Our life the last 6 months (Longest blog post ever)

Can I just say, HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where has the time gone?????????? My little ball of sweet baby is growing into a little boy, scooting, eating, sitting up, babbling and grabbing everything in sight just to stick it into his mouth. There is not a single day that goes by that I do not thank God for our son, he is truly our biggest joy. As I look through the pictures from the day he was born until now, I see my scrawny, struggled-to-put-on-any-fat infant turn into my now chubby legged little boy, and let me tell you, those legs are CHUBBY. They have roles like the Michelin Tire guy, but his waist is as little as it can be, barely holding up his pants. The sound of his laugh makes me smile and often laugh myself, which in turn, makes him laugh even harder. He is a total mama's boy, which is sometimes a struggle for Rowdy when he wants to cuddle with our little boy and he decides he doesn't want anyone but me. But I'll admit, I love it =D Though it is not easy job, I absolutely love being his mama. I am so in love with him, it would drive someone crazy, but not me. Watching him grow is such a little miracle, and it shocks me even more knowing we made this little human, he grew inside of me for nearly 10 months (yes, I was pregnant for 9.8 months), I felt him kick me day and night and I heard his little heart beating. He is the best thing that's ever happen to us and makes me so excited to have more little ones.

To take you through the last 6 months,

1 Month: Blake was on the low end for weight and the high end for height, he struggled to gain weight but was such a good baby. Rarely cried, slept through the night and loved to be held, all-the-time. He slept through noise like a champ and loved to be snuggled with. I also started school and work three weeks after having him. That was a challenge but we got through it. My mom watched Blake Monday and Wednesday (every other) while I went to school and Lacey watched him every other Wednesday. They did this for me the entire school year. I also got my first round of Mastitis, holy cow, that was painful and sickening. It's like having the flu, your body hurts, you have the chills, you are shakey and on top of it all, one of your boobs hurts like crazy, luckily I got on some antibiotics and that helped a lot. Blake also got his first yeast infection, it was a rough first month for the both of us.

 Looking at himself in the mirror wondering what to do under there

2 Months: Blake got his first round of shots, poor little guy. He weighed in at 10lbs 14oz and was about 23 inches long. He also started smiling, which was so precious to see. Blake got another yeast infection and I got mastitis AGAIN. I started noticing a lot of issues with my shoulder around this time too, lots of "almost dislocations" happening, which made me nervous that I might drop Blake. He also started becoming more aware of things, whenever I moved, Blake's eyes followed me, it was amazing to see him develop something so simple, my little boy was growing up right before my eyes. We got to visit SC for Jake's baptism and he met his cousins for the first time, he did AMAZING on the plane, sleeping the entire time and didn't cry at all. Everyone was so impressed with our little one. We even proved the grouchy lady at PDX who complained to her friend about a baby being on board that he was a perfect little angel who didn't make a peep, take that! We had such a great time with the whole family, had plenty of Chik-Fil-A, went to Charleston and ate at California Dreamin' and spent some time at the beach.

We enjoyed every minute there, soaking up all the time we could with the boys. We played family baseball games in the backyard and went to the boys' practices for baseball and to their last basketball games. I've always felt blessed to have the in-law family that I do, but these special reunions always make me feel so grateful for them. Danielle and I have gotten much closer since our baby boys were born two months apart. Now that I am a mom, I have yet another circle I can fit into. She is great whenever I need advice about something because Tripp is only two months ahead of Blake and has recently experienced whatever it is Blake is currently going through. I love having so many sisters.

 all that beautiful hair!

 Charleston, SC on top of the cannon

 sleeping beach baby

 baseball practice

 the baby monster, Bret

 peek-a-boo, I see little Blakey

 Bret caught a fish!

