Things I Want to Remember

I just put Beck down to bed, and as I was rocking him, I started making a mental list of all of the things I don't want to forget about this season of life:

~the things I do when he is crying that I tell myself make him feel better (when they actually just make me feel better): kiss him over and over again on the forehead, tell him over and over again how much I love him, sing "Jesus Loves Me" sooooo many times

~the face he makes when he is going #2...his mouth goes into a perfect O and he looks like he is concentrating on some very distant object

~how I have learned how to survive with almost no sleep and at the same time I have truly come to appreciate a 30-minute power nap

~the love-hate relationship Beck has with swaddling.  He will not sleep for more than 30 minutes (if that) without being swaddled, but oh, how he fights you to get him swaddled.

~the love-hate relationship he has with his pacifier.  He hates it at all times except when he is being rocked to sleep.  The minute he is asleep, he spits it right out.

~the spot in the middle of his forehead, right where his nose meets it.  It is my absolute favorite place to kiss and smell.

~how I screamed today when he gave me a real open-mouth smile.  Not because he had just finished his milk, not because he was passing gas, but because we were "chatting" and being silly.

~how he all-of-a-sudden cannot figure out how to get himself to sleep in the car.  He used to be able to do this with no problem.  Now it is a major deal.

~how I thought I might never be here in this role of mother

~how I love having my entire day revolve around the eating and sleeping schedule of a person who depends 100% on me

~how I am taking it all in and storing it away deep in my heart

Weekly Menu 4 and Happy Birthday

I have been so slack about this...so sorry.  We had about a week and a half of meals from sweet friends and family right after we brought Beck home.  Then it was hit or miss for a while.  I have been cooking, but I will say it has not been the best.  So this week, I am ready to get back to some tasty home-cooked food.

Monday-dinner at a friend's house
Tuesday-Taco Soup
Wednesday-Spaghetti (trying a friend's recipe that was so delish)
Thursday-Chicken Nachos
Friday-Hamburgers and Zucchini Pie (will try to remember to take a picture of this and post the recipe...it is perfect for summer)
Saturday-Pizza Chili
Sunday-French Dips


And today is my dad's birthday!  He is such a wonderful man of God.  He spent most of his life being a civil engineer.  Somewhere around my middle school years he answered God's call to the ministry and enrolled himself in seminary at Erskine.  He worked full-time and went to school part-time for several years until I graduated from high school.  That same year he also graduated with his masters of divinity.  Now he is a full-time pastor and poppy, and I must say he is equally awesome at both.  Happy 25th anniversary of your 39th birthday.

a big girl, a birthday girl, and the Burleys

Beck and I had our first overnight trip this past Saturday to the Burley's for Ella's first birthday.  The traveling both to and from was fine.  It was the sleeping at night that was not so fun.  But looking back, we survived, we have done lots of napping today, I think I would have cried if I had missed Ella's first birthday, and I am so happy that Beck got to meet so many wonderful people who love him so much.

The Big Girl

Beck and the original baby, Camryn.  I remember going to see Camryn, Heather, and Jason right after she was born.  This little bit is going to be a kindergartener soon!  Makes me tear up just typing it.  She is super smart and can read anything.  We are going to have to cease adult conversations where we spell key words that we don't want her to hear because she is too smart for that now.  I love this little girl to pieces, and although she is a big girl who will run all of the way upstairs to tote down Beck's diaper bag (which weighs about as much as she does), she will still let you hold her and cuddle her. 

 The Birthday Girl

Little miss fireball.  She is such a love and is learning so much each day.  During our short stay I heard her say "thank you," "Ella," and "baby."  Watch out world....here she comes!

 Burley, the original, and Beck

Does this need a comment??  I think the picture says it all.  I love how Beck is checking Jason out with only one eye.  

Sweet moments

Firsts and Farms

We took Beck on his first field trip to Happy Cow.  We buy our milk here about twice a month and thought it was fitting that Beck make his first of many treks here.  I imagine that he will find himself here many an afternoon talking to the cows and flirting with the ladies in the store.

Jeff and I treated ourselves to Cheerwine in a glass bottle...a true southern treat.

We finally have a garden!!  And it produces edible yumminess!  I have truly arrived because I have literally had to cook meals around what Jeff brings in from the garden each day.  

green beans 

 squash and zucchini

roma tomatoes

BWE-1 month

I don't have any official stats because we go to the doctor next week, but here are some fun facts about Beck:

*eating 3oz. every 3-4 hours

*wants to be held in just the right way when he is ready to go to sleep

*loves to be under his activity gym and is batting at some of the animals that hang overhead

*should have all of the words to Jesus Loves Me memorized because I sing it no less that 35 times a night

*is wearing 0-3 month clothes

*wearing size 1 diapers

*will completely stop eating if he needs his diaper changed

*does one of three things when he is ready to eat: makes his baby bird lips, roots, or bypasses my chest and sucks on my arm

*has had only 2 bouts of inconsolable crying (thus far)

*enjoys laying across his Mimi's knees and only her's

*smiles a lot, but only in his sleep right now

*has several wet diapers a day, but so far, only one dirty diaper about every other day

Please work

The title of this post was plea to blogger to please let me post some pictures.  I have been trying for four days.  Lots of wasted hours waiting for pictures to upload.  

On to happier things...

 My niece, Buggie, meeting Beck for the first time.  She was awesome with him and even accepted my help holding his head.  She got to bottle angle and head support down perfectly, and in the blink of an eye, she became a baby expert.  She proceeded to tell my mother how to hold Beck and his bottle at the appropriate angle, when it was time to burp him, and that it was her turn to hold him again.

