Four Months Old

Happy Four Months, Mr. P!

Your daddy and I are enjoying you so much lately. You have turned over a new leaf. You are crying less, enjoying life more, and you seem to finally be outgrowing some of your colic and reflux. Praise the Lord! You are SO smiley. You are belly laughing. It just melts mommy and daddy's hearts.

You are taking 5 ounce bottles now, and we've got you pretty well scheduled. You eat at 6, 9, 12, 3, 5:30 and 8 and you take a morning nap and an afternoon nap. You are still primarily a breastfed baby, but we do give you formula daily. Mom's supply can't seem to keep up with your ever-growing need for food.

Here you are taking your first bite of rice cereal. You liked it! It was fun to feed you with a spoon. We only gave you a few bites the first time just to see how you acted. We don't know how much you actually got down, but there was a lot on your face and the bib! I can tell that teaching you to eat with a spoon is going to take some time :) We'll keep practicing with rice cereal so that you can try fun things at 6 months.

Developmentally, you are still doing great. Just as soon as we lay you in your crib or on your playmat, you immediately roll over onto your belly. It makes us nervous, because you aren't supposed to sleep on your belly. We keep a close eye on you though through the video monitor and make sure you are still breathing. :) Speaking of your crib, you sleep so strangely. You push your body all the way up against the bars. You look so uncomfortable, but you must be happy. Like the first three months, you are still not a great sleeper. You usually wake up anywhere from one to three times a night. Very erratic. Your mom and dad cope though, and seem to still be able to hold down jobs. Anyway, back to your progress, you LOVE to stand. You will stand on laps, tables, the floor, anything. It's funny because you are so small, but you just love it.

We take you for your 4 month checkup with Dr. Bubba on 6/6. We'll get all of your stats then, and more shots. Poor baby! Your daddy and I love you and cannot believe you are 4 months old. It feels like we have lived ten years in four months! You have taught us so much, and continue to do so. We love you baby boy!

Our First Family Trip

Warning - LONG POST!

I've been a little silent on the blog, because we have been in New York for our first family trip! We went with my family (my parents and two brothers) to Lake Placid for my cousin's wedding then to Cooperstown to see the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And YES, Preston was along for the ride!

Preston had so many firsts - first vacation, first plane ride (4 total), first road trip, first boat ride, first time meeting my dad's side of the family, first time leaving Memphis... the list goes on and on. And can I tell you? He fooled everyone into thinking he was a perfect baby! ;) He is perfect to Brian and me, but he has seriously changed over night. He went from a very fussy, always upset, challenging baby to a charming, hardly-ever-upset, smiling, laughing dream baby! Other than a couple of rough patches at night towards the end of the trip, he really did so well. Brian and I are so proud. After this trip, we feel like we can conquer the world!

Our flight left Memphis for Atlanta at 6 a.m. Friday May 20, so we got out of bed around 4:15 to make the flight. It's hilarious because it didn't even phase Brian and I because we are already totally sleep deprived, so this is the norm for us :) We carefully lifted P out of bed and got him to the airport. He LOVED the airport! He was checking out all the fast-moving people and sounds.

Here he is once we boarded....

He slept through the whole flight! Of course, I nursed him for the first 20 minutes or so, which helped in falling asleep. In fact, I nursed him on all the flights and this made for such EASY flights. I am NOT a "nursing-in-public" person, so this was pretty big for me. I had a huge cover-up on and made Brian block any visual anyone might get. On his first official flight, the nice Delta flight attendant give him his first wings.

After a quick layover in ATL, we were off to Albany, NY. From there, we rented two cars - one for the three of us and one for my parents and brothers - and we drove to Lake Placid. The drive was a little under 3 hours. It was a very pretty drive through the Adirondacks. It reminded me a lot of East TN and the Appalachian Mts.

We found our cabin - Camp Bearberry - and settled in quickly. We stayed in this rustic, old house with other relatives, so there was always a lot going on. It was quickly approaching dark at this point. We headed over to the house were our cousin's were staying for dinner and drinks. Love my brothers!

We only stayed a little bit because it was P's bedtime, so we put Preston to bed, and we went to bed. The next morning, we were really able to appreciate the house and the views from the lake. It was foggy and a little cool, but still nice.

We decided we'd take a tour of the town. Lake Placid hosted the Olympics in the 30's and the 80's, so we first visited the site of the USA vs. Russia hockey match. Then went into town for a little shopping. Mom and I shopped with Preston, while the men went together. It was nice to have some quality time with my mama!

We drug P everywhere! Here is an impromptu diaper change in the car...

The next day was my cousin's wedding. She lucked out with a GORGEOUS day and the ceremony was just as beautiful. My cousin Jennie and Rob have been together 14 years, and they are such a sweet, fun couple.

Preston fell asleep in the Baby Bjorn before the ceremony. He was completely limp... the following pictures are hilarious!

Not to stereotype, but Northern weddings are a little different than Southern weddings. After the wedding, there was a cocktail reception followed by a sit down dinner and dancing. P enjoyed the cocktails!

The reception overlooked the Lake and it was beautiful.

Loved this! They brewed their own beer called Hoppily Ever After and Something Borrowed, Something Brewed and every guest got one along with a pint glass to remember the day.

