Hunter's 1st Birthday

I have more to come but here are a couple photos from the party!! It was such a huge success and we had so many people that we love so much come and share his big day. 

10 Months

Well time continues to fly by. LB is now 10 months old. I can not believe he will be a year old in less than 2 months!! He is developing such a huge personality. He is so sweet and outgoing.

He now has 6 teeth! Let me tell you...this makes for a very cranky baby at times. He is so cute though and loves to bite down on food and chew with his new teeth.

Big exciting news!! He has started taking lots of steps!! I have a feeling he will be full on walking soon! He gets so excited when he walks. I think I'll post a video.

I hope that works! It is so exciting watching him grow. He is so smart and so funny. I really do believe he has a great sense of humor. He loves people and loves smiling really big and everyone and making them go crazy over him. :)

9 months

LB turned 9 months old on the 15th. It has been so amazing watching him grow. I just love him so much!

I wrote his 9 month letter the day before he turned 9 months, as I have with the other letters. Here it is.

Dear Sweet Boy,

            Tomorrow you will be 9 months old. I just put you to bed, and you threw the biggest tantrum ever!! I think you fought sleep for at least an hour. Lately you have just not wanted to go to bed or sleep all night. I'm sure one of these days, probably when you are reading this, I will be having to drag you out of bed.

            9 months old seems so crazy to me. It sounds so much older than 8 months. You are getting really big. Tomorrow we find out just how much you have grown. I can't wait to see. You have learned so much since the last letter I wrote you. You started crawling, you learned how to sit, you started pulling up on things, and you are cruising now. You have taken a step too. You want to walk so bad. I'm sure it will happen very soon. You are so jealous of your cousin Finn and all of the walking he does. I have a feeling you two will be best friends one day.

            We had our first Mother's Day yesterday. You got me a sweet card. Thank you! I'm so blessed and lucky to be your mom. You are just the sweetest and cutest baby in the world. Everyone else seems to agree too. They just can not get enough of you. You have chubby cheeks and fat thighs, and you still have the most amazing, blue, sparkly eyes. Your smile is one in a million. You are very ticklish and love it when mommy and daddy tickle you. You just scream and laugh. Your laugh is just too cute. You have said mama, but only when you are fussing. It is really precious though and makes me smile. You love to talk and scream.

            You are seriously wearing your daddy and I out. You are just so curious about everything. You want to go everywhere in the house non-stop, and you usually want to go to the places we don't want you in, haha. It really is amazing watching you explore and learn. You get the biggest and most curious eyes when you see something new.

            You are just in love with our cat Terk. Every time she comes around you get the biggest smile and crawl very fast towards her. You pull her tail and fur, and her paws and ears, and well…she doesn't exactly like it. She loves you though. She always stays close by you, even if you drive her crazy. It is so sweet watching you two.

            You are getting so heavy!!! Also, you have become a major turd during diaper changes. You constantly want to turn over and sit up and move around. We have to give you a toy to play with so that we can distract you or it is nearly impossible to change you, haha. You are constantly on the go!  

            You are growing so fast, and it is bittersweet. I love watching you grow, but it seems to go too fast. I love cuddling you and rocking you to sleep, and I know before you know it, you won't want that anymore. I love you so much, and being your mom is my greatest accomplishment in life. You and your daddy make me the happiest girl in the world.      

                                                                                    Love,

                                                                                                Mommy

 Here is a sweet picture of us last week!

Here he is at his 9 month check-up. He was 18 lbs and 27 3/4 inches!!

I am truly blessed. There are definitely days that are hard. Especially the days where I am by myself and hubby is at work. I manage though, and his sweet smile makes each task easier. It is hard on my body but it is all worth it. I love being his mommy!!

Before I Was A Mom

I saw this posted on my mommy blog board:

"Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.... Thank God He blessed me to be a mom with my wonderful precious child."

I am so proud to be a mom. It is the most wonderful experience in the world.

Teeth! 1st Step!

I can't believe I forgot to mention LB has his 2 bottom teeth now. They are too cute! He has been teething forever so I am so glad they finally popped through! Also, LB took his first step last night!! Unbelievable! He just turned around, let go and took a step. Then he took a nose dive. HA. I love him so much!!!

8 months

LB is 8 months old now. He started doing so many things, literally, overnight. He started pulling up and standing, he perfected crawling, and is sitting up. One day while I was at work my husband texted me a picture of LB standing in his crib. It was amazing!! We lowered the crib immediately!!

That is the picture he sent. He looks so proud of himself here! It cracks me up. It also makes me a little sad. My baby is growing so fast. I had a moment today. I was just watching him move all over the place, and started crying. Every day is just so precious. Time is flying. I want to hold on to each moment and just cherish it.

He got to meet a friend of our's new baby this weekend. She is a month old. These 3 babies are going to be friends for life. My husband and his 2 best friends all had babies within 10 months of each other. How awesome is that? I will leave you with a picture of these sweetest face in the whole wide world!! This is my new favorite picture at the moment!

7 months

Little buddy is 7 months old now. Time is seriously flying by, and he is growing so fast. He is starting to give me kisses now, which is my new favorite thing. It makes my heart melt every single time. I love him so much. He is weighing in at 16 lbs 13.8 oz right now. He is only in the 25% right now, which is crazy to me cause he is such a little chunker if you ask me. :) He is starting to wake up so I'm going to have to cut this short and continue it another day, but I will leave you with a few St. Patrick's Day pictures!

