14 Weeks

We had a baby appointment this last week and got a really great look at K2 :) This little ones personality is definitely opposite of Brody's. When we saw Brody at this point in pregnancy he was bouncing every which way. It was difficult to get a good picture because he wouldn't stop moving. We got a great picture of K2. Very relaxed and stretched out, no need to be a gymnast ;) Looking great and healthy at the same time. Due date remains July 13th.

I'm feeling great. Nausea will come and go, usually when I forget to eat and become really hungry. The tiredness remains, so I nap when B naps. I have noticed more energy lately. Mike has been very impressed when he comes home from work and notices all that I accomplished :)

What a year it has been!

Well, we’ve made it through our first year of being parents! Wow, what a ride is all I can say. There is nothing that could have prepared me enough for this last year. The funny thing is that I thought I kinda knew it all, HA!!

 It was been by far the most difficult and at the same time greatest year of our lives. I say difficult because I didn’t realize we would be entering boot camp those first few months. I didn’t realize how selfish I was and that selfishness was going to be ripped out of me and quickly! I didn’t realize how much one could hurt simply from being so tired! I didn’t realize how the minute we brought Brod home we lost every bit of “knowledge” we thought we had with parenting and how dumb we became. We truly felt like helpless puppies just learning to swim just by watching each other (I kinda feel this will be life from here on out though).  In all honesty I really didn’t enjoy or even like being a mom the first 9 weeks. Mix in sleep depravity and a bit of post part-um depression, but I really felt like a failure. All moms would quickly tell me how great being a mom was and the joys that came from it. I felt like a failure because I wasn’t experiencing what those moms were talking about. I just kinda really longed for having my husband back and doing whatever we wanted whenever we wanted.  I’ve come to realize something though all of this. I don’t feel like moms in general really share about the lows parts of being a parent, the not so glamorous sides of it.  When I finally began sharing my feelings with some close friends they quickly went into the millions of tears they shed those early weeks also. I couldn’t believe it!! I was believing a lie, really that Satan had placed to take me down,  that made me feel inadequate as a mom.  As soon as I began believing the truth life got lots better. Not because Brod mysteriously began sleeping through the night, because he was the same baby. It was because I knew I could do it, I finally believed in myself to me a good mom. 

I also say it was the greatest year of our lives because the Lord has beyond blessed us with the sweetest little boy whom we’ve gotten the opportunity to watch grow up to this little man. We’ve gotten to experience his first smiles, giggles, rolling over, crawling, walking and oh so much more! We get to teach, lead and guide him (a bit scary also.) I’ve loved being able to start sharing with him Bible stories and telling him about the Lord, praying with him at night and singing worship songs. Mike and I go to bed at night just in awe of the amount of love we have for that kid. I love, love, love being a mom and am so excited to continue to grow our family J

Something that has surprised me the most this year has been my continued desire to work outside the home. I love being a nurse! I kinda thought by now I would be contemplating staying at home but instead am thinking how can I keep working with two kids. Yes, the extra money is nice but I love getting out of the house. I really don’t think the Lord wired me to be a stay at home mom. I’m a better mom and wife when I get to take a “break” from being a mom and have adult conversations with my patients and my co-workers.  I’m thankful to also have a supportive husband who desires me to do what I desire.  

What a year of being a student and learning what it is to be a parent. I know we’ve only scratched the surface of having any bit of knowledge, but we’ve made it a year!! The Lord is good and His mercies are great! We are ready to tackle round 2 and become dumb again in 6 months…..oh heavens…!!!!

12 months!

 

Our sweet peanut is 1!! We went to the Dr. this last week and he weighs in at a whopping 18 lbs 11.5 oz placing him in the 5% for weight. She had some blood drawn on him to check his iron levels, but really we aren't too concerned. He is constantly in motion and so he can't gain too much weight because he doesn't ever sit down :)

 

Brod loves to giggle lots lately. Over the smallest things even, he really is a funny kid. 

 In the nursery last week he kept bringing toys to a friend. The nursery worker commented on how he is going to be such a great big brother because he is already sharing.....such a proud moment as a mom!

His drool has increased again, we are on standby for another tooth to break though. We are amazed at what he is able to eat with just two teeth ;)

A favorite from the party :)

Happy Birthday Brody!

We have officially have a 1 year old!! We can't get over how quickly the last year has gone! What a fun birthday Brody had! Poor guy woke up so sad. I kinda boil it down to Mike and I had all these visions on how perfect the day would go and if I've learned anything this last year it's as soon as B hears our plans...he comes up with a way to change them :) So he began teething the  night before which equal a very crabby boy :( It got to the point that I was feeling like the worst momma ever making him attend his birthday party. But after a decent morning nap and some good pain medicine, by the time guests arrived he was a smiling machine  :)

 The theme of B's part was "A Winter-One-Derland"

 Everything was blue, white, snowflakes or snowman. The little snowman in the middle of the table was B's cake and then behind it was the grown up cake. I couldn't have asked for a better cake!

 Snowflakes were all over from outside to inside.

 Every month of Brody was represented in snowflakes, it's so fun seeing these all together and the progression of him becoming such a big boy!

 (These pics are all out of sorts!) I think the best entertainment of the party were the kiddos watching the pups outside. They kept telling whoever would listen, "The doggies want in". So sweet!

 

Brod had a great time opening his presents (when he was focused). 

 All the snowflakes made B so happy :)

 What made him REALLY happy though was getting to eat his very own snowman cake! He started with the frosting and realized how yummy it was (takes after his momma!) and then slowly led into this cute, messy boy :)

 The birthday bash was a hit! What fun we all had :) Brod has so much sugar from his cake that dinner was a huge loss for the boy..lesson learned ;) We loved celebrating our son!

I may upload more pics but I'm done with this entry for now. I've been working on it for over an hour (not a fan of blogger right now!!)

Christmas

What a pure blessing it was to be able to celebrate Christmas with Brody this year! Yes, even though he couldn't appreciate anything it was so fun to see Christmas through his eye's.

A tradition Mike and I have always done is sometime Christmas week we order pizza (and go all out with bread sticks and pop!) and watch Home Alone. We kinda figured Home Alone wasn't too baby friendly so we got A Charlie Brown Christmas. What a fun 30 minutes of watching the movie :)

Christmas Eve Brody and I joined Mike at church and then at home opened our first round of presents, pajamas (a new tradition). I'm pretty sure B's pj's are big enough he could wear them next year :) He loved them none the less.

 

 A family photo before heading to bed.

 We eagerly woke up Christmas day so excited to see what Santa brought! B's eye's lit up at the site of his new tent!

 These cars were the highlight of his day.

 What a great 1st Christmas! We look forward to next year when we have a 2 year old and a 5 month old :)

 This pis was just too cute to not add :)