3 Months: Well, third time is a charm, I got mastitis for the third and hopefully last time! Blake also got thrush so we had to put him on antibiotics. He also started to giggle and role over. We were all shocked when it first happened, we were playing with him on the ottoman and suddenly he lets out a laugh. We all stopped and looked at each other like, "did that just happen?" He also decided to roll over when we walked a couple feet away to grab a diaper to change him. He was again, on top of the ottoman and luckily he didn't roll right off! We also moved Blake out of our room and into his own room in a crib, he was sleeping in our room in his swing, I couldn't bare my little baby being far away from me. It took a little getting used to on both ends but it went fairly well after a couple of nights. He also had his first Easter! He loved the candy *wink wink but mostly the beach toys Grammy and Popi got him. We had a large Easter dinner with family and family friends. We went up to Bremerton, WA to visit one of my bestest best friends, Molly and her two littles. We had a great time spending the weekend with them and Naomi just loved little Blake.

 darn thrush

 My BFF

 Easter

4 Months: Blake weighed in at 14lbs 1oz and was 26 inches long. He went to his first Beaver Baseball game and did not enjoy Popi and Daddy's loud screaming and cheering, so we spent a lot of time walking around  Autzen stadium, that part he liked. It was his second round of shots and he decided that sleeping through the night was no longer an option. My parents are amazing but they got extra points because they took Blake for a night so we could get some much needed sleep! It was like having a newborn all over again, he wouldn't sleep, had to be held constantly and wouldn't eat, those shots did a doozy on the poor little guy and it absolutely broke my heart. One night, I handed Blake off to Rowdy for a few minutes and just went into the back room and sat on the couch and cried, I hated feeling so helpless, all I wanted to do was make my baby feel better. After about four days, he finally started eating again and sleeping a little better but he still woke up a few times every night simply because he wanted his binky, once you popped that in, he was good to go.

About a week after Blake's shots, it was my turn to be in pain. I had shoulder surgery again on my left shoulder. 8 years ago I had surgery to fix my rotator cuff and reconstruct a socket. They told me I would need surgery again in ten years, but I don't think they anticipated me having a baby before then and speeding up the process of all my ligaments stretching out and my shoulder dislocating again. The Doctor said that my right one is in the same shape and that I will need surgery on that one too, but I am putting that off as late as possible. Surgery was hard, I came home and saw Blake and just started bawling because he wanted me to hold him and I couldn't. The following 6 weeks was a full team effort. My mom watched Blake and helped take care of me Monday-Wednesday, My grandma took Thursdays and Rowdy with the help of the Relief Society from church split Fridays until he went to school, then Rowdy was on duty the rest of the weekend. Lacey helped a ton once she got home from work and honestly this would have been impossible without all the help we received. I'm allergic to pain killers, all of them so my pain was shooting through the roof and whenever I did take meds, I just got sick from them, it was quite a cycle. After a few weeks, I started to push it and figured out how to hold Blake in my other arm if someone laid him there and eventually figured out how to pick him up in my good arm. All I wanted to do was be his mom and it was absolutely heart breaking not being able to do everything I wanted for him. We had around the clock care for about a month before I was allowed to be home with Blake on my own for a short period of time but I wasn't granted full mommyship until after six weeks and the doctor cleared me. Which leads me into Month 5.

 We got a huge milk donation from LIFEmilk when I had surgery because I wasn't able to produce enough

 Mother's Day

Go Beavers! And excuse the all natural look.

5 Months: Half way through month five I was cleared to take care of Blake on my own and it felt so good to be able to do that. We started practicing sitting up on our own and grabbing things and picking them up while sitting. We also went on a couple one nighter family vacations because Rowdy had a couple business trips, one in Bend and one at the coast. We had a lot of fun and both rooms had amazing views. Our first trip, Bend, we visited my Auntie Carla and Uncle Don in Sunriver and they got to meet Blake for the first time. Blake wasn't a fan of anyone holding him unless it was me but he sure liked to look at my uncle Don, like he was keeping an eye on him. It was good to see them and to show off our adorable little boy. The following weekend we went to Newport. Our room overlooked the beach and it was really nice. Blake loved the huge bed and loved his dad bouncing him around on it. This was also when his stranger anxiety started and his undeniable need to be connected to me at all times kicked into full gear. Since I have been able to take care of Blake again, he has wanted no one but me. He won't even let me go out of his sight without him bawling. He is okay if I am no where in sight, but the second he hears or see's me, it's all over.