The next day, we ventured out to see more Olympics sites and the town of Lake Placid. We wen to the site of the ski jumps. You can actually go up to the top of them. I cannot believe people do this!! It was scary, but boasted beautiful views of the Adirondacks. Then we went on P's first boat ride! The house had a boat for us to use... pretty sweet.

The next day, we packed up and headed to Cooperstown. This was where the trip got interesting. We were following my parents, and apparently they took a wrong turn somewhere, tried to correct it on the gps and it ended up sending us through the scenic route. We all decided that this was the most remote part of the country any of us had ever been in. And we've been all through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. We ended up driving through Amish country, which was pretty cool. We felt like we had stepped back in the 1800's. On the road we took, there were so many twists and turns, we were all a little carsick once we got to Cooperstown. So, my mom offered to stay at our hotel with Preston, and the rest of us went to Ommegang brewery!

The brewery was really cool, and we brought back some beer. Driving back, we saw Doubleday Field, where the first baseball game was played.

We got back to our hotel, and we took a few pictures outside of our cottage. Cooperstown is along Lake Otsego.

The next day, we went to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

We saw Babe Ruth's jersey, shoes, and the bat and ball he used during his famous "called shot."

The first 30 minutes we were there, Preston had a meltdown. After changing two diapers, giving a bottle, and putting him in the carrier, he was finally happy for a little bit. Stressful! It is totally nerve-wracking when he has meltdowns in public. I feel like everyone is staring and looking at us like, What the heck is wrong with your child. Anyway... the hall of fame was really cool and big! We had to take a lunch break before we saw everything. Thankfully, you can go back in once you've bought a ticket.

Here we are with the first 5 inductees.

Preston in the hall of fame asleep! He got sick of the carrier, and then we had to make a quick exit, so I put him in the stroller, took him outside, and walked around a nearby park. He finally fell asleep, so I was able to see more of the museum and meet up with Brian and my family inside.

As we were leaving, we walked by Doubleday Field... very cool! It started pouring, so we didn't have much time to get to the car.

After a great pizza dinner, we packed up our stuff and the next morning headed back home. Once again, P did great with the traveling. When we got back to Memphis, we were welcomed by tornado sirens and thunder. We were so THANKFUL our flights were on time and we got our luggage. So many others were stuck there. That would have been awful with the baby.

All in all, this was unlike any "vacation" we'd ever taken. There were lots of wonderful moments where our child really surprised us, and a few stressful, panicky moments, but we are proud of ourselves for doing such a big trip with an almost 4-month-old. We are also thankful for the help our family provided for us. Not sure when our next trip will be, but we did decide we aren't flying with him for a while. There is just so.much.stuff!

I highly recommend visiting this part of the country if you ever get a chance. It is just beautiful! And congrats Jennie and Rob!

Still Here!

Just wanted to let you know we're alive and well. I have a big post coming up about our first family trip! Things have been crazy, so I haven't gotten a chance to post. After that post, we're going private, so remember to let me know if you want to keep reading :)

I'll leave you with this little nugget for now... getting cuter by the second!

Our Fav Baby Items

I have a few favorite baby items. These are BY FAR not the necessities (aka diapers, wipes, carseat, infant seat, clothes etc.), but I thought it would be a fun to document some of the stuff we have enjoyed using with P as an infant.

1) The video monitor: For centuries (slight exaggeration), people have been using regular sound monitors if they even used monitors at all. If this isn't a budget-buster item for you (or if you have really sweet grandparents that want to purchase this for you) it is so awesome to have. We LOVE ours and now cannot imagine life without it. I can see his chest rising and falling and know he is sleeping soundly.

2) Playmat: We use this everyday. Preston loves his. I almost didn't register for one, because I thought it wasn't really a needed item. However, it is one of P's most favorite items. He does tummy time on it, is learning to grab the toys on it, and loves to look at himself in the mirror attached to it.

3) Safety 1st Diaper Pail: This pail is so much cheaper than the others, and it takes regular trash bags. It works AWESOME. Considering every time I take out the trash in P's room I almost gag, this completely masks any smells. It works great.

4) Wipes Warmer: SO many people say this is one of those stupid baby items, but I swear it makes a difference. Usually, P cries when we change his diaper.... but not when we use warm wipes!

5) Pacifier clip: Moms-to-be... buy this immediately. We went several weeks without one and after bending down to pick up pacifier after pacifier, then disinfecting it every time, we wised up and got one of these. Such a small, silly thing, but it is great.

6) Johnson's Bedtime Lotion: This lotion smells like lavender. It kind of makes P smell like a girl, but it is soothing and it smells so good. It supposedly helps them sleep, but who knows.

7) Inchbug orbit labels: These were a gift from my friend's mom, and they are awesome. We have them on all of P's bottles and can keep using them over and over for stuff. Here is the link to order them... I think I might order some for a few upcoming baby showers.

8) Sleep Sacks: P sleeps in one every night. I am always nervous about him being cold at night and this solves the problem. I like these better than the swaddleme's because P always somehow squirmed out of that one, but can't get out as easily in the sacks.

9) Nightlight: You have to have one in your baby's room. Like the pacifier clip, we didn't have one right away and after turning on the lamp time after time and really waking P up, the nightlight solves the problem.

Those are just a few of the things that we have come to rely on with a newborn. Maybe they will help some of you who are expecting!