Christmas Decorations 2015

Before I completely run out of time, I wanted to post pictures of our Christmas decorations this year! I did it a little differently this year. I was originally planning on only putting out one tree this year with us having a new baby, however he has proven to be a very good baby and I have managed more sleep than I thought. He also loves lights and we still love Christmas, so most of our decorations went up this year. I did not put up our bedroom tree this year though. In our defense, there is a playpen in the corner of our room that belongs to the tree. Hope you enjoy the lights!

I painted a chalkboard in our kitchen this year and Reagan's "Little Blue Truck Christmas" seemed like the perfect Christmas theme for the board this year!

Thank you for stopping by. Hope you and your families enjoy a very merry Christmas!

Four Month Birthday!

Sweet Boy, it has been another big month for you. You are still practicing sitting up on your own, and you are doing SO good! We had our first family trip this past week to Marshall, Texas. You were an absolute angel. You slept most of the way and decided to play with your toys when you woke up. You only cried when you were hungry (and that is, of course, completely understandable). You had fun riding in your stroller when we got to Marshall and were very happy to offer up those beautiful smiles of yours to whoever told you "hi!".When we drove through Shreveport, we stopped to eat at TGIFridays, where you sat in your very first restaurant highchair. You did so good, baby! You even got a taste of Mommy's mashed potatoes. You are still enjoying story time with Mommy. You like to lean forward and touch the pages when I let you sit on the floor with me, We have only been reading your Christmas books this past month, but you seem to love hearing them again and again. You have taken to not only watching Daddy work on his phone, but have actually been attempting to take it from him so you can play. You have started eating big boy foods! You love your oatmeal, and your sweet potatoes, AND your bananas, ANNNND you apples. You HATE carrots though. Juju may have come up with a brilliant plan to change your mind on that thankfully. We will have to see if that changes this month! We noticed your very first tooth has broken through finally! We saw it Friday night as we were headed to bed. It gives you a lot of trouble, but you handle it very well. It is right on the front side of your bottom gums on your right side. I am pretty sure you will be asking for cookies in no time! You have rolled over twice in the last two weeks, but you only do it when YOU want to. Most of the time, you lay on your back and spin in circles or scoot around by moving your legs and arms and turning on your side. It seems to be very efficient and you seem bewildered at our surprise that you have such skills! You now laugh every time you are tickled. You have the prettiest, most beautiful laugh Mommy and Daddy have ever heard. It is one of our favorite sounds to hear. Friday, you started taking your daytime naps in your own bed. You were not a fan at first, but you are getting better every day. Mommy is SO proud of you, Little Bit, every time you sleep in your bed (even though I do very much miss letting you sleep on my chest every time). Sweet Boy, Mommy and Daddy are so very, very, VERY proud of you. You have grown so much more than we could have ever imagined in so short of a time. You amaze us every day, Reagan. We love you so much! 

Three Month Birthday!

Yes, sweet baby you are 3 months old! Mommy and Daddy can not believe it. You are keeping us busy, Little Bit. You are such a sweet boy. You love for Mommy to read to you during the day...in fact we can read all of the books you have and you will sit perfectly still and listen. You also love to watch Daddy work on the computer. You like to splash in the bath tub and get Daddy all wet, and you laugh when he gets you dressed in your jammies for the night. You think it is hilarious when Daddy says "Eat More Chicken!" and "Statistical Relevance". You talk to Mommy and Daddy a lot, and love when we talk back. You do not like it when we copy your babbling. In fact, you look at us like we are crazy when we copy you...so we do not do that often. You met Santa Claus a few days ago and you were so good for us. He said he loved your Santa overalls and asked if you could work with him for the day, actually. :) You are playing with Mommy and Daddy now. You like for us to play peekaboo (or "pee-pi") with you and patty cake with your feet (or "wee-wees"). You also come up with games of your own. For instance- we bought you a very nice teething toy (an elephant made of natural rubber that we've named "Nate"). We hand him out to you and you take him with a smile. You try to chew on him for a minute or two, and then you slip your fingers right back into your mouth and grin real big while we tell you to put Nate back in your mouth. You know we want you to chew on Nate and not those sweet, chubby fingers of yours, but you like to see us fuss and play with you.  We celebrated your 3 month birthday with your first bowl of oatmeal cereal! You made a huge mess, and were not so sure about it at first. Still, you did really good and ate/wore most of it. The next night you had sweet potatoes and you liked that MUCH better. You have since had bananas, apples, and carrots as well. You are not a fan of carrots, but you try so hard to eat them anyway. You are also now taking an interest in Mommy and Daddy's food, but you are not ready for our food yet. :) At night, you are being VERY good now. When Mommy turns out the lights, you roll right to Mommy and eat once last time while you go to sleep. You even cuddle up to Mommy at night if I move too far away. We love you more and more sweet boy. You are growing bigger and stronger every day and you are learning so much. We love you, Little Bit.