Day 1 Update

I feel like a failure. I had a bad day. Went and bought a carton. :( I'm going to try again next week. Ugh.

I'm Quitting Smoking: Day 1

Day 1. I am so ancy. I keep reminding myself over and over why I am doing this.

The hubby and I quit before we started trying to get pregnant on July 25, 2010. We didn't start back until LB was 6 weeks old. I guess with all of the stress and lack of sleep, I just really wanted to smoke again. I now know that I can't "have just one" and be ok. I can't have any. At all. I need to quit forever. I want to be healthy for LB.

So today is the day. The hubby and I are quitting together again. We are not using the patch or anything. We re going cold turkey this time. I just want to get it out of my system, even though the next couple weeks will probably be hell. I can already feel the b*tch in me coming out. I hate it. I wish it wasn't so hard. I have a terrible headache and I am restless and ancy. I hope I don't gain weight this time around.

Wish me luck!!

Half a Year?

I can not believe LB is 6 months old. Time sure is flying. I am amazed that it has been half a year since we first met our precious little boy. Here is a pic :)

He really is the happiest baby. He is always smiling and laughing. I love his laugh. It cracks me up! I love him so much more than words can express. I have decided to write a letter the day before he turns 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and a year, and then every half year after that to him. I already posted the first one. Here is the second one. It pretty much sums up my experience these last 3 months.

Dear sweet boy,

            Tomorrow you will be 6 months old. Time has flown by so fast. I am so proud to be your mommy. You are so cute and just keep getting cuter and cuter every day. You had your 6 month check-up today. You were 15 lbs and 13 oz and you are 26 inches long. You have a big ole head too! We expect you to be very smart, haha.

            Since the last letter I wrote so much has happened. You are growing so fast, almost too fast. I'm trying so hard to treasure each moment, because before I know it you won't be little bitty anymore, and you may not enjoy cuddling as much. I look forward to all of our wonderful moments we will share together. You laugh all the time now, and think mommy and daddy are pretty silly. You are always smiling and people wonder if you ever cry. You do, but not much. You are such a good baby. I really have been blessed. You are rolling all over the place now. Front to back and left to right. You want to go so bad, and I think you will be crawling soon. You blow raspberries all the time and you love squealing and making noises. You started eating cereal. You did not like rice but you love oatmeal, and so far you have had avocado and butternut squash. Your daddy has been making the food himself. He is such a good daddy and he loves you so much.

            You started sleeping through the night, for the most part. You go to bed around 7 and wake up around 6. I love the schedule you are on, but you aren't much of a napper. Sometimes you nap ok. Last weekend it was just us at the house and we took really long naps together all weekend. You were such a good cuddler. It truly melts my heart when you curl into me and fall asleep. I sing to you a lot, and you love it. You just look up at me and smile. It is the sweetest thing. I usually sing "You Are My Sunshine" or the "twa la la" song my mom used to sing to me.

            Your daddy and I are so very proud of you. We show you off and beam with pride anytime we take you somewhere. You get a lot of attention, because you are so very cute and you have super chunky cheeks that everyone just wants to pinch. Your eyes are beautiful. They are crystal blue and you have such long eyelashes. You are perfect. I love you so much baby boy. You make my world complete and a much better place. I love you to the moon and back!!

                                                                        Love you,

                                                                                    Mommy

I am so in love. He truly is the best baby and a gift from God. 

LB is 5 Months Old!

Holy camoly where has time gone?? I really need to get better about updating this. It is 2012 now, and that means LB was born last year! This makes me a little sad. I really need to soak up every minute I have with LB because time sure does fly. I find myself thinking about the future a lot, like when he starts crawling, walking, running around. I really want to stop doing that though and just enjoy NOW. I know I will miss this time where he needs me for everything and needs me to carry him around. I love it and do not want to rush a single moment.

I gotta say I am really getting better at this being a mother thing. It is hard, but I am slowly getting better and better, and I love it. This is the most rewarding job. I am also very proud of myself for how I have adapted to everything with him. Don't get me wrong, I still have my moments. I especially hate when I'm out somewhere and need hubby to practically do everything because it is harder for me in different places. I have gotten much better at everything though. I also gotta say, as a very impatient person (I'm working on that) I am never impatient with LB. It is amazing how he just puts me in slow down mode.

I guess I owe it to him to be patient, since he is so very patient with me. It may take me 20 minutes to put on his pants, but he just sits there and watches me and smiles. He was truly sent from God just for me. I am so in love.

He rolled over back to belly for the first time a couple weeks ago. I was soooo excited! At 4 months we started him on cereal. He has had avocados a couple times and rice cereal but right now he prefers the oatmeal. I am still waiting to feed him the other stuff. I'd like to try to wait until 6 months but I'm just so excited I don't know if I can wait. We bought a baby bullet and plan to make his food. Hopefully I'll have the patience for that. I know it will be good for him.

I have a few New Year's resolutions.
1. Be a great mommy.
2. Be a great wife.
3. More patience.
4. Pay off bills.
5. Slow down and take it all in.

Number 5 is so important. I have so much to look forward to this year. I need to remember to just soak it all in. Life is good. I love my life.

My major Cutie