6 Months and some reflections on being a parent

Andrew officially turned 6 months old the day after Thanksgiving, which I cannot believe. In many ways it feels like it's been 6 months since we brought him home and in other ways it's gone by so fast. Either way, there are many surprising aspects about being a parent. Since I don't have an official "baby book" for Drew, this blog will have to suffice and someday I'll get it all printed up and put into a nice book format. That being said, I want to record some of my thoughts here before I forget them.

Probably the most surprising aspect of being a parent is how much Nate and I love it. Doesn't that sound mean...that we are surprised by how much we enjoy it? In complete honesty, I was scared to death to become a mom! I don't always do well with life changes (or at least the anticipation of them) and having a baby is right up there with major life-changing events. Over the 9+ months of pregnancy, I worried a lot about completely pointless stuff,  most of it selfish (just being honest here). For 6 years, Nate and I had been married and our lives were ours. We slept in on Saturdays, ate out when we wanted, hung out with friends, traveled, hiked, etc. Was having a baby going to change all this "independence" we enjoyed? Of course!  But come one...people have been having kids for a gazillion years and of course I was worrying about silly little things.
For example, I do not function well unless I get 8 hours of sleep (I'm high maintenance in the sleep department) and we all know that the number one issue with a newborn is that no one sleeps! Then there was the issue of work. To work or not to work? Part time or full time? Daycare or in home childcare? Yikes! I made the decision to stay at home and thankfully, my school lets me work one day a week. But once again...another major life change! I'd taught high school for 6 years and, contrary to the impression many teachers give, I really loved my job and my students. It was not easy to leave that job and I had numerous "meltdowns" over the decision to do so.
And while we're being honest, moving from two salaries to one is no walk in the park either.  We've had to budget like crazy and I might need a 12 step program to break my addiction to coupon websites! But in the morning, when I go get our little guy out of his crib, he smiles at me so sweetly and all of the angst I felt over the job issue just disappears. How could I leave that little face every day? (FYI: I am in NO way implying that my working-mom friends didn't make a good decision...people should do what works for them and this was just mine and Nate's decision. Seriously, hats off to the working mothers out there because I know it is so hard to balance your time and energy with a job and family too.)
All of this to say, being a parent is now on the top of my list of amazing experiences. Nate and I have had so much fun with Andrew in so many ways. There's just no way to describe the love you have for your child...I can't put it into words. All of those fears I had during pregnancy have dissipated and now been replaced with fears not so much related to me but to Drew...the typical concerns all parents have of course. But if anything, being a mom has drawn the focus away from me and my petty, selfishness and directed it towards Drew and has also revealed to me a deeper understanding of the love of God as a Father.
Don't get me wrong; there have certainly been some sleepless nights as well as monotonous days when it feels like all I do is change diapers, clean up messes and do laundry. Nate and I have to plan ahead if we want to go out together and have had to change many aspects about our formerly free-spirited weekends and evenings, but I wouldn't trade any of it. Life has definitely changed in many ways but they are good changes. As I said before, it is surprising how much Nate and I love being parents and don't mind giving up some of those things; cliche as it may sound, we have gained so much more.

And now, for the six month stats:

• Weight: 16.5 pounds
• Height: 27 inches
• Milestones: sitting up mostly unassisted (but still working on balance), rolling all over the place like a little rolling pin, saying "mama" and other babbling sounds, waving hello when he's in the mood:)
• Eating: He has started on solids and now eats rice cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and pears each day at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I've made his baby food which was actually so simple and we'll probably start green vegetables this week.
• Sleeping: Still sleeping from 7:30-7:30 for the most part and taking a 90 minute morning nap and a 90 minute afternoon nap.
• Loves: being outside, riding in the Baby Bjorn/baby carrier where he can check out the world, even if it is just a trip to the grocery store, baths, music of any kind, watching Nate do ANYTHING, trying to pet Sadie, chewing on anything he can find which reminds me that I need to do some serious baby-proofing of our house!
• His little personality is really emerging and it is so much fun!

 The token "baby food all over the face" photo

St. Jude Half Marathon!

 This past weekend I went to Memphis with Erin to run in the St. Jude half marathon. We stayed with Erin's friend Kathy (far left) and her friend Beth (middle) joined us too. This was the first time I'd left Andrew overnight but he was in good hands! Nate's mom was kind enough to come down for the weekend and help Nate out with the baby-watching. Nate had a ton of prep work to do in the basement because we are getting it dry walled this weeks so he was able to focus on that while Dee Dee got to focus on her grandson!

The night before I left we gave him a bath in the kitchen sink. We are kind of in an "in between" stage with bathtubs. He is too big for his infant tub but our bathroom one kind of swallows him. For now, the sink works!

Beth, Erin and Kathy at dinner...Kathy and her husband were so kind and hospitable to us. They had the best pasta dinner for us the night before the race and her husband chauffeured us to the starting line and picked us up after the race was over. If you've ever done any sort of race, you know how crazy it is just to park and figure out where to go so it was great to have his help!