 I met Ollie on his way down the steps from his nap.  He was about six steps from the bottle when I rounded the corner.  I asked him if I could hold him.  He nodded his head and held his arms out for me to hold him.  I ate it up.  We plopped down in the den, and he promptly handed me his pacifier (a new pacifier rule is in place apparently).  Ollie totally loved Beck and repeatedly called him a "her".  As in "her's got burps!", and "I can burp her!"  It was not until my sister pulled aside Beck's diaper to show Ollie the proof he needed.  Then he exclaimed, "He's got peepers like me!  Mine is bigger."  Love that boy.

Snoozing right through Father's Day festivities

You Wouldn't Guess

This sweet little precious one has got some lungs, folks.  He kept us up for 2 hours last night (or should I say early this morning) screaming because he had gas.  The doctor confirmed my biggest fear today.

"It sounds like colic."

I thought it would make me cry, but I have to admit it was a comfort to know I had tried everything I knew and it had nothing to do with me.  Poor Beck is pitiful when it hits though.  Tight tummy.  Arched back.  He even makes actual tears.  When he finally settled down, his eyes were puffy and red.

So I will enjoy this picture (since it is our computer's background) when my boy is screaming his head off because his belly aches.  Bless.

Knit Together

Our adoption counselor from Bethany, Jeanette, came for her first of three visits yesterday.  I believe going to visit and hold newborn babies once they have been placed must be one of the best parts of her job.  I told her that if she needed an assistant, I would be glad to take over this duty for her.  

 Jeanette and Beck

Jeanette brought Beck a blanket that a group of women had made for Beck.  She said this group makes a blanket for all of the new babies as a gift.  The coolest part is that they also made one for Beck's birth mother that is identical to the one they made for him.  

I labored over the perfect gift or memento for a birth mother or birth father long before we knew anything about Beck.  Then when we found out that his birth mother was not interested in meeting prospective parents, I completely dropped my search.

The blanket, however, is a perfect idea.  Beck's birth mother was notified about the blanket and was excited to receive her's in the mail.  This is such an amazing gift and it will be so helpful to Jeff and I when we want to talk to Beck about his birth mother, and how they will always be connected.

Some moments

 Talking to Aunt Carrie on the phone with UC

 Must be having sweet dreams

 Couldn't resist

snuggle time with daddy

New Friends

Beck has been meeting many new people, but in the last week, he made some of his first friends.

 Meet Milly.  I taught across the hall from her mother this past year.  She is one month older than Beck.  They had a little meet and greet at the end of last week. Milly slept through most of it, but right when she woke up, Beck decided to have a little snooze.  We expect to have many play dates with Milly because she lives very close by.

 Meet Kuy (pronounced "Ki").  He is 10 days younger than Beck.  His mother, Amber, and I used to teach together about 4 years ago.  Kuy and Beck spent most of their meeting taking naps.  Kuy's dad, Russ, narrated this conversation between Kuy and his mom:
Kuy: Mom, can Beck come over?
Mom: Sure.  What are y'all going to do?
Kuy: Take naps!

 I like this picture because it looks like they are taking turns with their arms.  Kuy is being the bigger man and letting Beck have his arm up for now.

Meet Leah.  She just turned one in March.  Although she is an older woman, she can teach Beck the ropes, like how to sign for "milk" and "please" and how to gain control of an adult's cell phone.  Leah was not really excited about Beck because he was definitely invading her territory, namely the territory known as "mom".  When Leah's mom held Beck, Leah made a beeline for her mother and climbed right into her lap to get a closer look at this baby her mom was holding!

JSE.5

There is a fabulously cheesy song by Brad Paisley entitled "Then".  It talks about different moments in his relationship with his wife when he thought he loved her so much and he thought he wouldn't be able to love her more.  Then another milestone would occur, he would think back over the past, and he would think (or sing) "and I thought I loved you then".

Recently I have had several "and I thought I loved you then" moments.  I remember the day Jeff proposed and I thought I loved him so much then.  I can remember staring into his eyes at the altar and thinking I could never love you more than I do now.  I remember crying day after day and night after night over still not being pregnant.  He would let me cry on him, never getting frustrated and sometimes crying with me.  I thought I could never love him more than I did then.  Now Beck is here and the love for Jeff is spilling over.  There is nothing like watching your husband and your child interact, bond, love on each other.

Jeff was made for his new role as Daddy.  He wears it well.  So well that I feel completely comfortable leaving the two of them at home together.  I can even leave without giving step-by-step instructions for how to handle Beck.  Jeff's intuition is spot-on with his son.

Happy 5th Anniversary, Jeff.  I love you.

Meet the Family

 Uncle David and me

 Aunt Carrie and me

UC and me

 Aunt Liz and Mr. Matt

 Poppy and me

Great-Grandma and me 

Me and Great-Grandpa 

 Me and Nana

Bekah and me 

Me, Jack, and Gigi 

 Mimi and me

Uncle Jon, Meredith, and me

Bath Time

Product Review: Aden + Anais swaddlers

My friend, Carolyn, just found out she is having a girl.  She immediately wanted to know what my must-have items were for a baby.  Aden + Anais swaddlers are at the top of my list.  

I got my first one at a children's boutique in Myrtle Beach, but my mom found more at Buy Buy Baby and Target also has them available online.  The first one I got had elephants on it, but now we have 4 more: 1 white, 1 turtle, 1 bee, and 1 fish.

They are made of muslin cloth so they are very soft and breathable.  This is great for summertime weather. 

 If you are nursing, this would be a great blanket for covering yourself in public because it is not heavy and you won't feel like you are smothering your little one.  

They are also HUGE.  When I fold them in half to swaddle Beck, there is still plenty of blanket left to get the job done.

Ta-da!  And sleeping like a champ.