Last week, Lacey and my mother in law took Blake for me for the day. When I came by my in-laws to pick him up, Popi (my father in law) was on the floor with Blake reading him a book. I quietly snuck behind them and sat on the couch until he finished. Once he was done with the story I quietly said "Blake", he starts looking around and looks at my father in law like "where is she? I hear her!" he turns him around to face me and he immediately hold his hands out and starts to whine for me to pick him up. And yesterday, Rowdy went in to get Blake when he woke up for the day and he bawled and bawled until he handed him to me, then he was perfectly fine and smiling at his daddy. I feel bad because Rowdy feels bad, but at the same time it's nice to know he trusts me and feels so safe with me when for so long, I wasn't able to do anything for him. I was jealous of everyone that they got to change diapers and feed him and play with him while I sat there or slept. Blake also started to laugh every time someone else started to laugh, he found it hilarious. We were expecting some teeth to be popping through since he has  been chewing on EVERYTHING since he was about 4.5 months and drooling like a faucet, but nothing came in, still toothless!

 He loves his binky's

 Bend

 View from our hotel in Bend

 Our hotel in Newport

 View from our hotel

 Yes, I found them exactly like this, no posing what so ever.

6 Months: Blakey had his third round of shots and to tell you the truth, I was terrified, I didn't know if I could handle another weekend like last time. Rowdy and I both went this time, Rowdy held him to get the shots, I closed me eyes like a scaredy-cat and he hardly cried, maybe for 5-10 seconds and that was it! No waking up in the middle of the night, ate like a champ and was super happy! I was so relieved and grateful. He weighed in at 17lbs 1oz and was 27.5 inches long. High on the height scale but still in the lower percentile for weight. He's got some chunky legs but that little belly of his just doesn't seem to get any bigger. My dad thinks it's because Blake is so active, that boy does NOT sit still. He is constantly kicking and moving everywhere. He's figured out how to scoot, but only backwards. He gets up like he is going to crawl then scoots back like an inchworm, it's quite funny. He rolls around everywhere and gets stuck too. We also started Blake on some food. He wasn't sure at first, it took about 4 tries before he started to accept anything. So far he likes avocado, carrots, green beans and prunes. We tried peas but he was not a fan, which also leads me to the next new thing he does, spitting. Full on, tongue spit, and I got the bad end of it, a face full of peas and spit, yay. He was not a fan of the peas no matter how many times I tried them, and needless to say, I was also covered in them. He thinks it's quite funny, he laughs every time he does it.

He is still attached to me like my shadow, which is giving my arms quite the workout. I can honestly say though, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else, I was made to be a mom. I love it. Of course, whenever we go to family's house I let them take him as often as they want but at home, when Rowdy and Lacey are at work and we haven't left for work yet, I love it just he and I. We also recently started working full time, nannying. The kids love Blake, sometimes a little too much but it's nice that they try to entertain him playing peek-a-boo and making funny faces. School is also out, and can I just say, hallelujah!!! Working, going to school, being a wife and a mother is a lot of work. Often times my house does not look spick and span clean, my laundry is piling up and I hardly know what's for dinner, but somehow we have made it these last 6 months. We are so lucky to live near family that is always willing to help as often as possible, it would have been impossible without them at times these last 6 months. Danielle and the boys are flying back here for the month of July and the last week they are here, Ryan and Nick will be in town too. We are SOOOO excited! That will be a huge blog post in its self. Lots of things planned!

 first bite of avocado

 carrots

 was not a fan of the swing

 flower child

Molly made him a daisy chain 

 prunes

 Charlie and Blakey

 Molly and Blake

 "MAMA!"

 Fat little legs

If the above video doesn't work, here is the link to the video: Blake's hilarious laughing fit

This is a must watch!

So the last six months have been quite a journey with their fair share of ups and downs. I can't wait to see what the next six bring us, and hopefully I will be much better about blogging it all in a more timely fashion. Here is to another great six months!