Christmas List 2009

So it is time for Michael's first Christmas list! I know he probably won't remember this Christmas but I will never forget this feeling. I am so much more excited about it this year. Not only will I get time off with my beautiful son, but I just want to give him so many things! He has such a personality now and I just want to give him the world! Anyway, maybe next year Michael can make his own list for Santa. Right now I know he will just be happy with the lights on the tree. Regardless, family has been asking so here is a visual list of what baby Michael wants (and actually needs) for Christmas!

Warmer clothes and shoes for 6 months and 6-9 months. These are all too cute, they are from Old Navy. Our favorite place to shop for him is Old Navy and Gap. Too cute, he looks like a little man now with pants and everything. No more little white onesies and socks! He also needs warm sleepers that have little footies.

I LOVE these PraiseBaby CDs and DVDs. Michael LOVES music and will just stare at me while I sing to him. It is actually the only thing that will get him to sit still. :) These are just so sweet.

Of course we have some Baby Einstein toys on the list. I have other things for him, but seriously EVERYTHING that is from Baby Einstein he loves! Remember that any toys you get him can't be smaller than a toilet paper roll!

Baby Bear

Well thanks to Paw Paw and his WAY better camera, we have some awesome four month bear pictures. I am amazed at how big he is even though he seems small compared to other babies. He is now rolling over from belly to back and just laughs and laughs. He has such a sweet temperament. My favorite part of the day is when I wake him up in the morning and he just smiles. This weekend his tummy was a bit upset so around 3 am I put him in bed with us. He just sleeps in his little wedge in the center of our huge bed. As I began to open my eyes, I noticed that he was just staring at me. When I focused and our eyes met, he just smiled and reached for my face. What a way to wake up! I wonder how long he had been staring at me? Oh my sweet little angel. I wish I was home with him right now!

Happy Halloween Sweet Baby!

Well Michael you made it through your first Halloween and I have to say you were the cutest Yoda on the planet. We went to McKinney to see Bitt Bitt, Uncle Matt and Quinn. On Friday morning the first thing Quinn said to you was, "I want that one for Christmas". He wanted you to be his baby brother. All weekend long he kept bringing you toys and giving you kisses without prompting. He wanted me to put you down so you could play with him. So sweet. When he saw you in your costume he kept calling you "Little Yoda". I know you won't remember but we all thought it was too precious. You two are it right now, sweet cousins. It reminds me of the song "Just the two of us". Quinn is a great big cousin! You had fun with your Bitt Bitt and she even made you laugh a bit. Uncle Matt is the best at making silly faces and noises for you. Quinn was such a big boy in his Brady Quinn costume. I can't believe Gary found shoulder pads to fit a 2 1/2 year old! If only we could have stayed longer!

So you slept through the Halloween Festival at church but you were awake for part of the UT game. I just can't believe how much you have changed in just one week. Now you make this cute girggly noise and you laugh so hard even when no one is tickling you. You reach for things and can actually grab them now. Of course the first thing you do is put whatever you have just grabbed right in your mouth. You love your binkie now (thank goodness) and you usually sleep through the night. You don't like plain rice cereal but you are beginning to tolerate the mixed fruit rice cereal. You have officially discovered your feet and love to lay down, grab both feet and roll from side to side. You can pick up your head and rest on your arms when you are on your tummy and you have discovered Kaya although I don't think you know what she is yet. You are a super ticklish baby especially on your neck. Best of all you are my sweetest little boy with the most adorable facial expressions. I can only imagine what you are thinking. I love you so much little man and I can only imagine what the next month will bring.

Shots and Pumpkins and Cereal, Oh My!

Well Michael is officially four months old now. I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by! Really, if you blink you miss something with him. His doctor visit on Friday was sweet he was so happy until they gave him two shots at which point he stuck out his bottom lip and cried. The nurse tried to soothe him but when he saw me he started crying even harder until she handed him to me, then he stopped. It was wonderful to see how Mommy can soothe, what a bond. Well, the news is that Michael is in the 6th percentile for height and weight. He is a small baby. Not a skinny baby but small. The doctor reassures me that he is totally fine and super strong. I just wish he would plump up or something. That's okay, he is my little boy even if he only weighs 12 pounds 3.5 ounces. He has doubled his birth weight!
On Saturday, Momma Lu, Cliff, Lulu and Craig came down to visit. Cyndi, Michael and I went and ran errands while our realtor held an open house for us. We stopped by the pumpkin patch in Wimberley to take some cute pics in the pumpkins. They were so huge compared to Michael! He slept most of the day and then had a slight fever because of his shots. But a warm bath and a massage helped and his fever went back down.