Two Month Birthday!

I can remember struggling to figure out what my next step would be, and yet knowing what had to be done. I knew how to get ready for the day. I knew my work and how to do it well- really well. I knew what I wanted for me. I made the simplest decisions the most difficult. Those days are gone...All I know now is this baby. What at first felt like would never come, came so quickly that at times I still forget that the waiting and the fear of his arrival and my own recovery is over. The second I heard his cry, I realized I knew nothing of what to expect. The second I realized a simple whisper from me could comfort him, I realized I would never be the same person.

I wake up every day now to my little boy's conversation. He somehow knows I will eventually respond to him, even if I miss the first minute or two. (Apparently the first few minutes are of little importance because he never seems mad that I have missed them.) The minute that I look at him, he stops talking and smiles the biggest, prettiest gummy grin I have ever seen. It doesn't matter how tired I am or how bad I must look because with that little smile I feel like the most special, most important person in the world. I nurse him, I change his diaper, and then I place him in his bouncer while I get ready. The rest of our day is a bit up in the air. He naps for awhile, on the couch and on me. He practices sitting upright, lifting himself from his belly with his arms, rolling over. By the time Justin comes home, I am ready for a little back up so I can play catch up with dinner and housework. Reagan doesn't mind the changing of the guard either. He is more than happy to fill his daddy in on the events of the day. In fact, he very often fights harder to stay awake after Justin is home- as though he just can't miss anything. We give him his bath and dress him for bed. I feed him again and again each time he makes a request. Eventually, we fall back into bed and again I fight to convince him that it is okay to fall asleep for the night.

I worry when he is quiet. I worry when he cries (even when it is simply to fight sleep). I make plans for when he is asleep and all the things I might finish, only to be so caught up in how sweet my sleeping baby is that I can't focus on anything else half the time. I'm amazed how the simplest things can amuse him. I can pull out a toy and he couldn't care less, but I wiggle my fingers or make a crazy sound and he offers up the brightest smile. It suddenly doesn't matter who I was or what I once thought I wanted. What I have now with my sweet husband and baby is far better than anything I could ever have imagined. When our sweet boy can cry just to fall asleep on my shoulder, or squeeze my sleeve while I hold him, or find me in the middle of the night in the bed, I am reminded how amazing being a mommy really is.

One Month Birthday!

I can not believe our baby is already celebrating his 1 month birthday. Thankfully, he seems to have adjusted to clothes and having his picture taken quite nicely, so one month pictures were an easy and quick venture. Also, I can't help it. I have to tell you more about our big boy!

Learned How To-

*Hold up head

*Roll over

*Smiles

Practices-

*Sitting up

*Standing up

Our sweet boy does not seem to have a problem with visitors, granted he has only met family so far. He is becoming more alert and more interactive with Justin and I each day. His 4 am feedings are made difficult only because he is more interested in cooing up a storm while his daddy sleeps rather than quietly eating.

Thanks to our hot summer weather, we don't bother to dress him every day. He typically enjoys diaper-only days. No socks, no shoes will still get him service. :) Still, he does not mind being dressed and is very patient with us when we do dress him.

He is definitely learning more about Justin and I each day. With Justin he is more than happy to sit upright and coo. He also LOVES for his daddy to help him practice sitting up and standing. Those little legs are plenty powerful when pushing up from surfaces. With his mommy he prefers to cuddle. Having quickly promoted himself from his bedside rocker to Mommy and Daddy's bed, it is not surprising to find myself and Justin sharing one side of the bed in the middle of the night while Reagan sprawls out on my side. He does not steal covers though. In fact, he kicks them often. 

While our first week of nursing was full of a lot of doubt and worry on my part, Reagan soon straightened me out. As we celebrated his one week birthday, Reagan surprised me and took to waking us both up on time and getting straight to business. I guess he now feels he that feeding time was becoming a little too dull because for the last couple of days, he has been trying to coo and eat at the same time. A few times I have even looked down to see he has unlatched and is staring at me to see if I've noticed. The second I say something, he re-latches and looks away as if he never stopped. Definitely have a mischievous little boy on my hands.

He does not like to think he is alone in a room. Oftentimes just hearing Justin or I will cause him to quit fussing. Then again, sometimes he wants to be held and that is all there is to it. Slightly inconvenient when there is cleaning and cooking to be done, but then again you have to love the fact that you are loved so much already. He is just such a sweetheart.

Oh, and last but not least, he has learned to fake us out when it comes to sleeping. My favorite of these moments was last Friday. His sweet aunt came to visit and was quite proud of herself for rocking the sweet, "sleepy" baby to sleep in a matter of minutes. He, on the other hand, was quite proud of himself two minutes after she left when he opened his eyes and began "dancing" (wriggling on the couch where she had laid him). Again- mischievous.