to go in a date night and we took full advantage. We saw a movie and grubbed on tons of food. We spent over $100 on one date night but it was totally worth it! Grandma (my mom) got to watch Teddy for the evening and she was in heaven.

Teddy’s biggest adventure this month was going “swimming” for the first time! He loved it and really took to the water. He also had his first trip to the beach for the sunset. He liked it, but fell asleep shortly after we arrived.

Then, Mommy, Teddy, Grandma, and Boone headed down to Riverside for more adventures. We visited The Ferards (or Ferarbs) at their house, Jeannemarie and Chris in their new apartment, The Bakers in their new house, Aunt Amber, Uncle Chris, Julian and Emmy, met some new friends Hazel, Miss Pam and Lincoln, then went to Nana and Papa’s for a yummy steak dinner, had a slumber party at Auntie Am’s house with Tenley and Camden, drove to visit Uncle Thomas and Aunt Julie Ann in their new place, met some missionary friends from Japan, and then had lunch with Grammy and Pa at their house after church! It was a full week and very fun. Teddy was a trooper in the car and I even mastered pumping and feeding him while driving down to La Quinta to visit Julie Ann and Thomas at their new place. We were gone 5 whole days and it was too much for Daddy (he’s still complaining about it). He missed us so much that after his class on Saturday he drove all the way out to see Teddy and me and we couldn’t have been happier to see him. 5 days was just TOO LONG!

We shared very some special times over the week, waking up Grandma and Grandpa in the mornings and bath times with both sets of Grandparents. That was really special to me because some of my favorite memories are times with my Grandma and Grandpa so I know the pictures and video will mean so much to Teddy when he’s older. Teddy gave everyone smiles and was very talkative. We truly are blessed by this little guy and all the family and friends who love him.

I can’t wait to see how Teddy will continue to grow and change over this next month. Until then, here are a few favorite moments from this one.

Teddy’s Birth Video

After two months, it’s finally finished! Alex and I have fought sleep depravation to finish this video because we knew if we didn’t do it now, it would never be done! There was so much more that we wanted to add to Teddy’s video and the director’s cut is over 20 minutes long. We spared you readers that and made it under 11 mins. We hope you enjoy!

*Side Note: The song at the end of this video is actually the song that Teddy came into the world by. The anesthesiologist let us play my iPhone over the system in the operating room so I didn’t have to wear headphones and could experience the birth. So, as you can imagine, it’s even more special to us now.

Eat, Sleep, Poop. Repeat.

Welcome to newbornhood! All Teddy seemed to do for the first four weeks was eat, sleep, poop, and repeat. I was starting to feel that new mommy feeling of being his caretaker or just a cow. Don’t get me wrong, I am head-over-heels in love with this little guy! But, when all you do is feed and change this little squishy, cute blob you start to think of yourself as nothing but a “provider of nourishment and cleanliness”.

Teddy started off sleeping 5 hours in the hospital and being “awake” for about an hour in between. The nurses told me to wake him every three hours to feed him but OH NO, this kid was NOT having it. He would fuss and cry until I swaddled him and put him to sleep. So, I decided to forget it and just let the little guy do whatever he wanted. I started timing his feeding and eating schedule and boy, was that awesome for the first week. Then, after that it became stressful as I tried to regulate a routine and he wasn’t having it — yet again. Back to letting the kid do whatever he wants. Clearly, I’m not the one in charge here.

Now, 6 weeks later, I’m the boss again! He’s so much more alert now and I can help keep him entertained during his awake time until it’s truly time for a nap. For the most part, his schedule is as follows:

6:30am – 8:30am — AWAKE TIME! Mommy is half awake from the night’s “festivities”, but I usually can drag myself out of bed, get dressed and take the little one and the pup for a walk.
8:30am – 9:00am — Quick nap. He’s usually napping once we have arrived at our destination (Starbucks or Breakfast Cafe) and on the way back home.
9:00am – 10:00am — Awake Time. Teddy usually wakes up once we’re arrived at home and we play for a while before he gets really tired and zonks out for his morning nap.
10:00am – 12:00pm — Morning nap. Sometimes I let him sleep a little longer depending on how his “quick nap” was.
12:00pm – 2:00pm — AWAKE TIME! We play and explore and then relax in the rocking chair while Teddy “tells me stories” from his adventures of the day.
2:00pm – 4:00pm — Afternoon nap. This is my favorite one, because I can usually clean (The house, the dishes, myself. Whatever is in most desperate need at the time), write, sleep, or catch a show on TV.
4:00pm – 6:00pm — AWAKE TIME! This is the best because he’s wide awake for when Daddy comes home. We talk and talk with Daddy until we pass out.
6:00pm – 7:00pm — Quick nap. Sometimes this doesn’t really happen, since this is during Teddy’s fussy time. This is usually when Mommy and Daddy get to eat and talk like adults instead of in high “princess” voices.
7:00pm – 8:00pm — Awake time. Usually Daddy is doing homework, so Mommy and Teddy have some play time.
8:00pm – 9:00pm — Bedtime Routine. Teddy gets a bath twice a week, but even if we don’t bathe him he’s a pretty sweaty little guy, so we wipe him down with the warm cloth and do lotion and jammies. Then Mommy feeds him and either Mommy or Daddy rocks him until he’s asleep.