On Sunday Michael and I snuggled for as long as he could stand it. We snuggled on the bed, on the couch, in the rocking chair. I just didn't want to put him down! That night we got out the cameras as Michael had his first taste of rice cereal. He was so cute. At first he kept trying to suck on the spoon. Then he made the funniest faces as he realized that it wasn't milk. The texture was obviously different so he kept making these smaking sounds. It was too much!! He finally realized how good it was and started opening his mouth for the spoon. If we were too slow he would suck it off of his bib! So, it was a successful first feeding, a night I will not forget. By the way, this whole thing where people think he will sleep better if he eats cereal is sooo not true. He was up every two hours last night eating. He must be going through a growth spurt. Cross your fingers! As soon as I figure out how to load videos, I will post the video of him eating. His facial expressions are just too cute! Oh and the fourth month bear pic is on the way!

School Days

The first day I took Michael to daycare - now I call it school, was a bit hard for me so I did not take any pictures. However, now he smiles when he sees his teachers and seems to have a really good time with all of the other babies. He has four teachers: Judy, Dawnyae, Heather and Tara. They are all so precious and have the sweetest job in the world. All the babies are so cute in there. I told them I would love to have their jobs, but I can only imagine how hard it really is. Prodigy Learning Center is a GREAT place to take your baby. They truly love children there and Michael is thriving. They finger painted one day even though Michael was a bit fussy about that and when the weather is beautiful they go outside, something Michael LOVES. He is always so content when I pick him up in the afternoons. It really is a blessing to have found a place that will keep my baby safe and happy. Thank you ladies for all that you do for our little ones, you are truly appreciated! Getting ready for school begins the night before when Michael takes his bath around 7pm. I get up around 4:30am and get ready and then wake him up, that's right I have to wake him up, around 5:30am. I sing his morning songs while I'm getting him dressed for school. After breakfast and a quick burp it is off to school. Michael talks to his hand or his duck for about 10 minutes and then he is fast asleep for the rest of the ride. When we arrive, Judy greets us and Michael will usually smile at her and then I'm off to work. In the afternoons, Dawnyae or Tara will tell me about his day and say their goodbyes. He has really gotten into a routine and sometimes will just talk the whole way home about his day. I can't wait until he can really tell me everything he did in school, but for now I will adore the cute noises he makes as he chatters on.

Butterflies

One of my favorite things in nature is the butterfly. I love the variety of colors and shapes. I love how they fly from flower to flower and occassionally land on a lucky passerby. Yesterday on my commute home the sky was getting dark but it wasn't because the sun was going down. I then realized that everyone was driving so slowly. I thought surely there must have been a wreck or something. However, to my delight the "cloud" was a mass amount of Snout Butterflies! They were so beautiful just flying around landing on flowers. Everyone slowed down as if not to disturb their flight. I found out later that all of the rain we had wiped out the parasite that normally eats the Snout Butterfly. So we were blessed to see them in record numbers all over central Texas. As we were driving, my FAVORITE song came on the radio, Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole. It was magical. It was as if no one else was around, just this beautiful song the butterflies and my precious baby boy. I felt blessed to be a part of their journey to warmer climates. It also reminded me that no matter how much is going on or how tired we get, there is beauty everywhere and sometimes we need to just slow down and take it in. So enjoy your Friday and take a moment to see the beauty in something today.
P.S. If you don't know the song, scroll down to my playlist and have a listen

Love

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

- John 3:16

Message Translation

Well, it has been two weeks since returing to work and it really doesn't get any easier leaving Michael behind. I feel so guilty leaving him with others everyday when he should be with me. I know he is fine and really at this age it is more of an out of sight, out of mind mentality. Each day he greets me with a smile or laugh. I can't wait until he can say mommy! Each day as we drive to work, I pray with Michael. We pray for our day, his teachers, my students our family and so on. I started thinking about how much I love him and that I couldn't imagine my life without him. I get it. God loves me so much more than that. What an amazing love! Even more amazing is how He could give His only son so that we could know salvation. Here I am crying because I leave Michael for 7 hours a day while God sacrificed His only Son for us! I get it now. I have always known my Heavenly Father loves me and how much Christ loves me but now I understand. When I look at Michael I see the miracle he is and I know God looks on us in the same way. To know He is there and His love is so deep is such a comfort to me, as it should be to you. I was also thinking about how innocent Michael is. He has a clean slate, his whole life ahead of him. We too can have that through Christ. We truly are born again and have a clean slate, just like a beautiful baby. The best part is, we are like children, we are His children and we are so loved.