Kathy, Erin and me after the race. It was 65 degrees in Memphis and we were sweating by the end! Somehow on my drive home that 65 turned into 25 and sleet but the run itself was perfect weather. I did my best time ever at 1:48. Erin beat me by one minute but she's been doing that since we were born (3 minutes then!) It was such a fun weekend (besides my long drive!) to spend time with my sister and get to know Beth and Kathy.   It was also pretty nice to come home and get to see my little guy...

Here he is with his new favorite toy.

Tom stopped by for dinner and a visit too! 

Sunday afternoon we went to get our Christmas tree down on the riverfront. It was FREEZING! Needless to say, we picked out the tree as quickly as possible and only got a couple pictures.

Doesn't that little face just look cold? 

Tomorrow we head to the pediatrician for his 6  month checkup (about a week overdue) so I'll update with all of those stats soon. For now, we are hibernating inside by the Christmas tree and trying to stay warm! I'm such a wimp when it comes to cold weather!

A Thankful Thanksgiving!

This year we spent Thanksgiving at the Moulder's house. It was such a great weekend doing a  lot of nothing but eating, watching football on the couch, and spending time with everyone. You have no idea how many "takes" it took to get this picture without certain boys...ahem...not smiling or making odd faces...but Darryl and I persevered and finally got one decent picture!

On the way up, Andrew got to visit for a bit with his great grandiddy.

And of course he enjoyed lots of attention from everyone!

The look on his face here is just funny...

We went to a Christmas tree display and tried to get one good picture of the 3 of us together which proved to be quite difficult after someone had a meltdown and I'm not referring to Drew:) Nate's worst nightmare might just be me forcing him to smile for a picture in a crowd of people gawking at Christmas trees! I'm kidding...kind of.

All of us at the Akron Art Museum

We had some great babysitters while we were in Ohio! I was actually able to get some Christmas shopping done with Kelsey while these three spent some quality time together!

Drew loved his Night Before Christmas book that Omi and Opaw gave him...it is one of those that has their voices recorded and I do believe I've "read" it to him approximately 60 times since we've gotten home. He loves to hear their voices!

What a sweet picture!

And when we finally got home on Sunday evening, two other people couldn't wait to hold him! My parents brought dinner over to us, but I think I know their real intention!

Smiling with Grandpop:)

It's the holiday season....

And I am thinking that I need to get our Christmas cards ready to be mailed! Nate and I have never sent out a card before but I love getting them from people so I am going to do it this year! That and we have a cute baby to share with the world, right? Additionally, Shutterfly is offering free Christmas cards if you link your blog to their website (http://bit.ly/sfly2010) so any of my blogging friends can go check it out!
Enough with that...here's our week in review, picture style as usual!

 The weather here has been so warm! Not November-like at all which makes me happy. We met my friend Annie and her daughter Hannah at the park last week. Annie is due with a baby in February so I thought she should get used to having both arms/hands occupied!

Thank goodness for girls' nights! Nate went backpacking with friends last weekend so Katie, Lindsey and I got to spend some time together doing a whole lot of nothing...Seriously, we came back to the house and all took naps. It was amazing.  We also ate at Mojitos and if you live in Louisville, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Opaw (Nate's dad) was in Lexington for a missions convention and he drove to Louisville to have dinner with us.  We are so glad he got to visit, even if it was brief!

This is a typical evening scene in our house. That boppy pillow has been used for numerous purposes in our house! I can also hardly believe that Drew is practically sitting up on his own. I'm going to do a 6-month post here soon and will document all of those fun developments too. Guess that's all for now...we are looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and spending time with family!

More Fall fun!

Last Saturday, we headed to Keenland for the Fall Meet, an annual tradition of ours for years now. We always meet up with college friends and tailgate first. Andrew hung out with my parents so I think he had a pretty fun day as well!

Tom, Liz and Nate...can you tell it was cold out?

What would Keenland tailgating be without cornhole?

These 3 have been friends for so long! I'm thankful that we are still able to stay close to our college friends. There's just something about friendships with people who have known you for a long time.

Drew attended his first birthday party, held for Miss Gracie, the "candy corn" to the left. Molly instructed "all tiny humans" to come dressed up (quote from her invitation), since it was the day before Halloween. I'm pretty sure that pre-baby, Nate and I said we'd never dress our kids up, blah, blah but let's face it...it's kind of fun! Brown bear didn't seem to mind wearing his warm costume either:)

He loved his costume so much, he even wore it again while we greeted trick-or-treaters on Halloween!

I love my little snuggly guy! We think he enjoyed his first Halloween!

Speaking of "firsts," here he is taking his first bite of rice cereal.  Yes, we fed him in his exersaucer because he's still a bit small for the high chair...whatever works, ya know?

More please! I think he loved it! How is it possible that we have a baby who is already eating solid foods? I think he needs to stop growing up so fast...

No really...he can stay this super-cute age forever:) By the way, the quilt in this picture and the sweater he is wearing were both hand-made by 2 of my talented students. All I'm saying is, I sure didn't know how to quilt or knit in high school. Oh wait...I still don't! I do love hand-made gifts though.

Cuteness!