Nighttime is a whole other animal. Teddy has been pretty consistent with his sleeping at night. He wakes up every three to four hours. The other night though, he slept for 6 hours before waking up! I couldn’t believe it. I woke up at 1:30am, fully expecting him to be awake but NOPE! He slept until 3:30am. Absolutely GLORIOUS. I thought for sure we had gone into a different cycle.

Guess again. I guess we REALLY know who’s boss.

Teddy | 1 Month

This first month with Teddy has been quite an adventure! He is already crazy strong, lifting and turning his head all over the place and I SWEAR he is smiling already. He’s generally a happy baby and is very alert. He doesn’t like his eating and sleeping times to be uninterrupted though and he can be very vocal in letting you know when he’s disappointed.

We’ve been joking that he’s a bit bipolar because we will be cooing one minute and literally in seconds screaming his head off. He seems to have to be fed before liking his diaper changed, but that has already lead to some unfortunate accidents for Daddy. He’s been peed and pooped on quite a few times already. Just this week he had to change Teddy’s diaper three times in a row before leaving for work and gave up on the last one when he soiled it again!

Teddy is in excellent shape according to the doctor (who we love!). He’s in the 90th percentile for height and weight and 60th for head circumference. He’s very active and eating well. We go in next month for his shots and I am not looking forward to it. I haven’t even brought it up to Teddy yet — maybe we’ll just let it be a surprise.

We’ve had so many wonderful visitors this first month from down south, across town and out of town; and we have many more people to visit this coming month. We love all the love and help we’ve been receiving! My mom stayed with us the first week and was such a huge help. I don’t know how we would have survived without her tracking my medications and helping me remember which side I fed the baby on last. Then, Alex had to go back to work and I was alone for the first time with Teddy. It was really hard and he wouldn’t let me put him down. Alex came home at lunch and we drove to Oxnard just to get the baby to sleep. I ran into Target to buy a Moby wrap and some batteries while Alex drove around the parking lot. It was quite comical. After that, we had more visitors! Debbie and Wil came for a few days and helped me again — this time taking Teddy so I could meet Alex for lunch. It really has been a blessing with all these visitors.

This month we also had lots to celebrate. We celebrated Daddy’s birthday and Daddy’s first Father’s Day. Teddy got him a framed picture and a card. Mommy got him a massage and Starbucks.Teddy also pooped all over himself and our comforter so horribly that we had to shower him off and the comforter was unsalvageable — so we made another trip to Target for a new comforter!

I also drove down to Riverside (with Teddy BY MYSELF) for Aunt Julie Ann’s bachelorette party where Amy and I tore it up as mommies with babies at the party. The boys had fun!

But, the biggest adventure this month was Aunt Julie Ann and Uncle Thomas’ wedding! It was Teddy’s first major road trip excursion. He was a champ and didn’t mind the car ride as long as he was full. I think Mommy and Daddy had a harder time with the whole trip than Teddy did.

I was in the wedding so Daddy flew solo for the day! I had two bags of pumped milk for him and even picked out Teddy’s outfit. We forgot the milk was in the car so it spoiled and Teddy peed and pooped all over his outfit before the ceremony even started. Poor Daddy! Luckily I was able to nurse him quickly after family pictures and before formals, but he was still hungry. Aunty Amy to the rescue with her liquid gold! I wonder if Teddy will mind if I mention in my speech at HIS wedding that he drank some bottled milk from his mother-in-law? Too much? Too weird? A mamas gotta do what a mamas gotta do! And thank God for friends like Amy who have liquid gold on tap.

Overall, this month has been crazy and amazing and wonderful! I love being a mother and Alex is a fantastic Daddy. Teddy is a great baby and I’m sure this next month we’ll figure out the whole sleeping through the night thing. Right, Teddy?

Here are a few of my favorites from this month: