Happy Birthday Grandpa Barney!

 Today is Grandpa Barney's birthday!  We love you Grandpa!  Happy Birthday!

Showing off my 'guns'

So relaxed

This is how Thomas looks on our way home from our walks.  He usually stays awake most of the walk, but then out like a light.  Oh, and this bib says it all, 'This is what handsome looks like'.

Like I said.....

Thomas puts everything in his mouth.  :-)

This is how we take Precious out during the day.  His neck is now strong enough to look forward in the bjorn.  He loves to look around and Precious wants so bad to lick his face when I am bending over to put on her leash.  

Almost 4 months

Doesn't this picture look like he is thinking "Really?"?  Funny thing is that he is looking at daddy who is telling him to model for the camera.  Ha Ha  Saw these pajamas and had to get them!

Thomas is doing great!  His medicine seems to be working better for his reflux.  He still spits up a good amount sometimes, but we aren't sure if that is normal spit up, reflux, eating too much or something in my diet.  About a month ago I gave up dairy to see if that would help and he does seem to spit up more if I add back in dairy, but he also spits up more when I don't.  So we just aren't sure.  For now though I don't do any dairy, which I have come to realize is my favorite food group.  LOL

Thomas is holding his head up on his own and sits up with little support.  He loves to stand with us supporting him.  It is cute, he can be fussy but as soon as we stand him up on our laps he stops fussing and gives us a great big smile.  He loves his changing table (unless it is morning and he is really hungry).  Loves his walks, baths, his banana medicine, his toys and loves to be talked to.  He tries so hard to talk now.  He tries to push out the sounds that it almost sounds like he is yelling sometimes.  He is grabbing at everything too.  He has even started grabbing at his washcloth that we put over his private (so we don't get a shower) when changing diapers and then tries to put in his mouth.  That is another thing, he puts everything in his mouth!  Toys, burp cloths, wash cloths, bibs, our shoulders, our fingers, my face, but most of all his fists.  He loves his hands!

He is sleeping about 8 hours a night.  We try to put him down about 8ish, but lately it has been later because he has been getting a second wind.  He takes one really good nap during the day for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours and then a cat nap or two.  He usually takes a nap on our way back home when we take walks.

I keep getting really sad because I am realizing how fast he is growing.  I think back to the hospital and try and remember every detail of him because I am so afraid to forget.  I also keep tearing up because I love him so incredibly much.  He is the reason I was born, to be the best mother I could possibly be to this little boy who has stolen my heart.  I feel like I have been searching for this kind of love my entire life.  Between Thomas, my hubby and Precious I feel so complete.  Now if only all of our families could live in the same state, I would be on top of the world!  :-)

Where's Precious?

We were looking for Precious the other day and found her hiding in between the sheets. So sweet!

Go Orioles!

Could he be....

any cuter?

No More Swaddle (at bedtime)

About 2 weeks ago we finally started to put Thomas to bed at night in a sleep sack instead of a swaddle. It is funny but even the smallest milestones are bittersweet for me. It is awesome because he is growing up, but sad because he is growing so fast. He seems to really like the freedom of moving his arms all over the place (mostly at the top of his head or sides). He also ends up moving all over the crib at night now. Sometimes he ends up doing a full circle. Funny thing is that he is so long that he isn't going to fit much longer when he ends up the short way.  Ha Ha

Ok, so I am really not ready for this one. He has been falling asleep on his side. I flip him to his back, but he turns right back onto his side. I even flipped him 3 times one night. LOL Gotta let him grow I guess. :-)
** Mittens are because his hands get so cold!

First Wedding

In early September, Randy's buddy Greg from JMU got married to the love of his life, Caroline. They were married in Corolla, NC.  It was absolutely beautiful and Caroline was stunning!  They were married right by the water and the reception was under a tent by the yellow building below.  Thomas wasn't feeling that well due to his reflux and our car battery died (welcome to parenthood, right?  LOL)  but, it was SO nice to be able to go to our friends wedding and to be able to hang out with some of Randy's college buddies for the evening.

The bride is Caroline, a friend of ours. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the bride and groom. I realized that after the wedding and was truly bummed. I guess when you have a new baby, taking pictures isn't always on your mind unless they are of him. :-)

He actually wasn't feeling that well because his reflux was bothering him. Poor little guy. It was a long day too. We left our house at 12:30pm and got home at 12:45am.

Auntie Jaclyn got him this cute outfit.

They had a whole pig roasted and the caterers encouraged people to grab a piece.
Thomas and daddy couldn't turn that down.

Daddy cool and baby cool. When we first got there we put him in his tux. Unfortunately it didn't stay on long due to the heat and I didn't get a picture of the entire tux. :-(  I will put him in it again and post a picture. He was too cute! Our buddy Tom got him the tux. Thanks Tom!

Misc Pics at 3 Months

Thomas and Daddy having a conversation

Had lunch with my friend Rachael. He was so good and tired! In fact pretty much as soon as I started the car to leave he fell asleep. Maybe I should take him out at that time more often. LOL

On one of our morning walks. What a smile!
Don't you just want to give him kisses? I do and I do.  :-)

Randy took this picture because he said that I looked like a stereotypical mom.
No offense to all the mothers out there. He said he could see me chasing Thomas
as he walked out the door!  LOL  

This is Randy taking Precious out with Thomas in the bjorn. We cover him because he is under 6 months so we can't put sunscreen on. I wish I could have gotten a close up because Thomas was just staring at his daddy so lovingly. It was so precious.

Uh Oh

Blurry picture (because he is moving :-)) but look at his head.  He is now using his neck and picking up his head.  Gotta strap him down from now on.  LOL

Aren't these pants cute?  They are grey cargo pants that
he got from Bela (grandma Sonia).  He looks so grown up!

Playtime

I am so excited!  Thomas is starting to grab his toys and play with them!  Now I can put him on the floor and we can play with his stuffed animals and toys.  The bear that you see in the top picture laughs and he loves it (got it from Nana).  He also has a frog that laughs and kind of hops, but it scares all of us.  LOL  He sounds like a scary clown laughing at a haunted circus.  Ha Ha  The first time I turned it on for Thomas he cried, now he just stares at it.  It's so fun to see his little personality come to life.  Love it, love him!

You know you are tired when......

You put your clothes on inside out and you don't notice until a half hour later
You put your babies clothes inside out and your husband is the one that notices
You pour orange juice into your cereal bowl
You put frozen yogurt in the refrigerator
Getting 4 hours straight is good night's sleep
You keep calling your newborn son a "her" (Randy and I both did this for weeks)
You fall asleep breastfeeding in bed and don't wake up until 34 minutes later.  Luckily the baby fell asleep too and he was ok.
** Funniest of them all**  You wake up holding your baby only to realize that your baby is still sleeping in the crib and you are actually holding your boobs!

Body Worlds

We didn't do too much this weekend because Randy is studying for a certification exam for work, but we did get to do the one thing that I wanted to do for my birthday.  We got to go to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Museum of Virginia.  We dropped off Precious at grandma's house and headed to Richmond for the day.  Thomas was such an angel!  He slept the entire way up there and most of the way back.  While in the museum he was pretty good, only fussing towards the end of our stay.  I couldn't blame him though, I wouldn't want to be in a car seat for that long either.  Although, Randy did carry him in the bjorn for a little while.  The exhibit was so awesome and I can't wait until I can go to the full exhibit someday (this was a mini version).  There were 12 entire bodies that are preserved through plastination and tons of individual organs (healthy and not).  So, So cool, I could have spent an entire day there.  That is if I were by myself.  :-)  I felt bad keeping the baby and hubby waiting on me.  Seems I was enjoying it a lot more than they were.  LOL

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Randy's birthday so we took him a coffee this morning and finally showed Thomas off to Randy's coworkers.  I can't think of a better birthday, being able to show off your adorable son.  Of course they all think he is super cute.  :-)  Happy Birthday hubby and daddy!  We love you so much and are so lucky to have you as a husband and father working so hard for us.

Just Because.....

He is cute and I can't help but show him off!

Hey, a Girl Can Dream!

I love, love, love this house!  It is facing the water in the town we live in.  I absolutely love the light yellow color of the house, the porch, the fence and LOVE all the windows.  We drove around last weekend in our town (something we do quite often) looking at houses and looking for a park and I decided to take a picture this time.  Ahhh, isn't it beautiful?  The upper left windows is where they have their dining room table.  I could just see Randy, Thomas, Precious and I eating breakfast while watching the sunrise over the ocean.  

3 Months

This outfit came from his Great Uncle Mack and Great Aunt Sue.
It is 6 months and I figured we better put it on him before it got too cold.
Little did I know, it would fit!

Can't believe that Thomas is 3 months already!  Wow, time does fly when you are having fun.  :-)

He is doing great, smiling, cooing, laughing, talking, yelling, sleeping through the night (most nights), chewing on his fists, grabbing at things, enjoying walks outside, falling asleep on his own, crying in the stores so I buy less and hurry up (I think he and daddy discussed this tactic), watching Redskins games with daddy, going to weddings in NC, refusing to take the bottle (only mommy will work for this guy), loves being outside, kicking, standing (with support), loving baths, likes banana flavoring (medicine), and just an all around happy little guy. We think we will go ahead and keep him.  :-)  J/K  We LOVE this little guy!

Redskins Game

Watching my very first season game of the Redskins with my uncle Mike and daddy!
They beat the Saints 40 - 32.
(P.S. I will also like the Arizona Cardinals!)

First Date!

Ok, so this isn't the best picture of us, but it is the oldest
picture of us that I could find.  :-)

Hard to believe that 8 years ago was our very first date!  Let me go ahead and tell you about our funny first date story.  When Randy originally asked me out on a date, he asked me if I wanted to go 'have coffee' sometime.  Me being a coffee LOVER, I was super excited to meet a man that I could go 'have coffee' with (apparently I was meeting a lot of non coffee drinkers).  Well, when we were discussing where to go on our date he informed me that he doesn't really like coffee.  Ha!  The 'have coffee' was just a line!  LOL  We ended up going to a local restaurant and I decided to forgive him since we had such a great time.  I am also happy to report that I have converted him to a coffee drinker too.  :-)  In fact, I think he drinks more than I do!  

I am so blessed to have met this man and couldn't be any luckier.  Happy First Date Anniversary My Love!